On December 13, 2023, we had a chance to interview and catch up with Matt Brain. Matt is the winemaker for Alpha Omega Winery. In our Zoom interview, we covered seven of his new-release 2021 vintage wines. We have since covered three others and will share those reviews as well. We interviewed Matt last December to cover some of his 2019 and 2020 vintage wines. Check out what we learned from Matt.
Before we get to the wine reviews, I thought I would share a few new tidbits we learned during the tasting with Matt.
• We learned that Matt worked with our most recent winemaker guests. Jon Priest. Tom Rinaldi and Trevor Durling when they were part of Diageo
• The 2021 vintage was a great growing year. They picked early.
• We talked vintages. In general, for Napa Cabs, we think 2021 is a drink later vintage.
• 2022 will be a drink now vintage. While 2023 will be a drink later year.
• The 2023 vintage has a lot of tonnage. In some cases up 25%. Also, phenolics are off the charts.
• A new vineyard we covered this year was the Houyi Vineyard. Pronounced “Who Yee”. There will only be 2021 and 2022 vintages from here. After that the fruit will be sold elsewhere.
• Thomas Vineyard is owned and farmed by AO. The clones came from Argentina. There will be no Thomas in 2022. ☹
• Drew Vineyard was replanted except one block. That block is in their 2021.
• 2021 ERA grapes are mainly from Sunshine Valley Vineyard, Beckstoffer Georges III, Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard and others.
Below is a summary of the wine offerings from Alpha Omega that we covered. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also purchase these wines on the Alpha Omega website.
1. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Franc “Napa Valley” $117 (KWGTP 93)
2. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Houyi Vineyard” (Napa Valley) $280 (KWGTP 94)
3. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard” (Rutherford) $280 (KWGTP 96)
4. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard” (Oakville) $280 (KWGTP 96.5)
5. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Thomas Vineyard” (Rutherford) $280 (KWGTP 96.5)
6. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Drew Block – Stricker Vineyard” (Mt. Veeder) $280 (KWGTP 95.5)
7. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “ERA” (Napa Valley) $320 (KWGTP 98)
Additional Wine Covered After Our Tasting With Matt.
10. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Sleeping Lady Vineyard” (Yountville) $280 (KWGTP 94)
11. Alpha Omega 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Atlas Peak” $170 (KWGTP 94.5)
12. Alpha Omega 2021 US Red “Proprietary Red Spring Mountain” $117 (KWGTP 94)
You can find reviews of past and future Alpha Omega wines that we cover on the Alpha Omega KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! — Ken