Thomas Rivers Brown: An Intensive Tasting with Patrick Ladd 5:30 PM or 7:30 PM | The Wine Whisperer
Every once in a while, we get to put together a tasting where we look at the lineup and think: you really, really need to come drink these wines with us.
This is one of those tastings.
We’re welcoming Patrick Ladd to The Wine Whisperer for an intensive look at the wines of Thomas Rivers Brown, one of the most respected and sought-after winemakers working in California today. If you know TRB, you already understand why we’re excited. If you don’t, this is a pretty spectacular way to meet him.
Brown made his name crafting extraordinary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, but that’s only part of the story. His work stretches across some of California’s most compelling vineyards and producers—and this lineup gives us a rare chance to taste just how much range he has.
We’ll put two very different Chardonnays on the table: Rivers-Marie Joy Road and the seriously special Pulido~Walker Chardonnay. From there, we’ll head to the Sonoma Coast for Rivers-Marie Summa Vineyard Pinot Noir, before finishing in Napa with Mending Wall Red Blend and Caterwaul Phelan Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon from St. Helena.
In other words, we are not messing around.
We’ll taste:
Rivers-Marie Joy Road Chardonnay 2024
Pulido~Walker Chardonnay 2022
Rivers-Marie Summa Vineyard Pinot Noir 2024
Mending Wall Red Blend 2022
Caterwaul Phelan Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
Patrick will guide us through the vineyards, producers, stories, and winemaking behind each bottle, but just as importantly, we’ll have the chance to taste these wines side by side. That’s the part we’re most excited about. You can talk about a winemaker’s style all day long; it’s a whole lot more fun to put six glasses on the table and discover it for yourself.
And friends, these are wines worth discovering. Several come from projects and vineyards that we simply don’t get to pour every day, and tasting this breadth of Thomas Rivers Brown’s work in one sitting is a pretty unusual opportunity.
We’re offering two intimate sessions, at 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, with limited seating for each. Purchase tickets here.
If you love California wine, collect California wine, or just really enjoy drinking something exceptional while a very knowledgeable person tells you why it tastes so darn good, this is your class.
Come taste with us. We have a feeling you’ll be talking about a few of these bottles for a while.