NapaValleyWine

Premiere Napa Valley Results Up

Earlier this month I mentioned that the returns on the Naples Wine Auction were up by around $3 million. More good news in the wine auction world comes from Napa where the Premiere Napa Valley results were up by one third over last year. The 14th annual Premiere Napa Valley auction brought in a total of $1.918 million which was 30 percent more than the previous year. The 2009 auction brought in $1.485 million which was far down from 2008's record-setting total of $2.2455 million.

The 200-lot event took place last weekend and saw a more positive tone than last year's event with bidders snapping up cases of the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Five cases of Shafer went to Winebid.com for $37,000. Another five case allotment from Ovid went to Capitol Cellars for $33,000 and Lewis Cellars sold five cases to Nakagawa Trading Company of Japan for $30,000. Nakagawa Trading for the second-to-the-top bidder spending $179,000 total on wines. Top honors went to Gary Fisch of Gary's Wine in New Jersey who spent $392,000 on 275 cases.

Tags: napa valley, napa valley wine, NapaValley, NapaValleyWine, ovid, premiere napa valley, PremiereNapaValley, shafer, ShaferVineyards, wine auction, WineAuction

2006 Blackbird Vineyards "Illustration" Proprietary Red Wine

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Touted in Vanity Fair, Robb Report's 'Best of 2008' and Travel + Leisure GOLF, Blackbird Vineyard's merlot-dominated wines may be the key to elevating the often overlooked grape to a higher perception among red wine lovers. The vineyard placed in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley demonstrates this elevation particularly well through "Illustration", a proprietary red wine which is a blend of 86% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. This great wine has been characterized with cocoa powder and cherries on the nose and tasting of bright cherry cola, chocolate and juicy bing cherries...mmm...sounds delicious! A little piece of wine trivia for you too -- did you know that merlot in French Patois translates to little blackbird? I sure didn't. ($90)

[via Vinography]

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Tags: blackbird vineyards, BlackbirdVineyards, Illustration, Illustration wine, IllustrationWine, Michael-Polenske, Napa Valley wine, NapaValleyWine

The Mondavi Legacy Continues With Continuum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

The name Mondavi still has the power to generate excitement in the wine world. The latest Mondavi release comes from Tim Mondavi. Continuum is produced by Tim and his sister Marcia, with 94-year-old patriarch Robert and his wife Margrit and continuing the Mondavi tradition of making wine producing a family affair, Tim's five children are also playing a role in the production. Tim Mondavi has some high aspirations for his wine, he told Decanter, his goal is to have to have the wine be a little like the pricey Opus One. For the first release just over 1,000 cases have been produced. The 2005 vintge is a blend of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It sells for $130 and will be released next month.

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Tags: cabernet sauvignon, CabernetSauvignon, continuum, mondavi, napa valley wine, NapaValleyWine, tim mondavi, wine