When I last saw Pat Roney he had only recently purchased the Girard label. The winery off the Napa Valley’s Silverado Trail had been sold to the Rudd family and Roney took the Girard brand, content to make wines under a lease arrangement at another Napa winery.
Girard was producing a mere 10,000 cases back then (this was at least five years ago) but the brand still had some swagger, largely because of winemaker Marco DiGiulio. I’m always happy to taste DiGiulio’s wines because he’s one of the top winemakers in the valley and much in demand as a consulting enologist.
DiGiulio paid his dues at Robert Pepi and Lakoya and now makes wines under his own name as well as for a number of Napa Valley clients, including Roney.
So when the opportunity came up to sit with Roney again and taste the Girard wines, I was happy I had an open spot in my schedule. Much has changed since our last meeting. Girard’s production is up to 40,000 cases, Roney has taken a 30-year lease on a winery facility and 18 acres of Cabernet in the Pritchard Hill area of the Napa Valley (think Bryant Family, Chappellet, etc.) and there is a second facility over in Sonoma that handles all of Girard’s Russian River Chardonnay.
Life is good. And some things have remained the same. DiGiulio is still making the wines, which is about as good a quality guarantee a vintner could have in the Napa Valley, and Girard continues to shine at a price point that makes it one of California’s great values in wine.
I went through the 2005 Sauvignon Blanc (soon to be replaced by release of the ’06), the 2004 Russian River Chardonnay and the 2004 Petite Sirah today. They were classic DiGiulio — fully ripe, well balanced and natural.
The Sauvignon Blanc ($15) doesn’t see any wood, exhibits expressive citrus and stone fruit aromas in the nose and hardly lacks intensity or length. The Petite Sirah ($24) shows concentrated bright blueberry and blackberry fruit, a hint of spice and round, smooth tannins that are surprisingly soft for a Petite Sirah.
I was most impressed, however, with the Russian River Chardonnay, which is sourced primarily from the renowned Dutton Ranch in the Russian River Valley. This is a firm wine, with exceptional structure, a generous nose and what I think of as a textbook Russian River lemoncreme aroma profile, with hints of brown spices on the back end. And it’s only $20. A steal!
Girard also produces an estate Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cabernet Franc and a red Bordeaux blend. Nothing costs more than $40 retail.
Not only are these wines I can afford, but they are wines I can love as well.
Photos: Top, Pat Roney; middle, Marco DiGiulio; bottom, Girard’s Pritchard Hill vineyards.
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