First off, a big thanks to Paul for inviting me and fellow berserker Ben M out to Halcon vineyards during our whirlwind one day tasting tour of the Anderson Valley earlier this month!
Ben agreed to drive us up from Santa Rosa in his Prius. Turns out a slightly larger-wheeled car would have been the best choice to get up the dirt road to Halcon. I knew it was “on top of a mountain” — but no, really, it’s all the way on top, with some steeply graded roads up there!
I thought I knew most of what goes on in that area of wine country, but Halcon is a different beast altogether. Ben was in Geologist heaven with all of the craggy outcrops of various and diverse rocks, and i was surprised to hear that the vineyards get twice the rainfall of Boonville, which sits just below it. THe weather and scenery are quite intense. But hey, you probably care more about the wines.
I’ve had most of the Halcon wines before in at least a couple of vintages, so I knew a bit of what to expect. Ben was new to the wines, but is quite keen on the northern Rhône. So off we went with the shocker of the day, the straight Roussanne!
The Roussanne has tons of extract and richness despite low alcohol and very low brix at pick. Ben also really loved this wine: “The Roussanne was just classic. So elegant, surprisingly weighty yet polished.” On to the reds, the Esquisito has a lot of spice and red fruit, some savory herbs, great acid and was a strong start to the tasting. Onward to the syrahs! Elevacion is tighter would than the Alturas and has a super mineral spine along with high acid. The red fruits come through more on this as well, while both are very peppery and pretty wines that pack serious power and structure. This would be very hard to beat in the US in my experience. Other older and wiser tasters may have more experience than me and Ben, but we found these Syrahs to both be world class efforts.
The Petite Sirah is surprisingly approachable with inky color, blue fruits and softer than expected tannin. A straight Mourvèdre provided a richly fruited and enjoyable wine.
Paul and Jackie were superb hosts, and We couldn’t have had a better start to the day.
Thanks for the write-up. Halcon is a special place, Paul and Jackie are awesome and the wines are fantastic. We did a vertical of the vineyard production of Syrah a couple years back. That drive up the hill makes one appreciate the price point of the wine before you ever take a sip.
Just read through that thread and looks like it was a super fun event. I didn’t take awesome notes here as I got caught up in enjoying the wines too much. I have enjoyed the Alturas from a few vintages but was really taken with the Elevacion. Now I just want a time machine so I can drink it ten years from now!
I think the Roussanne is going to rock your world, though… as long as you like Roussanne.
Dan, thank you for posting. We were there in June and had a fantastic experience. I have just not gotten around to posting about it. We loved the entire line-up and yes Paul and Jackie were great host. It was certainly a highlight of our trip. We could have stayed there the rest of the day and it was our first stop at 11:00 am.
Thanks for writing this up Dan. Paul and Jackie were amazing hosts. That Roussanne is really something, and the Syrahs really are beauties, especially the Alturas, for me.
And what an incredible set of views. Well worth the harrowing drive!
What’s the different between the Alturas and the Elevacion syrahs? Just got the emailer and the former was not on the list and the latter was new to me.
Elevacion is 100% whole-cluster, 100% Chave clone Syrah, aged in neutral oak.
Alturas is 50% whole-cluster, uses a mix of clones (some Estrella, Tablas Creek plus Chave) with 4% Viognier. Mainly neutral oak but one new Ermitage puncheon (around 10% new).
We offered the 2017 Alturas in the spring.
Love Halcon’s wines. Looking forward to trying the Roussanne! The Elevacion from last year was a really pretty wine, slightly more “elegant” in the early stages than the standard Alturas. Both are really good and strike a nice blend of N. Rhone characteristics with California fruit purity.
I’m curious about the vegetative matter around the grape vines in the pictures. Seems that most vineyards have tilled soil around the vines but there are grasses growing under these vines. Is that a practice at higher elevations? Is that to prevent evaporation because of lack of water? What is the purpose?
We weedwack under the vines in the spring. This year we then got 9in of rain in late May and the grass went crazy again. Given how late it was in the year we just decided to get the grass die off rather than have another round of weedwacking.
We have considered the some of a rotary tiller in the past but with 3ft between vines, some steep slopes and lots of rocks it did not seem optimal.
Tilling devastates the soil web, which gives you permeability of air and water, nutrient delivery, nutrient and water retention.
Soil bacteria and soil fungi are the start of the soil food web that supports other soil organisms and the functions of a healthy soil. Diverse populations of soil bacteria and fungi can suppress root diseases. Soil bacteria and fungi are encouraged by ground cover and organic matter inputs.
If you have healthy soil, and can avoid compacting it, there’s no reason to till. You’re just chewing up this network, redistributing specialized microbes out of their habitat, so a large percentage die. Nutrients then get flushed out (into the water table and water ways) as do the vast majority of the replacement nutrients. Some of the nutrients that remain aren’t then broken down and delivered to the roots, which can shorten the vine’s lifespan and give you nutrient deficient grapes, leading to problematic and stuck fermentations. You’re also promoting erosion.
Some of the higher elevation vineyards I’ve seen only need one or two weedwacks a year. One didn’t even need that, since the native plants growing under the vines were all very low growing.
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