Sam Agami

10

Wow, old school perfection! California wine from a forgotten age. Pure Italian-American greatness. Reminds me of the wine my childhood landlord would make from the vines that grew behind our house just upstate from NYC. Dark fruits abundant, soft acidity and tanins, nice touch of oak, without obscuring the graps as so many California wineries are obsessed with doing for some reason these days. Found this at a random liquor store on a road trip, will seek it out now. Even better than the Cribari Chianti or Coppola Rosso, which were my previous favorite in this genre, the wonderfully underappreciated "backyard" wine... — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.3

A wonderful tasting put on by Classic Wine Storage featuring Long Shadows Winery. If you aren’t familiar with these wines, they are phenomenal WA state wines that are made by the likes of Randy Dunn, Phillipe Melka, Michel Rolland, John DuVall, and more.

Approachable red blend. To me, this is the pop and pour wine out of the lineup. Very plush. This reminds me of Flora Springs Trilogy Blend out of Napa with a bit more fruit on the finish. More milk chocolate than dark. Boysenberry, blue and black fruit medley. — 6 years ago

with Mark

Erin DiGiulio

9.4

Very good, drinkable and pleasant — 7 years ago

Naomi Hendricks Scharkopf

9.1

One of my favorite Long Island wineries! — 7 years ago

Jason Burns

9.5

What more could you want in a cab? One of my favorite wineries and an excellent vintage. Well worth the money to add a few bottles to your collection. — 7 years ago

Tadd Tanji

9.5

I finally found a wine for Indian and SE Asian food!! It's soft and pretty, with just enough prickly fizz to bring the flavors of watermelon, strawberry and papaya to life. More wineries need to produce frizzante rosé. — 8 years ago

Jim Trobaugh

9.6

Top five wineries, we had such time in Napa! — 8 years ago

Jean Ginibre

9.0

What a great region for wines. They have come a long way in the last 10 years. Gerard bertrand being in the forefront of wineries there — 8 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

The nose reveals; dark currants, blackberries, heavy black plum, black raspberries, dark cherries and some blueberries. Black tea, expresso roast, anise, crushed dry rocks, big vanilla, clove, a little nutmeg, dry underbrush, sweet tarry notes, leather, woody notes with dark fresh & withering flower bouquet.

The body is big and lush. The tannins are big, meaty and tarry. Very dark currants. Blackberries, heavy black plum, black raspberries, dark cherries and some blueberries & strawberries as they open up. Black tea, expresso roast, steeped fruit tea, anise, crushed dry rocks, dry clay, big graphite, big vanilla, dark spice, clove, light dry herbs, a little nutmeg, dry underbrush, sweet tarry notes, leather, cedar with violets dark fresh & withering flower bouquet. The acidity is round, fresh and beautiful. The big, long, well balanced finish is excellent and look forward to having this in 15-20 years. This one will be a stunner!

Photos of, the barn where they make wine and hosts tastings, our private tasting area inside William’s old office. William desk and their outside terrace area.

Producer history & notes...Seavey Vineyard is located along Conn Valley Road in the eastern hills of Napa Valley, about 15 minutes from the valley floor.

This historical property was originally a cattle ranch. However, records indicate grapes were planted on some of the hillsides as early as the 1870’s. The stone dairy barn, still in existence, was built in 1881.

William & Mary Seavey purchased this property in 1979. The estate was originally founded by the Franco-Swiss Farming Company in 1881 which, closed down when Phylloxera destroyed their grape vines and the Volstead Act (Prohibition) went into effect. At the time of their purchase, they were a horse and cattle ranch. They quickly planted the slopes with grapes and initially sold their fruit to Raymond Vineyards. They have never purchased grapes, all their wine is made from estate grapes. Their vineyards are separated into 20 plus individual blocks.

Today, the property is about 200 total acres of which, 40 acres are planted to vine. Their hillside vineyards produce low yields of rich concentrated fruit. A small block of Chardonnay grows in a cooler lower part of their property. Besides grapes, they also raise cattle which are used to graze the hillsides. They feed the vineyard with the cattle cuttings. In 2003, they were one of the first Napa wineries to install solar.

Mary passed away in 2008 and William died in 2016. There daughter Dorie returned to the family business and now oversees the winery operations. Her brother Arthur also handles national and some small international sales, primarily to restaurants. However, most of their wine is sold direct to consumers.

Seavey’s first commercial vintage was released in 1990 a year after they renovated the stone dairy barn into a working winery. Today this stone building is the centerpiece of the property and is where tastings are hosted.

Since 2011, Jim Duane has been their day to day Winemaker. He’s worked at Robert Mondavi and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. It should also be noted that Philippe Melka Winemaker/Consultant has been with Seavey since 1995...one of Philippe’s two initial wine making jobs in the Napa Valley were with Seavey and Lail Vineyards.

Seavy makes about 3,200 cases annually depending on what mother nature brings. They make around two hundred cases of Chardonnay, slightly more Merlot and the rest is of the production is comprised of their Caravina and Estate Cabernets.
— 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

One of CA's oldest wineries, Far Niente, founded in 1885 by world traveler John Benson. The winery flourished until Prohibition, at which time it was abandoned and fell into complete disrepair. The stately stone shell of a winery was purchased in 1979 by Gil Nickel. Tropical and stone fruit aromas with complex spice and oak notes. On the palate apple, pear and citrus flavors, concentrated, with toasty oak and honey tones. Lingering finish ending with vibrant mineral characteristics. — 7 years ago

A. R.

9.0

I may be a bit biased, since this is one of my all time favorite wineries, but there are few (if any other) wines with this amount of pedigree and age for 25 dollars. On the nose, dried cherries, tobacco leaf and leather. In the mouth, red fruits, a straight-razor leather oiled strop, slight grip of tannin and some acid. Medium-long finish. — 8 years ago

Charine Tan

9.0

RIP to the late Zlatan who passed a month ago.

Zlatan Otok is one of my favourite wineries in Croatia. I appreciate every single one of the wines that I've tried but that said, this Zlatan Otok 2010 Crljenak is my absolute fave.

In 2001 a research, funded by Mike Grgich of Judgement of Paris fame, on the origin of Zinfandel came to fruition. It confirmed that Zinfandel and Primitivo came from Croatia. Unfortunately at the point of discovery, the vines of Crljenak in Croatia was near extinction. Today, only a handful of Croatian wineries still produce this wine. As far as I've tried, the Zlatan Otok 2010 Crljenak is the best representation of this variety.

Notes: Colour is dark garnet with some clarity. On the nose, I get cboth red and black fruit, white and black pepper, slightly perfumey like amber and musk. The palate reflects exactly what's on the nose, carried off by vibrant acidity and prominent minerality. Tannins are slightly coarse but sweet, which means it should be aged in the bottle for a while longer but ready to be enjoyed now. What I love most is how it opens up and expresses itself on the palate like a triangle--from narrow and shy to wide and lively. This Crljenak has lighter body than most Californian Zinfandel.

The final conclusion: Yes please! It's slightly cheaper than Lytton Springs, and I'm getting more pleasure from this. — 8 years ago

John Mitchell

9.3

I underrated Langhorne Creek wines for decades, but not any more. This is a superb red. And there are many other winners coming out of neighbouring wineries. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.4

A wonderful tasting put on by Classic Wine Storage featuring Long Shadows Winery. If you aren’t familiar with these wines, they are phenomenal WA state wines that are made by the likes of Randy Dunn, Phillipe Melka, Michel Rolland, John DuVall, and more.

This wine is made by Michel Rolland. Large and in charge merlot. Mocha, sweet pipe tobacco, and a lot of ripe blackberry. Nutmeg and cinnamon. Cab lovers merlot. — 6 years ago

Joe Roth

9.3

One of the best and underrated Napa wineries — 7 years ago

with Michael

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Artesa (ahr TESS uh) means "craftsman" and connotes "handcrafted" in Catalan, language of Barcelona and their owner, Codorníu, one of the world's largest and oldest wineries. Ruby with sweet berry fruit aromas and floral notes. On the palate cranberry and cherry flavors with spice. Fine savory tannins medium finish ending with mineral notes, nice value. — 7 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Super Tuscan blend. It's a blend of 60% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet and 10% Merlot. Nose of sweet & sour dark cherries. Baking spices, light spices, caramel, black licorice & fragrant dark, fresh, florals. It's not your traditional super Tuscan but it's a close relative. The mouthfeel is beautifully round, gorgeous, lush and sexy. Spice, baking spice, moist dark soil, dry powdery top soils, ruby, ripe, rich, lush, blackberries, dark cherries, spiced plum, cherries, strawberries, black licorice/cola with round. mouthwatering acidity. The structure, length, tension and balance are amazing as is the beautifully, lush finish. Photos of, their Walla Walla winery, wall artwork at their winery and hand blown stand up lamps. — 7 years ago

Jimmy Hayes

Estate Director Mayacamas Vineyard

9.7

90 Maya - sublime bottle. Solid as a rock. Generous - cassis, blackberry, olive. Few California wineries I appreciate more. — 7 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.4

Awesome wineries make incredible wines even in tough years. This 11 rocks! — 8 years ago

with Christine

Spinning_spins

9.5

Sweet floral aromas, killer! — 8 years ago