#9.... #9....#9.... Hey, you have to be a certain age to remember this one, from the Beatles White album!
Also, it is the Napa Wine Company's number, the #9 bonded winery in the Napa Valley! Where now there are hundreds of bonded wineries in Napa, that is a remarkably low number. It is because it was originally the Inglenook Winery! They call themselves "Cult Wine Central" and created a website by that name to prove their point.
These guys have so much going on that you would need to go there every week for months just to taste all the wines they pour. They have so many you cannot taste them all at one visit. Each week on Friday, they publish a new tasting list for the next week; a white list, a medium-bodied red list and a big red list. Tastes are priced at $5, $10, and $20 respectively.
The Napa Wine Company calls themselves "the incubator" referring to the fact that so many now famous wineries got their start making wine at this winery! Names like Larkmead, Lewis, Palhmeyer, Fife, Madrigal and the list goes on.
Well, many of these wines are not distributed at all as the production is just so small. At the same time, many are made by great wine makers that prefer small lots, so they can do a fabulous job! Rob Lawson, Heidi Barrett, for example and this is just a couple.
At a recent tasting, their #2 Cabernet was acclaimed at local wine maker's Cabernet tasting and remember, these are wine makers doing the tasting! Ghost Block is the name they chose and it has an instant cult status within weeks of first release! The price for this top drawer Cabernet is but $55!
Their #1 Cabernet is the Temescal which, they obviously feel is even better and is priced at $85. In a valley where Stag's Leap Cellars Cask 23 is $175 and Schaeffer $190 one MUST stop by and try these Cabernets. Their third tier Cabernet, the Napa Wine Company Cabernet, is $38 and is from the same fruit as Far Niente company's Nickel & Nickel, Rock Cairn Vineyard which sells for $85!
The Company has 25 labels under one roof (over 100 wines I would give as a more accurate number) but 25 is enough to make my point and the number changes all the time!
Am I getting your attention? This is hot stuff! I did 180 wine tours last year and have lived here all my life so this is not idle babble. I know wine and I know where it is. This is a must-see and must-taste for anyone serious about locating the goods and purchasing the best for the least money, OK?
Tell them I sent you!
I feel so validated, I just had to share.... I blogged the Ghost Block way back in May - a definite winner! My name is linked to my write-up, if curious. cheers!
Posted by: Debra | September 14, 2007 at 06:07 AM