Comments About Our Wine
I tasted the 09 this weekend... All I can say is Wow... To drink so beautifully, so young is unbelievable. I'm sure you're proud, but it's truly one of the finest young cabs I've ever tasted. My parents and wife tasted with me and they all immediately fell in love with it as well. My step father just kept muttering over and over again, "That's amazing wine. That's amazing wine." Congratulations!
Scott
Food and Beverage Operations
Celebrity Cruises
Vito,
I met you at the Bevmo in Long Beach yesterday and tasted your wine. I hope you remember me as I made the expression and comment how your wine gave me 'goose bumps up and down my spine'. Yes, it was that good and I want to personally thank you for taking the time to share your fantastic wine with us. I will have this wonderful palate memory for quite some time as your quintessential Cabernet tasted exquisitely fine in my humble opinion.
I know you get wonderful accolades about your wine quite often but I wanted to say how grateful I am to have met you and experienced tasting it in your presence. In my three plus years of enjoying the discovery of fine wine I've never tasted in the presence of the proprietor of a vineyard. So this experience was most memorable to me.
I wish you much success and keep up your excellent work. May the wine gods shower your vineyard with many bountiful harvests so we can enjoy the fruits of your labors.
Warmest regards,
Mark Summa
BevMo Wine Associate
Hi Vito,
I had to e-mail. Your 2006 Cabernet is outstanding. I bought your wine when you offered it, just took a chance on a new wine to me. I never heard of your vineyard.
Living in Northern California we are exposed to great wines, but yours is now my favorite.
You must have so much passion for your wine, because I could taste it and the quality was amazing.
Thank you,
Carol Whitsett, R.D.
I had purchased an '03/'04/'05 vertical at your first suggestion of this, and recently gave it to friends for a wedding present (the mother of the groom sits on 3 acres atop Spring Mt.), upon which they immediately popped the corks and voila! unspeakable magnificence. A certain quiet came over the group experiencing the wine for the first time, and a lot of raised eyebrows and furtive queries about "who IS this" came about... needless to say you have an exceptional effort on all counts and please include me in your future releases. Is another vertical available?
—Andy Vare
"This tiny boutique operation produces a Cabernet Sauvignon from Atlas Peak fruit. It offers a sweet black currant and plum-scented nose with cedar, licorice, and smoke in the background. Attractive, round, lush, and relatively evolved for a 2007, this charming Cabernet is ideal for drinking over the next decade."
—Robert M.Parker Jr.
Had my first bottle of 2007 Bialla last night with some company. Simply superb! For such a young wine, it packed the muscle and power of a soon to be legendary wine.
All best,
Jonathan Sebastiani
Dear Vito and Linda,
I had the pleasure to taste your wines this spring with Dick Wallingford in Stockholm.
And, I immediately fall in love.
Simple as that.
We have now got some of Sweden's best restaurants purchasing Bialla, and Michel Jamais, one of our best journalists concerning Fine Wines has already visited you. His reportage will come in Livets Goda in February.
Dick Wallingford and I have worked successfully together in Sweden for many years. Building brands here as Darioush and Far Niente.
We congratulate you to a fantastic wine, and are looking forward to taste your new vintage.
Kind regards
Ann
Vinobele AB, Managing Director
BIALLA, CABERNET SAUVIGNON, NAPA VALLEY 2006 $93
Craig MacLean makes this tightly allocated, 190 case production Cabernet with all the aging potential of a
world-class wine---guess this may end up in the Cellar Builder club, too! Honestly, if you've never had a wine
made by Craig, know this: he crafts his wines with the intention of letting all the nuances evolve in the bottle for
several years before they coalesce into what wine-lovers dream a wine can be. The complexities and layers that
are dying to get out of this bottle of wine will send you over the edge. At 1700 feet above sea level, the soils and
aspect to nature must be at a harmonious stand still when the grapes are harvested, as it truly shows in the bottle.
You can open up the wine now, but please, please, please decant it for a solid hour at the very least before you
enjoy it. You will not be sorry and what you will reap is the ability to name the wine that turned you from wine
lover to serious wine appreciator.
ACME FINE WINES 1/26/09
Linda and Vito,
Congratulations on your much deserved press from Wine Spectator. As a long time subscriber I know Laube can be a tough nut to crack.
This past Saturday, my wife Bernie and I opened your 2004 for a dinner party with some other wine loving friends. We decanted and let it breathe for an hour before serving. The wine was a big hit and effortlessly rose to our special occasion. (A perfect pairing for braised shortribs....)
I know I'll need to be patient when the 2006 comes but I can't wait give it a taste. Of course I still have the 03, 04, and 05. A few for drinking while a few others wait for a 10 year vertical tasting down the road.
Again, congratulations....and keep on pouring all that love into bottles for us.
Walt Smith,
Wheeling WV
Vito:
Just tried my first bottle of the 2006, which is EXCELLENT! Needs a lot of breathing time
and is youthfully tannic, but I loved the chocolate, mint, floral, fruit-filled bouquet.
It's sweet with sexy fruit. Above all, it's perfectly balanced and shows the earmarks of
superior fruit and winemaking skill.
Should be a winner for you.
Best,
Howard Kaplan, CEO Executive Wine Seminars, and contributing editor of eRobertParker.com
Rated by Sommelier group in Minneapolis on behalf of www.BrixHousewine.com for blind tasting. One of the toughest critics we know of.
2005 Bialla Vineyards Wine #2
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, Alc.15.3%
92
"The Bialla scored highly . This Cabernet displayed a deep inky purple color to the rim. The nose was dark ripe fruits and showed the level of alcohol. The palate was full of the dark fruits evident on the nose, along with a good dose of spice and a sustained finish of integrated tannins providing nice structure. This wine should age for some time."
91 ( rating ) Bialla Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2004
Ultrarich and almost syrupy. Deeply concentrated with ripe currant, blackberry, anise and sage .Sharply focused and smooth-textured, this coats the palate and gains complexity. Drink now through 2012
Jim Laube -Wine Spectator Feb '08
A noted critic or aficionado mentioned that one of the wines caused a response that was something like "Oh, my God." I had the good fortune to sample some of the '03 recently. Sorry, but I don't think "Oh, my God" even comes close. I think it more appropriate to say that Vito is on a "Mission from Gawd" and that he's created something akin to a spring cruise down the Autostrada in a hyped up Ferrari at around 180 mph with a hot brunette by your side and Vivaldi cranking over the speakers at top volume. Even that experience may pale in comparison to this wine. All I can say is thanks...
Brian Zaleski
Regarding your '03, my date and I agreed that it was one of - if not the - best wine we have ever tasted. We were bummed to find that it was sold out!
Joanne Bethlahmy
Re 05 Bialla Cabernet Sauvignon
Hands down one of the top three wines I have ever had, I think the company you drink with has a lot to do with it as well.
David Provost CEO
www.bacchuscaves.com
(Quite famous Napa wine connoisseur who tastes 'em all)
Laura and I are relaxing after a great weekend enjoying a wonderful bottle of Bialla 04 Cabernet Wine. I must say the color is a wonderfully rich inky red, a fantastic nose, and of course has a great start and wonderful finish. Just what we would expect from a high end cab producer. Just had to communicate our enjoyment!
Hope you are all doing well and thanks for making the wine.
Jay A. Cohen
President
Cohen Capital Management, Inc.
Hi Vito:
My wife and I met you yesterday at Silverado. You gave my wife one of your visors. Just wanted to say that we thought your wine was the best of the day!
Please add me to your mailing list.
Richard Ow
Scotts Valley, Ca.
Did a wine tasting tonight and Bialla kicked butt.
— Tom Modisette,
world famous entrepreneur and wine connoisseur
From Napa Valley Marketplace magazine
by Elizabeth Frater.
2004 Bialla Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon ($93)
Exquisite gripping tannins balanced with acids lends itself to elegance. Outstanding dried fruit flavors, and supple texture.
From Vinfolio
Reviews
Vito and Linda Bialla's little piece of Paradise is very near the top of Napa's Atlas Peak where you seemingly can see forever. It is positioned at 1700 feet after all. The seven mile drive from civilization ensures that only the very lost or determined will get to the front door at Bialla. I place myself in the second category, decidedly. Not every new winery enjoys this much success early on, and I think it probably has more to Bialla's business acumen of letting the experts (Craig MacLean and Vineyard Manager, Hector Lopes,) do what they do best without getting too involved in the process (beyond writing the checks). I had the chance to try two different samples of the new vintage with Vito in his cave (recently featured in The Wine Spectator). One bottle had been decanted while the other came direct from the bottle. I think my preference was for the non-decanted version as it had a bit more focus to the tannins. VF 93
from ACMeLOG Final 2006
BIALLA, CABERENT SAUVIGNON, NAPA VALLEY 2004 $95.00
Made by Craig MacLean—winemaker and owner to MacLean, winemaker to Juslyn, Anselmo-Vigne,
Ahnfeldt and probably more—we' can't keep up with the superstar!! This 1700 foot elevation vineyard
on Atlas Peak Road nestled with neighbors, such as Pahlmeyer, Elan, Kongsgaard, to name a few. The
Stagecoach Vineyard is within ear-shot and we already know the quality of wine this property produces.
The goal of Vito and Linda Bialla is to "spare no expense in making the finest wine possible, with a maximum
production limit of 500 cases annually." They have realized their goal and gone on to gain local
recognition amongst the top retailers as one of the most exciting projects to come out in the last 2
years. The wine will gain complexities in the following years, but we recommend trying some now with
the common recommendation of decanting a young Napa cab for several hours to unleash the potential
in the bottle long before the last sip!
ACME Fine Wines
1104 Adams Street
Suite 104
St. Helena, CA 94574
707.963.0440
ATTENTION MEMBERS OF 55 DEGREES
We are proud to announce the latest release from Bialla. We announced their inaugural release last year. This wine is a keeper. It possesses all the characteristics for an outstanding wine. We really enjoyed this release. It was full bodied, rich, jammy, concentrated, good balance and acidity and an extremely long lingering finish.
We plan on buying a case if there is any still available.
Neil & Karen Aldoroty
55 DEGREES
2003 Bialla - Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley; Vinfolio rating: 93 points
Winemaker Craig MacLean is involved in a number of small production wineries that I am just beginning to hear about. One I have tried lately is coming from a vineyard source that seems like it is on the other side of the moon. Vito and Linda Bialla's vines are situated at the furthest reaches of the only road to meander up Atlas Peak. It seems to take forever to get there, but upon arrival it is certainly worth it. An engaging recent visit with Vito in his intimately sized cave at the vineyard introduced me to their excellent premiere release. This is certainly one to watch.
An infinitely complex wine showing dark cherry and mocha in the nose with smoky, rich aromas of black fruit. Big and bold flavors on the palate; cherry and blackberry showing exuberant youth in the mouth. Hints of violets, cinnamon, spice, licorice and chocolate are found throughout. Drink: 2006-2012
Doug Wilder, Vinfolio
Subject: Cabernet Sauvignon
Mr. Bialla,
Last night I attended a casual dinner party with some friends, among whom was our friend, Craig MacLean. He brought a bottle of your Cabernet Sauvignon which was a show stopper.
My business partner, Karen Williams, and I own ACME Fine Wines in St. Helena. We are very interested in picking up some of this wine if there is any available to retailers in the area.
Please ask Craig about us and then disregard anything he may say about us and sell us some wine anyway!
We look forward to meeting you and offering your wine to our clients.
Thank you.
David Stevens
ACME Fine Wines
1104 Adams Street #104
St. Helena, CA
707 963.0440
Vito,
I had the pleasure of drinking your wine over the holidays---Fantastic!
Best,
Bob Burke
President, Piatti Restaurant Company
Mill Valley, CA
Subject: Wine Review
Aloha. Had dinner with friends here last night and brought a bottle of the Bialla to share. Our friends Chet and Denise are quite experienced wine lovers. Rave reviews. "Vanilla and blackberries.... Delicious!". Your wine was a hit! Cheers.
Martin Brauns
CEO, Interwoven
To: Vito Bialla
Subject: WOW.........
OK, so after displaying an enormous amount of self control, last night I finally drank the wine. WOW! You've got a major hit.
I had been waiting for a special moment that would also provide the wine some exposure to a few good. guys in the industry. Last night, in celebrating my birthday, a couple of friends came over for dinner. You were in good company.
We drank a bottle of '97 Harlan (worth about $1000!), an Abreu that is one of my favorite wines, an Egelhoff, and a bottle of David Aurthur Elevation 1147, the year Egelhoff scored 99 in the spectator. Takes a pretty damned good bottle of wine to stand up next to those boys!
AWESOME!
Jeffery Forestier
Sonoma CEO and Entrepreneur also Wine Snob
" This wine is big, rich, concentrated, luscious, silky, with good balance and acidity and a lingering finish. You don't even notice the alcohol percentage. This is a stunning inaugural release. "
Neil and Karen Aldoroty
www.fiftyfivedegrees.com, Jan 06
Vito -
"This red wine is simply to die for. It works at football games, with just a burger or at the finest steak house with the best filet mignon you'd ever want to touch. What more could you want? The price is right and the quality is tops. I drink it, I drink it, I drink it."
Willie L. Brown Jr.
Former Mayor, San Francisco, Former Speaker California State Assembly
Vito-
Finally I feel like I am ahead finally of the insider curve. I opened your wine for two dinner parties - lots of smart wine people at both events. The groups at both dinners are folks that are always on the look-out for the great wines—particularly Cabs—from Napa... Colgin's, Harlan Estates, etc... Your wine was a hit. First time I've beat these wine junkies to a hot find.
Thanks. And keep making more.
John Riccitiello