I’d invited Darrell to our NEB#5 get-together but, alas, that Fri was his BD. I had planned to drive
to Sac so I could do some shopping in his store, so he invited me to EasterDinner. Dinner at Darrell’s is
always an adventure; the food, though usually simple, is always very well done, the wines are always interesting,
but it’s always the company that makes them so special. The conversation is always wide-ranging, interesting,
scintillating, and a great opportunity to learn.
So I arrived at Darrell’s w/ great anticipation. When I got there, Darrell broke the news to me that CharlieMeyers
had died the Tues afore. So sad. I’d had many a good conversation at Darrell’s table w/ Charlie. After an
old ('88) JJPrum Auslese I’d brought w/ some very good cheese biscuits from Andre’s bakery up in SutterCreek;
we adjourned to the table for food/wine and more spirited conversation. And, no surprise there, there was nobody
at table staring at their crotch and texting away, the entire meal…which is how a meal should be. The wines:
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Voglar DOC: Sauvignon AltoAdige (13.5%; www.PeterDipoli.com) PeterDipoli/Egna/AltaAdige) Imprtd by
KermitLynch 2011: Strong herbal/SB strong stony/mineral/earthy very AltoAdige nose; tart/grapefruity
quite mineral/smokey/chalky strong SB/herbal/bit aspargras fairly rich flavor; speaks strongly of SauvBlanc
and AltoAdige w/ a richness not common in those wines.
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DarrellCorti Ho-Made Zin DeaverVnyd/AmadorCnty (Burgundy btl) 1970: Med.color w/ light bricking; rather cedary/
pencilly/oldZin some dusty/OV bit slight briary complex nose; soft quite cedary/pencilly/old Zin slight earthy/
briary/blackberry flavor w/ light/smooth/resolved tannins; obviously an old Zin but not tired and still showing
a bit of fruit; a Zin that’s skowely fading away.
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DarrellCorti Ho-Made Zin DeaverVnyd/AmadorCnty (Bdx btl) 1970: Med.light w/ considerably more bricking; same
cedary/pencilly/cigar box/old Zin slight briary nose; pretty much the same Zin; showing no oxidation nor
tired astringency; both of these were pleasurable to drink and amazing condition for a 40+ yr old Zin.
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Ch.Prieur-Lichine Medoc 1983: Dark color w/ little bricking; strong blackcurranty/Cab slight Bdx/herbal/earthy/
loamy some cedary/cigar box fairly complex/classic Bdx nose; slightly tart herbal/earthy some blackcurranty/
Cab fairly cedary/cigar box complex flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; it’s been yrs since I’ve had a fully
mature Bdx and this reminds me why I used to buy those wines.
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DanBerger Ho-Made CabSauv HomeCuvee StateLaneVnyd (Beringer assisted) 1989: Dark color w/ some bricking;
rather herbal/Cab/spicy strong toasty/oak pretty fruit-driven slight cedary/pencolly/oldRed fairly complex
nose; soft lush/ripe strong Cab/blackcurranty/bit herbal/ripe rather vanilla/toasty/oak slight cedary/pencilly
flavor w/ light/bit bitey tannins; still plenty of old-timey Cab fruit but a definite Beringer oak signature.
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Vignalta Alpianae DOCG: ColliEuganei Fior d’Arancio Passito (11%) 2011: Dark gold color; intense muscatty very
fragrant/floral bit orangey/orange blossom intensely grapey nose; slightly tart very intense grapey/muscatty
some floral/orange blossom quite sweet flavor; a more perfumed/floral character than most Italian passitos;
a lovely dessert wine and always been one of my favorite passitos.
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CharlieMeyers’ Ho-Made BlackMuscat 1963: Med.light color w/ some browning; very fragrant muscatty some MoscatoRosa
perfumey very aromatic slight alcoholic some complex very ripe nose; slightly sweet bit alcoholic muscatty/
floral/hair oil/perfumed/licorice bit alcoholic fairly complex flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; very long/
lingering slightly sweet very strong muscatty/floral/grapey/very ripe bit alcoholic complex finish w/
light/gentle tannins; no signs of oxidation other than the color; a lovely fully mature dessert Muscat
that should go on another 10-15 yrs.
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- CortiZin: Both of these old Zins were clearly fading into the sunset, but doing it w/ grace & elegance. These
were served w/ croxetti in a herbed butter. Until now, I’d never heard of croxetti. It is a medallion shaped
pasta about 2" in diameter that’s hand-stamped out the pasta. They usually have some sort of imprint of a
coat of arms or some desing on one or both sides. A pasta usually found in Liguria. These were made by one
of the guests, Ann Vercelli, a culinary professor at SantaRosaJrCollege. They were very simple & tasty and
had a particularly toothsome/chewey texture. Paired well w/ the old Zins.
- BergerCab: Not quite sure how Darrell came into possession of this wine, presumably as a gift from Dan. I
understand he made it at Beringer & w/ EdSbragia’s help. Certainly speaks of the Beringer winemaking style.
- BlackMuscat: This was a shiner w/ no label on it. From it’s location in the cellar, Darrell surmises it was one of
Charlie’s early Ho-Made wines from around 1963 or 1964. At that time, he hadn’t discovered DeaverVnyd (that was
- and was buying his grapes from South of Davis. The wine spoke strongly of MuscatHamburg/BlackMuscat and
was obviously a LateHrvst.
- Charlie was a legend and is responsible (along w/ Darrell) of making AmadorCnty what it is today. Looking for a
source of Zinfandel grapes in 1964, Charlie ventured up into the ShenandoahVlly and found KenDeaver and his
old-vine Zin vnyd. Up until then, the ShenandoahVlly was largely a viticultural backwash. Ken was selling a
few grapes (as was JohnDowning) to home winemakers, but mostly they went to feed his pigs. Charlie made the
wine in '64 and eventually showed the wine to Darrell, who was mightly impressed with it. When BobTrinchero
was searching around for cheaper Zin than he could find in the NapaVlly, Darrell suggested that he give Ken
a call, who bought a few tons. Trinchero released his SutterHome AmadorCnty Zin '68, it received wide acclaim,
and the rest is history.
- Charlie was an English professor at SacramentoCityCollege and the office mate of Darrell’s partner, John.
He got interested in wine and started making wine as a home winemaker before he went commercial w/ HarborWnry
in the WestSac Bottoms, out behind Wingo&Sons Upholstery on HarborBlvd. When I started buying at CortiBros
around 1974, Harbor wines were some that Darrell encouraged me to try, including the dessert Mission Del Sol,
from old-vine Mission on the DeaverVnyd. I fell in love w/ them, especially his DeaverVnyd Zins.
Several yrs later, I made an appt to visit Charlie at Harbor and fell in love w/ him. When Darrell would
invite me for dinner, Charlie was usually one of the guests. We shared many a btl around Darrell’s table.
Charlie had a keen intellect and a wicked sense of humor, always delivered w/ a rather impish grin. I recall
his '78 Deaver Zin, which came in very ripe. The fermentation stuck, leaving the wine w/ a fair amount of RS.
Charlie lamented that he was really going to have to do a “number” on his customers to sell it off. He
eventually labeled it as “Country-Style” Zin, a style that was pretty common in AmadorCnty from the overripe
grapes that was common up there. He priced it low and eventually moved it out, but dropped DeaverVnyds after
that one. Our group bought 4-5 cs of it at about $3.49/btl. It was actually pretty tasty Zin if you could
live w/ the RS.
Charlie was a very special friend and I cherish the many discussions and btls we shared at table at Darrell’s.
He will be greatly missed, both by myself and his many friends.
Tom