ST. HELENA, Ca. – If a man is known by the company he keeps, then winemaker Ken Deis’ reputation and credibility are secure. For in Ken’s neighborhood, the competitive and demanding Napa Valley, only a few winemakers have persevered longer at the same winery without having a blood relationship with the owners.
Deis is in the midst of his 28th harvest at Flora Springs Winery, a record for longevity only surpassed by winemaking legends Craig Williams (Joseph Phelps), Ed Sbragia (Beringer), Mike Chelini (Stony Hill) and perhaps a few others.
He has thrived through the years first and foremost because the Komes and Garvey families, which own Flora Springs, have invested heavily in Napa Valley vineyards and consistently deliver high quality grapes. Deis’ legacy will be the innovation and attention to detail he brought to the task of turning good grapes into great wines.
The Flora Springs red Meritage, Trilogy, was among the earliest of the Napa Valley’s proprietary Bordeaux blends, for which the region is now famous. And Soliloquy, as much a signature wine as the widely heralded Trilogy, is unique for a Napa Sauvignon, largely because it is aged sur-lie (meaning in contact with the dead fermentation yeasts) in large neutral oak barrels, which imparts complexity and texture without robbing the wine of its bright acidity and innate minerality.
Flora Springs also has jumped on the terroir bandwagon, kicking out vineyard-specific Cabernet Sauvignons with regularity in recent vintages. The names of the vineyard-designate Cabs – Out of Sight, Holy Smoke, Wild Boar and Hillside Reserve – have been meted out by Flora Springs President John Komes and are as colorful as the wines are exceptional.
I caught up with Deis — during harvest, no less — and had the chance to taste a number of the currently available Flora Springs wines. I was most impressed by the stunning evolution of the 2004 Trilogy. I had tasted this wine shortly after it was bottled last spring, but elected not to review it because it was obviously in shock.
The 2003 Trilogy had been one of my top red Meritage picks from the previous year, so I expected more from the 2004 (an excellent vintage) than the wine was showing immediately after bottling.
“As much as I love our ’03 Trilogy, the ’04 is a little bit better,” Deis told me. “It should be. It was a better vintage all around.”
I gave the ’04 Trilogy a rating of ’94 points in a recent WRO review, and scored all four of the vineyard-designated Cabs 90 points or better in my tasting notes. Those wines are not widely available at retail, but are sold mostly through the winery or at restaurants.
8