Today’s Krug Winery is on the original property and the winery remains one of the larger landowners in the Napa Valley. The current tasting room is located in the massive and recently renovated Redwood Cellar. The Cellar is a gorgeous space for their seated tasting which is led by knowledgeable tasting room staff. They offer two options, the Classic Tasting ($20) and the Family Reserve and Limited Release Tasting ($40). Each consists of five pours, with the Classic featuring both white and red selections and the Family Reserve Tasting featuring only reds. Pro tip for the tasting….if you book through the Napa Valley Vintners website and happen to own a Lexus, they will fully comp the Reserve tasting for two people. Thanks to my little Lexus, we were able to sample both tastings for free. Perhaps I can be called a cheap drunk, but I preferred the Classic Selections to the Family Reserve offerings. Highlights for me were the 2016 St. Helena Sauvignon Blanc which had a nose notable for the fabled “cat pee” smell. While it sounds awfully unpleasant, it is a relatively common scent associated with Sauvignon Blanc. Tropical fruits also graced the nose, and the palate was a tropical fruit salad of pineapples, papaya and kiwi, with hint of jalapeño at the end. Really a delicious Sauvignon Blanc that I envisioned drinking on my front porch in July in Austin. The 2015 Carneros Chardonnay was equally delicious. The tasting samples of both the Chardonnay and the Pinot Noir were both made of grapes from Carneros, an area south of the winery where the weather is cooler and most would argue better for growing grapes that thrive with more coolness at night in order to preserve their acidity. The 2015 vintage was a warm year, so this one was rich and ripe with notes of yellow apples, loquats, white peaches and a zingy acidity on the finish. This wine spent 5 month on the lees (a technique of wine making where the juice is left on the spent yeasts that have caused fermentation) and has a nice full body due to the lees contact.
Our favorite reds were the 2014 Limited Reserve Malbec which was bursting with flavors of currant, ripe blackberries, spice, black pepper and bramble. I jotted in my notebook “juicy and lovely.” The 2013 Family Reserve Vintage Selection was a classic valley floor Cabernet. Made of 94% Cabernet and 6% Petit Verdot, it had a lovely, deep crimson color due to the influence of the Petit Verdot. Blue and black fruits were layered with coffee and spice to create a beautifully balanced wine with elegant tannins.
Krug was our first tasting during this Napa Valley trip and a wonderful way to start the weekend. A visit is well worth the effort and money the next time you are in Napa Valley.