The Rack House West Winery
Cliff Lede Vineyards
Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
On the nose; very ruby, floral plum fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, Thompson raisins, fresh dates and prunes. Black licorice, creamy dark fruit cola, caramel, milk & dark chocolate, soft beautiful dark spice, touch of eucalyptus, fresh herbs, limestone, soft presence dry crushed rocks, a whiff of pepper, fresh lavender, violets and dark withering floral bouquet.
The body is full and lush. Fine meaty, tarry, tannins. Very ruby, floral plum fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, Thompson raisins, fresh dates and prunes. Black licorice, creamy dark fruit cola, caramel, milk & dark chocolate, soft beautiful dark spice, touch of eucalyptus, fresh herbs, limestone, soft presence dry crushed rocks, suede leather, dry clay, dry top soil, dry underbrush, a whiff of pepper, fresh lavender, violets and dark withering floral bouquet. The acidity is very nice. There is good structure, tension, length and balance that needs 10 years plus to flush out. The finish is good, well balanced with fine powdery sticky tannins.
Photos of, Cliff Lede tasting facility, wire woven sculptures that decorate the grounds, Owner David Lede and the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.
Producer history and notes...Cliff Lede Vineyards (pronounced LayDee) was founded in 2002 on what used to be S. Anderson Vineyard, a winery that was founded in 1971 by Stanley and Carol Anderson primarily known for their sparkling wines.
Cliff Lede is from Leduc, Alberta a small town just south of Edmonton. The reason you see a Canadian flag in front of the parking next to the US Flag. David and Cliff helped run their father’s construction company he founded in 1947, Leduc Construction. Later the company was renamed to Ledcor Construction in 1982. They ultimately built the business into one of the world’s largest construction companies. Through Cliff, the company established business in the Napa Valley focusing on wineries, restaurants, premium resorts and private residences. Some of their more notable works include; Morimoto Restaurant, Davis Estate Winery, Lokoya Winery, Marciano Estate and the Riverfront Residences in downtown Napa.
After several decades at Ledcor, Cliff decided to pursue his passion for wine. His first introduction to wine was helping his mother make wine at home. Later he began collecting wines from Bordeaux, and even considered purchasing property there. However, he fell in love with Napa after business took him to Northern California.
Cliff Lede owns 60 acres of vineyards in the Stags Leap District. This includes the Twin Peaks Vineyard surrounding the winery and tasting room. The Poetry Vineyard was acquired a year after Cliff established Cliff Lede Vineyards. It is planted on steep hillsides down to the Silverado Trail. It’s planted with red Bordeaux varietals, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. The soils there are extremely rocky. Despite being so close to the Poetry Vineyard, the soils in the Twin Peaks Vineyard are dramatically different. They are gravelly loam.
From a viticulture aspect, this diversity of terroir is a good representation of what the Stags Leap District has to offer, ranging from its upper most reaches of 400 feet to the valley floor. Even among their two Stags Leap properties, there are micro-climates. The west facing vineyard hillsides become quite warm during the day in the summer but cool off significantly in the evenings. This diurnal temperature swing is important for growing premium grapes including maintaining acidity.
The winery also owns a 20 acre vineyard in Calistoga at the base of Diamond Mountain planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a small block of Sauvignon Blanc.
Further to the north in Mendocino County is their Savoy Vineyard, which is a 42 acre site in Anderson Valley. It is planted mainly to Pinot Noir along with Chardonnay. It provides fruit for their FEL Wines (a name that Cliff chose to pay homage to his mother, using the first three initials of her full name Florence Elsie Lede.
Cliff’s love for all things “Rock and Roll”, he named all their blocks in their Stags Leap District Vineyards after famous rock and roll songs or albums such as “Dark Side of the Moon”, “Walk on the Wildside”, “Light my Fire” and “American Girl. ”Collectively these are referred to as the “Rock Blocks.”
David Abreu quickly realized the exceptional terroir of the Poetry Vineyard as did Cliff when they initially tried some of the S. Anderson wines from this site. Abreu oversaw its replanting and clonal material sourced from a number of premiere Napa vineyards. While Abreu was the original vineyard architect, he is no longer involved in the management of the their vineyards. They are now controlled by their in-house vineyard team.
The winery, tasting room and the nearby luxury Poetry Inn all opened around 2005. Architect Howard Gillam was hired to design the winery. Cliff’s background in construction and architectural preferences certainly influenced its design. The tasting room has a more contemporary feel rather then some of his more rustic looking designs. It features beautiful views of the Napa Valley. Inspired by the shape of tanks during a visit to Château Latour in Bordeaux, Cliff commissioned Missouri based Paul Mueller Company to create special truncated tanks for fermentation to help submerse more of the cap. Each tank corresponds to a specific vineyard block. During harvest, a specially designed crane gently moves and lowers a hopper full of whole berries into each tank.
Sorting is a big part of their attention to detail before fermentation. After the grapes come into the winery, they are sorted by hand, then run through an optical sorter and then finally put through an additional final hand sorting. Nearby is a 20,000 square foot cave that connects directly to the winery. World famous Michel Rolland was brought on in the early years as a consultant. Philipe Melka also made Cliff Lede wines for several years and today Christopher Tynan is the Winemaker. He was formerly Assistant Winemaker at Colgin.
Total annual production is between 18,000 and 20,000 cases depending on what Mother Nature gives them. The majority of this is comprised of their Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and their Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon. — 7 years ago
House of Cards
Ace of Spades Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon Blend
Preferred over the first bottle. — 8 years ago
The Rack House West Winery
Flatbed Red Blend
Actually a semi-dry Chambourcin. Good stuff. Reminds me of a merlot or a Pinot Noir. — 8 years ago
Billecart-Salmon
Brut Rosé Champagne Chardonnay Blend
On the nose, ripe lean fruits of; strawberries, cherries, watermelon, tangerine. Citrus blossoms, baguette, chalky minerals and pink florals & rose petals. Strawberries, cherries, watermelon, black raspberries, tangerine with peel, baguette, soft razor sharp palate chalk, sea spray, medium intensity volcanic minerals, near perfect acidity with round, rich beautiful finish. Gold standard for rosé champagne and my go to rosé for the $. Photos of their champagne house, one of their vineyards, cellar A-frame rack to riddle the bottles and branded exterior property wall. Beautiful property! — 9 years ago
Leeuwin Estate
Art Series Margaret River Riesling 2006
2006 vintage. Look at what I found buried at the bottom of a wine rack at another store with no facing! Very smoky, but in a clean and un-obnoxious sort of way. Lime, dried lemon, birch, blanched almonds, black rocks, dried white flowers. What a great find and good example of dry Riesling! — 9 years ago
Domaine de la Janasse
Réserve Côtes du Rhône Red Rhône Blend 2011
Had at Sunshine's friends house. Really good. Friend said he got it at West ridge. Couldn't find it there. 😣 — 9 years ago
Henriot
Millésime Brut Champagne Blend 2006
@Benjamin Keator had his hosting at the CC tonight and it was absolutely incredible. What a night of gorgeous wines! All wines are guessed blind.
My guess here was ‘04-06 French champagne. I couldn’t guess a house, but I was able to rule out what it wasn’t (PH, Dom, Krug). This wasn’t reductive enough to be west coast. Balanced sweetness and yeastiness well. — 7 years ago
Simi
Sonoma County Chardonnay 2016
I normally only drink unoaked Chardonnay but thought I’d try this one. I’m showing off my Key West wine glass because I have a lovely sunset in the front of my house and thunder and clouds at the back of the house! 🤨 this wine has a creaminess to it that I didn’t know wine could have, also lots of citrus and tropical fruit. Very nice. I chose to sit in the back and listen to the thunder with this one. ⚡️ — 8 years ago
Domaine Chandon
Étoile Carneros Rosé
Celebrating Mother’s Day at my in-laws House. They enjoy Chandon, especially their high-end ones like this, but this was our first time with their rosé.
You aren’t confusing this for French, but goodness it is easy to sip on! Strawberry purée and orange citrus zest on the nose. Creamy and minuscule bubbles that became a bit reductive after time in the glass showing this was west coast. Strawberry limeade, rhubarb pie and mint leaf on the palate. Happy Mother’s Day everyone. — 8 years ago
Côte Bonneville
Carriage House DuBrul Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2007
West coast wine and cheese with parents — 8 years ago
Scherrer Winery
Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2007
Fred is one of my favorite winemakers. This wine is fresh and fruity at ten years old. A very nice Pinot that we drank with rack of lamb. Yum! And thanks to Fred and Judy for leaving it at the Maui house! — 8 years ago
House of Cards
'The Royals' Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Pretty decent! — 8 years ago
Aubert
Lauren Vineyard Chardonnay 2015
This run of about 13 PHENOMENAL wines I'm posting are from the SQN wine dinner/WNH interview I did at @Shawn R 's house last night. I was like a kid in a candy store on Christmas. What an absolutely EPIC night! Love ya brother!
No, the night didn't end after the SQNs were popped...it was just getting started! I mentioned to Shawn that my wife's favorite white (and definitely my favorite west coast Chardonnay) was this wine and he just casually went to his cellar, popped it, and sat it on the table in front of us! 😂 I always get a lot of lemon cream with Aubert, and prefer this Vineyard over the Larry Hyde & Sons. Almost a cheesecake finish to it, with Graham crackers and whipped cream cheese. — 9 years ago
The Lake House Denmark
Frankland Shiraz 2013
Discreet bouqet with red berries and licorice. Long, smooth and elegant. Subdued earthy palate. Excellent mouth feel. Very good shit. — 9 years ago
Iona
Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2018
West London Wine/Streatham Wine House — 7 years ago
Tsarine
Brut Champagne Rosé Blend
On occasion I (and my wife by extension) get invited by a restaurant to enjoy an evening of wining & dining on the house in exchange for some Instagram publicity. I, of course, gladly accept their hospitality, not only because I love food & wine but also because I relish the opportunity to share (hopefully) positive experiences had at local restaurants. Tonight’s experience was at Lucio’s BYOB, which I’ve been to numerous times. However, tonight I was invited to return for dinner and explore a multitude of new menu items at the behest of their Marketing Director, Irina, who has had the pleasure of serving at various acclaimed restaurants in France and Italy (including none other than Osteria Francescana), as well as numerous local hot-shot restaurants here in Houston. Since I would be the only one drinking over dinner, I chose to bring a Champagne split of a selection I had never had before by a producer I had never experienced. Tsarine’s Brut Rosé offered the perfect pairing for all manner of dishes from cured gravlox, to crab cake, to Australian lamb rack, to assorted desserts and more. Ripe strawberries, peaches, and delicate flowers, I enjoyed my first exposure to this producer and wouldn’t mind trying some of their other offerings. — 7 years ago
Château Lynch-Bages
Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2000
The 2000 is delicious but, it is evolving at a glacial pace. Out of magnum.
On the nose, touch of barnyard, glycerin, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, plum, strawberries & cherries. Vanilla, dry clay, limestone, river stones, just a touch of pyrazines & bandaid, dark,,turned, moist earth, dry grass and dry & fresh dark florals.
The body is full, round & sexy. Dry softened, sweet tannins. ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, plum, strawberries & cherries. Vanilla, dry clay, limestone, river stones, just a touch of pyrazines & bandaid, fresh tobacco leaf, saddle-wood, dry underbrush, dark, turned, moist earth, dry grass and dry & fresh dark florals. The acidity is magnificent. The structure, tension, length and balance are sensational. The finish is drop dead gorgeous. I’d still hold mine another 5 years as long as you have 3-4 bottles for more 5 year increments.
Photos of, their Estate vines, Clyde Beffa-Owner of K&L Wine Merchants, Owner of Chateau Lynch Bages - Jean-Michel Cazes, guests of the dinner and a sunset view from their Estate.
Producer notes and history...Lynch Bages takes its name from the local area where the Chateau is located in Bages. The vineyard of what was to become Lynch Bages was established and then expanded by the Dejean family who sold it in 1728 to Pierre Drouillard.
In 1749, Drouillard bequeathed the estate to his daughter Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Lynch. This is how the estate came to belong to the Lynch family, where it remained for seventy-five years and received the name Lynch Bages. However, it was not always known under that name.
For a while the wines were sold under the name of Jurine Bages. In fact, when the estate was Classified in the 1855 Classification of the Medoc, the wines were selling under the name of Chateau Jurine Bages. That is because the property was owned at the time by a Swiss wine merchant, Sebastien Jurine.
In 1862, the property was sold to the Cayrou brothers who restored the estate’s name to Chateau Lynch family.
Around 1870, Lou Janou Cazes and his wife Angelique were living in Pauillac, close to Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron. It was here that Jean-Charles Cazes, the couple’s second son, was born in 1877.
In the 1930’s, Jean-Charles Cazes, who was already in charge of Les-Ormes-de-Pez in St. Estephe agreed to lease the vines of Lynch Bages. By that time, the Cazes family had history in Bordeaux dating back to the second half of the nineteenth century.
This agreement to take over Lynch Bages was good for both the owner and Jean Charles Cazes. Because, the vineyards had become dilapidated and were in need of expensive replanting, which was too expensive for the owner. However, for Cazes, this represented an opportunity, as he had the time, and the ability to manage Lynch Bages, but he lacked the funds to buy the vineyard.
Jean-Charles Cazes eventually purchased both properties on the eve of the Second World War. Lynch Bages and Les-Ormes-de-Pez have been run by the Cazes family ever since. In 1988, the Cazes family added to their holdings in Bordeaux when they purchased an estate in the Graves region, Chateau Villa Bel Air.
Around 1970, they increased their vineyards with the purchase of Haut-Bages Averous and Saussus. By the late 1990’s their holdings had expanded to nearly 100 hectares! Jean-Michel Cazes who had been employed as an engineer in Paris, joined the wine trade in 1973. In a short time, Jean Michel Cazes modernized everything at Lynch Bages.
He installed a new vat room, insulated the buildings, developing new technologies and equipment, built storage cellars, restored the loading areas and wine storehouses over the next fifteen years. During that time period, Jean Michel Cazes was the unofficial ambassador of not just the Left Bank, but all of Bordeaux. Jean Michel Cazes was one of the first Chateau owners to begin promoting their wine in China back in 1986.
Bages became the first wine sent into space, when a French astronaut carried a bottle of 1975 Lynch Bages with him on the joint American/French space flight!
Beginning in 1987, Jean-Michel Cazes joined the team at the insurance company AXA, who wanted to build an investment portfolio of quality vineyards in the Medoc, Pomerol, Sauternes, Portugal and Hungary.
Jean-Michel Cazes was named the director of the wine division and all the estates including of course, the neighboring, Second Growth, Chateau Pichon Baron.
June 1989 marked the inauguration of the new wine making facilities at Lynch Bages, which was on of their best vintages. 1989 also marked the debut of the Cordeillan- hotel and restaurant where Sofia and I had one of our best dinners ever. A few years after that, the Village de Bages with its shops was born.
The following year, in 1990, the estate began making white wine, Blanc de Lynch Bages. In 2001, the Cazes family company bought vineyards in the Rhone Valley in the Languedoc appellation, as well as in Australia and Portugal. They added to their holdings a few years later when they purchased a vineyard in Chateauneuf du Pape.
In 2006, Jean-Charles Cazes took over as the managing director of Chateau Lynch Bages. Jean-Michel Cazes continues to lead the wine and tourism division of the family’s activities. Due to their constant promotion in the Asian market, Chateau Lynch Bages remains one of the strongest brands in the Asian market, especially in China.
In 2017, Chateau Lynch Bages began a massive renovation and modernization, focusing on their wine making, and technical facilities. The project, headed by the noted architects Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, the sons of the famous architect that designed the glass pyramid for the Louvre in Paris as well as several other important buildings.
The project will be completed in 2019. This includes a new grape, reception center, gravity flow wine cellar and the vat rooms, which will house at least, 80 stainless steel vats in various sizes allowing for parcel by parcel vinification.
The new cellars will feature a glass roof, terraces with 360 degree views and completely modernized reception areas and offices. They are not seeing visitors until it’s completion.
In March, 2017, they purchased Chateau Haut Batailley from Françoise Des Brest Borie giving the Cazes family over 120 hectares of vines in Pauillac!
The 100 hectare vineyard of Lynch Bages is planted to 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The vineyard has a terroir of gravel, chalk and sand soils.
The vineyard can be divided into two main sections, with a large portion of the vines being planted close to the Chateau on the Bages plateau. At their peak, the vineyard reaches an elevation of 20 meters. The other section of the vineyard lies further north, with its key terroir placed on the Monferan plateau.
They also own vines in the far southwest of the appellation, next Chateau Pichon Lalande, on the St. Julien border, which can be used in the Grand Vin. The vineyard can be split into four main blocks, which can be further subdivided into 140 separate parcels.
The average age of the vines is about 30 years old. But they have old vines, some of which are close to 90 years old.
The vineyards are planted to a vine density of 9,000 vines per hectare. The average age of the vines is about 30 years old. But they have old vines, some of which are close to 90 years old.
Lynch Bages also six hectares of vine are reserved for the production of the white Bordeaux wine of Chateau Lynch Bages. Those vines are located to the west of the estate. They are planted to 53% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Semillon and 15% Muscadelle. On average, those vines are about 20 years of age. Lynch Bages Blanc made its debut in 1990.
To produce the wine of Chateau Lynch Bages, vinification takes place 35 stainless steel vats that vary in size. Malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of 30% French, oak barrels with the remainder taking place in tank.
The wine of Chateau Lynch Bages is aged in an average of 70% new, French oak barrels for between 12 and 15 months. Due to the appellation laws of Pauillac, the wine is sold as a generic AOC Bordeaux Blanc, because Pauillac does not allow for the plantings of white wine grapes.
For the vinification of their white, Bordeaux wine, Blanc de Lynch-Bages is vinified in a combination of 50% new, French oak barrels, 20% in one year old barrels and the remaining 30% is vinified in vats. The wine is aged on its lees for at least six months. The white wine is sold an AOC Bordeaux wine.
The annual production at Lynch Bages is close to 35,000 cases depending on the vintage.
The also make a 2nd wine, which was previously known as Chateau Chateau Haut Bages Averous. However, the estate changed its name to Echo de Lynch Bages beginning with the 2007 vintage. The estate recently added a third wine, Pauillac de Lynch-Bages.
— 8 years ago
El Dorado
Special Reserve 15 Year Rum
A sweeter mild... really good flavors... I'd definitely buy a bottle for the house to share with appreciative friends and company. — 9 years ago
Jay Kline
Quite possibly one of the most singular expressions of Zinfandel I have ever tasted and unquestionably going to be misunderstood by most who drink it. This is not a Zinfandel drinker’s Zinfandel. It’s too acidic; too mineral driven; too light on its feet. And yet, I was absolutely charmed by it! Particularly when I paired it with pomegranate marinated rack of lamb. At 7 years old, it’s just now entering its drinking window. I would expect this to be enjoyable for at least another 7 years and perhaps longer. — 6 years ago