I spent a day with Brian tasting through his great portfolio of wines. He also made a little more Chapter 7 available out of his library as the Chapter 8 will not be out until late fall 2011. We tasted the following wines:
Ramian Estate 2006 Malbec, Diamond Mountain, Napa Valley
Retail 50.00 – GGWC 44.99
Brian Graham, believes that the vineyard is absolutely the most important factor when creating a wine. As he states, “For me, it’s the vineyard that creates the quality and a wine’s uniqueness. Really it’s all about the vineyards.” Situated 1100 feet above the Napa Valley floor, well above the cold morning fog, this Diamond Mountain vineyard has short cool mornings and long warm days. Concealed in a bowl at the top of the mountain, the soils here are very shallow and filled with shale, fractured rock and volcanic ash. This environment yields the qualities most prized among mountain fruit. This wine was barrel aged for 26 months and bottle aged for an additional 2 years before being released. The aromatics on the wine are astonishing, they ooze out of the glass. On the palate this very sophisticated wine shows dense concentration, yet remarkable elegance of black stone fruit and well-balanced acidity. This wine is gorgeous and offers an amazing long finish! Only 120 cases produced – an exclusive for Golden Gate Wine Cellars
Ramian Esate 2007 Reserve Tempranillo
Retail 50.00 – GGWC 44.99
Situated at 2500 feet elevation the steep mountain vineyard is well above the cold morning fog. It has all of the prized ripening characteristics rarely found at one single site. Short cool mornings and long, very warm days with a constant cool breeze to keep the grapes from ripening too fast. This vineyard is one of the last to be picked in California, creating intense rich flavors with massive body and weight. Concealed in a bowl at the top of the mountain, the soils here are very shallow and filled with shale, fractured rock and volcanic ash. This environment yields the qualities most prized among mountain fruit. This wine is ultra plush, rich, full-bodied with amazing length and elegance, reminiscence of classic Rioja. Its cellar aging potential is at least 10 to 12 years.Only 100 cases produced – an exclusive for Golden Gate Wine Cellars.
Ramian Estate 2007 Chapter 7, Napa
Retail 62.00 – GGWC 57.99
Buy 12 for only 54.99 ea with FREE SHIPPING
From the tallest heights of Mt. Veeder, well above the Napa Valley floor, the winemaker handcrafts his story one chapter at a time into a collected work of vintages: a traditional tale told from a new perspective, a moveable feast intended to endure. This classic Bordeaux “style” blend exemplifies its Napa Valley mountain home. All five traditional Bordeaux grapes are used with Cabernet Sauvignon being the majority and dominate varietal. Our goal is to create a soft and very rich old-world style Cabernet Sauvignon blend but with ultra rich Napa Valley fruit flavor. This wine will age for 10-15 years easily.
Parlay 2009 Proprietary Red
Retail 24.00 – GGWC 19.99
The Cabernet Sauvignon portion (70%) was grown in the Oak Knoll district on Napa Valley. The Oak Knoll viti-cultural area creates elegant, soft wines with a long rich, fruity finish. Then barrel aged long enough to create soft tannins and structure. Each of the other vineyards and varietals, Syrah, Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot were added to help create this serious but fun wine that can be enjoyed in almost every situation and occasion. Each year the blend will changes slightly but Brian’s goal and focus will remain true. To create an everyday, every occasion rich red wine that everyone can afford. This wine was created and intended to be a great value, rich, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon based red wine with cellar aging potential of 6 to 8 additional years. The wine is lush, overflows with flavor and taste more like a $40.00 bottle! On the nose one is greeted by intense black and blue berry fruit with hints of pepper. On the palate this medium to full-bodied Red blend is loaded with more of the luscious berry fruit one appreciated on the nose. This wine has a good tannic structure which will allow you to enjoy this puppy for some years to come. As it was the case with the 2007 and 2008 vintage, this value wine sold out very fast!