“…Other mission vineyards in Amador didn’t have Jeanne Deaver looking out for them over the years. A perennial block was torn out when the rancher who owned it passed away. Another on Shenandoah Road, which was still producing mission wine until three years ago, was recently uprooted after a new owner bought the property.”
“After 20 years or so, one of our favorite Amador County wineries, Nine Gables, will be closing. The owners, Jerry and Pam, have been making delicious varietals (Sangiovese, Barbera, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel) and creative blends (Calitalia, Grand Menage, Vino Bella, Primera)…”.
Sierra Wines’ website
“Shenandoah Valley, California Viticultural Area” Profile: 9 Gables Vineyards:
"The Winery: The estate is built on the site of pre-prohibition Peroni Winery, which specialized in Zinfandel and Mission wines. As the wine and grape business slowed, unfortunately the Peroni’s pulled out some of the old vineyards and planted them to walnut trees. Pam and Jerry Notestine purchased the estate in the late 1980’s…
“The Vineyards:Nine Gables has a small amount of 85-year-old Mission vines left from the Peroni Vineyards, as well as some of the original Zin vines. The Notestines have pulled many of the walnut trees out and re-established the vineyards in their place…”.
While not pure Criolla Chica (has Grande and Blanca in it), this was sick good. There is an Argentine restaurant in town and the somm is doing a great job bringing in diverse wines as well as servicing more conventional needs. Nice kombucha-y edge w/o being gross, light body and a really lovely red fruit profile. And we keep going back and forth with it and a big Malbec - it kept up by keeping its own vibe.
Timely! I’m just gearing up to bottle the 2022 Mission. It’s back to the lower alcohol levels of 2019 vintage for that one, so a little zingier. Not quite sure when it will release, but prob sometime in 2025.
Except for a Pais bottle I brought back from Chile, have not had any new Missions lately.
Just opened my own 2020 “Hernan” Mission from the Somers Vineyard. I have actually not drank this wine for a few years (not even sampled it), so it was fun to revisit.
This was only made in 2020 and was an experiment at harvesting Mission a little riper (15%) and giving it a bit more new oak/time in barrels. As is always the case with Mission’s tincture/herbal notes, they don’t always play nicely with alcohol in the 14-15% region and tend to do best with less heft - or a lot more (Angelica etc). That said, this wine is perhaps the one that proves that in fact it can play that middle field and still live to tell about it.
Color is light, as always. The tears on the glass gave way to more complexity than I remembered. The phrase, an “iron fist in a velvet glove” comes to mind. Sure, tinctures and herbal notes are there, as expected, then the slight stewed strawberry, but there’s a zest and verve there that was really nice to re-encounter. It keeps giving you multiple turns with each sip, sometimes one way, then the other.
In the end, I never made another vintage of it - it was perhaps not different enough from the regular Mission bottling. Wanted to simplify and not confuse people. If you have a bottle in storage, maybe give it a go and see what you think?
PS. This bottle had also been kept really terribly in hot space, label was all messed up etc, so hadn’t great hopes for it. But it was all there.
2022 Ana María Cumsille País Aguila - disappointing compared to how amazing the '20 was. Fusel oils and really rough. Some good red fruits underneath. Unsure if it needs time or just off all around. Have two more bottles, so we will see.
2022 La Despensa Boutique País Estate - A rarity as pretty all Pais on Colchagua was extirpated to make way for more commercial varieties. Nicely lush and textured. Some tobacco notes and quince elements. Good stuff and enjoyed by non-Pais heads as well.
