Dana Estate Napa Valley Wine Tasting with Special Guest Owner Jae Chun

Wine is wonderful stuff. But so many people are put off by the snobbery of it.



John Cleese



Or they simply can’t afford the good stuff…and you don’t have to be a billionaire to drink well at the Wine Watch we have great wines at every price point.  We also give you the opportunity to taste some of the world’s greatest wine at a fraction of the cost that you would have to pay to buy a bottle.  This is what makes Wine Watch one of the most unique wine boutiques in the world, there is no other wine store that you can taste as many wines through the course of the year for ½ the price of a single bottle of one wine on the table…and that includes dinner!!

Napa Valley produces some of the greatest examples of the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal and at the top end of the spectrum there are many choices but very few that have started out at the top like Dana Estate.

I remember my visit to Dana right after they opened the newly renovated winery that was formerly the Livingston Moffett estate.  After touring the new winery, I remember thinking “WOW” they built an amazing facility to produce a few hundred cases of each of the single vineyard wine.  Profit was not the initial goal, becoming one top wines in Napa Valley was and they spared no expense building this winery.  They bought one of the top vineyard sites in Napa Valley, then hired one of the top winemakers to consult for the project Philippe Melka and spared no expense on everything.  That is how you make a great wine from day one, it takes a huge commitment and the Chun family was ready to stay the course and they have never wavered.

The Chun family succeeded in making Dana Estate one of the best wines in Napa from the very first vintage, the 2005 was amazing but once Robert Parker Jr’s Wine Advocate rated the 2007 Dana Estate Lotus Vineyard (100 points) the rest was history.  The demand for these wines now has moved the needle to where the new releases are just shy of $1000 a bottle!

Dana Estate is now considered to be among the top wines of Napa Valley and you can put it alongside any of the world’s great Cabernet Sauvignon, it can hang with the big boys of Bordeaux. 

Join us as we welcome the owner of Dana Estate Jae Chun to South Florida and experience all the wines that Dana Estate produces.  Chef Toni will prepare a tasting menu to accompany them and the fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $495 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. 



Dana Estate Napa Valley Wine Tasting

with Special Guest Owner Jae Chun

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

7:30 PM

2021 Dana Estates Hershey Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Howell Mountain Napa

2020 Dana Estates Vaso Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

2019 Dana Estates Onda Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

2021 Dana Estates Onda Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

2021 Dana Estates Hershey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2021 Dana Estates Lotus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2021 Dana Estates Helms Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2022 Dana Estates Montagna Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Menu

Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie

Mini Blackened Mahi Tacos with Mango Mint Salsa

Frozen Foie Gras Powder Served over Tomato Aspic with Beef Consumee

A5 Waygu Filet Mignon Served with Cabernet Natural Sauce and Sweet Potato Au Gratin

Chocolate Tart

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $495 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any dietary restrictions or aversions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.

A brief history of Dana Estate:

Nestled at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains in the Napa Valley, Dana Estates is dedicated to making small lots of truly distinctive world class wines.  Dana is a Sanskrit term meaning “the Spirit of Generosity.” It is in this spirit that we express a profound appreciation for those that have worked the soil before us, as we build on the foundations laid by previous generations of vintners.  Blending history and tradition with cutting edge vineyard management, a new state of the art winery and meticulous winemaking, Dana Estates strives to make the greatest wines possible. In so doing, we hope to provide a link between the past and future generations of vintners, and all those who appreciate the generosity of this special land.

Dana Estates is the third winery to occupy this piece of vineyard land in the heart of the famed Rutherford Bench. First farmed and developed by German viticulturalist H. W. Helms in 1883, it was purchased in 1976 by John and Diane Livingston and served as the home for Livingston Moffett winery until proprietor Hi Sang Lee bought the property in 2005. The winery was re-designed by renowned architect Howard Backen, keeping the original stone walls as its centerpiece.  Hi Sang and Howard worked carefully with winemakers Philippe Melka and Cameron Vawter to insure that the space and facilities would enable the production of consistently world class wines.

They make three single vineyard expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley and a blend called Onda along with one white wine made from Sauvignon Blanc.

This gently sloping site is relatively cool, and is protected from the intensity of the late afternoon heat during the height of the growing season.  The gravelly loam soils provide excellent drainage and wonderful fruit purity. Helms Vineyard Cabernet displays the classic profile of the Rutherford Bench: dark fruit, richly layered with a touch of spice and earth. The finely grained “dusty” tannins so prevalent in the appellation are integrated and harmonious, producing a wine of sophistication and depth.

The incredibly rocky, rhyolitic soils of this Howell Mountain site provide fruit with structure and depth, yet the cool climate produces a wine of restraint and vibrant acidity. An underlying minerality gives the wine a particularly distinctive character and provides another layer of complexity. The appellation has become a favorite of collectors who value the age worthy capacity of wines from this elevation.

Onda is a wine made in the Bordeaux tradition, blending both varietals and vineyards together to create a synergy from our estate sites.  We have been making this wine since 2005, experimenting by blending fruit from Helms, Hershey, Lotus and our fourth estate vineyard, Crystal Springs. A bit softer than our single vineyard wines, Onda is characterized by wonderful fruit purity, elegance and precision. It drinks beautifully upon release but will age gracefully for 10-15 years with appropriate storage.

The Lotus vineyard is located at 1200 feet above sea level in the Vaca Mountains on the east side of the valley, Lotus is the warmest of our three vineyards.  With rocky soils and low yielding vines facing west that embrace the afternoon sun, Lotus produces a wine of power and concentration.  Packed with layers of black fruit, with notes of mocha, anise and graphite, Lotus tends to be the most full bodied of the three wines we produce.