Home of the Cellar Tasting Festival / FourTwenty wine community
The 2026 FourTwenty event was a hit. Thank you to everyone who took part. This year's winner is Jarod M. for his weekend lineup and thoughtful, detailed notes.
Aaron's notes on the wines we opened are below. Scroll on down to see all the posts from this year.
La Carte et le Territoire 2014
A Merlot / Cabernet Franc blend from the Young-Inglewood vineyard that we made between 2009 to 2014. The vineyard sits on deep bench land just south and west of St. Helena, a fact we were particularly glad of during the drought years of ‘12, ‘13 and ’14. In 2014 the blend was 66% Merlot and 33% Cabernet Franc, your classic right bank combo. And indeed the deep bench gravel of the site, with its high, but early-receding water table reminded Aaron a lot of Chateau Latour Figeac (which he made in the 1990s). In 2014 the drought and early Spring warmth brought everything forward about 2 weeks, but the mild summer’s even warmth gave balanced , optimum ripeness.
The wine is silky supple, no angles and not as massive or chewy as the ‘13. On 4/20 it was really singing, with cherry, iris, black olive and tobacco.
Actaeon 2015
A 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (clone 4) from Carl Doumani’s Stags Leap vineyard that we made during the years that Aaron worked with Carl (2009-2017). The vineyard faces east which is unusual for SLD and exacerbated the already well-known effect in SL of diurnal temperature swings. We always found that this gave an exciting level of brightness and acidity to the wines which combined beautifully with its generous ripeness. The early part of the 2015 growing season was challenging, with alternating rain and intense heat during the flowering. We had low set and then, later, even the berries that had formed showed uneven ripeness and we had to drop further fruit, ending up with maybe our lowest ever yield. Strangely the 2015 fruit showed very little apparent tannin during fermentation, but it more than made up for it in concentration and the delicate acidity which has given it a rich attack and soft fullness with a lovely long finish. With blackberry, black truffle, toffee, orange and plum.
Agnes Sorel 2021
This is a wine we find ourselves going to again and again because there’s so much there and it’s so excitingly alive and alluring. The Agnes project began as an experiment in Natural winemaking borne of Aaron’s research trips to France in the 2010s. It’s 100% Cabernet Franc from our Mt. Veeder estate, fermented and aged in amphorae (terracotta). No stainless, no oak, no sulphur added during fermentation. Franc is an ancient and highly expressive varietal making this a direct “download” of our terroir. 2021 was an ideal growing season valley-wide and gave us ripe, plump fruit. There was a lot of wild tannin which responded excellently to a long maceration, with the terracotta effect giving just the right amount of “breathing room”. Fig, cocoa, tobacco, blackberry, forest floor plum; rich and layered with a purity that lasts until the very last note.
INSTAGRAM of Jenn P.'s repost about 4/20 Feedback Festival
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Thursday shoutout - it's Syrah time
Suzie H. and the crew having a great time with a bottle of Viognier.
Jonathan G. Attached are several pics representing our celebrating over the weekend. One is a linear of older vintages of Her Majesty’s Secret...See More
Vaughn K. We started 4.20 early in Cleveland. The 2012 Kali is drinking amazingly!!!
Austin M. My wife and I opened this 2013 Her Majesty’s Secret Service over the weekend. We just had our second daughter, so this was one of th...See More
David K. The weather, low 40’s and rainy, here in CT is not cooperating for 4/20 day. We managed to get a 4/20 photo in before the heavy rain ...See More
2013 Pott Wine Kaliholmanok."The perfect 420 wine"1+3 = 4 Pott(4)+Wine(4)+Kaliholmanok(12) = 20Pairing the effervescent personality of the 2013 ...See More
Daniel T. Tasted a '19 Greer with Aaron recently, and got out the Big Guns for the day: "I felt this was appropriate. Cheers. 420!!!!!"
Janice and Gary C. with a 4/20 Still Life homage to Arvid’ s painting. (Thomas Arvid did a painting of our wine a few years ago.&nb...See More
Michael and Kara K. Although Kara and I are newbies to the Pott family of wines, we love them, especially your Cabernet Franc. These pics ...See More
Guy K. sending a BIG cheers from the Sunshine State
Kiran J. Our first bottle of Pott wine was in 2016 at Hotel Zaza in Dallas…it was a bottle of “Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. ...See More
Steve R. in NYC making sure there is no doubt about his favorite wine.
Jarod M: Instead of a Pott Day, we decided on a Pott weekend. Started off on Friday with the double magnum with a Coravin and saved the last of ...See More
Clay C. We didn’t have any of our bottles yet to drink today and showcase cause we just did the tasting on Saturday but absolutely had a blast...See More
Dave and Marcie, Greetings from the shores of Lake Mendota in Madison Wisconsin! What a great idea. Pott wines are our family’s go...See More
Tracy from Chandler, AZ: Enjoying this delicious 2014 Pott Actaeon showing these typical, beautiful notes of Quixote Vineyard. Anyone else...See More
Brownliesteve nailed it at 4:20 on 4/20. Love the moody weather behind, stay indoors and drink wine!
John M. going pure and literal ...
a 2012 Turf War. Wish there were 3 glasses, one for me too!
Richard R. Cheers from Northern Arizona! Enjoying a 2017 Magnum of Space & Time with Sedona red rocks in the background. A fantastic way to...See More
Greetings from Walnut Creek ! Happy 4/20 Aaron, Claire and daughters !
60snfabulous: At precisely 4:20 pm on 4/20 I popped the cork on the "Her Majesty's Secret Service" Cabernet Sauvignon, instantly unleashing a "d...See More
Darren and Sandy have two reasons to celebrate: "14th anniversary today! Happy Pott Day!"
Matt and Bob modeling the T-Shirt: Milk is for Babies
Three Men, Two Women, Two Bottles and a Baby. Baby K. modeling the onesie: Milk is for Babies
POTT WINE: Milk is for Babies
Doubling up for points: Milk is for babies, Smoke is for ...?
It's all smiles over at Paul's place
Happy 4/20 from Rancho Santa Fe! We first met Aaron at the Jimmy V Wine Weekend in 2006 (I think). There was a big wine tasting event, maybe 50...See More
Carole P. with an old drippy bottle: Happy 4/20 AKA Pott Wine day!
Mikael T: Celebrating 4/20 with @aaron_pott's Pott Wine is fun for the whole family!
It wouldn't be 4/20 with Pott ... wine. Delicious with Moroccan Chicken.
Roland wrote: Hi Claire! We don't have social media, but wanted to be a Pott Head! Our friends Dan and Beth (who have been up to the property w...See More
JK: Simply irresistible, Happy Pott Day!
AJ: Every time we get to Napa we try to get together with the Potts to share wine and food and life. Can’t wait for our next trip.
Anthony and Alex: Somms are getting younger and younger these days!
David b: Claire we had a wonderful bottle of 2022 Stacked…and 2 others in reserve! We stayed sober but potted none the less.
J in Oregon: Fun with a still life and a real bottle!
M&M sending it all the way from Belgium!!
Our number one fan in Germany Josef B. and the staff at Alfio's celebrated with a bottle of 2018 Space&Time.
Walnut Creek Pott Head Gerry checked in on Thursday: Had to work late on 4/20, am late to the party but enjoyed my Pott last evening! What grea...See More
Matt W: Wine in the office brings offoce wisdom. "Stacked 2023" Happy 420 from La Verne, CA
Kelli H.: Loved the idea of open that bottle on 4/20 so I carried it a bit longer, and wanted to share these celebrations with you. I'm co...See More
Kelli again: Next two pics....We had a neighborhood gathering in East Beach on Saturday night, and the 2014 HMSS was star of the show.