Posts Tagged ‘coffee’

Rocca Family Vineyards – 188

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005

Rocca_bldgDowntown Napa is becoming quite the place to hang a shingle. New restaurants are popping up and re-vitalization is happening to the credit of the city. On Main Street, where some of the best restaurants in the valley can be found, a new tasting room has opened, Rocca Family Vineyards.

Mary_roccaMary Rocca, proprietress, has a beautiful smile. She should too… she used to be a dentist! She sold her practice to run a gourmet grocery store in Pt. Reyes (and still owns it), but has zeroed her attention to her wine. Having Celia Welch Masyczek has her winemaker certainly doesn’t hurt either. While Mary’s Rocca name is on the bottle and the building, her husband, Eric Grigsby, is definitely an influence. For starters, they had established a second label, H. Gray, which was in honor of Eric’s father and grandfather. Also, take a close look at the Bad Boy Red label; a studly black and white image of a cowboy graces the bottle. And who do you think that studly cowboy is? Eric, of course.

Rocca_tasting_roomUnlike most other tasting rooms in the valley, Mary’s is geared more towards providing a relaxing and inviting atmosphere. Yes, there is a tasting bar, but the cozy leather chairs and living room-like feel is warm and  comfortable atmosphere. Chatting with Mary, they are already considering buying some vineyard property in the Lodi area for the cultivation of some white grapes. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a Viognier or Roussanne, and look forward to the additional fabulous wines coming from this relatively new producer!

2002 H. Gray, Amador County Zinfandel
– Fruit forward on the nose, this medium-bodied entry has a spicy entry with a sweet core of fresh herbs and clean fruit. This is the one wine that Mary produces from purchased grapes; all else she harvests from her own vineyards. Fabulous bargain for a great drinking wine! $20.00

2003 Bad Boy Red, Yountville – 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Syrah, 13% Petite Sirah. Intense, dark spicy wine with a core of peppery, blackberry and boysenberry. Rich entry that is clean and dark. Amazing liqueur flavors with chocolate, tobacco, cocoa, and coffee. Easy and smooth, but with a delightful piquant kick at the end. $29.00

2001 Rocca Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville – Big, massive Cab showing cherry, tobacco, and integrated herbs. The mouth feel has some classic dusty cocoa of the Yountville appellation, but is well balanced with vanilla and a touch of anise and dark cherry. Lovely, lingering finish. $34.00

2001 Rocca Syrah – Big blackberry wine with sweet licorice and elegant, exotic perfumey notes. Massive entry that has layers of spicy and sweet tones of black plum and blackberry, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and licorice. $38.00

Rocca Family Vineyards ~ 1130 Main Street ~ Napa ~ CA ~ 94559 ~ 707-257-8467
3 current offerings: $7.00
3 current offerings with 1 library wine: $10.00
All open bottles also sold by the glass

Brutocao – 107

Wednesday, June 29th, 2005

Brutocao_whiteSmack-dab in the center of Hopland, in what used to be the High School, lies one of Brutocao Cellars tasting rooms. Still trying to map out this region, I may be going out on a limb by my category placement; Sanel Valley. You see, according the Mendocino Winegrowers Alliance, “There are 10 growing regions within Mendocino County. Eight are official
AVAs, while two (Ukiah and Sanel Valleys) have not yet been granted
official AVA status even though they are very significant grape growing
regions that had their first vineyards in the 1800’s.” And if you look at one of their maps, Brutocao’s Hopland TASTING ROOM is the center of Sanel Valley.  Seeing they also have an Anderson Valley tasting room, I have included that as well but I am
honestly not sure where the specific vineyards lie as so indicated on their wines labels and hope that someone will either enlighten me or that I will have an opportunity to visit more
often to learn the region. I also want to add a private perturbance that I had a camera failure for a few of these blogs and lost a dozen or so pictures, this being the first.

One of the extremely charming aspects of Brutocao is its placement in Hopland — as indicated, dead center in the two-lane town. But moreso, is that it is located in what was the Hopland High School adjacent to a bocce ball field. The morning of my visit there was a tournament to decide the summer teams. It seemed all so civilized and lovely. The tasting room also sits in front of The Crushed Grape restaurant so that from the interior of the building, right by the tasting bar, is the opening to the restaurant. The tasting room also hosts the dispensing and tasting of local artisinal olive oil and an especially elegant mural behind the tasting bar. An image of the city of Florence, the Brutocao winged lion logo can be seen in the part of the architectural motifs of the mural. All that, and pretty good wines too…

2004 Sauvignon Blanc, Feliz Vineyards – Aromas of warm melon and lemon peel shows depth and elegance in its accompanying flavors. Slight mineral finish does not interfere. $12.00

2003 Chardonnay, Bliss Vineyard – 100% stainless steel with no ML, this wine showed bright, clean green apple in its bouquet and tone. Citrus on the mid-palate. $15.00

2003 Reserve Chardonnay, Bliss Vineyard, Riserva d’Arento – 100% ML with oak. Similar apple qualities in aromas and flavors as in the previous Chardonnay, but a bit creamier. Rich, melon entry but a surprisingly crisp finish, considering its thick texture. $24.00

2003 Pinot Noir, Feliz Vineyard – Medium-bodied with fresh raspberries and cherry predominating. Clean, easy entry with a thin, mineral mid-palate. $18.00

2001 Merlot, Brutocao Vineyards – Rich raspberry and dark cherry that teases of earthiness. Some thin, herbal tones in the mid-palate, a dusty coffee filled out the finish. $20.00

2001 Merlot, Feliz Vineyard Select – An unfiltered offering, this rustic, earthy wine showed layers of dried twigs and leather with a tease of cherry and a finish of herbs. $25.00

2000 Reserve Merlot, Riserva d’Argento – With 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, a playful interchange between elegant raspberry and cedar, layers of dried herbs and tobacco develop to a redolent finish. $25.00

2003 Zinfandel, Brutocao Vineyards – Dark berry shows immediately in the nose and softens to display sherry-like qualities in the back of the nasal passages. Warm berries fill the mouth but thins a bit to a tinny, herbal finish. $20.00

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Brutocao Vineyards – Unfiltered. Dark, ripe cherry aromas and hints of green bell pepper show in the nose in a sherry-like essence. Concentrated dried fruit flavors produce a tease of sweetness on the back-palate with a long finish of black cherry. $20.00

2002 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Brutocao Vineyards – Unfiltered. Black loganberries, black raspberries, and black cherries all show alongside layers of dried herbs in its aromas. The dried herbal qualities show again in the mouth entry, alongside dried twigs and a dry, dusty finish that hints at smoke in its even finish. $34.00

Brutocao, Hopland ~ 13500 S. Highway 101 ~ Hopland ~ CA ~ 95449 ~ 707-744-1664
Brutocao, Anderson Valley ~ 7000 Highway 128 ~ Philo ~ CA ~ 95466 ~ 707-895-2152