The Hess family originated in Switzerland but it was Donald Hess who came to California in the early 197o’s and fell in love with Napa and more specifically Mt. Veeder. He defied ‘conventional wisdom’ and established a winery (and an art gallery) above the valley floor and is now run by Fifth Generation Tim and Sabrina with Dave Guffy heading the winemaking team to create a range of wines of both excellence and value.
The grapes for this wine are sourced from their Estate Vineyards in the gentle rolling hills of Pope Valley, just east of Mt. Veeder from 6 different clones to produce something special, but more importantly a wine that is a pleasure to drink. This pretty much ticks all the boxes: elegance and finesse, enticing nose of plum, dark fruits and spices, plush velvety mouthfeel displaying layers of blackberries, plums, dark cherries with just a hint of red current, vanilla and spices to round things out with great length on the finish. This vintage is blended with small amounts of Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec. Like most of us, if you’re looking for a must drink wine that is designed to impress and born to please with a price tag well below where its drinking, this is it.
Rating: 92pt JS
Vine to Table 