Weekend Wine Expedition Stop 5; St. Supéry

We had some time to kill in Napa, and one of our favorite Napa wineries has always been St. Supéry. So we decided to stop and taste…

It’s a beautiful property, with the old Victorian home on your right as you walk to the tasting room. My very first Napa tasting trip started with a visit at St. Supéry. I’ll never forget it; in addition to it being the beginning of my career in wine-drinking, it was the first time I had a good Sauvignon Blanc, and I just remember how I walked away with the intense flavors of grapefruit in my mouth. I was a permanent Sauvignon Blanc fan after that and also a permanent St. Supéry fan.

Like that first tasting trip, this last Saturday was a warm day in the Napa valley and after the drive back up to Rutherford, we were ready for a cool tasting room. We weren’t there to shoot a webisode… just to have some of their fantastic wine.

Jeff, myself and WE team member Adrian descended on the tasting bar in our WineExpedition T-shirts, looking rather snazzy if I do say so myself. We were thirsty and feeling a bit rowdy, but we were no match for Laurie at the tasting room bar, and she quickly filled our glasses and kept us in check.

There are so many good wines at St. Supéry;  their Cabernet is great as is their red blend  Élu and their white blend Virtú.  Jeff is a big fan of their Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

I was warm, so I kinda hung with the white wines.  One of my favorite Sauvignon Blanc’s on the planet is St. Supéry’s exclusive Dollarhide Ranch Sauvignon Blanc.   As always, it did not disappoint:  aromas of grapefruit and apricots were followed by a mouthful of grapefruit with a nice mineral undertone.  A zesty yet refined Sauv Blanc.

I also had a taste of the Semillon.  This is a trippy wine… It’s thick on your tongue.. creamy and textured; the nose is peachy and the palate is chewy/creamy/citrusy.  A lot going on and I enjoyed it…

They say their Moscato ‘…is like summer in a glass…’ and I have to agree with that statement.  The nose has notes of peaches and apricots, and as soon as it hit my mouth I was hit with flavors of apricots and a tad of orange peel. It’s sweet, but at the same time it’s light and refreshing.  I brought a bottle home- I think my wife might like this one.  A great wine for a hot day.

After all the light/white/foofy wines, I had to have one red before we left.  The obvious choice was the Dollarhide Cabernet Sauvignon.    This is a big, bad cab.  Hearty aromas of dark berries and plums with hints of oak lead into a mouthful of blackberries and currants with layers of oak, chocolate and coffee.  It’s a mouthful and it finishes with some good tannins.  This one’s a keeper for sure, and it was a good way to finish up the tasting.

We waved goodbye to Laurie and hit the road; more adventures lay ahead…