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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

Jon McPherson makes wine in California and Texas.

Jon McPherson Talks Charmat, His Mentor Father, and Tokay

December 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. 

A few weeks ago, a shipment of sample wines came my way from Texas, from Carter Creek Winery, which is located in Johnson City. I had previously tasted a Tempranillo from the producer, but that was several years ago, so I was looking forward to opening the bottles.

They did not disappoint, and I’ll have reviews of them in this space, but the man who made them is today’s subject. His name is Jon McPherson, and he has roots in Texas, and in the Lone Star State’s wine industry. In fact, one might call him a member of Texas’ Founding Family of Wine.

McPherson’s father, Clinton “Doc” McPherson, was a pioneer in the modern Texas wine industry; he began experimenting with grapes in Lubbock in the late sixties, and in 1968 planted Sangiovese in the Sagmor Vineyard (now owned by Kim McPherson, of McPherson Cellars, Jon’s brother). Doc and his business partner, Bob Reed, founded Llano Estacado Winery in 1976. McPherson senior passed away in 2014, at the age of 95.

Jon McPherson says that he has always known wine — he worked at his father’s winery digging postholes for stakes and planting vines, among other forms of manual labor. He attended and graduated from Texas Tech University (bachelor of science in food and technology) and holds a second degree in chemistry.

McPherson worked at the family winery for a while, then moved to California in 1985, taking a job at Culbertson Winery, where he earned much-deserved acclaim in the early 1990s for his sparkling wines. In 2003, he joined the Carter family group of wineries — Carter Estate Winery and South Coast Winery in Temecula, and Carter Creek Winery in Texas’ Hill Country.

McPherson has 43 harvests under his belt, and says that he hopes to make it to “at least” 50, a laudable and realistic goal, especially when you consider his mentor was “Doc” McPherson.

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

Jon McPherson: We are viewed as essential workers, so beyond wearing a mask every day at work, we are making a little less wine, but still doing the same cellar work. Wholesale sales are up, but the tasting room is a little slower.

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?

JM: Our Carter Creek 2017 Maverick, a red Rhône blend, is drinking very well, especially if you pair it with grilled meat, like beef or lamb. The 2017 Viognier-Roussanne is showing wonderful fruit notes of peach and honeysuckle, very rich and very sexy. Any fish dish would be lucky to have this wine served alongside of it. Our new release of the brut sparkling is exceptional, and if bubbles are your scene, this wine gets very high marks. It is a Charmat product that drinks like a Méthode Champenoise.

Carter Creek Family Winery’s Brut Sparkling and Group Therapy red blend

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

JM: I would probably add a Château Haut-Brion or a Château d’Yquem. I think these wines are so elegant and such wonderful examples of Bordeaux and Sauternes.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

JM: I love Pinot Blanc for its versatility in making not only great table wine, but for sparkling wine as well. Of course, that goes for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well.

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.

JM: Cellaring for 10 years can be a bit of a crap shoot, but vintage Ports can cover that time span and then some. Late-disgorged sparkling (Champagne is always nice), or perhaps another first growth?  I recently had the 2013 Ayala Blanc de Blancs and it was amazing.    

Tempranillo and Texas: an evolving and growing relationship.

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

JM: Jeune et Jolie in Carlsbad, California (post-pandemic, of course).

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

JM: Appellation and price are not always the answer.

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

JM: I was in Hungary and drinking a pre-WW1 Tokay. The wine was amazing and the history that it held was equally amazing.  It came from the cellars of a producer that had been a supplier to the Czar.

The Carter Creek tasting room is located in Johnson City, Texas.

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

JM: When an intern left a valve off of a tank and she started filling it without us being aware she was operating a pump without supervision. A big no-no.

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

JM: Hugh Johnson’s Vintage: The Story of Wine. Not only a great book, but it became a great PBS series as well.

Want more wine? Read on:

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

The Baroness Philippe de Rothschild was passionate about making wine in Chile.

Two Red Wines From Chile, By Way of The Rothschilds

December 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

A recent tasting featured two wines from Chile that I’m making sure will be in my holiday rotation. I tasted them on their own, and drank them with a standing rib roast, with which they were ideal pairings.

The wines are made by Viña Baron Philippe de Rothschild in Buin-Maipo, about 30 miles south of Santiago. (Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA is, of course, behind the brand, and it was created in 1999 by the baron’s daughter, Philippine de Rothschild.)

Emmanuel Riffaud, an agricultural engineer and oenologist who joined the Rothschild concern in 1999, has been the managing director of the Chilean enterprise since 2015.

Viña Baron Philippe de Rothschild planted its French roots in Chile in the late 1990s.

Escudo Rojo is the name of the wine — Red Shield in English — and I tasted the 2018 Gran Reserva (SRP $21.99) and the 2018 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon (SRP $17.99).

We’ll begin with the Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon — this Escudo Rojo line also includes Carmenere, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc — which is the wine I sampled first in the tasting.

Pair this with meat.

It’s 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon — Chilean law requires at least 75 percent — and you would not likely mistake it for anything else. It’s deep red in the glass, veering into purple when viewed at certain angles in a certain type of light. (The sun was streaming brightly through a large window when I noted the wine’s color.) Tannins are smooth and succulent — you’ll enjoy this wine now, and feel free to hold it until 2024 or thereabouts.

Blackcurrant and dark cherry make themselves known on the palate here, in a pleasing way, as does plum. Subtle spice and soil are also in the mix. If you like to serve approachable wines on a daily basis, bottles that drink far above their selling prices, this one will find a place in your repertoire. Aging is carried out in one-year-old barrels for 6 to 8 months.

The Escudo Rojo Gran Reserva is a wine that punches well above its cost/weight.

The 2018 Gran Reserva is the Escudo Rojo flagship wine, and it’s an impressive blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (40 percent), Carmenere (38 percent), Syrah (20 percent), and Cabernet Franc (2 percent). Half of the 2018 vintage was matured in one-year-old oak for 12 months.

As with the Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, color in the glass (in this case, a Schott Zwiesel “Pure” stem) is deep, dark red, captivating to the eye. As one might expect, black fruit dominates here — plum, cherry, a touch of brambly blackberry —accompanied by fleeting graphite and lightly roasted coffee bean. Refined tannins proclaim themselves early on.

As I wrote, you’ll be happy pouring theses wines at a meal featuring a standing rib roast, and duck breast is another protein I’d serve with them. Add Bill Blass’s meatloaf or a rib eye steak to this category as well.

This rib roast for two married well with the Escudo Rojo selections.

If you typically avoid Chilean wines in this price range, thinking their heat and sweetness will repel, give these two bottles a chance. If you don’t like them, call me.

Want more wine? Read on:

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

The Il Bricco Vineyard, owned by Pio Cesare, in which Chardonnay was first planted in 1980.

A Chardonnay From Italy: Pio Cesare’s 2016 Piodilei Shines

November 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

The Pio Cesare winery was founded in 1881, by the man himself, Pio Cesare, in Alba. If you appreciate Barolos and Barbarescos, you certainly know the name. The fifth generation of the family is now involved in the business, and I am comfortable stating that —barring a climate catastrophe — the 10th generation of the family will one day make great wines under the label.

The family that makes wine together stays together …

I wrote Barolo and Barbaresco, but a few days ago I drank a Chardonnay from Pio Cesare, the 2016 Piodilei Langhe DOC. It’s a barrel-fermented wine from the Il Bricco vineyard in Treiso and the Colombaro vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba. The Il Bricco vines were planted in 1980 (the very first Chardonnay planting of the winery).

I loved this wine. It’s a serious Chardonnay, with an elegant, long finish. Apples cooked for three hours at low heat, wet speckled stones, flowering lime, almonds … those things and more struck me while drinking the Piodilei. A profound and refreshing creaminess is also evident.

A serious Chardonnay

This Chardonnay begins fermentation in stainless, then is moved to French oak for eight months. Six months of bottle-aging then follow. It represents what the family says is “our desire to produce a white wine with the same body, complexity, and aging potential of the great reds historically produced in the area.” They met their goal with this wine.

It comes with a $50 suggested retail price, and you can enjoy it now, or hold until 2022. I would happily pair the Piodilei with a mussel risotto.

Want more wine? Read on:

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

Rolando Herrera launched Mi Sueño with 200 cases of Chardonnay.

An Impressive Syrah From An Inspirational Winery

October 21, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Rolando Herrera’s story has been told many times, and it is certainly a tale worth knowing. What follows is a summary, a relaying of the highlights of a life, because this piece is about the 2016 Mi Sueño Syrah (Napa Valley). First, the man behind the wine.

The story can begin when the Herrera family moves to Napa, in 1975, relocating from Michoacán, Mexico. Rolando’s father takes a job in a vine nursery, and the 8-year-old Rolando enters school. In 1980, the elder Herrera, ready to retire, returns to Mexico, taking his family with him.

In 1983, Rolando and his brother move back to St. Helena. Rolando said that he missed the American way of life and the beauty of the Napa Valley. He enrolls in high school and work nights and weekends as a dishwasher at Auberge du Soleil.

In 1985, Herrera starts working as a cellar rat at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, where he learns the craft of making wine from Warren Winiarski. Three years later, he is named cellar master at Stag’s Leap.

Lorena Herrera is the co-founder and co-owner of Mi Sueño.

Chateau Potelle is Herrera’s next stop. In 1995, he joins the winery as assistant winemaker. In 1997, he marries Lorena Robledo, and that same year the couple launches Mi Sueño Winery with 200 cases of Chardonnay made from fruit purchased from Lorena’s father. It was an instant success.

This summary does not do justice to the Herrera tale, which is nothing short of an archetypal American success story. Rolando went on to work at Vine Cliff Winery (beginning in 1998) and at Paul Hobbs Winery (beginning in 2001), and in 2003 he and Lorena founded Herrera Vineyard Management.

Before we get to the 2016 Syrah, a few more notes about Mi Sueño:

  • The 1999 Mi Sueño Los Carneros Chardonnay was served at the Bush White House at a state dinner honoring the president of Mexico, Vicente Fox.
  • The 2006 Mi Sueño Russian River Valley Pinot Noir was poured at the Bush White House during the 2008 Cinco de Mayo celebration.
  • President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, honoring Mexico’s president at the time, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, featured the 2006 Herrera Rebecca Cabernet Sauvignon. (In 2004, the couple founded the Herrera portfolio, starring single-varietal and single-vineyard bottlings named after their children.)
Rolando Herrera knows how to prune vines.

In 2004, Rolando began devoting all of his time to Mi Sueño, and in 2016 he and Lorena purchased a property on Mount Veeder, where they plan to construct a winery and a tasting room.

The 2016 Mi Sueño Napa Valley Syrah

To the Syrah: 2016 was a great growing season in Napa Valley, marked by moderate temperatures in July and August and an increase in heat closer to harvest. The fruit was in great condition when it was picked, in mid-October.

This 2016 Syrah (Coombsville AVA) was aged for 20 months (50 percent new French oak); it is 100 percent Syrah, and the fruit came from the Cortese Vineyard. Alcohol is at 14.5 percent, and 290 cases were produced.

If you like Syrah, you will want to buy a bottle of this wine; if you are not overly familiar with Syrah, this bottle a good one to add to a Syrah tasting panel. You will certainly note the peppery characteristic here, white pepper to be exact. Vanilla and black fruit are also evident.

I opened this bottle immediately upon taking it from a 55-Fahrenheit environment, and sampled it shortly thereafter. Dark purple color in the glass, and the tannins are soft, even supple. (I left the bottle uncorked for the rest of the day, until dinner, and the tannins grew a touch softer.) With the elapsed time since the cork was pulled, subtle notes of bay leaf and cola emerged.

A rack of lamb goes well with the Mi Sueño Syrah.

Pairing this wine is going to be fun. I plan to have at least one bottle at the table come Thanksgiving, because I think it will marry perfectly with the smoked turkey we’re ordering. Lamb is another way to go with this Syrah, which is what I did on the tasting day, a rack crusted with panko and Parmigiano-Reggiano. You can order this Syrah directly from the winery, or inquire at your favorite merchant.

Want more wine? Read on:

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

Tenuta Capofaro, on the island of Salina, is the source of some worthy Malvasia.

From Volcanic Soils, Malvasia di Lipari Grapes Bottled Well

October 6, 2020 / / 0 Comments

A heatwave was upon us in downtown Los Angeles late last week.

Our apartment’s living room boasts a wall of windows — glass from floor to ceiling — and while the view is a fine thing to possess, the south-facing orientation becomes a heat trap, a condition heightened when the temperature hovers around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, as it did for two days last week.

A wine I sampled recently is ideal for the current heatwave (I would drink it on a cooler day as well, because the quality/price ratio here is solid). It’s the 2019 “Didyme” Salina IGT from Tenuta Capofaro. It has a suggested retail price of $26.

How much do you know about Malvasia di Lipari the grape? Well, according to Ian D’Agata’s Native Wine Grapes of Italy, it’s been produced since at least the first century B.C.E.; the esteemed botanist Francesco Cupani (1657-1710) mentions it in 1696, using the word malvagia. Sicily is its domain, and Carlo Hauner Sr., a painter and designer, is credited with popularizing it for modern palates. Hauner, from Milan, maintained a second home on the Lipari islands — situated off the northern coast of Sicily — and began producing wine there. (The wine made from the grape is known as malvasia delle Lipari).

“Malvasia di Lipari is immediately recognizable due to its very scrawny, elongated, cylindrical (rarely cylindrical-conical) grape bunch and small, round berries with thin skins,” writes D’Agata.

Malvasia di Lipari

This is a grape, D’Agata continues, that buds early, is susceptible to spring frosts, and is sensitive to oidium. It is an irregular producer, and it is low-yielding. It loves volcanic soil, but is not that vigorous.

At one point, this grape was in danger of becoming extinct, but Hauner Sr. and his compatriots have done more than enough to save it, and while it is not a household name in most wine-drinking parts of the world, it is available for purchase at a good numbers of retailers in the United States (inquire at your favorite wineseller).

Drink this wine with sautéed shrimp or a grilled fish.

To the bottle at hand we go. Tenuta Capofaro is owned by Tasca d’Almerita, and is located on Salina — the same island on which Hauner established his estate. Salina IGT is the appellation. Drink this slightly chilled — it was kept at 55 degrees Fahrenheit in the Eurocave, and I put it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before uncorking.

The Didyme is slightly aromatic — apricot is evident — and I appreciate the way it expresses its volcanic terroir. Crisp, bright, marvelous acidity, and pleasant citrus blossoms are notes that come to mind. You will detect herbal activity as well … acacia perhaps foremost. The grapes used here grow at 20 meters above sea level, and the wine is aged for four months in stainless steel. Alcohol is at 13.5 percent, and residual sugar comes in at 2 grams per liter.

If you are curious about food-pairing suggestions, I know that sautéed shrimp (olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes) go well with this wine, as would grilled fish or scallops. Drink now.

I am sampling other wines in the Tasca d’Almerita portfolio now — all of which are imported to the U.S. by Dalla Terra Winery Direct — and will be writing about them soon.

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

The Glass Fire is still raging in Napa Valley.

Don’t Despair: How to Help Victims of the Glass Fire

October 1, 2020 / / 2 Comments

The fires continue in California, and the feelings of despair and hopelessness can at times (all the time?) overwhelm. Loss of life, property, personal belongings, historic buildings and wineries, crops and vintages … the still-burning Glass Fire, in Napa Valley, is but the latest conflagration to beset the state, and our collective psyche. As I am writing this, on the afternoon of October 1, it is 5 percent contained.

When I am channeling hopelessness about the situation, I flip the script and bring to mind the firefighters and other individuals saving lives, battling the flames, and helping people find safety. Their bravery and tireless work make me feel better. I also think about what I can do. And many others are asking about what they can do, as well.

Here are a few things you can do to help the citizens and organizations of Napa Valley; I am listing them in no particular order.

First, buy wine directly from the wineries of your choice. This is a no-brainer. Purchase by the case. Join a wine club or two. This is a direct way to benefit the people making the wine you love to drink.

If you want to donate funds, The Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund is a great way to go. The 501(c)3 public charity is providing grants for services including housing and legal assistance, as well as cash assistance to homeowners and renters affected by fires.

Here are a few additional organizations you can consider (I will update this list as conditions change):

The Redwood Credit Union Fire Relief Fund
Sonoma County Resilience Fund
California Fire Foundation

There will be an end to this fire, of course. But for now, people need our assistance. Let’s do what we can.

To close, I recommend this excellent piece, published in Wired. It is an awe-inspiring look at these fires and the men and women fighting and hoping to prevent them.

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
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The Somerston Estate, 1,682 acres of abundance and beauty. (Courtesy Somerston Estate)

Two Bottles From Priest Ranch That You’ll Drink Happily

September 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments

James Joshua Priest was his name, and he was a gold prospector. In 1869, he established Priest Ranch, in Napa Valley, 660 acres in an area then known as Soda Valley. (Priest, who died in 1896, at 70 years of age, had nine sons, and for a while marketed a spring water that came from his land, located on the eastern side of the Vaca Mountain Range.)

In 2004, businessman Allan Chapman bought the Priest estate, and David Ramey and Biale were among the first purchasers of grapes under his ownership. In 2006, Chapman added to his holdings with the addition of Lynch Vineyard (also known as Elder Valley), and the combined Priest-Lynch properties — 1,682 acres — were rechristened Somerston Estate.

Add this venue to your 2021 tasting schedule. (Courtesy Somertson Estate)

Winemaker Craig Becker had entered the picture in 2005 by buying grapes from Chapman. Becker is now the general manager and director of winemaking at Somerston Estate, having co-founded the Somerston Wine Company with Chapman.

Craig Becker, head winemaker at Somerston Estate, has at his disposal “fruit so distinctive that it requires only minimal processing.” (Courtesy Somerston Estate)

Which brings me to the two bottles of the headline: Becker and Chapman honored the legacy of Mr. Priest by founding the Priest Ranch Winery in 2006, and the 2018 Priest Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon ($50) and Sauvignon Blanc ($22) are those two bottles. I tasted them recently, and have added Becker’s portfolio to my “buy” list.

The Sauvignon Blanc is a wine I could happily drink every day. Crisp is a word often overused to describe a wine, but here it is more than apt. I chilled the bottle for 25 minutes or so, then poured. My initial taste was lively, refreshening. Becker produced some great value here. Light, pale yellow in the glass, bracing acidity.

This is a wine that deserves more recognition.

Some details: Stainless steel fermentation (100 percent) with native yeast at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, 1,480 cases produced, harvested on August 30 and September 4 and 10, released in June of this year. Drink this now, with sautéed or poached shrimp (I paired it with the latter).

The Priest Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon would be a fine choice to serve at a dinner featuring lamb as its main course (with a sparkling and the Sauvignon Blanc preceding it). I sampled this 2018 immediately following the Sauvignon Blanc, and the two provide an informative taste of Becker’s style: He respects each terroir at his disposal, and is unafraid to let them shine. He has confidence in his fruit, and in his ability as a winemaker.

The 2018 Priest Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is priced well at $50.

This is a big wine, and while it is drinking well now, I look forward to revisiting it in a decade’s time. Deep, dark red in the glass, oak, licorice, and soil on the nose, cassis, evanescent lavender, mushroom, and dark cherry in the mouth. It comes in at 14.9 percent alcohol, and 5,880 cases were produced. It is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and was released on May 1, 2020.

(Note: On September 23, Becker issued the following statement concerning the 2020 vintage:

“Today we made the difficult decision to not harvest any fruit from our 1682-acre estate for the 2020 vintage. In mid-August, the Hennessy fire engulfed our property, burning nearly 1,400 acres of native grasslands and woods. We take pride in the grapes we grow, sell, and vinify and make no compromises. We stand unwavering in our long-term commitment to this property, our winery partners, customers, and distributors. Quality in our world of fine wine is paramount, and due to smoke damage caused by Northern California’s Hennessey Fire, we won’t be making any wine this year.On a positive note, while the scrub pine, madrona, manzanita, bay trees, and other shrubs did burn, about 98% of the oak trees on our property did not. We expect that the estate will regain its beauty with thriving oak woodlands and grasslands in a few years. We look forward to the 2021 growing season next year, producing high-quality grapes for our wines and those of our partners.”)

Want more wine? Read on:

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Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
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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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