Shay A

9.7

Heck of a hosting by @Weston Eidson last night for the City Club wine group. All wines were tasted blind.

My other Co-WOTN. For me, these wines are up there with the best in Napa. The history, the people and the wines are just top shelf. Loved our visit here earlier this year. Having had the ‘13, ‘14 and ‘16, this seems to be the most accessible and certainly more so than the ‘13. This was powerful the entire evening and the fruit stayed ripe and sweet covering the red, blue and black spectrum. Graphite, dark chocolate up front, but it did turn more elegant at the finish showing potpourri and baking spices. Sheer To Kalon power. — 6 years ago

with joe, Dan and 2 others

Jake Rubash

9.1

Bedrock release day, '15 is drinking nicely and have a case of the '16 on the way — 8 years ago

Patrick Derdeyn

9.1

First of the '16. This is delicious, crunchy red fruit with melon and strawberry upfront. Grenache for the brightness, Mourvedre for the depth. Gorgeous. — 9 years ago

Brandon Boesch

9.8

Fantastically c balance this year. A ton of citrus and hint of pine and resin. Very drinkable. 2/16/17 bottle date. — 9 years ago

Csuyeishi

10

All enjoy by's are good, but the 12/25/16 is the best one yet — 9 years ago

Caleb Warren

9.4

On 12/10/16 at chestnut in Asheville here for the candlelight Biltmore tour. A wonderful soft full wine with a dark clear ruby color and dry crisp cherries! — 9 years ago

JKT

9.2

CVed 10/28/16. Darker Ruby color than the regular 80s. Nose of mature black fruits and currants and tobacco and leaves and earthiness. Very impressive. Excellent body of mature fruits and secondary flavors and earthiness and still a lot of tannins that are supple and integrated. Long finish of complex notes of Forest and late floral hints. Yum. Z Auction. — 9 years ago

Nicola Morvillo

9.0

On 23/8/16 — 9 years ago

Paul Juster

9.0

Deep black cherry, earthy, jammy, spice. Tasty! Great Sonoma Coast Pinot for under $16 at the #Danville #Costco! — 9 years ago

Bobby Gilbane

9.3

@John Lockwood dude the ‘16 is absolutely killer right now. — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

Of the Napa wines I tasted over 4 days on this trip, the 16 Sinegal Reserve & the 13 Seavey Cabernet were my favorites. Both great wines but, stylistically very different. The Seavy big and bold and the Sinegal pure beauty & elegance.

The nose reveals very dark currants. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush and lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals.

The body is full. The tannins are really meaty but, exceptionally soft, fine and meaty. Lots of dark spice with plenty of heat. The mouthfeel is gorgeously sexy with feminine elegance. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, big sweet tarry notes, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush, lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals. The acidity is perfect. The finish is well balanced sexy and gorgeous. The structure, tension say this needs to cellar eight to ten years.

Photos of; tasting cellar area, modern stainless tanks, outside terrace tasting and or dining area and their grounds and lake.

Producer history and notes...Sinegal Estate was founded in 2013 with wines made from their 30 acre Inglewood estate in St Helena (not to be confused with the Inglenook Estate in Rutherford). This is not a new property, it was part of an original land grant and its more modern day history dates back to 1879 when owner Alton Williams purchased the property and planted the first vines in 1881.

The property has changed owners a number of times over the decades. At one point the Jaegers’ owned the estate, Bill Jaeger and his wife Lila lived here. These Napa Valley pioneers were in part responsible for helping establish Freemark Abbey and Rutherford Hill. Lila was also a gardener and established beautiful gardens on the property.

Owners, David (father)and James (son) Sinegal purchased the property in 2013. James was the co-founder of Costco and once CEO. David worked at Costco for 21 years.

After the purchase, David divided each of their vineyards into smaller blocks, picking selectively (30 times in 2013) rather than all at once, and adding technology to the vineyards so they have up to the date reports on a number of data points including temperatures, soil moisture and various barometric pressures. If they want to selectively water, say vine #67 in row number three, they can do so with their irrigation system. Extremely efficient!

Nine acres of vines are planted to various red varietals including; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. They have some of the older Cabernet Franc vines in the valley that are 30+ years old.

The soils here are diverse and can vary even within small geographic ranges on the property. Some of their vineyards are planted on the valley floor – while their upper vineyards are hillside, on the edges of the Mayacamas Mountains.

Their landscape above the property is interesting and part of the Mayacamas Mountains. Visually, it appears drier than other parts of this mountain range and the vegetation reflects that with grey pine and more open natural vegetation rather than the thicker wooded vegetation more commonly associated with parts of Spring and Diamond Mountains to the north.

After purchasing the property, David created planned and laid out his vision to create a world-class boutique wine making operation. Many wineries in the Napa Valley can take years before they come to fruition, not so here. After only about 10 months, the existing winery was remodeled. 6,500 feet of caves were expanded and drilled into the hillside behind the winery and a new hospitality center was built. The hospitality center ties in very well with the winery. From the small tasting room, large doors open revealing the tanks.

A vegetable garden slightly under an acre grows just south of the winery building. Vegetables from this garden are sold to nearby restaurants.

A skeleton key appears on the labels of their wine and is prominently displayed on the outside of their winery building. This has historical significance. The original key opens the front door to the historic home on site and is displayed in the tasting room. With respect to the history of this property, this one key has already become iconic to the brand.

You only need to look inside of the winery to see that their wine making team is focused on quality. Each of the small lot tanks have built in pumps which can be controlled and programmed to do pump-overs anytime of the day or night. In addition, these tanks have multiple points at which the temperature can be controlled. These tanks do not necessarily handle all their fermentation’s. They also ferment small lots in puncheons and barrels as needed. Control across the board is the key here and it is the control of the details in wine making that is is so integral from when the fruit first arrives through to when it is bottled.

2013 was their inaugural release. The focus is currently on two primary varietals, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc were sourced from the estate but, then it was determined it was growing in an area better suited for red varietals so it was torn up and new plantings were made in the back of the property. While not far from these original plantings, their new home for their Sauvignon Blanc features different soils and is growing in a cooler part of the property.


The wine making team has been experimenting with the style of this varietal since 2013 with subsequent vintages seeing more oak. Especially, using the slightly longer cigar shaped barrels , which have extra surface area for maximizing complexities including textural feel imparted from aging the wine on the lees in these particular barrels. Maceration on the red wines is often 8-10 days and sometimes up to 20 days.

Most of their sales are direct to visitors or through their mailing list. However, they do have some distribution outside California in Florida, New York and Washington. Primarily to restaurants. — 7 years ago

Megan Long

9.0

Lip-smacking tartness with nice fruit & texture from Dry Creek Valley Zin skins! Happy the '16 will be infused with Dashe grape skins! — 9 years ago

Matt Sharp

9.0

$16 at Keife & Co. In New Orleans. Good value. Needs air — 9 years ago

Patrick Derdeyn

9.0

The ‘17s just arrived so that means it was perfect timing to drink my last ‘16. @Morgan Twain-Peterson says these can age 5-10 yrs, but mine never seem to make it 5-10 months while I let all of the SVs rest in peace. A splash decant really helps the bouquet jump out on these. Rose petal, spice, and dark fruits balanced by wonderful acidity and some light tannin presence. A screaming value year in and year out. — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Had another bottle. Rombauer Vineyards was founded in 1982 by Koerner and Joan Rombauer and sits on a tree covered knoll overlooking the Napa Valley. The winery features caves that extend for over a mile into the hillside. Rich aromas of stone and tropical fruit with sweet oak spice scents. On the palate peach, melon and apple, with soft vanilla spice, rich & creamy, yet crisp. Lingering smooth finish, well balanced ending with mineral notes. Better than ‘16, ‘17 much fresher tasting. — 7 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.1

Excellent tasting with Chris.

Medium ruby red. Attack of dark cocoa and woody notes. Finally opened up with a light flora undertone. Solid acidity, heavy tannins (7/10) and balanced. Full bodied and layered with dark fruits like black cherries, and dark raspberries. Good amount of spices, pepper and anise with a nice zing. Dark gravel near the long finish and a touch dry. Rhône style blend made up of 45% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 18% Mourvedre, and 2% Tannat. Made through a series of co-ferments from 16 vineyards. Drink from 2018 till 2027. — 8 years ago

with India

Loren Stanton

9.0

A smooth fine Pinot at a good price - $16 at Costco. Wine steward there says it's best of its kind at that price and better than most costing up to $25. — 9 years ago

Paul T HB

9.3

I forgot I had this hidden away, hope it hasn't turned.
Only 14.5 abv not bad for a Zin, sometimes their over 16%, it's pretty smooth for being just out of the barrel. Parker 95+ & under $50.00 — 9 years ago

Mark Lindzy

9.5

This is a crazy single vineyard field blend of mostly white grapes, about 15 total, mostly Pansa Blanca (xarel-lo) and Sumoll. One mile from the sea, old vines on granite, co-harvested and co-fermented in vat. The color is golden, but with only 12hrs skin contact it's not a true "orange" wine. Super refreshing with citrus and pear, saline/granite minerality and bracing acidity. Wow.

Only 871 bottles this vintage. — 9 years ago

Julie Karr

9.0

Really enjoyed this. Easy wine to drink - light and crisp with hints of honey. Would buy again. $16 at SD Wine Co. — 9 years ago