Disney Land of the wine world!

Massive Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot dominated reds and Big Buttery Chardonnay’s are on most of the vineyards tasting menus. I personally can’t drink get enough of the reds and have never tasted more intense, powerful wines in my life. They don’t come cheap though with cellar door prices in Rutherford and Oak Knoll always above the $50 per bottle mark. You find much better value wines in the lower part of the Napa Valley especially the Caneros Valley and lower Sonoma valley. We have 2 new vineyards arriving from these areas in August. Jacuzzi and Cline vineyards have two very diverse ranges, Jacuzzi leaning towards all thing Italian with beautifully made Barbera and Nebbiolo and Cline with supple rich Syrah and Zinfandel which is more what you’d expect for an American vineyard. We’ve also spoiled ourselves with the arrival to Blackbird wines based in the Oak Knoll region of Napa. This boutique producer makes tiny volumes of super powerful Merlot dominated reds.

One thing I did find on our dining trips was the difficulty of getting a USA made Sauvignon Blanc which was good quality and reasonably priced. I had a $15 glass of something they called Sauvignon Blanc but it was awful. So my challenge to you the reader is this – recommend me a £10-£15 bottle of USA made Sauvignon Blanc I can buy in the UK. I’ll go out and purchase it and if I like it, I will send a bottle of similar priced Sauvignon Blanc to you free of charge. I’m pretty confident I won’t be sending out many bottles but if you can enlighten me on the joys of USA Sauvignon then it’s worth it! Good luck and please write your recommendation in the comments below!

Fred Walters