Category Archives: Cabernet Pfeffer

No butts

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Folks familiar with Your West Coast Oenophile know I (almost) never demur from making a pithy comment or witticism whenever I am given an opening. I may not be Dorothy Parker, but I do think some of my more piquant observations will stand the test of time.

Not too long, I opined that “natural wine is to the 2020s what granola was to the 1970s.” Given the half-century that spans my analogy, Millennials may dismiss this pronouncement as being out-of-touch, but I still hold it to be valid. When I previously attended a natural wine event in Richmond, I was quite stunned to find a swath of grass between the two tents littered with dozens of cigarette butts! So much for all the health and environmental benefits of natural winemaking that the 20somethings tout—this copious tobacco consumption and flagrant littering underscores the fact that their contentions are but a fad with blind allegiance for most of these adherents.

Do not get me wrong. I am not being dismissive of natural wine; many of its tenets completely align with what Sostevinobile looks to promulgate. But, by the same token, I refuse to be dogmatic about any individual school of œnology, as long as they adhere to responsible stewardship of the land and the environment.

Obviously, if we are going to serve any wine, the primary criterion is that it had better taste good! With no apology, here is where I do break with those who maintain that the mouse—or funkiness—that permeates so many of the natural wines is a mark of character. No, it is flawed, if not undrinkable, and should be eschewed, not espoused. But rather than reduce this to a generational argument, let me counter this pabulum of non-intervention with examples of superb natural wines from true craftsmen I encountered at the recent Wine from Here at Subject to Change in Point Richmond.

Harvesting its German from the acclaimed Mokelumne Glen Vineyard in Lodi, Vai e Vem excelled with its 2021 Psychosphere, an impressive rendition of Kerner, the vineyard’s main white varietal. Even more esoteric—at least at this stage— Matt Niess’ North American Press showcased its 2021 The Rebel Sonoma Coast, a wine derived from Baco Noir, the hybridized cross of Folle Blanche with an unknown member of North America’s native Vitis riparia family.

It’s hard for me to offer an objective assay of Clos Saron’s wines, given my long-standing friendship with winemaker Gideon Beinstock, whom many consider the de facto high priest natural wine; his wines can range from the unapproachable to the sublime, in which latter case, the 2018 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard richly attests. Nearby, Gideon’s protégés and Oregon House neighbors at Frenchtown Farms displayed their own virtuosity with an excellent 2021 Cotillion, a deft blend of Syrah, Sémillon, Zinfandel, and Carignane.

Meantime, Los Angles-based visual artist Ashkahn Shahparnia’s eponymous label showcased its subtle 2022 Clairette Blanche, a Rhône varietal that is finding increased popularity in California, especially along the Central Coast. Also boasting distinctive varietals from the Central Coast, Phelan Farm’s inestimable Rajat Parr featured a 2022 Chardonnay Rosé, a red-skinned mutation of the varietal rarely seen in California. Rajat also presented two esoteric blends, the 2022 Savignin & Chardonnay and the extraordinary 2021 Misturado, a Mencia rounded out with 25% Trousseau (aka Bastardo).

Not all the wineries on hand in Richmond were neophytes. Time-tested pros like La Clarine Farm proved their mettle with a delightful 2023 Vermentino and their 2020 Mourvèdre. Likewise, Healdsburg transplant Ruth Lewandowski featured a 2022 Stock Pot Grüner Veltliner and the noteworthy 2020 L Stone Sangiovese, while Megan Bell’s Margins impressed with a wonderful 2022 Paicines Verdejo. It is always a treat when a winery like Santa Cruz’s Florèz produces a 2021 Cabernet Pfeffer, while Sonoma’s Côte des Cailloux impressed with their 2021 Sauvignon Blanc.

Similarly, the 2022 Sauvignon Blanc starred at Les Lunes and Subject to Change’s Populis label, with the event host adding a jammy 2021 Old-Vine Zinfandel Mendocino. And along with its Sauvignon Blanc, the 2021 Thirst Trap, Stagiaire added its 2021 Epiphanies in Place, a Santa Crux Mountasin Pinot Noir and the 2021 Consistency in Chaos, a mouth-watering Syrah from Sonoma.

Of course, there were numerous trendy wines and hybrids on hand, including the ubiquitous piquets and ludicrous cider & fruit-blended wines. Then again, my generation had Boone’s Farm and Ripple, not to mention the viticultural equivalent of Pineapple Pizza, wine coolers. But, over time, we learned to put aside the pseudoscientific veneer of granola for the flavors and environmental benefits of organic produce, while stomping out pernicious tobacco from mainstream acceptance; and with this maturity came our appreciation of the centuries-old refinement of varietal selections. And so I have faith that this current myopia shall soon pass.

Volk’s waggin’

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Your West Coast Oenophile is somewhat reluctant ever to plug a retail wine operation—after all, this represents a large part of what Sostevinobile hopes to be doing as the pre-eminent purveyor of wines of the North American Pacific Coast. But the pandemic caused a radical reconfiguration  of my business objectives, and while we seem finally vack to a semblance of normalcy, it’s still impossible to assess the new terrain of San Francisco objectively. And so many of the mechanisms I devised in order to cope with the constraints of COVID restrictions remain ingrained in my weekly routine.

Granted, I have enough wine on hand to coast through a year or more without purchasing a bottle, but a $60 or $70 wine needs to be shard, not consumed in solitary isolation. And with that in mind—coupled by a long-standing inability to visit wineries and utilize my trade discount—I soon discovered the wonders of Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. In the past, of course, I’ve brokered sales of surplus inventory to this outfit, but I had not previously experienced them as a customer. I anticipated they would somewhat of grocery equivalent to Ross Dress for Less or  Smart & Final, and, to a large extent, this analogy bears true.

On the other, Grocery Outlet wine section is impressively vast—that it, until you inspect the labels. Like Trader Joe’s or BevMo or the now-debunked California specialists Total Wine, many of the selections are in-house private labels of dubious origin. Others apparently come from ill-begotten attempts to launch a private label, often at a mass custom crush facility in places like American Canyon. One surefire sign of mediocrity is a label that lists California as its place of origin, rather than a county or specific AVA. But interspersed among these dubious bottlings, a savvy connoisseur can often find a sprinkling of incredible bargains. Sometimes it’s a slow-moving product that a winery allocates to make room for their other selections, like the Presidential Red from Monticello Vineyards that sold briskly at $12.99/bottle or a Joel Gott Grenache, a steal at $4.99.

Other times, a notable winery will shut down and sell Grocery Outlet the bulk of their remaining inventory, which can be substantial. Throughout the pandemic, I greatly enjoyed numerous selections from Michel-Schlumberger, a winery actively seeking new ownership, whose selections at Grocery Outlet seem endless. As did those from Rock Wall, which unloaded its unsold inventory after deciding to disband.

The most recent steals, however, have come from Kenneth Volk, the pioneering Santa Maria winemaker famed for his Cabernet Pfeffer, as well as for his various Rhône-style bottlings. Ken, who was the first president of Rhône Rangers, suffered a debilitating stroke a few years back; his condition has reluctantly compelled him to close his winery and dispense with his wines still on hand, which date back to 2013. It seems Grocery Outlet will be staggering these selections, which, so far, not only have included Pinot Noir and red Rhônes like Petite Sirah and Tannat but also Blaufränkish and a wondrous Souzåo. All of which are utterly steals at $5.99!

Each of the Grocery Outlets individually manages its own inventory, so you are apt to find different selections even among stores in the same city. So, go ahead, peruse the shelves and see what you discover. You never know what gems you may find amid the Uncle Billy, Fox in the Hen House, Séance, and the Pra Vinera!