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Recent press about Frias Family Vineyards!
Higher ground
Napa and Sonoma's mountain vineyards produce Cabernets with desirable intensity
Tim Teichgraeber, Special to The Chronicle
Friday, March 2, 2007
A taste of mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon
Mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon is notorious for taking a little more time to open up, but it's often well worth the wait. Vines planted in thin, high-elevation soils produce smaller grapes with more skin and less juice than grapes grown on the valley floor. The result is concentrated with deeper color and more tannin than grapes grown at lower elevations.
The mountains ringing Napa Valley are known for producing some of California 's best and longest-lived wines, but great Cabernet is also grown on the other side of the Mayacamas range in Sonoma County . I tasted 21 mountain-grown wines from Napa and Sonoma counties and these were my favorites.
2004 Frias Family Vineyard Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon ($65) Opulent and fruit-driven with cassis, black cherry, chocolate and licorice and dried herb aromas and intense, almost sweet black-fruit flavors balanced by fine, grainy tannins and great natural acidity.
Tim Teichgraeber is a San Francisco writer.
Wine Spectator Online - February 2007
93 - FRIAS Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District Private Reserve 2004
Supple, graceful and complex, with a core of fruit built around plum, black cherry, herb and cedary oak that keep revealing extra flavor nuances. Dense and concentrated, it keeps its focus on a long, persistent finish. Drink now through 2012. 575 cases made. — J.L.
Read the full article at:
http://www.winespectator.com/
Best of Napa Valley - June 2005
Spring Mountain
There is no actual Spring Mountain. This mostly forested AVA, just above St. Helena, is not a mountain but a saddle of land between Mount Veeder and Diamond Mountain District. The name comes from the area's numerous natural springs. Grapes have been grown here since the 1870s, but only in the past decade or so did the region's reputation start to soar. Much of this is thanks to Cabernet, and that's what counts in Spring Mountain—powerful, rich, dense, dark Cabernet. Some of the best include delicious Cabs from Barnett Vineyards (its Rattlesnake Hill wine is particularly expressive of Spring Mountain) and even more intense versions from Pride Mountain Vineyards and Frias Family (its Cabernet has loads of vivid fruit that temper its powerful tannins). Other notable producers include established names like Robert Keenan and Spring Mountain Vineyard (both back in good form after some lackluster years) and newer ones such as Terra Valentine and Fantesca, all of which are helping to make Spring Mountain one of Napa's most exciting AVAs
Read the full article at:
www.foodandwine.com
Wine & Spirits
94 - Exceptional
2001 Napa Valley, Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
The First Impression is pure Cabernet in its red, mountain berry fruit and firm,
mountain-grown tannins without bulk. Then the texture becomes voluptuous
and the tannin turns toward fresh wild mushroom. A masterful wine grown to
age a decade or two.
Awards: 2001 Gold Medal Hilton Wine Tasting - Hilton Head, South Carolina
The Vine Times
Napa Valley 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon: Cheers to a new century!
November 2003
By Al Hernandez
2000 Frias Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
5 out of 5 Glasses
Editor's Choice Award
Read the full article at:
www.thevinetimes.com
Wine Spectator Online:
New Wines, New Faces: Trading Places -- From the Inner City to Napa Valley
Posted: Friday, October 12, 2001
By Tim Fish
Read the full article at:
www.winespectator.com
NapaNews.com:
Coming to the front
Mexican families make a name in wine business after toiling in the background
Sunday, January 13, 2002
By PAUL FRANSON
Read the full article at:
www.napanews.com
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