After three days in Sonoma Valley, Cheri and I took the mountain road through the Mayacamas Mountains and emerged in Calistoga, in the fabled Napa Valley. Home to some of the world’s most iconic wines, the history here, as in Sonoma, is long and rich. There is a rivalry between the two, jokingly alluded to in conversations with winemakers and wine owners. Maybe at times not so jokingly, but there is also a measure of respect on either side. Here, and really anywhere, we’re not taking sides. They both make amazing wine. Still, you might hear a winemaker in Sonoma refer to Napa as a place that sells auto parts, or someone in Napa refer to Sonoma as the “other valley”. We heard both of those comments more than once.
Napa certainly has the larger recognition factor, and more people are familiar with the big names from this particular valley. Of course many have now become part of large conglomerates, and lost some of their family operated charm. Some are huge, and the tasting rooms or winery visit centers look more like museums. You absolutely must have reservations at most, and crowds pack in especially on the weekends. If you’re interested in the bigger wineries, plan ahead and reserve a spot.
We were here to visit some of the smaller, family owned and operated producers. That was our theme, although we did mix in a visit to a larger company who distributes many high end brands. We’ve reviewed wines from them for years so it was a chance to visit and catch up. In general though, we prefer vineyards and wineries which have a strong attachment to their land, their vines and their wine. Case in point: Canard Vineyard.
Rich “Duck” Czapleski is the owner of Canard Vineyard, located in the northern part of Napa Valley in the town of Calistoga. When you reach the entrance you’ll see a stylized profile of a duck to the right of the drive. Vineyards stretch ahead toward the house and barn. Those vineyards surround the buildings, nestled in a 25 acre parcel amid the hills of Calistoga. It’s a beautiful spot, but signs of more troubled times surround you as well. The hills are scarred from the fires of 2020. Rich actually had planned to stay and protect the house during the worst of it, but the sheriffs came by and talked him out of that. Some friends of his son did come out and worked to put out the small ember ignited fires coming off the larger blazes surrounding the property. In the end nothing was lost, which is amazing. The bravery and resilience of the people who have lived trough these events never ceases to amaze us.
But onto happier times. While the 2020 vintage was almost a total loss, as the production facility over the hill was consumed, the vines thrive and they have pushed forward. We first found the wines from Canard at the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival in 2019, and one of their wines was out #1 Wine of the Year. You can read about that here. These are rich, full bodied reds which maintain balance and focus, and the stuff to age for a long time. We bought a case back then, and were looking forward to finally getting a chance to visit in person. After a quick
Buddy
wander around the vineyard and a meet and greet with Buddy the vineyard dog, we met Rich in the tasting barn and had a chance to talk about the history of the place, as well as try the latest wines. The property here has a rich history indeed, having only had four owners since the house was built in 1858. Rich and his wife have completely renovated the property, including the main house and outbuildings, turning it into a visitor friendly facility as well as a personal oasis. You can understand Rich’s desire to fight for it during the fires.
All of the red wines are estate, produced from grapes grown on the surrounding land. Vines are cultivated in a double cordon manner, with four primary shoot arms coming off each vine. They are also
tall, which allows for easier hand picking at harvest. Everything is 100% dry farmed, so no irrigation here, ever. They also produce a Rosé using Grenache sourced from Paso Robles, which was originally used to fill in for the lost 2020 vintage. It will now continue, likely under a second label eventually. That’s a good thing, as you’ll read below. On to the wines!
2021 Cuvée des Cendres Rosé – this is 100% Grenache and very pale rose in color. The nose is delicate. The palate is elegant with raspberry and strawberry. It is really a beautifully made wine. Grapes come from the Paso Robles area, where they were sourced in 2020 after the fires. The name means “From the Ashes”. $35
2019 Reserve Zinfandel – Medium dark ruby in color, trending toward garnet. On the nose you get raspberry and some currant/blackberry notes. This is very fruit driven, medium+ in body and smooth. Balanced and fresh, this is almost too easy to drink. Excellent. $90
2018 Throwback – all red blends incorporate all five of the estate red grapes. This wine is primarily Cabernet
Sauvignon, and the 2015 version was our top wine of the year from 2019. We loved it then and we love it now. Medium dark ruby in color, the juice presents dark fruit including currants and blackberry. It is rich and full bodied, balanced, elegant and very long. This wine exudes quality. $85
2011 Adam’s Blend – the original version of this resulted from a blend put together by the owner’s son, Adam, back in 2006 or so. Thus the name. It is primarily Cabernet Franc, and the color is still vibrant here even with 11 years of age. Medium dark ruby it has a touch of funk on the nose, along with rich plum fruit. Full bodied, with a nice focused core of fruit and great balance and length. Really nice. Not sure why Rich opened this one but we were glad he did.
2018 The Rescuer – here the juice is primarily Merlot. It is also a medium dark ruby in color, but has more red
berries with oak and some spice. Full bodied with medium+ tannins and good acid, it is another wonderfully balanced wine with focus and excellent length. Excellent wine, again, and $85.
2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve – A dark ruby color here, much deeper hue than the previous wines. Dark fruit dominates the palate, with black plum, currant, oak notes and a hint of menthol. It is a complex wine, full bodied and rich but again with a focused fruit core similar to all of these reds. Tannins are brisk, and this is really a baby. Waves of fruit coat the palate. It is balanced and super long, and will age for decades. Exceptional, world class Cab at $150.
All of the red wines see between 16-19 months in French oak, and then at least another year in the bottle prior to release. They are all in the 14.5% alcohol range, so not huge but still significant wines. You don’t notice the alcohol at all though as everything is so seamlessly integrated. These were as good as we remember from the previous vintages we have tasted. There is no let up in quality anywhere. A bonus is that they will sometimes offer library wines for sale. You can find the 2016 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon available for sale right now on their website.
You can visit Canard Vineyard by appointment for a tasting, meet Buddy the vineyard dog and admire the beauty of the place. We strongly recommend it if you are in the Calistoga area. Rich was a great host.
One unexpected outcome of the visit occurred when Rich casually mentioned they were currently at about 80% of sales going to the wine club, and they might go to 100%. That opened the possibility of not being able to get their wines in the future, and within minutes we were filling out a wine club form. Canard is now the only wine club we have ever joined, although I have to say that might become two shortly. We’ll get to that in one of the other
Napa reviews.
You can learn more about Canard Vineyard on their website at https://www.canardvineyard.com/. Two options are available for tastings. They also make a super premium red called Alluvia, which we have not tried. You can if you choose their Reserve Tasting option. This was a perfect way to start our time in Napa.
You can read about the previous winery visit from our trip to Sonoma and Napa by clicking here. The next stop is available here.
A votre santé!
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After three days in Sonoma Valley, Cheri and I took the mountain road through the Mayacamas Mountains and emerged in Calistoga, in the fabled Napa Valley. Home to some of the world’s most iconic wines, the history here, as in Sonoma, is long and rich. There is a rivalry between the two, jokingly alluded to in conversations with winemakers and wine owners. Maybe at times not so jokingly, but there is also a measure of respect on either side. Here, and really anywhere, we’re not taking sides. They both make amazing wine. Still, you might hear a winemaker in Sonoma refer to Napa as a place that sells auto parts, or someone in Napa refer to Sonoma as the “other valley”. We heard both of those comments more than once.
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