Your buddy Rich called me asking if he could show up. Of course! Nice people.
2022 rose Grenache
2018 bruzzone chard
2019 Blad mtn chard
2020 Bruzzone chard
2021 la boeuf chard
2021 mountain vineyard chard
2021 Mindego Pinot
2021 deerhart Pinot
2018 Bates Cabernet Sauvignon
Rob brought a 2002 Winston Churchill as a “gift”, that was fun!
A huge thanks to Brig and Chris for putting this together as I was so glad to meet them in person and and to have so many Orange County folks came out to say hello and taste through some of our wines. Foretti’s is an amazing venue and about as wine friendly as I’ve ever seen a restaurant. A huge shout out to Thad there for hosting us.
There were a lot of Berserkers, some folks with personal connections to Brig and Chris, and as a big surprise, Larry Stein’s college roommate Rich and his wife. All with the common thread of great folks who love to connect over wine which really made the evening special.
Forget all the rest, we want to hear stories about Larry from the college roommate.
One thing that Rob, Chris, and myself were discussing.
Reduction. I think matchstick, flint, etc .
Rob blurts out he makes his Chardonnay in the “oxidized style”. I asked “like black Chardonnay?” Exactly. Love that too like @Don_Sandberg
iOTA in Oregon.
Then he pulls up of a photo of a chard we are drinking while it was going through the “phase”. Looked like mud!. AMAZING.
Rob, can you post that picture? LOL
More on black Chardonnay
Actually, we weren’t college roommates. We shared a house in the Berkeley hills for a couple of years in the early 80s. I graduated from Cal in 1976. Still young enough where there might be some stories. 
He contacted me out of the blue on FB Messenger last Saturday. We hadn’t connected in 40 years. (Alan, you already know the story). After looking at his FB feed, it looked like I was being contacted by a bot. I asked 3 questions that only the real Rich could answer. He knew all the answers immediately. He also mentioned that I used to hang out at a long-defunct Berkeley wine shop.
I knew Rich before we became housemates. He knows Tom P, too. He moved to SoCal and that’s when we lost touch.
He’s in the last photo on the far right with his wife standing next to him.
What a great event, and the best way to get through a Monday evening! Really enjoyed the eclectic crowd of Berserkers and civilians alike, and the lively conversations that prevailed. Met some lovely and interesting fellow aficionados.
Brig set it all up perfectly, it was an ideal venue. The enclosed patio set us apart from the main dining room, yet it was adjoining so there was no sense of being isolated. Thad has a wonderful restaurant, and I’m bringing my wife back for a hot date. The snacks and noshes were a perfect counterpoint for the rich and delicious wines.
Rob is brilliant, yet warm, personable, and quick to laugh. I learned so much last night, being the wide eyed neophyte among us. It was fascinating to hear him describe the different approaches he takes with the different characteristics of each vineyard.
All in all a memorable evening, and I look forward to berserking again!
btw, my name is Marty Kubicki, a long time friend of Brig’s.
Welcome to the board! We won’t hold that against you.
Thanks for putting this on. As I related, I almost pulled the trigger on Berserkerday but was on a buying freeze. So it was great the taste across the lineup like this. Plus, its been so long since a casual tasting with a producer like this.
I really loved how the Chards showed a really clean, acidic profile. That fruit really soaks in the oak like you expect quality Chard from the SC Mountains to.
Here is a photo of the 2018 Bruzzone Chardonnay at the juice stage after allowing to oxidize for several hours.
For Chardonnay we do indeed allow the juice to oxidize and do not add SO2 immediately after pressing so more of the easily oxidized phenols become oxidized up front and therefore the idea is there is less phenols to oxidize later in bottle. After this initial oxidative period, we do introduce a small amount of SO2 and then consider ourselves done with this hyper oxidation period. In the primary fermentation phase we generate CO2, after primary we top barrels to reduce oxygen contact, and continue to keep the wine in a more reductive state after by topping in barrel and eventually introducing sulfur after Malolactic is complete. Many winemakers employ other methods early on such as crushing the fruit, use press types and cycles to promote oxidation, and may allow the juice to oxidize for longer periods.
It’s worth noting that using this method you can still achieve wines that have a reductive style including matchstick aromas. In fact many of the producers using this oxidative juice method have quite reductive-styled wines (Leflaive, Roulot, Walter Scott, etc.).
Notes on the wines please. Thanks
Hopefully I’ll type mine up tomorrow morning. Please stay tuned.
Fantastic event and nice pics - thanks for sharing. I grew up in CdM and don’t remember that place. Must be fairly newish (like last 10 years maybe)? Granted I moved away a LONG time ago.
It used to be called Pirozzi. Thad Foret and @Steve_Nordhoff bought it, updated it and renamed it maybe 5 years ago or so.
Fantastic event and great to put some names to faces.
Rob came over and talked to my small group. Great story and details about his wine making philosophy.
I liked all the wines I tasted (although I did not get a chance to taste the Deerhart Pinot, since apparently it was a big crowd pleaser and all bottles were drained before I got to it).
My favorites were the 2019 Blad Mountain Chard, 2021 La Boeuf Chard, 2021 Mindego Pinot, and 2018 Bates Cab.
Really loved to format, so hopefully, more like this.
Big thanks to Chris and Brig for organizing and for handling pouring duties!
There turned out to be only about 40% of one bottle of that left over from Rob’s afternoon event, so most people didn’t get to taste it unfortunately.
I tasted it at Rob’s pickup party last month. Deerheart is a baritone and Mindego a tenor. Deerheart is more black-fruited and seems to built for longer aging. Both are terrific.
2021 Le Boeuf Chardonnay is awesome. I haven’t tasted 2019 Bald Chard or 2018 Bates Cab since release. They’re sleeping in my cellar.
Sorry I wasn’t able to make the tasting and see my OC buddies again…also, haven’t had the chance to try Rob’s wines yet!
