Earlier this year I led a workshop on how to taste and write about wines at our company retreat in Savannah. The wine we tasted was a Nickel & Nickel Chardonnay 2015, one of my favorite Chardonnays. The workshop resulted in some inspiring and fun reviews of this fabulous wine.
In May I finally got to visit the gorgeous Nickel & Nickel Winery in Napa Valley.
Awaiting our tour of Nickel & Nickel
We were taken on a tour of the of the entire place starting in the house.
Nickel & Nickel Winery
We walked across the yard in the breezy, warm May weather to the wine cellars.
Nickel & Nickel wine cellars
After the tour of the cellars and a talk through their barreling process, we ended up at a private tasting in one of their dining rooms where I first got a taste of their very special Syrah.
Private Tasting
I didn’t join Nickel & Nickel, but I did leave their winery with quite a lot of wine, specifically a number of bottles of their Syrah.
Their wines
There has been a slight chill in the air this past week, which had me grabbing my cozy cardigan and wearing slippers in the house instead of flip flops. Fall is around the corner and with that I am slowly moving from my summer Rosé wines and into the reds. Although I would never turn down my Whispering Angel even if offered in the dead of winter, it was time to drink on my bottles of Syrah wrapped in the warmth of my cardi and slippers :).
Nickel & Nickel Darien Vineyard Syrah 2013, Russian River Valley
This wine is on the pricey side at $65 a bottle so opening a bottle for a mid-week glass is quite a treat, but hey it was a Wednesday and everyone knows people should drink wine on Wednesdays. The Nickel & Nickel Syrah is deep, ruby plum in color. It has a smoky aroma of sweet tobacco giving you the impression it will be more on the syrupy sides. It is smooth, silky and beautifully elegant on the palate with a subtle hint of spices and then a finish of milky chocolates and mild sweet currant, not syrupy in the slightest. This wine is pure class in a wine glass like a dreamy waltz across the dance floor you never want to end.
Nickel & Nickel is definitely worth a tour, which run from $65 – $125 for the tours and tastings
If you like fruity, velvety reds this one is for you!
My rating…
