Hunting the Black Chicken, Part I

Hello fellow wine lovers. I have eschewed the urge to go play outside in the sun so that I may give you my rundown of last weekend's trek to Napa. I have lots to tell you about, so please forgive me for cutting this entry into a couple of separate chunks. Part I here will tell you about our day leading up to the BBQ. Part II will conclude with the Biale party itself. Kapeesh? Good.

Friday night/early Saturday morning was something else for the Bay Area. Thunder & lightning shook our city by the bay with a storm far more powerful than any other in ZinfanGirl's memory (remember, she did grow up here). Alas, the rain did not last, and the Napa trip was still on.

ZinfanHubby was unable to accompany me due to a prior engagement, and it was no difficult task to find someone else to take his place. Our dear friend Noah had never been wine tasting before, and ZinfanGirl had every intention to make his intro to the wine world a memorable one. So Saturday morning, just before noon, we crossed two bridges and got on the yellow brick road of Napa wineries, Hwy 29.

The Biale members BBQ didn't start until 1, so we decided to check out a couple of other wineries. I resisted the urge to pop into Stag's Leap Cellars as ZinfanGirl makes it a point to try new things. However, while we were in the Stag's Leap district, we decided to find ourselves some yummy juice, and picked a winery at random...

I had definitely heard of Chimney Rock Winery but was not familiar with their wines. Noah & I sampled the New Release flight:

• 2007 Elevage Blanc: meritage-style, quite Bordeaux-y, lots of Sauvignon Blanc.
• 2008 Rosé of Cabernet Franc: a very nice rosé, and by nice, I mean dry. Noah nabbed a bottle of this. This is definitely a summer wine, and has a lovely watermelon hue.
• 2006 Cab Sauvignon: It was nice, but nothing special (I'm spoiled when it comes to Cabs-- blame all those tastings at Stag's Leap). It didn't seem as rich & velvety as other Stag's Leap Cabs I've had.
• 2006 Elevage: Another Bordeaux style blend, Chimney Rock's golden child. However, the fact that this was served after the Cab only reaffirmed in my mind that their Cab isn't really all that.

Overall, we enjoyed Chimney Rock but nothing really jumped out as being amazing. The staff was pleasant but not entirely personable; I will give them the benefit of the doubt (the tasting room was a bit crowded that day). The grounds are nice, but ZinfanGirl is partial to wineries with inviting grass/picnic areas. And... well how do I say this diplomatically? Don't go to Chimney Rock planning to buy wines unless you've got a few hundred bucks. This place ain't cheap.
Some pics from Chimney Rock's Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards:

Our next stop was a winery neither of us had heard of. "Hey, what about that one?" my co-pilot asked? So, after completing a U-turn of questionable legality, in we went. Welcome to  Regusci Winery

When we arrived, we were greeted by one of the Regusci residents:

Regusci was packed as well, and we were helped by a friendly Aussie gentleman. We relied heavily on the universal sign language of, "Give me a pour, please!" (a motion resembling tilting a wine glass towards one's mouth, only said wine glass is either imaginery or empty). And then came the wines:

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  Merlot Rosé: This was the first time ZinfanGirl had tried a Merlot rosé. There was quite a bit of talk about Merlot in this winery, I'm thinking it's the Regusci darling.
  
  
  
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  2006 Merlot: I'm not the hugest Merlot fan, nor do I drink it often, but I must say this one was quite nice. But I remembered exactly why Merlot is considered the red-headed stepchild of the red varietals: there is nothing very special about it. It wants to be loved, and if there is a Merlot to be loved, this one would be up there.
  
  
  
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  2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: "See?!?" I told Noah, "Cabs are almost always served last!" Again, I felt validated in my initial review of Chimney Rock's Cab. While definitely not a Cask 23, Regusci's Cabernet definitely had that heavy, tannic, velvet goodness that one can only get from a good, strong Cab. It sucked the moisture right off my tongue. It was delicious, but still not enough to sway ZinfanGirl from her wine of choice.
  
  
  

Regusci also sold olive oil, and Noah & I had spotted some olive trees on the grounds (at least, they looked like olive trees). The olive oil was yummy too, but I can't justify spending $20-something on a dinky bottle of olive oil!

OK, dear fans, I will continue with the Hunting of the Black Chicken another time. Cheers!