If you aren’t familiar with the wines from Galerie, you should be. Laura Diaz Munoz is doing great things with Napa and Sonoma fruit as she showcases the differences between growing regions and vineyards. We reviewed her line last year (click here to read about them), found them excellent, and placed the 2012 Pleinair Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in our Top 25 Wines of 2015. You can read about that here.
This time we have the latest releases from Laura and her Napa Valley projects, the 2015 Naissance Sauvignon Blanc and the 2013 version of the aforementioned Pleinair Cabernet Sauvignon. We are expecting great things yet again. First, the Sauvignon Blanc:
Wine: Galerie 2015 Naissance Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Winery Location: Napa Valley
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: December 2016
Tasting Notes: – a pale yellow wine, the Naissance presents a big nose of apple, with citrus (notably lemon) and blackcurrant bud. On the palate, the wine is crisp and lively, with some body and minerality. The finish is quite long, surprisingly so actually. Towards the end the finish gets a bit grassy, and this wine really packs a lot of characteristics of different styles into one wine that meld from one to the other as you taste. Bright, fresh and great length. Superbly made, as you would expect from Laura. Aged for six months sur lie.
Price Point – Retails at $30
Would We Buy It? – on the fence with this one. We don’t tend to like grassy Sauvignons, and this one has a bit of that. It also has many traits we love in good Sauvignon. If you don’t mind a bit of grass this is a good choice.
Now for the Napa Cab:
Wine: Galerie 2013 Pleinair Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Winery Location: Napa Valley
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: December, 2016
Tasting Notes: a dark purple and opaque wine, the 2013 Pleinair has huge legs on the glass and an explosive nose of berries, with black currant prominent. Cheri picked up mocha immediately. For me there were some roasted, slightly charred aromas and then the coffee at the end. It brings a rich palate, with mouth coating, complex flavors dominated by the berries. This is still a baby. At 14.5% to 15% alcohol it is a big, robust Cabernet and is pretty great. The finish goes on forever. This was aged for 20 months in 53% new French oak. To Laura we say – bravo! This will likely make the Top 25 Wines of 2016 list, just as it’s predecessor made the 2015 list. Outstanding wine here.
Price Point – $50
Would We Buy It? – not inexpensive, but certainly worthy of the price tag. This is a good splurge bottle, and we would put one or two in the cellar at this price. The 2013 vintage in Napa is clearly living up to the hype.
The wines from Laura Diaz Munoz continue to impress. The Pleinair is truly outstanding, and is something to look for.
We can’t wait to see what Laura does next.
A votre sante!
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