2003 Ramey Diamond Mountain Proprietary Red Wine

I try not to buy into the "vintage-chart mentality," and completely write off troublesome vintages. I think in those years you definitely need to be selective and do your homework before spending a lot of money, but many producers still manage to turn out great wine in tough scenarios. I have a feeling 2003 will continue to surprise people with the way they've been drinking lately. Definitely not a vintage to stock the cellars with for 20+ years, and somewhat irregular, but many top wines are excellent and have been drinking well early. This is one of the denser and concentrated wines I have had from this vintage.

Owned by David Ramey and his wife Carla, Ramey Wine Cellars is located in Healdsburg, Sonoma, but they purchase fruit from various vineyards around Napa Valley. Their Cabernet, for whatever reason has never been on my short list of wine to buy every vintage, but I’ve always been impressed by each bottle I’ve had- this being no exception. These wines are made in a style that mixes the new with the old, and what I mean by that is in his Cab's you will find big sexy fruit, as well as the balance and finesse many say are lacking in the California wines. I find many Bordeaux type aromas and nuances in these wines; the cassis, the graphite/ pencil lead, and the worn leather. All of these tend to excite me and make me happy. Fortunately of unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the Ramey label does not seem to carry the same draw as some of the "culty" wines. Maybe it's because they don't charge a gazillion dollars for them, or maybe by producing over a thousand cases the scarcity factor is diminished. Either way, I don't care. Simply put, David Ramey is the man, and makes some killer wines that deserve to be sought out.

And for any Francophiles on the ledge, terrified of trying a wine from Napa, don't be too scared... This winemaker has spent time training at Chateau Petrus and obviously learned the craft well.

Tasting Notes:
Tight as a drum upon the first pour, but a 1 hour decant had this wine singing. Showing a dark, thick and concentrated red-black color in the glass, initial aromas present dark cherry fruit, currant, and a subtle herbaceousness as well as chocolate. As time went on, notes of graphite and spice revealed themselves. The palate shows nice layers of deep and intense dark fruit, weary old saddle leather and spice with good length on the finish. Medium acidity and a strong tannic spine that is easily tempered with a bit of food makes this a perfect companion with any grilled or oven cooked beef. Has the stuffing to go for years and should only get better.

Price: $60

Score: 92-93

Alcohol: 14.5%


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2004 Realm Cellars "The Tempest" Red Wine

This blessed plot. This earth. This realm. This.... Wine? When Shakespeare wrote this, I wonder if he ever thought the passage would appear on the side of a bottle of wine from Napa Valley? Probably not, but I’m sure if he was able to drink wine of this quality back in those times instead of Malmsey and Canary, he might have penned even more compelling plays and poetry. Either way, with only a few vintages under their belts, Realm Cellars is a relative newcomer to Napa Valley, but the wines certainly seem to be blessed.

Juan Mercado, Wendell Laidley, and winemaker Mike Hirby started Realm Cellars with the 2002 vintage. Back in the 90's, Juan was overtaken by his passion for wine, and soon enough decided to move up to Napa. He started working in a wine store, where he met Wendell and Mike Hirby, and between the three of them, Realm Cellars was born. The trio set out with the mission of producing handcrafted Bordeaux styled wines with fruit sourced from some of the most prestigious Napa Valley vineyards. So far, the results have been nothing short of excellent. The debut 2002 vintage received high marks all around, scoring in the 90's, and things looked fantastic for the 2003 vintage, until it was destroyed in a warehouse fire.

I don't know how I'd feel if I worked on something so hard for over a year to only have it destroyed in a blaze of fire. I imagine it would be a mixture of shock, sadness and disbelief. Back in 2005, Realm Cellars, along with numerous other wineries and private collectors, had thousands of bottles of wine destroyed in a three-alarm fire at Wine Central, a storage warehouse in Vallejo, California. Before being used for wine storage, Wine Central was actually used by the military to hold torpedoes and possibly bombs, thus making it quite fortified, as well as very difficult to fight fires in. I believe the entire 2003 vintage was destroyed, along with the remaining reserves of 2002. That's just about any wineries/ winemakers/ owner’s nightmare, especially after hand crafting wines that they were proud of.

Fortunately, they were able to put that behind them, and continued to produce exceptional wines with the 2004 vintage. I really enjoyed these wines, and the wines of 2005 look to be even better. For any Angeleno's interested, there will be a release party for the 2005 wines held on Feb 27th, at Craft, a restaurant near Century City. With a low cover charge of $20, it’s a great chance for anyone interested in Realm Cellars to taste some of the wines they might not be able to find at retail.

Tasting Notes:
An opaque maroon, inklike color in the glass, this wine is very concentrated and big. Aromas of ripe raspberry and cherry mix with a little leather and mocha. After some airtime in the glass, the alcohol is apparent. On the nose and in the mouth, this wine moves around slightly like a clumsy youngster. Bold and a little brash, there are attractive plummy, cherry flavors with traces of chocolate. Medium length finish that is slightly hot with soft tannins.

Price:$65

Score:87-90

Specifics:
15.4% Alcohol
60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Petit Verdot
524 Cases Produced

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