The story started many years
ago, in fact it started with the most popular video game of its time. Remember Street
Fighter? That video game of the 80s well before X-Box or Play Station this or
that. When CAPCOM went public in 1990, that gave CAPCOM founder Kenzo Tsujimoto
the capital to purchase 3800 acres of property on Mt George in Eastern Napa that
he originally intended to develop into an exclusive employee retreat complete
with golf course... until he ran into the myriad of regulations governing
property in the Napa Valley. Sorry, golf course not permitted. Thankfully, he
did have a Plan B and this one didn't involve being a CAPCOM employee. Since Tsujimoto-san
always had a taste for French wines and enjoyed Opus One back home in Japan, he
decided to develop the property into a world class winery.
Tsujimoto-san started by
hiring viticulturist extraordinaire, David Abreu (Colgin Cellars, Harlan
Estate, Screaming Eagle, Bryant Family, Grace Family, Araujo Estate) to plant
the original 70 acres of vineyards back in 2002. Soon after that, he hired
vintner extraordinaire, Heidi Peterson Barrett (Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle
Vineyards, Grace Family, La Sirena) to produce his first vintage in 2005. Since
then, another 30 acres of vineyard was planted and a second winery was just
completed to produce the winery’s only white wine. And with any top notch
winery, wine caves were bored into the property giving them over 20,000 square
feet of wine storage space that rests comfortably at 60 degrees year round.
How did I find Kenzo Estates?
I read about Kenzo Estate
several years ago when he was first featured in Wine Spectator after completing
his $100 million winery in 2010. What initially caught my eye was the name of
the winery – I first read it as “Kenso Estate”. Hey, that’s my nephew! No, it’s
KenZo. Then just last year, the Estate donated several bottles of wine for the
annual JCCCNC fundraiser auction including a 2009 Rindo (Cabernet Sauvignon
blend) and I thought, “Why not”? So I placed a bid and eventually won that one
bottle so I decided to schedule an appointment for a tour and tasting on our
recent trip to Napa Valley.
The Lineup
The winery currently makes
only one white wine, a pure Sauvignon Blanc named Asatsuyu or “Morning Dew” which
spends time on French oak to give it a rounder, richer palate. They also
produce a rose made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc named Yui or “Unity” with
the grapes grown just to make the rose. Most roses are produced as a by-product
of concentrating the red wines.
The reds start with Rindo or
Gentian flower which is a blend of the traditional red grapes of Bordeaux with
Cabernet Sauvignon accounting for anywhere between 35 to 50% of the blend. The
current release of 2011 tasted at the winery was an anomaly at 85% Cabernet
Sauvignon (though it legally could be labelled as Cabernet Sauvignon, Kenzo
Estate just uses its proprietary name). Then above the Rindo are Ai and
Murasaki with Ai or “Indigo”usually containing more than 80% Cabernet Sauvignon
and Murasaki or “Purple” containing 50 to 70% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Estate
also produces a small amount of pure Cabernet Franc named after the town where
Tsujimoto-san was born, Asuka (only made in two vintages thus far) but they
often sell out of this wine before it even hits the winery shelves.
Visiting Kenzo Estates
For starters, you have to
make an appointment for just a tasting which starts at $40 per person for a
flight of four wines. The tour and tasting runs $60 and the tour, tasting and
lunch created by Thomas Keller sets you back $80 per person. Individual tastes
of the Rindo, Ai or Murasaki are $10 to $25 per taste. It does take about a 30
minute drive from Napa Town up Mt George to get to Kenzo Estate. However if you
do want to purchase wine, it’s sold mainly through their website or directly at
the winery as roughly 70% of their wines get distributed throughout Japan and
what’s left stateside usually goes to high end restaurants. We actually only
intended on trying to secure a couple of bottles of the Asuka Cabernet Franc
(which was on the tasting menu) but alas, they only had half bottles left at
the winery so we purchased a couple small bottles. The Mrs. also enjoyed their
wine so much that she purchased enough wine that we had our tasting fees waived.
The cost of each wine is
comparable to other Napa Valley wines where David Abreu and Heidi Barrett are
involved though they still aren’t as pricey Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Scarecrow
and Checkerboard. But your wallet will still be left with a noticeable hole…
Asatsuyu $80
Yui $80 (sold out)
Rindo $100
Asuka $100 (sold out)
Ai $250
Murasaki $250 (sold out)
So definitely not cheap but
they are wines that can be enjoyed immediately after purchase so you don’t have
to wait for them to mature. And since the holiday season is approaching…
The Gochiso Gourmet’s Wine Gift Guide
$100 or more:
Rindo
|
$100
|
For the wine connoisseur
|
Durand Corkscrew
|
$125
|
For the wine connoisseur
who has wines older than 10 years
|
Krug non-vintage Champagne
|
$149
|
The best quality to price
ratio for Champagnes costing more than $100
|
Peugeot Impitoyables
Champagne Glass
|
$105
|
The perfect shape and size
for your best bottles of Champagne. Cost is for a pair of glasses.
|
$50 - $99
Riedel Sommelier Burgundy
Grand Cru Glass
|
$99
|
The BEST balloon glass for
Pinot Noir
|
Riedel Vinum XL Pinot Noir
Glass
|
$98
|
The 2nd best
balloon glass for Pinot Noir – the cost is for a set of 4 glasses
|
Detert Cabernet Franc
|
$75
|
The most fragrant Cabernet
Franc I’ve ever tasted
|
Schott Zwiesel Titanium
Crystal
|
~$60
|
For those who travel with
stemware, the titanium crystal is a lot more break resistant and the cost is
for 6 glasses
|
$25 - $49
Pulltap Corkscrew
|
$7 to $25
|
Teflon worm, double lever
and a solid foil cutting blade
|
Riedel “O” Glasses
|
$49
|
Five different stemless
glasses for a variety of reds and whites and labeled for each specific grape
|
Launois Champagne
|
$35 - $49
|
The BEST non-vintage
Champagne less than $50
|
Crate and Barrel Bellamy
Carafe
|
$29
|
Designed like Riedel’s $190
“O” decanter at a fraction of the cost
|
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