I was surprised not to see you Larry. I was there for the early part, then they stopped for a lunch break and I ran into an old friend from NYC who I didn’t know had moved west. That was nice and we’ll be getting together.
Ken - you asked for it!
As to the wines, I didn’t try all of them as there were only a few hours and I wanted to talk to some of the wine makers. Plus I had another tasting to go to at 1:00. I didn’t spend a lot of time writing notes. I wanted to see if I could get a general sense of the wines and find anything new and interesting.
Actually, I didn’t spend ANY time writing notes so these are from memory. I did of course try Bryan Harrington’s wines - always good, always interesting, and he’s a hoot. And he had a wine called Misteri, based on the fact that UC Davis wasn’t able to identify the grape he brought back from Europe. Consequently, he has what is may be the single most unique wine in all of California. That’s just hard to top. Way to go! (BTW, it was also pretty good.)
What was really interesting to me was the fact that so many people are finally realizing that California is actually a pretty good place for some Italian varieties, and they’re actually making good wine out of the grapes. I think that in the 1990s, people tried to make wine from any number of grapes, treating them all like Cabernet Sauvignon, which was going through its own steroid growth spurt. That was one of my objections to a lot of the Zins that were made in the late 1990s - get them bigger, oak the hell out of them, and charge some prices.
From my limited tastings around the state and at events like this, it seems like there’s a wiser approach taken today. So all lined up were West of Temperance, Villa Creek, and Unti, and surprise, they all made Aglianico. And the wines were all different. I think it was John pouring the WoT wine? Not sure, as I’ve never met him before. But Villa Creek’s was dark and tannic and really reminded me very much of a few that I’ve had from Vulture, although I’m far from having any expertise regarding that grape.
The WoT wines were quite different, both from the Villa Creek and from each other. Two different vintages and the wines really reflected the differences in the weather. As a group they did not seem quite as deeply tannic and astringent as the VC, although they were chewy for sure. They also seemed maybe a bit more savory in a sense, although that’s just relative. I tried Unti last as I knew their wines and almost passed until I saw that they had an Aglianico so figured I’d do myself a pedagogical favor and taste side by side producers.
Across the way was Donkey and Goat, and they had an oddly colored liquid in a big bottle so I ambled over to see what it was. A rosé of Grenache. Normally I’d be likely to pass but I’ve never seen a rosé of Grenache that color. Kind of a cloudy orangey color, rather than the bright pink one might expect. Did I want to try it? But of course. Fearing that I might be in for a Feiring-style wine, I braced myself and looked for the spit bucket. Tasting the wine however, wasn’t so bad at all. In fact, it was a damned good wine. I guess I wouldn’t keep it for a number of years, but it was entirely pleasant and truly unlike anything I was expecting. They had an orange wine but I don’t remember the variety. And they also had a Mourvèdre that was unlike any I’ve had. Typically that grape produces a fairly big and dark wine and they’re usually either stinky or have notes of blueberries. This was definitely unique in that it was lighter than any “red” Mourvèdre I usually find. We did find a few in Spain that weren’t oaked and that were kind of fruity versions, but it’s not all that common and I was intrigued by this wine.
This is also where we almost had a spit bucket incident. I was spitting all the wines as it’s the only way to get through all the dozens I had to. So there’s a guy to my right and there’s a bucket next to him. I motion, he moves back, and I take the bucket and put it between us. He tries a wine, picks up the bucket, and puts it back on his right side. Twice more we did this and I was just about to get all biodynamic on his ass when he says his farewell and moves somewhere else. Beaming with the pleasure that you can only get from a handy spit bucket, I tasted through the rest of the wines and I think I like Donkey and Goat now. I wasn’t familiar with them before.
Heading indoors, I ran into Ser Winery, owned by the charming Nicole Walsh, all the more charming because she went to Michigan State and ex Michiganders stick together. More importantly, she was pouring a rosé made from Cabernet Pfeffer. Who makes Cab Pfeffer? I think Harrington did but I’ve had precious few, so I was anxious to try this one. She did it whole cluster press and then left it on the lees for half a year or so. How could you not be interested in tasting it? It really was a unique rosé with some hints of white peach and none of the irritating melon and bubble gum that a rosé can often have.
A completely different experience was the I Brand Cab Franc, which may well be one of the most Loire-like Cab Francs I’ve had from California. The vineyard is apparently cooled by the Monterey winds and if you like Chinon, this might be something to look for. They didn’t try to hide the bell pepper but they didn’t let it take center stage either. Just a really good version of Cab Franc. Kudos to them. And guess what? There was the spit bucket guy again. But at this point he was all jovial and friendly and apparently hadn’t been spitting too much because he strikes up a conversation with me. I rarely have much to say about anything so I nodded politely and listened, occasionally remarking on this or that and we ended up not quite BFFs, but I felt that we had reached an understanding about spit bucket etiquette.
I tried plenty of other wines, but as I said, didn’t take any notes. The overall experience was completely worthwhile however, and I would definitely suggest that anyone who’s interested in interesting wines should attend. Not the place to go if you’re looking for high-points and cult wines, but definitely the place to go if you’re a curious sort. My hunch is that some people are experimenting for the sake of experimenting and that may not be a productive approach in the long run, but how do you know what you can do unless you try? Good for all the producers and I hope to attend again.
Sorry for the length of this, but Ken asked for impressions and well, here you are. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers")
