Featured Wineries

Ehlers Estate-Heart Warming

 

 

Ehlers Estate-Heart Warming

 

Ehlers Estate is a resurrected ghost winery that is held in trust by Foundation Leducq. Foundation Leducq was founded by long time heart disease sufferer, Jean Leducq, in 1996. The Leducq Foundation crosses international barriers by searching for cures and treatments of heart disease, a world wide problem.  The foundation donates 30 million dollars per year to both American and European universities for heart research.

Anything involving the heart means passion.  And Ehlers Estate is as passionate about wine as they are healthy hearts!   Their wine is 100% estate and is certified organic with biodynamic practices.   They focus on making Bordeaux style reds such as Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and their flagship wine the 1886, a Cabernet Sauvignon that is named after the year the original Ehlers Estate was established by Bernard Ehlers.  This cab is big and lush and comes in a bottle that is a replica of an antique medicine bottle from the turn of the century.  Ehlers estate honors its founder Jean Leducq, a Frenchman, by making their wines using old world techniques and tradition.  This style of winemaking ensures full-bodied, bold, and food friendly wines.


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Charbay

Charbay-"The Still on the Hill"

I had always wanted to go to Charbay, a unique winery distillery up on Spring Mountain because the owner and I share a common heritage. However, it wasn’t until Susan Karakasevic called me and invited me to the Still on the Hill did I finally make the drive up Spring Mountain. Once I was there I had one of the most unique tastings I have ever had in Napa Valley.

From day one Charbay has chosen not to put itself in a box, giving them room to make many types of wines, liquors, and spirits including tequila, a walnut liquor, green tea and pomegranate aperitifs, and our featured wine, the pomegranate dessert wine. Being from the old world, they aren't in a hurry either. In the tasting room you may taste a 2003 Cabernet, a 12 year old port, and a 26 year old late

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Graeser Winery

Graeser Winery-Semillon

In my other life, I do real estate. Lately I’ve been doing business in Santa Rosa. I find the easiest way to get to Santa Rosa from Napa is to go up Petrified Forest Road. So one day, while going over the hill back into Napa I noticed Graeser Winery. I was hot, tired, and a little grumpy (dealing with foreclosure banks can do that to you), but I decided to stop anyway. What a fortuitous day that turned out to be. First of all, I was very fortunate to be met by Desire. Her easy going style and friendly smile quickly let me know I had made a good stop (actually, everyone was very friendly including Rebecca Ahl and Richard Graeser). As I told her all about Small Lots Big Wines she began pouring me the Graeser line up, beginning with the Semillion. I was very excited about this wine,
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Renard - Foxy Wines

lnav_logoI will always remember the day I met owner/winemaker Bayard Fox. It was Kick Ranch in Sonoma. I was on a vineyard tour with the owner of the ranch, Dick Keenan. This was last year at harvest. As we were going up to look at the vines, Bayard was coming back from looking at the rows of Syrah he leases from Kick Ranch. I was fascinated by the exchange that took place between grape grower and grape buyer. From a grower perspective, they want to make sure they can sell the maximum amount of quality grapes. The buyer, however, wants to pick at what they consider the optimal time according to the style of wine they are making. On this particular Friday rain was in the forecast. The conversation went something like this:

Dick: I notice some of your grapes are turning into raisins.

Bayard: Not too many are raisins, I think I'll wait a few more days.

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Gustavo Thrace

Gustavo Thrace-Beyond Bottle Shock

GustavoThrace Winery is about as urban as you can get for little ol’ Napa.  Their tasting room is located in downtown Napa, right across the street from Taylor’s Refresher. They throw parties in the back parking lot, and make their wine in a warehouse.  However, these city slickers have deep roots in the community.  Gustavo Brambilla started working in the vineyards as a kid.  He later worked alongside Mike Grgich at Grgich Cellars before partnering with Thrace Baumgardner to start Gustavo-Thrace in 1996.

Thrace and Gustavo met when their sons were on the same baseball team.  That is when Thrace convinced Gustavo that he not only needed to start his own winery, but he needed her as a partner!   They began with 200 cases of Zinfandel.  Since then they have added Cabernet, Red Table Wine, Barbera, Petite Sirah, Merlot,  Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay.  The wines are what we classify as “food friendly”, usually having less than 14% alcohol, soft tannins, and a high acid.&nb sp; A style of wine that reflect Gustavo’s old world wine making methods and Thrace’s palate.

We featured the Chardonnay this month on our urban wine tour.  The Chardonnay is aged 75% in stainless steel and 25% in new French oak with no malo-lactic fermentation, thus giving it a crispness while still having a nice mouth feel.

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Spelletich

 

Spelletich-The Feminine Touch

 

In 1994 the Spelletich family began to live their American dream…owning their own winery. Barb=2 0and Timothy’s careers had both been wine related before the launch of Spelletich Cellars, Barb owned her own wine import company and Timothy worked for high end restaurants such as The Four Seasons in New York and Tre Vigne in St. Helena. From the beginning the Spelletich’s decided this would their winery. No investors, no sales reps, no consulting winemakers, not even a
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PB Hein

PB Hein-Trail Blazer

 

When you look at the label of the cowboy kicking back in his boots, you probably wouldn’t guess that PB Hein Vineyards is an urban wine. Paul Hein probably wouldn’t consider himself urban either. Paul is a good ol’ Napa Boy. One of the few (like me) whose family was not into the wine business. Although his grandfather a few generations back had vineyards on Mt. Veeder, the current generation of Hein’s limit their wine expertise to consumption.
However, like many in this valley, you can only drink so much wine before the wine bug bites. For Paul Hein that was 2002 when he began fooling around with home winemaking. After winning a few competitions he decided to go commercial in 2005.
Paul does EVERYTHING by hand. No big stainless steel vats, no mechanical pump overs..as a matter fact, as little mechanical intervention as possible is Paul’s philosophy.  This is one reason his Charbonno is so delicious. Charbonno can be quite harsh and tannic, but the hands-on method and the patience (it stays in the barrel 39 months) that are part of Paul’s winemaking make this monster red a
feisty teddy bear. The tannins are tame, but the bold spices still shine through. Another favorite of ours is the Syrah from Suisun Valley.
PB Hein Vineyards is not open the public. But as you know, Small Lots Big Wines has access to great and unique wineries such as PB Hein Vineyards. If you are coming to Napa and would like to visit the Urban side of PB Hein Vineyards (or his country side) let us know.

 

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Verismo Winery

Verismo Winery-Malbec

 

verismo

Yountville is booming. Not only does it have some of the best restaurants in the world and luxurious hotels, but it is filled with quaint little tasting rooms for boutique wineries.  A drive down the main drag (or maybe the only drag) in Yountville will take you past Hill Family Estates, Jessup Cellars, Masionry, and Verismo.

Located on Washington Street, it is a little unassuming winery that will take you by surprise. When you walk in and are greeted  by the friendly easy going staff, look at the approachable prices, have the wine poured nonchalantly in your glass, you will be blown away by what comes next.  Really, really good wine.

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Bourassa Vineyard

Bourassa Vineyards-Kid in a Candy Store

Of all the tasting rooms in Napa, Bourassa Vineyards is by far the most urban.   Whenever we send people there you can see that look on their face, “They sent me to a warehouse?” But once you walk through the door you are transported to a swanky club.  The rooms are lit by candles, the walls painted red, and the ceiling is tented.   The whole thing has a cool urban swanky vibe..perfect for a special event or a tasting with good friends.
Vic Bourassa is one of those charismatic larger then life figures.  He got his start in real estate.  While practicing real estate in the Napa Valley, the wine bug bit.  He joined the Napa Valley Home Winemaker Association where he eventually became president.  It was around this time that he had lunch with the late Robert Mondavi.  When Mr. Mondavi tried Vic’s wine he said, “Vic, you don’t belong in real estate, you belong in wine.”
Never one to be afraid of risks, Vic did exactly that.  In 2001 he started Bourassa Vineyards.   At Bourassa Vineyards you will find an eclectic mix of wines.  For Vic, harvest is a bit like a kid in a candy store.  When quality vineyards let Vic know they have fruit for sale, he ha
s a hard time turning it down.  Fortunately he has his wife, Kathy, who can
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