Comments on: Mayacamas Vineyards – tasting notes and more, from John Gilman

By: Mayacamas Vineyards sold to Charles Banks & co | Dr Vino's wine blog

Mayacamas Vineyards sold to Charles Banks & co | Dr Vino's wine blog — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:13:58 +0000

[...] made the wines from the vineyards high above the floor of the Napa Valley ever since. John Gilman lauds Mayacamas for not succumbing to the “tides of fashion,” calling it “one of the greatest [...]

By: Peter Fitzpatrick

Peter Fitzpatrick — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:33:59 +0000

After reading John’s review, I pushed the button and bought a case of half bottles of the 1985 Mayacamas CS for an incredible bargain of less than $25 a bottle. I hemmed and hawed on this purchase, thinking that the age of the wine indicated that it might be past it’s prime. John’s tasting notes and eloquent passage of the Mayacamas story made the purchase a no-brainer for me. I look forward to opening up the bottles over the coming years to see how they open up. Thank you again.

By: Purg

Purg — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:07:27 +0000

I tried one of their cabernets a couple of years back….definitely one that I pleasantly remembered.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:06:52 +0000

Thank you so much for these posts. It is such a pleasure and a relief to know that some of the old Napa still exists.

To Mr. Taz… hold on to your hat and be prepared for an unrecognizable Napa. If at all possible, keep it to weekdays. Weekends, unfortunately, feel more like Disney for Drunks where the current game seems to be “How much wine can I consume at expensive wineries and be stupid trying to impress my friends.” People who want to taste, talk to wine makers, and learn seem to be at a premium. Stick to the smaller wineries, off 29 and you will have a better experience.

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:49:09 +0000

Ron –

Glad you liked John’s posting!

Funny, I was thinking a similar thing: since it is the birth year of one of our sons, I’m always looking for 2003s that are built for the long haul (made somewhat difficult by a heat wave in much of Europe). Mayacamas 03 Cab certainly sounds like it fits the bill!

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:46:20 +0000

Hey Mr. Taz – Do let us know how your visit goes!

There are many fun wineries to visit in Napa. In the same old-school vein, you might also want to check out Stony Hill, which I visited a couple of years ago and wrote up here.

By: Ron Saikowski

Ron Saikowski — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:32:21 +0000

What an inspirational, informative treatise about Bob Travers and his wines. there are those of us who enjoy value wines because we cannot afford our daily wines any other way. However, I believe I will actually invest in a bottle of Bob Travers wine for opening on our 50th wedding anniversay in 2023. The story is awesome because the man is beyond awesome. Thank you for this wonderful story!

By: Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:59:12 +0000

Jason – Awesome story and absolutely right in line with what I’d expect, given our visit. Cheers.

By: Jason Spencer

Jason Spencer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:13:45 +0000

My wife and I were midway up the winding mountain road leading to the Mayacamas winery two years ago when I realized I’d made a critical error in judgment by not filling up the rental car’s gas tank. We pulled into the gravel parking lot with the fuel gauge needle below empty. There was no way we’d make it to a fuel station.

Embarrassed, I told the lady who runs the tasting room about our predicament and asked for her advice. Without hesitating, she asked the vineyard manager to put some gas in our car. The gentleman directed us to a hand-pumped fueling station, where he proceeded to fill our tank to the top. He then declined to accept the cash I offered him.

What a nice bunch of people running that operation and what a refresh contrast to some of the other places we visited. It’s folks such as this and the Pedroncellis in Sonoma that made us fall in love with the California wine country.

By: Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:11:44 +0000

Taz – Thanks for the kind words. On our recent visit, some of our Napa-based friends strongly insisted that we visit Pott Wines. They’re an extremely small producer (smaller than Mayacamas) and our friends tell us the wines are elegant and excellent. Unfortunately, the small staff was away on vacation during our time there. I don’t know if there are tasting or tour fees, but there won’t be large groups and when the folks from Pott returned our call they were wonderfully friendly. Before we left San Francisco I noticed a bottle of Pott Cab Sauv in a small wine shop. It was $85 – so not cheap, but the ABV was 13.7, if I remember correctly.

Cheers and thanks again.

By: Mr Taz

Mr Taz — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:42:24 +0000

John and Evan, thank you for your beautiful, informative and evocative posts. And, thank you Tyler, for presenting them to us.

I’m looking forward to visiting Napa next month — my first visit since the 80′s. Based on your posts, I will definitely make the trek up to Mayacamas.

If anyone has other must-visit wineries with excellent wines, friendly welcomes, and no tour groups, please let me know by commenting or emailing me at mrtaz49@gmail.com.

Thanks again.

By: Ana Keller

Ana Keller — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:32:07 +0000

For all of us young wineries Mayacamas is not only an example, but should be an inspiration and a comforting notion that a well thought plan, a great location, careful winemaking and passion will in the long run prove to be the founding stones of a great wine.