Recently, I had the opportunity to sample most of the current lineup of wines from the Trinchero Winery, located in St. Helena, in California's Napa Valley. The tasting was held at Champane's Pub in Warren, Michigan, the Pub being part of the larger Champane's Wine Cellars, one of the state's largest wine retailers. On hand to conduct the proceedings were Trinchero winemaker Joe Shirley and Trinchero Midwest Rep Scott Stubbs. 

As is usually the case, we started off with hors d'oeuvres and a few whites. Unfortunately, the current vintage of Trinchero Family Selection Sauvignon Blanc has sold out, so there was none available to taste. 

2000 Trinchero Family Selection Chardonnay, $8.25, 13.6% alc.: The fruit for this medium straw was sourced from Napa Valley (20%), Lake County (40%) and Monterey County (40%); it features a "cookie cutter" California Chardonnay nose of toasty oak, pear, sweet pea and just a hint of butterscotch. The flavors generally echo, with an added note of mineral that is about all that lingers on the so-so finish. It's not a low acid wine necessarily, but it's not exactly zippy either, and the fruit seems just a little flat. All in all, not a bad wine for the price, I suppose. 

2000 Trinchero Napa Chardonnay Mario's Reserve, $15, 13.75% alc.: Less fruit forward than the Family Selection Chardonnay, this medium straw is the product of premium Napa vineyards including Linda Vista and Ferrell, and the flavor profile made it fairly obvious that the wine saw 95% French oak (84% new and 16% one year old Allier, Vosges, Center of France and Nevers), being not quite as sweet as the last. With flavors and aromas of apple, pear and hints of banana, butterscotch and mineral, it's somewhat more viscous than the Family Selection, with a little more acidity and a decent finish. One taster described it as "lush," but I found it somewhat austere and one-dimensional. 

Obviously, I wasn't wild about either of these chardonnays, but to be fair, they didn't suck, either. I moved on, hoping for better things from the reds.

2001 Trinchero Family Selection Pinot Noir, $9.50, 13.6% alc.: The fruit for this ruby dark garnet Pinot comes from a hillside vineyard east of San Pablo Bay in southern Napa County, but I found only a modicum of varietal character to it, with toasty sweet oak, maple syrup, cherry-berry flavors and aromas. Medium to medium full bodied, this has some stemmy tannins and good acidity, with a so-so finish, and will probably improve with short term cellaring. Seemed more like a generic red wine than Pinot Noir to me. 

2000 Trinchero Family Selection Merlot, $9.50: There was no technical data in the winery printout about this dark garnet, but it DID get an 86 from the Wine Enthusiast, so I guess that counts for something. The big sweet oak doesn't quite overwhelm the red currant and blackberry character here, and it adds a note of chocolate to the fairly simple, one-dimensional flavors and aromas. A pleasant enough wine for the price point, and one that the casual Merlot fan will probably enjoy.

1999 Trinchero Family Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, $9.50, 13.6% alc.: This dark garnet Cabernet sourced from Lake (44%), San Luis Obispo (24%), Napa (18%), Santa Barbara (12%) and Monterey (2%) counties features toasty oak, cassis and black currant flavors and aromas, good tannins and acidity and a decent finish. With more body, density and intensity, it's definitely a step up from the previous two wines. Despite the fact that there's a little more oak (70% new and used French, 30% American) than I care for, this isn't a bad buy if you like the style.

1998 Trinchero RSVP Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon Chicken Ranch, $15, 13.5% alc.: This dark garnet was a late addition to the lineup, taking the place of the '99 Chicken Ranch Merlot. It's very aromatic, with big sweet oak, black currant, blackberry and what seem to be subtle notes of cola and blueberry; these follow through on the palate with good tannins that are slightly dusty, but don't obscure the abundant fruit, and good acidity as well. The finish should lengthen over the next few years as the tannins resolve themselves, making for a pleasant, if unexceptional Cabernet Sauvignon. 

2000 Trinchero Napa Meritage Mario's Reserve, 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, 18% Merlot, 7% Petite Verdot, $29, 13.6% alc.: The fruit for this deep dark garnet comes from the winery's estate vineyard, as well as others including Stagecoach, Carpenter, Oakville and Main Street vineyards. The blend is barrel aged in 100% new oak, 54% American, 39% French and 7% Hungarian, but despite that, it shows less obvious oak on the nose than the others. A user friendly red with a fairly lush cassis, black currant and blackberry character, it's fruit forward with soft tannins, moderately low acidity and a reasonably long finish. Ready to go now, my only real complaint is the price; I'd like it a lot more at around $20. 

2000 Trinchero RSVP Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling, $32, 13.7% alc.: Another deep dark garnet that saw 100% new oak (94% French, 6% American), this one isn't giving much more than a little sweet black fruit on the nose right now, but the flavors pick it up nicely with added cassis and black currant, along with a coffee nuance that emerges with air. Not too tannic, with decent acidity and a good finish, this is a perfectly acceptable Napa Cabernet, but I wouldn't want to pay more than $25 for it. 

1999 Trinchero Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Mario's Reserve, $29, 13.6% alc.: Yet another deep dark garnet from a 100% new oak barrel regimen (60% French, 40% American), this was made entirely from Mario's (Trinchero Estate) Vineyard fruit. The somewhat stingy black currant and blackberry aromatics expand nicely on the palate with rich fruit, a good dose of toasty oak, fairly soft tannins and good acidity. I found this to be the most flavorful of the four premium reds, but again, I'd like it even better if it was priced at a few dollars less.

Winemaker Shirley stated that he strives for balanced wines that aren't overoaked, and while one person's turn-off may be another's delight, I found all of these to be well oaked, in very much of what I think of as a "typical" Napa Valley style. Having said that, I found them to be soundly made and user friendly, if not exactly in a style that I prefer. 

Many thanks to Dean "D.J." Champane and Robert Agnello for their generous hospitality, and to Joe Shirley and Scott Stubbs for their friendly, informative presentation.

Reporting from Day-twah,

geo t.

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© George Heritier May 2003