TEXAN WINE

Grgich Hills Estate

Mike Grgich helped put Napa Valley on the wine map due to the role he played in the infamous “Judgment of Paris” back in 1976, when Napa Valley wines were chosen over French wines in a blind tasting. Mike Grgich was the winemaker behind the U.S. Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena that stole the show. He went on to found Grgich Hills Estate where those same winemaking principles have been applied year after year. Amazingly, Mike is celebrating his 100th birthday this year with many recognizing his enduring legacy.

Like Paradigm, these wines are kind of old school Napa Valley. The tasting room was buzzing with activity when we arrived, but our place was already set with a small tasting menu headlined, “Welcome to the Peterson Party!” We were initially given only one wine glass, and I could see others either consuming or dumping from one wine to the next. I prefer a slower pace, so our host accommodated us when I asked for multiple glasses to sip more slowly and have the chance to revisit a wine as the tasting progressed. Grgich Hills is one of the planned stops on the Napa Valley Wine Train experience, and the single glass approach makes total sense in that context with a strict schedule.

Grgich Hills offers several varietal (i.e. single grape) wines including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and even Petit Verdot.

I really enjoyed the 2020 Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay (a barrel select wine where only the top tasting barrels are used). The Cabernet Sauvignon wines are everything you need in a solid Napa Cab, but I found the Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot wines particularly intriguing. If you are new to Napa Valley wines, then Grgich Hills is a great option to start your exploration.

Sinegal Estate

This winery is the brainchild of Jim Sinegal, co-founder of Costco, and his son David Sinegal. They have created a luxury setting at the historic 30-acre Inglewood Estate that blends the visual aspect with tailored aesthetics of a wine life for a truly special experience. I should note the top tier Sinegal Estate wines have the black label with the signature gold key, which happens to be the key that opens the front door to the estate house, dating back to the 1880s. These black label wines are only available to purchase through the estate.

We were greeted with a glass of the delectable 2021 Sonoma-based Grenache rosé. This is a fantastic rosé! After a casual tour around the property, purposefully redesigned to host member events, we headed into the intimate tasting room where we tried four more wines. The 2021 Sauvignon Blanc is like a burst of fresh grapefruit on the palate, and I could sip this all day long on a hot Texas summer day. The 2021 Spring Hill Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is loaded with dark fruits like black cherry while hints of tobacco and licorice linger on the finish. The two Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Select Series and the 2018 Reserve, are nice choices for collectors who age their Cabernet. Otherwise, decanting these for a few hours is imperative to help the wines realize their potential.

The Sinegal Estate wines are very well made. This visit was made even more special because two of my “wine Instagram” friends who live in Napa were able to join me. It’s a remarkable thing to connect with certain people in the social media space, but meeting them in real life (or IRL as we like to say) can be a rare occurrence. Here at Sinegal, though, the wines and the setting created the perfect circumstance for us to gather where we were all “in our element” as wine influencers. It was a blast.