January 21, 2025 • 16 mins
This episode of Breaking Bread in Napa features a delightful tasting session of the 2021 vintage, a year that has been highly praised with wines scoring up to 97 points. The hosts introduce their guests, Andrea and Chiquita, who share their impressions of wines from the Hess family vineyard and Clos du Val winery. As they taste these wines, they note their evolution from initial tasting to the next day, discovering flavors of blackberry and a smoky earthiness that needed time to fully express themselves. The episode highlights the importance of family-owned vineyards in preserving the unique character of Napa wines against the backdrop of increasing corporate acquisitions.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
All right, hi listeners. We are back here breaking bread and Napa
(00:19):
I'm so excited I've got two brand new guests who to the podcast
Can't wait to hear their feedback on the wines we did we did a little a taste test of the
2021 vintage it was an outstanding year for wine
small allocation heavy fruit forwards definitely an outstanding year according to wine spectator it is
(00:45):
actually
97 points so out of the 100 point scale 97 is right up there
The only other year is probably 18 which was a 99 it was perfection
Just coming out of the right before the end of the drought period
But anyway, it cited a lot of the wineries have started putting out their 2021 vintage and just an outstanding
(01:11):
Vintage so the two here are actually these are quality value wines spectator gave them
Really a tremendous amount of points. We're gonna taste today
Hess a wine by Hess
Alamy taste there's you want to introduce yourself real quick and then we can just go around the table and talk about
(01:34):
This wine sure. Hello
Hey there
Hey
Which name do I go by whatever you just go with Andrea or Chiquita
Yeah
Okay. All right lived in the Bay area now for 30 years
originally from the East Coast Vermont the best place in the world
(01:56):
and
Yeah, love love love
Coming up to Napa and doing our
tastings everything
Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much. Andrea. You want to give a little
background on
So, hello. Yes. I'm Andrea actually similar to our sorry. No, it's really great. Great name
(02:21):
Beautiful name
So yeah, so I'm I live out down in LA actually been there for about
12 years originally from the Midwest as I love coming to Napa. Thank you so much for having having me
So let's taste some let's taste some wine talk about it. All right
So listeners 21 is the vintage that we're going through very highly rated 97 points
(02:46):
I was an outstanding year, but very low production
but what the what they did produce some outstanding wines and
As I said, we're we're tasting a couple of value wines here that wines fate line spectator gave
Some really high marks for and so we are really interested in to see what the quality was so
(03:08):
Keeping it and it just so happened keeping in with the theme as I said in last week's podcast
That we're looking at family owned vineyards because there's so much of the big corporations
private equity buying up some of these
Vineyards around here that we really want to give the small farmer and the
(03:32):
Independent family owned so we're gonna be doing the next couple of podcasts
We're gonna be covering family around owned
Vineyard so we're gonna keep that theme going
So this is the Hess family. This is second generation actually
Mr. and Mrs. Hess who originally started the winery just recently
(03:53):
I think actually in 21 2021 they passed it to their daughter and
Son-in-law to you know take over the vineyard from what I understand
And they have a really deep passion if you ever get into Napa Valley
It's probably in the beginning of the valley because it is just in it just in nap and nap a proper actually in Napa City
(04:16):
It's it's a beautiful winery. They've got a lot of big art collection there
So if you like art, it's it's just really a nice place to spend a tasting at and again
You'd be supporting family owned vineyards
So this has was rated
93 points, which is a very good rating
(04:36):
I
Really and I didn't enjoy it. We opened it yesterday and when I initially tasted it
I was like, oh, you know, I wasn't a big fan of it
But it's interesting that overnight and we were revisiting it right now
And and I like it. I like it better. It's I think it's easier to drink. It's kind of balanced out
(04:59):
yesterday when I drank it it was a little bit tight and
Just tannic I guess but it's now it's smoother it lightened up and still fruit
It's definitely a the finish is probably more juicy and just really not not dry at all. Miss Chiquita. What what is your?
(05:20):
I was pleasantly surprised
very
Blackberry notes of blackberry
But also like a smoky earthiness to it
it definitely
Took a night to open up
but
Absolutely blown away by this actually it was very very good. It's fruity, but not too fruity
(05:44):
bold
Good finish. So yeah, no, it was very very nice and last night we had it with salmon and
It was a wonderful
Actually, but it was okay to have it with a fish food with food. Yeah, I mean typically you wouldn't pair that with salmon
But we've slow roasted this salmon and it had so much flavor and that had earthiness to it. So the wine
(06:10):
Totally worked with it. Awesome. Awesome. So you see so you liked it better the next day just like like yeah
It definitely needed some time. I think so open up. Okay. Yeah
All right, Andrea. How Andrea what I noticed
yesterday, I really couldn't taste a lot of the notes that the fruit
(06:30):
The flavors that I could taste today yesterday. It seemed like it was more I
Just tasted the alcohol at the burn. That's what I felt
I thought that the nose and that's all I could taste was just
the strong
The strongest of the alcohol us but today I noticed notice some fruits. I noticed some of the dark notes the
(06:51):
espresso
There's a little yeah, I didn't notice that yesterday yesterday, which was nice. So I definitely did some time. So I agree
But I enjoyed it. I'm glad we try. I'm glad that we're having it again today revisiting it
Yeah, because I I don't I really didn't enjoy it yesterday. So let's
(07:12):
If just if you just look at it, it's got some really nice viscosity it's got nice legs
What do you guys think of the color? I think it's a really deep like plum
Garnet I think I would say I would say yeah, okay. Garnet. All right, because it has ruby. Yeah, it's very
Yeah, the garnet's right. So overall
(07:34):
This is a $40 value wine. I mean you would definitely not go wrong bringing that to a
Holiday party or a dinner party or just heck just you know a Tuesday night
You know at the house
It's not gonna break the bank at all and you might be able to get it, you know for less expensive to
(07:55):
You know, obviously go online, but that's the retail value. What were you saying? Oh, I was just I noticed the the blend
So it's mainly mainly cabinet. I mean, it's 85%
10% is petite sirah
Which I kind of like sometimes to look at those notes to kind of see if I can notice them
(08:15):
Mm-hmm. So yeah the 10% the pizza rod and 2%
Or low and people to eat for dough and then just 1% of
Malbec all back. Yeah, but it's interesting to know that absolutely and and I'll in fact
I'll when we review the clover in a minute. I'll tee that up. That's a good point
(08:38):
So yeah, so that's that's we're all we would all buy this wine again
And I think definitely just open it up if you're gonna pick some up and try it
Open it up just a few hours before you're ready to drink as I said, it needs a little breathing time
Yeah, we need a little breathing time
All right, we will be back in a minute and then we're gonna talk about clothe a bar
(09:16):
All right, hey, we are back and we just are in the process of revisiting the clothe
Duvall this again was one of the highly rated from wine specter smart buys
This wine was rated 92 points and the price point is a little bit higher
But I'm gonna hold off until the end to review that with you
(09:41):
Again, this is a blend. It's from the 2021 vintage which is what we're reviewing. It's 86 percent cab
It's seven percent Merlot five percent Malbec one percent Cobb-Fronk and one percent petite Bordeaux
So similar to the Hess as it was a blend but a little bit different
(10:04):
Points but certainly high
percentage of Cabernet I thought the wine
Yesterday, I just really loved it very fruit forward very juicy
See really heavy concentrations of lots of berries mulberry as well
And then the finish was I found it to be very balanced
(10:26):
initially as it was in my mouth and then the finish was
Very smooth. It wasn't overly tannic. It wasn't underly, you know, it was just, you know, really smooth
In a long finish a rather long finish
How about you, uh, Mr. Kida? What was your thoughts about the clothe to 2021?
(10:51):
I loved it
Loved it loved it full body
can see kind of smoky
But actually surprising how
How nice it was I don't I've no clothe of all like
Yeah, at all to be honest at all. Wow. Okay. I know of that
(11:11):
Brian, but I don't know if I've loved any wines or
Enjoyed them. So
So this was a nice surprise for you. Nice price. Yeah, and it was excellent
Great. Um, how about you over there miss pinky?
(11:32):
I enjoyed this I enjoyed this wine quite a bit yesterday. I especially liked it with food
Um, what we had I I liked the when we had the cheese we had some it was either
Mac and cheese
Even the mac and cheese from the mac and cheese to the gorgonzola, you know, the richness of a cheese
And it worked really well
(11:53):
Usually I would think of a white wine
To break up that cheese. I don't but I really liked the the jamming us of the
The the the darker fruits with the
Cheese whether it was mac and cheese or it was the gorgonzola
A lot of blackberry. Yeah, it was nice blackberry flavor. It was it was nice the darker fruits with the cheese
(12:18):
Um, so I enjoyed it. Yeah, I think that was a good um
So now would you choose okay over which wine? Okay, so now let's would you like the hespatter or the
Or the uh, clove
I'm gonna go with my initial my initial
Was yesterday was the the clove. I like that more. Okay. I'm gonna go with you like
(12:41):
It's interesting how it switched a little bit, but we're also not eating the food. It's I and it's it's you know
Yeah, I'm I'm pretty I'm I'm feel good about that one. Yeah, yeah, and the same with you clove. Yes
Yeah, I have to say, um, however price points a little bit different. Um, this is uh,
A retail value at 60. So it's about a 20 more
(13:03):
Uh wine, but you know, you can certainly look online and and make you know, find it a little bit better than that
But it is a little bit higher price. I think for the 40 bucks. I think it's a great wine that has but if I over the two
I would go with the clove of awe as well, too
I'd just break the piggy bank and and just pony up for the uh, the the 20 more expensive one
(13:25):
It was a great surprise again family owned vineyards. Uh, just it's out on civil rato trail
Um, and just really a nice atmosphere. Um, so I recommend, you know, if you're in the area, it's again
It's on civil rato trail
And it's uh, really close to napa the the the town proper
(13:48):
Uh, right before you get to uh, probably stag sleep in oakville oakville. So it's at the beginning
Can I just real quick at a question because I I love to learn more about the area?
Can you just give a rundown of
Where these two are located as far as and how that the to our
Impacts the the grapes absolutely absolutely absolutely. So
(14:11):
The clove is going to be uh, floor valley. So in that area where they're where they're located on civil rato trail
Uh, it's right before you get to stags leave in oakville. So, um, probably
Napa proper. Um, yeah, so you're gonna get a lot more sun a lot more heat a lot more intensity
(14:32):
um versus uh, the hess is on top of mount veder area
Which is in my neighborhood actually i'm at the foothills. Yeah, i'm at the foothills of the uh
Mount veder and that's where hess is at. So
um, so yeah, it's just a little bit different
(14:54):
terrain to our
um, but uh, yeah, it makes a difference sometimes but uh, yeah, I'm a I'm a big
Floor valley floor girl. Yeah. Yeah, I always seem to like that but
The dynamics of the mountain
Um fruit is just you know, you've got volcanic you've got I mean, it's just the the the variety isn't incredible
(15:18):
um, but uh, yeah, okay, so uh, we reviewed the
Uh, 2021 vintages, which is an outstanding vintage. So if you have an option when you're purchasing wine
And if it's a 21 you can confidently pick that
Um with these particular wines again, they're smart value wines. We reviewed the hess
Uh, alami
(15:39):
$40 retail
Again, we would recommend it definitely in that price point, but uh
During the taste test with the 21 clove of all
We all three hands down we we we chose that we would pony up the extra 20 that retails at about 60 dollars. So
Um, enjoy until uh next time. Uh, please drink some california wine for us. Take care. Bye. Bye
All right, hi listeners. We are back here breaking bread and Napa
(00:19):
I'm so excited I've got two brand new guests who to the podcast
Can't wait to hear their feedback on the wines we did we did a little a taste test of the
2021 vintage it was an outstanding year for wine
small allocation heavy fruit forwards definitely an outstanding year according to wine spectator it is
(00:45):
actually
97 points so out of the 100 point scale 97 is right up there
The only other year is probably 18 which was a 99 it was perfection
Just coming out of the right before the end of the drought period
But anyway, it cited a lot of the wineries have started putting out their 2021 vintage and just an outstanding
(01:11):
Vintage so the two here are actually these are quality value wines spectator gave them
Really a tremendous amount of points. We're gonna taste today
Hess a wine by Hess
Alamy taste there's you want to introduce yourself real quick and then we can just go around the table and talk about
(01:34):
This wine sure. Hello
Hey there
Hey
Which name do I go by whatever you just go with Andrea or Chiquita
Yeah
Okay. All right lived in the Bay area now for 30 years
originally from the East Coast Vermont the best place in the world
(01:56):
and
Yeah, love love love
Coming up to Napa and doing our
tastings everything
Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much. Andrea. You want to give a little
background on
So, hello. Yes. I'm Andrea actually similar to our sorry. No, it's really great. Great name
(02:21):
Beautiful name
So yeah, so I'm I live out down in LA actually been there for about
12 years originally from the Midwest as I love coming to Napa. Thank you so much for having having me
So let's taste some let's taste some wine talk about it. All right
So listeners 21 is the vintage that we're going through very highly rated 97 points
(02:46):
I was an outstanding year, but very low production
but what the what they did produce some outstanding wines and
As I said, we're we're tasting a couple of value wines here that wines fate line spectator gave
Some really high marks for and so we are really interested in to see what the quality was so
(03:08):
Keeping it and it just so happened keeping in with the theme as I said in last week's podcast
That we're looking at family owned vineyards because there's so much of the big corporations
private equity buying up some of these
Vineyards around here that we really want to give the small farmer and the
(03:32):
Independent family owned so we're gonna be doing the next couple of podcasts
We're gonna be covering family around owned
Vineyard so we're gonna keep that theme going
So this is the Hess family. This is second generation actually
Mr. and Mrs. Hess who originally started the winery just recently
(03:53):
I think actually in 21 2021 they passed it to their daughter and
Son-in-law to you know take over the vineyard from what I understand
And they have a really deep passion if you ever get into Napa Valley
It's probably in the beginning of the valley because it is just in it just in nap and nap a proper actually in Napa City
(04:16):
It's it's a beautiful winery. They've got a lot of big art collection there
So if you like art, it's it's just really a nice place to spend a tasting at and again
You'd be supporting family owned vineyards
So this has was rated
93 points, which is a very good rating
(04:36):
I
Really and I didn't enjoy it. We opened it yesterday and when I initially tasted it
I was like, oh, you know, I wasn't a big fan of it
But it's interesting that overnight and we were revisiting it right now
And and I like it. I like it better. It's I think it's easier to drink. It's kind of balanced out
(04:59):
yesterday when I drank it it was a little bit tight and
Just tannic I guess but it's now it's smoother it lightened up and still fruit
It's definitely a the finish is probably more juicy and just really not not dry at all. Miss Chiquita. What what is your?
(05:20):
I was pleasantly surprised
very
Blackberry notes of blackberry
But also like a smoky earthiness to it
it definitely
Took a night to open up
but
Absolutely blown away by this actually it was very very good. It's fruity, but not too fruity
(05:44):
bold
Good finish. So yeah, no, it was very very nice and last night we had it with salmon and
It was a wonderful
Actually, but it was okay to have it with a fish food with food. Yeah, I mean typically you wouldn't pair that with salmon
But we've slow roasted this salmon and it had so much flavor and that had earthiness to it. So the wine
(06:10):
Totally worked with it. Awesome. Awesome. So you see so you liked it better the next day just like like yeah
It definitely needed some time. I think so open up. Okay. Yeah
All right, Andrea. How Andrea what I noticed
yesterday, I really couldn't taste a lot of the notes that the fruit
(06:30):
The flavors that I could taste today yesterday. It seemed like it was more I
Just tasted the alcohol at the burn. That's what I felt
I thought that the nose and that's all I could taste was just
the strong
The strongest of the alcohol us but today I noticed notice some fruits. I noticed some of the dark notes the
(06:51):
espresso
There's a little yeah, I didn't notice that yesterday yesterday, which was nice. So I definitely did some time. So I agree
But I enjoyed it. I'm glad we try. I'm glad that we're having it again today revisiting it
Yeah, because I I don't I really didn't enjoy it yesterday. So let's
(07:12):
If just if you just look at it, it's got some really nice viscosity it's got nice legs
What do you guys think of the color? I think it's a really deep like plum
Garnet I think I would say I would say yeah, okay. Garnet. All right, because it has ruby. Yeah, it's very
Yeah, the garnet's right. So overall
(07:34):
This is a $40 value wine. I mean you would definitely not go wrong bringing that to a
Holiday party or a dinner party or just heck just you know a Tuesday night
You know at the house
It's not gonna break the bank at all and you might be able to get it, you know for less expensive to
(07:55):
You know, obviously go online, but that's the retail value. What were you saying? Oh, I was just I noticed the the blend
So it's mainly mainly cabinet. I mean, it's 85%
10% is petite sirah
Which I kind of like sometimes to look at those notes to kind of see if I can notice them
(08:15):
Mm-hmm. So yeah the 10% the pizza rod and 2%
Or low and people to eat for dough and then just 1% of
Malbec all back. Yeah, but it's interesting to know that absolutely and and I'll in fact
I'll when we review the clover in a minute. I'll tee that up. That's a good point
(08:38):
So yeah, so that's that's we're all we would all buy this wine again
And I think definitely just open it up if you're gonna pick some up and try it
Open it up just a few hours before you're ready to drink as I said, it needs a little breathing time
Yeah, we need a little breathing time
All right, we will be back in a minute and then we're gonna talk about clothe a bar
(09:16):
All right, hey, we are back and we just are in the process of revisiting the clothe
Duvall this again was one of the highly rated from wine specter smart buys
This wine was rated 92 points and the price point is a little bit higher
But I'm gonna hold off until the end to review that with you
(09:41):
Again, this is a blend. It's from the 2021 vintage which is what we're reviewing. It's 86 percent cab
It's seven percent Merlot five percent Malbec one percent Cobb-Fronk and one percent petite Bordeaux
So similar to the Hess as it was a blend but a little bit different
(10:04):
Points but certainly high
percentage of Cabernet I thought the wine
Yesterday, I just really loved it very fruit forward very juicy
See really heavy concentrations of lots of berries mulberry as well
And then the finish was I found it to be very balanced
(10:26):
initially as it was in my mouth and then the finish was
Very smooth. It wasn't overly tannic. It wasn't underly, you know, it was just, you know, really smooth
In a long finish a rather long finish
How about you, uh, Mr. Kida? What was your thoughts about the clothe to 2021?
(10:51):
I loved it
Loved it loved it full body
can see kind of smoky
But actually surprising how
How nice it was I don't I've no clothe of all like
Yeah, at all to be honest at all. Wow. Okay. I know of that
(11:11):
Brian, but I don't know if I've loved any wines or
Enjoyed them. So
So this was a nice surprise for you. Nice price. Yeah, and it was excellent
Great. Um, how about you over there miss pinky?
(11:32):
I enjoyed this I enjoyed this wine quite a bit yesterday. I especially liked it with food
Um, what we had I I liked the when we had the cheese we had some it was either
Mac and cheese
Even the mac and cheese from the mac and cheese to the gorgonzola, you know, the richness of a cheese
And it worked really well
(11:53):
Usually I would think of a white wine
To break up that cheese. I don't but I really liked the the jamming us of the
The the the darker fruits with the
Cheese whether it was mac and cheese or it was the gorgonzola
A lot of blackberry. Yeah, it was nice blackberry flavor. It was it was nice the darker fruits with the cheese
(12:18):
Um, so I enjoyed it. Yeah, I think that was a good um
So now would you choose okay over which wine? Okay, so now let's would you like the hespatter or the
Or the uh, clove
I'm gonna go with my initial my initial
Was yesterday was the the clove. I like that more. Okay. I'm gonna go with you like
(12:41):
It's interesting how it switched a little bit, but we're also not eating the food. It's I and it's it's you know
Yeah, I'm I'm pretty I'm I'm feel good about that one. Yeah, yeah, and the same with you clove. Yes
Yeah, I have to say, um, however price points a little bit different. Um, this is uh,
A retail value at 60. So it's about a 20 more
(13:03):
Uh wine, but you know, you can certainly look online and and make you know, find it a little bit better than that
But it is a little bit higher price. I think for the 40 bucks. I think it's a great wine that has but if I over the two
I would go with the clove of awe as well, too
I'd just break the piggy bank and and just pony up for the uh, the the 20 more expensive one
(13:25):
It was a great surprise again family owned vineyards. Uh, just it's out on civil rato trail
Um, and just really a nice atmosphere. Um, so I recommend, you know, if you're in the area, it's again
It's on civil rato trail
And it's uh, really close to napa the the the town proper
(13:48):
Uh, right before you get to uh, probably stag sleep in oakville oakville. So it's at the beginning
Can I just real quick at a question because I I love to learn more about the area?
Can you just give a rundown of
Where these two are located as far as and how that the to our
Impacts the the grapes absolutely absolutely absolutely. So
(14:11):
The clove is going to be uh, floor valley. So in that area where they're where they're located on civil rato trail
Uh, it's right before you get to stags leave in oakville. So, um, probably
Napa proper. Um, yeah, so you're gonna get a lot more sun a lot more heat a lot more intensity
(14:32):
um versus uh, the hess is on top of mount veder area
Which is in my neighborhood actually i'm at the foothills. Yeah, i'm at the foothills of the uh
Mount veder and that's where hess is at. So
um, so yeah, it's just a little bit different
(14:54):
terrain to our
um, but uh, yeah, it makes a difference sometimes but uh, yeah, I'm a I'm a big
Floor valley floor girl. Yeah. Yeah, I always seem to like that but
The dynamics of the mountain
Um fruit is just you know, you've got volcanic you've got I mean, it's just the the the variety isn't incredible
(15:18):
um, but uh, yeah, okay, so uh, we reviewed the
Uh, 2021 vintages, which is an outstanding vintage. So if you have an option when you're purchasing wine
And if it's a 21 you can confidently pick that
Um with these particular wines again, they're smart value wines. We reviewed the hess
Uh, alami
(15:39):
$40 retail
Again, we would recommend it definitely in that price point, but uh
During the taste test with the 21 clove of all
We all three hands down we we we chose that we would pony up the extra 20 that retails at about 60 dollars. So
Um, enjoy until uh next time. Uh, please drink some california wine for us. Take care. Bye. Bye
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!