posted 11-03-2010 08:18 AM            

I have thought Trefethen wines were okay, but nothing really special. Not sure I would make a special trip to visit.

posted 11-02-2010 11:41 AM            

Day 4 - Sunday, October 24 - The rain is continuing, only harder at this point. Over 2” fell during the night. At this point, we had lost 4 of our group, so we were now 4 strong.

How many of you have heard of Midsummer Cellars? This was the first stop on Sunday morning. Just off the Silverado Trail on Sage Canyon Road, owned by Rollie and Sally Heitz, they only make three wines, all Cabs. We tasted all three, ‘07s, Canon Creek Vineyard (448 cases), Tomasson Vineyard (74 cases), and the Fowler Vineyard. At $40.00, $40.00 and $25.00, we thought they were all best buys. Normally we have not found wines of this quality at this price. Their tasting room is a little hole in the winery wall and quite charming. The Canyon Creek and Fowler were our favorites, but the Tomasson was not too shabby either. We shipped two bottles of each home. We will have to start getting very selective because our space at home is filling rapidly. I would suggest that Midsummer Cellars to be a MUST visit on your itinerary. Be sure to call for an appointment. Now you have heard of Midsummer Cellars!

It is now 11:00 am and we are scheduled at Conn Creek Winery, just back across Hwy 29 from Midsummer Cellars. Their ‘05 Bordeaux blend, Anthology which is their flagship wine, was tasting very well and would have been a part of my shipment home if I had more space. The ‘05 Collins Vineyard Cab was also tasting well and was my pick of the Cabs that we tasted. I think a trip to Conn Creek would be very worthwhile just for these two wines. A recommended stop since you have already been to Midsummer Cellars just across the street and are very close..

For lunch, we drove back across to Hwy 29 and drove to the south edge of St. Helena, to Pizzeria Tra Vigne, one of our favorite lunch stops. A peperoni pizza was consumed so we were happy again. I was also about a quart low on Diet Coke, so I caught up on that.

Our next appointment was at Burgess Cellars up Deer Park Road on Howell Mountain. The views from this winery are amazing (if it isn’t raining). We have tasted at Burgess several times, once with the owner, Tom Burgess, which was very special. Burgess is known for their big Howell Mountain Cabs that are bold in flavor and finish well. Since our last case is filling fast, we only purchased 2 of his ‘96 Library Howell Mountain Cabs that we thought were very special. This Cab contained 80% Cab, 12% Cab Franc, and 8% Merlot, and was made from grapes from the Burgess Estate Vineyard. If you like big Cabs. put Burgess Cellars on your list.

As the rain pours harder we ventured up Deer Park Road to Ladera Winery. I had attended a wine dinner in Chattanooga a couple weeks ago where Ladera wines were featured. We tasted several wines on their list, but the ‘06 Howell Mountain stood out above all the others. Do I lean toward the reds? You bet! Again, because of the case space (plus it is at the upper limits of my price point), we only purchased 2 bottles of their Cab. Wine Spectator just rated this wine at 94 points. Now, I don’t always agree with WS ratings, but I believe this one to be right on target. Just up the road a little way from Burgess, I would suggest a trip up just for their Cab.

Because of the weather, we canceled our last appointment only to taste another day.

We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Calistoga, Bosco’s Italian Restaurant. The food is always good and the service here is superb.