Quivira DryCreekCuvee DryCreekVlly (40% PS/35% Grenache/25% Zin; 13.5%) 1988: Med.dark color w/ little bricking; bit earthy/dusty/OV some vanilla/Am.oak/toasty/smokey/ozone some peppery/earthy/PS slight raspberry/Zin slight spicy/herbal fairly complex quite attractive nose; bit tart/tangy/metallic some spicy/raspberry/Zin/peppery/PS/strawberry some vanilla/Am.oak flavor w/ light/bit astringent tannins; med.long light spicy/raspberry/Zin bit peppery/PS/strawberry some tangy/metallic bit toasty/smokey/oak finish w/ light/bitey tannins; still has good/bright fruit and cruising right along nicely into spinsterhood; quite a nice fully mature red.
And a wee BloodyPulpit:
The founder of Quivera was, I recall, banker BillHambrecht. His founding winemaker was none other than DougNalle. It was then purchased by Hank&Holly Wendt. Around 2006, they sold it to finiancial guy PeteKight. He also purchased TorbreckWnry. He eventually fired winemaker/partner DavidPowell…which left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouth. I believe HughChappelle is the present winemaker at Quivira. I’ve not tried any of their recent wines and find no compelling reason to do so.
Tom
I visited Quiriva when I was in the area about a year ago or so. The grounds are beautiful. Biodynamically farmed, with animals that entertained my young daughter. I found their zins to be full of Dry Creek goodness and well priced, but the rest of the wines were not memorable. Hugh Chappelle is indeed the current winemaker.
IIRC, Bill Hambrecht partnered with Gary Farrell in Alysian wines, which I was an early buyer of and which are aging nicely.
Tom, I don’t believe that Bill Hambrecht had anything to do with Quivira. Henry and Holly Wendt started the label after purchasing the property in 1981. Doug Nalle was indeed the Quivira winemaker in the late 1980s, and he did work with Bill Hambrecht on a project in Dry Creek Valley earlier in the 1980s but as far as I know that had nothing to do with Quivira. See this for more info on Doug Nalle: http://www.nallewinery.com/meet-us/crew/
Hugh Chappelle is doing a very good job at Quivira. I’ve tasted his wines from there a number of times at wine events over the past few years and visited there a few months ago (still working on my report for Grape-Nutz). As Marc noted, their estate vineyard is certified biodynamic. They make mainly Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and various Rhône varietals and blends. I particularly liked their Grenache-based Rosé, Zinfandels, and Mourvèdre at my recent visit there.
Ken,
I just recall Doug talking about BillHambrecht & working w/ him early on, so just assumed he started Quivira. But I’m thinking there was some label BillHambrecht was involved with.
The Quivira WebSite mentions StevenCanter as the winemaker. The DropDown Menu (“Meet The People”) lists HughChappelle, but you can’t get there to his page (least I couldn’t).
Tom
Steve Canter had recently joined when I visited Quivira around New Years 2005/2006. He was quite excited about the biodynamic regime at the time. I thought I’d heard he was in Oregon now, but I’m not sure. He also produced some interesting things under his own Luddite Vineyards label.
Hugh came on board as the Quivira winemaker in 2010. A number of people thought that was an odd move for him, since he was best-known for making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at Lynmar and Flowers before that, but he’d previously been the winemaker at Madroña Vineyards in El Dorado County, where he had worked with many of the same grape varieties as at Quivira.
Anyone know where Steve Canter is? I picked up a 2001 zin of his a few weeks ago at Chambers Street that was made from vines planted in 1862 (can’t remember the vineyard name). It was lovely.
He also made an arbouriou. He said that when people asked him what it resembled, he’d tell them it was like a cross between a bonardo and a legrein. (Take that, you geeks!) I had to like the guy.
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