Dream Big - Discover California Wines 2019 - Tasting of wines from California, Gamla Riksarkivet, Stockholm (28-04-2019 by Nenad Jelisic and Robert Jonasson)

 

Dream Big was a tasting where there was the opportunity to taste a large selection of wines from California. In total, there were about 600 wines to taste from 135 producers and of these there were about 40 producers who lacked a Swedish importer. There were a lot of wines from the large and well-known wine districts of Napa Valley and Sonoma County at the tasting. There was also the opportunity to taste wines from lesser known appellations such as Santa Ynez (wine region Central Coast), Lodi (wine region Central Valley) and Paso Robles (wine region Central Coast). Since the tasting time was slightly shorter than usual while the number of wines available to taste was large, a limited amount of the wines was tasted. Of the 159 wines tasted, 51 wines got more than 2,5 NJP, i.e. 32%. It is a very good result compared to tastings from other countries. NJ Wine's expectations were very high, considering that 56% of the wines got more than 2,5 NJP at the 2015 tasting. For that reason, NJ Wines felt a little sting of disappointment over the quality of the wines. Something that distinguishes Dream Big against, for example, the Italian and the French wine tasting day is that many of the producers had their top wines with them. That is something that NJ Wines has been missing for several years at the major tastings in Sweden. The American producers should have a great praise for that.

 

The following wines got more than 3,0 NJP (in alphabetical order): 1. Birichino, Saint Georges, Zinfandel, 2016, red dry wine, Central Coast, 3,5 NJP, 2. Littorai, Les Larmes Pinot Noir, 2017, red dry wine, Anderson Valley, 3,5 NJP, 3. Merryvale Vineyards, Merlot, 2016, red dry wine, Napa Valley, 3,5 NJP, 4. Merryvale Vineyards, Profile, 2015, red dry blend wine, Napa Valley, 4,0 NJP, 5. Merryvale Vineyards, Silhouette, 2016, white dry wine, Napa Valley, 4,0 NJP, 6. Ramey Wine Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2014, red dry wine, Napa Valley, 4,0 NJP,  7. Ramey Wine Cellars, Ritchie Vineyard, Chardonnay, 2014, white dry wine, Russian River Valley, 3,5 NJP, 8. Ramey Wine Cellars, Rochioli Vineyard, Chardonnay, 2015, white dry wine, Russian River Valley, 3,5 NJP, 9. Ramey Wine Cellars, Syrah, 2016, red dry wine, Sonoma Coast, 3,5 NJP,  10. Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Chardonnay, 2016, white dry wine, Napa Valley, 3,5 NJP, 11. Robert Mondavi, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2014, red dry wine, Napa Valley, 3,5 NJP, 12. Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Artemis, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015, red dry wine, Napa Valley, 3,5 NJP, 13. Silver Oak Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2014, red dry wine, Napa Valley, 3,5 NJP and 14. The Hess Collection, Allomi Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2016, red dry wine, Napa Valley, 3,5 NJP.

 

The best producer at the tasting: Merryvale Vineyards. There were two producers who really stood out; Merryvale Vineyards and Ramey Wine Cellars. Thanks to that Merryvale Vineyards got a slightly better average rating for all tasted wines (6 out of 7 wines got over 2,5 NJP) and that the best wine at the tasting came from this producer, Merryvale Vineyards was chosen as the best producer at the tasting. Merryvale Vineyards holds very high quality throughout all their assortment. Merryvale is a well-known wine producer from Napa Valley, California. The story of Merryvale Vineyards begins in 1933 when Jack Riorda, together with a group of partners, built a winery that they named Sunnyhill Winery. Shortly after, they renamed the winery to Sunny St. Helena Winery. All wine that was produced was sold as bulk wine. In 1937, Ceasare Mondavi (the father of Peter and Robert Mondavi) became a partner of Rionda. It was actually at Sunny St. Helena Winery where the Mondavi brothers got their first experiences of winemaking and winegrowing. The property has since been sold a few times over the years before getting bought by Bill Harlan with partners in 1986. Harlan and his partners completely restored the winery and reopened it in 1988 under the name Sunny St. Helena. In 1991, Jack Schlatter became a partner to Harlan. This year, Sunny St. Helena also changed name to Merryvale Vineyards. In 1996, the Schlatter family acquired the rest of Merryvale Vineyards from Bill Harlan and partners and became sole owner of Merryvale Vineyards. The Schlatter family has continuously developed the property over the years. Among other things, the building containing the Merryvale Vineyards winery has been rebuilt to become a luxury-class winery containing everything that may be required to produce world-class wines. The newly renovated winery was inaugurated in 2007. In 2008, an important change took place when Jack Schlatter's son René Schlatter became the owner and CEO of Merryvale Vineyards. René Schlatter has been a significant person in the wine industry in the US and in 2011, he was awarded the prestigious "Person of the Year" award by the Wine Enthusiast magazine. René and his family are very engaged in to protect and preserve Napa Valley for future generations through, among other things, the use of sustainable cultivation methods. The vineyards in both of Merryvale Vineyards estates have been Napa Green Farm certified. Merryvale Vineyard has the philosophy that great wines are born in the vineyard. This has resulted in a long-lived tradition to choose and buy grapes from high-quality vineyards from all over the Napa Valley. The work with to choose vineyards, which meet the tough criteria that Merryvale Vineyard has, is a rigorous and meticulous process. Great emphasis is placed on analysing the vineyard's microclimate, soils and whether the wine-growing is done according to sustainable principles. Merryvale Vineyards sometimes chooses to buy only grapes from parts of a vineyard or even single rows in a vineyard.