Summers
Summers 2007 Andriana's Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- $26
A bit raw and grainy in tannins, giving it a sandpapery mouthfeel, but otherwise quite flavorful. Shows ripely sweet blackberries, cherries, black and red currants and smoky new oak. Best now and through 2012.
— S.H.
(3/1/2010)
Summers 2008 Stuhlmuller Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay (Alexander Valley)
- $32
Dryness and herba notes mark this wine. Despite some rich oak influences, it comes down on the mineral and sage side, only vaguely suggesting fruitier notes of pineapples and peaches.
— S.H.
(6/1/2010)
Summers 1997 Merlot (Knights Valley)
- $25
This one breaks from the gate with plummy, juicy cheek-grabbing flavors--it seems to have the right stuff for California Merlot. But it reaches a very early crescendo, and then begins to fade away with just the basics in spice and raspberry fruit. The finish is influenced by an off flavor that’s too much like liver or pâté.
— M.S.
(7/1/2000)
Summers 1999 Merlot (Knights Valley)
- $24
There’s some blackberry fruit under fairly sturdy tannins, but this dry, austere wine is mainly marked by earth and herbs now. It may soften and fatten up in a few years.
— S.H.
(11/15/2002)
Summers 2004 Reserve Merlot (Knights Valley)
- $28
Made in a heavier, full-bodied style, this Merlot is very dry and fairly tannic. It’s an earthy wine, with truffle, tobacco and herb flavors and deeper blue and black fruit. Drink now.
— S.H.
(12/1/2006)
Summers 2005 Villa Adriana Vineyard Charbono (Napa Valley)
- $28
Charbono makes a rustic, but long-lived, wine in California. Few specialize in it, but Summers does. The ’05 is a big, black, inky wine, as tannic as Petite Sirah but earthier and softer. The flavors are of carob, blackberries and coffee. Totally dry.
— S.H.
(7/1/2007)
Summers 2000 Villa Andriano Charbono (Napa Valley)
- $24
Very dark and purple in color, a dense wine whose chief palate impression is of numbing tannins. Acidity also makes the wine strong and austere. Judging from past tastings of this varietal, in 15 years the wine will be drinkable.
— S.H.
(12/1/2002)
Summers 2003 Reserve Merlot (Knights Valley)
- $30
Dry, fruity, tannic and a bit sharp, this Merlot, from a warm, inland appellation in Sonoma County, could improve in a year or two.
— S.H.
(11/1/2005)
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