Oh, if only there were four (maybe five) of Your West Coast Oenophile to crank out this column! Actually, if I were quintuplets, I would have one of me oversee and manage the development of Sostevinobile, another liaise with the 8,000+ wine labels in California, Washington, and Oregon, a third run the wine programs at all of our (eventual) locations, have Marco Quattro handle funding, and let the one who drew the short straw sit in front of a keyboard and churn the daily prose here. Not that I would ever demean the pleasures of the scribe.
I shouldn’t really apologize for being so far behind—after all, if July’s weather has decided it can show up in October, so, too, can my reviews and witticisms roll in at a languid pace. And so the events I attended in lieu of journeying East for Livia’s ottantenario now occupy the forefront of this blog, commencing with the Grand Tasting for a new annual celebration.
Held at the Westin St. Francis, Sonoma in the City brought together an impressive array of wineries from the county’s various sub-AVAs. The alphabetical listings in the program, however, held little correlation to the actual floor plan of the exhibit room, but being the first production of this event, its organizers can be forgiven for the confusion in locating the tables I had earmarked (I suspect I might have been able to cover 50% more of the wineries, had navigating the layout not been so challenging). The first winery I was able to find turned out to be Argot, a whimsical Sonoma venture I had not previously encountered. Predominantly focused on Bennett Valley fruit, they began their tasting with the 2009 Happenstance, a deft blend of 70% Roussanne from the acclaimed Saralee’s Vineyard with 30% Chardonnay. This same Bennett Valley Chardonnay comprised the 2009 Old Habits, a wine on par with their 2007 The Preamble, a straightforward Bennett Valley Syrah. Their final offering, the 2009 Over the Moon displayed the ample potential Bennett Valley offers for Pinot Noir.
The program called them Draxton. The parent venture, however, calls itself Vintners Signatures. in contrast, the website lists the label as El Roy. Despite this conundrum, the wines proved uniformly quite good, starting with a crisp 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley. I liked the more modest 2009 El Roy Chardonnay and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley both, but found 2007 Malbec Alexander Valley clearly preferable
Even though I have been familiar with Saintsbury’s Garnet since the early 1980s, I had not realized that it had been spun off as an independent label and acquired earlier this year by David Biggar’ and Tom Peterson’s Vintage Point, a Sonoma partnership that also markets such favorites as Educated Guess and Layer Cake. To be honest, I have not always been a fan of this approach to crafting Pinot, but was surprisingly pleased by the 2009 Carneros Pinot Noir, especially considering that it represents a 10,000 case undertaking. On the other hand, I was well aware that the venerable MacRostie label had been sold to Lion Nathan, an Australian/New Zealand-based importer/producer that also owns Oregon’s esteemed Argyle Winery; still under the tutelage of Steve MacRostie, the 2008 Sonoma Chardonnay remained a most pleasant wine.
I’m not sure how I’d missed Red Car before this event—Director of Sales and Viticulture Paul Sequeira is married to my good friend Simone Sequeira of La Follette—but perhaps I may have confused it with Red Truck, which has been subsumed by the good folks at JFJ Bronco. Nonetheless, Red Car sits at the proverbial antipode to Ceres’ œnology, meticulously producing restrained, unfettered wines from the Sonoma Coast. Befitting wineries that share Red Car’s æsthetic, their lineup focuses on Chardonnay, Syrah, and Pinot Noir. Their entry-level line, Boxcar, featured a palatable 2009 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast, while both the 2009 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast and the 2008 Syrah Sonoma Coast from their Trolley series pleased immensely. I can’t quite decipher the nomenclature from their eclectic Reserve lineup, but was just as enthralled with the 2009 Aphorist, a Pinot Noir from Bartolomei Vineyard.
One of my all-time favorite aphorists was the self-proclaimed MetaPhys Ed Teacher, who memorably pronounced “It’s not whether you win or lose. It just is.” This philosophy parallels Sostevinobile’s efforts to stay non-judgmental about the various approaches to making wine different winerires here on the West Coast practice (with the caveat that these effo
rts reflect a sincere attempt to craft quality wine, not simply move quantities of mass-produced juice). This straightforward approach is exemplified in hundreds of wineries I encounter, including my discovery of Rockpile’s Bruliam Wines, where Brian Overstreet and his wife Kerith, a former general surgeon turned œnologist, handcraft a trio of vineyard-designated Pinots, alongside a stellar 2009 Rocky Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel. Sourced from The Swale, an exclusive ¾ acre block of this prized Rockpile vineyard, this limited release derives exclusively from the St. Peters Church Heritage Zinfandel clone. Dedication, precision, devotion—it just is.
rts reflect a sincere attempt to craft quality wine, not simply move quantities of mass-produced juice). This straightforward approach is exemplified in hundreds of wineries I encounter, including my discovery of Rockpile’s Bruliam Wines, where Brian Overstreet and his wife Kerith, a former general surgeon turned œnologist, handcraft a trio of vineyard-designated Pinots, alongside a stellar 2009 Rocky Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel. Sourced from The Swale, an exclusive ¾ acre block of this prized Rockpile vineyard, this limited release derives exclusively from the St. Peters Church Heritage Zinfandel clone. Dedication, precision, devotion—it just is.
Another discovery here, Bennett Valley’s Sable Ridge, concentrates its efforts on Syrah. Sonoma in the City provided an exquisite platform for the winery to contrast its current release, the 2008 Syrah Bennett Valley with its well-rounded elder sibling, the 2002 Syrah Bennett Valley. Both proved immensely appealing in their own right. I had had a number of occasions lately to sample from Flanagan Vineyards, but somehow had managed to arrive right after they had packed up. Under the tutelage of Philippe Melka, this Bennett Valley winery finally managed to impress me with both their 2008 Syrah and an equally balanced 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.
From there, my task became to navigate as many familiar wineries as I could fit in logistically, with the scant amount of time and confusing floor plan. First up, I visited with the redoubtable Acorn Winery, but rather than bore dedicated Sostevinobile readers with my recurrent plea to sample their Dolcetto, I’ll merely highlight both their 2007 Cabernet Franc Alegría Vineyards and, of course, the 2007 Sangiovese Alegría Vineyards. Similarly reaffirming the quality of their craft was longtime familiar Peay Vineyards, ably serving up both their 2009 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast and a highly memorable 2009 Pinot Noir Pomarium Estate Sonoma Coast. Another of Peay’s confrères from the West of West Festival that promoted the West Sonoma Coast Vintners, fellow Kissie Steven Singer’s Baker Lane held its own with its 2008 Estate Vineyard Syrah.
An equally appealing 2007 Cardiac Hill Syrah from Jemrose stood between their crisp 2009 Egret Pond Viognier and the compelling 2008 Foggy Knoll Grenache. And I certainly found myself exuberant about Bill Canihan’s 2007 Exuberance Estate, his special reserve bottling of his Syrah. Arguably, however, the benchmark for Syrah came from Westerhold, which paired two equally stunning bottlings, the 2007 Estate Syrah Bennett Valley and a pre-release of its successive vintage, both singular efforts from this esteemed family boutique. And although Schug is primarily regarded for its Pinots, I opted only to sample the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley this go-around.
As noted in previous postings, I have often been impressed with Ray D’Argenzio’s Italian bottlings, particularly his ongoing efforts to produce a California Amarone. Today, however, his offerings included only his more mainstream Sonoma wines, of which I happily partook in the 2006 Zinfandel Russian River Valley and the 2006 Petite Sirah Russian River Valley. Still, I was not to be denied my predilection for my ancestral varietals, starting with a pair of wines from Muscardini. As per usual, I greatly enjoyed the 2008 Tesoro, Mike’s proprietary blend of Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, but his real gem this afternoon was the new 2009 Sangiovese, an exquisite rendition of the grape.
Meanwhile, the olive oil virtuosos at DaVero showed just how adept they can be at vinification, starting with their 2008 Sangiovese Dry Creek Valley. I had hoped they would have poured their famed Sagrantino here, but its absence was mitigated by the superb 2007 Rosso di Bea, a miscela of Sagrantino and Sangiovese in equal proportions. DaVero’s second label displayed both skill and diversity, starting with the 2008 Falco Barbera, as well as with a non-Italian red, the 2008 Falco Zinfandel. Their versatility also extended into the white realm, with a delightful 2009 Falco Vermentino and their special 2010 Falco So’ Bianco, a complex blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Musqué, with just a touch of Riesling.
One would think that Ray Teldeschi’s Del Carlo Winery would produce Italian varietals, and certainly with his acclaim for Zinfandel, Primitivo would not constitute a stretch, but for now, I was sufficed by his 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley and, naturally, the 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley. Another strong showing for Zin came from Everett Ridge, with their small production 2007 Estate Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley. Still, Gracianna came c
lose to stratospheric with their amazing 2009 Zinfandel Russian River Valley. And while this extraordinary wine proved their forte, I found both the 2009 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley and its immediate predecessor more than compelling, while greatly enjoying the 2010 Suzanne’s Blend Chardonnay.
lose to stratospheric with their amazing 2009 Zinfandel Russian River Valley. And while this extraordinary wine proved their forte, I found both the 2009 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley and its immediate predecessor more than compelling, while greatly enjoying the 2010 Suzanne’s Blend Chardonnay.
Just as Westerhold focuses on a single varietal & bottling, Garden Creek Ranch annually produces around 500 cases of its proprietary Bordeaux blend. Here I had a definite preference for the 2004 Tesserae, though the 2005 vintage certainly displayed nothing to scoff at! Also with an attenuated inventory, Hidden Ridge features quite possibly the most vertically daunting vineyard to harvest in California. And yet its 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon 55% Slope (!) presents a wine that surpasses in its approachability.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hartford Family Winery offered a diverse range of exceptional wines. The 2007 Land’s End Pinot Noir tantalized with overtures of virtuosity I normally expect from their Pinot lineup, but their strong suit came from their Zins, of which I sampled three. Equally impressive were the 2009 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard and the 2009 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, but the utter standout had to have been the non-specific 2009 Zinfandel Russian River Valley. Keeping pace, Hartford’s white wine portfolio featured a marvelous 2008 Stone Côte Chardonnay and three equally outstanding vintages from the Russian River Valley: the 2009 Four Hearts Chardonnay, the 2009 Fog Dance Chardonnay, and a superbly aged 2007 Laura’s Chardonnay.
Gracefully aging, too, was the 2002 Estate Pinot Noir from former Ambassador to Italy James Zellerbach’s Hanzell Vineyards. Ripe and ready now, the 2009 Pinot Noir Floodgate Vineyard from Cartograph exemplified this emerging vintage, while their 2010 Gewürztraminer Floodgate Vineyard proved equally appealing. Halfway between these vintages, the 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Laurel Glen affirmed why this sometimes obviated Glen Ellen producer has quietly remained a force with which to be reckoned for the past 30 years. Ironically, its only other selection, the 2007 Counterpoint makes no counterpoint but rather underscores Laurel Glen’s reputation for Sonoma Cabernet.
Oftentimes, trade tastings afford me the opportunity to sample wines outside of the varietals or blends for which a particular winery’s is customarily acclaimed. For example, I have typically turned to Iron Horse as a favored sparkling wine house since the mid-1980s, and certainly here the 2008 Classic Vintage Brut Green Valley was a paragon of their forte. Still, the 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay Green Valley displayed an equal facility with still wines. Similarly, I think of Mauritson as the pioneers of the Rockpile AVA—its Zins in particular. Here, their Zin offering was an inarguably excellent 2009 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley, alongside a more modest 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley. From their perch above Lake Sonoma, the 2008 Petite Sirah Rockpile Madrone Spring Vineyard displayed an utterly exquisite wine, while the 2007 Buck Pasture Red Wine exhibited all the finest qualities of a complex Meritage still 5-10 years away from peaking.
Other wineries here held close to their common perceived claim to fame. Kosta Browne offered a selection of their highly prized Pinots, including the 2009 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley and the 2009 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. Their Sonoma Coast brethren at Littorai shone, as usual, with their 2008 Pinot Noir The Pivot Vineyard and the 2008 Platt Vineyard Pinot Noir.
Winding my way through the maze and the crowd that filled the ballroom at the St. Francis left scant time to visit with but two more wineries. With no overt agenda in mind, I drifted over to the table for Medlock Ames, one of the wineries most dedicated to sustainable practices throughout every aspect of their architecture and viticultural methodology. Their 2007 Red Bell Mountain Ranch ably blended Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, while the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley begged to remain bottled for at least four more years. As is wont to happen, the 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley from Fritz seemed quite drinkable now, while their coda to this tasting, the Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc blend known as the 2010 Vino Valpredo Bianca Mia, with its very Italianate bottle, easily won for the most intriguing name of the afternoon.
Ah, if there had only been more intrigue for Sostevinobile! But another day and another tasting loomed just on the horizon, and so I hastily pedaled back to Pacific Heights and rested up for the next day’s onslaught
So many tastings. So little time.
Harvest has just begun in the wine country at the time of this writing, and Your West Coast Oenophile couldn’t be more relieved. Predictions for this year’s crop have admittedly been largely on the gloomy side, with yet another dilatory warm season, but here at Sostevinobile, all fingers are crossed that the quality will prove high and the yield, bountiful.
Still, my pleasure in harvest starting stems largely from a sense of self-interest. I am still woefully behind in keeping my readership abreast of my wine discoveries over this past summer, and with every one tied up in the fields or on the crushing line for the next several weeks, there will be few occasions for me to venture out and explore. So maybe by the time the Cabs and late harvest Zins finish up…
My annual visit to the historic Escalle Winery in Larkspur has become ritual at this point, although a reaggravated squash injury prevented me from making the trek on bicycle this year. Once again, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) put on an impressive spread of venison, rabbit sausage. local cheeses, and, of course, the diverse repertoire of Marin County’s Pinot Noirs (and then some).
The seventh staging of this benefit was marked by a notable change in the lineup of wineries, and while I was disappointed not to find perennial pourers like David Vergari and Nathan Kandler (Precedent Wines & Thomas Fogarty) on hand, it was certainly a pleasure to encounter several new participants, starting with an impressive debut by Bryan and Paul Vais’ Bailiwick Wines. MALT had loosened up its parameters for this year’s event, allowing other locally-grown varietals to be poured, but despite the allure of a Cabernet Franc and Vermentino I have yet to try, Bailiwick opted only to showcase their fairly impressive 2009 Borderline Pinot Noir.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Novato’s Pacheco Ranch Winery debuted here without a drop of Pinot, selecting instead to showcase a three-year vertical of their Cabernets. While all were noteworthy, the middle selection, the 2005 Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon, stood out as their benchmark vintage.
Other wineries that did avail themselves of the “not just Pinot” option included MALT stalwarts Pey-Marin, with a notable 2010 The Shell Mound Riesling and the ever-eclectic Point Reyes Vineyard, that offered their 2001 Quail Hill Cabernet Sauvignon alongside their familiar NV Blanc de Noir Sparkling Wine and a surprisingly delectable 2007 Estate Pinot Noir.
Last year’s barbecue saw the debut of Skywalker Ranch, a MALT-protected agricultural easement on the property originally developed as headquarters for George Lucas’ operations. The wines are now produced under two labels, Skywalker Ranch, which excelled with their 2009 Reserve Pinot Noir, and the Francis Ford Coppola co-produced Viandante del Cielo, with an equally compelling 2009 Pinot Noir and an underripe 2010 Pinot Noir. The treat here, though, was the 2008 Viandante del Cielo Chardonnay, a wine showing marvelously at this stage.
Meanwhile, I continued onto the wineries that had yet to included in the Sostevinobile roster. Readers here should not be surprised that I would be utterly predisposed to liking a label that calls itself Burning Bench even before its vertical of Pinots crossed my lips. The Internet offers few insights into this intriguing venture from David Mease, but no matter—the wine speaks for itself. Though I was tepid about the 2006 vintage, I could not have been more pleased with the 2007 Moon Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir and its equally elegant successor from 2008.
Couloir doesn’t boast a color scheme like this—the rainbow effect is my feeble attempt a French visual pun. What this incipient wine venture does rest its laurels on is the prowess of owner/winemaker Jon Grant, whose pedigree includes Turley, PlumpJack, Corison, and Robert Mondavi. Here, with his own label, he showed great promise with the still-young 2009 Chileno Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir—even though his Website identifies this as a Mendocino County vintage!
 Alfred Derby Easkoot (1820-1905)
Marin County’s first land surveyor
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The driving force behind the annual MALT tastings has always been Mark Pasternak, proprietor of Marin’s Devil’s Gulch Ranch, a renowned sustainable farm and youth camp focused on “agriculture, nature education, and indigenous skills” in the Petaluma Gap designated sector of the Sonoma Coast AVA. While the vineyards at Devil’s Gulch have furnished Pinot, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer for other vintners in Marin, Pasternak had not previously produced his own label. Now, with grapes from Marin’s Chileno Valley Vineyard and winemaking from Shane McManigle and Matt Duffy, comes the highly eclectic Easkoot Cellars label. Though now sold out, their inaugural release, the 2009 Pinot Noir Chileno Valley Vineyard showcased its considerable pedigree quite amiably, a solid portent for Easkoot’s forthcoming 2010 vintage, as well as a yet-to-be released bottling from Sonoma County’s Suacci Vineyard.
I would be remiss in not also citing the commitment Pasternak’s Devil’s Gulch Educational Services makes to Haitian farmers. It is an unwavering dedication even my activist friends at Haïti Liberté gratefully acknowledge.
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Another Francophone stronghold in the New World is the burgeoning wine empire of my friend Jean-Charles Boisset, whose family holdings recently acquired Buena Vista, California’s oldest premium winery. Boisset’s first Sonoma acquisition, DeLoach Vineyards, returned here with a trio of Marin Pinots, along with a compelling 2009 Chardonnay Stubbs Vineyard that was not listed on the program. In descending order, I found myself duly impressed with the 2009 Skyview Pinot Noir, followed by the subtle 2009 Marin County Pinot Noir that blend grapes from both the Stubbs and the Corda Vineyards, and, lastly, the 2009 Stubbs Vineyard Pinot Noir, a Vineyard Designate selection.
Meanwhile, both Nicasio’s Dutton-Goldfield and Bolinas’ Thackrey featured their bottlings of Pinots from Pasternak’s Devil’s Gulch. The former proved most enticing with their 2008 Devil’s Gulch Pinot Noir, while the 2009 Devil’s Gulch Pinot Noir hinted at future promise. I could not pick a favorite between the non-consecutive vintages from my fellow Hellenophile from Horseshoe Hill Road, but both the 2006 Andromeda Devil’s Gulch Ranch and its successor, the 2008 Andromeda Devil’s Gulch Ranch, impressed me as the most complex vintages of the afternoon.
One of the undeniable pleasures of this annual Marin wine tasting is gauging the evolution of not only of the county’s burgeoning wine industry but of individual wineries, as well. Perennial participant Kendric Vineyards continued to lure me with each subsequent appearance here, as the quality of Stewart Johnson’s Pinot Noir escalates even as its price-point slowly trickles upward. Still, I preferred the $34 2007 Marin Pinot Noir to the $35 2008 Marin Pinot Noir, an assessment contrary to the findings of Richard Jennings’ RJonWine. Other familiar presences here included John Tracy’s Willowbrook Cellars, a Russian River Winery that first expand into Marin in 2006. Here, their third bottling, the 2008 Pinot Noir Chileno Valley Road easily reflected the depth of their Sonoma bottlings, while the pre-released 2009 Chileno Valley Pinot
Noir showed hints of spiciness.
Noir showed hints of spiciness.
As noted several times before, one of my displeasures at events like this continues to be pourers who leave well in advance of the allotted time frame. And I might have taken Vision Cellars to task for prematurely running out of their 2008 Chileno Valley Pinot Noir here, but who can find fault with such an amiable winemaker as Mac McDonald? Still, it would have provided a most concordant note on which to end the gathering…
Mac McDonald heads up a very exclusive, albeit unheralded, trade advocacy, the Association of African American Vintners. This fledgling group is hardly comprehensive but does shed light on the diversity found throughout the wine industry. Also shattering stereotypes about winery ownership is the new Napa Valley Mexican-American Vintners Association (NVMAVA).
Arguably, this noble endeavor would have been far better served had they hired yours truly to create a more mnemonic acronym, as I have in my previous career for such memorable ventures as Pediatricians Opposed to Prophylactics, the Pill, and Abortion (POPPA) or Pranksters Hired to Undermine your Competition’s Quality and Usurp their Prominence and Profitability (PHUCQ UPP). This oversight notwithstanding, I was still immensely pleased to participate in their Bautizo early this summer at Maldonado, a Napa Valley estate ringed with hewn caves and revered for its Chardonnay.
Maldonado typifies the story of most NVMAVA members. Patriarch Lupe Maldonado arrived in California in 1961 and toiled in the vineyards for over three decades before being able to buy his own 10 acre tract and plant vines in Jamieson Canyon. Now, in addition to his planted acreage, son Hugo has architected and operates a state-of-the-art facility in Calistoga. Maldonado’s œnological prowess, however, needs no prelude. As anticipated, the 2009 Parr Vineyard Chardonnay proved a lush, superb expression of the varietal. On par with the Parr was the 2006 Los Olivos Syrah, followed closely by the 2008 Proprietary Red Wine, a blend of unspecified composition. And while quite approachable now, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon hinted at peeking in 3-5 years,
While the Napa Valley will always be inextricably linked with Cabernet Sauvignon, the county cuts a wide swath, from Calistoga down to the eastern half of the Carneros AVA, with a marked diversity in its viticultural predisposition. Mi Sueño exemplified the fortes of this lower region with a striking 2008 Pinot Noir Los Carneros, paralleled by an equally appealing 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. Carneros’ other signature grape flourished in the 2008 Chardonnay Los Carneros, but the true revelation here was the 2008 El Llano, a deft blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah that needs no modification, despite Mi Sueño’s description of this wine as “expressing notes of molasses, freshly-cracked pepper, and a dash of piloncillo” (which readily explains why I refuse to incorporate such logorrhea in assaying wines here).
Many of the members’ labels came, not surprisingly, from virtual wineries—endeavors that lack a proprietary physical presence and produce their fare at custom facilities (many of today’s finest labels began in just such a manner). Here, Fernando Candelario’s handcrafted Voces Wines proved a prime example of this phenomenon, featuring a stellar 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Similarly, his 2008 Napa Valley Zinfandel and the 2006 Napa Valley Petite Sirah, both also produced in lots of <300 cases, struck me as exceptionally fine wines. In a similar vein, Blumaro Montes developed his Marita’s Vineyard label to produce ultrapremium wines, like his 2006 SOMA, a Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from his Coombsville vineyard.
Another incipient label, Rosaura Segura’s Encanto, pays tribute to the pioneering vineyard work of her late father, producing Sauvignon Blanc from and a distinctive 2008 Carneros Pinot Noir, both guided by acclaimed vintner Rudy Zuidema. Likewise, Alex Sotelo Cellars displayed a wide diversity in its lineup of small lot wines led by the 2006 Zinfandel Dalraddy Vineyard and the 2006 Syrah Leveroni Vineyard. Also noteworthy were the 2006 The Big A, a signature Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2010 Alma, Sotelo’s interpretation of Sauvignon Blanc.
The Rios brothers launched their Solovino label in 2004 and maintain a tasting room in Calistoga. Their hands-on experience with grape growing over the past three decades, which now encompasses over 1,200 acres of vineyard under the management of Rios Farming, readily
showed in Solovino’s consistently noteworthy lineup. Offerings here included the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2007 Chardonnay, and the Rutherford fruit-driven 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Completing their selections stood another Rutherford gem, the 2006 Mixto, a compelling blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.
showed in Solovino’s consistently noteworthy lineup. Offerings here included the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2007 Chardonnay, and the Rutherford fruit-driven 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Completing their selections stood another Rutherford gem, the 2006 Mixto, a compelling blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.
I moved on next to a pair of wine labels also featuring downtown tasting rooms but in the throes of construction for full winery facilities at their vineyards. Now it’s well known that I like to pick on Amelia Ceja— just because—but I was beholden to her for inviting me to the Bautizo.
As always, she and daughter Dalia were more than generous with their
selections, which included the 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir and a ripe 2008 Carneros Chardonnay. I was particularly impressed with the 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and their enticing 2008 Dulce Beso, an intensely sweet Late Harvest selection blended from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Renteria, another winery with which I have long been familiar, poured a representative trio of their noteworthy wines: the 2009 Chardonnay Carneros, their 2007 Pinot Noir Knittel Vineyard, and a most amiable 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley.
As always, she and daughter Dalia were more than generous with their
selections, which included the 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir and a ripe 2008 Carneros Chardonnay. I was particularly impressed with the 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and their enticing 2008 Dulce Beso, an intensely sweet Late Harvest selection blended from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Renteria, another winery with which I have long been familiar, poured a representative trio of their noteworthy wines: the 2009 Chardonnay Carneros, their 2007 Pinot Noir Knittel Vineyard, and a most amiable 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley.
I have visited the Robledo Family Winery in Carneros and while Bonness Road stands squarely in the portion of the AVA, many of their wines are crafted from an array of Napa vineyards, as exemplified by their outstanding 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley–6th Collector’s Edition. Where the AVA line falls for their 2009 Los Carneros Chardonnay and 2009 Los Carneros Pinot Noir is of little consequence—both were quite delectable, as was the 2009 Tempranillo Lake County (a curiously underrepresented varietal here) and the 2006 Los Braceros, a Sonoma Valley blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah.
Los Braceros is a tribute to the Mexican field workers that have truly constituted the backbone of the California agricultural industry since the 1800s. Robledo proudly salutes its rise from such humble origins to its current position of prominence and is often cited as a paragon of the “True American Dream.” Similar stories could be told of all the founders of NVMAVA. My own decades of experience with the California wine industry has me finely attuned to the handful of endeavors whose amazing degree of success allows them to bottle and release their wines as they see fitl, aged to the point of perfection, and not mandated by the vicissitudes of the economic climate. Here today, at the pinnacle, my friends from Delgadillo showcased their current release, the lusciously layered 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. In a climate that is already pushing the 2009 vintages onto the shelves, this rare achievement was truly a monument to success for all the members here.
33 bottles of wine on the wall, 33 bottles of wine…
Here’s an interesting statistic I recently uncovered: back when Your West Coast Oenophile started in the wine industry, Gallo commanded a 27.7% share of the domestic wine market. In those days, the other dominant players in the wine world were divisions of some of the world’s largest food & beverage producers: Heublein, which owned Inglenook, Italian Swiss Colony, and BV; Nestlé, which had Beringer; Seagram’s owned Paul Masson; Coca-Cola of New York controlled Franzia, Mogen David, and Tribuno, which later became the foundation of The Wine Group; Coca-Cola of Atlanta held Monterey Vineyards and Sterling, which they subsequently sold to Seagram’s.
Most of the wine then came in 3L jugs and magnums. What was most interesting, though, was the degree of conformity among these mega-producers. Everyone, of course, produced a White (labelled as Chablis), a Red (usually called some variation on Burgundy), and a Pink (either Rosé or Pink Chablis). Across the board, varietal bottlings consisted of the Big Eight, no matter where the winery was situated or what the soil and climate might warrant: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chenin Blanc for whites; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, and Napa Gamay (Valdiguié) for reds. And please—don’t even think to ask what passed for Sparkling Wine back then!
Even when Robert Mondavi founded Woodbridge to produce quality, affordable wines—again, mostly in 1.5L bottles—followed by the twin labels, Glen Ellen and M. J. Vallejo, that Benziger created, this same lineup remained compulsory (I still hold a particular fondness for Woodbridge’s “Bob White” and “Bob Red”). It wasn’t until the late 1980s, when a new strain of phylloxera forced nearly every winery to replant their vines, that current system of growing wines to reflect the character of the AVA and the particular terroir of a site became predominant.
Ironically, even with this more sophisticated focus, Napa retains the greatest degree of conformity, not to the old orthodoxy but to an extremely narrow concentration of varietals, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, along with Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel, for the most part. Cabernets and Meritages are almost exclusively blended in accord with Bordeaux strictures, and the majority of varietal bottlings tend to derive from the other components of these assemblages: Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.The upside to this phenomenon, however, is that the wines tend to be damn, damn good!
33) Returning to my exploration of Oakville’s finest that I began in my previous installment, I was pleased to find the eclectic Flora Springs pouring here. Though both the winery and avant-garde tasting room are based in St. Helena, they source their quintet of Single Vineyard bottlings from various AVAs throughout the Napa Valley, with the exemplary 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Holy Smoke Vineyard representing the apex of their Oakville efforts.
32) I’d be remiss in not extolling the incredible wines Harlan’s other label, Bond poured. Like Flora Springs, this winery offers five single vineyard bottlings of Bordeaux blends they somewhat immodestly call their “Grand Crus,” though perhaps the 100 points Robert Parker awarded their 2007 Vecina gives warrant to this classification. Hyperbole or not, this Médoc-style vintage still presented a vastly impressive mastery of œnology.
31) It may rhyme with dud, but any comparison stops way before here. The extraordinary 2006 Oakville Estate Red from Rudd proved a multilayer
ed, nuanced wine, ripe and ready, yet easily ageworthy for a decade or longer.
ed, nuanced wine, ripe and ready, yet easily ageworthy for a decade or longer.
30) Adding to the increasing obfuscation of yet another geographically-labeled wine operations within this sub-AVA, Oakville Cross nevertheless comprises an exceptional labor of love, a micro-estate planting of 2100 vines that yield their single offering, the highly prized 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. Truly a rare pleasure to enjoy.
29) DeSante has built a relatively young virtual winery that sources much of its fruit from Tierra Rioja and Raugh Family Vineyards in Oakville. Here, they proudly poured the pinnacle of their viticultural endeavors, the 2007 Oakville Terraces Cabernet Sauvignon, a scant 85 case bottling.
28) JP Harbison has offered boutique production of Cabernet Sauvignon for the past 10 years, sourcing fruit from a variety of Oakville sources to produce upwards of six barrels. Having planted enough vines on a Silverado Trail tract to yield 11 tons (~22 barrels), they debuted their 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon here, a delectable albeit early bottling.
27) Volatility has been a phenomenon in the wine industry long before I founded Sostevinobile. The trials and tribulations of Cosentino Winery have been well documented elsewhere, and while their Lodi facilities have been shuttered, it was good to see that new owner Larry Soldinger decided to bring back founder Mitch Cosentino. Validating this decision was the quality of the wines poured here that still bore Mitch’s imprimatur, especially the 2008 Estate Merlot, a wine that nullifies any denigration of this Bordelaise varietal.
26) A few years back, I met Ronald Nicholson by chance at Jack Falstaff, the former PlumpJack enterprise where my friend Annette Yang (Nettie’s Crab Shack) held sway. Ron was hawking his fledgling wine operation, Kelham Vineyards,
door-to-door, and during the course of our conversation, he poured me a
glass of his inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon, which he was showcasing for the
sommelier. This day, however, I found myself particularly
cottoning to the 2003 Merlot, a wine that had reached a splendid peak eight years after its harvest.
door-to-door, and during the course of our conversation, he poured me a
glass of his inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon, which he was showcasing for the
sommelier. This day, however, I found myself particularly
cottoning to the 2003 Merlot, a wine that had reached a splendid peak eight years after its harvest.
25) Textbook Vineyards only sounds pedantic. OK, maybe their single effort, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Mise en Place has a slightly abstruse tone to its nomenclature, but the wine easily rivals the more familiar Pinot Noirs this operation bottles under its Pey-Marin and Pey-Lucia labels.
24) Teaderman, on the other hand, conveys more of a “come sit and put your feet up” aura. Its amiable wines emulate Bordelaise conventions, with the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc clearly standing out.
23) Speaking of Sauvignon Blanc, the progenitor of its alter ego, host winery Robert Mondavi, demonstrated no diminution of its prodigious viticultural artistry since its absorption by Constellation, showcasing a remarkable 2009 Fumé Blanc Reserve, a perfect wine to counterbalance the profusion of Cabernets that give Oakville it well-warranted cachet.
Now if only I could find a way to counterbalance the profusion of wines I inexorably sample for Sostevinobile and the endless flow of words with which I chronicle each…
44 bottles of wine on the wall, 44 bottles of wine…
The 2½ years that Your West Coast Oenophile has devoted (so far) to creating Sostevinobile occasionally encounters moments that make my inexorable efforts seem all worthwhile, though, to be perfectly honest, attending an event like Taste of Oakville several weeks back, offers little relevance to the Wine-by-the-Glass program I am building (let’s see, if I can pour five glasses from a bottle of $400 Cabernet, that rounds out roughly to $80/glass—assuming I do not intend to make one single cent of profit). Still, depending on how we evolve, our Reserve Wine list and our retail sales will happily embrace each and every wine these über-premium labels allot us.
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It would probably be hyperbolic for me to make the assertion that being afforded the opportunity to spend a glorious afternoon amid the hallowed chambers of the Robert Mondavi Winery, sipping what is inarguably the pinnacle of Napa Valley viticulture, seemed tantamount to ascending to heaven. On the other hand, having Zhang Ziyi serve me almost eighty indescribably wondrous Cabernet Sauvignons, Bordeaux varietals, and Meritage blends would come pretty close to my definition of sheer, unadulterated ecstasy.
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44) It seemed only fit to begin this afternoon with the 2007 Opus One from the autonomous joint venture of the same name that was founded by Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild (of the two Premier Cru vineyards that bear his name). Though these two departed titans obviously no longer manage this venture, Rothschild’s daughter, the Baroness Philippine, has striven to ensure that Opus One not be enveloped by the corporate ownership that acquired Mondavi in 2004. The result? This vintage of the first true cult wine remains as near-flawless as ever.
43) A quick Internet survey shows bottles of the 2007 Harlan Estate selling for $895 or better. Can a wine really be worth such an exorbitant price? Given the perfect scores it received not only from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate but also the secret Sostevinobile talley sheet I never let anyone view, this flagship bottling from Meadowood’s Bill Harlan could very well be.
42) Joining Opus One and Harlan in this august circle was the 2008 Collina Dalla Valle from Dalla Valle Vineyards. A breathtakingly beautiful wine, it was juxtaposed against a library sample of the 1994 Maya, Dalla Valle’s acclaimed Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon blend that proved stunningly equal, 17 years after bottling, to its younger cousin.
41) T
here is a sense of prestige and accomplishment in owning a Porsche—unless you happen to own a Lamborghini first. Similarly, the next tier of wines poured at this tasting could have easily headline nearly any other event. A metaphoric Turbo S Cabriolet, Futo Wines offered an astounding find, pouring their 2008 Futo Estate, a multilayered Cabernet Sauvignon blend underpinned by Cabernet Franc.
here is a sense of prestige and accomplishment in owning a Porsche—unless you happen to own a Lamborghini first. Similarly, the next tier of wines poured at this tasting could have easily headline nearly any other event. A metaphoric Turbo S Cabriolet, Futo Wines offered an astounding find, pouring their 2008 Futo Estate, a multilayered Cabernet Sauvignon blend underpinned by Cabernet Franc.
40) Another 530 Hp wine, the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Rioja unveiled from its library, presaged an auspicious evolution for the yet-unreleased 2008 vintage they also featured here. I would also note that the winery’s name, meaning “red earth” could not be more befitting the velvety crimson hue of this wine.
39) I can’t keep pace with the various permutations with “Oakville” incorporated in the name of estates that produce wine in this AVA, the most specific being Oakville East Exposure. Their exquisite 2008 Core Stone presented a balanced, textured blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot.
38) I tend to believe that the length of one’s name denotes to an inherent depth or quality. Vine Cliff Winery would probably be concordant with this notion, especially as it pertains to their delightful 2007 Private Stock 16 Rows Cabernet Sauvignon, a label that could not be more precise, unless they identified each individual bud.
37) An interesting winery I had not encountered previously, Spoto, brought out a decidedly mixed selection of Bordeaux style wines, leaving me with a profound preference for its 2007 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon over the other selections in the vertical tasting they poured, as well as over their Meritage blend, the 2008 Cuveé Arianna.
36) Next to Spoto, the renowned Screaming Eagle allotted fractional sips of their Cabernet, the 2008 Screaming Eagle. Make no mistake, this still is a profound wine, but at a minimum of $1500/bottle, I expected not simply to be floored but blown across the room. Allora, this is what inevitably happens when dedicated founders sell their winery—the Jeannie is out of the bottle.
35) Admittedly, I (as do most folks) can sometimes be swayed by attachments or predilections; it has been well documented throughout the years I have been penning the Sostevinobile blog that, in the 1980s, I often made the trek to the real estate offices of Phillips & Harris, Land Broker spurred by an infatuation I never found the temerity to verbalize. Similarly, I concede to having a pronounced affinity for wineries that resonate with my background or feature other commonalities.
I nonetheless am not averse to criticizing places that my predisposition might lend to me
favoring, nor have I been daunted from praising the efforts of wineries even if it might raise contention about my objectivity. Case in point, my effusive praise of late for Gargiulo holds no correlation to our shared ties to Hotchkiss but highlights the strides they have made with the Aprile, its Oakville Sangiovese. Here, they even surpassed that effort with their 2008 OVX Cabernet Sauvignon, the fourth bottling of this special estate wine.
favoring, nor have I been daunted from praising the efforts of wineries even if it might raise contention about my objectivity. Case in point, my effusive praise of late for Gargiulo holds no correlation to our shared ties to Hotchkiss but highlights the strides they have made with the Aprile, its Oakville Sangiovese. Here, they even surpassed that effort with their 2008 OVX Cabernet Sauvignon, the fourth bottling of this special estate wine.
34) Had I discovered the website for Hoopes before I had sampled their wine, I am certain I would have found myself just as biased toward their Cabs. In a realm where compelling readers to scroll through a page for content is generally verboten, Hoopes’ home page features a 750 ml bottle of their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon amplified to 333⅓%—a 40″ image! The wine itself drinks like a bottling that could easily command similar inflation to $200, despite its relative diminutive $60 retail price. I easily enjoyed it as much as the bold statement its pictorial depiction implies.
In my own efforts to reduce scrolling by my readership, I need now to bring this post to an abrupt halt, knowing full well that the ensuing installment will pick up with yet another eleven amazing finds from this luxuriant gathering.
66 bottles of wine on the wall, 66 bottles of wine…
I really hadn’t planned to attend both days of the San Francisco Vintners Market, but for a variety of reasons, it became a logistics impossibility for Your West Coast Oenophile
to cover the numerous discoveries Sostevinobile had slated in one fell swoop. So here’s the A-Z of what I found, with a few other letters interspersed.
to cover the numerous discoveries Sostevinobile had slated in one fell swoop. So here’s the A-Z of what I found, with a few other letters interspersed.
66) I admit to liking the motto for Aurielle Vineyards immensely: Art and Science in Divine Proportion. Which proportion of their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Howell Mountain and which from Mt. Veeder isn’t specified, but the 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc, ½% Merlot, and ½% Petit Verdot winemaker Chad Alexander blended made for a striking release of this 303-case production.
65) People with iPhones or iPads are well aware of Apple’s efforts to purge the world of Flash. Steve Jobs’ quarrel with Adobe stems from the point they switched allegiance and began focusing their software to be compatible with Microsoft. I won’t belabor the point with historical references to how the Apple/Adobe duumvirate ushered in the era of PostScript that eradicated the archaic dot-matrix printouts and displays of the 1980s nor to the utter elegance of the fully-integrated version of Illustrator 5 that Adobe developed for Jobs’ NeXT Computer. The real problem (from my standpoint) was that this ill-begotten alliance caused Adobe to eviscerate its User Manuals to accommodate the inferior functionality of the Windows platform.
 A true tech geek will recognize this precursor to Mac OSX!
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Confession: I lied my way into my first full-fledged graphics production contract by convincing the design director I knew all the ins & outs of Photoshop, then taught myself the entire program over the course of a weekend, methodically reading Adobe’s guidebook and working through their tutorial exercises. Some 20 years later, daily interaction with this program has made terms like monochromatic contrast and greyscale second nature. Greyscale Wines derives its name from the aforementioned photographic principle, but its select vintages manifest none of the legerdemain to which an advanced Photoshop user often resorts. Rather, winemaker Kian Takavoli handcrafted their 2008 Cuvée Blanc from Sauvignon Blanc, transparently rounded with Marsanne to create its distinctive crispness.
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64) Penché is a French term, loosely translated as leaning, bending, or tilting—or, as Photoshop users would say, skewing. Fittingly, this premium Napa winemaker’s label articulates to form a parallelogram instead of the traditional rectangle, but there was nothing askew about its Meritage, the 2007 Argent Proprietary Red, a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend combining the five Bordelaise varietals from four distinct vineyards. Mon Dieu!
63) Despite listing its contacts near the San Francisco waterfront, Promenade offers a wine label wedding multiple Napa appellations that border Silverado Trail. Its lyrically named Meritage, the 2007 La Joyeuse Harmonie, consonantly blends Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville Merlot, and Pope Valley Cabernet Franc in an augmented triad—all that is missing its eponymous soundtrack.
62) Je ne comprends pas—I’m
haven’t been able to decipher the schema by which Jean-Charles Boisset
selects the numerical designation for his releases, but the 2006 No. 7 from JCB constitutes a well-rounded Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir that straddles the twin viticultural hp,es (California, France) for this new father of twin girls.
haven’t been able to decipher the schema by which Jean-Charles Boisset
selects the numerical designation for his releases, but the 2006 No. 7 from JCB constitutes a well-rounded Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir that straddles the twin viticultural hp,es (California, France) for this new father of twin girls.
61) I was undeterred by the name for Pulgas Ranch, the Portuguese and Spanish word for fleas. An inveterate punster like myself might say I now have an itching for their 2007 Syrah Alder Springs Vineyard, but that would be straining the metaphor.
60) The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon To Kalon made an impressive statement for Knights Bridge,
a winery whose operations straddle both Sonoma and Napa Counties, with
its estate vineyard located in the heart of the Knights Valley AVA.
a winery whose operations straddle both Sonoma and Napa Counties, with
its estate vineyard located in the heart of the Knights Valley AVA.
59) Readers who recall the Ginkgo Girl from a few dozen installations here should know that Bolen Family Estates has no correlation to the erstwhile Bolan. This Oak Knoll winery produced an exceptional 2007 Merlot that, simply put, does not quit and leave you.
58) I might be curious to try the Lady of the Lake Sparkling Pear Wine Mt. Konocti Growers Winery produces one of these days, but for now I am content to have sampled the signature 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from their Lake County cooperative.
57) I’ve actually found a winery in California that produces Rkatsiteli, the signature grape of the Republic of Georgia (when I finally make my way to Avanguardia in Nevada City, I promise an entire post devoted to their esoteric wines). While Victor Eristavi proudly flaunts his Georgian roots, the wines he crafts on Treasure Island remain decidedly Californian. Still, there is a touch of Old World mastery quite evident in his 2009 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley.
56) At the terminus of the English alphabet, Calistoga’s Zahtila Vineyards is another red wine-only venture producing Cabernet and Zin. The most impressive of the four wines I sampled was the homegrown 2007 Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel, an appropriate tribute to owner Laura Zahtila’s zeal and intensity.
I may have exhausted my allotted space for this entry, but I will complete my review of my four final discoveries in the next undectet of this series.
77 bottles of wine on the wall, 77 bottles of wine…
In a previous posting for Sostevinobile, Your West Coast Oenophile assayed the attendance factor at a number of industry events in San Francisco, including the most recent incarnation of the San Francisco Vintners Market. This is an admirable undertaking by promoters Cornelius Geary and Bridget Raymond, and, of course, it is up to them to determine the efficacy of this formula, but I would be remiss in not noting the many splendid labels I did encounter for the first time here.
77) There is something that borders on hazardous these days when you select a name that Google insists is a misspelling. Eric Hall’s Loopking Wines defies even the simplest Internet search, yet there was something more than compelling about the trio of Cabernets he poured. Nonetheless, the sole Merlot in his inventory of Bordelaise varietals, his 2007 Reserve Merlot Lake Cynthia Vineyard, stood out for its sumptuousness.
76) Up from Malibu, Ray Schofield seemed to enjoy adopting the role of eleutherarch for the conspiracy he billed as Cloak & Dagger Wines. Indeed, I found his 2008 Assassin, a Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from Howell Mountain’s Ink Grade Vineyard a clandestine pleasure, and look forward to the wines he neglected to stash sub rosa, especially his Sangiovese (aka the 2009 Illuminatus).
75) Tomarí Cellars is a boutique producer from Napa. Owner Tom Alfaz has enlisted an impressive roster of winemakers to consult with his winemaking and an equally impressive list of vineyards he has contract for both his Cabernet Sauvignon and his Pinot. His 2008 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard proved a prodigious first effort, even for this can-do-no-wrong grape field.
74) I spent too many years in the advertising world not to recognize the computer-generated, quasi-Latin Lorem Ipsum gibberish that populates the web pages for Bracey Vineyards as a placeholder. But twelve years of formal Latin education does allow me readily to translate their motto Arduis Saepe, Metū Nunquam as “often through difficulty, never by fear.” And while their site may be underdeveloped, their wines showed a distinct maturity, as exemplified by the 2007 Howell Mountain Beatty Ranch Old Vine Zinfandel (as an aside, I’d be willing to wager that Bracey is the only winery that lists their owner’s Harvard alumni e-mail as their point of contact).
73) Peter Hartman’s SoMa Cellars heralds from San Francisco, where he bottled his first vintage at Crushpad, when their custom crush facility was located in the South of Market District (before they relocated to Premier Pacific’s facilities in Napa (before they relocated to Sonoma’s underutilized Sebastiani plant)). Despite this ongoing conundrum, SoMa has managed to release a highly impressive debut wine, and one can only hope that when SoMa does manage to find a less peripatetic home, it will continue to produce wine as elegant as the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley.
72) Another discovery was de Tomas Wines from St. Helena. Despite its Napa location, its 2007 Red Wine blended Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah from Sonoma County. Here, coincidentally, was a wine where Sostevinobile whole-heartedly concurred with my friend Alyssa Rapp of Bottlenotes in our approval.
71) In that category of wineries with which I would have sworn I had previously sampled, Maldonado’s presence here reprieved me for all the time I may have bypassed their table. With a wide portfolio of wines to sample, I found their signature Chardonnays most intriguing, but particularly cottoned to their 2008 Late Harvest White, a well-balanced Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc blend.
70) Idle Cellars is a maverick endeavor by three veterans of Deerfield Ranch. With four notable varietals under their belt, the standout, for me, from this Glen Ellen project was a textured 2008 Sangiovese.
69) Even among those wineries devoted exclusively to Iberian varietals, it is rare to find multiple bottlings of the same varietal; Metate Hill out of Murphys contrasted a pair of beautifully-crafted Albariños, with my overt favoritism going to the barrel-aged 2008 Albariño Barrica over its stainless steel sibling.
68) Also impressing with a Spanish-style wine, James & Janis Judd offered an exquisite 2008 Tempranillo from J&J Cellars, another of their several San Francisco-based labels.
67) Crosby Roamann is an ultra-boutique specialist, handcrafting lots of under 100 cases of whatever they see fit each year. I needn’t go out on a limb to praise their 2009 Out on a Limb, a truly compelling rendition of Sauvignon Blanc.
And in keeping with my efforts at small production, I am putting this entry to rest with one of the leanest word counts the Sostevinobile blog has ever produced! But there were too many striking discoveries at this event, and so my review will spill over into my next installment.
88 bottles of wine on the wall, 88 bottles of wine…
The foot of Bonneau Road rests just at the point where Hwy. 116 diverges from Hwy. 121 in Sonoma. Your West Coast Oenophile had a luncheon meeting to discuss Sostevinobile with John Bambury at the quaint, rustic delicatessen/wine bar that serves as home to Bonneau Wines, but, in one of those rare occurrences that happen once every fifteen years or so, I actually arrived ahead of schedule. Given the choice of trying to boost my ranking on Angry Birds (I currently stand at #5,893 out of 5,0444,923 iPhone players) or sampling some wines while I waited, I opted for the obvious and strolled across the parking lot to the tasting room Anaba had built last year.
88) I hadn’t visited this winery since they had constructed this nicely appointed cottage, but was pleased to let Anaba Tasting Manager Shelly Dougherty take me through a wide swath of their lineup, including a number of traditional and not-so-traditional Rhône blends winemaker John Sweaney calls Coriol (both white and red). The clincher here, though, was the enticing non-vintage White Aero Port, a fortified Viognier that begged to be wrapped in a recyclable brown paper bag. Naturally, I had to introduce the tasting room crew to the concept of White Port & Lemon Juice, with promises, later fulfilled, of visiting their booth at San Francisco Vintners Market with a couple of pre-squeezed plastic lemons to whip up said concoction.
87) Strolling back to Bonneau, John and I feasted in their patio garden on fresh turkey sandwiches, washed down with an exemplary bottle of his 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, a perfect complement for our luncheon, our conversation, and the sunny afternoon before I headed out to visit with Richard Arrowood at his Amapola Creek.
86) Readers here know I could have easily spent the rest of the afternoon sampling my way through Amapola Creek, but I have known Richard and his winemaking going on thirty years now, from his time at Château St. Jean when it was solely focused on white wines. Today’s visit consisted merely of a social call, and I had but a few moments to catch up with him before heading halfway up the mountain to Petroni Vineyards on the western slope of the Mayacamas. The steep climb led to a semi-secluded estate on Cavedale Road where—could this be true?—an Irish flag demarcated the foot of the driveway.
To the considerable relief of both my departed grandmothers, the flag turned out to be the genuine Italian tricolore after all, with the red so weather-worn, it appeared to be orange. Inside the estate, however, the tones and hues were decidedly Tuscan, with wines as authentic to match. With Lorenzo vacationing in Italy, his Events Manager, Elizabeth Garneau, took me through a selection of his current releases, culminating in the extraordinary 2005 Brunello di Sonoma, a wine as close to a Brunello di Montalcino as can be found, vinted from his estate-grown Sangiovese Grosso. These same grapes were also use to craft his intoxicating Grappa di Lorenzo, a bottling that underscores my wish that all grape derivatives could be covered by a beer & wine license!
85) Several weeks before, Lorenzo had introduced me to John Vicini, a fellow Toscano making wine in Sonoma with his wife and son at the cleverly-named Trecini. I took the occasion of another Sostevinobile financial swing to visit with Cathy and David in their downtown Santa Rosa tasting room. While these wines offered no nod to Vicini’s Italian roots, they still exemplified the tradition of meticulous winemaking and viticultural practices that have long distinguished small family wineries in Sonoma. And, in keeping with the quality and character of the AVA in which they produce, the 2008 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley deftly held its own with every superb rendition of this particular vintage I have tasted.
84) Trecini also struck a highly concordant note with another can’t-miss bottling, their 2007 Rockpile Zinfandel, which proved an utterly delightful, fully capable of standing out on its own merits, even without the prodding of such accolades as its Gold Medal in the 2010 Finger Lakes International Competition.
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The newly remodeled Tasting Room for Medlock Ames in Alexander Valley could easily meet LEED standards and artfully reflects both the winery’s organic principles and environmental dedication. |
83) I looped through Alexander Valley, an AVA I hadn’t really explored in quite some time, despite regularly sampling the preponderance of their wines. Somehow, over the past several years, I had missed out on Sausal at the various festivals it had poured—an oversight I was determined to rectify. Despite an easy trek up Hwy. 128, I found myself alone in their tasting room and so was able to sample through their entire available lineup, aided by the undivided guidance of Tasting Room Manager Angela Romano. Their stellar selection of Zins reaffirmed my regret at not visiting their table during ZAP, particularly the 2007 Century Vine Zinfandel.
82) The Demostene family that owns Sausal pays homage to its Italian roots with an estate grown Sangiovese and a number of proprietary Sangiovese blends. I found myself particularly fond of the 2005 Sogno di Famiglia, a miscuglio of Sangiovese, Zinfandel, and Carignane.
81) On my way to Sausal, I had espied my friend David Jefferson’s White Oak Vineyards. Before heading up to Alexander Valley I had had a lively debate with David Vicini over the virtues of Pinotage; coincidentally, David Jefferson bottles a Pinotage, but under the Lions Drift label from his Silkbush Vineyard in South Africa, the country where this varietal originated! Here in Sonoma, I sampled my way through his locally-produced wines, delighting in White Oak’s new release, the 2008 Alexander Valley Zinfandel.
80) White Oak produces a pair of reserve Meritages, inornately designated by the AVA from where they herald. While there was much to admire in the Napa Valley blend, the 2005 Alexander Valley Reserve combining estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot truly stood out.
79) I was scheduled to visit a unique solar installation on the west side of Healdsburg, but could not pass by the new Medlock Ames tasting room & country store without dropping in. This mindful restoration of the century old Alexander Valley Bar and Store purveys wine and food items throughout the day, then opens as a cocktail den at Happy Hour—a magnet for weary workers toiling in the vineyards and a tranquil escape for visitors to the Valley. Some other day, I will return and try their Setenta y Cinco, a highball of Bellringer Gin infused with fresh picked mint, lime, and orange bitters, topped with J Cuvée 20 or indulge in the Nocino Manhattan, a twist on the classic cocktail blending Buck Bourbon, Carpano Antica and Nocino Walnut Liqueur. I was perfectly content to sample their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, yet another proof of how this particular varietal transforms itself when produced organically.
78) It is always wonderful to find a Merlot that harkens back to my early days on the professional wine circuit, before this then-underserved varietal exploded with a profusion of mediocre bottlings and overladen vines. Here, Medlock Ames shone brightly with a 2006 Merlot just beginning to peak with layers of intensity.
I tried to tour Jordan before my aforementioned meeting with George Doubleday II, but even with the electric fences gone and the surveillance cameras removed, one still needs a set appointment to taste through their wines. No matter—as readers here know, Sostevinobile is never one to give up quite so easily.
99 bottles of wine on the wall,* 99 bottles of wine…
Your West Coast Oenophile has remained deluged with responsibilities for keeping the vision of Sostevinobile alive, and yet I owe acknowledgments to so many whose wines I have enjoyed these past few months. So, in no particular order or with any attempt to rank them, here’s a list of the many memorable vintages I’ve sampled:
99) I visited with Ray D’Argenzio, who is developing a cluster of artisan wineries and food purveyors in an enclave he calls Santa Rosa Vintners Square. As we compared our common roots from Avellino to California via grandparents who had settled in Glen Cove, NY, I sampled what is arguably the first bottling of “raisin wine” in California, the 2007 D’Amarone. Classic Amarone is produced from a blend of semi-desiccated Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara grapes, but I am unaware of any successful plantings of these varietals stateside. Ray’s interpretation came from a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah—grapes that are no strangers to late harvest bottlings, but he is striving ultimately to bottle a replica of the authentic constituency. Perhaps even with a hand-blown, twisted bottle neck?
98) From next generation winemaker, daughter Breanna, came a highly impressive debut effort, the 2008 Sant’Angelo Sangiovese, vinted from fruit grown in Amador County.
97) I had come to the Vintners Square, following a most promising meeting with Silicon Valley Bank, to meet with Matthew Trulli of MJ Lords. His first allure had been the promise of sampling only the third pure varietal bottling of the “sixth Bordeaux red” I have found in California, though several wineries do blend this grape into their Meritages. The signature grape of the emerging Chilean wine industry, Matthew’s yet-to-be-released 2009 Carménère, clearly showed an ability to give the South Americans a run for their money.
96) Another signature varietal rarely cultivated here, Matthew’s 2009 Montepulciano (to disambiguate, the Abruzzese varietal, not the Tuscan vino nobile derived from Sangiovese) amply displayed the kind of complexity I have come to expect from this burgeoning viticultural talent.
95) Matthew shares his space with Krutz Family Cellars, a decidedly understated venture that left a deep first impression. Owner/winemaker Patrick Krutz showcased his take on yet another South American standard with his 2007 Napa Valley Malbec.
94) Not many fledgling operations can presuppose to charge $195 for a 1.5L bottle of anything, but, without question, Patrick’s 2007 Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon rose to the occasion—and then some.
93) A third suite mate, Sheldon Wines, moved here from the Sebastopol caboose where I had originally met with them last year. Here Dylan’s 2009 Graciano continued to rise in my estimation from the exceptional previous vintage that I had tasted.
92) I have long felt the same ambivalence towards Viansa as I have about the Punahou Kid. On a philosophical level—at least in what they purport to champion—I am vocally in accord; what they actually have accomplished or delivered, however, has been a far cry from what I am able to bring myself to endorse. But while the neophyte in the Oval Office combats our economic miasma by committing our scant resources to yet a third theater of overseas combat, Sonoma’s Italian varietal pioneers have taken stock in their disparate œnological forays and revamped with a focus on quality, while still retaining a pronounced fidelity to their founding mission.
Under the stewardship of independent owner Lloyd Davis, Viansa has realigned, jettisoning a number of varietals that failed to gain traction, increasing their portfolio of more traditional wines like Chardonnay and Syrah, along with Bordelaise varietals Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, while still fortifying the array of Italian wines on which founder Sam Sebastiani had originally focused. Perhaps no wine better exemplified this transition than the 2009 Arneis, a crisp, delectable rendition of a varietal that had hovered near mediocrity in its earliest vintages here.
91) Just as astounding was the risorgimento of Viansa’s 2009 Reserve Vernaccia, one of the most delightful Italian whites to be produced in California.
90) Not all Sangiovese is created equal, and few on this side of the Atlantic realize that there are multiple variants to this grape. The Sangiovese Grosso used in Barolo is, as one might infer, a bold, powerful strain of this varietal; here, Viansa showed the subtle intensity of its somewhat overshadowed brethren, with their 2005 Piccolo Sangiovese, again an exceptional expression that reaffirmed the appropriateness of transplanting the Italian family of grapes along the West Coast.
I took my leave of Lloyd and his gracious tasting staff, not before collecting a bottle from his hand-picked Signature Series for further evaluation, to head north for more tastings, meetings, and the inexorable pursuit of the wherewithal to make Sostevinobile a prominent presence on the viticultural scene.
*this actually should have read “deposited in the blue recycling bin,” but there wasn’t headline space to fit it.
Au contraire
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I
suppose a number of people perceive Your West Coast Oenophile as a bit of a contrarian. Certainly, that has always deliberately been the case with the wine program I am building for Sostevinobile. Our broad-ranging focus on the sustainably grown wines of the West Coast flies in the face of dominant paradigm throughout the San Francisco region, and, to be honest, I am hoping it will carve out quite a special niche for us. Other times, however, my iconoclasm stems from something more unintentional. I really do not have a refined beer palate and usually end up ordering wine at brewpubs like Gordon Biersch. Not that I dislike the beers—they just don’t go down as easily, especially when I’m not accompanying them with food.
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The day after my marathon excursion to Napa, I attended the Pinot Noir Summit’s Grand Awards Tasting at the Hilton Hotel-Financial District in San F
rancisco. I had never participated in one of Barbara Drady’s wine events before, but I had agreed to help publicize it (for which I was extended my trade ticket) beforehand; even so, it was a bit of terra incognita when I arrived. Perhaps because I’ve become so intimately involved with wine, I could not get myself in the spirit of the event or to participate in the Shootout that saw competing bottles of Pinot color-tagged and ludicrously wrapped in aluminum foil.Frankly, I was still
decompressing from the sensory overload of eight tastings in two days
and was tempted to leave almost immediately after I arrived. However, I quickly became aware that nearly all of the participating wineries were pouring a range of wines in addition to their Pinot submissions. Wonderful! A Pinot tasting with varietal variety!
decompressing from the sensory overload of eight tastings in two days
and was tempted to leave almost immediately after I arrived. However, I quickly became aware that nearly all of the participating wineries were pouring a range of wines in addition to their Pinot submissions. Wonderful! A Pinot tasting with varietal variety!
And so I set out in iconoclastic fashion to taste my way through such wines as the appealing 2008 Lascivious, an anomalous blend, in its own right, of Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre and Syrah from Paso Robles’ Asuncion Ridge and the exceptional 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Frank Family. The very vivacious Teri Michele Love impressed me with the quirkily-labeled 2008 Tiggy Paso Robles, an asymmetric mélange crafted from Grenache and Tannat by her Gioia Wine.
From Sonoma, UPTick Vineyards vinted an amiable 2008 Russian River Valley Estate Syrah. A well-familiar operation, also from Sonoma, Simple Math showed itself as delightful as when I first sampled their wines last year; this time they featured the 2007 Convex, a Syrah blended with 20% Grenache.
I managed to find a couple of contrasting whites in this crowded room, starting with the 2009 Chardonnay from Leveroni, the same family that produces Clover Stornetta milk, one of the Bay Area’s most iconic (Tip Clo through Your Two Lips) brands. While Chardonnay is a natural complement to Pinot Noir, the excellent 2008 Riesling from Oregon’s Firesteed Cellars proved a surprising yet welcome contrast to the expected.
Temecula
may be California’s most unpresupposing AVA, but I am always glad to
make new discoveries from this Riverside County enclave. Here, Woodworth Vineyards proved their mettle with the pleasant 2007 Black Dog, a modest blend of 65% Cabernet, 25% Syrah, and 10% Merlot. I also sampled their 2008 Estate Pinot Noir, a wine that underscored the vast geographic range where this varietal can flourish. From that point, it simply became a matter of tasting as many Pinots as I could squeeze into the time remaining.
may be California’s most unpresupposing AVA, but I am always glad to
make new discoveries from this Riverside County enclave. Here, Woodworth Vineyards proved their mettle with the pleasant 2007 Black Dog, a modest blend of 65% Cabernet, 25% Syrah, and 10% Merlot. I also sampled their 2008 Estate Pinot Noir, a wine that underscored the vast geographic range where this varietal can flourish. From that point, it simply became a matter of tasting as many Pinots as I could squeeze into the time remaining.
I was surprised I had not previously tried the wines of Santa Rosa’s Adler Fels, but found their 2008 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara more than approachable. Roudon-Smith’s winemaker Brandon Armitage inaugurated his eponymous, 70-case production of the 2008 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains. Coming in slightly larger, with 425 cases of Pinot Noir and a mere 75 of Cabernet Sauvignon, Fotinos Brothers of Carneros impressed with their sophomore vintage offering, the 2007 OSR II Block Los Carneros Pinot Noir. Similarly, Coghlan Vineyards of Los Olivos produced only 300 cases of their 2009 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir, with a bottling of Grenache Blanc to be released this fall.
I moved about the other tables with relative precision, seeking out new labels, eschewing the imports, and exchanging pleasantries with established friends. From Healdsburg, Portalupi showcased an austere 2008 Pinot Noir Russell Family Vineyards they describe as “Côte du Nuit not Côte du Rhône.” Over the years, I have sampled numerous Pinots from the Sonoma Coast, but only once before encountered Sonoma Coast Vineyards, which poured their delightful 2007 Pinot Noir Balistreri Vineyard. North by a few miles, Standish Wine Company featured their whimsical Wild King label and its 2007 Pinot Noir Bosc Block.
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I find the labels from PARO Wines incredibly evocative (hopefully, most attendees got to see this bottle with the aluminum cloak removed); sourcing their grapes from various AVAs in both Sonoma and Mendocino, their 2009 Pinot Noir Indindoli Vineyards artfully depicted the splendors of Russian River Valley fruit. Another Mendocino finalist, Masút, is a relatively new offshoot from the prodigious Fetzer clan, here making an impressive debut with their 2009 Estate Pinot Noir. I can’t unravel the etymology of either Indindoli or Masút, but I do know that Joseph Jewell derives from the middle names (to be sure, far more assimilable than Micah Adrian or Wirth Manspeaker) of its two proprietors, who collaborated on their 2008 Pinot Noir Appian Way Vineyards from the Russian River Valley.
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The curiously named Zoller Wine Styling constitutes a Paso Robles enterprise producing an assortment of ten far-ranging labels, represented here by their 2008 Pinot Noir Keller Vineyards from the Sonoma Coast. Embracing a wide swath of Central California, virtual winery Pacific Coast Vineyards introduced themselves in stunning fashion with their superb 2007 Pinot Noir Babcock Vineyards from the Santa Rita Hills. Similarly spreading out from their Templeton base, Icon Estates’ Wild Horse offer an amiable 2008 Pinot Noir Central Coast.
Not to be confused with Wild Horse, WildAire from the Willamette Valley impressed with their 2008 Pinot Noir Timothy. Returning to California, Cotati’s James Family Cellars offered an unpretentious 2008 Pinot Noir Stony Point Vineyard, while nearby, overlooking the Sonoma Plaza, Sharp Cellars poured the highly impressive 2007 Keenan’s Cove Pinot Noir.
I sampled both of Windward Vineyards’ bottlings, the 2008 Monopole Pinot Noir and the 2008 Gold Barrel Select Pinot Noir, with equal delight. And I also sipped two contrasting wines from McIntyre Vineyards, preferring the 2008 Estate Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands to the nonetheless excellent 2007 Pinot Noir Arroyo Seco.
I had tried McIntyre’s Vin Gris of Pinot Noir at last year’s Wine Artisans of the Santa Lucia Highlands in Los Gatos. Given their ubiquity at more tastings I can count, I would have thought my friend Joe Lazzara’s Jazz Cellars would also have poured there, so it was a fitting conclusion that I finished off the event here with their delightful 2008 Doctor’s Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands.
Perhaps my relentless pursuit to taste and catalog the finest wines from the West Coast for Sostevinobile has left me a bit jaded. I can’t countenance such secular activities as Wine Tweets or the circus-like atmosphere at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Maybe this popularity pageant at the Pinot Noir Summit presented a valid exercise in broadening these wines’ appeal to the general public—as one might say in Québec or France, however, ce n’était pas à mon goût. But still, I recognize that this event did introduce me to quite a number of wineries I had not previously encountered or, in several instances, even heard of, and I did get to sample some very fine Pinot Noirs this evening, along with a far more diverse selection of wines than I ordinarily encounter at single-varietal tastings. So, contrary to my initial inclination, je suppose que cette fête ne fût pas si mauvais, après tout.
Quattro…cinque…sei…sette…otto…
4) Spring Mountain
I don’t mean to give short shrift to the early morning reception at Clos du Val, but Your West Coast Oenophile had reviewed the same wines served here back at their Vindependence function in July, and with my well-documented aversion to eggs, I could only try the wonderful baguettes along with the 2009 Ariadne (Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon), Pinot Noirs, and library Cabernets on hand. But I did manage to persuade Hospitality and Wine Education Associate Jim Wilkinson to open a bottle of the limited-release 2007 Primitivo that I enjoyed immensely.
Excruciatingly missing from Clos du Val’s fête was my essential AM Java jolt (I had anticipated getting my fix here and so had eschewed the hotel’s diluted styrofoam-clad version before driving up to Stags Leap). Miraculously, I managed to cruise on autopilot over to Yountville and locate the quaint Coffee Caboose I had espied the day before at the Napa Valley Railway Inn. Sufficiently caffeinated, I coherently would my way up St. Helena Highway to join in the festivities at Spring Mountain Vineyard.
Constrictions of time and space here preclude me from recounting numerous tales of this storied winery, which I had not visited since 1984. Suffice it to say, the facilities had changed dramatically over the past quarter century, as had the personnel. Still, I found it most welcoming to be greeted by Sostevinobile’s Facebook fan Valli Ferrell before descending into the bowels of the candlelit caves that had been excavated since my last tour.
To be frank, long-term, subterranean occupancy may well be suitable for bats, but it is hardly conducive to Homo sapiens, and while being capable of flying might mitigate reincarnation as one of the Chiroptera species in the next life, for now, negotiating a two-hour tasting in this dimly-lit environment utterly strained my endurance. That said, the wines, of course, proved more than delectable, and, despite the constraints of the setting, I managed to negotiate all 17 wineries pouring here.
First up, I stopped by Cain to chat with Associate Winemaker François Bugué and sample through his eclectic mix. We started with his non-vintage Cain Cuvée, a Merlot-dominant blend from both the 2006 and 2007 vintages, rounded out with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, as well as 7% Petit Verdot. With 20% Merlot and just 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2006 Cain Concept could have been labeled varietal Cabernet Sauvignon, while the flagship 2006 Cain 5 married the five Bordeaux grapes in differing percentages, with none dominating. Most intriguing, however, was Cain’s auction selection, the 2009 François’ Pick, an atypical blend of 67% Malbec and 33% Petit Verdot. By contrast, Frias Family chose simply to pour their excellent 2007 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, while Sherwin Family’s lone entry, the 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, softened with 12% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc.
I’d missed the table for Vineyard 7 & 8 at the Next Generation tasting, so was pleased to atone for my oversight here with their trio of Cabernets. I preferred the 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon to the(slightly) more modest 2007 7 Cabernet Sauvignon, while the 2001 7 Cabernet Sauvignon proved an unexpected pleasure. And although I had tried both wines only a few hours before, I was happy to resample the 2009 Albion and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Marston Family again poured.
Another all-Cab effort, Peacock contrasted their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District with winemaker Craig Becker’s East Napa venture, Somerston, from along Sage Canyon Road, and its 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Estate Grown; like Vineyard 7 & 8, Peacock also treated attendees to a taste to a retrospective of their 2001 vintage.
The Spring Mountain District AVA was established in 1983, so I am at a los to explain of the significance of the 2001 vintage or why nearly every winery here brought a sample. Although they produce a number of varietals, Terra Valentine showcased a pure Cabernet play, starting with their 2001 Wurtele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. I was just as pleased with the 2007 Wurtele, while the 2007 Yverdon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Spring Mountain District Cabernet both proved highly amiable wines. By contrast, the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Barnett Vineyards poured outshone their current 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District, while the 2008 Merlot Spring Mountain District provided a refreshing contrast to this uniformity.
Juslyn Vineyards may not be Justin Vineyards (now incongruously part of the Fiji Water empire), but their wines created no ambiguity, with a superb 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, complemented by their proprietary 2006 Perry’s Blend, a Merlot-based Meritage tempered with 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. Behrens Family Winery, producers of Erna Schein, featured their Behrens & Hitchcock label, bulking up with their 2006 Petite Sirah Spring Mountain District and the evocatively illustrated 2007 The Heavyweight, an equal Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot mix, tempered with 20% Petit Verdot.
Keenan Winery virtually wrote the book on blending Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Their flagship 2001 Mernet combined 50% Merlot with equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Just as impressive was the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District, while the 2008 Chardonnay Spring Mountain District brought a most welcome white wine into the mix. Similarly, Fantesca showcased not only their impressive 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon but what they claim is winemaker Heidi Barrett’s first foray into white Burgundy, her 2008 Chardonnay.
Schweiger first poured their 2008 Estate Chardonnay, then followed with the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and an utterly compelling Meritage, the 2006 Dedication, a wine easily 5-10 years before its peak. Their best effort, however, was assuredly their ten year old 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, an omen for these later vintages. Newton’s iconic 2007 Unfiltered Chardonnay definitely stood up to its considerable legend, but their coup here came from two near-perfect wines, the superbly aged 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon and their 2007 The Puzzle, a marriage of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, and 3% Cabernet Franc.
Before coming to this event, I cruised to the top of Spring Mountain and inadvertently found myself driving through Pride Mountain’s vineyards. Here I intentionally navigated my way through their superlative 2009 Chardonnay, then onto the 2008 Merlot and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, before settling into their luxurious 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon. Last up, our hosts, Spring Mountain Vineyards gallantly provided the final pours of this tasting, starting with a most refreshing 2009 Estate Sauvignon Blanc. The 2007 Syrah proved a welcome alternative to the near monotony of Bordeaux reds, while their own 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon held its own in this crowded field. Finally, the 2006 Elivette, a Cabernet Sauvignon with touches of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, led into their crowning achievement, the 2001 Elevette.
And with this final wine, I re-emerged from the bowels of darkness into a bath of welcome sunlight. Gradually regaining my bearings, I quickly thanked Valli (“Farewell, Ferrell”) for her hospitality and proceeded to “de-elevate” from the mountain slope to the floor of the Valley for my second round of the afternoon.
5) St. Helena
Even before I arrived at the Charles Krug Winery, it had become apparent that I would never be able to taste every wine and visit with every winery, with barely an hour to devote to each of the events remaining on my itinerary, Highway 29 traffic notwithstanding. I headed down Spring Mountain Road, turned north, and followed Main Street almost the juncture where the St. Helena Highway resumes.
I’ve attended enough events at Krug now that I instinctively knew to head for the restored 1881 Carriage House behind the main winery facilities. My head was still throbbing from spelunking at Spring Mountain, but Whitehall Lane’s Do
uglas Logan-Kuhs heroically managed to round up some aspirin. Revitalized, I proceeded to ply my way through the various wineries I had not yet contacted for Sostevinobile, and then some.
uglas Logan-Kuhs heroically managed to round up some aspirin. Revitalized, I proceeded to ply my way through the various wineries I had not yet contacted for Sostevinobile, and then some.
Commencing with Bressler, I found their superb 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon to be everything one should expect from a Mia Klein/David Abreu collaboration. Another boutique producer, this time with Chris Dearden consulting as winemaker, V Madrone poured a noteworthy 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon V Madrone Vineyard, along with its even more fetching predecessor from 2006.
I suspect the generic name of Peter Story’s St. Helena Winery may have caused me to overlooked this unassuming venture over the years, so finally being able to sample their 2006 Scandale and superb 2006 Sympa, both Estate Cabernet Sauvignons, proved truly serendipitous. Another discovery, Casa Nuestra, seems delightfully bent on going against the St. Helena grain, beginning with the once commonly planted 2010 Estate Dry Chenin Blanc. What they label the 2007 Tinto St. Helena is a field blend not of Portuguese but of traditional Napa varietals including Refosco, Petite Sirah, Carignane, and Zinfandel; their special bottling for Première, the 2009 Ellis blended these same grapes, along with Mondeuse and Valdiguié, from their Oakville vineyard where they produce their self-described Tinto Classico.
Van Ballentine didn’t pour his acclaimed Chenin Blanc but did offer a sample of the newly-released 2009 Malvasia Bianca Betty’s Vineyard, followed by his 2006 Merlot St. Helena. And certainly there was nothing small about either 2006 Petit Verdot and 2008 Petite Sirah, two wines I greatly enjoyed. Stellar quality seemed to be the rule of thumb at this event, but, after Ballentine, few of the wineries I tried showed little daring to venture outside of Bordelaise orthodoxy. Jaffe Estate, which had so impressed me at November’s St. Helena tasting, revalidated my laudation of their wines with the 2007 Transformation, a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot. Boeschen Vineyards complemented their fine 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with their 2008 Carrera Estate Blend, a Meritage of unspecified proportions.
A familiar name with which I first became acquainted in 1982, Freemark Abbey’s 2007 Josephine could almost have qualified as a blend, but with only 12.6% Merlot, 7.9% Malbec, and 4% Cabernet Franc, its 75.5% Cabernet Sauvignon met the varietal threshold. I tried to convince Joann Ross of Shibumi Knoll to incorporate the Rolling Stones’ Shattered (okay, so maybe Jagger is actually singing “shadoobie”) before delving into their inarguably wondrous 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.
I’ve ceased being surprised at all the AVA tastings where I find Steve Lohr pouring; his family’s Silicon Valley-based J. Lohr Vineyards may very well source grapes from every single one! From St. Helena, his 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Carol’s Vineyard proved surprisingly appealing, as did the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Tomasson Vineyard from Midsummer Cellars.
Just a notch higher, I found the 2006 Bisou Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Bisou Cabernet Sauvignon, James Johnson’s sole endeavor, equally excellent. On par here was the 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Sabina Vineyards, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Forman Vineyards, and the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from Revana.
Although I’ve sampled his wines on a number of occasions, this tasting marked my first meeting namesake Dr. Madaiah Revana, who graciously invited me to one of his storied house parties the next evening (alas, I was already committed to a tasting back in San Francisco). I also met Austin Gallion of Vineyard 29 after numerous e-mail exchanges over the past several months while tasting my way through their phenomenal 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and their Première bottling, a 2009 Cabernet culled from their several Napa vineyards.
By now, I was approaching the time I had allotted St. Helena, but did take a final taste of the 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2006 Estate Petite Sirah from Varozza. I had hoped to see my friends Marc and Janice Mondavi before I left, but they were not in the Carriage House. H
owever, my friend Douglas Logan-Kuhs pulled off yet another coup, introducing me to 96-year-old Peter Mondavi Sr., and poured us both a taste of a 1960 Zinfandel (I believe it was bottled under the CK Mondavi line—the label was too faded to read!), a wine that had withstood the tests of time almost as well as the winery’s patriarch.
owever, my friend Douglas Logan-Kuhs pulled off yet another coup, introducing me to 96-year-old Peter Mondavi Sr., and poured us both a taste of a 1960 Zinfandel (I believe it was bottled under the CK Mondavi line—the label was too faded to read!), a wine that had withstood the tests of time almost as well as the winery’s patriarch.
6) Rutherford
In retrospect, maybe I ought to have attended the Phillipe Melka party at David Stevens’ 750 Wines instead of the Rutherford event, or skipped both and taken in the Oakville tasting from the beginning. Not that the wines poured upstairs at Peju weren’t wondrous—it was just that I’d had the opportunity to sample all of them several times previously.
Several of the staff recalled me from my sorry-I-can’t do-eggs luncheon visit this past summer. In turn, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find my longtime associate Dan Gaffey, with whom I’d worked at Real Beer.com, now part of the Peju team. (The irony here is that I wrote the content for nearly 30 craft beer brewers’ websites throughout the latter part of the 1990s, yet probably consumed the equivalent of one 6-pack a year—or less)!
Running into Dan probably set the tone for this gathering, which ultimately proved more of a klatch than a tasting. Doyen Huerta Peju may not have been in attendance, but Rutherford’s sonsiest winemaker, Bridget Raymond warmly greeted me at the top of the stairs. As we caught up with each other and discussed her upcoming San Francisco Vintners Market, I sampled her latest effort, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon she bottles under her Courtesan label, as well as the Meritage from her secondary line, the 2006 Brigitte.
Over in the main room, Greg Martin stood out in a corduroy jacket that understated his encyclopædic command of antique weaponry and other artifacts of medieval societies. I see Greg quite often at our health club and have sampled his wines almost as frequently, so after retasting Martin Estate’s 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, I deferred to my friend, aspirant œnophile Lisa Mroz, while I roamed about the other stations. I didn’t see my former neighbor Michael Honig, who used to run his family operations from their home in Pacific Heights when the winery solely focused on Sauvignon Blanc. Now firmly ensconced in Rutherford, their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc displayed redolence of the mastery that gave this winery such acclaim, but the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Campbell Vineyard showed even stronger, as did the 2008 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc.
Nearby, Alpha Omega also showcased their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and their special Première bottling, the 2009 Red (52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 13 Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot). I sampled Cakebread’s anomalous 2009 Red, a blend of 75% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 10% Syrah, before I meandered to the back room and ran into Julie Johnson.
At Julie’s insistence, I worked my way through her range of Tres Sabores wines, starting with a luscious 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. As we traded recollections of Spring Mountain Winery from the 1980s, I sampled her organic 2008 Estate Zinfandel and 2008 ¿Por Qué No?, an unusual blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Petit Verdot, before trying her best effort, the compelling 2007 Petite Sirah. As a couple out-of- town buyers commandeered Julie’s attention, I turned to introduce myself to Sharon Crull of The Terraces. As we chatted, I revisited her 2009 Chardonnay and the intensely aromatic 2009 Riesling, an uncommon Rutherford varietal. As usual, I found the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon thoroughly enjoyable, while the 2008 Zinfandel and 2008 Petite Sirah were clearly superior wines.
Napa Smith Brewery also manned a table here, a first time (in my experience) that a Napa wine tasting also featured a beer maker. By now, however, I was clearly past the hour I had slated to arrive at Oakville’s Opening Party for Première, and, besides, there was no way my stomach could tolerate mixing beer with wine at this point. Instead, Amanda Horn sent me off with 22 oz. bottles of their Organic IPA and the Amber Ale to explore at home for the local, sustainable beer program Sostevinobile will feature. I liked these beers, to be sure, but I realize my palate is far too unrefined to be assaying the beers we will serve. Still, the unfamiliar sight of me cradling a pair of ales definitely put a smile on Dan Gaffey’s face as I left.
7) Oakville
I’ll know better for Première 2012. I should have paid closer attention to the times on my invite. I should have scheduled my other visits more precisely. I should have consulted the GPS Map on my iPhone and realized Nickel & Nickel’s facilities and the Far Niente estate, where the Oakville tasting was being held, weren’t situated all that close to each other. And ever since the time we drove to Oxbow Market’s special reception for successful Auction Napa Valley bidders on the wrong day, I should have known not to rely on Karen Mancuso’s inside scoops.
Despite the glaring typo on its program cover, Première Napa Valley Begins in Oakville was the focal event of the day, but I only caught the last half hour or so. Once I managed to find a space in the makeshift parking lot, I elected to walk up to the caves rather than wait for a shuttle, which dissipated another vital 15 minutes I might have spent interacting with the participating wineries. Once I did arrive, the labyrinthine caves felt more like a maze; finding in which corridor the individual wineries had set up might even have confounded Dædalus!
I did connect with quite a few, nonetheless, while others that I missed, like Detert, Ghost Block, Gargiulo, Swanson, and Gamble, have been covered here quite a few times (not that I would have had any reluctance to taste them again)! First up, I managed to catch up with Groth’s genial winemaker, Michael Weis, while sampling his 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville along with the Duck Rillettes on Crouton from Groth’s chef Peter Hall. Deeper into the cave, Brix chef Anne Gingrass offered up a glimpse of her culinary wizardry with her Fennel & Mushroom Risotto Fritters, fittingly juxtaposed between Kelleher, with their 2005 Cabernet Brix Vineyard, and the always delightful Kristine Ashe, who poured her superb 2008 Entre Nous Cabernet Sauvignon.
Facing this alcove, what turned out to be the central nexus of the caves housed a dizzying array of endeavors, all bearing the Oakville name: Oakville Cuvée, Oakville East, Oakville Ranch, Oakville Terraces, and Oakville Winery. I’m still not sure which represented bonded wineries and which were cooperative bottling projects, but I did manage to sample the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Gary Raugh’s Oakville Terraces and both the 2008 Estate Zinfandel and 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville Winery.
From there, following the map became far too confusing, and in my efforts to locate Opus One, I stumbled upon my friend Phil Schlein, whose protégé at Stanford Business School co-wrote the business plan for Sostevinobile with me. Phil produces three distinct lines of organic wines at his estate, including Emilio’s Terrace and the whimsically named MoonSchlein, but here I only sampled the 2007 Sophie’s Rows, a Cabernet Sauvignon with 10% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc. Unfortunately, I missed out on both Robert Mondavi’s Cabernet selections and the Braised Lamb Bouchée from their chef Jeff Mosher, who had been sharing this station, but the overpowering aromas of Mu Shu Pork served up by Mustard’s Grill chef Cindy Pawlcyn lured me to the deepest recesses of the cave, where I found the tables for Rudd and for Bond/Harlan Estate. Regrettably, Rudd had already packed up and Bond could not even muster a drop from its last bottle of 2006 Vecina, but I did manage to garner the final pour of the 2004 Harlan Estate, a Meritage best described as “mind-blowingly great.” I completely savored every drop.
Just before I left, I did catch my old friend Ren Harris pouring his Paradigm. His Heidi Barrett-crafted 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon deftly blended 7% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. I knew both Ren and Jeannie Phillips when they shared a real estate office in the Napa Valley, prior to launc
hing their individual labels. I suppose if Screaming Eagle had been on hand for this event, I might never have made it through the front door!
hing their individual labels. I suppose if Screaming Eagle had been on hand for this event, I might never have made it through the front door!
8) Stags Leap
By now, I was fairly exhausted, but I had promised Clos du Val’s Tracey Mason I would make it to the 2011 Stags Leap District Bar and Lounge at Pine Ridge. Here the veneer of valet parking and ornate name tags belied the reality of yet another plunge into the depths of a cave, albeit without even the perfunctory guidance of a map or event program.
Despite the hazy lighting of the disco-like atmosphere, I did manage to stumble upon most of the wineries that had been scheduled to participate and hastily scribbled notes on whatever paper I could muster. Cliff Lede poured his ever-reliable 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District, a wine he rounded out with 12% Merlot, 7% Malbec, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Foster’s Group’s Stags’ Leap Winery offered its 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon—the wine tasted just as wonderful here as it had when I had tried at the estate last summer.
I was surprised at how much I liked the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Terlato Family Vineyards while the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from their Chimney Rock Winery seemed almost as approachable. Next to their table, Baldacci poured their 2007 Brenda’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon alongside a striking barrel sample of their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon being offered at Saturday’s auction.
On my first Napa swing of 2011, I had stopped at Regusci and lauded their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon as much then as I did this evening. From there, I had meandered down Silverado Trail and tasted with Steltzner, similarly enjoying their 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon as much then as this evening. On a different trip, I had visited with host Pine Ridge, but most assuredly had not been poured the well-rounded 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon they featured here.
Pine Ridge’s nook here also featured the Bar and Lounge’s DJ, and while I enjoyed most of the selections he played, the music only complicated my efforts to sample and evaluate the wines on hand. Barely legible notes list my favorite wine here as the 2007 Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, but I cannot make out my shorthand for the winery. Silverado? Shafer? I am completely lost.
No matter what I had written, it was apparent that I had reach my saturation point. I stopped by Clos du Val’s table to try their contribution to the auction, the 2009 Cabernet Franc, and to thank the two blonde Traceys for inviting me. And with that, I headed back to the less frenetic pace of The City.
Eight tastings and then some in less than 36 hours. I don’t know how many wineries I covered and won’t even try to guess how many wines I had sampled. On my way back to San Francisco, I vowed I would abstain from touching another drop—for at least 18 more hours, when I was due to attend the Affairs of the Vine’s 9th Annual Pinot Noir Summit…