One of my favourite AVAs, after 9 long years, it was a pleasure to be able to get back to Anderson Valley for some tasting. I was able to visit 5 vineyards today.
WITCHING STICK
Winery was started in 2010.
2016 Witching Stick Perli Chard
Mendocino Ridge. 6 months in oak. Quite pear here with some lemon cake. Smooth, a little warm at the back (14%)
2016 Witching Stick Gewurtz
Floral, with some white and yellow fruit. Refreshing and lithe, tart star fruit and unripe lychee in the blend.
2013 Witching Stick Cerise PN
Not too much oak on this. Bright strawberry and cherry, namesake sniffs. Earth is there as well. Bracing acidity on the palate, should get a little better still.
2013 Witching Stick Wiley PN
Winemaker Van prefers to hold back bottles until he feels ready. 10 degrees cooler temp in this vineyard. More baking spices here, a small slash of cigar box. Red and black cherry, this is not too sweet. Polished and precise here, unripe cherry & cranberry. A little on the simple side but good purity and drive.
2015 Witching Stick Perli PN
Sweeter nose, a riper vintage. Riper cherry fruit, some crabapple. A mix of the two in the mouth, some acid carry, a little earth and red fruit. Solid wine.
2012 Witching Stick Valenti Syrah
13.2% Some whole cluster on this cool climate syrah. Bit of walnut, bit of diesel to go with plum and prune. Light and almost airy, tangy red unripe plum fruit.
2015 Witching Stick Dessert Zin
Late Harvest. Like blackberry and boysenberry jelly. Very tasty and smooth, and the alcohol? 7.5% The funnest wine I’ve had in quite a while, took a bottle for my end-of-trip dinner
BAXTER WINES
They were right across the road and I’ve liked these for a long time, but it has been a long time between tastes. Their view on the “what changes 6 years from now” is that they have added some Italian varieties. The view that AV is starting to get noticed. He also says that unless you come in with big $, it is hard to start a new small winery here.
2014 Baxter Langley PN
Heritage Champagne clones. Rich fruit aromas, lighter touch of red berry fruit.
2014 Baxter Valenty PN
667 and 115 here. All neutral oak for 18 months, 20 year vines. Starts into the earth and sous-bois, cocoa, some mineral, a busy nose. Palate is very pure AV, super acidity, baked minerals, sandalwood and tart berry are all in evidence here.
2014 Baxter Oppenheimer PN
In a valley, the temperature can drop 30 degrees at night. Some baking spices swirl up the glass here, with very bright red fruit. This is solid, if still quite young. Very tangy finish.
2015 Baxter Ferrington PN
Delicious aromas of baking spices, mocha and strawberry here. Lovely—really lovely, great red fruit and a depth that is there but subsumed to the overall profile. It’s very good, out of a vineyard I really love.
2015 Baxter Run Dog PN
75 cases. Pommard clone, 13.9%. Cherry jubilee jumps out at you. More full, a little warmer, good length.
NAVARRO
As with the other places here, I hadn’t been in 9 years and it was worth it to go up and sample things.
2016 Navarro Ries
Driest one they’ve ever made, 15-20 year vines. Floral nose with lifted apple and a little minerality. Some zap to this, lime cordial, apple. Still a touch of sweet. Decent.
2016 Navarro Estate Chard Reserve
25% new oak, all done in Billon barrels. Solid toast-and-citrus presentation. Needs some more flavour on the palate but good drive here.
2016 Navarro Gewurtz
I think some of the vines are 43 years old, estate and neighbour’s fruit. Done in big neutral botti. Pretty yellow fruit and apple overtones as well. This is their usual solid presentation of bright replays and good acidity. If I’m getting Cali Gewurtz, it’s probably from here.
2016 Navarro Muscat Blanc
On the bouquet, the orange blossom is there, if muted. Tasty enough, though not deep, a small lactic note.
2014 Navarro PN Unfiltered
667, 777, 115 and 114 for this. 10 months in oak. Nose is more “concentrated” with lively red berry. Almost big, acidity is fully reeled in by the rich cherry and raspberry fruit.
2015 Navarro PN Unfiltered
Different here, aromas are more baking spice and a li’l potpourri. This still has a certain chewiness about it, more acid carry here. Good.
2015 Navarro PN Deep End Blend
Their best grapes, longer in oak, clones were 113, 777 and 115 done in 20% new, Remond and Francois Freres for the barrels. Smells a touch riper, a little more buy-in with red and black cherry. Solid, if with a ceiling. A nice, polished mouthful of AV Pinot.
2017 Navarro Edelzwicker
An Alsatian field blend. 36% Gewurtz, 31% Pinot Gris, 31% Ries and 2% Muscat. 12.8% alcohol, bottled 2 months ago. Wow, so fragrant. Smelling a garden, green and all….dandelion? Pretty wine, a total replay dans la bouche.
2016 Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Muscat
22 RS for this, musky lemon parfait bouquet, a touch of papaya. Oh, yes, that’s sweet. And I do like it. It is quite soft but also with presence. An unapologetic sweetie.
2007 Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Ries
They unearthed a lost case or so of this recently and are pouring it. Apple strudel has taken over in the nose. Just touching on crème brulee but a pure glass of cinnamon-enhanced applesauce. Still very much alive.
DREW FAMILY
Jason made wine for Corison and Phelps before opening the winery in 2004. I have tasted very few, if any of his wines before now but know the reputation. About 2500 cases.
2017 Drew Family Suitcase Rose
A little Grenache and mourvedre, mostly PN. Done Provencal style. Light overlay of nutmeg over tight red fruit. Quite tasty, a little extra heft from the other grapes.
2015 Drew Family Fog-Eater PN
A Boonville term for coast-dwellers. This comes from a couple vineyards and is all done in neutral oak. Displays a little red pepper and violets over cranberry with palate replays
2015 Drew Family Valenti PN
He manages the vineyard. Light pomegranate and berry sniffs—it’s all lifted and airy. Super-pretty on the tongue, the ephemeral quality that Burgundy gets to, with small, precise berry. This has deceiving length and the acid is perfectly matched. Littorai-for-less? There’s not much separating them to be honest. 1 bottle bought and everyone who tried it on the trip was very happy.
2015 Drew Family Perli Syrah
100% whole cluster, he does co-ferment with Viognier. 12 months in French puncheons. 13.9% and 30% whole cluster. Dark cocoa nuzzie, hint of unripe blackberry and also some blueberry. In the mouth, a certain tobacco and tomato leaf quality here. Great acidity, nervy and has the tart red fruit to soak it up. This will last a long time.
2017 Drew Family Albarino
From the Valenti vineyard. Stainless, the vines are probably 10-12 years. very light almond and almost palm oil scents, if that makes sense. Composed, still very quiet. Sort of silvery, there’s a certainty about the wine, a nice ginger-vanilla breathe-back and a little bit of sweet soil too. An intriguing wine.
FOURSIGHT WINES
I had a terrific visit with Joe Webb and got to meet Christie as well for a bit. We talked about almost everything in wine, from use of concrete (he’s not doing it, feels the caustic chemicals can’t be eliminated) to family philosophy in farming the vineyards to cooper choices to clonal attributes. I had a blast here and am very thankful to Joe for taking so much time.
This was my first visit with him, so he got the double-barrel question. What’s changed in 6 years—they are still a bit of a start-up in a way, but have doubled production to 3.000 cases. He came on full-time and there is now no restaurant or retail sales. ¾ website and wine club members. He has seen a lot of “recycling” in tasting rooms up here, many of which do not feature AV-based vineyards.
What changes 6 years from now? He echoes a common theme, that if you don’t own dirt, you’re in trouble. He does see a trend towards more red with whites declining. He also believes his and AV wines in general haven’t yet hit the upper limit of the price point.
2016 Foursight Charles Vineyard SB
13 acres of this, 3-4 tonnes per acre, comes in at about 21 Brix. This saw full malo, 2/3 stainless, 1/3 older Remond. Appley, but in a fresh way. This is a little on the sweet side, but certainly not overly so. A bit of surprising fresh peach.
2016 Foursight Charles Vineyard Semillon
20% SB here. The vineyard has been in Christie’s family for 4 generations. I joke that it’s like royalty—Joe wanted the grapes so he married into the family. 20% new oak, the rest older, went through full malo and is 13.9% Silky-musky perfume. Still a fledgling—light ginger hit. Nice length here, 4 years in bottle will be all to the good.
2015 Foursight Charles Vineyard PN Zero
For those who don’t know, Joe runs out 3 PNs from the vineyard. This one sees zero new oak, and is 20% whole cluster. 14% alcohol. Very deep cherry, a bit of a tea overtone. Sweeter, with just enough…pomegranate and cranberry and a good phenolic bitterness in there.
2015 Foursight Charles CV PN
Christie’s mom and dad do all the farming. This sees 30% new oak. Accents the rootiness, still pomegranate and cranberry, but racier. Wild yeast and wild malo for this, pommard 5, 777, 114 and 115 are the clones. This is good wine.
2016 Foursight Charles Clone 5 PN
13.9%, single clone bottling of Pommard 5. He wants to think of the monopole idea. 43% new and 25% whole cluster. Nutty on the nose, some potpourri. Le gout is simpler but purer, still good winemaking.
2016 Foursight Paraboll
Because of his long and close association with the Londers, Joe was able to obtain the rights to use this iconic name. 14.5%, the idea behind Paraboll was always about the latest, ripest picks, he says. The “Para” is for “cherry” and “Boll” is Bootling for “great”. 25 Brix for this, deep cherry and plum greet the sniffer. In the mouth, ripe red fruit, casts off some sunshine with bits of earth and cocoa.
We then go back to do a bit of barrel tasting before finishing with some older wines.
2017 Foursight Charles Vineyard PN Zero in neutral Remond barrel
13.6% alcohol, 30% whole cluster. Sweet coffee note. Fresh and pretty vintage.
2017 Foursight Charles Vineyard CV out of 3rd-use Remond barrel
Racked in May, 30% whole cluster here. Some more spices here and some toasted aniseed. Quite cherry to taste, good purity.
2017 Foursight Charles Vineyard Clone 5 PN in neutral barrel
40% new for this, 25% whole cluster. Lovely perfume, lovely roses and red fruit—pomegranate and maraschino cherry. Some coriander joins berry fruit on the tongue.
2017 Foursight Paraboll PN in new barrel
42% new oak, all destemmed. Still deeper, spicier, darker fruit. Whoa—this is already a big boy—there’s force and authority to fairly expressive red cherry fruit. A “right” and “suitable” level of richness.
2013 Foursight Charles Vineyard CV PN
This was 10-11 months in 40% new oak, 40% whole cluster, checks in at 13.8%. More evolved, of course—fruit in the background, more mocha here. Still very active dans la bouche, with black fruit in front.
2014 Foursight Charles Vineyard CV PN
33% new oak, 50% whole cluster, 13.5%. Great forthrightness here, the earth and red fruit and smellable structure. Best balance of all the wines, superbly delicious. Flow and character, a very beautiful wine that will only get better, he killed it in this vintage.
2011 Vin Gris de Pinot Noir
Joe says it was an odd and late vintage. Mostly Pommard here. 2 hours of skin contact, direct-to-press and no malo. 100% stainless. There’s a crazy nasal mix of almost pear and dried strawberry. Blind, I might have guessed a Gewurtz or PG. It has acidity and floral Jasmine tones, with mouth carry and activity.
2011 Foursight Charles Vineyard Semillon
I like this, the very slight tequila note in the bouquet, light vanilla and white fruit/quince notes. I –like—this. Settled and sure, it’s much more about the texture and lines than any fruit, it’s much more “Semillon” to me.
Loved this visit and my thanks again to Joe for his generosity of time and wines.