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WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK
20
BENNETT LANE
WINERY
open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
3340 highway 128, calistoga
(707) 942-6684 | 1-877-MAX-nAPA
www.bennettlane.com
BENNETT LANE WINERY
Big, Big Reds with a Smile!
BY JoSh Stein
Big reds, unfortunately, often mean lots of pretense, posturing and
extreme pricing. Happily, there is an antidote to such a situation, and it’s
name is Bennett Lane. Owner Randy and Lisa Lynch have only been in
the wine business for a decade, but their wines have made quite an
impact throughout the wine world. These folks know Cabernet in a few
short years like few others ever have in the Valley, and they’ve done so
without pricing their wines through the roof or putting on airs in the
process. These may be relatively new folks to Napa, but that doesn’t
mean they’re “new Napa,” if you know what I mean.
The best way to express how busy they’ve become as a result of their
success is to point to the recently remodeled and updated tasting room,
necessary to accommodate all the interest. That alone should tell you
others have come to recognize that Bennett Lane is a truly special place,
staffed by exceptional people, pouring extraordinary wines at prices that
astound for what they aren’t. Trust me: run, don’t walk. The winery itself
is positioned at the dove-tailing “wedge” of the eastern Vaca and western
Mayacamas at the top of the Valley. The combination of soil, exposure and
breeze makes about as perfect a spot for wine as exists anywhere on the
planet, and the twenty-two acres of Cabernet vines produce wines that
sell out over and over again. Oh, and those vines have produced 33 wines
scoring 90+ points in less than a decade, 20 in the last five years alone.
The private lane which greets you is surrounded by vines, and the
multi-story, artfully shaped winery feels set inside the land. The tasting
room is contemporary and funky, a rustic Meditterranean seen through
the lens of the North Bay. It gives a mix of natural stone and wood, and
the Napa-typical red pine of the barrel room nicely accents the color
palette. Outside are multiple decks and pergolas, each providing views of
the Mayacamas, and the soft tinkling of the large water fountain
accompanies all of this, underlying the feeling of being “in” the Valley.
The winery’s new iPad app adds a nice touch since it’s loaded with info
yet unobtrusive for those who want their tasting sans the details.
Everything, in other words, has definitely been thought out with the
experience in mind.
For your tasting, you’ve got quite a range of choices, too, especially
given the attention paid to Cabernet. There are three different Cabs, as
well as the renowned Maximus Red Feasting Wine, which adds Syrah
into the usual Bordeaux buddies along the way to being the best deal in
the Valley for a red wine blend. The latest Maximus release would be
reason enough to get up there, but there’s plenty more: reserve
Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, the white Maximus Feasting Wine with its
Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Muscat blend; as well as a Port-style
dessert wine of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and, enjoyably, Carignane,
that now-little-seen favorite of the original planters of the Calistoga area.
Here you are, at the pinnacle of the Napa Valley. If you step out onto
the nice-but-not-fancy outdoor patio, you’ve got views you won’t ever
forget and you’ve got them without having to give up just hanging out
and enjoying life along the way. And, you’ve got wines you won’t want to
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