Posted by: Kenan Hester, CSW (@VinoKeno)

For today’s tasting we were joined by the lovely Gretchen Reeves of Vintage Select Wines to taste the oustanding wines from DeSante in Napa. If you missed this tasting and talk to anyone who came, you’ll be kicking yourself. The wines are made by David DeSante who received his Masters in Oenology at UC Davis. He worked initially in the Margaret River of Western Australia, renowned for its Bordeaux varietal wines. After turning down an internship at Chateau Lafite in Bordeaux to work doing clonal research with Mr. Robert Mondavi in the 1970′s, David continues to make wine in Napa for big name wineries such as Tierra Roja, Oakville Terraces, and Jaffe. The DeSante wines are his personal project, and I’m pretty sure you’re going to fall in love with them. We sure did! Today’s tasting went something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Wine:
2008 DeSante ‘L’Atelier’ Sauvignon/Semillon (Napa, California) $22.99 - 350 cases produced
This 60% Sauvignon Blanc 40% Semillon blend has what I refer to as “sense of place” from beginning to end. Both of the vineyards contributing fruit to the blend are organically dry-farmed; the result is beautiful concentration and purity of fruit. The nose is distinctly earthy with bell pepper notes that sting the nostrils gently in the most pleasing way. The entry to the palate brings a wave of soft fruit and mineral with texture and a little more mid-palate weight & roundness contributed by the Semillon. Gorgeously balanced, this blend is reminiscent of Bordeaux in style, but the fruit is distinctly Napa. Love it!

Second Wine:
2008 DeSante ‘Old Vine’ Sauvignon Blanc (Napa, California) $33.99 – 125 cases produced
This is the first wine we tasted from DeSante a couple of months ago, and it’s already a staff favorite here at HWM. This is a show-stopper and worth every penny, trust me! It’s a departure from your typical Napa SB, as the style is completely different. The fruit comes from the historic Varozza vineyard in St. Helena. This vineyard boasts the only true old vine Sauvignon Blanc in Napa (planted in 1974) according to David DeSante. The nose is a playful swirl of warm soil aromas and sweet peach fruit, lovely and quite unlike most of what you will see from other domestic SB’s. The juice spends a short time in French barrels, so the palate is rich and decadent but not weighty at all. There’s some old vine complexity going on here that you just won’t find in most domestic Sauvignon Blanc. Super cool stuff and one of a kind.

Third Wine:
2007 DeSante ‘Old Vine’ Chardonnay (Napa, California) $32.99 – 500 cases produced
The fruit for DeSante’s Old Vine Chard comes from the unique and beautiful head-trained Chardonnay vines of the Varozza vineyard. The juice spends 9 months in old French oak barrels, more for texture than for flavor. If you love Chablis or the classic Chardonnays from the Napa of the 1970′s, you’re gonna be all over this.  On the nose you get salty honeycomb notes coupled with hints of wildflowers and pears. More pear fruit on the palate is wrapped in mineral and acidity that dances gracefully on the tongue. The finish just seems to hang around. Wow!

Fourth Wine:
2008 DeSante Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa, California) $67.99 – 450 cases produced
100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville. The fruit comes from the Tierra Roja, Oakville Terraces and Gargiulo vineyards, so we’re talking some serious pedigreed fruit here. This is unusually expressive for a stand-alone Cab, with hi-toned aromas of sweet tart candy backed by warm fig and cherry notes wrapping up the nose. On the palate this wine is soft and round with underlying acidity that will ensure the wine can age beautifully for years to come. Rich and ripe, but deftly balanced. Think dark fruits on the palate with a dusty mocha finish that just doesn’t stop…absolutely bangin’ Cab and worth every bit of the ticket!

Fifth Wine:
2006 DeSante ‘Oakville Terraces’ Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa, California) $84.99 – a miniscule 85 cases produced
100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Oakville Terraces vineyard, owned by Gary Raugh. This vineyard site is unique, with extremely steep slopes overlooking the Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle and Dalla Valle wineries. All work in this vineyard is done by hand; the harvest requires 30 men to pass the fruit in a bucket-brigade-style line down the hill. The shallow soils, less than 18 inches deep, stress the vines enough to coax every bit of flavor possible from this unique terroir. The wine has a beautiful dark purple color with an herbal nose of sage, dust and dark currant fruit aromas. On the palate, black cherry, blackberry and chocolate transition to blueberry and graphite-like mineral which is contributed by the white porous volcanic rock layers beneath the red gravel soils. The finish is focused with bright acidity that keeps the wine light on its feet. Gorgeous!

The wines are on the shelf, so come and check ‘em out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A look at the stunning Oakville Terraces vineyard property.

Hope you enjoyed. We’ll see ya next week for tastings of a couple of our favorite Washington producers, L’Ecole from the Columbia Valley and Terra Blanca from Red Mountain….. Cheers!