Brownies at the Mount Veeder Appellation Wine Tasting

Impressive wines, nice weather, and live music in a beautiful setting combined to make the recent Mount Veeder Appellation Wine Tasting a lovely experience.  The Appellation may only have about 1,000 acres under vine, but we easily found two dozen wines we’d recommend to our friends.

Some of the wineries at the Tasting were new to us, and some were ones we’d been to before.   Over the course of the event we found a number of balanced, richly intense, age-worthy wines we’re looking forward to having again.

If you missed the Mount Veeder Appellation Tasting but are looking for recommendations for wines from the area, these were our favorites that day:  

Mount Veeder Appellation Wine Tasting

Fontanella Family Winery (Napa) – 2010 Mount Veeder Chardonnay, 2009 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

The Hess Collection (Napa) – 2008 19 Block Cuvee (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot) , 2008 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

Jake-Ryan Cellars (Napa) – 2007 Bald Mountain Vineyard Zinfandel

Lagier Meredith (Napa) – 2010 Mondeuse, 2010 Syrah

Handmade by Marketta (Napa) – 2006 Chardonnay, 2009 Sauvignon Blanc

Mayacamas Vineyards (Napa) – 2006 Chardonnay, 2009 Chardonnay, 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Mount Veeder Winery (St. Helena) – 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 Reserve (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot)

Robert Craig Winery (Napa) – 2009 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

Rubissow (Napa) – 2006 Merlot, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 Trompettes (Cabernet Franc, Merlot)

Spotted Owl Vineyards (St. Helena) – 2009 Mountain Cuvee, 2009 Lev’s Cuvee (Syrah)

Vinoce (Oakville) – 2009 Mount Veeder Estate (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot)

Y Rousseau Wines (Napa) – 2009 “Le Roi Soleil” (Cabernet Sauvignon)

Radishes and Salt at the Mount Veeder Appellation Tasting

If you weren’t at the Mount Veeder Appellation Wine Tasting event this year, we highly recommend considering going next year.  In addition to the great wine, small bite selections were presented by Hess Collection Executive Chef Chad Hendrickson.  Attendees nibbled on Charcuterie, Nuts, and Cheeses, as well as Pita Chips with Hummus or Baba Ganoush in between sips.  Other food options included Roast Beef Sliders, Radishes with Sea Salt, Grilled Figs and Brownies and Cookies.

The Mount Veeder Appellation Wine Tasting was presented by the Mount Veeder Appellation Council.  To learn more about the appellation, the Council, or future public events, please go here.