Rarecat Wine

Rarecat Wine was founded in 2009 by long time vintner Sharon Harris. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area but was not raised by family in the wine business. However, she recalls her parents enjoying the art of entertaining including a vivid memory of their flaming vodka watermelon drinks. Sharon remembers when she was hooked by wine; while studying for her degree in International Economics at UCLA she signed up for a study abroad program with the intent to learn French. She was accepted to the school’s program in France . She expected she would be living in Paris but was surprised when she discovered the classes were held in Bordeaux. She celebrated her 21st birthday in Bordeaux and later she accepted a coveted invitation to spend a day at Château Haut-Brion where she tasted their now iconic 1982 vintage out of barrel and a 1966 vintage. This was the day that she began her love of fine wine and infatuation with Bordeaux and Saint-Émilion.

Sharon moved her family back to Bordeaux when she was in her 40s. She attended the University of Bordeaux for several years enrolling in their D.U.A.D. wine making program to focus on the technical aspect of wine making (the course work was taught in French). Emile Peynaud, the French enologist who “modernized” a number of wine making techniques founded this program. The focus of this program was to highlight the various components of wine, and why those components are in wine as a result of either terroir or from vinification.

One of our visits with Sharon was soon after she returned from an epic wine focused domestic road trip – a 23 city tour in 2018 where she used wine as a tool to connect and converse with a number of communities across a diverse array of topics and to empower women. She was on the road from March through mid-June and drove the entire route herself from the west to east coasts holding various private wine events for corporations, charity, press and wine related dinners.

University of Bordeaux

INRAE ​​Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux, home of D.U.A.D.

Sharon was one of the founding members of Napa Valley’s Amici Cellars in 1992 (still operating). She and John Harris purchased 80 acres in the hills above Calistoga across from the base of the beautiful palisades, a series of prominent vertical rock formations in this part of the Vaca mountains. This was originally horse ranch but there is some evidence that grapes used to be planted on site. Initially the Hariss’s tried to develop vineyards but, this was after a land ordinance became law prohibiting vineyard development on slopes over a certain slope.

This “Old Toll Road” property is steep and rugged with slopes reaching 30 degrees. Two acres of vines were planted in Spring of 2000 and for a number of years the grapes were sold to other vintners. The property sits on the side of canyon; Calistoga is known in Napa Valley for being among the hottest parts of the valley during the daytime. The summer mornings here can also be quite warm, however unlike on the valley floor the site is in a canyon which backs up to Mt. St. Helena and the Palisades. As a result, wind often cools the property, especially in the afternoons. While Sharon has sold her interest in Amici Cellars and the accompanying property, she continues to produce a wine labeled Old Toll Hillside Vineyard.

Sharon prefers wines that are food friendly and balanced and equally as important, have excellent acidity. It is the acidity that gives wines their movement or as she says, a “dancing acidity”. The focus of Rarecat wines is on single vineyard sites.

Sharon and her consulting winemaker always look at numbers during blending sessions, but numbers are not always the end all. Sharon compares blending wine to building a sports team; the stars are not always the team players and personalities need to match. They examine each lot with the intent of creating a sum better than each of the components.

Select Wines
Whites
The Rarecat Extra Brut Champagne Blanc de Noirs Non Vintage. For reference, we tasted this in 2024. It is medium gold in color; the bouquet is fresh and lively offering aromas of orange blossom, lemon juice, freshly cored red apple juice (especially noticeable after the wine opens) and a lingering zesty character. The palate is crisp, lean and minerally with citrus flavors dominating including lemon, grapefruit, and lime along with green apple. The mouth watering finish persists with a brightness and continued freshness which begs another sip. Or another oyster. Sharon compares this wine in particular to a young Audrey Hepburn. The grapes are harvested from the far south of Champagne in the Côte des Bars from chalky limestone rich soils. This wine is always a richer expression so it receives a minimal dosage. This Champagne is produced entirely from Pinot Noir from a single vineyard; it was aged on the yeast for 2 years.

Sharon began producing Champagne bottled under Rarecat in 2009 through an introduction her friend made to Champagne Gonet, the source of the grapes for the Rarecat Champagne. A Napa Valley vintner wanting to produce Champagne at the time under her own label to be sold in the U.S. was highly uncommon. It still is; only several Napa Valley wineries produce and bottle in Champagne and then export the wine to the U.S. market.

While walking one of her source vineyards in Yolo County, Sharon asked about another variety growing nearby. It was Barbera, a variety known for its high acidity, low tannins and bright aromatics. She thought to herself that this would make an ideal sparkling wine. She purchased 5 tons of this variety. She had never worked with it before and had no perspective of how to craft it as a sparkling wine. So she and her wine consultant created two wines from the grapes, one using méthode Charmat and the other using méthode traditionnelle.

The grapes were immediately pressed into tank. Sharon noticed the wine was almost colorless during its initial stages of fermentation. It was fermented slow and cold; about 1/2 way through the fermentation it was still colorless but was tasting delicious. Encouraged they completed fermentation and then brought the wine to a production facility in the city of Napa for cold stabilization. Sharon decided to call this wine Blanc de Barbera Extra Brut; the name reflects a juxtaposition between her strong connections to France and her California heritage. Barbera is sometimes used to produce sparkling wines in Italy where it is referred to as Barbera Frizzante. More locally, Steven Kent Winery in Livermore produces a sparkling wine from this variety.

The 2009 Rarecat Chardonnay is golden straw in the glass. This wine was fermented in new French oak barrels. The very aromatic nose (and we were drinking it slightly cool) initially shows honeysuckle and various tropical aromas. As the wine breathes over time beautiful holiday spice aromas are revealed. But the core of the bouquet is focused on its fruit characteristics and they dominate. It was fermented in barrel and stirred sur lie; the palate features a light viscosity. Like the other white wines Rarecat produces, this bottling is superbly balanced. However, it took some time to come around – as Sharon says, “we put it in barrel for 18 months and then we come back to it, and it starts speaking to us”. This wine needs the acidity to balance the intensity of fruit which is has. One might perceive the wine as sweet, from the fruit and the oak, but there is no residual sugar. The favorite word her customers use to describe this wine is simply “yummy”!

Reds
The 2022 Rarecat Rosé of Grenache California (Yolo County) is 100% varietal. Some years this wine is co-fermented with a small amount of Viognier. It was pressed off of its skins almost immediately and then fermented very cold using several different yeasts and aged in stainless steel tanks followed by several months of aging before being bottled. Rarecat produced its first rosé in 2014. The vines are old and head-trained. This wine is light copper/salmon skin in color; the bouquet is highly aromatic with scents of raspberry, watermelon jolly rancher candy, cotton candy, minerally and lingers with a light note of vanilla. The palate is bright and minerally with flavors of raspberry, wild strawberries and some citrus characteristics including ruby grapefruit. The finish lingers with a sweet hint of tarragon and anise. Refreshing; if its acidity was a dancer, it would twirl effortlessly and energetically like two perfectly paired tango dancers. This wine showcases a bit more texture than perhaps anticipated with a rounded and light creamy character. If its texture could be worn as clothing, Sharon compares its feel to cashmere. Only 12.6% alcohol.

The 2017 Rarecat Rosé was also sourced from the same vineyard in Yolo County; it was a co-fermented blend of Grenache with a small amount of Viognier. It’s salmon pinkish color is attractive; the bouquet offers aromas of wild strawberry, dried rose petal, citrus blossom, minerality notes and watermelon. Rounded on the entry through the mid palate, this wine reveals an enticing acidity complemented by intense flavors. It is not tart on the finish but certainly mouthwatering.

The 2015 Rarecat Saint Émilion is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc harvested from vines averaging 66 years old in La Chapelle Vineyard. This site is located close to Château Canon – which interestingly is owned by Chanel, the same owners as Napa Valley’s St. Supery Winery. The vines are growing in primarily limestone soils with a transition zone of clay and some sand on its lower slopes. This wine is deep ruby and offers layers of darker aromatics including old cedar box, tobacco spice, old leather, a darker baking spice, licorice, pink peppercorn and dried herbs. The palate is balanced and mostly red fruited including cherry, currant and cranberry. The finish lingers with a supple and a gentle textural character with its grip showing more on the front of the palate rather than the back. This wine is fresh, bright and still youthful nine years post vintage at the time of our tasting. It was aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak barrels; it is produced and bottled every year in Saint Émilion.

The 2018 Rarecat Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal and was sourced primarily from mountain vineyards; it is deep ruby and nearly opaque. The bouquet is a dark layered union of both spices and fruit. These include dried sage, creosote bush, leather, tobacco, plum and dark raspberry. This is a bouquet with some character and soul. The palate offers flavors of plum, blackberry, dark cherry and a hint of boysenberry. The tannins sport a light dusty and grainy texture with a finish that lingers with a chalky character. More than half the grapes were sourced from Diamond Mountain, one of Sharon’s favorite sub appellations within Napa Valley with additional sources coming from Coombsville, Atlas Peak and St. Helena. The Rarecat Cabernet Sauvignon varies in vineyard sources and varietal percentages each year.

The 2019 Rarecat Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is from a vineyard close to Opus One off of Oakville Cross Road. This bottling was made from clone 336 Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville and was blended with other Cabernet Sauvignon from Coombsville. Sharon told us the Coombsville grapes provide the added structure, or the ‘base’ as she refers to it. And to her, Coombsville comes the closest to Saint Émilion in Napa Valley in terms of terroir. This wine is dark ruby; the bouquet offers aromas of toast, red plum, leather, white pepper and some dried herbs. Let this wine open; the fruit aromatics will evolve wonderfully. The 2019 is showing very well at this age; it is elegant and youthfully balanced at not quite five years post vintage. It is vibrant, lively and mouthwatering. The palate offers red fruited flavors including of cherry, plum, currant and a hint of licorice. The tannins are lightly gravelly and are already well integrated into the finish.

The 2017 Rarecat Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the generous and deeply layered aromatics are as dark as this wine’s color and include notes of soy sauce, dark plum, blackberry, dark chocolate, black olive, espresso, smoked cedar, dried sage, creosote and old cedar box. This wine is youthful and clearly still bursting to get out of the bottle, 7 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. The juicy and mouth watering palate offers a savory expression of crushed black pepper, spicy plum skin, blackberry, smoked sage, other dried herbs, and a persistent note of dried tobacco leaf and an accompanying light drying character. The tannins are resolved, rounded and exert a moderate but not heavy grip. We would love to pair this with a tri-tip covered in a spicy dry rub, straight from the BBQ.

The 2016 Rarecat Old Toll Hillside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc with both varieties from Spring Mountain. This wine is deep ruby and opaque in the glass. The bouquet is sweetly fruited, a union of both spices and ripe fruit: cherry, blackberry, boysenberry and Pakistani mulberry accompanied by sweaty baseball mitt leather being used on a hot day and a sweet aromatic thread of dessert spices across the bouquet including clove, cardamom and hints of cinnamon. One can smell the warmness and ripeness of the vintage; it should also be noted that the grapes were harvested at a slightly higher brix than normal. The palate offers flavors of dark chocolate, mulberry, blackberry and dark raspberry, somewhat echoing the bouquet along with darker baking spices. The tannins are grainy but rounded and anchor a finish that lingers for quite some time with both flavor and texture paralleling each other. This wine has aged well and still has years of life ahead. It needed several years to unwind but is now showing in a sweet spot 8 years post vintage at the time of our tasting.

The 2016 Rarecat Cabernet Sauvignon Old Toll Canon Creek Vineyard, Napa Valley. The wine is dark ruby in color and features an intriguing and well-layered bouquet with a diversity of aromatics including darker fruit (Santa Rosa plum), mushroom, tobacco, sweaty leather, forest floor, white pepper, sage and some darker spices. Opens to more fruit aromatics as the wine breathes but still retains its savory characteristics. Deftly balanced from start to finish the brightness of the acid carries this wine through to the lively finish. It sports a lovely texture with rounded and well-integrated tannins. Is aging nicely (5 years post vintage date at the time of our tasting) with plenty of life ahead of it.

The 2009 Rarecat Cabernet Sauvignon was their first release of wine from the Old Toll Hillside Vineyard in Calistoga. Several clones of Cabernet are planted on site including one particular clone that is known for its very small production, and small berries with a high skin to juice ratio. As a result, production is extremely limited. Only 250 cases of the Cabernet were made in 2009. The grapes from this particular hillside location produce wines with vivid structure and bright acidity. The bouquet is dark, smoky and dusty with red and black fruits showing. This is less showy than many of Napa Valley’s hillside Cabernet Sauvignons; we always find that intriguing. There is a freshness that shows in the nose – not a greenness but perhaps as Sharon describes, a “spearmint” quality. As the bouquet opens sweet notes of vanilla show but remain more subtle in the background. For being so young, this wine is already balanced. The tannins are certainly there, and they coat the palate on the long finish, but these are not coarse or rough tannins, instead they are refined and well managed.

The 2013 Rarecat Cabernet Sauvignon Old Toll Hillside Vineyard shows an opulent bouquet brimming with ripe fruit aromatics including blackberry, boysenberry and spicy plum tinged with dessert spices including nuances of clove and dark chocolate. A hint of toasted oak hides in the background. Rounded and rich, the palate features tannins that feel simply put, feel nice; they are fine-grained and gentle in their textural approach. For a rather robust vintage, this is a very balanced wine unblemished by any harsh edges. It features a seamless but layered character in terms of texture across the palate. The finish lingers bright with a mouthwatering sensation on the finish but as Sharon notes, this perception is not a singular tartness but rather a ‘sweet acidity’.

Rarecat produced no wines in 2020 due to the resulting smoke taint from the nearby wildfires. Even their Russian River Pinot Noir tested for higher than normal smoke taint in August. The Rarecat Pinot Noir is always a thoughtfully made from a blend from two Dijon clones. Each clone is aged in two different barrels produced by a Burgundy based Master Cooper. And sometimes depending on available grape sources, Rarecat will produce a Chardonnay.

—

When deciding upon a name for the wine Sharon focused on the word “rare” to indicate the type of wine she was trying to make. Rarecat is a woman of distinctive or rare beauty. The coin on their label was modeled after an ancient Carthage coin (300-350BC). A goddess, Tanit was worshiped as the principal deity of Carthage. The cat pays homage to mountain lions living in California.

Rarecat used to produce a wine called R.Cat which had no varietal focus or set production limitations. This wine was meant to be affordable and approachable in its youth. Sharon has produced various varieties under this label over the years ranging from approximately 50 cases to 300 cases including Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Franc.

Sharon was also the co-founder of A Woman’s Palate, a wine networking group that focused on promoting wines made and owned by women from Napa and Sonoma counties as well as improving consumer wine education for women.

Tastings
The wines have been produced in several locations over the years. As of our most recent update to this review, the Rarecat wines are produced at Calistoga Vintner Services inside the old Calistoga Beverage Company bottling plant.

A separate neighboring space, inside the Grove 45 Olive Oil tasting and wine room, is used for tastings by appointment by several vintners including Rarecat. This well-appointed tasting room opened in early 2023 after the interior was remodeled, overseen by Guatemalan well-known interior designer Agustina de Tezanos. The tasting room is located in a small building which formerly was used by Calistoga Roastery, a local coffee company who still maintains a retail store in downtown Calistoga. Visitors to the property will also drive around a two-story prominent blue building covered in original works of art created by San Francisco based artist Casey O’Connell (who we briefly met while she was painting the exterior of this building) and park in either of the two small parking places on the property.

The property is located right next to the “greenway” which contains a bike path that connects to the town of Calistoga and the Solage Resort who offers free use of bicycles for their guests. The tasting room is within a short walk or bike ride of Solage. And the property also backs right up to the Calistoga Motor Lodge and Spa with a connecting path.

Business Uncorked
In April 2024, Sharon launched Business Uncorked after a year of development. Several of her businesses have started with the thought, “wouldn’t it be great if …”. In this case, her inspiration came from her work with corporations including banks, law firms and financial companies, using wine to empower women. Through her seminars and various wine related entertaining, she has realized that young people are thirsty for knowledge and networking opportunities. This company was created to help young professionals become successful in their careers. It offers online courses pertaining to teaching soft skills required in business, involving etiquette, communication, how to sell, how to present oneself and how to entertain.

Prior to starting the company, she and her team interviewed over 1,000 executives and young professionals to discover the most important soft skills required in today’s business environment. She found that 90% of the companies she interviewed identified the ability to interact and communicate effectively with others as one of their most important hiring requirements. Business Uncorked is targeting the screen based generation and its resulting anxiety, but also the same youth who think global, are diverse and are purpose-based.

For those who find themselves always looking down at screens, Sharon offers an easy piece of advice, “Looks up, you will feel better”.

The core focus of Business Uncorked is to help millions of young professionals by teaching them soft skills in order to be successful in business. Using a culinary analogy, Business Uncorked provides the ingredients and tools for individuals to choose any ‘recipe’ they want. Part of her drive in building this business is the feels she has when helping others succeed.

Mia Carta Napa Valley
Until the end of 2023, Rarecat was part of a small collective of boutique Napa Valley based wineries represented at Mia Carta Wine Lounge in downtown Napa. We keep our notes and photographs here for historical reference. This space is located at 1209 1st Street next to Rebel Vintners near the intersection of 1st and Coombs Streets. It had a soft opening to the public on May 22, 2021, and officially opened on June 17, 2021.

This space houses currently several premium boutique Napa Valley producers including Essere Franco, Earthshine wines and Majuscule Vineyards. Sharon Harris, proprietor of Rarecat learned about the space early on, and then invited several of her friends to join including Redmon Wines and Ilsley Vineyards.

A significant amount of thought and effort went into the renovation of this space. A couple of items inside quickly catch one’s eye including the Italian Piaggio “Ape del Vino” or in English, referred to as the Wine Bee. It was purchased in Italy, restored and then shipped over, however unfortunately it was stuck for quite some time at the port of Galveston in Texas before it cleared customs and reached Napa Valley. It is fully functional and is operated by a two-stroke Vespa engine. The back opens up to reveal wine kegs with spigots on the side of the vehicle – making this ideal to take to various wine tasting events. And the 145 piece ‘puzzle’ of walnut wood built against the back wall is in the three-dimensional shape of a street grid of downtown Napa – complete with an outline of Napa River and a red marking to indicate Mia Carta’s location on the map.

Recycled cork from cork manufacturer, Amorim Cork America lines the east wall of the space. If one casually glances at this wall, one will think it’s one entire piece of cork, but each piece is a quarter offset, so the lines are hard to see between each of the pieces. With Norm’s background as President & Co-founder of Calgary based ZeroSound Systems, his knowledge and expertise were used during the renovation of the interior space. Acoustic tiles are placed on top of the tin stamped metal ceilings – if one looks carefully one can almost see the tiny holes punched in each of these tin squares, which are part of the design to help mitigate noise. The bar and some of the tabletops are constructed from Richlite, a recycled paper/resin composite.

Visitors taste either inside or outside weather permitting (heat lamps are built into the outdoor overhang), choosing flights from any of the vintners or by the glass or by the bottle. This part of the building used to be recessed, set back more from First Street but during the renovation it was expanded, providing more interior space. And a private tasting room is located in the rear of the space.

For those into wine, it is easy to spend an afternoon in this part of downtown Napa – numerous tasting rooms are within several blocks of Mia Carta. For more details about this beautiful space and or to make a reservation, please visit: www.miacartanapa.com

In 2023, Rarecat was chosen as one of the wine brands by JP Morgan on their coveted ‘next list’. And until mid 2023, Sharon was an owner of the RARECAT Villa in Bordeaux. This luxury space was available to rent by discerning travelers and wine enthusiasts and is located within a very short walk of downtown Saint-Émilion. Total annual production as of our latest update to this review is just below 3,000 cases including both the California and French bottlings. Nearly all the wine is sold direct to consumer. For more information or to join their wine club, visit: www.rarecatwines.com