White Rock Vineyards is a place you
absolutely must visit if you love wine.
Their wines are among the best in Napa Valley at nearly half the
price. They also have wine caves and a great tour.
In February
of 2011, I wrote a review for White Rock Vineyards and declared it our favorite winery after some forty years
of visiting wineries. My friend and
I decided to return 12/20/11 because another friend from out of
state wanted to visit, and because we wanted to purchase more wine from White
Rock. This is a very small, family
winery whose wines are not available at most wine stores. The owner runs the winery. One son manages the vineyard. The other is the winemaker who studied in France.
His daughter is a cheese maker. They have a great membership program
that allows you to purchase wines at a discount with free shipping. We joined their wine club even though we
would rather pick up the wines directly since we live so close to the winery.
I continue to love their 2008 Chardonnay, which is white Burgundy in style without excessive oak or
malolactic conversion. ($30 for the
2008). Their 2006 Claret is one of the most pleasant and drinkable Bordeaux blends I’ve
encountered. ($36 for the 2006) The Malbec is pretty good,
more French in style than Argentine. ($25 for the 2006) All of the cabs are
very good and quite reasonably priced for Napa Cabs. ($45 to $75) The Syrah is well worth
investigating. White Rock is next to
Stag’s Leap District. They have white
volcanic rock on a higher level that stresses out Cab vines and a lower area where
chardonnays do well. We purchased at least six bottles of wine the first time
we visited White Rock and at least a case the second time.
This New Years eve we chose a bottle
of 2004 White Rock Cabernet Sauvignon “Laureate” as our wine of the evening.
(It went well with Italian food.)
In addition to Cab, this has 20% Cab Franc and 5% combined of Merlot and
Petit Verdot. It is a $50 wine that
tastes as good as most selling for twice that price. This cab needs some time to open up, however,
so give it several hours in a decanter.
Once it was given some time, I got lushes ripe blackberries, a hint of
vanilla with a great mouthfeel and a long finish. This is a substantial wine but not one of
those huge, in your face Napa Cabs.
There is more nuance than that and more subtlety. I think it will cellar nicely. We
could have picked any from a large selection of premium wines we had available,
but this is the one we chose to celebrate the New Year.
We love all of the wines at White
Rock. It is a small family run winery and remains a
favorite of the hundred or so wineries we have visited. As with all small, family run wineries with
limited production, reservations are needed but easily obtained by phone or
email.
Addendum 4/8/12: We drank a bottle of the White Rock 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon ($50). Although it is nearly ten years old, it still needed air and some time to open up. This was a very good Cab and will continue to improve with time, but we preferred the 2004 and 2005 Cabernet Sauvignons at the same price and especially the 2003 Cave Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon at $85.
Please see previous report at: Previous White Rock Report
Addendum 4/8/12: We drank a bottle of the White Rock 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon ($50). Although it is nearly ten years old, it still needed air and some time to open up. This was a very good Cab and will continue to improve with time, but we preferred the 2004 and 2005 Cabernet Sauvignons at the same price and especially the 2003 Cave Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon at $85.
Please see previous report at: Previous White Rock Report
Addendum 8/22/12: We continue to purchase White Rock wines. I did not like the 2009 Chardonnay as well as the 2008. It was just okay. We also had a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Laureate Reserve that was sensational! (It has only recently been released. That is a 2005 being released in 2012.)
Date of return visit:
12/20/2011
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