The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

Last year Araujo was acquired by the Artemis Group, the owners of Chateau Latour. With that, Araujo joined Opus One and Dominus , two others among Napa Valley's greatest wineries closely tied to Bordeaux's greatest estates (Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and Chateau Petrus, respectively). More info on the acquisition can be found  here  and  here . Four years since my last visit , I headed over to Calistoga to talk about the changes, and to taste the wines. The long time director of wine-making Francoise Peschon is no longer there, but her colleague winemaker Nigel Kinsman is still consulting. Largely a new team has been assembled with Frederic Engerer (Latour's president) and Helene Mingot as the Technical Director. Michel Rolland is gone, the Araujos moved on and aren't involved anymore. While the 2011 vintage was made entirely by the old team, the 2012 was the first vintage with the partial influence of the new ownership coming in at the blending phase. Araujo had been a

Dunn is one of my all-time favorite Napa Valley wineries, and along with Diamond Creek and Ridge, is a reference point for what a mountain Cabernet should taste like. I love the wines. They have stood the test of time. They are incredibly versatile with food, due to acidity, savoriness, and low-alcohol frame. They are intense (without being heavy) with dark fruit, tar and mountain rocks, and echos of pine forest. They are not easy to understand for newbies because they are tannic and rugged, with zesty herbs and root vegetables pronouncing themselves with age. By the time the tannins soften (10-15-20 years+ down the road), the baby plushness and primary fruit sweetness are gone, and you get great intensity and complexity that is anything but "fruity" - perhaps an acquired taste. Mike Dunn, Randy Dunn's son who works and makes the wines alongside Randy, has always been an incredibly fun and gracious host. Simple and honest to deal with - no BS, no marketing. The wines ar

It has been four years since my last visit . At that time we had tasted across three decades of Opus, a truly remarkable experience. This time I was happy to spend a couple of hours again with Opus One's winemaker since 2001, Michael Silacci. The theme was odd-numbered vintages of Opus One from the 21th century (also all odd-numbered vintages since Michael's arrival at the winery). The Wines 2001 Opus One - nose: bright, zesty, savory, laser-focused dark red berries. Palate: intense, velvety, spice, very polished, weighty, tannins still there, chocolate covered cherries, some savoriness. Michael noted this was his first, i.e. "transitional" vintage, when he was still learning about Opus One. I think he was successful in his first effort. 2003 Opus One - nose: slightly riper, with whiff of acetone. Palate: slightly stewed fruit, warmer, sweeter, tannins perceptible. Some warm-vintage Barolo-like notes, on a thick, full-bodied frame, a bit awkward and hefty. M