WTN: Brief Napa Notes (Bighorn, Clos du Val)

Bighorn Cellars "Grand Reserve" 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon. Tasted at a very pleasant tasting room at the very southern end of Silverado Trail (the old Silverado Hill Cellars winery). Cheese, bread, wine, and crackers! They are slowly converting this facility into a custom crush "wine studio" but pour the wines of Bighorn Cellars on weekends. This is William Hill's "new" project since he sold William Hill Winery a few years back. A decent lineup of wines, relatively restrained. The one set of cabs was distinctly green in character, which the tasting room manager claimed was deliberate. However, the Grand Reserve, which comes from Coombsville ("Tulocay" for BAT folks!) east of Napa City was showing very well that afternoon, with a medium-light palatte, plenty of red and black fruit, and a distinctive and enjoyable dash of cedar and leather. 90 points+.

Sequoia Grove. Pickup Party for the wine club. We sampled 2006 Cabernet from the Stagecoach Vineyard from the barrel-this should be single vineyard bottled! The distinctive wine was the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, which had a very savory herbal character to it that is different than many Napa SBs. Not really cats' pee or grassy, but more herbaceouss. Don't know if this is a flaw, but I rather liked it. 88 points.

Clos Du Val

Sampled the 2004 Oak Vineyard Stag's Leap Cab. Painfully young and much leaner than many 2004s. The tasting room host "complained" about the high alcohols in their 2004 Cabs (a whopping 14.1% nominal abv.) I am sitting on this wine for about five years. 89 points now, with upside potential.

The 2003 Oak Vineyard was singing today, though. Many 2003s need time, and this wine will probably also improve, but it was juicy black and red fruit, already some secondary savory and leather and cedar notes showing. Bravo! 92 points with strong upside potential. The 2003s seem to be doing this-unforgiving at first but blossoming after a year or so. Signorello's Cab was the same way.

1996 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This was delicious as well. It may be their basic bottling, and I plan to drink this soon, but it was light and ethereal fruit with lovely smoothed tannins and fantastic earthyness. I love the opportunity to sample these older CdV wines! 91 points.

Nice notes. I generally like the Sequoia Grove Cabernets and may have to look for the Sauvignon Blanc also.

Next time you visit-don't think they make very much .

The Sequoia Grove you should try is the Stagecoach Syrah. Straight out of Northern Rhone!