Wines from the Outstanding Oakville Area in Napa: Swanson Vineyards' Best and Brightest

Wine regions are a little like Russian nesting dolls. I think that's why the topic is so freaking complicated.

The big doll is like the country (U.S., France). The next one is the state/region (California, Loire Valley). Then you get to a specific county or area (Napa, Sancerre), then a town within it (Oakville, Bué) and then a vineyard. Like the dolls, as the areas get smaller the details become more and more intricate and impressive.

If you read the blog regularly, you know that I'm much more of an advocate of knowing a place rather than knowing a producer. It's far more valuable to be able to identify the characteristics of a place than it is of a specific brand, since you may not always be able to find a wine from a specific winery, but you should be able to find something you like you if you know the place it's from.

More practically, frequently I talk in broad terms about place for a simple reason: wines from specific towns or vineyards tend to cost a lot of money and I don't like to pony up for it (I'm just a normal person after all). So likely, I'll have a wine from Napa rather than one from one of the prestigious sub-appellations (smaller areas, also called American Viticultural Areas or AVAs) unless I'm in wine country tasting, it's a special occasion, I'm at an industry tasting, or I'm lucky enough to have a winery send me a bottle for review.

I'm fortunate in that I lived in California and took advantage of my time there, really getting to know the sub-AVAs of Napa and Sonoma in particular. And one of the AVAs I've had the fortunate experience of visiting lots of times is Oakville in Napa -- arguably the best and most prestigious winegrowing area in all of California.

Oakville is home of the "cult Cabs" -- super expensive, small production, exclusive Cabernet Sauvignon that wine snobs love to tell you they've tried. Getting on the mailing list (they aren't sold any other way) for Screaming Eagle, Harlan, and Dalla Valle is the wine world's version of winning the PowerBall Jackpot. All these wineries are in Oakville.

If that's not enough evidence this place is pretty special, know that here lies historic vineyards like To Kalon, which means "most beautiful" in Greek, established in 1868 (it's owned by Beckstoffer and Mondavi, but they sell fruit to lots of producers) and Martha's Vineyard (heh heh. Nice allusion to the MA island. Heitz's wine from here is outstanding). They make amazing wine.

For all this prestige, it's a super small area -- to continue the analogy, it's about the size of the smallest nesting doll, relative to Napa at large. It's just 2 miles wide between the Vaca Mountains in the east and the Mayacamas mountains on the western border with Sonoma.

The geology of Napa is very cool -- lots of plate movement (hence earthquakes) so the valley floor and the foothills, where the vineyards are, have a range of soils, altitudes, and sun exposures that make each wine really unique depending on the part of the area in which it's grown. Oakville is a warmer area of Napa but isn't blistering -- it has cool, foggy mornings that preserve acidity and warm afternoons that ripen the grapes. It's grape growing nirvana.

What does this mean? If you get a wine from Oakville -- especially a Cabernet or Merlot -- it's probably going to be great.

As a total non sequitur, I love Oakville for it's wines, but also for it's fabulous gourmet grocery store -- the Oakville Grocery. You have to go there if you go to Napa. The sandwiches and coffee (after a long day of tasting) are amazing and it's a throw back to a 1920s grocery store.

But back to the wine...

Recently Swanson Vineyards sent me 3 bottles to sample and I was excited. Yes, it's the same family as the TV dinner fame, but since 1985 this Winery has been making some pretty exceptional wines. The offshoot of the packaged food family has made major investment in wine and it's paid off. They hired a string of highly capable winemakers -- most recently Chris Phelps, who has studied under the best winemakers in Bordeaux, including Christian Moueix at Petrus, and at the hoity Dominus and Caymus Wineries in Napa -- and the result is great Merlot and Cabernet. Here's the rundown:

The Wine: Swanson Merlot
Where It's From: Oakville, Napa, California
The Grape: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 14.8% (on the high side)
Vintage: 2007
Price: $38

Color: Very dark for a Merlot, this baby did not look like the "medium" wine I always associate with the grape -- probably owing to the 20% of the pretty dark Cabernet Sauvignon. It was the color of blackberry or prune juice. I assumed big flavor from the looks of this.

Smell: I love when California Merlot is more than just a pleasant sipping wine and this fit the bill! It wasn't overpowering, but it had a real woodsy component that I liked. It reminded me of Christmas -- baked red apples, cinnamon stick, allspice, and a little tree bark were strong supporting roles behind the lead scent of blackberries and boysenberries. The smell was a little tangy -- there was an orange peel note that I think made it so. Pretty interesting.

Taste: Much more standard than it smelled. It was a very good wine, but extremely medium all around -- in tannin, in acid, in flavor. There was a pleasant black cherry taste and the cinnamon stick I smelled was certainly in the flavor, but it was simpler than I expected. It didn't hang around to savor -- the flavor disappeared quickly on the finish.

Pairing: Roast veggies or meats with shallots, thyme, or tarragon flavors. This is a nice but medium textured and flavored wine that could be given more umph with the help of sauteed herbs with roasted potatoes, vegetables, or meats like lamb, duck, or chicken.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. This wine is good, but it's milder than I would expect from the look and smell of it. It's a very well-made wine but less powerful than I had hoped. I think this is probably because 2007 was a vintage marked by cool weather and a less ripe crop. I'd like to try this in another year, but I still think this is a solid wine and I'd drink it any day of the week.


The Wine: Swanson "Alexis" Cabernet Sauvignon
Where It's From: Oakville, Napa, California
The Grape: 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot
Alcohol: 14.8%
Vintage: 2007
Price: $75

Color: A crimson, similar to the Merlot in color, the wine was not as dark as I'd expect from an Oakville Cabernet -- which can often be almost purple in color from being so ripe. I looked at this as a good sign that the wine may have some balance and may not be over-the-top, as many Napa Cabs are. What does "over-the-top" mean? The wine is so full of fruit flavor, alcohol, and tannin that your mouth becomes overwhelmed and can't even distinguish flavors or think about the wine -- it's too much for me to process.

Smell: This is everything I'd expect a Napa Cab to smell like. Black cherry was overlain with tobacco, leather, and coffee smells from oak aging. There was a delicious floral/perfume note that went well with the mocha thing going on. The only drawback -- it was a cilia singer: I coughed from the "hot" alcohol smell that wafted up my snout on the sniff (which is strange because the Merlot had the same alcohol level and it didn't do that to me).

Taste: Wow. This was amazing. Licorice and nutmeg with a big hit of espresso flavor reminded me of drinking a great cup of coffee. The wine tasted like black raspberries, black cherry, with some fresh orange peel. It was cola like too -- almost similar to a Dr. Pepper. The texture was perfect. The tannin wasn't too harsh and the alcohol was completely in check and not burning my esophagus as it went down. The wine had great balance between the alcohol, tannin, acid, and fruit flavors -- it was powerful, but not overwhelming.

Pairing: No question about it -- steak, portabella mushrooms, beef stews, and any other heavy, hearty dishes with mushroom, au jus, or brown butter sauces with flavorful savory herbs. This is a great wine for food because of its balance -- it won't overwhelm what you're eating.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. It's expensive but worth it. This is a great wine. I give Swanson tons of credit for restraining their style and making it food friendly, while still being fruity and very typical of Oakville. A very impressive, delicious, balanced wine -- I love it!


The Wine: Swanson Pinot Grigio
Where It's From: Napa Valley, California
The Grape:100% Pinot Grigio
Alcohol: 13.6%
Vintage: 2009
Price: $21

Color: A super pale straw, this wine looks like it's never seen the inside of an oak barrel...because it hasn't. On the downside, I love a Pinot Gris that has lots of fruit flavor -- Pinot Gris (same grape) from Alsace, France, for instance is rich in color from ripeness -- so I was wary of something so light.

Smell: Super pretty. There were some unique things going on here. First there was a spicy pear smell -- like a pear soaked in Chai tea. Then there was something akin to suntan lotion -- a creamy coconut milk smell. There were lovely floral scents too -- like jasmine and tropical flowers. The wine reminded me of a tropical tree flower called a frangipani. I lived in St. John for a while (story for another time) and had a tree outside my house that smelled delicious when it was in bloom. The wine reminded me of that tree.

Taste: A lot lighter than what I'd hoped, the wine had some nice honey, pear, and red apple flavors. On the downside, it was slightly bitter, like the skin of an almond. There wasn't a whole lot going on in the glass. The acid was nice but very average. It was a simple, easy to drink wine but not much there to analyze.

Pairing: Best as a pre-food sipper or with a baguette and a hard cheese like Parmesan. You could do a light fish with it, but you'd have to be careful that the seasoning wasn't too bold or it would wipe out the wine.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Meh. I reviewed this last because it was my least favorite of the three wines I had. It's just an ok wine. For $21 I'd rather buy a Pinot Gris from Alsace, France, which is layered with flavor and absolutely fabulous. This wine is good, but it's too light for my liking and not something I'd go out of my way for...unlike the Cab or the Merlot, which I thought were great.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think by dropping a comment below!