Napa Valley Day 2, part 2
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Peter Thompson led us up a long and twisty road, it reminded me of the time, 2 years ago, that I rode up Spring Mountain with the Henry Wine Group SoCal divison, and got so carsick that I booted right next to the VP of the company. Damn You Ford Windstar! Your bad shocks, and top heaviness, caused me to miss the afternoon at Cain (along with being overserved the previous evening) but that’s a different story. Today we were riding to the top of Diamond Mountain, to one of the highest elevation vineyards in the whole region. We already knew Peter Thompson from Andrew Geoffrey was putting out some world class Cabs, but we of course had to take a look at this remote vineyard ourselves. Armed with some beautiful steaks, cheeses breads, etc, Peter hooked it up! With what had to be the most breathtaking view of the visit., 1800ft elevation on a clear day,
pretty much gives you the lay of the land. We could see just about every vineyard in the Northern Half of the Valley from one vantage point. A truly spectacular day! But let me mention the wines. Andrew Geoffrey makes one wine, Cabernet. It is blended with all of the usual suspects, and they do receive some press, but I would just like to say this: press can’t do these wines justice. Their deep, rich tannins, and unending complexity make me think of only one other producer from this region, and at a lower elevation, only Diamond Creek has made wines of
this style. The only difference is the fact that Andrew Geoffrey wines show better young. The vines were planted around 1997, so within a few vintages, they should really start showing their stuff. It seems that 10 years is what Cab needs to peak, which is an almost unimaginable statement having tasted 3rd-5th leaf of these wines. The rest of the day was spent visiting some potential new producers, and the competition being what it is, they shall remain secret for the time being.
