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 When we feel in the need for a change of venue, as well as a change of menu, we leave Napa Valley and head to San Francisco. One of the "celebration" restaurants we like is Gary Danko, on North Point. Gary has more accolades than sauté pans, which is hard to imagine. The guy's been named Chef of the Year by San Francisco Magazine, he was lauded as Best Chef - California by the prestigious James Beard Foundation and his place has been named Best New Restaurant so many times, he needs additional interior walls to hold all the plaques.
When Gary and his talented team lock onto an ingredient, a wine, a technique, you know it's going to be Hot.
So we were astounded to find a sleepy little northern Napa Valley wine on the menu that we'd not heard of… 1999 Parry Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. "If Gary Danko embraces this wine, it must be good," we figured.
Right hunch.
The fruit for this wine comes from a teeny, tiny parcel of less than an acre that is owned by Stephen and Sue Parry who bought the land in 1997 and moved to the valley in 2000.
The vines were planted in 1990 by David Abreu, described by Robert Parker Jr. as the "Michael Jordan of vineyard managers." Today, they are lovingly tended by Paul Saviez, a third-generation grape grower and now vintner; the grapes are carefully crushed and the wine aged by Andy Schweiger, who previously worked at Chateau St. Jean, ZD and Cain and now is the winemaker for his family's winery.
You get the picture… this wine's got a pedigree.
In the early years, the fruit from these vines was sold to Jayson Pahlmeyer for his exceptional reds.
In 1999, Stephen and Sue decided to bottle the wine under their own label. They figured they had a built-in market for the product since they'd lived in many different states and cities over the past 30 years and everywhere they've been they made friends who they figured would want their wine. (Stephen was a "lifer" with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and worked/lived for periods in California, New York, Washington D.C., Massachusetts and New Mexico. The couple makes friends like they make wine - good and with a long life.)
During this time, Sue worked at various community jobs; she directed a municipal, elderly citizens organization, she was alumni director for a law school, worked for public TV, and now, in Napa Valley, is the administrator for the Napa Valley Vintners Community Health Center as well as a grant writer for the Queen of the Valley Hospital.
"Despite all our moving around the country, we always knew that we wanted to settle in Napa Valley, so we bought our home and vineyard six years ago with this in mind," says Sue.
"We only produced 120 cases in our inaugural vintage (1999),"
recalls Stephen, who was able to produce 200 more cases in 2000.
"But we're headed back down the scale in 2001 and 2002 when
we'll have substantially less." Ouch. Get it while you can in
Napa Valley wine stores or enjoy the wine at Gary Danko and
Boulevard restaurants in San Francisco. Wine can also be purchased
from Parry Cellars website at www.parrycellars.com.
2000 Parry Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Dark red, the color of kingly costumes. At this young age, the wine benefits from a 4- to 8-hour airing, over which time it reveals different nuances… cherries, cedar… sour cherry… cola notes. On the palate there are hints of eucalyptus, cherry and at one point in the 8-hour trial, there are baskets of black currants, but they come and go and an hour later, different flavors become evident.
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ilovenapa.com Rating:
$40 |
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