Discover a world of rich flavors and aromas as we delve into a curated selection of exceptional wines. From the renowned vineyards of Napa Valley to the high-altitude terroirs of Argentina, we'll explore Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Bonarda, Syrah, and more, offering detailed tasting notes and expert reviews.
Napa Valley's Finest
Napa Valley, known for its diverse growing regions, produces wines of depth and brilliance. Let's explore some standout selections:
Black Stallion Napa Valley Limited Release Red
The winery takes its name from a major equestrian area that once occupied the grounds. Its calling card is Cabernet Sauvignon, made in a classic Napa Valley style that offers richness and finesse. While single-vineyard wines are occasionally bottled, most Black Stallion wines are made from small lots cherry-picked from the valley’s disparate winegrowing zones. These are then painstakingly blended to create luxurious, unforgettable wines that capture the depth and brilliance of Napa Valley’s diverse growing regions.
Review: This blend is softly layered in dense, rich tones of plum and cherry, with a rounded approachability and well-integrated tannin and oak. Chocolate, leather and clove accent the finish.-Wine Enthusiast 90 Points Cellar for up to 8 years. No need to decant before serving.
Black Oak Cabernet Sauvignon
The Black Oak Cabernet Sauvignon is garnet red in color, refreshing and inviting to the palate. The wine’s aromas are layered with rich plum notes and a warm cedar component. The ripe, dark cherry flavors, are reminiscent of decadent blackberries with a nice sprinkling of dried herbs. With a mellow tannin structure, this medium-bodied wine is delicious and well-integrated.
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Black Oak Pinot Noir
The Black Oak Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir. The Black Oak Pinot Noir is a glowing example of what they do best in Puglia, make great wine. Deep ruby in color with a lovely bouquet of sweet spices, even a dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg. The flavors are flowing with ripe black cherry. This medium-bodied wine with its fresh acidity will complement many meal selections.
Gaspare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Our 2021 Gaspare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from our grapes grown on the BSEW Estate in the Gaspare Vineyard blocks. Our vineyard is located in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, which is known for it’s moderate growing climate which encourages consistent ripening throughout the growing season. Our 2021 vintage exhibits aromas of blackberry, brown sugar and cedar. It has a dark fruit flavor finished by powerful but elegant.
Review: The 2021 Gaspare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep garnet-purple color. The nose is a little trapped behind the oak at this youthful stage, allowing glimpses and blackcurrant jelly and juicy plums notes with hints of menthol and anise. Full-bodied, the palate similarly sports a good amount of oak, backed up by the seductive black fruits and approachable, grainy tannins, finishing with a spicy kick.-Wine Independent 93 Point
Argentina's Terroir: El Enemigo
El Enemigo was founded by historian Adrianna Catena, who is also Nicolas Catena’s youngest daughter, and Catena Zapata’s chief winemaker Alejandro Vigil in 2009. These two legendary figures on the Argentine wine scene came together over a mutual love for literature and philosophy, and decided to create their own wine label that would offer a unique taste of Argentina’s exceptional terroir and its Old World winemaking heritage.
Zorzal Terroir Unico Malbec, Mendoza | Argentina
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El Enemigo Bonarda
Bonarda is little-known in Europe these days, but it has a special place in Argentina where it’s considered the nation’s second red wine after Malbec. Today the brand is responsible for many of the most exciting wines coming out of Argentina, including this sensational single vineyard Bonarda. La Esperanza is a very special 150 year old vineyard that was about to be uprooted when it was discovered by Alejandro Vigil. Luckily he was able to save 5 hectares from which he makes a few hundred bottles of this wine each vintage.
Once in the winery this precious fruit is vinified with wild yeasts and the young wine ages in large foudres that are over 100 years old. The result is a remarkably elegant and vibrant red that’s bursting with luscious red cherries, plums and blackberries as well as hints of dark chocolate. A charming wine to serve with tomato-based dishes thanks to the refreshing acidity, smooth tannins, and bright fruit flavours.
Review: Blackberry, red-plum and graphite on the nose, as well as herbal and smoky notes. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins. Fleshy texture on the palate with structure and a ink-like feel. Savory finish. Hints of chocolate at the end. Try after 2023.-James Suckling 94 Points Varietal-100% Bonarda Vineyard- El Mirador Vineyard in Rivadavia, 2,132 ft. Elevation. Soil composed of mostly sand. Ageing & Vinification- Wild Yeasts with 25 days maceration , 12 Months ageing in 100-year-old foudre. Tech Data- 13.5% ABV, Acidity 6.1, pH-3.7
Review: Sour cherries, blueberries and spice box on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins. Savory and fleshy on the palate with some structure, leading to a flavorful and fruity finish. One of the best bonardas out there. Try after 2023. -James Suckling 94 Points
El Enemigo Gran Enemigo
El Enemigo Gran Enemigo is made from 100% Cabernet Franc. In the spectrum of people who pay attention to detail, winemakers are often incredibly detail-oriented. This can sometimes spill over to become an internal battled, and, as Alejandro Vigil and Adrianna Catena state, "We are our own worst enemy." El Enemigo pays homage to this internal struggle.
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The nose presents sweet aromas of black ripen fruits with hints of vanilla and chocolate, which appear after the oak ageing. The mouthfeel is sweet with structured, persistent tannins due to the natural acidity of this wine, leading into an excellent long finish.
Review: The nose of the 2018 Gran Enemigo El Cepillo Single Vineyard, from a low-yielding and drier year, is full of curry, a note that was a constant across the three vintages I tasted together, but it tends to be stronger in low-yielding and dry years like this. It's also floral and comes through as aromatic and a little exotic, in a good way, with elegance, persistence and very pure flavors. It has fine-grained tannins, great acidity and balance. 7,200 bottles. All these single-vineyard bottlings mature in ancient 4,000-liter oak foudres for some 15 months.-Wine Advocate 97 Points
"Pretty and inviting on the nose with gorgeous aromas of floral violet, cassis and completed with a lifted, delicate liquorice note. The palate is graced with deep herb, pepper, crunchy red fruit and graceful, silky tannins." -Decanter 97 Points
Bodegas Alto Moncayo Aquilon Garnacha
Bodegas Alto Moncayo Aquilon Garnacha is made from 100% Garnacha.The wines of Alto Moncayo are crafted to express the unique terroir of windswept high elevation Campo de Borja DO; and to serve as a benchmark for world class Old Vine Garnacha.Aquilón is "The jewel in the Crown" a selection of the best barrels from the best lots. The vines are 60-100 years old.
Review: This garnet-colored wine offers aromas of black currant, black raspberry and black licorice, with just a touch of charcuterie. The fruit flavors shine through with subtle notes of crushed violet. It has soft tannic structure, with a pleasant bit of grippiness in the post palate as it leads up to the long, long, finish. -Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
About the VineyardVineyards in Tabuenca and Borja, planted with indegenous clones of Garnacha starting in the 1920s.
Wine ProductionThe selected highest quality grapes are placed into small stainless-steel tanks of 7 tons capacity. The must is basket pressed and fermentation is finished in new French and American oak where it complets the malolactic fermentation. Wine is aged in the barrels for 24 months before bottling.
Tasting NotesAppearance: Very deep red, scarlet rimAroma: Minerals and vanilla. Hints of raisins and dark ChocolatePalate: As typical of the vintage, power and intensity with disarming elegance.Food Pairing:Goes well with beef, pork, game based stews and rice dishes.Intense ruby color of high layer with garnet edge, clean and shiny. Intense nose that, from the beginning, transmits complexity, penetrating, with aromas of black fruits, blueberries and currants, undergrowth, roasted memories, toffee, coffee powder, liquorice, cloves, vanilla and lebanese cedar. Mouth with freshness and balance, with tannins ripe and creamy, which highlight its elegance, with a step harmonious and intense. Long and pleasant aftertaste, with a great variety of balsamic and spicy memories.
Boekenhoutskloof Syrah Swartland
Boekenhoutskloof Syrah Swartland is made from 100 percent Syrah. Grapes for our Boekenhoutskloof Syrah are picked from selected parcels of the finest Syrah, grown at our Swartland farms, namely Porseleinberg and Goldmine, close to the small town of Riebeek-Kasteel. These vineyards were planted on the rocky bedrock of decomposed Mica-Schist, a unique terroir, finding its expression in our concentrated and structured wines made from this Rhône grape.
The nose is perfumed, forthcoming and fresh, offering an array of rich dark fruits with a spicy, floral, even feral character, derived from complex aromas of dark berries, plums, violets, black olives, star anise and potting soil. The black fruits and earthy character of the nose follow through onto a dark, brooding palate with flavours of wild berries, brambles, liquorice, tobacco, cloves and black cardamom. The mid-palate is concentrated, deep, dense and slightly dusty, with dry, very fine cocoa-powdery tannins lending structure. The wine is very precise, with a medium to full body, a tight, grainy texture and vibrant acidity to balance. Blackberries, blueberries and notes of garrigue and dark chocolate linger on a savoury finish.
Review:Using fruit from two exceptional Swartland sources - Goldmine and mostly Porseleinberg - this foudre-aged Syrah is fresh, subtle and intensely aromatic, as schist Syrahs often tend to be. Complex, floral and refined with remarkable freshness and palate length. Drink: 2020-2028. - Tim Atkin MW, 95/100
Booker Fracture
Booker Fracture is made from 100 percent Syrah. Often described as a Booker flagship, Fracture is one of the world’s great Syrah's. Only the softest Syrah in barrel makes the cut for this dense and powerful wine. The namesake pays homage to the calcareous soil in our vineyard, the limestone causes it to ‘fracture’. Deep and mysterious at first sight, the 2018 vintage is rich and velvety on your palate. There is an interesting balance of earth and fruit, with traces of sweet beets, dark plums and chocolate. Though this silky wine will pair with anything, our thoughts are going to salty popcorn by the fire or Dutch Gouda cheese with some black truffle mustard.
Review: The 100% Syrah 2019 Fracture comes all from the Booker Estate Vineyard and is another pure, balanced, incredibly classy wine from this estate. Loads of darker fruits, ground black pepper, crushed stone, and scorched earth give way to a medium to full-bodied, powerful, concentrated Syrah that will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for 10-15 years. -Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
Additional Wine Reviews
- 2016 Val d’Arno di Sopra Torrione: "The bouquet opens to ripe cherry and dried raspberry with moist earth, exotic spice and chewing tobacco. The wine is plush and rich with a hint of that tangy Sangiovese acidity on the close." - Antonio Galloni 95+ points
- 2014 Canon La Gaffelière: "Bright Cabernet Franc aromatics give the wine its signature lift and precision. Raspberry jam, rose petal, mint, blood orange, tobacco and pomegranate build slowly on the palate, leading to a super-expressive, finely knit finish." - Wine Spectator 95 points
- 2013 Barbaresco Riserva Pora: "The wine is rich and deeply textured, with layers of fruit that continue to build with time in the glass. The tannins are present, but they are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit." - Antonio Galloni 94 points
- 2008 Amour de Deutz Brut Millésime: "Bright and focused in the glass, the 2008 is full of nuance. A hint of reduction adds complexity without overpowering the wine. Crushed rocks, lemon confit and passion fruit flavors offer an appealing interplay of brightness and more overt flavors." - Antonio Galloni 94 points
Napa Valley Trip Planner
If you are planning a trip to Napa Valley, here is a potential itinerary:
- Day 1: Oxbow Public Market and surrounding points of interest.
- Day 2: Napa Premium Outlets and Alston Park.
- Day 3: Kennedy Park and Napa Valley Balloons, Inc.
- Day 4: Skyline Wilderness Park and The Grove at Copia.
- Day 5: Sequoia Grove Winery and Clos du Val.
Consider exploring nearby places such as Yountville, Sonoma, Oakville, and Rutherford.
Dining in Napa: Zuzu - A Spanish Tapas Experience
On our recent visit to Napa Valley, we decided to try Zuzu, a Spanish tapas restaurant that’s been part of downtown Napa since 2002. We started with the peach salad topped with manchego and arugula, perfectly balanced and refreshing. The tomato salad was bursting with freshness and flavor, a true taste of the season. If you find yourself in Napa and aren’t sure where to dine, you cannot go wrong with Zuzu. A long-standing favorite for a reason, it’s a place we’ll happily return to again and again.
Zuzu absolutely blew me away! From the very first bite to the final spoonful of dessert, every dish was bursting with bold, authentic Spanish flavors. The shrimp tapas was sizzling and rich, the almond-crusted fish was cooked to perfection, and that dreamy banana tres leches?
An absolute MUST go location if in the area. My wife and I stumbled across this gem of a place upon arriving to Napa, taking an after nap from all the travel, and then realizing that the entire town practically shuts down at 9:00pm. On our first night, we were out for new experiences. Even with the dance club blaring music not a block from the store, once you sat down inside, you could still comfortably converse with others at your table.
For the meal, we ordered the Akaushi (a favorite that we ordered everytime. Use the bread to maximize the use of the chimichurri oil as a delicious extension of the appetizer), the Zuzu Paella (Delicious chicken, sausage, and clam Paella with a creamy texture that goes down easy). At this point, we had been wowed with flavors, so wanted to try a wine to pair along with some of desserts to sate her sweet tooth.
The gambas al ajillo arrived soupy. To be honest, I was confused a little bit because I was expecting the simple olive oil Spanish version (they claimed to serve authentic Spanish dishes). But!! Flavor-wise, it was phenomenal! Rich, complex, garlicky, and perfectly balanced with just the right kick. I couldn’t complain about the taste at all, though I do think the dish deserves a different name so it’s not misleading, this was clearly their own twist, maybe with a splash of broth at the end. Nevertheless, it has this deep satisfying savory flavor!
Here are a few close by recommendations for when you get hungry exploring around.
Wine List Highlights
Here's a glimpse of some highlighted wines from a comprehensive list:
| Wine | Vintage | Notes | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Peaks Cab | 2021 | Vivid aromas of violet, boysenberry, and blackcurrant with trailing hints of tobacco. | $60.00 |
| Caymus (liter) | 2022 | Rich, full, and ripe with flavors of cocoa, cassis, ripe dark berries, and velvety tannins. | $155.00 |
| Silver Oak Alexander Valley | 2019 | Notes of redcurrant, cassis, ripe plum, cardamon, and toffee with harmonious intensity and a long finish. | $150.00 |
| Boekenhoutskloof Syrah Swartland | N/A | Rich dark fruits with a spicy, floral, even feral character, derived from complex aromas of dark berries, plums, violets, black olives, star anise and potting soil. | N/A |
| Turley "Judge Bell" Zinfandel | 2021 | Nose of red berries, apricots, citrus peel, and amaro spice. Medium-bodied. | $85.00 |
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