El Dorado County wine visits, November 2023 – Holly’s Hill, Cedarville, Pack String, Cold Spring, Cappelli
I’ve posted a portion of a report on late November wine visits in El Dorado County, in California’s Sierra Foothills. The segment below focuses on short visits with two vintners who have newer labels. The full version of this part of the report is on the Grape-Nutz.com website:
Sierra Foothills Visits –November 2023
My annual fall wine trip to the Sierra Foothills has been a tradition for many years, and this year my friends Jane and Alan, who have been with me on many of these trips but haven’t come along in a number of years, were both able to join me. In choosing which wineries to visit, I picked two that we all had enjoyed in the past, since I knew they would like to revisit them. I also selected one I’d been to earlier this year since I thought it would be particularly interesting for Jane and Alan.
Photo from Holly’s Hill
When I’d made an appointment with owner/winemaker Jonathan Lachs to visit Cedarville Vineyard, he asked whether my friends and I would like to taste wines from a couple of new labels there as well. Of course I couldn’t say no to that! We’d hoped to see Cedarville assistant winemaker Jill Winter and taste wines from her brand new Quartz Vein label, which she’s making there, but she was unable to join us – hope to try her wines on my next visit. We did taste wines from two other new labels, though – Pack String and Cold Spring.
Pack String Wines
It was a real bonus for Jane, Alan, and I to be able to taste wines from a couple of newer wine ventures while we were visiting Cedarville Vineyard. First up was Pack String Wines, the label of James and Danielle Frost. James has a vineyard management business called Frostwood, and currently manages about 18 vineyards with over 100 acres. He grew up in El Dorado County, and worked in vineyard management in Oregon for a time before moving back. He and Danielle launched the Pack String Wines label with the 2020 vintage, and the wines are being made at the Holly’s Hill facility in the Pleasant Valley area of El Dorado County.
James told us that the name of the label comes from a number of family members who have led a pack string of mules into the Sierra backcountry to explore and enjoy the mountains. The artwork on the labels was made by Danielle and James, and each label drawing is based on a different family photo. Fruit for the Pack String wines is entirely sourced from local El Dorado vineyards, and all of the wines are made in small lots.
James and Danielle purchased property a few years ago in the Apple Hill area just north of Placerville, and they plan to plant their own vineyard and build a winery and tasting room there. James mentioned is that part of the overall focus of the winery is to be as local as possible, to highlight the El Dorado County origins of the fruit and winemaking – and even the label design – and to help celebrate and promote what can be done locally within the county.
We tasted four Pack String wines with James, starting with the 2020 Roussanne. The fruit came from Sauber Vineyard in the Happy Valley area east of Somerset in southern El Dorado County. Showing citrus, stone fruit, and pear aromas along with fresh herbs and a touch of spice, this had a medium-rich texture that was nicely balanced by vibrant acidity, with a long and lively finish. Next was the 2021 Roussanne – this fruit was sourced from Sierra Vista Vineyard in the Pleasant Valley region. This had stone fruit and melon notes with smoke and spice undertones, medium-full body, with a bit of roughness on the finish that suggest a bit more cellaring might be of benefit.
We continued with two wines that were both sourced from Smokey Ridge Ranch in the Apple Hill area. First was the 2021 Sangiovese Rosé, which displayed bright red fruit and citrus on the nose plus a touch of stone fruit, with lively acidity and a hint of smoke on the finish. We finished up with the 2020 Zinfandel – with clove and other spices supporting ripe black cherry and plum fruit, this had a broad texture and long, tasty finish with moderate tannins.
Other currently available Pack String wines that we didn’t taste on this occasion include 2020 Sangiovese Rosé and 2021 Barbera.
It was great to taste the Pack String wines with James. The 2020 Roussanne was a real standout, and the 2020 Zinfandel was not far behind – both highly recommended. I always enjoy trying wines from newer, under-the-radar producers, and it should be worth keeping an eye on James and his Pack String label in the coming years.
Cold Spring Wine
We had one more new wine label to check out while we were at Cedarville Vineyard – Cold Spring Wine from longtime vintner Adam Smith. Adam has worked in cellar and winemaking positions for a number of years, at acclaimed wineries such as Domaine Méo Camuzet in Burgundy, Craggy Range in New Zealand, Domaine Serene, Bethel Heights, and Shea in Willamette Valley, and Banshee in the Sonoma Coast before returning to El Dorado County, where he grew up. Since coming back, he’s been the winemaker for Skinner and consulted for other Sierra Foothills labels.
Adam established his new Cold Spring label beginning with the 2022 vintage, and he’s focusing on wines from Rhône grape varieties sourced from El Dorado vineyards. We talked with him about his winemaking goals, and he told us that he wants his wines to display an El Dorado regional character while still showing terroir distinctions between individual vineyards. He knows that displaying region-wide as well as specific vineyard character in a wine is not an easy task but he feels that his work with El Dorado fruit from a number of different vineyard sites in recent years is valuable experience in achieving that goal. I asked what he thinks is a signature El Dorado character in wines, and he said that an allspice / orangepeel character in reds is a particular one that he’s noted.
We talked a little with Adam about his winemaking. He told us that he likes to pick white varieties in the range of about 20.5 to 22 brix – he feels that brings out the flavors he’s looking for while still retaining a fresh acidity. Adam favors native fermentations for his wines, and uses a percentage of whole clusters for most of his red fermentations. He lets the wines settle in tank before racking them to barrel and plans to bottle the 2023 wines prior to the 2024 harvest.
Adam wanted us to taste a number of his 2023 tank and barrel samples at Cedarville, where he’s making his Cold Spring wines. We started with a tank sample of the 2023 Wylie Vineyard “Clementine,” a blend of Grenache Blanc and Vermentino. Many will remember this vineyard, which was neglected for some years but now has new ownership and a new name, though Adam has decided to use the original name as a tribute. The six-acre vineyard was planted in the mid-1980s and is about half Grenache Blanc and Vermentino and half Syrah. The “Clementine” fruit was whole-cluster pressed, underwent a short fermentation, and was in a stainless steel tank still going through malolactic fermentation when we visited. The wine had tropical fruit aromas, nice mouthfeel with vibrant acidity and a fresh finish. We followed Adam into the barrel room – a concrete-vaulted underground space that stays naturally cool – and he had us taste his 2023 Cedarville Vineyard “Beeswing” Viognier. This featured stone fruit and tropical fruit on the nose, with a lively texture and zingy finish.
Photo credit Jill Winter
We continued with two Grenache barrel samples from different vineyards. First was the 2023 Marchini Vineyard Grenache, sourced from older vines at a site between Placerville and Coloma, and fermented with 50% whole clusters. With upfront red fruit and spice notes, this had a bright mouthfeel and fine tannins on the finish. Next up was the 2023 Starfield Vineyard Grenache – this vineyard is just north of Placerville, and about 20% of the fruit for this wine was whole-cluster fermented. This wine showed more floral aromatics along with iron, spice, and cherry, with a bigger texture and more prominent tannins than the Marchini Grenache. Each of these Grenaches showed very distinct character and both are intended to be single vineyard designates.
We continued with Syrahs from two sites, starting with the 2023 Wylie Vineyard Syrah. This was the only red barrel sample we tasted with Adam that was made entirely with destemmed fruit. Showing both red and black fruits plus spice and lively acidity on the palate, this was noticeably reductive when we tried it but that should resolve with more time in barrel. The 2023 Cedarville Vineyard Syrah was made with 20% whole clusters and was co-fermented with a little Viognier. Lighter in color than the Wylie Syrah and with more bright and slightly floral notes along with darker berry fruit, this had a great mouthfeel and moderate tannins.
Moving on to Mourvèdre, we tasted the 2023 Mais Fica Vineyard Mourvèdre, from a vineyard site in the Pleasant Valley area. This displayed what I think are classic El Dorado Mourvèdre characteristics, with plum, iron, and savory herbal notes, medium weight on the palate, and firm tannins. Our final barrel sample was the 2023 Starfield Vineyard Mourvèdre. This seemed less developed at this stage than the Mais Fica barrel sample but showed some pleasant floral aromas along with plum and darker berry fruit. Both of these Mourvèdres were fermented with 30% whole clusters, and Adam plans to blend both together.
I’m sure that Adam would have continued with more barrel tasting but we had to get back on the road for our next wine appointment, so he concluded our tasting with a bottled wine, the 2022 “Pepperboy” Syrah. With fruit sourced from a nearby vineyard, the wine includes a little Viognier and Cinsault. Adam told us that future “Pepperboy” vintages will most likely be blends, probably Syrah-Grenache-Mourvèdre-Cinsault. Featuring dark berry fruit, earth, spice, dried herb, and smoked meat aromas, this had medium-full body and firm but not harsh tannins. It’s certainly tasty already, but this wine is still a youngster and deserves some time in the cellar to show its full potential.
We had a fun time tasting Adam’s brand-new Cold Spring wines. He has a very outgoing personality and his enthusiasm was obvious as we tasted with him. Although Adam has been making wine for a number of years, Cold Spring is a new venture for him and it looks to be getting off to a very promising start based on what we tasted with him. Although it’s often tough to get a good grasp of what a wine will develop into when tasting such young tank and barrel samples, my favorites were the 2023 “Beeswing” Viognier, 2023 Marchini Vineyard Grenache, 2023 Cedarville Vineyard Syrah, and 2023 Mais Fica Vineyard Mourvèdre. In addition, the bottled 2022 “Pepperboy” Syrah was a standout. Cold Spring is definitely a new label to watch.
Photo from Holly’s Hill