Northern California Wine Tour – May 2018, Part 3B – New Clairvaux Vineyard (Tehama County)
I’ve posted a portion of a report on a May wine trip to the Northern Sierra Foothills and beyond. The report has been split into three parts, and the portion below is from Part 3 of 3. This is an edited version, and you’ll find more detailed information in the full report. The full reports for each day of the trip can be found on the Grape-Nutz.com website – here’s the link for Part 3:
Northern California Wine Tour – May 2018 – Part 3
The first two days of my Northern California wine tour were in the northern part of the Sierra Foothills, but the final Monday portion of my trip would be entirely in Tehama County, an area farther north that’s quite distant from other wine regions in the state. I had visited a couple of vintners in the remote and obscure wine region of Manton Valley earlier that Monday, and the final visit of my brief wine tour was to a vineyard and winery that’s producing some remarkable wines in an unlikely location.
New Clairvaux Vineyard
After driving back to the Red Bluff area from Manton Valley, I turned south on Highway 99, which runs the length of California’s Central Valley. I passed a few towns along the road before turning off to the small town of Vina, located between the highway and the Sacramento River. From there, I made my way to the north end of town and the final wine destination of my Northern California wine tour – New Clairvaux Vineyard. I’d heard about New Clairvaux for a few years, and my interest was heightened in summer 2017 when I read an article on the Sacramento Bee website by wine writer Mike Dunne. He wrote about New Clairvaux’s plantings of two Greek white grape varieties, Assyrtiko and Moschofilero – something I’d never heard of before in California. Since New Clairvaux was right along my route, I contacted winemaker Aimée Sunseri and was able to arrange a visit with her. It was already getting hot when I arrived in the early afternoon, and I was glad to head inside the large brick winery building where Aimée greeted me.
Located near the northern end of Sacramento Valley, the vineyard site of New Clairvaux has one of the most fascinating histories in all of California wine, though it’s little-known today. Peter Lassen (for whom Lassen Peak is named) established a small vineyard there with Mission grapevines by the mid-1840s. Henry Gerke purchased the property in the 1850s and brought in other grape varieties, eventually expanding the vineyard to nearly 100 acres. Gerke founded the town of Vina (pronounced “vine-ah”) and built a winery near his vineyard in 1861 – though no longer in use, the building still exists. Located not far from the current winery, Gerke’s structure is the third-oldest winery building in the state – only those at Buena Vista and Charles Krug are older. Railroad tycoon and California governor Leland Stanford – seeing what he thought was great potential for the property – bought the land in 1881 and further enlarged the estate in the following years to over 55,000 acres and the vineyard to nearly 4,000 acres. Plantings included numerous grape varieties for still wines, fortified wines, and brandy production. At the time, “The Great Vina Ranch” was the largest vineyard in the world. Stanford hired engineer Hamden McIntyre (who designed Greystone, Inglenook, Far Niente, Chateau Montelena, and Trefethen wineries in Napa Valley) to design the new winery buildings, some of which still stand. At its height, The Great Vina Ranch was capable of handling two million gallons of wine per year.
Unfortunately for Stanford, the venture did not turn out as he’d hoped. Phylloxera and other issues caused problems in the vineyard, and there may well have been difficulties with trying to produce such large volumes of quality wine with the equipment and technology available in the late nineteenth century. Also, the northern Sacramento Valley location was not particularly conducive to making the Bordeaux-style wines that Stanford had envisioned (he initially planted Zinfandel for his claret wines and didn’t add Bordeaux grape varieties until a bit later). Eventually, most of the production went toward brandy rather than wine – the original brick brandy sheds dating from 1887 are still there. After Stanford’s death and with the likelihood of Prohibition on the horizon, the vast property was subdivided and sold off, and the vines were all pulled out.
The rebirth of part of this land as a vineyard can be traced back to the 1955 purchase of just under 600 acres in the heart of the old Great Vina Ranch by a group of Trappist-Cistercian monks, to become the Abbey of New Clairvaux. Monks of the Trappist-Cistercian Order follow a path of prayer, austerity, and manual labor, some of which is agricultural. Among other food products, Trappists are renowned for their ales, and the original Cistercians were instrumental in viticulture and winemaking in medieval Burgundy, planting famed Clos de Vougeot in the fourteenth century. There are currently about 20 monks living at New Clairvaux, and in addition to their vineyard, they grow prunes and walnuts at the Abbey property.
While the vineyard at New Clairvaux is unlikely to ever rival Clos de Vougeot, it’s a fine achievement nonetheless. The monks strive to be good stewards of the land, and they were aware of its history as a vineyard. Here’s where Aimée and her family step into the story. Aimée, who earned a degree in viticulture and enology from UC Davis, is a fifth-generation member of a noted California wine family, the Nichelinis. The family owns Nichelini Family Winery in Napa, which was founded in 1890 – Aimée is the winemaker there as well. Aimée also has her own label, simply called “Aimée,” with wines made from Napa Valley fruit. Aimée’s father, Phil Sunseri, first spoke with the Abbot of New Clairvaux in the late 1990s about planting a vineyard on their property, and the first vines were planted there in 2000.
Along with Phil, Aimée was involved with establishing the vineyard at New Clairvaux. The vineyard at the Abbey – called the St. James Block – was originally three acres and has now grown to ten, with another five-acre site being developed nearby. The St. James Block is farmed by the Abbey’s monks, whose focus is on quality of fruit and sustainability. There is also a second vineyard that provides fruit to New Clairvaux, this one called Poor Souls – it’s a 15-acre site that’s about five miles east of the Abbey, and which is owned and farmed by the Sunseri family. This vineyard is named for the poor souls who have had to plant and farm the difficult site, part of a rocky old creekbed near Deer Creek. In contrast, the soil at the St. James Block is deep, alluvial sandy loam, and Aimée told me that one of the challenges there is to control the vines’ vigor. Another distinction between the two vineyard sites is that Poor Souls has drip irrigation, while St. James Block is dry-farmed (though the vines were irrigated when they were being established). Dry-farming at that location seems remarkable given the very hot weather typical during the growing season there. Aimée also noted that this will be the second year of an organic farming regimen at St. James Block.
Between the two vineyard sites, a total of 12 grape varieties are grown. Aimée told me that the choice of varieties was based on those that they expected could do well in the hot climate, and particularly ones that would retain their acidity. Aimée led me from the winery building to the St. James Block to look at some of the vines there. Not surprisingly, the vine and cluster development was significantly farther along than what I saw in Manton Valley earlier that day. Rows of Viognier and Albariño were the first ones we looked at, and then we walked over to where the Assyrtiko and Moschofilero are planted. Other varieties there include Muscat Blanc, Muscat of Alexandria, Trebbiano, Graciano, and Tempranillo, while the Poor Souls site includes Barbera, Petite Sirah, Tannat, Graciano, Tempranillo, and Grenache. Aimée said that they have experimented with different varieties and zeroed in on those that provided good quality fruit. The first New Clairvaux wines were made in 2003, and Aimée has made them from the start.
Aimée and I walked back to the winery building, and she opened bottles of the latest bottlings of Assyrtiko and Moschofilero in her office / lab. Noted grocer Darrell Corti of Sacramento’s Corti Brothers market had suggested that these might be suitable for the site, and New Clairvaux obtained cuttings from Foundation Plant Services at UC Davis in 2011. Amazingly, these varieties had been available from FPS for over 60 years yet no one before had planted them in a commercial vineyard. The 2017 Assyrtiko featured citrus and apple aromas along with hints of orangepeel and flowers, good acidity and a slightly chalky quality on the finish, quite nice. The 2017 Moschofilero had beautiful yet subtle floral aromatics plus pear and stone fruit notes, with a slightly richer yet still lively mouthfeel, and a clean, fresh finish, very distinctive. Both of these new Greek white grape variety wines were delicious and displayed fine acidity, with modest alcohol too – both under 13% with the Moschofilero at only 12.2%.
Aimée showed me the winery building before heading to the tasting room to try a few more wines. The current winery and tasting room occupy part of the original 1887 wine storage cellar – it features two-foot thick brick walls and unusual vaulted brick ceilings, and it’s now powered by solar panels. Annual production these days is considerably less than the two million gallons the facility was originally designed to handle – New Clairvaux makes 7-8,000 cases per year, with another 2,000 cases for the Aimée label.
Aimée and I made our way to the tasting room and she poured me a few current releases from both New Clairvaux and from her own Aimée label. In addition to the wines I tried with Aimée, other New Clairvaux wines include a White Table Wine (blend of Muscadelle, Viognier and Trebbiano), Viognier, Trebbiano, Syrah Rosé, Nouveau Tempranillo (made by carbonic maceration), Tempranillo, “Vino Dolce” (Port-style wine), and Angelica (made from Muscat grapes). Additional Aimée wines include Moscato, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Aimée started me out with three New Clairvaux wines, beginning with the 2017 Albariño, from the St. James Block. This was made entirely in stainless steel, with full malolactic fermentation, coming in at just 12.2% alcohol. Bright apple and stone fruit with touches of flowers, and a slight buttery component, medium-light body with a crisp finish. The NV “Petite Temptation #6” was next – a 50/50 blend of Petite Sirah from Poor Souls Vineyard and Tempranillo from St. James Block. Aromas of dried herb / tobacco, plum and darker fruit, smoke, earth, and a touch of vanilla, this was medium-full bodied with surprisingly tame tannins – a nice “drink now” wine. The 2016 Barbera is 100% varietal, and featured bright red cherry fruit, herbs, and spice notes, with medium acidity and fairly mild tannins on the finish.
We continued with three wines from the Aimée label, all sourced from Napa Valley fruit. The 2016 Sauvignon Blanc had plenty of grapefruit and herb aromas, with a lively texture and finish. Next up was the 2017 Pinot Grigio – this displayed bright green apple and citrus along with floral and herbal notes, a juicy mouthfeel and clean finish. We finished up with the 2016 Primitivo – this was bottled in summer 2017, fairly short barrel aging for this variety. Black cherry and wild berry fruit, lots of spice, and vanilla undertones, this was medium weight with moderate tannins.
My visit with Aimée at New Clairvaux Vineyard was one of the highlights of my Northern California wine tour, and a great way to finish it up. The history of the site – most of it long-forgotten – is truly fascinating, and the wines were very good across the board. Highlights for me were the New Clairvaux 2017 Assyrtiko, 2017 Moschofilero, and NV “Petite Temptation,” and the Aimée 2017 Pinot Grigio. It may seem surprising at first that wines of such distinction can be made in a climate as hot as Red Bluff typically is during the summer, but the care with which the vineyards are tended and Aimée’s skill at making the wines combine to make it all work amazingly well. Their work adds to the remarkable history of the Vina area. The New Clairvaux tasting room is open daily and is a highly recommended stop if you happen to be in the area.