Chappellet Pritchard Hill Club Party

I attended the Chappellet Pritchard Hill Club Party. It was a wonderful afternoon of wine, food and artists in the picnic meadow on Pritchard Hill overlooking Lake Hennessey. We had a very good time, and my wife won two bottles of Chappellet wine at the ring toss game! Note that while Chappellet is in the hills above Napa Valley, it is open for tasting only by appointment.

The picture here shows the Chappellet vineyards with one of the employees giving us a tour. Some of the oldest vineyards are in the foreground. Behind them are the bulk of the Chappellet vineyards on either side of the dirt road that runs through the vineyard and Lake Hennessey is in the background.

In Napa Valley most of the Cabernet and other red wine grapes were already dark purple, but in the cooler climate on Pritchard Hill on August 20th they were just changing from green to purple. They said this was about 2 weeks late, so they expect the harvest will be 2 weeks late this year. This is because of the rainy spring we had this year and the relatively cool summer so far. This doesn’t mean this will be a bad year, but it depends on what the weather is like in September and October. One other thing I learned is that they had just ripped out the 40+ year old Chenin Blanc vineyard on the top of Pritchard Hill that produced their Mountain Cuvee Chenin Blanc because the production was too low. They are not sure what they will replant this vineyard with, but the current thinking is Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

The food was excellent, including chicken, Tuscan leg of lamb, asparagus, grilled vegetables, and a bread salad.

There were lots of wines available for tasting. Just released or about to be released:

2004 Chardonnay – Nice lemon and citrus character on the nose and fruit, very high acid, long finish, light oak. This is a nice style of chardonnay I like, which is focused on fruit rather than oak. List price $28.

2003 Merlot – Both red and black cherry fruit, moderate acid, some hard tannins, long finish, still a little rough, needs time to smooth out. List price $30.

2003 Mountain Cuvee – Cherry and currants on the nose. Cherry, chassis, fruit, good acid, substantial softer tannins, long finish. Like the Merlot, this seemed a little rough for current drinking, and needs a little time to come around. My wife won two bottles of this in the ring toss game. Club price was $20.80, not sure what the list price is or if it is available.

2003 Cabernet, Signature – Cherry and chassis on the nose. Red cherry, currents, chassis and some hints of spices on the fruit, good acid, lots of softer tannins, and a long finish. This is a different style than the 2002 which had a lot more black cherry and harder tannins. List price is $44.

2002 Cabernet, Pritchard Hill – Cherry and plums on the nose. Big cherry, plums and tobacco fruit flavors, moderate acid, lots of softer tannins, and a long finish. This needs a few years to soften out the tannins. The wine was available on futures to club members, and will be shipped in October. List price is $120 (Club price is $102).

2004 Barrel samples:
They had separate barrel samples of Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. If you asked, which I did, they would try to blend these in about the proportions they expected to use for the 2004 Pritchard Hill Cabernet. This showed lots of promise, with big black cherry, currants and chocolate fruit flavors. There were a lot of soft tannins showing too.

Library wines:

1994 Cabernet, Signature from Magnum – Cherry and chassis on the nose. Big black cherry, chassis and chocolate, moderate acid, moderate tannin, and very long finish. This was my favorite of all the wines served at the party.

1987 Cabernet, Signature from Magnum – Red cherry and leather on nose. Red cherry, leather and hints of tobacco in the fruit, moderate acid, still some tannins, and a long finish.

1978 Cabernet, Signature from a double Magnum – Very similar fruit to the 1987. Red cherry, leather and hints of tobacco, good acid and still some tannins.

They also had a bottle of 1976 Signature Cab, but I didn’t get in line fast enough and it was gone by the time I got there. They had opened the 1978 in its place.