I was lucky enough to spend the past couple of days visiting some of the most generous, smart, friendly, and insightful winemakers working in america today. All of these folks have a true passion for the winemaking and the special bits of land that they work with, and I think the resulting wines are extremely compelling. Many of the wines push the edge of what most drinkers are accustomed to in wines from California, but they manage to remain balanced and expressive. The sparkling wines from Michael Cruse’s new label (Ultramarine) were particularly impressive.
Here are my rough impressions. Any omissions or errors are entirely my own.
John Lockwood, Enfield Wine Co.
John is relatively new to running his own winery, but he has an excellent touch. The 2012 Heron Lake Chardonnay was supremely fresh and balanced without tipping over into the extreme geek territory where some other new school CA Chardonnay winds up. The 2013 Chardonnay “on skins” is one of the most delicious skin-fermented wines that I have ever tasted, and it expresses a pure flavor and aroma of apricots yet still retains impressive freshness. The Heron Lake vineyard itself is high up in the Wild Horse AVA, the extreme southeastern end of Napa where there is substantial coastal influence from the bay.
John calls the Haynes Syrah his grand cru, and it’s hard to disagree. Grown in the Coombsville AVA on the eastern edge of Napa proper. The 2012 has a fair amount of that inky element that I associate with nearly all young red wines from Napa, but, at the same time, it isn’t out of place and should integrate wonderfully with the wine. This is a special site and worthy of attention for those that buy new world Syrah to age.
We also tasted the upcoming Tempranillo from Shake Ridge vineyard located in the Sierra Foothills (Dirty&Rowdy make a Mourvedre from this vineyard, and their block is adjacent to John’s Temparnillo). It had some lovely dark and savory aromatics, although I didn’t find the palate to be full enough just yet. John said that he was holding this wine for a later release, and I’d be excited to try it with a little more bottle age.
Hardy Wallace, Dirty and Rowdy Family Wines
Hardy is fast becoming the king of SKUs, and for almost any other winemaker that would be a liability. But, given the tremendous passion and energy that he brings to his wine, it’s hard to not get excited about nearly every wine that he pours. I’ll try an abbreviated list of impressions, and I wish that I had taken detailed notes on the exact vineyards and vintages:
2013 Semillon - Chili and lime. I tastes like he might have been eating lunch from the taco truck and accidentally dropped some of it in the tank. This is more flamboyant than previous vintages, and tastes like margaritas and spicy Mexican food in a very good way.
2013 Rosewood Vineyards Mourvedre - Seriously folks. Leave this one alone. It’s all structure with tremendous potential from the old wines that’s just lurking beneath the surface.
2013 Rosewood Vineyards Petite Sirah- The Mouvedre^2. Just say no to opening it. Dense, grapey, yet still pure and expressive. This wine needs some serious time.
2013 Santa Barbra Highlands Vineyard Mourvedre “ESPECIAL” - One of the wines from the bistro in my dreams, where the wine is crisp, fresh, delicious and pairs with everything on the menu. If a glass of this doesn’t make you smile, you might need professional help.
2013 Mourvedre “FAMILIAR” - A fantastic way to make something special out of a mistake. For those that don’t know the story, Hardy was assembling 13-ish barrels of Mourvedre for bottling and accidentally mixed in a barrel of Petite Sirah. A mistake that, hopefully, you only make once. Yet, he has managed to make the best out of it, tightening up the blend with some of his other single-vineyard Mourvedre, and the result is a real California appellation wine. It is very expressive of the state and the wild spirit that gives Dirty & Rowdy it’s name.
2013 Alder Springs Chardonnay (barrel sample) - Angular, sharp and mineral. This wine is liquefied rock, and it wants you to back off and come back much, much later.
2013? Pinot Blanc, Methode Champenois – All the way through secondary fermentation but at the moment it’s still brut nature (no dosage yet) - Grown underneath some power lines somewhere in the great state of California, this wine seems to have captured the electricity from the wires overhead. Much of the credit for this wine goes to Michael Cruse who helped Hardy refine and execute the technique for making the wine by culturing several different strains of native yeast and conducting many trial secondary ferementations to identify the ideal strains. Not only interesting on its own but a supreme match for any food that you could put on the table (Hardy was kind enough to pick up some sandwiches from the local hospital (!) for us). Half of the fruit was used for this wine, while the other half was used to make a pet nat. I’m looking forward to trying them side-by-side some day!
2014 Pinot Blanc, Vin Clair (barrel sample) - The 2014s ripped through their primary fermentations very fast, so Hardy did not feel confident about making pet nat this vintage. This is the still wine that will eventually be inoculated with yeast and sugar to create a sparkling wine. Much like the 2013, this was just humming with mineral essence and electricity (those power lines again!). If these two vintages are any indication of what’s possible with the fruit from this site, there is a lot to be excited about.
2014? Evangelho Mourvedre (barrel sample) - Holy cow. If this doesn’t move you, you must be asleep at the switch. 100+ year old own-rooted vines courtesy of some very friendly folks. This wine sings in an almost haunting way. Truly compelling.
2014 Melon de Bourgogne (barrel sample) - Another skin-fermented, and this one manages to be even more idiosyncratic than the Semllon. I smell and taste cumin and dried chili powder in an intense way, but that isn’t to say that the wine lacks freshness. I think it’s safe to say that no human has ever made Melon quite like this.
John Raytek, Certias Wines
Tasting with John was an great experience. He brings so much experience, knowledge, and intuition to the winemaking. Ten years in, Ceritas has really hit its stride, with John and Phoebe turning out expressive and pure wines from a number of great sites. With the Chardonnays, my tasting compainion kept using and then apologizing for using the word “smooth” to describe the wines. John explained that he carries out extensive lees contact, aging the Chardonnay in barrel for nearly a full year on the lees, and then transferring the wine and the fine lees to steel tanks so that the texture can continue to improve in an environment where the wine is protected from further oxidation. I think the results speak for themselves, and his Chardonnays come across as very polished and put-together while losing none of their expressiveness in the process. John maintains that the 2012 Porter-Bass is their best ever Chardonnay, but I still lean towards the 2012 Peter Martin Ray. In any case, this may be just splitting hairs, as both wines are just great. The Peter Martin Ray seems to be a bit more steely and cool while the Porter-Bass emanates the sort of warmer minerality that characterizes many white wines from the Cote de Beaune.
He also poured two of the Pinot Noirs from the current release, the Costalina blend and the Escarpa. Once again, the Costalina is quite light on its feet and showing a lot of very pretty red fruit that I often find in the red wines from Ceritas. The Escarpa is slightly more stern but still quite inviting, and the aromatics show seemingly endless depth. Unfortunately the Escarpa vineyard was replanted in 2013, so we will not be seeing another wine from this special site for several years.
We then proceeded to taste some barrel samples of the upcoming Cabernet from Peter Martin Ray vineyard. The 2012 saw partial whole cluster fermentation, and at the moment the wine is showing a very strong green element laid on top of the superb fruit. For fans of Loire Cabernet Francs from Chinon and Saumur-Champigny, these elements may be welcome, but this wine is far from the normal flavors and aromas of California Cab. The 2013 was fully destemmed and simply spectacular. I didn’t note the exact alcohol level, but it was some ways below 14%, yet the flavors and aromas were fully ripe. To hit that older, lighter style without manipulation is a real trick, and I am looking forward to following these wines over the coming years.
Michael Cruse, Ultramarine and Cruse Wine Co.
I had heard a few vague mentions of this new producer who was planning to approach California sparkling wine production with the attitude and methods of grower Champagne. I reached out to Michael Cruse about tasting his wines, and he was kind enough to take a few hours to taste and discuss with me. He is a very talented and meticulous winemaker, something that is very evident when you first taste his main sparkling project, Ultramarine. The upcoming release is a 2010 Blanc de Blancs of Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay and a 2010 Rose (saignee method) of Heintz Vineyard Pinot Noir. As I walked into the winery, Michael and his assistant were in the process of labeling and packing up some bottles of the 2010 Ultramarine release. This process is more painstaking than it sounds, as all of the bottles have been riddled and disgorged by hand and then are cleaned to remove finger marks before labeling and shipping. Anyways, the wines speak for themselves, and they are spectacular. The BdB is clear, precise, and expressive, with a lovely texture and mouthfeel. The rose was showing even better on my visit, with a depth and purity of fruit that I rarely find in rose Champagne and a set of aromas that seemed to be constantly evolving in the hours that it was open.
I spent some time talking to Michael about the difficulties in making such a wine in California. Beyond the serious technical complexities of making such a wine, the economics create a tremendous obstacle relative to still wine production. The extended elevage on purchased fruit means that much more capital is required to operate a cellar like this, and much of the specialized equipment used for sparking wine production does not exist in the US and must be shipped in or fabricated locally. The easier path would clearly be making still wine from the excellent Heintz fruit, but Michael’s passion for serious, terroir-driven Champagne has led him down this difficult road, and we are lucky that he has succeeded.
After tasting Ultramarine and some vin clair barrel samples of the 2014, we moved on to the wines from Cruse Wine Company. One of the varietals he has focused on is Valdiguie, once known as “Napa Gamay” until genetic analysis proved that it had no relation to Gamay Noir. A 2013 out of bottle was rich, ripe, and fresh, and a 2014 out of barrel was nearly weightless and incredibly fresh. However, for me, the real star was the 2014 pet nat, which Michael disgorged right in front of us. Very light in color with just a slight purple hue, this wine was crisp and refreshing yet still had some great aromatic depth. It’s a shame that it’s so hard to do sparkling in magnum, because I could see a bottle of this evaporating in no time at all. At that dream bistro that serves Hardy’s Especial, this would probably be the sparkling option.
Michael also has a Syrah from Heintz Vineyard, and we sampled the 2013 from bottle and the 2014 out of concrete egg tank. The 2013 was great, with classic coastal Syrah aromas and plenty of deeper, darker fruit on the palate. At $25 retail it might be one of the best value California Syrahs out there. The 2014 was even more interesting, with whole-cluster fermentation and the somewhat reductive effect of the concrete egg, it really reminded me strongly of a classic St. Joseph. I can’t wait to see what it’s like in the bottle.
Kevin Kelley, Salinia Wine Co. & The NPA
Kevin is always one of the most interesting winemakers to see on any visit to the region. His unconventional style is born out of his deep experience in winemaking as well as an ability to reason and ask the right questions about what is happening to his wines. He has a tremendous degree of patience in the cellar, and he is creating a legacy of unique wine that does not exist elsewhere. The wines that he makes through the NPA are primarily distributed in the bay area, and it’s easy to see how their freshness and connection to the environment complement much of the local cuisine. The wines from Salinia are something else-- more concentrated and serious, and some of them almost ageless.
Kevin was kind enough to share a bottle of his 2004 Chardonnay with me, a wine that he sees as an important milestone in his own winemaking. As he put it, he learned that year to make all of his picking decisions based on acidity, and that, for California, ripeness is always guaranteed at harvest but acidity is not. When he picked the 2004, the acidity was so high that the yeast struggled to finish fermentation, and the primary fermentation took a full year from harvest with another year to complete malolactic fermentation. Yet the wine itself is no acid bomb-- there is plenty of richness and texture to complete the wine. It has seemingly hardly budged in the decade from harvest, and tasting it you can only wonder what it will be like in another 20 or 40 years.