California dreamy

As we turned east off of Napa Valley’s Silverado Trailand started the winding trek up Howell Mountain, a brisk brilliantblue-sky day welcomed us to Napa Valley’s famed and historic BurgessCellars. In an era in which so many Napa Valley wineries are small cogsin sprawling corporate wine conglomerate empires, the perpetuation of amulti-generation family owned winery is a refreshing change of pace.   

Napa Valley’s emergence as one of the centers of the American wine world is actually a development of recent decades.  Yetthe Burgess winery was originally homesteaded in the late 1800s by animmigrant winemaker, morphed into a chicken ranch during Prohibitionand later became a home to Souverain Cellars.  Wine has been made on this site for nearly a century and a half.

Proprietor Tom Burgess — a former AirForce and corporate pilot — and winemaker Bill Sorenson have been ateam since Burgess acquired the winery in 1972.  Thereis no doubt that they know how to coax the best out of the terroir oftheir three distinct vineyard sites, focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon andCabernet Franc from the estate vineyard; Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah,Petite Sirah, Malbec and Petit Verdot from the Ink Grade Road estatevineyard on the eastern side of Howell Mountain; and Merlot, plus fiveother varieties, from the valley-floor Triere vineyard, nearYountville. Mountain-sited vineyards, perhaps counter-intuitively,benefit from stressful conditions of water scarcity and rocky, volcanicsoils that force the grapes to struggle for survival, while at the sametime benefiting from full sun in a location above the fog line.  The result?  Small berries packed with intense juice and great acidity.

Now back to our journey. About halfway between the valleyfloor and the “dry” Adventist community of Angwin, an unimposing signannounces it is time to turn left into Burgess.  Thisis not an ostentatious, bells-and-whistles tour-bus-ready winery, but asmall, appointment-only facility ready to provide personalizedattention. The narrow, one-lane winding trail to the winery is carvedinto the mountainside and features a steep drop off the left side.  Caution is the watchword.

Eyes are first drawn to the historic stone buildings,then to the vineyards below and finally to the sprawling Bell CanyonReservoir, with the Mayacamas Mountains in the distance. We are greetedby a tall, affable plaid-shirted man: Steve Burgess, one of the nextgeneration who will lead the winery. He has a degree in agriculturalsystems management and a minor in agricultural business.  

Standing in the working tasting room,surrounded by barrels of maturing wine, Burgess eagerly begins thetasting. This is a red wine house, which gives the juice plenty of oakaging before releasing the wines for sale — there was no easing into aflavor rush.  The year 2007was a fabulous vintage in Napa. The full bodied 2007 Merlot, composedprimarily of fruit from the estate’s Triere Vineyard, is full of cherryand dark berry fruit, a touch of vanilla oak and modest tannin. It’sready to go.

The 2007 Syrah is meaty, balanced andconcentrated, with a smooth mouthfeel and nice acid backbone. Tenpercent Grenache in the blend adds red berry fruit and contributes tothe Rhone-like character of this wine.

Petite Sirah, from the 2008 vintage,shows the deep, saturated color typical of this grape variety,blackberry and chocolate overtones, full flavor and structure.

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is aMeritage-style Bordeaux blend, complemented with Cabernet Franc, PetiteVerdot, Malbec and Merlot.  Thecomplexity shows in the bouquet and the palate, while the French oakaging is evident in the vanilla aromas and well-integrated tannins.  A long lingering finish promises great drinking into future years.

Speaking of which, Burgess has a ratherunique marketing approach that includes always offering “library wines”that have been resting in ideal storage conditions for years.Consecutive vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon dating back to 1979 areoffered for sale through the winery.  Wesampled 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, a cooler year on the valley floor, buta year in which Burgess was pleased with the maturity of its grapes.The 1998 was much more evolved than the younger Cabernet, losing a bitof the intense fruit of a young wine, but showing the elegance, cedarand tobacco overtones typical of maturing Bordeaux-style wines.

Finally, we were treated to precioussips of 2007 Estate Vineyard Reserve, a wine showing beautiful balance,a full dollop of sweet French oak, big concentration, cascading fruitand an oh-so-long finish.

With more than 400 wineries populatingNapa Valley, Burgess Cellars distinguishes itself through goodold-fashioned hard work and family dedication, combined with superiorfruits of their labor. For more information about Burgess wines, visitthe website at www.BurgessCellars.com, or its Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/BurgessCellars. The wines are available locally; checkwith your favorite wine retailer. 

In vino veritas.