Carrefour Vineyards is owned and operated by Greg & Marilyn Nitz who founded the winery with the purchase of 18 acres not far from the Silverado Country club just north of the town of Napa. No this winery does not use their last name, rather Carrefour in French means “crossroads” or “meeting place” which is their idea of what wine should be part of – a meeting of friends with food and wine. Their first vintage was in 2002. For a number of years they helped the Truchards in the Carneros district with their wine making operations and one day the Truchards mentioned that winery property was increasing in value at a rapid rate and the Carrefour’s might want to consider purchasing property. Well from that moment they haven’t looked back!
They planted their own property with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and Petit Verdot. All the fruit for their wine comes from their own vineyard with the exception being the Pinot noir from the Truchard Vineyard. The Carneros region is further south than their vineyard and is in a cooler growing climate while their vineyard has a warmer microclimate more suited to the other varietals mentioned above.
All of their wines are produced in low quantities, typically around several hundred cases. Greg is the winemaker who has additional help from a consulting winemaker and all wine is made at Laird Estate. We started with the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc. This is a delightful crisp lean white wine with flavors of cut grass, lemon grass (commonly used in Thai foods and soups), with fruit notes of pear and melon. The 2003 Merlot is a very big wine with earthy characteristics and large broad tannins anchoring a long finish. The 2005 Merlot is more in style of the wine they are looking to produce consistently as its more elegant, softer with less harsh tannins on the finish. The 2005 Cabernet Franc has a very subtle nose which doesn’t reveal the complexity of fruit flavor in this wine.
The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is also a winner. Last but not least is their 11th hour botryisized Sauvignon Blanc. Eight rows of Sauvignon Blanc grow lower in their vineyard near a small creek and were not ripe when the rest of the grapes were harvested. The day after they were picked late in the year, a huge rainstorm hit the vineyard, hence the name of this wine! It is a delicious medium bodied dessert wine with wonderful flavors of apricot and peach. Wineries often say this type of wine is great for after dinner (which of course it is), but we find ourselves indulging in these wines most anytime. Their prices are quite reasonable based on Napa standards.
NOTE: Their website is now offline – this producer has been identified as possibly no longer making wine commercially in Napa. We will update/remove this review once we find out more details.
NOTE: This review has been archived.
REASON: Stopped producing wine commercially
So where can I buy some of their cab? I bought some at Busters in Memphis then moved Seattle. No web site. Where do I go to join their wine club and buy cases foe shipping to me?