WINE REVIEWS

May/June 2006
2004 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards, 93-95 points
(A 60/40 blend of cabernet franc and merlot) Bright ruby-red. Perfumed aromas of black raspberry, smoked meat, dark chocolate and brown sugar. Superconcentrated, sweet and spicy, with a captivating sugar/acid balance. The violet and cassis flavors are complemented by deep, nuanced soil tones. A compellingly sweet, silky blend with outstanding breadth and opulence. Finishes with building, ripe tannins and great persistence. This amazingly expressive wine seems ready to bottle.

2004 Arietta Variation One, 92-95 points
(60% merlot and 40% syrah, co-fermented; the fruit is destemmed but not crushed) Deep, bright ruby-red. Slightly reduced nose blossomed quickly to show black raspberry, dark cherry, mocha and chocolate. Lush and superripe on the palate, but saline and mineral elements as well as the wine's strong acid/tannin spine give it great definition and grip. Firm tannins are buffered by the wine's strong material.

2004 Arietta Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, 92-94 points
(Thorevilos cabernet sauvignon with 15% cabernet franc and 5% merlot from Hudson Vineyard) Full ruby-red. High-toned but quite closed on the nose. Then chewy, dense and sweet in the mouth, with highly concentrated, sappy black raspberry flavor and compelling vibrancy. Offers a rare combination of silky texture, outstanding breadth and bright acidity. As ripe as this is, there's no hint of raisins. The high-toned character carries through on the long, ripe aftertaste.

2003 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards, 92 (+?) points
Good full ruby-red. Brooding, pure aromas of black fruits, licorice and shoe polish; this smells like young, austere Bordeaux. Then slightly reduced and tightly wound in the mouth and currently dominated by its powerful structure. There are intense black fruits here, but the wine is in an awkward stage today, with the tannins currently dominating. Almost certainly better than it's showing: I'd wait at least three or four years before pulling the cork.

2003 Arietta Variation One, 95 points
Medium ruby. The nose is at once cool and exotic, with expressive, explosive aromas of black cherry, raspberry, smoked meat, iris and brown spices. Wonderfully sweet and dense in the mouth, saturating every square millimeter of the palate. A magical combination of syrah energy and merlot breadth. Finishes horizontal and with great persistence, with a strong element of baking spices. A great California red blend.

2003 Arietta Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, 93 points
Deep ruby-red. Sappy black cherry, roast coffee, tobacco, mocha and brown spices on the nose. Densely packed and suave, with fruit so sweet that one could easily enjoy this wine right now. Wonderfully lush, layered cabernet, finishing with very fine, building tannins.

May/June 2005
2003 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards, 94-96 points
A 60/40 blend of cabernet franc and merlot. Ruby-red. Cool but ripe aromas of blackberry, blueberry, cassis and licorice. Wonderfully thick and dense but with superb life in the mouth. Compelling flavors of black fruits, with inner-palate floral lift. This is even lusher than the 2002. John Kongsgaard has figured out how to do something that too few California winemakers can do: make extraordinarily rich, layered wines that maintain vibrancy. A great showing today.

2003 Arietta Variation One, 93-95 points
A 60/40 blend of merlot and syrah, co-fermented. Good saturated ruby-red. Nose offers a compelling combination of syrah and merlot perfume: black raspberry, minerals, licorice, flowers. Dense and thick, but with terrific flavor definition and lift and captivating notes of flowers and graphite. A powerfully structured wine that finishes with explosive fruits and minerals and great persistence. Incidentally, this syrah comes from a different block of the Hudson Vineyard than the syrah that goes into Kongsgaard's own syrah bottling. This is a hotter site that produces more full-blown wine, Kongsgaard explains. One of those rare 1+1=3 wines, where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Obviously, the blend works.

2003 Arietta Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, 92-94 points
Includes 15% merlot and 5% cabernet franc. Good bright ruby. Knockout nose combines black cherry, blackberry, licorice and bitter chocolate. Wonderfully sweet and concentrated, with snappy fruit flavors and perfectly integrated acidity. Can't quite match the complexity of the H Block blend, but this boasts terrific fruit and underlying sweetness. Finishes with broad, dusty tannins. Mostly from the Thorvilos Vineyard, on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. Will make a worthy new entry to the Arietta line-up.

2002 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards, 95 points
Good full ruby-red. Deep, highly complex nose combines blackberry, black cherry, violet, minerals, nuts and smoky oak. A wonderfully rich wine that offers great mouth coverage but maintains real zing, thanks to its mineral freshness and firm tannic spine. The pHs for this cuvee are routinely in the 3.8 to 3.9 range, notes Kongsgaard, but the wine always tastes fresher. Finishes very long and lively, with big, chewy tannins.

2002 Arietta Variation One, 93 points (+?)
Good medium ruby. Brooding, medicinal aromas of inky black fruits. Tougher today than the 2003 from barrel, but offers outstanding flavor intensity and clarity, with notes of black raspberry, spice, licorice and chocolate emerging with aeration. Less obviously sweet today than the 2003 (I might have picked this blind as a classic Bordeaux blend including petit verdot and cab franc), but finishes with superb breadth of tannins. "The H Block is an homage to more refined Old World wines," notes Kongsgaard, "while this is more California exotic."

May/June 2004
2002 Arietta H Block Red Wine Napa Valley, 92-95 points
Good deep ruby-red. Rather restrained but complex aromas of currant, Havana tobacco, minerals, anise and espresso. Hugely dense, thick, and superripe, with mouthcoating flavors of dark berries, chocolate and mint. Not showing quite the same verve toady as the 2001, but this may well possess even stronger material for the long term. Finishes with palate-saturating tannins and suberb length. Winemaker John Kongsgaard believes that the 2001 has great length and should be drunk in the first ten years, while the 2002, due in part to it's larger tannic structure, will take longer to fully express itself.

2002 Arietta Variation One Red Wine Napa Valley, 94-96 points
Fully ruby red. Superripe, complex, youthfully medicinal nose melds currant, leather, tobacco, black licorice, dark chocolate and game. Huge, lush and densely packed, with a depth charge of dark fruit flavor complicated by an exotic suggestion of maple syrup. Extemely young and long on the aftertaste. Both the syrah and merlot in this blend and the cabernet franc and merlot in the H Block are cofermented.

2002 Arietta Merlot Napa Valley, 93-95 points
Saturated medium ruby to the rim. Wild liqueur-like aromas of currant, tar, menthol, graphite and wild herbs. Lush, creamy and impressively rich, with superb depth of flavor for California merlot. Highly complex flavors of currant, tobacco, iron, graphite and spices ("pencil shavings and rusty nails," offers Kongsgaard). An exceptionally classy merlot that finishes with serious but utterly suave tannins and outstanding persisitance.

2001 Arietta H Block Red Wine Napa Valley, 94 points
Good saturated ruby-red. Explosive, highly nuanced aromas of currant, dried rose, tobacco, brown sugar, espresso and mint. Silky, lush, dense and penetrating, with uncommon lift in the middle palate. Captivating flavors of currant, spice cake, tobacco and earth. A red blend in a Right Bank style with superb definition and snap. Finishes very long and juicy, with firm but thoroughly ripe tannins. This should gain in bottle for a decade or more.

2001 Arietta Variation One Red Wine Napa Valley 93, (+?) points
Fully ruby-red. Superripe, slightly roasted aromas of black raspberry, meat, animal fur, mint and maple syrup. Sweet, dense and packed, with a depth charge of dark fruit flavor complicated by an exotic suggestion of maple syrup. Extremely young and long on the aftertaste.

May/June 2003
2000 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards Napa Valley, 93 points
A blend of 50% cabernet franc and 50% merlot) Both the H Block and Variation I are from Hudson Vineyard fruit. Full red-ruby. Explosively aromatic nose melds blueberry, cassis, red cherry, violet, minerals, brown sugar and a tobacco leaf note suggestive of a Cohiba robusto. Very intense and densely packed, with urgent, penetrating red berry, bitter chocolate, mineral and rose petal flavors. Superb thickness leavened by bright acidity. Wonderfully complex, gripping wine, with a firmly tannic, very long back end. This grew more and more complex as it opened in the glass.

2000 Arietta Variation I Napa Valley, 93 points
A 72% merlot and 28% syrah blend. Deep red-ruby. Wilder, more animal aromas of black fruits, dark cherry, smoke, leather, licorice and game. Wonderfully sweet and stuffed with material; distinctly softer and fatter than the H Block bottling. Complex flavors of currant, plum, leather, licorice and minerals. Perhaps even longer on the finish than the H Block though not as fine, finishing with substantial dusty tannins. "A wilder, crazier, growling kind of a wine," admits winemaker John Kongsgaard.


February 28, 2005 Issue #157
2003 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards Napa Valley, 93-95 points
The dense ruby/purple-hued 2003 Proprietary Red H Block Hudson Vineyard (a 500-case blend of 70% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot) reveals restrained aromatics (sweet cranberries, cola, underbrush, black cherries, cassis, minerals, and lead pencil shavings) as well as an elegant, restrained, concentrated, delicate, nuanced personality. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.

2003 Arietta Variation One Napa Valley, 93-95 points
The 2003 Variation One (60% Merlot and 40% Syrah) offers a sweet kiss of white chocolate along with pepper, raspberry, fig, and plum notes. Dense and hedonistic, but not yet revealing all the nuances found in the 2002, this is an impressively endowed, complex, intellectually as well as hedonistically satisfying wine the likes of which are so singular and different than anything else produced in California. It is classic in all its proportions, aromas, and flavors.

2002 Arietta Red H Block Hudson Vineyard Napa Valley, 98 points
One of the most extraordinary wines I tasted during my trip through Northern California was Arietta’s 2002 Proprietary Red H Block Hudson Vineyard. Made from equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this dark purple-colored 2002 exhibits wonderfully refined, complex notes of scorched earth, menthol, mocha, cherries, plums, figs, and espresso. With great intensity as well as surreal elegance and refinement, this beautifully pure effort unfolds on the palate in incremental layers of finesse and flavors. This amazing, noble wine is a tour de force in winemaking for California. It should drink well for 15 years.

2002 Arietta Variation One Napa Valley, 95 points
The stunning 2002 Variation One (70% Merlot and 30% Syrah) exhibits an exotic, opulent personality with a deep purple color, and sweet aromas of cocoa, new saddle leather, black raspberries, cassis, and acacia flowers. Full-bodied, with beautifully integrated oak (all of these wines are aged in 100% new French wood), wonderful sweetness, tremendous delineation, and laser-like clarity and transparency of character. A beauty, it is ideal for drinking over the next 10-15 years.

December 23, 2003 Issue #150
2001 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards Napa Valley, 92+ points
Tightly wound, with dense, full-bodies notes of black fruits, charcoal, smoke, earth, and pain grille, it is big and rich, but tight, structured, and backward. Give it 3-5 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 12-15.

2001 Arietta Variation One Napa Valley, 93 points
2001 Arietta Variation One exhibits sweet, flowery, blackberry and cassis flavors with chocolate and leather in the background. This big, full bodied, opulent, layered, multidimensional 2001 needs 2-3 years of cellaring. It should drink well for 1-2 decades.

2000 Arietta Red H Block Hudson Vineyard Napa Valley, 96 points
The 2000 Arietta tastes like an over-sized, phenomenal Cheval Blanc. It has blossomed beautifully since I tasted it last year. A dense purple color is followed by scents of cocoa, underbrush, chocolatey black cherry and black currant fruit, minerals, truffles, and graphite. A big, thick, chewy, tremendously long, intense, well balanced red, I would love to taste it along side the 2000 Cheval Blanc. It should hit its prime in 3-4 years, and last for 2 decades. Like most of these cuvees, there are approximately 800 cases.

2000 Variation One Napa Valley, 90 points
The 2000 Variation One comes from the Hudson Ranch, and like the Arietta cuvee, is aged in 100% new oak (none of these wines could be called "oaky"). Its dense purple color is accompanied by sweet aromas of new saddle leather and roasted meats. Although monolithic, it is medium to full-bodied and intense. Given my confidence in Kongsgaard's winemaking, it will undoubtedly reveal more "music" with 3-4 years of bottle age. A blend of 72% Merlot and 28% Syrah, it should be at it's finest between 2007-2016.