My recent trip to Napa Valley felt a lot longer than two weeks. Perhaps it was because we tasted almost 1,100 wines from the region and others such as Sonoma. Perhaps it was because our small house in St. Helena was packed with cases and bottles and people the whole time. Perhaps it was because we visited dozens of wineries in the area. Whatever the reason, it was a thrilling fortnight.
It also rained the whole time. It was dark, wet and cold. I had flashbacks to my days living in London in the late 1980s and early 1990s. You feel like a cave dweller after so much time in the dark and damp!
The bad weather and my slightly sullen mood didn’t affect my tastings nor those of my son Jack or senior editor Stuart Pigott. The 2016 vintage was just too outstanding to let such circumstances decrease the great quality in the wines. I joked to the winemakers we met that if the wines tasted so outstanding in such a context, they had to be really excellent quality.
The cabernet sauvignon-based wines from Napa Valley were particularly fantastic. So many bottles showed wonderful balance and structure. Many winemakers finally dialed in their terroirs by producing more tannin-driven and freshly structured reds instead of picking late to make fruit bombs. Stay tuned for my updated report on 2016 (and other years) following our earlier report in November 2018.
I found it funny when some winemakers told me they were finally making wines “that I like to drink.” Why in the world would they have done otherwise? Of course, I understand that the wine business often has to follow consumer tastes and preferences, but I don’t think this is the case for premium wines, particularly high priced bottles from Napa Valley. Great wine from anywhere has to reflect the place it is from. In any case, most of the 2016s are drinkable, polished and reserved compared to recent vintages and certainly those from pre-2010.
Many winemakers realize that big, full-throttle and overripe style wines that were made from about 1999 to 2009 overshadowed the intrinsic character of their terroirs, especially if they make vineyard specific and regionally selective wines. The ‘somewhereness’ of many 2016 wines, particularly reds, is delightful and refreshing both on the palate and in the mind. And they have the structure and balance to age.
The 2015s are also excellent although they are a little denser and richer than the 2016s, in general. The 2017 reds are better than expected, at least those I tasted from barrel. They are fresh (whites too) despite concerns about the heat spikes in early September and the fire in October. I only tasted a few 2018s but they could be a 2016-plus! It’s early days.
I have to now contemplate the experience of tasting so many wines in Napa this past two weeks as well as in November and then write my report. I am now on my way to Mendoza, Argentina, and gearing up for double what we tasted in Napa as well as another 1,000 in Chile.
Life is good. Stay tuned!
— James Suckling, CEO & Editor
