Recently in 2001 Category

This was a beautiful intriguing Merlot, and again, arguably the best Merlot in the country. A touch of dust, but driven by dark berries and plums, classic Merlot mocha and a very very silky mouthfeel. I should have bought more of this wine. Anyone that lives in Seattle and is willing to throw down the money to blind taste the best Merlots from US and maybe a couple from France, contact me.

This is probably the most asked for bottle of wine other that Caymus at my restaurant. There is much debate over whether the Napa cab is really worth the $100 more on our menu. When we had the 2000 Napa, I thought the 02 Alexander Valley crushed it. The 01 Napa was showing just ok to me, a lot of oak, and that dairy creamy element that comes along with over oaking your wine. Pretty decent fruit to it, black cherry, black currants, sturdy tannins, good acidity, but in my opinion lacked layers of complexity and not worth the price tag. The are plenty of inexpensive over oaked wines out there, why spend over $100 on this one.