Your Guide to the best of Mt. Veeder
Close your eyes. Imagine that you’ve never tasted a drop of wine. When you try to imagine a wine-tasting, what comes to mind? Stereotypically, we think of the quiet atmosphere of a high-class restaurant or the showroom of an upscale home. What we don’t consider is going to a place where we can be close to nature and Mount Veeder blows those notions out of the water. Mount Veeder’s first wine, made by Captain Stelham Wing, was introduced at the Napa County Fair in 1864. Wine-making in this region was centered in a Germanic tradition with the founding of Streich Winery and the Fisher Winery in the 1880s. Following this tradition, in 1900 Theodore Geir began the first commercial production of wine in Mount Veeder. Mount Veeder became an official sub-appellation of Napa Valley in 1993. While there may be only 20 wineries on Mount Veeder, they are known to produce high quality wines.
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 A Napa Red That Crosses Boundaries - Although it comes from California, Lagier Meredith Syrah reminds me of several Rhône Valley wines. There are times when it mimics Hermitage, with its pure Syrah minerality and herbal, dried berry flavors. Sometimes it’s a bit tighter, more in a Crozes-Hermitage style. Once in a while I think of Cornas when I drink it. It’s a great thing when wines can transcend place and take you on a ride in a time machine. The 2001 Syrah, from Steve Lagier and Carole Meredith’s tiny vineyard on Mount Veeder in Napa Valley, is tight, compact and dense, marked by dried berry, mineral, cedar and subtle herbal anise touches. It has a long way to go, given its structure and vibrancy. But I’m happy I caught it the other night with a pasta dish, since it’s in a fine stage for enjoyment. I gave it a 93 points, non-blind, same as my original blind-tasting review in 2003—only I’d open up the drink recommendation to allow a little more room past 2012. This wine’s longevity provides further evidence that Syrah on Mount Veeder . . . More from Wine Spectator Online |
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 A True Passion "Owning this vineyard gives me the greatest satisfaction I have ever had outside of my own profession," says hotelier Georg Rafael, who co-founded Regent International Hotels and sold his Rafael Group Hoteliers to the Mandarin Oriental in 2000. While still working in the industry, he purchased 10 hectares of the finest vineyards at Mount Veeder in California's Napa Valley and released his first vintage earlier this decade. "Every time we drink our own wine we think we are in heaven." Mr. Rafael is part of a new breed of vineyard owners who after having made their fortunes outside the wine industry are now cultivating vineyards -- not just as a status symbol like the next yacht or a passing fancy but because they are caught up in the thrill and the mystique of creating their own great wine. Of course, there have always been the stratospherically rich, like the Rothschilds, François Pinault and Bernard Arnault, who between them own half of the most acclaimed vineyards in Bordeaux. (Châteaux Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Cheval Blanc and d'Yquem). These "pinnacle vineyards" are valued at as much as €700 million to €800 million . . . More from The Wall Street Journal |
