Nickel & Nickel

International Wine Cellar

Bright full ruby. Wild, complex aromas of cassis, crushed rock, minerals, leather and fresh blood. Densely packed and rocky, offering a tactile, penetrating character to its flavors of dark raspberry, spices, black tea and leather. Not at all a sweet style; in fact, this went  into a shell in the glass. The medicinal Howell Mountain tannins suggest that this stony wine will need extended cellaring. Rating: 92   International Wine Cellar.

Darice Spinelli joined Nickel & Nickel as winemaker in 1998 with the ambition to produce superior single-vineyard wines. After a decade focused on shaping the winery's single-vineyard bottlings, Spinelli added the responsibilities of winery president to her duties.

Biology graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, Spinelli began her career in the wine industry at Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyard. In 1990, she joined Franciscan Vineyards, and with her first vintage as winemaker, attracted great acclaim from the wine industrys toughest critics. Her tenure with Franciscan and eventual promotion to production winemaker afforded Spinelli the opportunity to produce wines from many growing areas, including the mountainous region of Mount Veeder; the flat, warm Cabernet country in Oakville; Rutherford, with its famed "Rutherford Dust" character; and regions further south to the coastal climes in Monterey. She even produced wines for Franciscans venture in Chile.