Amicus / X Winery – 141
Tuesday, August 16th, 2005
In working through the Cartlidge & Browne debacle on various chat lists, I made the acquaintance of a very nice young man, Geoff Williams, who advised me that the folks at C&B were very nice people… Turns out that he has firsthand knowledge as a sales representative for X Winery who uses the custom crush facilities at Cartlidge & Browne.
While hanging out with Elijah and Lamar at C&B, Geoff stopped by with a few barrel samples and invited me over to the X Winery facilities. This is how I ended up with a very unlikely, but decidedly great blog entry of a winery that I am (again!) ashamed to admit I knew nothing about. Amicus Cellars and X Winery is one of those new breed of wineries who produce great wine without the trappings of fake villa or castle through which to sell. Geoff took me to just one of their storage locations which is a few buildings away from the warehouse setting of C&B’s in the industrial center of American Canyon. Between their winemaking facilities, offices, and storage, their business is somewhat scattered all over Napa valley. The difference, by the way, between the two names is that the Amicus name is used for those wines produced exclusively by Napa-grown Bordeaux grapes while the X Winery wines are kept between a $10 to $25 price point and are made from grapes coming from as far south as Paso Robles or as far north as the Lake District.
Theirs is a winery that is not open to the public for tasting and what Geoff showed me is really nothing more than one of the storage facilities for a selection of their newfangled pieces of equipment. Reed Renaudin is the CEO and winemaker and is thoroughly committed to taking winemaking innovations further in an envelope-pushing philosophy. By using these new inventive techniques, the idea is that the highest quality wine can be produced at a greater value for the consumer. One of the humorous anecdotes was that Reed worked hard to produce a quality box wine, appropriately entitled X Box. Seems a certain software company in the Pacific Northwest took exception to the name and some redesigning of the winery’s packaging ensued — but not before the entire inventory was bought out said same company.
I have had my share of winery tours, seeing the old-world charm of those wineries hearkening back a hundred years or more to utilize techniques that are believed to instill a centuries-old quality in the wine. However, Renaudin incorporates futuristic-looking gadgets which, if I had a science degree, I’m sure I could explain. This unit, for example, is used with small, Arborio rice-sized plastic pellets to remove TCA (trichloroanisole) from wine.
This is a filtration machine almost considered the Ferraris of filtration machines. Much debate has ensued about the filtering of wine and with a unit of this caliber, it is doubtful even the great Robert Parker would be able to detect if a wine has been through the filtration process. I was terribly impressed with the quality of the wines and am pleased that their website is friendly in helping customers all over the country find the wine, plus they can be ordered directly from the website.
2004 Lake County Sauvignon Blanc – From the ES vineyard. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadet. Sweet muscat aroma of orange blossom. Tangy entry that is intensely bright with a crisp, lemony finish. $17.50
2004 Chardonnay – From Truchard vineyards. Astonishing opulent butter on the nose. Astonishing that the wine had NO ML. Mouth flavors of developed lemon meringue; that balance between a tangy lemon beginning with a heightened meringue-like creamy finish. Clean, clear, and fruit-forward. Barrel sample, but the 2003 offering is $17.50
2004 X Pinot – Barrel sample, not yet available for sale. Very enticing with exotic spice. Elegant fruit flavors with cranberry up front and integrated cardamom spice on the end. The 2003 bottling is priced at $22.50
2003 Red X – Roughly a blend of 50% Syrah and the rest components of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petite Sirah. At a production level of 7,200 cases, this wine makes up half of X Winery’s production. The initial aroma is intense jammy boysenberry and then shows deeper sage qualities. Balanced and smooth upon entry, the fruit flavors are more distinct up front with a well-integrated, herbal finish. $12.99
2003 Petite Sirah – From Paso Robles, this wine saw eighteen months in French oak. Dark purple in color, intense bouquet of blueberry liqueur that developed in sweet blueberry pie filling. Flavors that are deep and concentrated and decidedly blueberry, the way I like my Petite Sirahs. No price available.
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon – With 20% Merlot, there is a soft herb aroma at first that darkens to show black fruit and a dark chocolate finish. The nose was a tad hot but the mouth feel is balanced and dark. $22.50
2002 Amicus Blend - 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 6% Petite Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Malbec. Tasting too fast to have gotten notes on this one. $38.00
2002 Amicus Cabernet Sauvignon – Only 160 cases made. 75% Yountville fruit and 25% Spring Mountain fruit. Intense jammy blackberry start with herbal depth. Soft, silky entry that explodes with dark, luscious black plum. Layers of smoke and a tease of earth that shows structure. $49.00
2004 Mt. Veeder Cabernet – Barrel sample, not yet available for sale. Classic Veeder with tobacco, leather and big cherry. Huge, massive entry that is slightly sweet. WOW entry that is already showing structure with a chewy finish. Not yet priced.
X Winery ~ No tasting facilities available ~ 707-204-9522