Mise en Place

Category: Wine Talk (Page 2 of 3)

Erica Stancliff, winemaker at Pfendler Vineyards, is also the president of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance.

Paul Hobbs Knew: Erica Stancliff Was Made to Make Wine

March 13, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

A few days ago, I tasted two wines that impressed me: a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir, both from Pfendler Vineyards. They mark the first releases for Erica Stancliff as Pfendler’s head winemaker, and if you like your Chardonnay with defines notes of spice, try this one. I tasted it again last night, and it held up — this time the apple and citrus notes were more pronounced. (Regarding the Pinot Noir, buy a few, because you’ll want to cellar some of these for, let’s say, five years or so — at least. It’s drinking well now, but — as Stancliff concurs — this one promises to enjoy the aging process. Total production was 200 cases, so best not tarry.)

I’ll have full reviews of these wines soon, but this Wine Talk serves to introduce you to Stancliff, whose background and pedigree are intriguing. She was raised in a family whose existence revolved around food (I can identify with and approve of that); her mother is Rickey Trombetta, of Trombetta Family Wines, and one look at the family’s website will make you hungry — and thirsty.

Erica has been the Trombetta Family winemaker since 2014, and she’s also served as the president of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance since 2019. Her journey in the wine world can be said to have begun when she was 10; Paul Hobbs, who would become her mentor, was dining with the Trombetta family one evening and was impressed by Stancliff’s palate. He encouraged her to learn more about wine, and introduced her to vineyards in Sonoma and Napa.

She graduated in 2010 from Cal State Fresno with a degree in enology, and flew to an internship in Mendoza, at Viña Cobos (a Hobbs property), then worked the 2011 harvest at Rudd Estate. Enartis Vinquiry was next — she was there for two and a half years — and then moved to CrossBarn and Trombetta. In 2019, she added Pfendler to her CV.

I look forward to tasting what Stancliff does going forward at Pfendler, and a visit to Trombetta Family Wines is now on my post-COVID agenda.

Here is Stancliff, in her own words.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Erica Stancliff: COVID has changed my everyday life in many ways. From wearing a mask everywhere I go (even in the middle of harvest doing punchdowns or walking to vineyards) to having my own personal hand sanitizer with me at all times. Interacting with people is a new adventure every time because you want to be respectful of everyone’s level of caution, and yet, some people aren’t cautious at all.

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

ES: I’m a sucker for a killer Carignan, so I’m drinking the Delve 2018 Carignan, which I didn’t make, but good friends did. This is my feel-good wine that I usually have with chicken and mushrooms or a big salad. You can purchase it from the winery website for $27. 

Stancliff likes this Carignan with chicken and mushrooms.

The 2019 Pfendler Chardonnay is so approachable early on — I like to pair that with seafood (tuna tartar or baked salmon) or lemon risotto. The wine is available from Pfendler’s website for $45. 

The third wine that is drinking well at the moment is the 2015 Trombetta Gap’s Crown Pinot Noir Petaluma Gap. 2015 was a low-yield vintage in Sonoma County, which made the wines much more concentrated than normal, so after six years I think this wine is just starting to hit its stride. It pairs well with grilled salmon or pork. You can purchase it from the winery for $65. 

A family jewel …

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.

ES: This is a hard one! If cost was no consideration, give me a Joseph Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru 1988, France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits Pinot Noir — I love the producer and it’s my birth year. 

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

ES: I will say as a winemaker my favorite variety to make is Chardonnay, and here is why: Chardonnay can be a blank canvas for a winemaker to impart their style on. The nuances of the grape and subtleties are what make it a challenge. Too much oak, too much acid … anything can throw the end wine out of balance or create a perception of heavy-handedness.  


“That’s the purpose of what winemakers do: We want you to enjoy our wines!”

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

ES: The 2019 Pfendler Petaluma Gap Pinot is going to be just hitting its stride in 10 years, and I would highly recommend keeping one bottle aside for a special occasion.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside of your home and workplace)?

ES: The Barlow, in Sebastopol, has a great wine bar called Region; it has a ton of local Sonoma County producers and you can buy a taste or full bottle to enjoy on their patio.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

ES: The beautiful thing about wine is that there is one for every taste and palate. It doesn’t matter about price or producer, as long as you enjoy it. That’s the purpose of what winemakers do: We want you to enjoy our wines!

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

ES: My mentor is Paul Hobbs, whom I have known since my childhood. My biggest lightbulb moment was when we were walking a vineyard together when I was in high school right before harvest in Sebastopol. Watching his attention, care, and passion in the vineyard and asking him questions about harvest made the lightbulb go off for me when I learned about how much passion went into making something with your hands. 

Paul Hobbs, mentor extraordinaire (Courtesy PaulHobbs.com)

JB: What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

ES: I have a few, but let’s go with this one: Harvest 2011, someone dropped their cell phone in a tank of fermenting Malbec. 20 days later, when we emptied it, the phone still worked. It was the weirdest thing …

JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

ES: “In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.” — Benjamin Franklin

Want more wine? Read on:

Ian Cauble: From ‘Somm’ to SommSelect
Eric Sigmund is High on Texas Wine
Jeff Cole, Sullivan Estate’s Winemaker
Jon McPherson Talks Tokay and His Mentor Father
Two Reds From Chile
An Italian Chardonnay From the Cesare Stable
Mi Sueño’s 2016 Napa Valley Syrah
Joshua Maloney on Riesling and Manfred Krankl
Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

“I wanted to drink wines like that forever and understand what made them so good.” (Photo by Emma K. Morris)

Ian Cauble, from ‘Somm’ to SommSelect, Keeps On Tasting

March 4, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Perhaps you’ve seen Somm, the 2012 film that chronicled the attempts of four men to pass the Master Sommelier exam. It’s an entertaining — and at times overly indulgent — look at the process, and has spawned sequels and Somm TV, a streaming service.

Ian Cauble was in the film, and he passed the test. Today, he is one of only 269 individuals in the world to hold the title, conferred by the Court of Master Sommeliers. (The organization and its nonprofit educational arm, GuildSomm, have been beset by (ongoing) controversy as of late; you can read a bit about that here.)

“I was deeply sickened to hear of the reports of sexual harassment and abuse. There is no room for that behavior in this, or any, industry,” Cauble said about the issue. “I stand with those who are ready to make long-overdue changes and create a more equitable organization. We must hold ourselves to the standards of excellence, integrity, and humility that we wish to exemplify.”

The world of wine on your doorstep

In 2014, Cauble founded SommSelect, to, he said, “bring the sommelier experience home.” He is the Chief Wine Officer of the company, an online venture that includes a daily offer, a wine shop, and monthly clubs. David Lynch, whose work at Babbo — at one time my favorite restaurant in New York — joined Cauble at SommSelect in 2017 as editorial director.

Today’s selection at the venture is the 2019 Château du Carrubier, “Cuvée Ingénue” Rosé, and I especially like the Germany selections in the shop, such as “Bacharacher Hahn” from Toni Jost (2017) and the 2014 “Hocheimer Hölle” from Domdechant Werner.

I spoke with Cauble a week or so ago, via Zoom, and learned that SommSelect was profitable. We discussed the complexities of shipping wine, and we talked about Riesling and Germany and Austria.

I look forward to tasting with Cauble in person, but until then, here he is in Wine Talk.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Ian Cauble: COVID-19 has obviously changed almost every aspect of daily life for people all over the world. In the face of a pandemic, and so much loss of life and suffering, the first and foremost reaction is just one of sadness for those who have lost loved ones, and tremendous gratitude to healthcare workers and frontline workers who have done so much to keep us safe and keep “normal” life going as much as possible.

As a business owner, of course our number-one priority has been to keep our staff safe and healthy. Some of us have been able to pivot our jobs at SommSelect to working from home, but we have an incredible operations team who have been working in our warehouse under new safety guidelines during COVID and making sure that we’re able to fulfill our orders for customers during the pandemic.

Since we have always been a completely online, DTC business, our model and infrastructure was already very COVID-friendly, and it has been interesting to see people who probably never thought they’d want to buy wine online realize that it’s actually pretty awesome to have wine that’s been hand-selected for you just show up at your door.

As the Chief Wine Officer of our company, one of my main responsibilities is sourcing wines from new producers and regions, so that usually involves a lot of travel in a given year. Cearly all of that came to a screeching halt last March. Of course, I’m itching to get out on the wine route again once it’s safe to do so, but thankfully our suppliers are sending us wines to taste with our team here in Sonoma, so the business hasn’t skipped a beat. I’m just extremely grateful to all of the people who have helped make that possible over the last year.

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

IC: The first wine I would mention is a Nebbiolo from Piedmont called Conti Boca DOC 2012 ($70). I bought a case from one of our (SommSelect) Daily Offers two years ago and the wine is now firing on all cylinders. I open it with special guests that come over for dinner, usually paired with a slow-braised beef cheek pappardelle with fresh parmesan.

This is an incredible wine made in miniscule quantities just northeast of Barolo within “Alto-Piemonte” (high Piedmont), where it is slightly cooler, with the vineyards sitting in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Until recently the family farmed only about five acres of vines, and the wine is reminiscent of a top-class Barolo/Barbaresco meets fine red Burgundy. The higher elevation leaves more floral notes in the wine and the alcohol is a bit lighter, leaving more tension and minerality. When this wine is paired with the correct dish, served in a big Burgundy stem at just above cellar temp,  it can be magical. The production is so small SommSelect gets about 300 bottles a year only, and it is sold as a daily offer.

The next wine I love right now is Walter Scott “La Combe Verte” 2019 Chardonnay ($36), from Willamette Valley. Walter Scott is an up-and-coming superstar in the Oregon wine scene who makes wines very similar to Burgundy’s famous village of Puligny-Montrachet, where many of the greatest white wines on earth are made every year.

The latitude, soils, and climate of the Willamette Valley are all very similar to Burgundy, and that allows producers to make incredible expressions of Chardonnay that can fool many great tasters into thinking the wine is in fact from a famous site in France costing much more. The “Combe Verte” is the entry-level wine from their offerings, which gives the viewer a sneak-peek into how good their top wines are, as their “entry-level” wine is better than other producers’ best offerings. This wine was included in our Explore 4 wine club as one of the four selections this month, where we focused on Oregon. It is a chameleon with food: I have enjoyed it with yellowtail nigiri sushi, and it can pair beautifully with a simple roasted chicken and potatoes. One tip: Make sure to decant their wines for 30 to 60 minutes, as they often need oxygen to open up properly. Also, do not serve this wine too cold — about cellar temp (55F) or so is perfect. 

My third selection would have to be Knoll “Schütt” Riesling 2017 ($68), from Austria’s Wachau region just outside of Vienna. The Wachau is one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world and is an UNESCO World Heritage site. These terraced vineyards are a sight to behold, and they produce some of the most spectacular dry white wines in the world. Weingut Knoll is one of the top producers in the region, and I feel honored each time I get to visit and taste the wines. They pair impeccably well with Cantonese cuisine, and I really enjoy pairing his Rieslings with fresh steamed fish with jasmine rice along with bok choy sautéed with ginger and a touch of sesame oil. The simplicity of the dish allows the deep complexities of the Riesling to shine. Alternatively, bring a bottle of Knoll Riesling to a dim-sum restaurant and prepare to be addicted to the experience. You will never forget it.

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.

IC: I would add Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – Romaneé-Conti 1990. It is one of my favorite vintages in Burgundy, from my favorite producer, and is approaching its peak of drinking now. There are other wines that might be older and rarer, but the odds of drinking perfection are extremely high.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

IC: My favorite grape is Pinot Noir. This is a tough one, but Pinot Noir has the ability to express so many different personalities all over the world. My favorite region of course is Burgundy, but other areas around the world are starting to make stunning expressions of Pinot Noir. Other than DRC noted above, the wines produced by Domaine Leroy are extraordinary, and her Musigny Grand Cru is truly magical. I rarely get to taste it.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

IC: I would recommend Krug Champagne, Grand Cuvée in magnum or 3 liter. Before I started SommSelect, I worked as the United States ambassador for Krug, and that was an experience I will never forget. To see how these wines evolve over time is truly special, and one of the very best wines I ever tasted was an older bottle of Grande Cuvée out of a 3L right after I passed my Master Sommelier exam. In terms of price to quality, there are a few wines in the world that can compete, and the pleasure factor is an 11 on a 10 scale.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside of your home and workplace)?

IC: I usually end up at Cadet in downtown Napa. Everyone that works there is extremely knowledgeable and kind, and the prices on the wine list are not much more than normal retail. It makes it easy to go in there and drink a couple of special bottles without breaking the bank. Their selections are top-notch.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

IC: I think most people drink white wine way too cold and red wine way too warm. I also think people should be investing in nice glassware because, just like a speaker is to music, your wine will be only as good as your glass you are drinking out of it in terms of aromatic complexity, etc. Zalto makes some great glassware to consider; their Burgundy stem takes drinking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to another level entirely.

So many corks to pull … (Photo by Emma K. Norris)

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

IC: When I returned from traveling overseas for a year and a half after college, I came home broke. I borrowed money from my dad to buy a suit and ended up getting a job at the Wine Merchant of Beverly Hills off Rodeo Drive. A few weeks after I started my boss asked me to go open up a bottle of Domaine G. Roumier Musigny Grand Cru 1990 for him and a special client nand pour it into these special Riedel stems. I polished the glasses and opened up the wine and poured myself a taste, and my life was forever changed.

I had no idea a wine could be so perfumed and thought-provoking! It smelled like strawberries and cream in a cold forest … underbrush, roses, mushrooms, and black truffles. I was literally getting emotional from smelling it. From that moment on, I put all of my focus into learning as much as I could about wine because I wanted to drink wines like that forever and understand what made them so good.

JB: What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

IC: Probably the time when the table I was serving asked the proper way to open a bottle of Champagne. At that time I opened up dozens of bottles a day, but had no idea that this particular bottle had just been delivered a few hours before and had been shaken up all day on the delivery truck. I showed them how to leave the cage on and remove the cork and cage together at the same time for safety while holding the bottle at a slight angle. I then slowly removed the cork from the bottle as usual, and the moment the cork released the wine sprayed all over me and the roof like an explosion, giving a nice gift of Rosé Champagne spray to the ladies in front of me. Ironically, the next week I flew to Athens to compete for the Best Young Sommelier in the world and won gold for the U.S. I always laugh about that story. 

JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

IC: The Jerk (1979). Steve Martin, when asked if he’d like another bottle of Château Latour: “Yes, but no more 1966. Let’s splurge! Bring us some fresh wine, the freshest you’ve got. This year’s! No more of this old stuff. He doesn’t realize he’s dealing with sophisticated people here.”

Want more wine? Read on:

Eric Sigmund is High on Texas Wine
Jeff Cole, Sullivan Estate’s Winemaker
Jon McPherson Talks Tokay and His Mentor Father
Two Reds From Chile
An Italian Chardonnay From the Cesare Stable
Mi Sueño’s 2016 Napa Valley Syrah
Joshua Maloney on Riesling and Manfred Krankl
Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Chilling in the open air: A selection of wines from Reddy Vineyards.

Reddy Vineyards’ Eric Sigmund on Discovery, Viognier, and ‘Clean’ Wines

February 19, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

The wine bug can bite hard. Just ask Eric Sigmund. He took a part-time job at Total Wine & More to help pay off his student loans — Sigmund has a law degree — and discovered a new love, one that eventually forced him to put aside a career in international law and enter the world of wine professionally.

Sigmund is now the chief operating officer for Reddy Vineyards, and oversees sales and marketing, distribution, compliance, and human resources at the winery, which is based in Brownfield, Texas.

Reddy was founded in 1997 by Dr. Vijay Reddy, whose expertise in soil chemistry and experience as a farmer — cotton and peanuts in India — made him a natural at growing grapes. He came to the United States in 1971 and earned a graduate degree in soil and plant science, then, in 1975, a doctorate. He and his wife, Subada, started a soil consulting business, which led them to their first grape plantings. Reddy now encompasses more than 300 acres planted with 38 varietals.

Sigmund joined the Reddy team in early 2019, after having spent nearly five years with Total Wine, ending his tenure with the company as an associate buyer. He holds degrees from the University of Iowa and Syracuse (juris doctor). As you will learn, Sigmund is an avid ambassador for the Texas wine industry.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Eric Sigmund: COVID has forced us to become more openminded and flexible. When the initial lockdowns began, in March, we were quick to pivot to maximize our online footprint. We emphasized driving traffic to our eCommerce site, utilized social media for customer acquisition, and brought our story and products into customers’ homes via virtual tastings.

Virtual tastings are a sign of the times.

Virtual and online touchpoints will continue to be core elements of our customer-service strategy. We also doubled down on our retail strategy. During COVID, we expanded our retail footprint within Texas and accelerated the development of a new series of wines designed for grocery and fine-wine retailers. We are extremely proud of these wines, as they provide consumers an affordable 100 percent estate-grown and estate-produced lineup of premium Texas wines that were previously not widely available within the state. 

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

ES: The Reddy Vineyards Field Blend is our flagship wine. The 2017 vintage is drinking great. It’s a proprietary blend from a unique circular-shaped block in the vineyard that is planted with eight varietals. This 2-acre block is harvested together and co-fermented. Because of the way we craft this wine, it displays many layers, but is also very harmonious, since the wine started as a blend even in the vineyard. 

“The Circle” Field Blend

Everything about this wine is a bit unorthodox, but that’s what makes it so interesting to drink. This wine is available on our website for $35 and can be found in several retailers within Texas.  

Our 2019 TNT Red Blend is a 63 percent Tempranillo and 37 percent Touriga Nacional. These varietals do exceptionally well in the warmer climate of west Texas and produce an amazing synergy of aromatics, color, body, structure, and flavors when blended together.  It’s very “Texas.” I love to pair this with some good barbecue. The wine is young with good tannic grip, but it is still approachable. It retails for $40, and can be found at retailers including Total Wine and Central Market throughout Texas. 

The 2019 Reserve Viognier / Marsanne Blend is our premier white wine. These Rhône whites thrive in Texas. Viognier, in particular, is a star performer, but I really love Marsanne, especially when it sees some new oak. I see barrel-aged/fermented Marsanne as Texas’ version of oaked Chardonnay. This wine was aged 50 percent in new French oak for six months and gives the drinker a lot to enjoy. Secondary notes dominate the aromatic profile, but the Viognier lifts the wine on the palate with nice acidity and bright citrus, while the Marsanne adds body and creaminess.

A trio from Reddy Vineyards

This wine won Double Gold and Best-in-Class Viognier at the 2021 Houston Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition, which is a great accomplishment. Pair it with lobster, scallops, or poultry. You can buy it on the Reddy Vineyards site ($50).

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.

ES: This question doesn’t resonate with me. When searching for wines to buy, I’m looking for new and interesting experiences. Perhaps it’s a varietal or a region I don’t frequently taste, an up-and-coming producer, or the wine was made utilizing an interesting technique.

I’ve enjoyed plenty of rare, blue-chip wines, and there are many more I haven’t had the opportunity to taste, but seeking these wines doesn’t interest me. Wine needs to be more accessible (but don’t confuse accessibility with availability for the sake of quantity), so I’m generally looking for wines $50 and under, which overdeliver and can serve as a reference point for emerging trends or further research.

Currently, I’m particularly interested in aged (dry) white wines. These wines can be misunderstood and underappreciated. The best white wine I have ever tasted was a 2012 Texas Viognier that I drank last year, the Pedernales Cellars Reserve Viognier. It retails for about $40.  It was exquisite — a true wine epiphany moment.  It was still youthful and bright but had developed seemingly endless complexity. Every time I sipped it, I tasted something different, and the wine continued to evolve over the next two hours as I drank it.  That experience helped reshape my perception of old whites and of the incredible potential of Texas wine. (Editor’s note: The fruit for the Pedernales Viognier came from Reddy Vineyards.)

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

ES: I’ve always been particularly fond of Syrah. I love a bold and spicy Syrah from Rhône and enjoy expressions from Barossa or McClaren Vale as well. Meaty versions can be a lot of fun to drink, too. Syrah just hits the right notes — the dark fruit, the structure, the depth — it’s what I’m looking for in a big red. 

The 2019 Reserve Cabernet Franc from Reddy Vineyards

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day?

ES: Our 2019 Reddy Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Franc is tremendous. It is a blend of 89 percent Cabernet Franc and 11 percent Petit Verdot. 100 percent new French Oak. This wine was just released and will age well for a very long time. It sells for $75. 

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside of your home and workplace)?

ES: To be honest, when drinking outside my home, I tend to drink beer and cocktails. I like to drink something new every time I enjoy a beverage. It is much easier to find new and unique items on a beer list or cocktail menu since these rotate more frequently. Unfortunately, too many wine lists tend to be static and feature the usual suspects. Plus, the wine markups at restaurants are just crazy when I can purchase that item for a third of the cost at my local retailer.  

Good cocktails are handcrafted, so they are more unique to the restaurant. This is a huge problem for the wine industry. I’d encourage restaurant owners who are passionate about wine to focus on smaller, rotating menus that will keep guests interested. One positive of COVID is the wide adoption of eMenus, which makes it easier and more cost-effective for restaurateurs to run dynamic beverage lists. I hope this will continue long into the future.  

JB:If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

ES: I’d encourage customers to think more about where the wine came from and how it was made. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the wine steward at your local wine shop. Hopefully, that person can help guide you — in a well-informed but unpretentious manner — to find a wine that not only fits your taste preferences, but also your values.

At the same time, shopping for wine shouldn’t have to be a chore. This is another challenge for the wine industry as a whole. This burden falls to the producers to be more transparent and communicative of these facts with consumers. It’s great to see more producers leaning towards transparency, but the wine industry should also be wary of those who try to capitalize on marketing things like “clean wine.” This, too, can be dangerous for the industry by legitimizing misperceptions and creating misinformed customers. 

Eric Sigmund: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the wine steward at your local wine shop.”

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

ES: I previously described an experience I had with a Texas Viognier, which solidified my belief of the world-class quality of Texas wine. I’ve only had two other wines that elicited the same type of “eureka moments” — so these are very rare. 

Instead, my passion for wine developed as I began working a second job as a wine associate in a local Total Wine & More to help pay off student loans. At that time, I was a practicing attorney who had zero experience with wine. For me it was, and continues to be, “discovery”.  Each wine tells a story — about place, about geography, about weather, about people or family, about heritage, about the future — that is captivating.

There are also countless links between law and the alcohol business that add another layer of intrigue. Today, more than anything, I love sharing my passion for wine with others and seeing that same spark ignite interest in this journey of discovery. 

JB: What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

ES: Recently, I led a tasting at Cadillac Wines in Fort Worth, Texas. This tasting was set up through our distributor and I had never visited the location before the event, but had heard they were known for carrying a nice assortment of high-end boutique wines.

When I arrived, I pulled into a Cadillac dealership. I was confused. There was a small sign upon entry that read “Cadillac Wines” and offered a direction to follow.  I drove through the dealership and found no sign of anything related to wine. I Googled the shop again and, apparently, I was in the right place. I eventually parked and went inside to a beautiful showroom. Lots of luxury cars, no indication of wine. 

Finally, as I walked towards the main reception area, I saw an incredible floor-to-ceiling wine cellar at the end of the hall.  This 12’x20’ cellar was filled with unique and rare wines and is a destination for wealthy wine collectors. Now dazed and confused, I proceeded to taste through a selection of our wines with folks shopping for cars and loyal followers of the Cadillac Wines mailing list, right in the middle of the dealership. This was easily one of the strangest tasting experiences I’ve had in my career. 

Published in 1955, a pleasure to read today

JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

ES: I thoroughly enjoyed reading An Invitation to Wines, written by John Storm and published in 1955. This book was written as a guide to introduce “uncomplicated people” who “consume millions of gallons of wine without any folderol whatsoever — without purrings or posturings or poetic rhapsodies” to the world of wine.  Widely outdated on many levels, it’s a glimpse into the post-Prohibition wine industry and how wine was perceived at the time. Interestingly, there are many parallel challenges observed by Storm that continue today. It an interesting and humorous read (the latter certainly not intended) that provides perspective into the world of wine that was and the challenges we face today.   

Want more wine? Read on:

Jeff Cole, Sullivan Estate’s Winemaker
Jon McPherson Talks Tokay and His Mentor Father
Two Reds From Chile
An Italian Chardonnay From the Cesare Stable
Mi Sueño’s 2016 Napa Valley Syrah
Joshua Maloney on Riesling and Manfred Krankl
Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Jeff Cole, the head winemaker at Sullivan Rutherford Estate, has Merlot at the top of his list.

Sullivan Estate’s Jeff Cole on Pliny the Elder, Merlot, and a Quest for Hose Stretchers

December 24, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Driving down St. Helena Highway, we approached the property with high expectations. The afternoon I spent at Sullivan Rutherford Estate was perfect.

It was a warm, sunny day in March of last year, and the vineyards and flowerbeds invited one’s gaze. We pulled into the driveway and parked, then strolled to the residence, where our tasting was to take place. I now have a favorite house in the Napa Valley, and the wines were excellent.

Jeff Cole, Sullivan’s winemaker, and the estate’s general manager, Joshua Lowell, led the tasting — mainly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon — and gave us a tour of the rest of the property, 26 acres in total.

Sullivan was founded in 1972 by James O’Neil Sullivan, who, following the advice of his friend André Tchelistcheff, planted Cabernet Sauvignon. Sullivan, a graphic designer, worked with architect John Marsh Davis on the design of the estate’s residence and production facility (the home’s kitchen I covet). The living areas of the residence are situated one floor above ground level, giving one an expansive view of the property.

A bird’s eye view of the Sullivan Estate, courtesy Jak Wonderly.

It was a family affair, and though the estate was purchased from the Sullivans in 2018 by a group under the leadership of Mexican businessman Juan Pablo Torres Padilla, Ross Sullivan, James’ youngest son, is an advisor to Padilla. (James passed away in 2004.)

I’ve visited many wineries, and Sullivan is one of my favorites; if you find yourself in the area, make an appointment to spend some time on Galleron Road.

Cole has been the winemaker at the estate since 2013. He studied at California Polytechnic University, and began his career at Schramsberg Vineyards and J. Davies Estate Vineyard. He knows a thing or two about sparkling wine, and he’s making some great Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot at Sullivan.

“It’s no secret that great wine begins with a great site, and I don’t know of anywhere else in the world that offers the potential presented at this estate,” he says. “My goal is to continue to make wines with structure and density, allowing the richness of the terroir to shine through. With the on-going investments in the vineyard and production, we will deliver wines that are indulgent upon release and that have immense ability to evolve beautifully with aging.”

Here’s Cole in Wine Talk.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Jeff Cole: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, my house has become a school, with my wife now doubling as a teacher. We are cooking a lot more and I have not traveled outside of the city of Napa in seven months. Fortunately, work must go on. The silver lining is having even more time to spend in the vineyard and cellar.

The Sullivan estate: 26 acres of vineyards and gardens.

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

JC: The Schramsberg 2011 Reserve sparkling wine is a really fantastic bottle. It is a wine that is primarily made from Pinot Noir grapes and is aged over 8 years before release. You don’t need to pair it with anything because of its richness and vibrancy, but it would go well with any light meat such as duck or pork. You can find it on the winery’s website for $130. 

When I traveled  to Portugal a couple of years ago, I was introduced to Vinho Verde wines, and they blew me away! Vinho Verde wines can be blends of many different white grape varieties such as Albariño, Azal Branco, and Avesso, to name a few. These wines are refreshing, low in alcohol, possess high acidity, and are super affordable, typically selling for less than $15 a bottle. They are awesome on their own, but also pair well with any seafood or dish higher in fat. You can find them at BevMo or any import wine shop.

Lastly, I am enjoying our 2017 J.O. Sullivan Founder’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is the best to ever come off of our estate, due to the culmination of perfect growing conditions, farming, and winemaking execution. It is a powerhouse that will only get better with age. It is structured, layered, rich and dense, yet there is fresh acidity that carries through the wine. It represents the estate from an identity standpoint and also represents our winemaking style. It is limited in production, and can be purchased through our website and tasting room for $250.

The Sullivan Estate residence features a kitchen I covet.

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.

JC: If cost were not an issue, I would choose the 2008 Pol Roger Winston Churchill Champagne. Pol Roger is one of my favorite Champagne producers, and the Winston Churchill always delivers. The 2008 has all the richness and pleasure that is expected from a tête de cuvée, but there is still a freshness and vibrancy about it that gives it life and balance.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

JC: There are a few grape varieties that I love working with, like Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, but I right now I have an affinity for Merlot. New World is definitely underappreciated, but if grown in the right condition and handled properly in the cellar, it is a variety that can rival the best Cabernet Sauvignons in weight, density, structure, and, ultimately pleasure. We are currently replanting some of our Cabernet vines over to Merlot, since it grows phenomenally well at Sullivan.

The 2014 James O’Neil Merlot sells for $280 a bottle.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? Can be one of your wines, but does not need to be.

JC: This is a no-brainer! The one bottle PaperCity readers should buy to cellar for the next 10 years is Sullivan’s 2015 James O’Neil Merlot. This wine was built to age. 

Jeff Cole is a Napa Valley native and attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside of your home and workplace)?

JC: There is a little hole in the wall in the town of Yountville where I grew up called Pancha’s, and I might not be going there necessarily for a glass of wine, but it is definitely good for a pint of beer and a game of pool.

JB:If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

JC: If it smells and tastes funny, then it probably isn’t a sound bottle of wine. I know people want to attribute weirdness to terroir or winemaking style, but in reality, wines should provide pleasure and each person’s palate should be the ultimate judge of quality. 

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

JC: There was no romantic time in my life when I was eating foie gras and drinking a glass of Rosé under the Eifel Tower that triggered a eureka moment. I think there was a perfect storm with the fact that I grew up in the Napa Valley and subconsciously the wine industry was imprinted on me.

When I got to college, at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, there was a budding wine program that was ultimately calling my name. At that point in my life, it was something I had never thought about, but I saw it as a great opportunity to blend art and science. More than any single bottle of wine, Cal Poly’s philosophy of learning while doing is what inspired me and opened up the gates of creativity for me in the cellar.

JB: What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

JC: My first vintage in the Napa Valley was in 2007, at Schramsberg Vineyards, and there was a ritual/rite of passage for greenhorns. I was sent on a mission to several wineries to find the “hose stretcher,” and unbeknownst to me, all the wineries I went to were in on this prank.

Sure enough, every time I arrived at one of the wineries in on the prank they had just given it to the next. It was at the fifth winery when I knew something was up and called off the mission. Needless to say, there is no such thing as a “hose stretcher,” and when I arrived back at Schramsberg I was greeted with laughter and a pat on the back.

That experience taught me some humility, and that message is something I try to implement on a daily basis. It reminds me that every day working in the Napa Valley should bring enjoyment and that we can’t take ourselves too seriously.

Pliny the Elder was a wise man.

JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

JC: My favorite wine reference in a work of literature is from my good buddy Pliny the Elder, with his quote “In Vino Veritas” — meaning, in wine, there is truth.

Want more wine? Read on:

Jon McPherson Talks Tokay and His Mentor Father
Two Reds From Chile
An Italian Chardonnay From the Cesare Stable
Mi Sueño’s 2016 Napa Valley Syrah
Joshua Maloney on Riesling and Manfred Krankl
Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Joshua Maloney began his career in New York's Finger Lakes region.

Wine Talk: Joshua Maloney on Manfred Krankl, Riesling, and Introversion

October 9, 2020 / / 1 Comment

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Another day, another Zoom Virtual Tasting … and an excellent one at that.

Joshua Maloney was the main attraction, along with wines from three brands for which he serves as consulting winemaker. They are highly enjoyable pours, and they represent great value. These are wines to purchase by the case and share with family and friends.

Here’s a rundown of what we tasted, after which we’ll get back to Maloney. (I’ll publish reviews of the wines on Mise en Place soon.)

2019 Roaming Dog Chardonnay, Columbia Valley ($14)
2018 Roaming Dog Red Blend, Columbia Valley ($14)
2018 Dixie & Bass Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley ($18)
2018 Be Human Merlot, Columbia Valley ($17)

Maloney, who has a degree in chemistry from Cornell, started out in the industry as an assistant winemaker at Heron Hill Winery, in New York’s Finger Lakes region. His next stop was Napa, and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, where he spent time as a lab technician and cellar worker. Estancia Estates was next — he was in charge of the Merlot program there — and in 2005, at 32, he moved on to Chateau Ste. Michelle, where his title was red winemaker.

Maloney has also added to his experience at Milbrandt Vineyards and Wahluke Wine Company, and boasts more than 100 90-plus scores (thus far) for his wines. In addition, he has a single-vineyard project that intrigues me: “Each year I will contract one acre of Cabernet Sauvignon from a grower and vineyard I respect. I will tailor the winemaking to accentuate the terroir of that site. I will document the winemaking here.”

Since 2016, Malony has worked as a consultant, and Aquilini Family Wines, the name behind the brands we tasted during the Zoom session, made a wise decision when it hired him. You can taste his experience in the bottle. Here is Maloney in Wine Talk:

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Joshua Maloney: I’m embarrassed to admit this, but the pandemic hasn’t affected me adversely, either professionally or personally. I’ve been working remotely since 2016, when I started consulting exclusively, and that work has actually expanded considerably over the last year. As far as personal impact, I’ve been able to spend a lot more time with my daughters (12 and 14), which I’ve enjoyed immensely. Please don’t ask them how they feel about that. I’ve always been a homebody, so not being able to go out and socialize in person hasn’t bothered me that much. Quarantine hasn’t been too difficult for introverts like me, which hasn’t received much press, probably because we’re introverts.

JB:Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile?

JM: I’m knee deep in harvest right now, so I’m not actually drinking much wine. Partly because of the old adage that “it takes a lot of beer to make wine” — but mostly because I try not to drink too much during harvest — I frequently get calls or texts at 4 a.m. with issues that arise during picking and don’t need my judgment clouded from the night before.

However, like most winemakers, much of what I drink is wine made by colleagues. Recently, I had some Chenin Blanc from Pacific Rim that was really enjoyable, very dry and crisp to the point of being almost austere, with very lively aromatics. I also had a Roussanne from Goose Ridge that impressed me, very rich and lush on the palate with ripe fruit character on the nose. One wine that I made for Aquilini that I’m also enjoying at the moment is the Be Human Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon. I really like how this incredibly powerful grape can make a Rosé that is very delicate and perfumed.

Manfred and Elaine Krankl, of Sine Qua Non and more. (Sine Qua Non photo)

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

JM: Probably something from Sine Qua Non … I’m not sure which one, though. I’ve always been a big fan of these wines, but also of the winemaker, Manfred Krankl. The wines are incredibly expressive and powerful, and his approach to winemaking has been an inspiration to me.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

JM: Cabernet Sauvignon, hands down. This grape can produce wines in such a broad spectrum of qualities. They can be simultaneously powerful and elegant, with complexity and layers that show pronounced characteristics unique to both the vintage and the vineyard in which they were grown. I also like the fact that it takes a practiced hand to bring out these qualities and frame them in an enjoyable fashion. With other varieties, one can be accidentally successful with application of technique and produce an enjoyable wine, but that rarely happens with Cab. Discipline, study, and attention to detail are required to show the best of what this grape has to offered. It’s not a grape for the faint of heart.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

JM: Not a terribly specific answer, but any full-bodied red wine from Washington from the 2018 vintage would fit this bill. The 2018 reds are turning out to be some extraordinary wines with dense, rich tannins that will definitely allow them to age well. 

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle? COVID-19 has put a crimp on going out, but pre-pandemic, where did you go?

JM: I don’t really have a go-to place outside my own home, especially in 2020. But before this year, it would be most common for me to have a glass (or more) of wine at a friend’s house.

Most of my friends are in the wine industry, many of them winemakers, and it’s very common when winemakers get together for them to open an obscene number of bottles of wine, take a taste or two of each, then set them aside. It may seem wasteful to many to end the night with a dozen or more open bottles that are more than half full, but for winemakers that’s not the case. Wine cannot be truly enjoyed until it’s opened (although a case could be made for the anticipation also being part of the enjoyment). And winemakers, perhaps more than most people, enjoy the experience of learning about a new wine most of all. So for us it’s not a waste, but an amazing gift to have another like-minded person with whom to share so many new experiences.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

JM: It’s not as complicated as you think it is. There’s always been a lot of gatekeeping in the world of wine, but there are no right or wrong answers anymore. In fact, there never were. Drink what you like, how you like, and pair it with whatever food you like. 

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

JM: Spring semester, my final year at Cornell (1995), Introduction to Wines class. A few weeks after the class started we got to the section on Burgundy, and the last wine we tasted was a 1959 Vosne-Romanée (sadly, I don’t remember the producer). I vividly remember having an emotional response to this wine, akin to chills up and down my spine. I had never had a reaction like that to food or drink before, but many times from music and art. I thought to myself, “If wine can make people feel this way I need to be a part of this world.”

JB: What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

JM: I don’t think I’ve had many strange moments or incidents involving wine, but I did have a notable encounter that set me on my current path. After college, I was struggling to find an entrance into wine production and instead flirted with a few different careers. During that time my paternal grandmother died, and I traveled with my family back to Upstate New York for the funeral service. During the wake, I was chatting with lots of relatives and family friends. Many were asking me what I wanted to do with my new degree in chemistry, and I inevitably started talking about wine. It turns out that one of the friends at the service had a son-in-law who was the head winemaker at a winery in the Finger Lakes. He arranged an introduction, and a short time later I was offered an assistant winemaker job, and the rest is history. 

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or in a film?

JM: “Reamde”, by Neal Stephenson, has a very quick, almost throwaway reference to a dry Riesling from Horse Heaven Hills. I was almost giddy when I read that, because I know the author lives in Seattle and was probably thinking of a specific wine when he wrote that, and chances are I know the wine (or at least know of it). It made me feel a personal connection to the author for a brief moment.

Want more wine? Read on:

Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Nick and Adam Franscioni's great-grandfather came to California from Switzerland in 1886. You might have heard of their father, Gary, who began the family's wine adventure. (Richard Green Photo)

Brothers in Wine: Adam and Nick Franscioni Talk Pinot Noir, Family, and ROAR

September 29, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

One thing (among many) to which I am looking forward when we can venture forth and mingle with those outside of our quarantine pods is meeting in person some of the individuals I have met during Zoom virtual tastings and seminars. Adam and Nick Franscioni are two of those people.

The brothers — and sons of Gary and Rosella Franscioni — participated in a Santa Lucia Highlands AVA gathering and seminar (virtual) to which I was invited, and their enthusiasm and dedication appealed to me immediately.

Adam is the vineyard manager at ROAR — the Franscioni family’s label — and Nick holds the position of winery manager. Adam graduated from the University of San Diego, and joined the family business in 2011, while his brother has a degree from USC and, following a stint in the consulting world, began working at ROAR in 2017.

ROAR was founded by Gary and Rosella in 2001 (Scott Shapley has been their winemaker since 2012), and the wines the family produces — Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Grenache, and Viognier — need to be on your radar screen and in your inventory.

After the SLH virtual seminar, I knew I wanted to feature Adam and Nick in Wine Talk, and here they are:

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Nick Franscioni: Outside of our workplace, it completely shut down our market visits and tasting events. At work, it hasn’t had a significant impact, since our winery team consists of just three people and our vineyard team maintains a natural spacing of 6 to 8 feet per vineyard row. We are small but mighty!

The bright side is that we have spent more family time and meals together. Also, we have a new family member to welcome, and that has brought a lot of excitement for us. We are excited for my brother Adam and his wife, Tamara.

Rosella’s Vineyard is named after Rosella Franscioni, Nick and Adam’s mother. It was planted in 1996 and is composed of Arroyo Seco sandy loam. (Wildly Simple Productions)

JB:Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

Adam Franscioni: My wife and I are always fans of Champagne, and we are enjoying Champagne Gonet-Medeville Premier Cru Brut, ( around $30 a bottle). We love the bang for your buck. It is so fresh and has beautiful apple crisp notes. We pair it with blue cheese or Salmon.

Next, the 2016 Walt Bob’s Ranch ($80 a bottle). Walt is a label of Hall Wines and Bob’s Ranch is their part of their estate fruit. They always make great wines and their Bob’s Ranch is no different. I am enjoying it with lamb.

And Jacob Toft 2017 Mary Jane’s Cuvée ($60 a bottle). Jacob Toft is small label located in Paso Robles, and the Mary Jane’s Cuvée is their GSM blend. The winemaker sources from great Paso Robles vineyards, and this wine is just fun. A lot of dark, red fruit and the tannins are beautiful. It’s a very complex wine. I usually enjoy this bottle with steak.

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

NF: My pick is very cliché, but I’m okay with that. Romanée-Conti. My reasoning is because it is consistently heralded as the most fascinating and desirable piece of history in wine. More important than the wine itself is the place that it comes from and the hands that carried it. I would take 1989 vintage as a birth year, please).

JB: What is your favorite varietal, and why?

AF: That’s a tough question, as I enjoy a lot of varietals, but I’d have to say Pinot Noir is probably my favorite because of it s versatility. It goes well with so many meals, yet you can find Pinot Noirs that can stand alone on their own. Whatever the social situation calls for there is a Pinot Noir out there to enhance the experience.

Rosella’s Vineyard is the source of some outstanding Pinot Noir. (Nick Franscioni Photo)

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

NF: A great family friend of ours is winemaker Adam Lee. Adam makes wines under several labels nowadays, and one of the most special Pinot Noir bottlings comes from our home ranch, Rosella’s Vineyard. He created a new label called Clarice in honor of his own family member. The 2018 vintage was very special in California and one that has incredible aging potential. After tasting this bottling, I am sure that it is bound to dance and delight for the next decade and beyond.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle? COVID-19 has put a crimp on going out, but pre-pandemic, where did you go?

AF: Spruce Restaurant in San Francisco. They have an amazing by-the-glass menu and their food is unreal. 

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

NF: Think about what type of wines you enjoy, and more specifically what exactly you love about those wines. Whether it’s the fruit, the spice, the herbs, whatever … take note of those things you love to taste and that will help you find more of the wines you enjoy.

Gary, Nick, and Adam Franscioni during harvest. (Richard Green Photo)

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

AF: It was December 2012 and I was at a Pinot Noir blind tasting amongst friends.  Most people brought Burgundy and we guessed AOC’s until we were blue in the face. Most of the wines were young (2008-2010), so they weren’t hitting their stride yet. But one wine stole the show — it was a 1985 Chalone Vineyard Pinot Noir. I could not believe how fresh it was still tasting. We all thought it was Old World. It was so fun to see that California wine could age that well and it taught me about judging wines before tasting them.

JB: What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

NF: Well, at the ripe age of 10, I was visiting France with my family for a summer vacation and experienced my first barrel tasting, for which I was busy training my palate. We quickly learned that I could not hold my liquor after stumbling around, blowing out candles, and using “adult” words. Our French guide was notably courteous and asked that I be excused. My memory is hazy from that day, but it is a moment that no one else will forget.

The Sierra Mar Vineyard’s Island Block. The vineyard, planted in 2007, is situated 1,100 feet above sea level, and is marked by decomposed granite and gravelly loam. (Richard Green Photo)

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or in a film?

AF: “Sideways” has two moments that I appreciate. I loved the end scene in which Paul Giamatti’s character is drinking 1961 Chateau Chevval Blanc at what appears to be an In-N-Out. I found that so funny and, sadly, something I might find myself doing. 

A thin skin, temperamental …

He also has a beautiful line about Pinot Noir in the middle of the movie. It still rings true to me: “It’s uh, it’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s, you know, it’s not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and, uh, thrive even when it’s neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention.”

Want more wine? Read on:

Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Nate Klostermann loves sparkling wines, and he's been making some great ones in the Willamette Valley.

Argyle’s Nate Klostermann on Riesling, Rainy Harvests, and Townes Van Zandt

August 27, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Earlier this year, I received a few bottles of wine whose arrival made be happy. Very happy. I was excited because I had not had a taste of Argyle sparkling in about five years, and a bottle of it was in the box. It was a 2016 Vintage Brut.

A few days later, the bottle properly chilled, I opened the Brut. It was excellent, as I expected. If you are not familiar with Argyle, I promise that you want to get to know the winery and its offerings, which include — but are not limited to — Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Rieslings, and Pinot Meuniers.

Looking for a sparkling wine for your table? The 2016 Argyle Vintage Brut is one to consider.

The 2016 Vintage Brut is a continuation of what began in 1987, when Rollin Soles went on a mission to produce great sparkling wines in the Willamette Valley. In order to do so, he would need to grow outstanding Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

More than three decades later, it is widely held that Soles accomplished what he set out to do. The estate program he envisioned and developed now encompasses more than 400 planted acres.

Rollin Soles, who grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, hangs out with some fine people. (Courtesy Rollin Soles)

Enter Nate Klostermann, who is the subject of this Wine Talk. He succeeded Soles as winemaker at Argyle in 2013, having been chosen by the man himself after serving as his trainee for eight years. Soles has good taste, and is a discerning judge of character, because Klostermann’s portfolio is full of noteworthy vintages.

The Knudsen Vineyard, in the Dundee Hills AVA, is planted with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Petit Meunier.

Klostermann was born and raised in rural Wisconsin, and has a degree in food science from the University of Minnesota. The hobby of home brewing sparked an interest in wine, and he took a job at Falconer Vineyards — located in Red Wing, Minnesota — an experience that cemented his career path.

I like Klostermann’s approach to winemaking; he loves to experiment (skin soaking, mixing ripeness levels, whole cluster), and he’s making wines that will last.

In addition to the Brut, I also sampled the 2018 Argyle Nuthouse Pinot Noir, and the 2018 Nuthouse Chardonnay, both of which are drinking well. (I have another bottle of the Pinot cellared away.) My next Argyle tasting will be Riesling-centric. I look forward to visiting the Willamette Valley next year, and Argyle will be on the itinerary.

Let’s see what Klostermann has on his mind.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Nate Klostermann: The daily operations in the winery have slowed down a bit in terms of pace and spacing with bottling and disgorging, but we have been lucky in that we have such a spacious facility, we’ve been able to keep good distance from each other. We’ve been tasting and blending wines outdoors more recently, which has brought a new and interesting aspect to the interpretations of the wines. No more travel, public tastings, or wine dinners, but the Zoom tasting experience has been positive in that we can interact with more tasters across the globe. 

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

NK: 2009 Argyle Extended Tirage Brut ($80) — Disgorged one year ago, this wine is really coming together, highlighting the freshness of recent disgorgement with the deep and complex palate of extended lees aging. I like to drink this on its own to feel the different levels on their own, but I would pair with grilled prawns. 

2018 Argyle Nuthouse Riesling ($30) — I love the depth of the 2018 Riesling vintage; it really builds power and length with incredible acidity. We’ve been experimenting with extended barrel aging on our Riesling in the last five years, and I think we’ve hit the sweet spot of freshness and depth at about 11 months of aging. It’s a great food wine; I always gravitate to Southeast Asian, as it can pair with so many foods from there. We’ve developed an annual tradition of including a food pairing only for the Riesling in the tasting notes since 2003 — this year I’ve chosen Cao lầu from Hội An, Vietnam, a rice noodle dish with pork and greens. 

2018 Pray Tell Chardonnay ($40) — Fresh, vibrant, subtle spiciness, incredible length, and purity. This is very small production, made by a wonderful husband and wife duo in McMinnville whom I adore. Their wines are both serious and playful, and are a treat to get your hands if you can catch them in time. My favorite pairing with this wine is Oregon Dungeness crab with lots of melted butter and flaky sea salt. 

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

1979 Krug, Clos du Mesnil. I’d love to try any of these Clos du Mesnil wines from this era, but 1979 was the first vintage of this bottling and I feel would be an incredible glimpse into the historical style of blanc de blancs, which is my favorite style of Champagne. 

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

NK: Chardonnay is my favorite grape because there are so many beautiful expressions throughout the world, both with still wine and sparkling wine. 

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

NK: I would recommend the 2018 Nuthouse Pinot Noir to lay down for 10 years. With incredible balance of depth and freshness, it also has firm structure from the Eola-Amity Hills that will age gracefully and provide tension for many years to come. 

Pinot Noir and Argyle are a great team.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle? COVID-19 has put a crimp on going out, but pre-pandemic, where did you go?

NK: My favorite two places to drink and explore Champagne are in Portland: Ambonnay and Pix Pâtisserie/Bar Vivant. They have incredible curation and a selection of wines at great prices from the two most passionate Champagne heads I know. 

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

NK: Sparkling wines should be drunk more often than just on special occasions and celebrations. Incredibly versatile and food friendly, they should be enjoyed year-round and with foods of all kinds. 

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

NK: My “aha moment” was when I started as an intern at Argyle in 2005, tasting a freshly disgorged 1995 Extended Tirage Brut. I was young and was just starting to learn about sparkling wine. I was blown away by the time invested, precision, love, and purity that went into it. Explosive freshness, deep complexity — the idea that you could make a wine like this for a living got me hooked and has kept me continually engaged in the exploration of long-aged sparkling wines. 

JB: What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

NK: The strangest/most challenging moment in my career was the harvest of 2013. The fruit was right on the edge of ripeness and Mother Nature opened up a deluge of rain upon the Valley. Some say that we got 8 inches in one weekend. It was my first harvest officially being in charge. Grapes were exploding on the vine and juicing out on the trucks. We had to drink a lot of whiskey to get through it. Thankfully, we were still able to make some excellent prestige wines that year, despite the challenging vintage.  

Townes Van Zandt: “Now I’ve seen the light and heard the word
And I’m staying away from that ol’ dirty Thunderbird
A message come from heaven radiant, and fine,
All I drink now is communion wine
Six days a week”

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?

Townes Van Zandt, Talking Thunderbird Wine Blues. Favorite songwriter of all time … playful, dark, brilliant 

Want More Wine? Read on:

Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Matt Dees and Chardonnay: an evolving, dynamic relationship.

Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay

August 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

What initially drew me to this winemaker was the way he talks about soil and rocks. I have read many interviews with (and stories about) Matt Dees, and immediately after finishing the first one I wanted to feature him in Wine Talk.

My journey with wine began in Germany, during high school, which I attended in the Pfalz. Riesling was my first companion, of course (it is still my favorite traveling mate wine-wise). Early on, I learned about and came to appreciate the qualities of slate and granite and limestone and greywacke (and many more types of soils and rocks) and how they affected and nurtured vines and imparted flavor and other characteristics. I became a lifelong amateur researcher in the field. So Dees appealed to me immediately. (And little did I know that he also likes Nina Simone, one of my favorite musicians.)

Dees, who studied plant and soil science at the University of Vermont, has been the winemaker for The Hilt and Jonata since 2004, and loves to talk dirt, in all its forms.

In 2014, a 3,600-acre piece of land (the famed Rancho Salsipuedes) that includes two prime vineyards — Radian and Bentrock — became part of Dees’ Hilt playground, and his creativity and experimentation in Santa Barbara County have been running wild, much to my delight. I plan to store up as much of his wines as I can, because I know they are bottles I will enjoy drinking for the rest of my life.

A little background on Dee’s three projects (all owned by Stanley Kroenke, the man in charge of Screaming Eagle and the Los Angeles Rams, among other things): Jonata, located in Ballard Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley (around 5,000 cases a year, with recent bottle prices ranging from $185 for a 2015 El Alma de Jonata, $160 for the 2016 La Sangre de Jonata, and $80 for a 2015 Felix — all prices from wine.com ); The Hilt, based in the Sta. Rita Hills (7,000-8,000 cases annually … look for a 2016 Old Guard Chardonnay for $70, the ’16 Vanguard Chardonnay for $65, and the 2017 Vanguard Pinot Noir for $17); and The Paring (15,000-16,000 cases per annum, wines “made from vineyard blocks that are either too young or don’t fit into the vintage style” of Jonata and The Hilt selections — try the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc for $23, the 2015 Paring Red for $27, or the 2018 Rosé of Pinot Noir for 2018). There’s something for all budgets here.

A fine trio of Chardonnay

Last month, I had the pleasure of participating in a Zoom tasting with Dees and sampling three of his The Hilt Chardonnays — a 2017 Estate, the 2018 Radian Vineyard, and a 2012 Vanguard. It was a satisfying day, to say the least. The contents of the bottles were singing beautifully.

Dees, who was born in Kansas City, is as engaging live as he comes across in articles and interviews, and he’s someone I know I’d enjoying share a long meal with. (Note his food pairings below, and you’ll no doubt conclude he is a serious and thoughtful eater and drinker, my favorite type of person.)

Drinking these wines reaffirmed my enthusiasm for Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay; Dees speaks of its “electric acidity,” and if you have not experienced it, do so as soon as you can. I look forward to meeting this gifted winemaker in person one day, but until then, here he is in Wine Talk.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Matt Dees: In terms of my job, we’ve changed our approach as a winemaking team. We are wearing masks and keeping distance. We now have two teams with two different bathrooms, two different dining tables, two different coffee makers, etc.

In the vineyard, we are working in smaller teams and keeping them as far apart as possible. Beyond the day-to-day changes in routine, I’d have to say that I’ve had far more time to myself than I’m used to. I’ve never had so much time and space to myself in the vineyard. I’ve really been able to closely watch all the subtle changes in the vines over the growing season. I definitely have a more intimate understanding of our property and our vines after this time alone.

In the cellar, I’ve become my own worst enemy with all this newfound space and alone time. I’ve been tasting our wines so much more these past few months. I’ve never spent so much time in my own head tweaking and tweaking blends. My blending neurosis and self-doubt surely put Woody Allen to shame.

An excellent choice …

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

MD: 2015 Jean-Marc Vincent Auxey-Duresses “Les Hautes.” One of my absolute favorite Burgundy producers. I always grab bottles of this blend whenever I can find it. Like all his bottlings, this is vibrant and precise with depth and power. All the things I love so much about white Burgundy. We just enjoyed this bottle with black cod en papillote. 

2013 Franck Balthazar “Cornas Sans Soufre Ajouté”. My goodness! We just popped this bottle a week ago, and it stunned me. Such an elegant wine with incredible structure. Isn’t Cornas just about perfect? I loved it. Wish I had more. I seem to recall that this worked incredibly well with grilled Portobello mushroom tacos.

2017 The Hilt Estate Chardonnay. I’m so excited about the energy, tension, and salinity that shines in our estate Chardonnay bottling. In 2017, the green citrus notes are at the forefront, and they seem to welcome so many different food pairings. Our go-to dinner pairing at home is a simple lemon-and-garlic roast chicken. It’s a Sunday-night tradition these days, and is such a welcome celebration with our family. 

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

MD: As a history buff and a lover of classic Bordeaux, I’d absolutely love to taste a great bottle from a top-growth chateau from 1865. That’s not even classic Bordeaux, that’s “ancient and old school” Bordeaux. That’s before phylloxera and even before the familiar cast of characters (grape-wise) had settled in. I would just be fascinated. If anyone wants to share a bottle, just give me 24 hours notice! I’ll be there.

A few selections from The Paring

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

MD: I’ve got a pretty serious love affair going these days with Chardonnay. Ditto with Cabernet Franc, but let’s focus on what I’m drinking as I write this.

When I moved to Santa Barbara, back in 2004, Chardonnay probably wouldn’t have even cracked my list of the 100 grapes I wanted to work with for the rest of my life. If it had, it would have been 98 or 99, and that would have been after some French hybrids and a couple of extremely esoteric Russian varieties. No joke.

Now, fast-forward 16 years and it is number 1 on my list. It is a magical variety that has the ability to express the site, soil characteristics, aspect, elevation, etc. so clearly and with such precision. Some see this extreme malleability as a fault or weakness, but for me this is the crux of its true beauty. Its natural acidity is such an important factor in California wines today and should be a driving force in the years to come.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

MD: A 2015 El Desafio de Jonata. Our Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend from our estate vineyard in Ballard Canyon. Mother nature gave us these tiny clusters with BB shot-sized berries and then perfect conditions throughout the harvest. The Cabernet Sauvignon fermentations went without a hitch, and we were able to capture all the quantitatively massive and quantitatively exquisite tannins. This wine needs time, but has so much fruit density to go along with its currently imposing stature and structure. In 10 years it’ll be just coming into its own. It should be a beauty. Also good drinking today with a long decant.

Matt Dees urges you to open the “big bottles” early in the evening.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle? COVID-19 has put a crimp on going out, but pre-pandemic, where did you go?

MD: My favorite place to have a glass/bottle and more often than not, a magnum, is my brother’s home in Los Angeles. I take my family down and we join forces with my brother’s large family. We sit around a table, break bread together, pop some beautiful corks and have conversations that matter. I can picture the sun setting over Los Angeles. I miss it and I miss them. Looking forward to that opportunity again soon.

A sampling of Jonata …

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

MD: I think many of us find a really special bottle that we want to share with our family and friends. We plan a special night and a special meal together. Our guests show up (or used to show up, and will again one day!) and we welcome them with sparkling or beers and passed apps. We start with some fresh and easy white bottles. We might even open a few other nice bottles before we sit down and get into the main event: the bottle of impact and importance.

As humans, we’ve evolved to have the sharpest senses when we’re hungry and thirsty. By eating and drinking our way through the early hours of the evening, we’ve dumbed down our ability to sense and appreciate the beauty and special nature of the bottle in question. Next time, greet your guests with a glass of the “big” bottle, or at least make an effort to enjoy it earlier in the evening. If it is too late in the evening, it might as well be light beer.

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

MD: Drinking the 1995 Staglin Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and the 1989 Château Certan de May in New York City with my brother back in 1998-1999 changed my world forever. I had planted a vineyard in Vermont in 1998, but after tasting these two wines I knew I was going to be a winemaker, there was no doubt.

The Hilt Estate from JONATA, The Hilt, The Paring on Vimeo.

JB:What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

MD: Oh where to start! I’ve had a tarantula walk across my boot in the cellar. A peacock wandered into our production facility. I’ve seen a giant container of meat pies fall into a press of Chardonnay (not in the U.S.). I’ve presented a series of wines I didn’t make to a large audience. I’ve been trapped in a festival tent in Chinon during a massive snowstorm. I’ve made three 45-minute presentations in French in Burgundy (in front of many of my winemaking heroes) without really speaking French. This is a great industry for strange incidents. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow …

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?

Lilac Wine, Nina Simone

Dees has great taste when it comes to wine and music.

Want More Wine? Read On:

Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Kathleen Inman is fond of Baudelaire, and Champagne.

Kathleen Inman: A Soul of Wine

August 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Kathleen Inman. Whenever I hear that name my mind immediately goes to France. Inman makes wine in Sonoma County as the owner of Inman Family Wines, but the story behind her Endless Crush Rosé captivated me when I first heard it, and since I love Provence …

I don’t know why I waited so long to feature Inman in Wine Talk, because she is a great conversationalist — a recent Zoom tasting confirmed my initial impression, which I made based on quotes, articles, and conversations with others. Her laugh rang through, and when I heard it during the virtual tasting it was uncannily similar to the one I heard in my head when reading descriptions of Inman.

Inman loves Rosé, and she loves Champagne, and her way with Pinot Noir makes me happy. She studied French literature in college, which is another reason I look forward to meeting her (Baudelaire, Rimbaud … what’s not to like?).

Oh yes, she farms the Olivet Grange Vineyard, from which comes some fine Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris fruit.

Memories of Provence …

If you are seeking a new Rosé to add to your list, order some Endless Crush. During our tasting, I sampled Inman’s 2017 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Special Blend. I loved it. Complex, elegant, wonderful acidity, and a fascinating fruit makeup (Olivet Grange, Sexton Road Ranch, and Vine Hill). This wine grandly represents Inman’s approach to her craft.

Let’s get to her Wine Talk.

James Brock: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. How about a food pairing for each one?

Kathleen Inman: First, 2018 and 2019 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé. I pair this with anything and everything. Kermit Lynch or Wine.com, $56

Next, 2019 Crocker & Starr Sauvignon Blanc Crocker Estate. Although it’s a little heavier in alcohol than past vintages, I have been drinking this recently. Crocker & Starr is the only wine club I belong to. I paired it recently with a caponata using eggplants and tomatoes from my garden. Purchased from the winery, $40

2015 Inman Family Extra Brut Luxe Cuvée, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that spent years on the yeast. It’s currently a favorite of my husband’s, Simon, and is $78 (available from the winery only).

Inman Family WInes Experience from Inman Family Wines on Vimeo.

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

KI: 2004 Krug Clos du Mesnil would be my choice. I had a bottle of this last year for my birthday, and it was very delicious. Clos du Mesnil, a tiny, walled vineyard, is a little gem. Krug, my favorite Champagne house, makes from it a single-vineyard, single-vintage, single-varietal sparkling wine that has mouthwatering Chardonnay fruit, crystalline acidity, and such a sense of place. This wine inspired me in making my sparkling wines; although they are made from Pinot Noir from the Inman Family OGV Estate vineyard, I kept the structure single-vineyard, single-vintage, and single-varietal, inspired by the Krug wines I love.

Clos du Mesnil: Do not tear down this wall.
Kathleen Inman with some Pinot Noir.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

KI: I have to be really predictable here: It is Pinot Noir that I am most passionate about. I love it in all of its guises: rich and redolent in ripe fruit, elegant and savory with texture like silk satin, made into Rosés, made into sparkling wines … all the Pinots!

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

KI: We tend to buy vintage port for birth years since it can cellar for much longer than 10 years, but of course, not every year is a vintage year. Of my own wines, the OGV Estate Pinot Noirs really come into their own after 10 years. I would recommend the 2017 vintage. It is elegant, and each time I taste it, it has a subtle, haunting character that is more beguiling as the months pass. I would love to have this in 2027 with a seared duck breast with lentils and sautéed spinach.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle?

KI: COVID-19 has made us very solitary homebodies these days. However, in pre-pandemic days, Corkage, in Bath, Somerset, UK was our favorite place to enjoy wine by the glass or the bottle with small plates. We have been going there often for some years. A fantastic list. I do miss being able to travel.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

KI: On the business side, I think wine consumers should keep in mind that the best way to support small wineries is to buy from them directly. Distributors and retailers all make more money than the winery when a consumer purchases at a store. About 50-60 percent of the price of that bottle is all the winery gets — and from that they have to pay the taxes as well as the production costs. As often as you can, support wineries by buying direct.  

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

KI: My “wine eureka moment” that led to my passion for wine — as a consumer and later as a maker — was probably when I did a wine-tasting class offered by a local retailer when I was at UC Santa Barbara. I was fascinated by how the same grape grown in different places could result in wines that tasted so different, and then grapes grown in the same place but made by different people into wine were also different. Add in vintage differences and the variations were endlessly fascinating. Pinot Noir and Riesling were my first wine loves, but when I discovered Champagne … wow!

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?

KI: Can I give two? Having studied a lot of French literature at university, I am a fan of the French Symbolist poets, and Baudelaire’s “L’âme du vin” (“The Soul of Wine”) is a favorite, but I would be remiss if I did not mention my friend Regine Rousseau, who, besides being a wine entrepreneur (Shall We Wine is her business), is a poet. Her recently published book — “Searching for Cloves and Lilies: The Wine Edition” — pairs her poems with wines, including one paired with my Endless Crush Rosé of Pinot Noir.

Want More Wine? Read On:

Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Bibiana González Rave, winemaker at and owner of Cattleya Wines and Alma de Cattleya, wants you to respect California Syrah.

Bibiana González Rave on California Syrah, Château Haut-Brion, and Purity

July 21, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Bibiana González Rave is a complex individual.

She learned how to make wine while attending university in France (the Lycée de L’Oisellerie in Angoulême and the University of Bordeaux); developed her skills in Cognac (Lycée Agricole de L’Oisellerie), Burgundy (Domaine Devevey), Bordeaux (Château La Dominique, Château Haut-Brion, and Château La Mission Haut-Brion), and Côte-Rôtie (Domaine Michelle & Stéphane Ogier and Domaine Clusel-Roch), and Alsace (Domaine Scheidecker); in a particularly hectic three-year period worked six harvests; has a degree in chemistry, earned in her hometown of Medellín, Colombia; and is married to a fellow winemaker, Jeff Pisoni, with whom she makes wine under the Shared Notes label.

Did I mention that Rave, who resides in Santa Rosa, owns Cattleya Wines and Alma de Cattleya? She does, and the wines she is making at both operations are worthy of attention — the former brand encompasses her high-end offerings, while the latter comprises her entry-level range, including one of the best Sauvignon Blancs ($22) I’ve tasted in a long while. (I forgot to tell you that she was the San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year in 2015.) As I said, Rave, the mother of two sons, is complex, busy, and a great winemaker.

This Sauvignon Blanc is now on my always-have-on-hand list.

Rave’s journey took her to California in 2004, when she moved to Sonoma and began immersing herself in the Golden State wine world. She took positions at Qupé, Peay Vineyards, Au Bon Climat, Lynmar Estate (where she was winemaker from 2009 through early 2012), and Pahlmeyer, among others. She founded Cattleya — name after the national flower of her homeland — in 2012, and launched Alma de Cattleya in 2015.

Several weeks ago, I participated in an informative and fun virtual tasting with Rave, which marked the occasion on which I met her. The session also included her husband, Jeff, and Mark Pisoni, Jeff’s brother, who is vineyard manager at Pisoni Estate. We tasted the 2019 Alma de Cattleya Rosé of Pinot Noir, the 2019 Sonoma County Alma de Cattleya Sauvignon Blanc, the 2018 Lucia Vineyards Sonoma County Chardonnay, and the 2018 Santa Lucia Highlands Lucia Pinot Noir (the latter two made by Jeff Pisoni), all off which are drinking well.

While I much prefer in-person meetings and conversations, this long-distance talk demonstrated more than clearly that Rave is a passionate perfectionist when it comes to making wine. When I mentioned to her that I noticed a slight haziness in the sample bottle of Sauvignon Blanc I had received, she responded with what approached alarm, apologizing profusely. A few days later, she sent an email explicating the haziness, which had to do with temperatures during shipping. I like drinking wines made by such people.

I look forward to meeting Rave and her husband in person, but until then, sampling her wines, including a 2017 Syrah that I cannot wait to open, must suffice. (Reviews to come soon.)

Here is Rave’s Wine Talk.

James Brock: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

BR: First, the 2019 Alma de Cattleya Sauvignon Blanc. I love making Sauvignon Blanc wines, and the weather right now is just perfect for it. This summer we’ve been cooking a lot of fish with roasted vegetables, and the Alma has been a staple for the season.

Next, the 2019 Lucy Rosé. I am a big fan of my husband’s rosé of Pinot Noir — unbiased, I promise! It’s made entirely with estate fruit, farmed sustainably, and just overdelivers on quality for the price. This rosé is so flexible with food pairings, or simply an apéritif  all by itself.  

Finally, the 2018 Château de Saint Cosme – Côtes du Rhône. It is the entry-level wine produced by this property, but a great wine that should be perfect for outdoor dining, BBQs, light salads, pizza-to-go, etc. 

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

BR: I am a huge fan of Chatêau Haut-Brion, and their Bordeaux Blanc is far out of my budget. If cost was not a consideration, I would have every single vintage of that wine. I gained a very special appreciation for their wines when I worked there during the 2003 vintage. I attended the University of Bordeaux and had the opportunity to do my thesis research with them. I was able to spend six months working with an extraordinary team focused on excellence — and some of the best fruit I have ever tasted from a vine.

I know the wines are ultra-expensive, so it is hard to talk about a brand that very few people taste . However, working there day to day, you learn why those wines have mystique surrounding them. Their focus on crafting wine is remarkable. I wish I could have a vertical of all their wines going back to 1945, red and white.

Rave, a native of Colombia who knew from an early age that she wanted to make wine, moved to France and learned to do so.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

BR: I would say it is very hard for me to have a favorite grape, especially because I love working with all the different varietals for my three different brands, but if I have to choose one that I am very passionate about, I would say Syrah. 

I find myself saddened by the bad reputation (or lack of appreciation for) of Syrah from California, while someone may feel fine buying a $500 bottle of Guigal or Domaine Stéphane Ogier from Côte-Rôtie (both totally worth that price, especially the Ogier wines). (Full disclosure: Ogier is one of my dearest friends from my time in France.) I think Syrah’s quality in the United State has increased tremendously, mostly from small family estates that continue to put a lot of care into and focus on the making of those wines, such as Alban Vineyards, Dehlinger, Pisoni Vineyards, Peay, and Donelan, among others.  

I certainly put a lot of attention to my Syrahs. I used my most expensive barrels on my Cattleya from the Soberanes Vineyard and treat the wine the same way I would treat, for example, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. I tend to do very slow fermentations for a long period of time in tank, then age in barrel between 15 and 24 months. 

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

BR: The 2018 Cattleya The Initiation Syrah from the Soberanes Vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands. I just tasted that wine today before pulling out of barrel for bottling. I decided for this specific vintage to leave the wine in barrel for 22 months. I loved what that extra aging did for the wine. It is a 100 percent French new oak barrel-aging, and the wine is just delicious. It will be about 85 cases total production only, but I do believe the wine is going to reach a beautiful point in 10 years from now. I was so excited about the taste of the wine that I called my grower to tell him how beautiful it was tasting, and of course, to thank him for his hard work. (He happens to be my brother-in-law, Mark Pisoni.) 

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle?

BR: If we have time to escape for a date, I love to go to San Francisco. The city is a place where my husband, Jeff, and I love to go for special meals. There are just so many remarkable wine lists that have everything you want. We love finding white Burgundy gems on wine lists, from small producers that always excel at their craft and Rhône Valley wines with some age on them. Boulevard Restaurant is one of these spots I have always loved, for food and wine. Their list is phenomenal. 

Locally, we enjoy going to a great restaurant called Bird & The Bottle. They have a lot of great dishes and my kids are big fans of their sliders. They also carry the Alma de Cattleya Sauvignon Blanc by the glass, so that often becomes our selection for lunch or dinner.

Rave, whose wines I want more people to know about and taste, holds Syrah in high esteem.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

BR: Purity. I believe that even when consumers tell me that they don’t know about wine, or that they are not wine connoisseurs, our bodies always can sense purity in food and wine. So, when you find wines that are intense on the aromatics and with a refined texture, with volume and velvety tannins, then you have found something special. 

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

BR: 1994 Domaine Romanée Conti, La Tâche

I tasted that wine in 2004, just before departing France to come to California for my first harvest in the United States. The wine already had 20 years of age, and it was just brilliant. I was speechless, having one of those moments you rarely get with wine, when the world disappears around you and all you hear, think, and see is the image of the wine going through the process of being smelled, tasted and consumed. It was the first time I drank Pinot Noir that made me want to produce wines from that varietal, and here we go. California became that place for me. 

JB:What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

BR: The way I got accepted into my first school in France was both pivotal for my career, and very strange in the way it happened. All my initial mailed enrollment applications from Colombia were rejected (11 of them, since I wrote to all 11 schools in France that focus on the BTS of Viticulture and Enology), so I decided to just visit the schools in person. When I arrived at the first school, near Cognac, I met with the school’s principal. He spoke only French, and I spoke only Spanish —yet, somehow, we carried on a conversation for more than an hour!

When he said “Tractor” I was very excited, because Tractor sounds the same in French and Spanish. At the end of our conversation I left convinced that The Lycée of L’Oisellerie would become my new school for the first few years of my education in France. A month later I got a call and the confirmation that I was enrolled in the program I never knew for sure how it worked, but I assumed it was my passion and persistence that convinced him, that and the belief that it was just meant to be.

It’s all about Sancerre …

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?

BR: Sancerre in the book “Fifty Shades of Gray.” I heard from so many people that Sancerre has become their favorite wine after they read the book or watched the movie. Cool to see that Sauvignon Blanc could become popular after being referenced that way. 

Want More Wine? Read On:

Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

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