Coquerel Family Wine Estates was founded by Brenda and Clay Coquerel in 2005 with the purchase of an existing vineyard on the north side of Tubbs Lane in Calistoga. Several years later they sold part of this vineyard and acquired one of their neighbor’s vineyards; one their nearly 20-acre property they have a total of 11 planted vineyard acres including 4 acres to Cabernet Sauvignon. The remainder of the varieties are Sauvignon Blanc, Verdelho, Petite Sirah and Tempranillo. This property is known as the Walnut Wash Vineyard.
Brenda and Clay are high school sweethearts from Abilene Texas. Clay is the founder of Cockerell Dermatopathology, a medical lab based in Dallas, Texas focused on skin diseases. He is also the co-founder of Dermpath On Demand, providing educational dermatology courses and has served as the president of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Academy of Dermatology. Cockerell Dermatopathology was formerly Freeman-Cockerell Dermatopathology Laboratories, founded by Dr. Robert G. Freeman in 1972. Clay’s introduction to Cockerell Dermatopathology was through his father, Dr. E. G. Cockerell who befriended Dr. Freeman while both were students at Baylor College of Medicine.
Both Brenda and Clay have collected wines for 30+ years and have always enjoyed French Wines especially from the Graves sub-region in Bordeaux, France. They fell in love with Napa Valley during an anniversary trip. While visiting the valley, Brenda decided she wanted a wine project, so they started with the vineyard, then they began making wine commercially. And it is always nice when the second generation becomes involved in continuing to grow a brand; their daughter Lily joined the Cockerel team in 2022 and is their Director of Texas sales. Today the brand produces about 4,000 cases annually.
With a love for French wine, the Coquerel’s bonded with Christine Barbe, a Napa Valley based winemaker originally from France who honors French wine-making tradition and techniques. If you’re a French winemaker who moves to Napa Valley, you quickly meet other winemakers from France. With Christine’s connections a number of their non estate vineyard sources were originally from French owned vintners that she personally knows. However, over the years the focus has shifted to now producing wines entirely from the estate.
Each wine is divided up into small batches during the fermentation using separate yeasts and then ultimately blended together. Their focus is to preserve varieties’ characteristics; the wines are only filtered one time before bottling.
The neighboring vineyard they acquired was previously owned by Prager Portworks; it is no surprise that some of the varieties planted here are Portuguese and Spanish grapes. After purchasing this vineyard, the Coquerel’s decided to keep these varieties but make their own wine.
Select Wines
The Napa Valley winery who releases a white wine as their first vintage is rare indeed. We are aware of only several other Napa Valley producers or wineries who have done so including Stony Hill, Massican and Fluent Wine Company. After a few vintages of just producing white wines, with customer demand they realized they needed to also produce a red wine. A Petite Sirah was their first red wine from the 2010 vintage and a Tempranillo and a Cabernet Sauvignon were later released. Their flagship wine and the backbone of their production has been their estate Sauvignon Blanc.
They produce two distinctive Sauvignon Blanc bottlings every vintage; Le Petit Coquerel (their most produced wine) is stainless steel fermented, and aged and bottled in flint glass and the other, Terroir, inspired by Bordeaux Blancs, is aged in oak and bottled in antique green glass to better facilitate its aging.
Whites
The 2024 Coquerel Le Petit Coquerel Sauvignon Blanc Walnut Wash Vineyard, Calistoga Napa Valley is pale straw in color; finally, we are needling and nosing a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc on an appropriate day. Its springtime in Napa Valley and these aromatics are the ideal accompaniment to the feeling of the moment, the warm sunshine, the wispy clouds floating overhead and the vineyards becoming a sea of green once again. The perky and invigorating bouquet smells like pineapple guava, white peach, pear, white nectarine, lemon verbena, passion fruit, kaffir lime, pineapple and loads of white florals including star jasmine and orange blossom. Ripeness is always a subjective, but very important detail, especially in terms of Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is saddled perfectly in terms of ripeness, strongly aligning itself on the side of freshness rather than overtly tropical. On the palate there are flavors of honeydew melon, guava, kiwi, pink grapefruit, pineapple, passion fruit, lemon juice and lime. Lightly herbal but not green. Its silky texture is an important attribute to note, featuring a briny and almost saline feel, strongly led by its vivacious and mouthwatering acidity. We would love to pair this with some sort of fresh and spicy Thai seafood.
The 2011 Coquerel Le Petit Coquerel Sauvignon Blanc; much of the grapes for this vintage came from Yountville and then was blended with some of their estate fruit. This wine saw no oak during its fermentation and aging and was stirred sur-lie several times a week for seven months; as a result, there is some additional weight and viscosity on the palate. And this is not a typical Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc; as it ages for a few years, it will continue to showcase additional complexities. This wine has less acidity than the stainless fermented counterpart. Initially there is a gravelly almost concrete component but as the wine opens additional aromatics show including citrus. This is a classic Christine Barbe wine featuring bright acidity and freshness on the palate including green grass and notes of green apples along with a very crisp and a lingering bright finish. Great with spicy food. For many years Christine produced wines under her own brand, Toquade; producing a single Sauvignon Blanc bottling each year; this wine is made in a similar style.
The 2024 Coquerel Terroir Sauvignon Blanc, Walnut Wash Vineyard, Calistoga Napa Valley is pale straw; the bouquet is a ripe and tangy union of both orchard fruits, stone fruits and citrus influences. The aromatics include star jasmine, citrus blossom, pineapple, passion fruit, honeydew melon, vanilla, white toast and Golden delicious apple – an aroma that is somewhere between fresh apple and bruised apple, reminding us of coring apples in our youth and the resulting juice dripping onto the wooden bench. The palate offers plenty of stone fruits along with with tropical layers including pineapple, papaya, champagne mango, yellow nectarine, apricot, ripe yellow peach, baked golden apples and vanilla. The palate is sweetly fruited and fully ripe at a listed 13.5% alcohol. The finish is long and flavorful, supported by a lightly rounded and creamy mouth feel.
A rare variety in Napa is Verdehlo; it is a white wine grown throughout Portugal including in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal, in the Azores and is most commonly associated with the island of Madeira. The only other Napa Valley wineries we know associated with making wine from this variety were Casa Nuestra from grapes grown in their own vineyard and Calafia, who sourced their grapes from Amador County.
The 2024 Coquerel Verdelho Walnut Wash Vineyard, Calistoga Napa Valley is medium straw in color; nosing the bouquet, the first three words that came to mind to describe its aromatic profile were: apple, pear and lime. Smelling this further, its sweetly fruited and sweetly floral scents include golden apples, comise pear, white nectarines, Babcock peach, pineapple, jasmine, citrus blossom, kaffir lime, candied orange peel and pineapple guava – a fruit we are intimately familiar with having harvested it every fall for nearly 30 years from various ornamental plantings in both Napa and Santa Rosa. Balanced across the palate, this wine tastes like Golden delicious apples, pineapple, ripe honeydew melon, apricot, yellow peaches, nectarines and ginger. The finish lingers bright with a subtle but persisting herbal character. And while we don’t always print our short verbal statements after finishing writing about a wine, we we will here: damn that’s good. Why isn’t there more Verdelho planted in Napa Valley?
Reds
The 2022 Coquerel Estate Tempranillo, Walnut Wash Vineyard, Calistoga Napa Valley. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the forward fruited, ripe and bouncy aromatics are a full expression of this variety. Its scents include dark plum, boysenberry jam, ripe blackberry, mulberry – reminds us of harvesting Pakistani mulberries at Very Mulberry in Brentwood, CA (shout out here to those folks), dark cherry and blackberry. Oh wait, we already mentioned blackberry. Its sway from the barrel is certainly noticeable, but not as prominent as its core of fruit. Its secondary scents include old cedar box, Graham cracker, dark chocolate, espresso and cocoa powder. Easy drinking but with some textural grit, on the palate there are flavors of dark plum, cherry, dark raspberry, blackberry and blueberry. The finish lingers bright with some savory overtones including smoked cedar, dried sage and crushed dark pepper. A brightly lit thread of acidity keeps the wine fresh on the finish. The moderately gripping tannins still have their youthful edges and persist for quite some time including with a drying character on the extended finish.
The 2022 Coquerel Estate Cabernet Franc Walnut Wash Vineyard, Calistoga Napa Valley is deep ruby; the bouquet offers higher toned perfumy aromatics – the first scent we noted is of red plums. Additional layers include bright red cherry, cherry pie, currant, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, red licorice, Tonka bean, rose petals, lavender, lilac, tobacco spice and white pepper. Mimicking the palate somewhat are flavors of Santa Rosa plum, red cherry, dark raspberry, currant and cranberry. This is a ripe expression of the variety but yet offers plenty of lift from the bright acidity. The finish lingers with grainy and gravelly textured tannins, a subtle note of dried tobacco leaf, smoked sage and a persistent drying and or chalky character fully coating the palate. This wine is filled with plenty of California sunshine. If we were to present a Cabernet Franc as a crowd favorite, this bottling would be a great candidate.
The 2022 Coquerel Estate Petite Sirah, Walnut Wash Vineyard, Calistoga Napa Valley. This wine is deep ruby/purple and opaque – its as dark as dark can be; turn off your flashlight in a cave and the color of this wine is what you will see. Ripe, sweetly fruited and showcasing powerful aromatics this wine smells like plum jam, ripe black cherries, dark licorice, chalkboard, dark chocolate, mocha and assorted sweet baking spices. In its youth, this wine showcases two layers: ripe dark fruits and a not yet fully integrated structural layer. Its fruit is flirty, playful and intense with flavors of dark cherry, blackberry jam, boysenberry and black plums finishing with a note of dark chocolate. The spirited and juicy acidity lingers brightly on the finish with dense, chewy, fully coating and firmly gripping tannins that cover every part of the palate. Their dusty character persists for quite some time, lasting well beyond the fruit. More people would seek out wines from this variety if they have a chance to try this bottling.
In 2017 Coquerel produced their first estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2017 Coquerel Cabernet Sauvignon, Walnut Wash Vineyard Calistoga is dark ruby in color; the bouquet offers sweetly fruited aromatics including of blackberry, raspberry jam and some notes of chocolate. The oak is a complementary character on both the bouquet and the palate. This bottling offers darker fruit flavors which persist through the finish including of blackberry. It offers a pleasing tension between both fruit and structure. The tannins take some time to show and reveal a medium but still tight grip on the savory, slightly dry and dusty finish. A noticeable dried tobacco leaf nuance completes the finish. We tasted this wine 6 years post vintage; it still has plenty of life ahead of it. Only 100 cases were produced.
In 2019 they produced their first Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate vineyard. The 2019 Coquerel Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Walnut Wash Vineyard Calistoga is dark ruby and almost opaque in the glass; it offers aromas of dark fruit including blackberry, cherry and boysenberry, complemented by darker dessert spices and a hint of sage. This bottling features plenty of layers including flavors of plum and blackberry. We wrote ‘mouth filling fruit’ in our notes. The juicy acidity is especially noticeable on the mouthwatering finish. The tannins are grippy but not heavy or course in their textural feel; the overall feel of this wine is its superb balance.
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Coquerel continues to grow the brand including securing permits to build a winery on their property. Vineyard visits to their Calistoga property are available by appointment and are for serious wine enthusiasts looking for more intimate experiences. In late 2013 they formed a wine club and have since increased their distribution. Currently the wines are available in parts of California, Texas, Oklahoma and New York. Because these are wines that pair well with food – restaurants form a solid backbone of their distribution. They even produce one of their wines in kegs for restaurant distribution.
By Napa Valley standards, their wines have refreshing price to quality ratio. Coquerel sometimes hosts wine dinners around the country and pours their wines at select Napa Valley focused wine events including Calistoga Food & Wine, Auction Napa Valley, the Napa Valley Wine Library Association and the annual LMU Wine Classic in Los Angeles. And their wines have performed admirably at several wine tasting competitions including the Sunset International Wine Competition and the annual TEXSOM International Awards. For more information, to purchase wine or to join their wine club, visit: www.coquerelwines.com
ARCHIVED NOTES
Feast it Forward
For a short period, Coquerel was one of up to eighteen vintners featured in The Studio by Feast it Forward (opened in June 2018). We keep our notes here for historical reference. The studio is located directly across from the Oxbow Public Market in downtown Napa and packs numerous experiences into a small space. This two-story building houses an “experiential showroom”, as founder Katie Hamilton Shaffer calls it – with a focus on wine, food and music. Each vintner represented offers several wines and several of the showroom’s sponsors have prominent placement including guitars from Gibson Brands, Inc. and furniture from Crosley. A chocolate tasting is also offered oddly enough sponsored by Sherman Williams and a vinyl station if offered for playing a variety of old records. Upstairs features a demonstration kitchen; when shows are being filmed here, televisions downstairs broadcast the live feed. This kitchen can also be used for guest chefs to offer culinary classes.
And visitor’s will want to stop by their bathroom to read the latest in all the graffiti and words of wisdom that visitors mark on the walls. The site can be used for a number of events including the availability of plenty of space in the back of the building. The Yard is a sizable outdoor space featuring several stages, cute places to taste wines, a lemonade stand, a place for food trucks and a comfortable fake lawn. The Ultimate Airstream Film Lounge trailer is often be parked in The Yard; this trailer is used when the Feast it Forward team is on the road hosting unique lifestyle events and it also serves for private tastings on site or for special events. One such event at the showroom has included “Terrible Tuesdays” in which bad films with cult like followings are shown.
The second floor features a sizable surround building deck and a swinging ‘bed’. This is an ideal perch to watch pedestrians walking to Oxbow Public Market or those enjoying the park next to the Napa River. These are also some of the best seats in the area to watch live performances at the nearby green. And the interior features a full kitchen used for various culinary TV shows. This space is where Andretti Winery prefers to host visitors.
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