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What are some of the recent selections you have pulled from your collection to enjoy with a meal? Do they tend to be some additions made within the last two years from mailing lists or Vinfolio?

I'm asking because I just became reacquainted with a wine I held in the highest regard when it was first released four years ago. As it goes in my job I taste wines as they are released and some are so youthful there is no way to properly assess their merits accurately. Generally I have always suggested enjoying California Cabernet within 7 to 10 years after the vintage as a "sweet spot" range to ensure optimal drinking. That isn't to say a wine couldn't go longer but a properly cellared 1996 through 1999 Cabernet should be tasting beautifully now. If you had the foresight to put some of these away in your cellar upon release, congratulations. If you find them on retail store shelves they likely have been knocked around a bit and will show the wear. Provenance in wines of this age is crucial to verification of storage condition.

Through special arrangement and much coaxing on my part over the past three years, I have been granted access to the library of one of my favorite wines - 1999 Altamura Cabernet Sauvignon. Frank Altamura was born in Napa Valley and started in the wine business in 1976 at Sterling before joining Chuck Wagner and Randy Dunn at Caymus. He formed his own brand in 1985. The 1999 represents the premiere vintage from the first vines they planted at the Estate beginning in 1992.

A recent issue of The Wine Spectator featured an article by James Laube on Napa's Top 50 Cabernet Sauvignon. To arrive at this list they looked at available ratings on at least 10 vintages going back to 1990 to come up with an average that would represent consistency. The Top 10 are really no surprise but the list statistically ranks Altamura (#27) above some serious wines; Dunn Howell Mountain (#28), Dominus (#29), Joseph Phelps Backus (#32t), Silver Oak Napa (#32t), Diamond Creek (#35t,#37,#43t), Far Niente (#35t) and Quintessa (#43t). Only the 1999 Dominus, (WS95) had a higher rating than the 93 point Altamura which happened to score higher than a trio of 92 point blue chips; Pride, Caymus and Colgin.

You may find the 1999 Altamura wines currently on the Vinfolio site if you want to get an early look at them. or wait for the in-depth offer this weekend. They are not to be missed.

It seems like the first set of ten wines we offered for The Top25 list of 2006 were well received. I will publish the next ten wines at the end of this week. As I did previously, I am issuing some clues as to what will be in the list when it comes out. I have put the answers in bold

1. This wine is the first red from California for this producer. 2005 Auteur Sonoma Stage Pinot Noir
2. This wine (cuvee) is a real dog (a very large one)2004 Ambullneo Pinot Noir Mastiff Cuvee
3. This wine proves two mothers are better than one 2003 Drinkward Peschon Cabernet Sauvignon Entre Deux Meres
4. This wine was made by last year's top winemaker and is named for an ancient city: 2004 SCHOLIUM PROJECT BABYLON

5. This wine is too precious to wash your hair in. 2003 Fidelitas Cabernet Sauvignon Champoux Vineyard

6. This "jewel" of a Cabernet producer was in last year's list too 2003 Diamond Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon

7. This winery produces another wine from a famous Monterey vineyard (no bull)2003 Miura Pinot Noir Talley Vineyard

Have some fun with it. Again no prize except the satisfaction you are a voracious reader of The Wilder Side of California. Click on any of the wine links for more details.

Click here for a look at wines #6 - #15

Mat Garretson is considered one of the main movers in the California Rhone varietal surge. He founded The Viognier Guild in 1989 and eventually morphed it into the Hospice du Rhone Festival; the world's most important Rhone varietal event held every Spring in Paso Robles. His wines first captured my attention in 2003 where his 2001 Viognier Table 62 was a Top 25 wine, followed by 2003 Roussanne, The Taistelai, a Top 25 wine in 2004.

There are some wines from Mat that leave me scratching my head as to what they are supposed to be while others are rapturous overtures of wines that will be benchmarks for some time. One of those is the recently tasted 2004 Garretson Syrah Mon Amie (VF95, WA94). If you saw the first installment of the Top25 list of 2006, you already know how excellent this wine is.

Wines that are part of the Vinfolio Top25 list of 2006 will begin appearing in your emails shortly. The number 16 through 25 wines will appear first and the next 10 wines will be featured in two weeks, followed by the Top 5 the following week. This week will be a great opportunity to load up on wines I have rated between 93 and 96 points. With only one exception I have set aside significant quantities of these wines.

I imagine you are curious what is in the assortment, so here are a few hints of what will be in the first ten wines. If you read the reviews in the Wilder Side of California you will know what they are.

I am made by a winemaker named Doug, I am not a Pinot Grigio
I have a name you must say twice to order correctly because my vineyard source also appears on another wine that is red
I am named after a dog now deceased, we make another red wine named for the wife
I am grown in Oregon, but not made there, I am a 2004 red wine
I am from a very lonely barrel, but Vinfolio loves me

Send in your guesses and see how close you get to picking these five wines. There's no prize except the knowledge you are a passionate reader of The Wilder side of California.

Sometimes I find I just can't help myself from having one bite too many. Just last night Elizabeth made some delicious enchiladas. After I finished a plate she very sweetly suggested that there was "just a little more in the oven". Still a bit peckish, I went to the kitchen stopping first for a refill of 2003 Arcadian Dierberg Pinot Noir. When I got to the stove and saw there was a LOT of enchilada left, so I reloaded. If you have seen me in the last few months you know I have thrown on a few more pounds as of late but I can't help but love her cooking. She says the key to dieting is all about portion control. When she saw what I was putting on my plate she pointed out that I may want to leave some for lunch tomorrow. I thanked her for her suggestion but still plated what I wanted. Did I really need to feel guilty about having "The Whole Enchilada?

If you really like something, there is little harm in going for it as long as you know you can finish it all. Which brings me to the reason for this post.

As I reported in last week's The Wilder Side of California, Issue 77. The 2004 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon are here. The Estate bottling received a great review from Robert Parker. The winery decided to keep a single intriguing barrel seperate and designated it Tanbark Hill.

Vinfolio had a unique opportunity to purchase the entire 28 case barrel and is now proudly offering it. After tasting with Philip Togni I was convinced that filling my plate was a good thing to do. Knowing the care the winery takes with everything they do I was impressed this was something they decided to leave out. I asked Philip to send me his thougts on this barrel and I received a personal letter from him yesterday. Here is what the winemaker said about the 2004 Tanbark Hill:

Dear Doug,

…Our practice has long been to carry out the seven rackings before bottling (over a 20 month period, November to June of the second year) not barrel to tank to barrel, but barrel to barrel. This means that any given barrel out of about 100 remains unblended until selection at the moment of bottling. Inevitably one or a few of the barrels may develop its own quirky individuality – wood is, after all, a natural material. In 2004 only one such barrel was considered to be different enough that we bottled it apart, as 28 cases. The difference in taste is so minimal that it is possible that the only person who would notice is the person whose name is on the label. We liked the wine: We just didn’t like it as much as the other 99 barrels. It is possible that a second time round we would not have considered this barrel as different at all.

Please remember the Parker comments on our 2001 Tanbark Hill,

"If this is a second wine, let me tell you about all the green leprechauns I’ve met." The Wine Advocate 162

One tangible difference is that these 28 cases are made only of free run juice, without the usual blending of 20% press wine. The effect of this absence will shorten the life expectation, say from 25 years to 12 years…

Our label is on the wine, and our name is on the label.

Philip Togni,
10 November 2006


So here is an instance where we "filled our plate" with a very important wine. I think history will show that we were wise to do so; in the first 4 days of offering it more than 30% is already allocated. Once this single barrel is gone, there will be no more.

We will continue to seek out opportunities to acquire wine in barrel as it provides an exclusive product that nobody else has. You will get first crack at them when they happen in The Wilder Side of California.

Sometimes we all have experiences where we develop a headache and you will do just about anything to make it go away. What is the best method? Has anyone tried wine? I never had given too much thought to it. But who hasn't heard of "The hair of the dog"?

During my morning web surfing I ran across a thread on the Mark Squires Bulletin Board at eRobertParker today asking a question: Is Wine the Cure for a Lingering Headache? and I read it with interest as I have a guest in the valley tomorrow who is sensitive to sulfites (oh great!). As is usually the custom with this bulletin board, there were some insightful comments and suggestions, peppered with the nonsense of those who just want themselves heard.

On my way to work I took Highway 29 into St. Helena to mail something at the Post Office where I ran ito Lisa Drinkward of Drinkward Peschon and Behrens & Hitchcock. She let me know that all of the fermentations were done so she was relieved to be through with punchdowns. I made my last stop at Sunshine Market in St. Helena because I know it is the only place to pick up Illy pods for my espresso maker. My main complaint about Sunshine is that even though the "who's who" of Napa Valley shops there, they only have four checkout stands. so the lines back up and it becomes Friday morning social hour as you talk to your friend in the nest line who has finally got wines in barrel or is putting together the fall bocce team. Because I only had two items (I put back the new issue of Food & Wine after reading the part of my friend, David Phinney of Orin Swift Cellars being mentioned as one of the Top Innovators). His new Sauvignon Blanc project, Veladora, gives 100% of the profits from sales to a fund supporting the farmworkers. This year he will contribute over $50,000. But enough for congratulating friends!

I was kind of in a hurry. My latest offer on Philip Togni went live last evening and Friday mornings there are always emails to answer related to the offer. The woman in front of me in line with the full grocery basket took pity on me with my handful of items and offered to let me go ahead of her. I was slipping into my chair at my office 3 minutes later when I realized something didn't feel right - I was coming down with a migraine which for me are un-predictable as to what triggers them and how often they come along. My first thought was take a couple aspirin for the pain that I knew was likely only minutes away.

What to wash them down with though? Here is a chance to experiment!! Well I had my choice, there was a bottle of water on my desk as well as an open bottle of 2004 Philip Togni. I thought to myself "Why not?" so I took the aspirin with the wine. Inmmediately therafter I went into my kitchen and made an espresso, (great for migraines) followed closely by another. I turned off the lights, locked the door, turned off the phone, laid down, closed my eyes and waited for the cattle to begin pounding through my head. To my surprise the symptoms started getting less and less noticeable and within 10 minutes I felt good as new, as a matter of fact, as I said in the Squires thread "It felt like I had gotten a brain transplant".

If you have ever had a migraine you know how totally excruciating they can be until they are over. Mine usually last about 3 hours but I hadn't had one in seven years. The fact that this one was over so quickly with such a refreshing result must have been a result of the sip of wine, or perhaps the mere suggestion that wine may play a part was enough for me. Whatever it was, it worked!

Has anyone else had a headache where a bit of wine helped? This is a purely un-scientific poll. But I would love to hear your stories.

This week I tasted the new release of 2004 Melka Cabernet Sauvigon CJ made by Philippe Melka and named for his children, Chloe and Jeremy. Melka's wines are a combination of fruit from all of his client's vineyards. The mind races to imagine how much Bryant, Marston, Seavey or Hundred Acre made it in here. The wines are very limited and provide a lot of quality for the price. Click here to buy it ahead of the offer. You will be glad you did! 2004 Melka CJ

It is a recurring phenomenon afflicting some wine collectors who kick and scream if they miss out on the latest reviewed wine from their favorite wine critic. The rant usually goes something like this:

"I just received my favorite wine critic's newsletter in the mail and he rated a particular wine 99 points. I ran down to my favorite retailer to buy all I could get my hands on, but the on-line subscribers received the information yesterday and beat me to it".

As a retailer who specializes in the top emerging wines of California, Vinfolio usually has wines available that have yet to receive a review from a wine critic. If you read The Wilder Side of California, you are familiar with our recommendations for wines as soon as they are released. Vinfolio clients have come to expect the reviews and ratings are largely consistent with other printed reviews with the exception that for the most part, we will have an opinion months before anyone else which means we also have the wine. Which brings me back to the rant.

Every wine I find worth recommending is in a issue of The Wilder Side of California within a week or two. That means it is visible on our website, www.vinfolio.com, anytime thereafter, until sold out. It goes without saying that a review from Robert Parker, or The Wine Spectator certainly don't hurt when offering a wine, but without those scores, a merchant needs to depend on the credibility and trust they have developed with a client over a period of time to successfully market a particular wine. So when I read about someone who is upset because their merchant is out of a recently "anointed" wine, I ask myself "Don't these people trust their merchant to give them information they can act on?"

Wine critics don't tell wine merchants what to buy before they review them, so any reputable wine professional who selects a wine puts their reputation on the line, most of us have been doing this a long time and can recognize an admirable wine in pretty short fashion. I hear the argument that a wine merchant recommends a wine just because they have it to sell. I don't doubt that happens as there are thousands of wines with vast distribution that may be pretty ordinary. If that is all a merchant can get, they may need to create their market by claiming it is their "staff favorite under $10". In situations like this, the consumer should not expect much beyond "I want a bottle of red wine under $10".

With my Vinfolio office located in the middle of Napa Valley, I am able to evaluate wines on a daily basis and take positions in them at a very early stage. I have mentioned this before: About 80% of what we recommend has not been reviewed elsewhere. Can you imagine if your merchant only got on the phone to order from a winery, broker or distributor after a critic has given it a high score? Is it more enjoyable to own a case of a wine that your merchant introduced you to six months before it gets the great score? or do you prefer spending hours racing 10,000 other subscribers of a wine magazine for the 2 bottles that may be left at a shop?

So back to the three guys in the room. It is you, your favorite wine critic and your favorite wine merchant. You are allowed to ask only one question and it can only be directed towards one of them. The question is "what are your top three California Pinot Noirs? The critic may tell you about wines you can only dream about. The merchant will tell you about wines you can try for yourself. Only one of them can put the wine in your hands.

I read in today's issue of The Wall Street Journal an article by Wine Editors, John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter, entitled "A Cult Worth Joining". The article points out the rapid rise of prices, and the difficulty in obtaining some of the most widely touted California Cabernet Sauvignon on the market and subjects several different vintages of the wines to a taste test conducted over consecutive evenings. Here is what they tasted: (winemaker)

• Screaming Eagle : Andy Erickson
• Lokoya : Chris Carpenter
• Colgin : Mark Aubert
• Dalla Valle : Philippe Melka
• Araujo : Francoise Peschon
• Harlan : Bob Levy
• Grace : Gary Brookman
• Vineyard 29 : Philippe Melka
• Bryant : Philippe Melka
• Abreu : Annie Favia (project manager)

The selections don't necessarily represent the latest, or as the writers acknowledge, the "best" vintages, but it was what they found on store shelves, which in of itself is a very telling detail.

Wines of this type are generally reserved for the most evolved connoisseur, and rarely make it to a retail shelf.

I believe that wines as hugely expensive as these need to be thoroughly explained to the consumer, so that it isn't purchased solely because of the expense. Oh, that reminds me of the Diamond Creek in the refrigerator story... I had a relative who was difficult to buy for during the holidays because he was so wealthy. I settled on a bottle of Diamond Creek Cabernet for him ( a lot of money for me at the time) and then on a subsequent visit found it with a mangled cork, crammed into the refrigerator door. It convinced me - Know your audience.

The owners of the properties covered in the article had the vision to create some of the most admired labels in America and they are deservedly noted without exception in the article and the associated table. However, apart from the almost obligatory mention of Heidi Barrett and Helen Turley in the first part of the article, one would be inclined (based on their omission by the writers) that the names of the winemakers are purely incidental and not important to connect with a brand.

With few exceptions, those of us who live and work in wine in Napa Valley more readily connect the winemaker, and not the proprietor to the wine. In the instance of several of the wines, the winemaker is well known in their own regard; Philippe Melka for instance is the winemaker for Vineyard 29, Bryant (replacing Turley) and most recently has taken over for Mia Klein at Dalla Valle. He also works on other projects where the drive for excellence is just as intense, beginning with his own brand, Melka as well as several others. Additionally, Francoise Peschon (Araujo) and Andy Erickson (now at Screaming Eagle and Arietta) have personal projects they work on that are not as well known as the brands they are most closely associated with. Peschon and her partner, Lisa Drinkward (Behrens & Hitchcock), produce about 500 cases of a Cabernet Sauvignon called Drinkward Peschon "Entre Deux Meres". Andy Erickson, (Hartwell) and his wife, Annie Favia (A world class vineyard manager) produce several wines under the Favia label and Andy is working on another exciting project called Ovid.

If you want to obtain wine created by the winemaking talent behind some of the most collectible wines in America, look no further than Vinfolio where we regularly feature several of these top-flight winemakers in The Wilder Side of California.

Andy Erickson and Annie Favia : Favia
Andy Erickson : Hartwell
Philippe Melka : Parallel, Melka
Gary Brookman : Miner Family, Clark Claudon, Brookman
Heidi Barrett : Showket, Revana, La Sirena
Francoise Peschon : Drinkward Peschon

Several of these wines have been recognized in the Top25 lists published at Vinfolio. Keep your eyes open for the release of the 2006 Edition next Friday at www.vinfolio.com