Regular readers will doubtless be aware that one of my yearly… efforts involves spending most of the day tasting barrel samples in advance of the annual Premiere Napa Valley wine auction.
I look forward to the wine-tasting equivalent of running the Boston Marathon each year, but unfortunately as the PNV event has evolved, its timeline has shifted to conflict with the week of vacation that our school district takes in February. While I loves me some Cabernet barrel tasting, I’m not yet prepared to cut a family vacation 3 days short to do it.
I get a consolation prize, however, in that there are a couple of other occasions to taste the wines made for Premiere Napa Valley in advance. The Napa Vintners have been kind enough to allow me to take advantage of those opportunities, so I am still able to offer you a little mini version of my annual tasting extravaganza and some perspective on the 2022 vintage in Napa.
The Napa Valley Bake Sale
For those unfamiliar with Premiere Napa Valley, it has become the main annual fundraiser for the Napa Valley Vintner’s Association. Unlike most of their other auction efforts which fund the organization’s philanthropic work, Premiere is a fundraiser for the association itself. Member wineries create unique batches of wine, ranging from 5 cases up to 20 cases, and then those lots are auctioned off to raise money.
One of the reasons I love tasting these wines is that they generally represent the winery’s very best efforts for the year. They’re made from a special vineyard block, or they are pulled from the winemaker’s favorite barrel, or they’re a blend that the winery usually never produces. Regardless, they are the creme-de-la-creme of Napa wines, and therefore an excellent barometer of the vintage as a whole.
Most of the wines on offer this year were from the 2022 vintage, which by all accounts was a pretty excellent year. Of course, it seems like these days, any year in which wine country isn’t going up in flames is a pretty excellent year.
A Vintage of Ups and Downs
But 2022 featured a week-long heat spike in early September that sent some producers scrambling to harvest red grapes even as they were finishing up with their white grapes. Things cooled off after that, and then there was a bit of a nail-biter as rain swept in. Many producers waited through both the heat and the moisture as things leveled off into October, resulting in a relatively unhurried harvest for the latest ripening varieties and vineyard sites.
My tasting suggests that the ups and downs towards the end of harvest produced mixed outcomes when it comes to the resulting wines. I see some variations in the tannins of this vintage, some quite smooth and supple, and not that different from the 2021s, which were some of the best Napa wines I’ve tasted in a decade.
More than a few wines featured pretty blocky or aggressive tannins that seem like they will require some more time to soften than usual, or may just end up being a bit more aggressive through the life of these wines.
The best wines, however, feature excellent acidity, wonderfully bright fruit, and demonstrate that it was certainly possible to make excellent wines in 2022. I fear that these wines will quickly be overshadowed by the so-called “vintage of a lifetime,” which is what Napa Vintners is calling 2023, but I will be very happy to drink the best of 2022 for many years to come.
This year, there seemed to be an emphasis by the Vintners on collaborative wines. Quite a few wines were the product of multiple producers working together to create a unique blend, adding to the “once in a lifetime” quality that some of these wines possess.
Tasting Notes
As usual with most walk-around tastings, I only record scores and some brief comments, not full tasting notes. While I usually taste 200+ of these wines each year, this year for reasons outlined above I was only afforded the opportunity to taste the roughly 40 that appear below.
These wines will be auctioned off live at the Premiere Napa Valley 2024 Auction on Saturday, February 24th in Napa Valley (open only to members of the trade). But bidding has already begun online.
Here are the barrel samples I tasted this year.
Wines With a Score Between 9.5 and 10
2022 Robert Mondavi Winery Lot#13 – “To Kalon Red Blend” Red Table Wine, Oakville. Epic. Gorgeously bright black cherry and plum. Mouthwatering.
2022 Guarachi Family Wines Lot#73 – “Meadowrock” Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak. Explosive. Cherry cola, juicy, bright, and mouthwatering.
2022 ELLMAN Lot#92 – “The Estate Tribute” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Gorgeous. Smooth, cherry, and mocha.
Wines With a Score Around 9.5
2022 Farella Vineyard Lot#7 – “Upper Terrace” Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville. Smooth AF. Juicy cherry and plum. Great balance.
2022 Spottswoode Estate, OVID. Napa Valley Lot#34 – “Los Amigos” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Supple athletic tannins. Black cherry, cola, beautiful acidity.
2022 Mayacamas Vineyards Lot#52 – “Golden Hill” Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder. Cherry and forest floor. Fine fleecy tannin.
2022 Cliff Lede Vineyards Lot#101 – “Epic Poetry” Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District. Rich cherry fruit, bright and very supple tannins.
Wines With a Score Between 9 and 9.5
2022 Burgess Cellars, Heitz Cellar, Stony Hill Vineyard Lot#1 – “Founder’s Cuvée” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Rich cherry, hint of olive brine. Stony. Restrained tannins.
2022 Antinori Napa Valley Lot#12 – “A27 The Next Generation of Antinori” Cabernet Franc, Atlas Peak. Dark cherry and plum. Plush, fleecy tannins. Fresh and bright.
2022 Napa Valley’s 16 AVAs Lot#16 – “AVA 16” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Tight, earthy, rich and ripe.
2021 Schweiger Vineyards Lot#21 – “On Your Right!” Red Table Wine, Spring Mountain District. Dark plum, cherry, and chewy tannins. Great acidity.
2022 Hesperian Wines Lot#44 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak. Bright acidity, sour cherry, very fine tannins.
2022 Crocker & Starr Wines Lot#56 – “The Goddess” Cabernet Franc, St. Helena. Dark, rich, unusual.
2022 Chimney Rock Winery Lot#70 – “Swan Song” Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District. Rich, tight, and smooth tannins. Refined.
2022 Quintessa Lot#75 – “Rutherford Bench” Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford. Sweet black cherry and oak. Good acid. Mocha note.
2022 Almacerro Lot#127 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain. Great acid. Stony and taut. Needs time.
2022 Tamber Bey Lot#140 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville. Sweet cherry, very good acidity, well-integrated oak.
2022 Chappellet Vineyard Lot#157 – “Upper Terraces” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Sweet oak and fresh cherry. Excellent acidity. Needs time.
Wines With a Score Around 9
2022 Amici Cellars Lot#28 – “Fire & Ice” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Rich mocha and cherry.
2023 Turnbull Wine Cellars Lot#43 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville. Juicy, ripe sweet fruit, lovely neutral (i.e. no) oak.
2022 Foley Johnson, PEJU Lot#60 – “Heart of the Valley” Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford. Oaky, ripe, with softer acids.
2022 Bell Wine Cellars Lot#61 – “Rive Gauche” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Plummy, rich with supple tannins.
2022 Ashes & Diamonds Lot#63 – “Vineyard II” Cabernet Sauvignon, Diamond Mountain District. Stony cherry and plum, herbs, and cocoa powder. Very pretty.
2022 PATEL – Napa Valley Lot#66 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville. New oak, cherry, licorice, cassis. Fine tannins but drying. A little much oak.
2022 Grounded Wine Co. Lot#85 – “Deeply Rooted” Cabernet Sauvignon, Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. Juicy and bright.
2023 Corison, Gallica, Matthiasson Lot#96 – Rosé, Napa Valley. Crisp, stony, bright and lean.
2023 Merryvale Vineyards Lot#143 – “Silhouette” Chardonnay, Napa Valley. Nice, juicy, and not too oaky.
2022 Baldacci Family Vineyards, Chimney Rock Winery, Pine Ridge Vineyards, Quixote Winery Lot#156 – “Stags Leap Unleashed” Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District. Sweet berries, supple tannins, bright.
Wines With a Score Between 8.5 and 9
2022 Acumen Lot#59 – “5.71 Carats” Cabernet Franc, Atlas Peak. Very tight. Oaky.
2022 Whitehall Lane Lot#62 – “V de V” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Too oaky, super muscular tannins.
2022 Bougetz Cellars Lot#67 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville. Very ripe. Thick tannins.
2021 Hestan Vineyards Lot#76 – “Estate Selection” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Mocha, black cherry, and heavy oak.
2022 Round Pond Estate Lot#91 – “SVS Gravel Series Blend” Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford. Sweetish, plush, rich and ripe.
2021 The Vice Lot#116 – “The Wunderkind” Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District. Nutty, oaky mocha.
2022 Fairest Creature Lot#141 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Oak and black cherries. Rich cassis, fleecy tannins. Some heat.
Wines With a Score Around 8.5
2022 Cain Vineyard & Winery Lot#71 – “Picnic Tree” Red Table Wine, Spring Mountain District. Earthy, heavy tannins.
2022 McKahn Wines Lot#83 – Red Table Wine, Napa Valley. Super oaky.
2022 Parable Wines Lot#149 – “Limited Edition” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Super thick tannins that dry the mouth. A bit brutal.
Feature photo by Alexander Rubin, courtesy of Napa Valley Vintners Association.
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