Seavy
Sinegal Estate
Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2016
Seavey Vineyard
Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
The nose reveals; dark currants, blackberries, heavy black plum, black raspberries, dark cherries and some blueberries. Black tea, expresso roast, anise, crushed dry rocks, big vanilla, clove, a little nutmeg, dry underbrush, sweet tarry notes, leather, woody notes with dark fresh & withering flower bouquet.
The body is big and lush. The tannins are big, meaty and tarry. Very dark currants. Blackberries, heavy black plum, black raspberries, dark cherries and some blueberries & strawberries as they open up. Black tea, expresso roast, steeped fruit tea, anise, crushed dry rocks, dry clay, big graphite, big vanilla, dark spice, clove, light dry herbs, a little nutmeg, dry underbrush, sweet tarry notes, leather, cedar with violets dark fresh & withering flower bouquet. The acidity is round, fresh and beautiful. The big, long, well balanced finish is excellent and look forward to having this in 15-20 years. This one will be a stunner!
Photos of, the barn where they make wine and hosts tastings, our private tasting area inside William’s old office. William desk and their outside terrace area.
Producer history & notes...Seavey Vineyard is located along Conn Valley Road in the eastern hills of Napa Valley, about 15 minutes from the valley floor.
This historical property was originally a cattle ranch. However, records indicate grapes were planted on some of the hillsides as early as the 1870’s. The stone dairy barn, still in existence, was built in 1881.
William & Mary Seavey purchased this property in 1979. The estate was originally founded by the Franco-Swiss Farming Company in 1881 which, closed down when Phylloxera destroyed their grape vines and the Volstead Act (Prohibition) went into effect. At the time of their purchase, they were a horse and cattle ranch. They quickly planted the slopes with grapes and initially sold their fruit to Raymond Vineyards. They have never purchased grapes, all their wine is made from estate grapes. Their vineyards are separated into 20 plus individual blocks.
Today, the property is about 200 total acres of which, 40 acres are planted to vine. Their hillside vineyards produce low yields of rich concentrated fruit. A small block of Chardonnay grows in a cooler lower part of their property. Besides grapes, they also raise cattle which are used to graze the hillsides. They feed the vineyard with the cattle cuttings. In 2003, they were one of the first Napa wineries to install solar.
Mary passed away in 2008 and William died in 2016. There daughter Dorie returned to the family business and now oversees the winery operations. Her brother Arthur also handles national and some small international sales, primarily to restaurants. However, most of their wine is sold direct to consumers.
Seavey’s first commercial vintage was released in 1990 a year after they renovated the stone dairy barn into a working winery. Today this stone building is the centerpiece of the property and is where tastings are hosted.
Since 2011, Jim Duane has been their day to day Winemaker. He’s worked at Robert Mondavi and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. It should also be noted that Philippe Melka Winemaker/Consultant has been with Seavey since 1995...one of Philippe’s two initial wine making jobs in the Napa Valley were with Seavey and Lail Vineyards.
Seavy makes about 3,200 cases annually depending on what mother nature brings. They make around two hundred cases of Chardonnay, slightly more Merlot and the rest is of the production is comprised of their Caravina and Estate Cabernets.
— 6 years ago
Seavy
Cabernet Sauvignon 1991
Astonishingly delicious. I love Seavey wines, and this is way up there! Musty, tobacco, chocolate, peppered beef, dark cherries -- there is a lot going on. So glad I still have two bottles left in my cellar. — 8 years ago
Seavey Vineyard
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
2008 Seavy CS in Magnum with family in Orlando. Lots of positive comments, still young with plenty of time but didn't feel as if it was too soon to enjoy. Kind of an new old world style if that makes any sense, not the heavy vanilla of new oak or the sweetness but perfectly balanced with a purity if the fruit and firm but not overpowering tannin on the finish. Would be interesting blind against sone really big cult wines. — 9 years ago
David T
Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator
Of the Napa wines I tasted over 4 days on this trip, the 16 Sinegal Reserve & the 13 Seavey Cabernet were my favorites. Both great wines but, stylistically very different. The Seavy big and bold and the Sinegal pure beauty & elegance.
The nose reveals very dark currants. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush and lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals.
The body is full. The tannins are really meaty but, exceptionally soft, fine and meaty. Lots of dark spice with plenty of heat. The mouthfeel is gorgeously sexy with feminine elegance. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, big sweet tarry notes, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush, lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals. The acidity is perfect. The finish is well balanced sexy and gorgeous. The structure, tension say this needs to cellar eight to ten years.
Photos of; tasting cellar area, modern stainless tanks, outside terrace tasting and or dining area and their grounds and lake.
Producer history and notes...Sinegal Estate was founded in 2013 with wines made from their 30 acre Inglewood estate in St Helena (not to be confused with the Inglenook Estate in Rutherford). This is not a new property, it was part of an original land grant and its more modern day history dates back to 1879 when owner Alton Williams purchased the property and planted the first vines in 1881.
The property has changed owners a number of times over the decades. At one point the Jaegers’ owned the estate, Bill Jaeger and his wife Lila lived here. These Napa Valley pioneers were in part responsible for helping establish Freemark Abbey and Rutherford Hill. Lila was also a gardener and established beautiful gardens on the property.
Owners, David (father)and James (son) Sinegal purchased the property in 2013. James was the co-founder of Costco and once CEO. David worked at Costco for 21 years.
After the purchase, David divided each of their vineyards into smaller blocks, picking selectively (30 times in 2013) rather than all at once, and adding technology to the vineyards so they have up to the date reports on a number of data points including temperatures, soil moisture and various barometric pressures. If they want to selectively water, say vine #67 in row number three, they can do so with their irrigation system. Extremely efficient!
Nine acres of vines are planted to various red varietals including; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. They have some of the older Cabernet Franc vines in the valley that are 30+ years old.
The soils here are diverse and can vary even within small geographic ranges on the property. Some of their vineyards are planted on the valley floor – while their upper vineyards are hillside, on the edges of the Mayacamas Mountains.
Their landscape above the property is interesting and part of the Mayacamas Mountains. Visually, it appears drier than other parts of this mountain range and the vegetation reflects that with grey pine and more open natural vegetation rather than the thicker wooded vegetation more commonly associated with parts of Spring and Diamond Mountains to the north.
After purchasing the property, David created planned and laid out his vision to create a world-class boutique wine making operation. Many wineries in the Napa Valley can take years before they come to fruition, not so here. After only about 10 months, the existing winery was remodeled. 6,500 feet of caves were expanded and drilled into the hillside behind the winery and a new hospitality center was built. The hospitality center ties in very well with the winery. From the small tasting room, large doors open revealing the tanks.
A vegetable garden slightly under an acre grows just south of the winery building. Vegetables from this garden are sold to nearby restaurants.
A skeleton key appears on the labels of their wine and is prominently displayed on the outside of their winery building. This has historical significance. The original key opens the front door to the historic home on site and is displayed in the tasting room. With respect to the history of this property, this one key has already become iconic to the brand.
You only need to look inside of the winery to see that their wine making team is focused on quality. Each of the small lot tanks have built in pumps which can be controlled and programmed to do pump-overs anytime of the day or night. In addition, these tanks have multiple points at which the temperature can be controlled. These tanks do not necessarily handle all their fermentation’s. They also ferment small lots in puncheons and barrels as needed. Control across the board is the key here and it is the control of the details in wine making that is is so integral from when the fruit first arrives through to when it is bottled.
2013 was their inaugural release. The focus is currently on two primary varietals, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc were sourced from the estate but, then it was determined it was growing in an area better suited for red varietals so it was torn up and new plantings were made in the back of the property. While not far from these original plantings, their new home for their Sauvignon Blanc features different soils and is growing in a cooler part of the property.
The wine making team has been experimenting with the style of this varietal since 2013 with subsequent vintages seeing more oak. Especially, using the slightly longer cigar shaped barrels , which have extra surface area for maximizing complexities including textural feel imparted from aging the wine on the lees in these particular barrels. Maceration on the red wines is often 8-10 days and sometimes up to 20 days.
Most of their sales are direct to visitors or through their mailing list. However, they do have some distribution outside California in Florida, New York and Washington. Primarily to restaurants. — 6 years ago