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This is a story about ghosts, so if you are scared by them, proceed directly to the tasting notes that follow.
 But as it's also a story about multi-generational farming, a love for the land and about awesome wine — maybe you'll choose to read the profile anyway…
The winery that is central to this story is Regusci (pronounced Reg-ooshi), housed in a gorgeous, old stone building with two-foot-thick lava walls. It was built in 1878 on the Silverado Trail in the southern part of Napa Valley.
The Grigsby-Occidental Winery, as it was then known, was such a newcomer to the valley that it was only the sixth bonded winery in Napa Valley. Today 232 wineries operate in Napa Valley and many dozens of small producers also thrive, making wine at commercial facilities.
We all know what happened over time to pioneer wineries in Napa Valley; they were destroyed by the three "P's" — Phylloxera… Prohibition… and then Poverty (the Great Depression). Napa Valley was studded with shuttered, or ghost, wineries.
The Grigsby-Occidental Winery had been one of the first wineries in the region designed to use gravity to aid the winemaking process; its three stories were designed to produce 115,500 cases of wine. Which is a lot of wine. Then or now.
The third, or top, floor at Grigsby-Occidental was used for crushing; juice was gravity-fed to the second floor for settling and fermentation; finally the wine was naturally fed to the bottom floor for barrel storage and aging.
The large property and majestic winery, having fallen into "ghost" stature, caught the attention of farmer Gaetano Regusci who, in 1932, purchased the property and started to produce his own estate wines. Typical of those days, however, a farmer could not make a living growing only grapes, so Gaetano supplemented his income by farming corn, hay, prunes, and walnuts as well as by raising cattle and hogs. Eventually, Gaetano's son Angelo took over the property and continued the family tradition of farming and winemaking.
With the growing prominence of the Napa Valley as America's premier wine-growing region, the family eventually focused farming to a single crop — grapes. In 1995, Angelo's son Jim, reestablished a winery on the property and in 1996 father and son — Angelo and Jim — crushed their first vintage of Stags Leap District wines.
Because Jim can't shake the farming thing he also manages other people's vineyards. Today he oversees vineyard practices on his own 300 acres as well as on more than 1,000 acres belonging to others.
The talented winemaker at Regusci is Charles Hendricks who is producing some exceptionally fine reds. Most are in general distribution, but we wish that he made more of the winery's ultra-premium cuvee, called Angelo's Vineyard. The fruit for this cuvee comes from a hillside parcel just east and south of the winery. This is the stuff that legends are made of!
2000 Regusci, Stag's Leap District, Napa Valley, Zinfandel
All the fruit comes from property surrounding the old Grigsby-Occidental winery. Some vines are 125-years-old (!) A gorgeous nose of red fruits, tobacco and a whiff of briar. A lovely yet exciting wine on the palate; a tug of war between spice, sweet notes, and even spicier notes; there's a bit of bite, a bit of chew. Medium-length finish.
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ilovenapa.com Rating:
$38.00 |
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2000 Regusci, Stag's Leap District, Napa Valley, Merlot
On the nose, dark, rich, ripe fruit. Aromas of coffee, cocoa, cherries and cola come to mind. In fact, on tasting, there is so much coffee flavor that the finish stays on one's palate for 30 seconds after the swallow, the way a well-made Illy espresso does. Highly extracted, wonderfully complex. You can taste the perfectly ripe fruit; it is not sur-ripe, just richly ripe. Lovely balance.
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ilovenapa.com Rating:
$40.00 |
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1999 Regusci, Stag's Leap District, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon
Liquid poetry. Cocoa and coffee aromas and a whack 'o black currant, too. Rich, lush and exotic all at the same time. Silken and seamless; even now, within days of release, this wine is approachable. How surprised are we that this wine is sublime? This is the same fruit that is sold to Phelps as a component for its killer red, Insignia. It's also been sold to Clos du Val and to Merus for their exciting, beautiful wines.
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ilovenapa.com Rating:
$60.00 |
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1999 Regusci, Angelo's Vineyard, Stag's Leap District, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon
Aged 20 months in new French oak, this 100% estate fruit produces a thunderously good wine that is only available at the winery. In fact, this '99 is already sold out. But it is so good that we must share the revelation.
It has a very dark robe, the kind of color that is associated with bullfights and sleepy-town bullfight posters. The aromas suggest rich, ripe, dark fruits.
In the mouth there is a rush of pleasures; the wine is extremely silky — all along the swirl and swallow. The texture doesn't quit. There is a sweet "framboise-like" element, yet this is not a "sweet" wine by any means and nothing fully suggests raspberry juice in the grater sense. But it is there. Ripe dark fruits are evident, followed by a brace of black currants and dark cherries. Only 95 cases were produced. Too bad!
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ilovenapa.com Rating:
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