One of the great historic Napa wineries, VIADER is the brainchild of Delia Viader, who took the leap of faith years ago to plant grapes in uncharted waters in Napa Valley. For years Delia only made one wine, a Bordeaux style blend, since 1986. Holding a PhD from Sorbonne University in Paris, founding winemaker Delia Viader now collaborates with her son, Alan, to make their wines which are entirely sourced from their estate vineyard on Howell Mountain. A remarkable story, Delia stated Viader while raising four children on her own. Delia has achieved incredible success since starting in the mid-80s as she models her style of wine towards the great wines of Bordeaux, focusing on balance rather than primary fruit qualities. I have been enchanted with these wines and have been fortunate enough to try many going back to the 1990s.
Alan Viader has served as vineyard manager since 2002 while studying winemaking at UC Davis. He has been lead winemaker at VIADER since 2006 and works with Delia on all wines. Alan recently started making a new wine, called the VIADER ‘Black Label’ Red Wine, which has Syrah blend into Bordeaux varietals. I was absolutely blown away with their 2016 VIADER ‘Black Label’ Red Wine (WWB, 96), which has incredible richness and a silky texture that is pure Napa. I absolutely adore the mountain fruit in this wine which imparts incredible range and terroir. This wine will be a resounding success for the winery. Learn more about this storied Napa winery at https://viader.com.
2016 VIADER ‘Black Label’ Red Wine- The 2016 VIADER ‘Black Label’ Red Wine is a simply magical new wine by the talented winemaking team of Delia and Alan Viader. A gorgeous blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 26% Syrah, 14% Malbec and 3% Cabernet Franc which was barrel selected all from the VIADER Howell Mountain estate. Needing more than an hour in the decanter to fully arouse, the wine awakens to compelling aromatics of exotic spices, Earl Grey tea, mocha and milk chocolate with wild blackberry cobbler rounding out this expressive nose. The mouthfeel is plush and decadent, unveiling a downright sexy texture that satisfies. Creme de cassis, Asian spices, sweet pipe tobacco, leather and copious dark fruits all enter the fray on the palate. This is a polished, pensive wine that is meant to savor. Seriously good in its youth, this beautiful wine will evolve well over the next two decades. Drink 2020-2040- 96