Mills Fine Wine & Spirits

Left bright and early Saturday morning for a 10 AM appointment with Ben Sharpe, the “majordomo” of CAPTURE.   While we loved their Sauvignon Blanc from DAY ONE I don’t think we ever got the whole story.  Now we have it and it is quite interesting.

This is a story of three partners, families actually.  Mike and Carol Foster, Denis and May-Brit Malbec, and Ben and Tara Sharpe.  The Fosters, from Vermont who truly wanted a California Vineyard of supreme excellence, Denis Malbec the Cellar Master and Oenologist for years at Chateau Latour in Pauillac, his wife May-Britt named the top Sommeliere in the Nordic world in the Mid 1990′s and subsequent PR Manager at Latour both of whom were looking for a new challenge in the USA.  Ben Sharpe was defacto admin assistant to Jess Jackson for two years and wouldn’t you know it developed a yearning for his own vineyard and winery.  These three families were brought together to develop…….CAPTURE.

When Shelley and I arrived in Healdsburg where Capture is “headquartered” we expected the typical high class tasting room, and were hoping to finally get to taste the red wine the whole world is waiting for.  Absolutely NONE of this happened.    Ben piled us into cars and headed off to their Tin Cross vineyards at the top of Pine Mountain in what is now the Alexander Valley Appellation.  His answer to the red request was a smile and….”nobody tastes the red till we’re ready”  “maybe you are interested in the Chardonnay”

THE WHAT…..WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN! ! ? ?   More on this in a few minutes.

We drove to a train station that doesn’t exist, left a car, and then went straight up Pine Mountain to Tin Cross vineyards.   Ben explained the basic “raison d’etre” of Capture and while a little skeptical I decided to keep and open mind, and sure enough they are RIGHT ON.  The philosophy, buy the very best vineyards, hire the very best farmers, and own grapes that are capable of making world class wines.

Tin Cross dates back to the Thomas Jefferson Land Grant of 1805.  The last  owner of Tin Cross was the Statser family.  They sold fruit to Newton for their Reserve Unfiltered Chardonnay and to Imagery for their Reserve Cabernet.  Mr. Statser finally had to sell this Mountain Top ranch and it just so happened to be when The Fosters were wandering around the Alexander Valley looking for their dream vineyard.  They immediately brought in the Sharpes, who contacted the Malbecs and within minutes a love affair happened between people and land!

I have NEVER seen a vineyard so meticulously taken care of.  Understand please that the slopes are like the bunny slopes at a ski resort.  This is NOT easy!   The attention to detail is unlike anything I have ever experienced!  The property itself, with some old houses under reconstruction is simply breathtaking.  Obviously…..I too have fallen in love with this property.

The Chardonnay.  They made 10 barrels from the vineyard planted in 1985.  The grapes were totally sustainably farmed.  As the pig I am, I asked for the entire Mid-Atlantic allocation (Between New Jersey and Georgia) and at this point Ben told me we could get half……WOW….when it is finally released in October.  The price could be as high as $50 but we’re working on that.

So we found something we never knew was happening, fell in love with a vineyard at first sight, and still are using our imagination to dream about a red wine.   At this point we still hadn’t touched a drop of wine, so we went into the guest house at the top of Pine Mountain and opened a bottle of the 2009 Capture Sauvignon Blanc.  Those of you who remember just how wonderful the 08 was can rest assured, this is just as nice.

We then  drove down the Mountain and into Geyserville to visit with Bill and Susan Arbios.  Mills blew thru their Praxis Viognier earlier this Spring and we still have some of their 2005 Alexander Valley Cabernet in the store  (only a couple of cases).

They share a quaint tasting room in downtown Geyserville, the town being the size of the block MILLS is on.  They share this tasting room with several other growers.   Bill had been the winemaker for Lleyth and others during a 25 year career before he and Susan did their own thing.

I remembered tasting the Praxis Merlot and Pinot Noir when Susan was at Mills and really liking them.  We revisited these wines, and at some point soon we hope to have them at MILLS.  There is soooooo much terroir in these wines and both will be under $20– it was too much to ask for.

We asked Bill where we could go for a “local flavor” sandwichn ad he sent us 7 miles down the road to The Jimstown Country Store.  This was an old time Country store in the middle of nowhere, (Jimstown it seems is three buildings).  The sandwiches were to die for, the atmosphere right out of the wild west.  What fun!

Tomorrow is an important day…..visiting Del Bondio, Domaine Carneros, and Staglin!

Peter

PS:  Shelley, Annapolis finest AP US History Teacher was so appalled at my spelling and grammar that she insisted on fixing this one before publication……<G>

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Sorry for my terrible spelling yesterday.  It probably won’t be any better today

Started out at the Benessere tasting room this morning.  MILLS will be doing a Benessere tasting and feature when I return so I won’t spoil it all here.

I was quite impressed by their Italian varietals.  I can’t think of a vineyard/winery doing any better in California these days with these varietals.  Found out thhat this is the old Charles F Shaw property, purchased by the Benash family of Chicago in the late 1980′s.  The whole tasting room experience was magnificent.

I was shocked to here who their “new” winemaker is, and I was thrilled to meet him.   Jack stewart was the winemaker/GM at Silverado for 25 years.  He retired 5 years ago.  John Benash convinced him to come out of retirement to make the Benessere wines.

We got to tate their 1999 and 1998 Sangiovese.  Guess what…..they have almost 25 cases left of these wines.  I made them an offer and expect to find out if MILLS can get them.  We’ll know within 10 days…….

Lots more in an EMail blast in a few weeks.

Drove out to the Russian River Valley to visit Hop Kiln.  This is a tiny winery in a historic building that over the years has made a progression of simple blended wines.  Times have changed!

The building, a real Hops Kiln was erected in 1905 and is remarkable.  The winery and vineyard was purchased recently by Vero Westside a hospitality corporation that owns a wonderfull resort in California.  They are upgrading this property and the wines like crazy.  One must realize that their vineyards lie contiguous to Rochioli and Williams Seylem.  They have some of the most incredible Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes in the region and NEVER made them into 100% varietal wines.

The Chardonnay is a classic Russian River wine.  Their Pinot Noir is a fresh fruit monster the likes of which we rarely see.  Interestingly this is the first release EVER of these wines from Hop Kiln in their new HKG label.  A lot of the credit for these wines must be given to their new winemaker…..more later.

I found out that only 14 cases of Pinot Noir had been allocated to the Mid Atlantic USA.  Guess what…..THEY ARE ALL COMING TO ANNAPOLIS…..EVERY SINGLE DROP!  We will also get some of their Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, probably in Mid-September.

We all read 5 or 6 years ago that Cal Poly had instituted an oenology school.  25 year old Chuck Mansfield is the very first full graduate of this program and he is the winemaker at Hop Kiln.   A tall kid, with a backwards baseball cap comes out to meet us.  we go to his cellar and start tasting some of the wines he has made.  You heard it here first…..This is a winemaking superstar in the making.  Just wait till we get a chance to taste these wines.

Then it was on to Hartford Court.  One of the jewels of the Kendall Jackson empire sort of.  Don Hartford is Jess Jackson’s son in law, so they jointly own this Russian River property.  The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from this estate always gets great Parker scores and those I tasted will also score well.

I did get to taste a Russian River Old Vines Zinfandel that was excellent.  MILLS will try to get some soon.

Two other interesting things happened today.

I was introduced to Napa Valley Royalty…..I can’t reveal the name yet…..he and two other very famous Napa Valley “celebrities” have come together to make less than 1000 cases of a very special wine.  This first partner has offered the only MD/DC shipment to MILLS if we can figure out a way to get it to Annapolis.  I can’t wait to work on this project.

Called an old friend, Keith Hargrove of Bennett Lane winery and asked if we could take him out to dinner.  As many of you know this winery has been a real friend to MILLS.  Many of you have tasted their MAXIMUS and some of you got to go to a MILLS TABLE dinner featuring Keith at Middleton Tavern last year.   We went to Pacifico (Mexican restaurant) in Calistoga, had great food and got to listen to a mariachi band.   Best news of all is that a new allocation of both Maximus and Turn 4 Cabernet will be released shortly.

Can’t believe there are 4 more days of this trip.  Talk to everyone tomorrow

Peter

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First appointment of the day was at PEJU.  This is a winery that has been around for 25 years, and is just now really being recognized for fine wine.

Lets get this straight.  The place is georgeous!  The wine accessory store and tasting room is as excellent as any I have visited.  Shelley went crazy buying stuff!  Though we had a “VIP” tasting I watched their staff with regular custoers and they were the best I have ever seen.  If you are going to visit Napa Valley make it a point to visit PEJU.

Tony Peju arrived from France in the early 1970′s.  He started selling books door to door in california at the age of 17.  He parlayed a few Dollars into a flower business, and that into PEJU vineyards.   They are one of only 18 Napa Valley Vineyards to be certified organic.

For years their wines had an OK reputation, but in the last 5 years they have taken off quality wise, and that is because Sara Fowler started as winemaker at that time.  A young veteran of; Quintessa, Mt Veeder, and Franciscan she added extreme skill to the winemaking position.  Sara is also one of California’s top experts on the different kinds of wood barrels.  We were impressed with her wines when our salesperson showed them to us at Mills in May and today just reinforced those opinions.

PEJU Sauvignon Blanc was bright and had a high degree of minerality.  One could easily compare it to pouilly Fume.  PEJU merlot is now one of my favorites.  This is NOT a wimpy, bland, boring Merlot.  We have a little left at MILLS you gotta try it.  The Cabernet is a classic Napa Valley Cabernet at a fair price.  Since Tony was from Provence he created a wine called Provence that is 50/50 red and white wine.  Alas, they have not yet released it to the rest of the USA.

We did lunch.  Went to Dean and DeLucca, got specialty sandwiches, went back to Beneserre and had a pic nic.  What were the Annapolis politicians thinking when they let D&D walk away from their Market House Bid?

Next was a visit to the ORIN SWIFT tasting room in downtown St Helena.

We got to taste the 2009 Veladora Sauvignon Blanc (at Mills), 2007 Papillon, 2008 Saldo, 2008 The Prisoner (at Mills) and the 2007 Mercury Head.

Swift is a “custom crusher”  he has no vineyards, no winery just a tasting room.  He custom crusher at both Starmont and Bin The Bottle.  If you like huge full bodied wines, Dave Phinney’s wines are really a mouthfull.    His approach is really unique.  he has sold the name Saldo and Prisoner to Augustin Huneas for marketing purposes, retains all the others, and continues to make both Prisoner and Saldo.  The influx in capital has allowed him to purchase a vineyard in the French region  called Maury.  Cant wait to taste it.

I ws very impressed by the quality ofthe VELADORA Sauvignon Blanc.  Cheryl and I both really liked it when we tasted it in the store and it has sold well for Mills.  The interesting part is that all profits go to:  Puertas Abiertas (Open Doors) a charity run by priests and doctors in Napa .  This is a farmworker charity working towards health services for farmworkers.

For those who have seen the Papillon label.  A mans hands with Papillon tatooed on them here’s the story.  The hands belong to Vince Tofinelli one of the most important growers in the Napa Valley.  The tats are NOT permanent!

Our final visit of the day was at BURGESS CELLARS.  Burgess has been around forever.  Started by Tom Burgess and now run by Steve Burgess, its this kind of operation that made Napa famous in the early days of the 1970′s.  The property high up on Howell Mountain near Angwin is gorgeous.  The buildings date back to the early days of Souverain.

We tasted their range of Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah and Grenache Rose.  We also tasted a very special Syrah that is not available YET in Maryland.  Trust me, it has moved to #1 on my acquire list………..

The Cabs, Merlot and Syrah are all perfect examples of what Napa can do at prices that are NOT ridiculous.  We already have the Cab and Merlot at Mills and we will be featuring them soon.  On the other hand, the 2009 Rose was as nice as any California Rose I have tasted.  Made almost entirely from Grenache it was bright fruity and delicious.  I really hope to get some of the 2010 version early in April next year.

One of the highlights of this visit was meeting Herman Froeb.  Tom Burgess hired him 25 years ago and he has been the winery manager ever since.  The insight he offered us on wine making technique from the winery standpoint was totlly invaluable.  He bouht a special machine that airates the Syrah but sending air bubbles into the wine.  It seems to make a big difference in getting rid of Syrah stink.

Finished the day at Vercelli Ristorante in downtown St Helena.  This is a tiny Italian mom and pop restaurant that Steve Burgess suggested.  Shelly said they made the best Gnocci she had ever tasted.  It would sure be great to have an Italian restaurant like this in Annapolis.

Tomorrow will be interesting.  We are starting with a tasting right here at Bebessere, then a trip to Santa Rosa to visit Hop Kiln and Hartford Court, finishing the day with old friend Keith Hargroves at Bennett Lane.  I was supposed to go visit Radio Cuteu  once again to beg for wine.  Bad news, it looks like they can’t see me…..good news, they agreed to ship Mills 10 case in late AUgust early September.  More on this in a pre-sell EMail when I get back.

Shelley took some great pictures.  if we can figure out how to get them to Robert we’ll publish them

Peter

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So its 1 AM Eastern Time and we just finished our first day here.  I’m not going to write this as a wine geek, more like a travel log and a future planning thought progression…..

Flight from BWI to Vegas was great, Vegas to San Francisco was a mess.  We got in 2 hours late1  got the rental and headed out over the Golden Gate Bridge.  Took a little over an hour to reach GLORIA FERRAR.

Had a wonderful tasting session with Jennifer, along with a delicious Box “Lunch”.  These California sparklers were surprisingly delicious.  Got me thinking about featuring them as MILLS feature California bubbly this Fall.  They do a special Carneros Cuvee at $50 that is as good as many of the $100 plus French Champagnes.   Big, full bodied and yeasty, but the regular cuvees will all be significantly below $20.

You all know my penchant for cool colorfull shirts.  Shelley got carried away and bought me a $98 Gloria Ferrar shirt that is totally cool.

Drove from Carneros to St Helena where we are staying at Benessere Vineyards.  This place exceeds my expectations one thousand fold.  This is one of the nicest places I have ever visited.  More later when we taste the wines.

Went in to Calistoga and had dinner at Brennans.  Food was excellent, had a bottle of Bennett Lane Maximus and it is every bit as good as we have been saying for the last two years!

Tomorrow:  Peju, Orin Swift and Burgess

Peter

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