Girard Winery ***

History, like beauty, is in the mind of the beholder. And the history of a winery is no exception. Thirty years after planting their first vineyard, Girard Winery continues to craft elegant and pleasing wines. But there have been some twists and turns along the way, lending to some confusion among consumers, or maybe just me. I, for one, never understood the close relationship between Girard and Rudd, and sought out the history from Steve Ross, Director of Wine Education at Girard Winery.

In 1995 Leslie Rudd purchased the Girard Winery brand and estate property from the Girard family. The property operated under the Girard name until 2000, when Mr. Rudd changed the direction and name of the winery to Rudd Estate. That was the end of the beginning of Girard. And that is where Mr. Pat Roney stepped in.

When the name change occurred, Pat Roney -- President of Dean & Deluca -- purchased the Girard brand from Leslie Rudd and began to rebuild the brand. When Pat purchased the brand, he hired Marco DiGiulio to be the new winemaker. The wines were initially produced in custom crush mode in Calistoga. In 2004, Girard moved into its first winery on Pritchard Hill, where they remained until the existing winery was built in the Carneros region in the summer of 2007. Winemaking and operations continue out of the Carneros plant, while the tasting room is located at 6795 Washington Street in Yountville.

The last time I wrote about Girard Winery I was lightly excoriated by Pat Roney for suggesting that the wines didn't have a house style. I may have been posturing a bit when I said that, but at the same time, a lot has changed at Girard since 1995, and it is apparent in the wines. There is no question that quality has been increasing in the past couple of years -- with the most recent wines garnering 93 points from all the major critics -- and indeed, the 1999 vintage produced a delicious Napa Valley Red, and 2001 produced an excellent Petit Sirah. In any event, after that exchange, I tried to specify for myself what I really thought about Girard, so I pulled some more of their recent wines from the cellar.

There is something visibly appetizing about Girard's label. It's clean and elegant. It's the tuxedo of the wine label world. There is no pretext, and there is no confusion. Note how "Girard" is in script and the information on the label is in type. This is a traditional format, handed down to the new world from France. So aside from being clean and elegant, the label is also traditional. And those, I believe, are the buzzwords Girard is selling here: Tradition. Elegance.

As previously reported, the 2002 Girard Caberent Franc Napa Valley *** displays bright and luscious strawberry notes on opening. There is a very Girard-esque cherry-cola cum bay leaf and vegetal note characteristics about this wine, which showed as well in the 2002 cabernet. After two days, this showed complex notes of spice, fresh red bell pepper, celery and a strong coconut note on the finish.

The 2002 Girard Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill Estate *** smells of anise and blueberry, with mild vegetal and herb notes, and a whiff of cherry-cola. Deep purple but not opaque, this is a mid-weight wine that gains stature as it breathes. With a silky profile after only six years in bottle, the cherry-cola note follows through to the finish. There are mild spices in the middle, and a light, lingering balsam note that is redolent of spicy oak.

With the exception of Roney's early wines, recent releases have tended towards a more elegant, restrained, yet complex style. Even the 2005 Pritchard Hill (which I only tasted briefly at a trade tasting) and which received high scores from Wine Spectator, shows more restraint than many of its peers. But while these wines are not as concentrated as some Napa Valley "fruit bombs," they are, simply put, hard to resist.

Previously reviewed: 1999 Girard Napa Valley Red Wine ***