SacBee: MikeDunne on Chalone

WINE TALK
1

Very nice article by MikeDunne on the new Chalone wnry:
SacBee:Chalone

The crash & burn of the Chalone name under Diageo was a real disappointment to me. It used to be one of Calif’s cult wines…along w/ JoeHeitz/StonyHill/Hanzell. The Chalone Chard '68 was probably the greatest Calif Chard I’ve ever had…at 15 yrs of age…from DarrellCorti.

Now that BillFoley has bought Chalone, he has plans to return it to its former greatness. I’m confident he will succeed.

It’s great that they are going to keep that very old block of CheninBlanc. DarrellCorti bought the entire lot of the '07 vintage. It was, and still is, a beautiful wine. Still available.

Tom

TriviaQuestion: What red-headed winemaker was making the Chalone wines afore DickGraff & Peter-Watson Graff and went on to fame & fortune in the NapaVlly??

2

I’ve only seen pictures with gray hair and a beard, but …Philip Togni.

3

Bingo, David…Philip Togni is the one. Not many people know that factoid.
Tom

4

Tom,
I never knew PT when he had red hair…you are old!

I’ve always compared Chalone to a bumblebee…it shouldn t be able to fly, acc to aeronautical engineers, but it doesn’t know any better. It is so hot at Chalone the Graff family planted Southern Rhone varieties.

Right after Robert Cook took over, he opened 80, 81 and 83 Reserve Pinots for us…blew us all away…25+ years after harvest. Right after that I ran into Michaud at a tasting. He had a 95 Chardonnay under the table…wow!

5

Delighted that Chalone has been liberated from Diageo. At one time I held Chalone on the same pedestal as Ridge.

The best California Pinot Noir I’ve ever tasted was made by Chalone. The Pinot Blanc was a revelation. The Chardonnay was as good as it gets. They are keeping the old Chenin vines - my hat is off! The terroir is uniquely great.

I was hoping that Rhys would get this, but here’s to Bill Foley! [cheers.gif]

6

I wonder how many know that Rodney Strong also made wine there;)
I’ve always loved old Chalones, and for whatever reason, they’re never included in the ranks with other ageable CA wines.
I’ve been working my way trough a case of '96 chard in half-bottles, and they’re absolutely stunning.
Next up, the 70s pinots;)

7

A 1980 Chalone Pinot Blanc remains one my of all time favs.

The Chalone stockholder meeting I attended (83 maybe?) was da bomb. We had the good sense to take transit – no way I could have driven down that mountain. (Up would have been fine.)

8

The Chalone stockholder mtgs were the stuff of legends. Buying their stock seemed like a cheap tariff to attend a good party. I never belonged.
I wonder how the stockholders made out, $$-wise, w/ the sale to Diageo??
Tom

9

I owned stock, but only attended a few of the meetings (I lived in Texas until just before the takeover).

As I recall, I bought the stock at around $7.75 and sold at around $8.50.

10

About the same for me though I think I lost a small amount – didn’t have shares.

11

I attended the shareholder event in 1991; debauchery. Julia Child showed up and did her usual routine, then it was a free for all. It was a windswept day up on the hill; the tents nearly blew over. Didn’t make or lose much on the stock. Glad Mr. Foley is in charge; in addition to all his wineries, he owns the new NHL team in Las Vegas. Hopefully he returns Chalone to the glory days. The pinot blanc reserve and the chenin were really good.

12

As I recall, in the end they bought shares at around $12. I don’t think the company ever churned out big profits.

Dick had a philosophy of winemaking that could be summed up as:
1/pick very ripe…he worked at DRC where they were always the last to pick
2/lots of time in barrel

Let’s not forget that he and Ric Forman introduced barrel fermentation of whites to California.

13

Great memories of the late '70s Chalone Chards recommended by the sommelier at The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, circa '82/'83.

14

For my money, Chalone is one of the handful of great terroirs of California. Where else do you have granite, volcanic and limestone soils intermingling with cool nights and a kiss of coastal influence at 1700 feet? I think its the crown jewel of this section of coast.

We’re lucky to see 10 lots of Chalone fruit every year from four of the varieties grown up there from four of the vineyards. If my opinion matters, the Grenache is my favorite to make, and the Chenin is my favorite of the Chalone wines. The Syrahs, Chardonnays and Melons are solid and generally very good, but not epic like the Chenin is (the 13 Estate is really fantastic) or I believe the Grenache will be. The Pinot hasn’t excited me since we got deep into this drought, and with the changing climate it may not be the best variety to focus on in the future. I haven’t had large enough quantities of Mourvedre to work with to pass judgement one way or another, it all ends up blended with Syrah that I make for the Dave Graffs, which are pretty epic – though that has more to do with the vineyard than with my skills.

I was very happy to see Gianni get the job up there. He’s a talented guy. It’s a very different beast than the SLH fruit he was working with, but with Michael’s help I have no doubt he’ll be on solid footing carrying the brand forward. It will be great for the region to have that estate back in the limelight (although, it should be noted that there has been a lot of continuity in the vineyard management and I think the Chalone vineyards look great for their age and considering the difficult conditions up there).