recommendations:

The turn of the millennium marked a small,  relatively quiet turning of the tide in the world of Napa Valley winemaking.  There was a groundswell of inquisitive talent that entered the cellar in the early 2000's. With their own money, borrowed barrels, and rented corners in caves and cellars, this group began producing some of the best wines in California, at very small levels.  Working at nights, and on weekends, everyone held on to their day jobs, at least to start.  These efforts were not about well capitalized, trophy labels.  These were and are the people behind the scenes, the cellar masters, the assistant winemakers, the barrel coopers, the grape growers.  This was, and is, about passion for the process of growing fruit and turning it into wine, one barrel at a time.  I don't think there is a proper winemaking degree among us. The links below are to some labels that were born during that time.  They are all good friends, and each in their own way has carved out a very unique slice of the wine world. Their wines are worth seeking out.      

Arnot Roberts -  I have known the guys at Arnot Roberts for quite some time.  I used to grow the fruit for their Hudson Vineyards bottling and we worked together closely in order to get the best out of their block of fruit.  Duncan was formerly the assistant winemaker at Pax Cellars, and Nathan is a cooper who makes the barrels for all of their wines. Tasting through their lots in barrel has always been an enlightening experience. Their bottlings have consistently been challenging what is held to be true about the structure of California wines, and have done so via the deft hands of true craftsmen.  Simply some of the best Syrahs and Cabernets produced on the North Coast.



Matthiasson Family Wines -  Steve Matthiasson and I have been friends for the last 10 years.  One of the best viticulturists I know, Steve and I both made the leap from vineyard tending to winemaking about the same time.  We have walked for many hours in the vineyards, sorting out the intricacies and the nuances of grape growing and how those small changes can impact the quality of wine.  He is immensely talented in that regard, and has a long list of top end wineries that require his services. Steve planted in part for us, a small Chardonnay vineyard in Sonoma Valley and our first vintage from it will be the 2009 bottling.  Steve early on bucked the trend of ripeness in the valley, and as a result has been producing some of the most cutting edge wines from Napa ever since.  Amazing whites, and truly precise, balanced reds.



Scholium Wines -  Abe Schoener and I shared a corner of a wonderful musty old wine cave when we both started making our own wines.  I had three barrels and he maybe had four, or five.  Abe as a student of philosophy has always asked the questions; he's been on the path of reexamining what we are doing with our wines and why we are doing it.  Some of the most rewarding conversations I have had in regards to wine have been tasting through our respective barrels, and picking apart the smallest of details in their development.  Currently involved in winemaking projects in California, New York and France, Abe continually challenges boundaries.  He produces amazing, thought provoking wines, designed to illicit a response, from varietals and sites both conventional and non.