Over 200 Napa Valley Wineries to Participate in Premiere Napa Valley 2013

The Napa Valley Vintners has announced that over 200 wines will be showcased at the Premiere Napa Valley barrel tasting and auction event on February 23, 2013.

Barrels of each of the wines will line the famous cask room at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone holding one-of-a-kind blends, varietals or special vineyard lots made specifically for the event by Napa Valley’s top winemakers.

“We design the Premiere Napa Valley wines as a piece of art, unique and never to be replicated,” noted Denis Malbec, winemaker at Blankiet Estate.

Each year, the wineries and their winemakers begin with a blank canvas and create a wine that inspires them. Because these exact wines will never be offered for sale again, retailers, restaurateurs and collectors are eager to own the exclusive Premiere lots.

This year brings a new line of intriguing wines including a wine called “One” by Reynolds Family Estate made exclusively from Stag’s Leap District fruit. One honours Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (whose founder, Warren Winiarski, created the red wine which bested top French wines at the famous Paris Tasting,) as well as other legends who have “blazed the trail for all Napa Valley vintners”, the winery notes.

The wine name signifies the early pioneers’ singular vision of what the Napa Valley could become, as well as continued camaraderie in the region today.

Black Stallion’s premiere wine is named “Unison” and is a blend of its favourite sites from different appellations across the Napa Valley including Atlas Peak, Diamond Mountain, Howell Mountain and Oak Knoll – giving one voice to the diverse growing regions of Napa Valley.

Groth Vineyards presents “Sweet Spot”: a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the best vineyard block on their Oakville estate. Not only has winemaker Michael Weis made the wine from grapes picked exclusively on the morning side of these special vines, but the specific barrel used to mature the wine was carefully chosen by assistant winemaker, Eric Fidel, together with Jean-Luc Sylvain of Tonnellerie Sylvain.

The Round Pond Estate Premiere wine was made by co-fermenting (not common in Napa Valley) Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, then blending in Malbec.

Participants in Napa Valley Premiere fly in from England, Japan, China and Canada as well as from across the US. Last year the event welcomed 1,000 attendees representing 88 retail outlets, 84 restaurants, 86 distributors and importers and 100 media.

Top bidders will take home finished cases of these wines following their maturation and bottling, and they often make them available directly to their top customers. While Premiere’s barrel tasting and auction is opened specifically to the trade, consumers can purchase wines directly from past auction winners.

The Napa Vintners makes this easy: the wines available are listed on their website, napavintners.com, with the contact information of the retailers selling the wines. Consumers can also contact their favorite retailer and ask that wine futures be purchased on their behalf.

“With more than 200 Napa Valley wineries and winemakers showing Premiere Napa Valley wines this year, there are many rare opportunities to acquire unique wines that are truly yours and yours alone and to own a piece of Napa Valley’s wine history,” said Steve Reynolds, Reynolds Family Winery and chairman of Premiere Napa Valley 2013.

For more information on Premiere Napa Valley, visit www.premierenapawines.com