Tag Archives: Thomas Rivers Brown

60 Second Wine Review — Wallis Family Little Sister Cabernet Sauvignon

Amber LeBeau in 60 Second Reviews, Napa Valley

Published on January 22, 2019

A few quick thoughts on the 2011 Wallis Family Little Sister Cabernet Sauvignon from the Diamond Mountain District of Napa.

The Geekery

Edward Wallis first purchased 85 acres on top of Diamond Mountain back in 1975. The property included two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places–a 19th-century carriage house designed by architect William H. Corlett and a stone castle built in 1906 by Frenchmen Jacques Pacheteau.

In 1997, the Wallis’ planted 13 acres with plans of selling grapes to wineries like Lokoya and Ramey. By 2006, they were producing wine from their estate fruit.

Since 2008, Thomas Rivers Brown has been making the Wallis Family’s wines. Brown began his career in 1997 at Turley before moving on to cult producers Schrader and Maybach. In addition to making his Rivers-Marie wines, Brown consults for 45 clients in the Napa Valley including Vermeil, Revana, Round Pond and Outpost.

The 2011 vintage of Little Sister is 99% Cabernet Sauvignon with 1% Petit Verdot. The wine was aged 18 months in 80% new French oak barrels with only 650 cases made.

The Wine

Photo by Fir0002. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0

The juicy plums are quite fresh in this 2011 Cab.

Medium-plus intensity nose. A mix of red and black fruit–cherries and plums. Pop and pour, just the fruit shows up. But after 2 hours decanting, cured tobacco and spicy fennel emerge.

The fruit carries through on the palate and tastes fresh with medium-plus acidity. However, the palate brings out more oak than what the nose revealed. Creamy vanilla, allspice and clove become even more pronounced as the wine decants. The firm, high tannins also soften with the added time–balancing the full-bodied fruit. Moderate finish lingers on the fennel and oak spice.

The Verdict

The 2011 vintage in California has been hit or miss for me. Some wines, like the 2011 Stag’s Leap Fay have had way too much pyrazines for my taste. But there have been others that I’ve enjoyed.

This 2011 Wallis Little Sister falls into the enjoy camp, holding its own for $70-80. It definitely benefits from decanting, but it seems to have escaped the green monster of 2011.

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60 Second Wine Review — Adobe Road Bavarian Lion Cabernet Sauvignon

Amber LeBeau in 60 Second Reviews

Published on September 28, 2018

A few quick thoughts on the 2013 Adobe Road Cabernet Sauvignon from the Bavarian Lion Vineyard in the Knights Valley of Sonoma.

The Geekery

Adobe Road Winery was founded in 2002 by race car driver Kevin Buckler and his wife Debra.

One of the early winemakers was Franc Dusak who worked on the 2004 to 2008 vintages. He was eventually succeeded by Michael Scorsone who was winemaker at Adobe Road for seven years with Palmer Emmitt assisting him until the two left to start their joint project Emmitt-Scorsone Wines.

Prior to taking over the head winemaking duties at Adobe Road, Scorsone previously worked with Ehren Jordan at Failla and with Thomas Rivers Brown and Fred Schrader at Boars’ View.

In 2015, Garrett Martin joined Adobe Road as winemaker after stints at Joel Gott and working with Massimo and Mario Monticelli at their consulting firm.

The Bavarian Lion Vineyard in the Knights Valley is located in the shadow of Mt. Saint Helena and is owned by Pierre Ehret. The vineyard is sustainably farmed.

Among the other wineries who source fruit from Bavarian Lion is Rodney Strong Vineyards who produced a great 2 minute video that shows the vineyard and explains some of the uniqueness of the Knights Valley.

The 2013 Adobe Road Bavarian Lion Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal that spent 28 months aging in French oak (90% new). Around 350 cases were made.

The Wine

Medium intensity nose. Mix of red and dark fruits–plums and cherries–with some tobacco spice.

On the palate more red fruits carry through that are amplified by the high acidity. Medium-plus tannins hold up the medium-plus body of the fruit but overall the wine feels a bit hollow. Moderate length finish brings back the tobacco spice.

The Verdict

While I loved the 2013 Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III that I had at the 2017 Wine Spectator Grand Tour, the Bavarian Lion didn’t wow me–especially for its $80-100 price point.

It reminds me of the Silver Oak Alexander Valley with both wines needing to be priced a lot lower.

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60 Second Wine Review — Clos Pegase Mitsuko’s Vineyard Pinot noir

Amber LeBeau in 60 Second Reviews, Wine reviews

Published on June 29, 2018

A few quick thoughts on the 2012 Clos Pegase Mitsuko’s Vineyard Pinot noir from the Carneros AVA.

The Geekery

Clos Pegase was founded in 1983 by Jan Shrem, a publisher and art collector, and his wife, Mitsuko, with André Tchelistcheff making the first vintages at Rombaurer.

Charles Sullivan describes in Napa Wine: A History that when word got out of the Shrems’ plans for combining a winery with an art museum, many locals initially opposed what they thought was “a Disneyland approach to winemaking”. But the winery and grounds designed by architect Michael Graves opened to the public in 1987.

In 2013 Clos Pegase was acquired by Vintage Wine Estates and today is part of a portfolio of wines that includes B.R. Cohn, Buried Cane, Cameron Hughes, Emily, Firesteed, Game of Thrones wines, Girard, Layer Cake, Sculptor and Swanson.

In 2010, Clos Pegase appointed Richard Sowalsky as winemaker. Prior to joining, he previously worked at William Hill and Robert Mondavi Winery. He remained at Clos Pegase for a couple years following the acquisition with Vintage’s head winemaker, Marco Di Giulio, consulting. In 2016 Robin Akhurst, a protege of Thomas Rivers Brown at Maybach and Schrader, took over head winemaking duties.

The Mitsuko’s Vineyard covers 365 acres on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA. Around 2800 cases were made in 2012.

The Wine

Medium intensity. Lots of overt oak–vanilla, cinnamon and clove–with some subtle red cherry fruit.

With the faded fruit, strong oak flavors dominate this Pinot.

On the palate, the faint cherry fruit becomes a little more pronounced but so does the strong oak notes–particularly the spice. Medium-plus acidity and medium tannins have decent balance. Short finish lingers on the oak.

The Verdict

I remembered enjoying this wine much more a couple years ago. It’s clear that the fruit has faded quite a bit with the oak running the show.

At $30-35, you are paying a premium for its quality level but if you’re really craving oak then it may fit your style. Otherwise seek out newer vintages.