James Laube's Blog Archives

April 2006

A Record Cabernet Price?

Posted: 05:23 PM ET, April 28, 2006

How does a wine get priced at $265 a bottle?

One way is to pay $26,500 a ton for the grapes.

Paul Hobbs stopped by my office in Napa today to taste two of his 2003 Cabernets. He’s going to be on my Expressions of Napa Valley Cabernet panel at this year’s California Wine Experience, and we wanted to taste two wines he was considering pouring. Read more

Timeless Zinfandel

Posted: 01:26 PM ET, April 25, 2006

Mayacamas Vineyards released its 1970 Napa Valley Zinfandel this month for $100 a bottle, and no, that’s not a typo on the vintage date.

“Even more amazing,” says owner Bob Travers, “this is not a re-release, for we have never sold this wine before. Read more

Tastings and Test Drives

Posted: 02:01 PM ET, April 24, 2006

Two items have risen to the top of today’s to-do list.

No. 1 is work-related -- wrapping up our annual Chardonnay report. It is by far the easier of the two assignments.

Each year, I taste roughly 400 new Chardonnays. This year’s focus is on the 2004 vintage, which is first class, and there are plenty of late-arrival 2003s as well. Read more

Bush Tours Napa Valley

Posted: 01:54 PM ET, April 21, 2006

President Bush is arriving in Napa Valley today, and this appears to be the first visit to the area by a sitting president. (Our research didn’t turn up any other solid leads.)

The president is scheduled for a sleepover at Meadowood, the resort near St. Read more

Cutworms And Botrytis

Posted: 01:30 PM ET, April 20, 2006

“It’s gonna be a great year for cutworms and botrytis,” my friend C.J., a Rutherford-based vineyard manager said, tongue in cheek.

And that was last week, before it rained again over the weekend.

The damp, wet weather that has been soaking much of California for weeks is hardly a natural disaster. Read more

The Star At Blankiet

Posted: 02:10 PM ET, April 18, 2006

I paid my first visit to Blankiet Estate last week, on one of the rare days this spring when the sun was shining brightly in Northern California.

This is the ambitious new vineyard and winery owned by Claude and Katherine Blankiet, with the viticulture and winemaking being overseen by Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer. Read more

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