Tasting Vintage 2015 two Minutes after Filtering!

I spent a day with a wine journalist in Pope Valley (Napa) a couple of weeks ago and must recommend this beautiful area that I was not very familiar with until now!

Pope Valley is an community located in the small valley of the same name in the Mayacamas Mountains and northern Napa County, California. It is east of Calistoga, north of Angwin, and borders Lake Berryessa, the second largest man-made lake in California.

When visiting Napa Valley, you have roughly 400 options for wine tasting and most visitors to the valley, including people from the trade, will follow the rest of the traffic up and down Hwy 29 or the Silverado Trail.  However, if you are not in a hurry, take the scenic route up into the surrounding hills and stop at the quiet, unpretentious and historic wineries where you will find no boutiques selling baseball caps, toe rings or bath salts!

Here we were at a winery tasting the 2015 roughly two minutes after filtering!

And the 2016 vintage did not look so bad, either!

We are offering Bordeaux Primeurs/Futures!

As much as it pains me to admit it, my first Primeurs Campaign was in 1984 when I had just arrived in Bordeaux from my native Scandinavia.  We launched the vintage 1982, a vintage in which we had very little faith at the time of release!  I went through 12 more Primeurs Campaign while living and working in Bordeaux, but have not been involved in Futures since I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.  Now that I have found a great partner in Bordeaux, it seems the moment has come to get back in the game again!

Here is a list of the wines that we can offer today.  Please go to our website http://www.dreamvintage.com/offers for more details.

						Ex-cell.	San Franc.	San Franc.
Bots	Wine	WS	Decanter	J. Suckling	N. Martin	Bdx	Ocean	Air
36 b	Armailhac	88-91	92	92-93	89-91	37	44	52
24 b	Canon La Gaffeliere	94-97	93	96-97	93-95	72	79	87
36 b	Clarence de Haut Brion		91	93-94	91-93	107	114	122
60 b	Dame de Montrose			91-92	88-90	34	41	49
12 b	Domaine de Chevalier Blanc	93-96	95	97-98	92-94	83	90	98
12 b	Domaine de Chevalier rouge	91-94		96-97	95-97	56	63	71
60 b	Duhart Milon			91-92	90-92	60	67	75
12 b	Feytit Clinet			93-94	93-95	55	62	70
48 b	Fleur de Bouard (la)		90	93-94	89-91	24	31	39
24 b	Gruaud Larose	88-91		93-94	90-92	59	66	74
36 b	Haut Batailley	89-92	91	92-93	92-94	37	44	52
6 b	Haut Brion		97	97-98	98-100	480	487	495
36 b	Issan	88-91		94-95	93-95	50	57	65
60 b	Langoa Barton	90-93		92-93	88-90	40	47	55
60 b	Lascombes	90-93	90	94-95	89-91	64	71	79
6 b	Mission Haut Brion			100		374	381	389
36 b	Montrose	93-96		96-97	92-94	128	135	143
24 b	Pavie Macquin	94-97		96-97	91-93	67	74	82
24 b	Pichon Baron	93-96		96-97	96-98	120	127	135
48 b	Pontet Canet			97-98	94-96	98	105	113
48 b	Prieure Lichine	89-92	92	95-96	88-90	35	42	50
60 b	Talbot	90-93			88-90	49	56	64
24 b	Troplong Mondot	93-96		96-97	92-94	104	111	119
36 b	Valandraud	96-98	94	98-99	95-97	133	140	148

First Impressions of 2015 Napa Valley by Antonio Galloni.

In his article, 2015 Napa Valley – First Impressions, Antonio Galloni writes, "The 2015 Napa Valley Cabernets I have tasted from barrel are stunningly beautiful. Despite a year with considerable challenges and low yields, 2015 is shaping up to be a vintage of opulent, voluptuous wines with real personality and character."