2021 Maxville Estate Oranos Red Blend and 2021 Merlot Wines

 

Huddled in the Vaca Mountains is an AVA that is sparesly planted compared to many others in Napa Valley, but it is one that is creating delicious fruit.  The Chiles Valley AVA is home to Maxville Winery's 1000-acre estate, proudly possessing some vines that are now over 50 years old!  While this is extremely impressive, what garners our attention more is the wines produced that are strangely both delicate and bold when they need to be.  The soil in the estate vineyard is well-drained and the dry farming style provides the perfect pressure on the vines, forcing them to produce berries that are flavorful, colorful and memorable.

Maxville Estate Vineyard - Chiles Valley AVA courtesy of Maxville Winery

Over the next few weeks we are going to taste and share a handful of wines from Maxville.  But today we are concentrating on two wines - the 2021 Maxville Estate Oranos Red Blend and the 2021 Maxville Estate Merlot.

While the specific details of the composotion for the 2021 Maxville Estate Oranos Red Blend wine are a mystery, we are picking up profiles from what we believe are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and possibly Malbec.  The rich and inticing color suggests there may be a sprinkling of Petite Siraha as well.  Gorgous dark ruby color in the glass.  The nose presents dark red fruits, rich cacao powder, sawn hickory and earthy herbs.  This wine gives you a sense of "place"; you can alsmost feel yourself walking the vines as you taste this and enjoy the flavors of ripe raspberry, plum, wisps of campfire smoke, vanilla and chocolate against the structured tannins.  It's quite lovely and we personally would consider this a non-food wine (don't hate!) to enjoy the layers of flavors.  

ABV:  14.8%

AVA:  Chiles Valley

Winery:  Maxville Winery

Suggested retail price:  $120.00

Drink The Bottles score:  92/100

We need to start this by telling you that we are still thinking about this wine!  While 2004 saw "The Sideways Effect" on Merlot, resulting in tumbling sales and tons of product sitting in warehouses and on shelves for years, we're thrilled that vintners and winemakers have re-embraced this varietal as it is one of our absolute favorites.  This 2021 Maxville Estate Merlot is beaming with aromas of muddled raspberries, scorched earth, dark chocolate and dried spices.  It is immediately inviting with restrained flavors of blackberry pie, hints of blueberry compote, sweet tobacco and vanilla that lead to a finish that is determined and delicious.  This is Merlot that was made with a purpose and the type of Merlot that we absolutely adore!

ABV:  15.1%

AVA:  Chiles Valley

Winery:  Maxville Winery

Suggested retail price:  $90.00

Drink The Bottles score:  94/100

2021 Ackerman Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville Estate

In the southeastern corner of Napa Valley sits a once unfamiliar area of Coombsville, which is now the 16th AVA of the Valley.  The Ackerman family purchased their prized property over thirty years ago, recognizing the amazing fruit that grew in the area, ultimately creating exceptional wines.  This particular offering comes from a beautiful vintage that was ideal in many ways regarding the weather.  But for most, including Ackerman, the yields were lower due to a rainfall shortage.

This is the 2021 Ackerman Fmaily Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coombsville Estate.  While we tasted this, it transitioned from a fruit forward young wine to (after decanting) a wine that can be aged for decades, showing potential to only increase in flavor and enjoyment.  Initially we recognized a basket of blueberries, cedar shavings and graphite.   Some decanting and swirling quickly transitioned this full bodied wine to fresh raspberry and strawberry fruits, forest floor, hints of allspice and vanilla.  The feathery tannins help create an unforgetful and steady finish.  

This wine is very impressive and offers a beautiful, dark eggplant color.  While we really enjoyed this now, we think that this is an ideal wine to cellar and re-visit in three to five years.  The additional complexity that this will surely develop would add a couple of points to the overall score (if scores are your thing).  

Stay tuned as we chat with someone from the Ackerman team when we create a video review of their 2018 Memoir Red Blend!

ABV:  14.1%

Coombsville AVA

Winery:  Ackerman Family Vineyards

Suggested retail price:  $98.00

Drink The Bottles score:  93+/100

 

2021 Pope Valley Winery Reserve Merlot

The history of Pope Valley Winery goes back 1897, when it was founded as Burgundy Winery and Olive Oil Factory by Ed Haus.  One hundred years later, a new lease on life was granted to the property when the Eakle family purchased it.  Brother and sister David Eakle and Diana Eakle Hawkins took the reigns in 2009 as the forward thinking, next generation owners to build on the legacy that had been created.  Today, Pope Valley Winery is creating some stunning wines under the esteemed Director of Winemaking, Jean Hoefliger.

We tend to sometimes provide spoiler alerts in our reviews and this one is no exception.  If this wine is any indication how 2025 is going to be, then we are in for a delicious and rewarding year!  First of all, if you're one of those people who turned their nose up to Merlot after watching Sideways over twenty years ago, please move on.  You're missing out on one of the most versatile and rewarding grape varietals in existence.  

Today we are tasting and talking about the 2021 Pope Valley Winery Reserve Merlot.  This wine is another fine example of the pain staking quality and attention to detail that is being obsevered by this producer.  Historically we have loved both their white and red releases and this one is leaning towards an all-time favorite.  Dark garnet inviting colors in the glass with chest-filling aromas of pipe tobacco, rosemary, green tea and those wonderful, juicy dark fruits that you would expect to find.  On the palate are welcoming and aggressive flavors of cooked plums, blackberry compote, crusty bread and allspice.  This is what we call a "make a fist and put it to your lips" type of wine.  

This wine has been in the bottle less than 18 months at this writing and we would anticipate that you can enjoy this one well into the next decade.  

ABV:  14.3%

Napa Valley AVA

Winery:  Pope Valley Winery

146 cases produced

Suggested retail price:  $72.00

Drink The Bottles score:  94/100

 

2021 Starmont Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

 

The first Starmont expression was produced over 35 years ago with a single varietal.  The label, which is part of the Merryvale family of wines, now produces four varietals under winemaker Jeff Crawford.  Crawford has been "all things Starmont" for ten years now and has been in the world of wine for twenty year.  2021 was an overall wonderful year for Cabernet due to the intense flavor of the berries despite generally smaller yields.  We have been tasting some really lovely Cabs from this year and this one is no exception.

The 2021 Starmont Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon (87%), Teroldego (7%) and Cinsault (6%).  The fact that Crawford chose the latter two grape varietals for this blend is nothing short of impressive.  No doubt the Italian Teroldego grape added exquisite colors to this bottle and helped promote those fruit forward notes upon entry.  The Cinsault helps add a tick of extra ripe berry aromas and textured tannins. For the United States, Cinsault is planted mostly in the North Coast AVA but can also be found in Yakima Valley AVA in Washington and the Texas High Plains AVA.  Crawford really went outside of the box here and it shows in the presentation of the package.

Deep red to maroon in the glass, this Cabernet opens with strawberry rhubarb pie, very ripe raspberries, Mediterranean spices, damp soil and tar.  It is immediately inviting and swirling allows those aromas to literally leap from the glass.  Raspberry, plum and pomegranate are introduced to the palate first, followed by floral pedals, tea leaf and a hint of minerality.  This has a very satisfying and tender finish.  We are really impressed by this bottle and it proves once again that you don't have to pay a ton of money to find a wine that is delicious and one that could be cellared for a number of years.  We think with a few years in the bottle, it may even be more remarkable.  Bravo!

ABV:  13.9%

North Coast AVA

Winery:  Starmont Vineyards

Suggested retail price:  $25.00

Drink The Bottles score:  91+/100

2021 Flora Springs Trilogy

 

This is our third vintage of Flora Springs Trilogy to taste and review over the years, and it has always been a consistently delicious and top performer.  For the 2021 vintage (their 38th bottling), there is a new label design which is (in our opinion) more elegant and welcoming that previous offerings.  As most of you know, we do take in consideration label design, or what we call shelf appeal, when scoring our wines and spirits.

The 2021 Trilogy is comprised primarily of Cabernet Sauvignon (85%) but also includes Petit Verdot (10%) and Malbec (5%).  This flagship wine is incredibly silky-smooth throughout the entire tasting experience, offering up tannins that are glossy and fine.  A swarm of aromas that include ripe dark berries, graphite and cedar are introduced initially, but this isn't a fruit-bomb, in-your-face type of wine, which is extremely refreshing.  After some time in the glass, the cedar yields to more earthy style of aromas.  The black fruits carry over on the palate with whisps of chocolate shavings, mint, minerality and suggestions of pine.  This wine is very structured and refined.  

We tasted this wine unaccompanied first and then paired it with some hard cheeses, cured meats and jams.  While the jams were not the best pairing, this wine absolutely soared with the aforementioned meats and cheeses.  If someone were building a wine cellar and asked us to give them 20 different wines to stock/cellar, this one would definitely be in that group.  It is perpetually delicious and each vintage is just breath taking.  Well done!

ABV:  14.2%

Winery:  Flora Springs: Napa, CA

2.300 Cases Produced

Suggested retail price:  $100.00

Drink The Bottles score:  95/100

2021 Bells Up Winery Rhapsody Pinot Blanc

The 2021 Bells Up Winery Rhapsody Pinot Blanc wine from this small, family-owned winery is our second introduction of unique and flavorful wines from David and Sara Specter.  Pinot Blanc is not a dominant varietal and if you haven't tried it, this is the one you need to get.  Aged on lees for six months, this has a fuller body feel than many white Pinot grape varieties and the terroir of Willamette Valley is evident by the wet stone, crisp fruit flavors and dollops of soy sauce lurking in the background.  There is just the right amount of baking spices mid palate and a memorable finish that includes a noticeable acidity and mineral notes.  We love when you taste a wine and just smile from ear to ear, knowing that you've discovered a fun, memorable bottle.  This wine is drinking very well right now and should for another 4-5 years.  

Medium golden color and very fragrant.

We generally don't taste wines (when reviewing) with food.  After we scribed our thoughts on paper we could just tell that this Pinot Blanc would be a great wine to compliment a snack.  We tasted this with popcorn from Northern Neck Popcorn Bag and the pairing was a-MAZ-ing!

ABV:  12.9%

Willamette Valley, OR

Production:  114 Cases

Suggested retail price:  $32.00

Drink The Bottles score:  91/100

 

2021 Bells Up Winery Prelude Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir

 

Kicking off our series of Oregon wines, we started with this inviting Rosé that is as gorgeous in the glass as it is on the tongue.  The 2021 Bells Up Winery Prelude Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir first captures the eye with the stunning reddish hue, darker than many other Pinot Noir rosé on the market.  It was intriguing and immediately mouth-watering.  We tasted this wine both on its own merit and with food (which is unusual for us, but we had to prove a point to ourselves).  With ample time in the glass, we began swirling and collecting pleasant, but not overpowering, aromas of strawberry and pomegranate.  The fruit is more noticeable on the palate and the acid is in check and doesn't even begin to overpower this easy-drinking wine.  The finish is subtle and enjoyable.  While we don't always taste wines with food, there was something here that was urging us to do so. We tasted this with a variety of salty cheeses and the pairing was absolutely incredible.  This is definitely a "food" wine and one of the best Rosé of Pinot Noir that we have tasted in recent memory.  

ABV:  12.9%

Chehalem Mountains, OR

Production:  101 Cases

Suggested retail price:  $28.00

Drink The Bottles score:  92/100