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Northern California
Our Story and Mission- Ever since we were old enough to drink wine, we have been frequenting winery tasting rooms throughout California. Our trips in the late 70’s involved stops at 6-8 wineries (or maybe more) in a day. My first date with my wife was a day of wine tasting in Sonoma 31 years ago. So we are experienced with this stuff. I think there are several ingredients to a satisfying Tasting Room experience. The wine has to be good for starters and generally the known wineries all put out pretty decent wine. But there are other key factors in making the experience memorable. Sometimes a classy tasting room works for us, but sometimes standing around a barrel outside does the trick. At other times it is just good service that pleases us. Certainly one of the keys is the person serving the wine. So there are a whole bunch of things that make visiting a Tasting Room a positive experience. The point of this blog is to talk about and recommend Winery Tasting Rooms where we have had good experiences.The blog was conceived after spending a weekend with my sisters who normally do not frequent wineries and running into a couple of disappointing stops.

Friday, August 17, 2012


Ladera Vineyards
Howell Mountain, Angwin (Napa)


We have known about Ladera Vineyards for a few years since our friends introduced us to some Ladera Howell Mountain Cab.  Our friends are big Howell Mountain Cabernet fans so we finally got up to Angwin  to check it out.  Although Howell Mountain is just east and slightly north of St. Helena, in the Vaca Mountain range, it is a little adventure getting up there.  It is up and down terrain and although it is just seven miles to Ladera Vineyards from downtown St. Helena it can take fifteen minutes to get there.  The area reminds me a bit of the hills just west of Paso Robles.  The area is fairly dry and generally a bit cooler than the valley floor because of the altitude but on this day it was definitely warmer.  The elevation of the vineyards on the mountain range from 1,600 to 1,800 feet.

The property and facility are beautiful.  There is a long driveway into the winery/tasting room loaded with flowers on both sides of the drive.  The winery is in a historic 1886 three level stone building with 36 inch walls.  Although the building looks old from the outside, the inside of the building has been totally reinforced and modernized.  Ladera is one of the larger producers on Howell Mountain and puts out approximately ten to twelve thousand cases of wine a year.

Our host this day was Michael.  Michael was a former sommelier at the Ritz Carlton and provided us an informative but relaxed tasting.  When we arrived we were greeted with a glass of the 2011 Ladera Howell Mountain Sauvignon Blanc.  With it being a warm day, even at 10 AM, Sauv Blanc is a great way to start the day.  Ladera produces this Sauv Blanc and a Malbec but other than that it is all Cabernet.
We had three Cabernets- The first we had was the Napa Valley Cab.  This is a blend of grapes from two vineyards and we all enjoyed it and at $41.00 it is right in the price range of your standard NV Cabernet.  The two vineyards are pretty much on opposite ends of the valley.  Ladera sources from the Lone Canyon Vineyard on Mt. Veeder on the southern end of the valley and in the Mayacamas Mountain range on the west side of the valley.  It is much cooler down there on the southern end and likely receives fog on most mornings.  Ladera’s main source of grapes though is from Howell Mountain itself.  The soil on Howell Mountain is more volcanic which produces wines with more tannins but big flavors.   We tasted both the Mt. Veeder Cab as well as the Howell Mountain Cab.  Both were excellent.  I enjoyed the Veeder Cab as much as the Howell Cab.  The Veeder Cab was softer and I am guessing the Howell Cab has great age-ability. My tasting partners liked the Howell Cab. Both of these are in the $65-$75 range.

Certainly you could make a day of tasting on Howell Mountain.  Most of the wineries are small and most probably require an appointment.  The fee at Ladera was $15 and in our opinion that was a pretty good bargain for the tasting and overall experience. 

What we liked- The relaxed private tasting and the grounds are very picture worthy
What we bought- Our tasting partners bought both the NV Cab and the Howell Mountain Cab

Vitals-
150 White Cottage Lane
Angwin, CA  94508
(707) 765-2445
www.laderavineyards.com

   


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