Truchard Vineyards & Winery

Saturday, September 9th
4:30 - 7:00

It has been a little while since we featured one single winery at our Saturday Tastings, usually using the occasional shorter weekday tasting to focus that specifically.  I had tasted a number of Truchard Vineyard wines recently though, and was reminded of what consistent quality this winery produces, and how much I have enjoyed the wines over the years.  Different great wines pop up here and there over time, but that consistency that leads to excellence year in and year out is much more rare, and Truchard Winery has convinced me of their ability to achieve time and again.  Truchard is a family run operation, and is a fully Estate producer utilizing only vineyards which they own and farm personally.  The family patriarch Tony Truchard first purchased 20 acres in Napa Valley's Carneros region way back in 1972.  Although major wine production was going on just 10 miles further north, many winemakers didn't see the sense in buying Carneros land at that time.  They thought the area too cool to properly ripen grapes, and the soil too rich in clay to hold the necessary ground water.  Tony consulted other experts, held his ground, and became a pioneer of the Carneros AVA.  The selection of just the right grapes, patience with the seasons, and the adoption of some of the first drip irrigation in Northern California helped lead to success.  For 15 years they sold their fruit to other wineries, to growing acclaim, and expanded their holdings over time to 400 acres, 280 of which they currently have planted to grape vines.  Starting in 1989, they began making their own wine from their fruit, and haven't looked back.  Fans of their wines, like us here at Hope Valley Wines, became more and more devoted as they've continued on their journey.  We find their wines to be some of the most elegant of Northern California, with those cooler Carneros conditions leading to a sumptuous, nuanced style.  This Saturday we will taste through five of their wines, including one of my personal favorites, and a rarity for California, in their 100% Roussanne, a wonderful white grape normally associated with France's Rhone Valley.  Of course, we'll have some more classicaly Californian gems as well!

Truchard Chardonnay
Carneros, Napa Valley, 2015

Truchard Roussanne
Carneros, Napa Valley, 2016

'The Shepherd' Estate Red
Syrah, Zinfandel, Tempranillo
Carneros, Napa Valley, 2013

Truchard Syrah
Carneros, Napa Valley, 2015

Truchard Cabernet Sauvignon
Carneros, Napa Valley, 2014