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.
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.
I was waiting on Michael Kennedy at the bar. I had tasted his wines the week before, and was looking forward to meeting him in person. Email correspondence had given me a good idea of the man — thorough, enthusiastic, intelligent — and I’m always happy when my initial assessment is verified. In Kennedy’s case, I was correct.
He had come to Houston to sell his wine, which I was representing with Monopole Wines. Component is Kennedy’s label, and wines bearing the name hail from Napa and Bordeaux. He and his partners have three lieux-dits (left and right banks) in Bordeaux from which they source fruit (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon), and in Napa they have made wines with grapes grown in the Yount Mill Vineyard (Semillon), the Caldwell Vineyard (Cabernet Franc), and on Pritchard Hill (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot).
Lunch was a glass of wine and a croquet madame, paired with lots of conversation, and afterward, I was convinced that Kennedy was someone I would be glad to know. We visited a few restaurants, and a country club or two, and sold some wine. We had dinner that evening, at Tony’s, joined by a few people Kennedy had met on Grand Cayman — he was a sommelier at Blue by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton — and the conversation continued (and continues).
Kennedy’s career includes serving as the beverage director at the Cayman Cookout, and his first vintage at Component was 2013. If you haven’t tasted what he is making, you will be in for a pleasant experience. I look forward to again sharing a table with him after the pandemic’s demise allows such pleasures.
Here is Kennedy in 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?
Michael Kennedy: In our portfolio, I have really been loving our Sémillon this summer. It’s über fresh, with a bit of saltiness — perfect with raw oysters or other beach foods like ceviche. I have also been drinking quite a bit of our 2017 reds from Bordeaux. It’s a “fresh” vintage, so that means they’re drinking well young. Unlike in 2016, where our wines were austere and serious, the ’17 allows for some immediate pleasure out of the bottle. Strange, of course, to say young Bordeaux at this price point is drinking well, but I love vibrancy and acidity, which it delivers.
I am drinking these wines with summer meats — meaning pork tenderloin, crispy-skin chicken — especially if prepared simply on the grill, perhaps with some herbal friends like grilled rosemary. This will really trigger the herbacious qualities of the wine, while allowing the juicy acidity to play well with mid-weight meats. (2018 Component Semillon, Yount Mill Vineyard, Napa $68 a bottle, 2017 Component La Carrière Cabernet Franc, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux $170 a bottle.)
JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?
MK: If cost was no matter … I’d love to have a cellar full of Château Lafleur. I truly have not had an experience quite like I had visiting the estate and learning from their winemaking team. The wine is so light, almost hard to believe it comes from Bordeaux, but what it doesn’t have is where I fall in love. It replaces weight with flowery elegance and toys with your mind. At one moment, the wine is intense, in the very next it is subtle. Alternatively, I’d love to acquire all of the old American Zinfandels out there — the classics from Ravenswood, Ridge, Swan — even further back from Martini and others. This varietal is so underappreciated — in fact, I like it that way.
JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?
MK: I wish I was cool enough to say something like Palomino or even Chenin Blanc, but I have to say the white wine I drink most at home is Chardonnay. I am a sucker for Bourgogne Blanc. Benjamin Leroux described it as the “red wine of white wines,” and that’s true. It can be so complex — texturally, aromatically — and confounding as well. If there’s another varietal I love, it’s Cabernet Franc — the feminine to the masculine Cabernet Sauvignon.
Component has roots in Bordeaux and Napa.
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?
MK: Buy more American Zinfandel — something like Bedrock from a historic vineyard site (Monte Rosso, planted in 1886, is a good start). Not many people realize that some of the consistently oldest vines for commercial production are right here in the US. Plus, Zinfandel ages beautifully.
JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle?
MK: All I want to do right now is go sailing with a bunch of friends and a cooler filled with entry-level white Burgundy, Vinho Verde, Muscadet and Pinot Grigio. Maybe next year …
JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?
MK: Wine is wine, you know? One of the coolest guys in the business is a man named Alessandro Masnaghetti. He’s an Italian mapmaker, and he said something that struck me recently in regard to “famous” winemakers. He talks about the phenomenon of “genuises” in winemaking being compared to Einstein or Dante — and the ridiculousness of this. One of those men discovered the theory of relativity, winemakers make wine for people to consume. I don’t know, I guess I just wish people would enjoy wine more — and stop “analytically tasting” wine. Just love what’s in your glass (but make sure it’s tasty).
JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?
MK: I feel like I’ve been talking a lot about Bordeaux, but, oh well. I have two moments, and both over a bottle of Bordeaux.
First, a 1996Château Montrose with my then-mentor, Allyson Gorsuch. We had worked a long tasting event and one of the benefactors of the event put out cases of wine from his cellar for us (the sommeliers working the event) to enjoy. I was just studying for my Certified Sommelier, and Gorsuch was studying for her Advanced. Everyone immediately took the Burgundy and Napa big shots, and we went with Montrose. It was in the “bret” days of the estate — and man was it awesome. We popped the bottle, sat down, and talked for two hours, watching the wine evolve. Over that conversation (which was arguably better than the wine), we saw this wine take a wild ride. It taught me about complexity.
The most important wine lesson I learned over a bottle of wine happened in 2012, when I had been given a bottle of 2005 Carruades de Lafite (the second wine of Lafite). I opened it with essentially the only wine collector I knew at the time. He had an excellent old-world cellar, and in an effort to prove to him that I knew something about wine (I had recently passed my Certified Sommelier) I googled everything on the internet I could find about the estate, the winemaker, the vintage, etc.
I opened the bottle and started babbling through everything I memorized earlier that day. This kind and experienced collector was so gracious; he listened and engaged sparingly. And when I ran out of information, it was a much quieter turn in the evening. After some time of silence, he started telling me things like, “This wine has really improved since I tasted it shortly after release five years ago,” and, “It reminds me of how the 1990 tasted at this stage,” and, “It seems to me that this wine will have a similar path of aging to the 1996”. It was in that moment that I realized I cannot “memorize” experience and that I should shut up, listen, and drink as many great wines as I can. To this day, I have to fight the urge to say too much, because I don’t want to miss something of meaning from someone more intelligent, experience, and generous than myself. (Although look how much I wrote here.)
JB:What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?
MK: Too many to mention. It’s an industry filled with characters! One of my favorites, though, is also one of my most embarrassing. I was 21, first month in the industry — straight out of college — and my brother’s friend who owns a really excellent distribution company invited us to a portfolio tasting. We of course decided to attend and loved every minute of walking around experiencing the different wines and producers.
It was all well and good until we walked up to the table of a top Italian winemaking family, hosted by the beautiful daughter of the founder. She was in a stunning white dress and had opened some of their family’s top red wines. There was even an older vintage in a large, wide-based decanter. I tasted through, somewhat starstruck about the wines, and when it came for her to pour us the older wine, I took a deep sip of it. My wonderful brother whispered a comment about her not being able to use the decanter well right as the wine hit my palate, and I sprayed the family’s rare red wine all over this woman in the white dress. I was mortified, and basically blacked out and ran away. I saw her years later from across the room at Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and immediately changed course to avoid her in the off chance she recognized me. So, yeah.
And it was good …
JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?
MK: I feel like there are plenty of deep and philosophical references out there, but I recently started looking at biblical wine references. I found a diagram of a wine press from Jesus’ times and then decided to see exactly how much wine Jesus made as his first miracle. Turns out, we know quite exactly how much wine: “Six stone water jars, containing 20-30 gallons each”. That’s about equal to 1 ton of grapes or two standard barrels, or 50 cases of wine. Man, I would have loved to have tasted that.
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.
Molly Lonborg’s laughter is infectious, even experienced over a Zoom virtual tasting, which is how I was introduced to her last week. She’s the winemaker at Alta Colina, a Paso Robles-based estate “whose singular purpose is to grow superior Rhône-style wines.”
We tasted through several barrel samples on the chat, and a bottle sample of Alta Colina’s 2017 GSM. All were tasting well, and I was drinking quality, something that never fails to please me.
Lonborg came to Alta Colina in February of 2020, by way of Halter Ranch, whose team she joined in 2011 as lab manager and cellar assistant. She graduated from California Polytechnic State University in 2009, with a degree in earth sciences (with a concentration in wine and viticulture), and studied geology in New Zealand at the University of Otago. She was hand-picked by Bob Tillman, the founder and co-owner of the family-run Alta Colina, to succeed him as winemaker (Tillman is still a hands-on owner, and has the title of director of winemaking at the estate).
As you’ll read, Lonborg loves Grenache, and what she’s doing at Alta Colina with Rhône varietals is, based on my (thus far) limited tasting, exemplary. The bottle sample of the 2017 GSM we tasted was delicious, and the barrel samples caused me to write “get your hands on more of this producer’s bottles.”
I look forward to meeting Lonborg (and Tillman) in person, but until then, let’s see what she has to say in 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?
Molly Lonborg: Our current technique at Alta Colina is for our red wines to undergo 22 months of barrel-aging and an additional year in bottle. We just released our 2017 reds and a couple of our whites. At the moment, my personal favorites are the 2017 GSM, the 2019 Grenache Blanc, and our 2019 Rose.
Alta Colina’s GSM: France-inspired Californian
Our 2017 GSM ($56) is a blend of 76 percent Grenache, 20 percent Syrah, and 4 percent Mourvèdre. This wine has a beautiful combination of fruit and rusticity. With Grenache in the driving seat there are notes of strawberry fruit, leather, and dried cranberry; the Syrah is providing some unctuousness and depth; and the Mourvèdre rounds it out with earthy notes and spice characteristics. I personally love to age Grenaches, as I think they are complex, and over time the flavors become more layered. So although this wine is drinking great right now, I think it has the potential to shine around 2028-2030. This is an extremely versatile wine and can pair beautifully with a wide range of foods, from hearty vegetable dishes to wild game.
I am also really enjoying our 2019 Grenache Blanc ($34). I love Grenache Blanc from Paso Robles. Over the years it seems that it has received a bit of a bad rep as being a flabby (low acid) white wine. However, I think a lot of that comes from the fact that it is a Rhone white varietal and historically the tank space was favored for red wines, resulting in whites that were often left too long on the vine prior to vinification.
Grenache Blanc is actually one of the few white grapes that is able to maintain acidity in our hot climate, while also having some body. Our Grenache Blanc is true to the varietal with notes of white flowers, honeydew melon, pear, and a great minerality. Most of our whites are fermented in barrel and aged for 18 months, but the Grenache Blanc is tank fermented and released after after months of aging in the tank, which makes it a fresh, ready-to-drink offering. This wine pairs well with summer salads and anything from the sea.
A sampling of Alta Colina’s production
My third wine is our 2019 Rose ($28). It is 100 percent Grenache, picked early and pressed whole-cluster prior to fermenting cool in the tank. This wine saw a few weeks of neutral oak, which adds some nice creamy notes to the predominant flavors of wild strawberries and guava. I love this wine with brunch, egg-based dishes, salmon, or vegetarian cuisine (Esther Mobley just wrote an article touting this wine’s ability to pair well with asparagus, a notoriously difficult vegetable to pair wine with due to the sulfur qualities in contains).
(Note: Alta Colina’s sales skew about 95 percent direct to consumer, so the best way to find these wines is through its website.)
JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?
ML: This is a tough question for me … there are so many really! Honestly, if someone said I could spend $500 to $1,000 on a bottle of wine, I would probably ask to take the money and spend it on a case or two from a bunch of different producers. I love to try out new, fun, unique offerings from the U.S. and around the world. I like to support small wineries that are preserving varietal characteristics in their wines.
However, if I were forced to buy one bottle it would probably be a 2016 Château Rayas. Although I have never been able to taste a Château Rayas I love Grenache and I have heard great things about the 2016 vintage in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?
ML: Well, I kind of just gave it away, but Grenache is by far my favorite varietal. There are so many reasons why I love Grenache. It is such a versatile grape, it makes delicious Rose and red wine; it can be beautiful on its own, but also shines in blends. Because it is a medium-bodied wine it tends to not do well with new oak, as the intricacies of the varietal can easily be overpowered. It can be head-trained or trellised. It withstands virus in the vineyard well, and pairs well with a wide variety of foods. It is generally affordable, and has amazing red fruit characteristics like strawberry, cherry, cranberry, even watermelon and guava when used for a Rose.
I am also really excited that in 2020 we are going to continue a project that I started while working at Halter Ranch Vineyard by producing a carbonic Grenache at Alta Colina.
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?
ML: Red-letter day, I love that! I would suggest two wines, our 2018 Model Citizen Roussanne (will be released this fall), as I love the way Roussanne ages, and our 2017 Ann’s Block Petite Sirah. These are both gorgeous wines that should drink well for 10 to 15 years.
Bob Tillman, Alta Colina’s founder and co-owner, sold the first bottle of Alta Colina-labeled wine in 2009.
JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside your home and workplace)?
ML: Sadly, I don’t get out much these days (and not just because of COVID-19 times), because we have an 11-month-old that keeps us pretty busy. However, on the rare occasions we do get out we will usually head to 15C for a wide range of wines, Lone Madrone for burger Sunday and to enjoy some delicious wines crafted by the father-son duo of Neil and Jordan Collins (all fruit is sourced from dry-farmed vineyards, with minimal oak/additives), or we often frequent the Collins’ other establishment, Bristols Cider House.
Alta Colina’s tasting room is looking forward to a post-COVID-19 world.
JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?
ML: That if you think the wine is good, then it’s good. I waited tables for years, and people would always ask me if I thought a particular bottle was a good wine. My response was always, “It doesn’t matter what I think, if you like it then it’s a good wine.” I think people get wrapped up in the prestige of wine, what other people think, the price, the label, etc. At the end of the day, wine is a labor of love, and we do what we do in hopes that wherever you are when you open that bottle of wine that it makes you feel something and provides some happiness.
I met the Alta Colina team of Bob Tillman, Maggie Tillman, and Molly Lonborg at a virtual tasting in May.
The 2019 Syrah Block 8 barrel sample is confidently speaking of the vintage’s potential.
Lots of great Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre is growing at Alta Colina.
JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?
ML: That’s a bit hard to say. I didn’t grow up in a wine family, and I don’t think I can trace my interest back to one bottle or tasting. However, I began my interest in university. I studied earth science at Cal Poly and spent a lot of time in soil classes; after my freshman year I spent a year in New Zealand studying geology. Upon my return to Cal Poly, I discovered the wine and viticulture department. I quickly added a concentration in wine and viticulture to my curriculum. I began working in the industry thinking I would go into sustainable/organic vineyard work, but I ended up on a path that kept me in the winery.
There used to be a wine seminar called A7 that was created for industry members who loved Rhône wines. I remember the first one was at Law Estate, and there were two presentations by amazing women winemakers, Anne-Charlotte Mélia–Bachas of Font du Loup and Helen Keplinger of Keplinger wines. I had felt a bit of an odd (wo)man out in the wine industry, as it has been pretty male dominated, but after hearing these women talk I knew I was hooked and that I wanted to be a winemaker.
Font du Loup’s Anne-Charlotte Mélia-Bachas is in part responsible for Molly Lonberg’s winemaking career.
JB:What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?
ML: So many, how to choose just one … One of my favorite wine moments was discovering a gem of a wine that I had completely overlooked. The 2017 harvest was difficult for whites in Paso Robles because we had a lot of rain, which resulted in a lot of crop and canopy, but then, in the beginning of September, we had 10 days over 100 degrees, which caused a lot of the fruit to stall in ripening. At Halter Ranch we had some Picpoul Blanc that just never ripened; we kept letting it hang, thinking it might eventually ripen, but we ended up harvesting it in the beginning of November at 19 brix (typically we would harvest around 23 brix). We vinified it in tank and racked it clean to a topped-up tank, thinking we would sell it on the bulk market. I was tasting through tanks one day, and when I smelled this tank I was completely blown away. After tasting it I was hooked! We ended up bottling it on its own at 11.2 percent alcohol, and it was such a fun wine and a beautiful expression of the varietal.
However, by far the craziest wine incident in my career involved an intern that accidentally removed the wrong clamp, and the 3-inch bottom valve to a 10-ton fermenter that was filled with actively fermenting Syrah blew off and wine and grapes began to deluge everywhere. It took three of us to put all of our weight into covering the hole while someone else set up a sump and a pump and we pumped as much as we could into an empty tank. It took about 45 minutes for us to get the thing under control, and by the end we had lost quite a bit of wine and fruit and we were covered from head to toe in fermenting Syrah. Man oh man, I wish those were the days of iPhones and easily accessible cameras; sadly, there is no photo of the aftermath.
JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?
ML: I wish there were more to choose from. But probably my favorite wine reference is from The Jerk when Steve Martin is asked if he wants another bottle of Chateau Latour and he responds with, “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!”
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 some of my 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 first time I drank a wine made by David Ramey was epiphanic. I recall that I took a few sips, then put down the glass, savoring the whole of the moment. “This stuff is quality,” I said to myself. It was probably early in 2003, in Brooklyn, during dinner at home. A friend had brought the bottle of Chardonnay with him, and we were cooking flounder. It was a perfect wine, a perfect fish, and a perfect evening.
I love these wines.
Since then, I have opened and enjoyed many bottles produced by Ramey Wine Cellars, and they’ve never disappointed. Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays, Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs … not one was lacking.
I have written about Ramey and his wines, and I’ve read a lot about him and his approach to winemaking. This past September I met him at his winery, in Healdsburg, California. Angela, my wife, and I walked the short distance to the facility from the house in which we were staying, and Ramey, who was out front with members of his team, invited us to share their harvest-lunch food and wine. Sitting there, my mind went briefly back to that evening in Brooklyn, and the Chardonnay. It was as if a journey 17 years in the making had reached its destination.
Claire and David Ramey
After lunch, we went upstairs to Ramey’s office and had a comprehensive tasting. Ramey talked about his relationships with growers and other winemakers, and he enthusiastically took us through the bottles. It was a productive afternoon.
David Ramey is a generous and inspiring winemaker.
Ramey founded Ramey Wine Cellars with his wife, Carla, in 1996, and before that worked with Matanzas Creek, Chalk Hill, Dominus Estate and Rudd Estate. He holds a graduate degree from U.C. Davis — his thesis, written in 1979, is a seminal one, and if you want to learn how aromas evolve in wine, read it.
And Ramey Wine Cellars is a family affair; Carla and the couple’s children, Claire and Alan, are integral to the enterprise, and more than a few Ramey employees have been with the winery for nearly two decades.
Ramey’s demeanor is relaxed but exact; while he guided us through the tasting that afternoon he answered my questions with directness and clarity. He is a man who clearly loves what he does for a living, and what he bottles is a delicious demonstration of that love.
We left Ramey that afternoon with a recommendation for dinner that evening, Baci in Healdsburg. The man has great taste.
Let’s see what Ramey has to say in 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?
David Ramey: Well, I assume you’re asking about our wines, so I’ll answer to that: 1) 2017 (or 2016) Fort Ross-Seaview Chardonnay, $42, widely available — or directly from us, www.rameywine.com. 2) 2017 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, $50, somewhat available, or from us. 3) 2015 Napa Valley Cabernet, $62, fairly available, or from us. Foods, in sequence: Chard — any seafood — salmon, crab, lobster, shrimp, scallops, halibut, sea bass. Pinot — almost anything! Cab — you know the drill — beef, lamb, chicken. For all three, nothing spicy hot or sweet (except the Pinot, which goes great with Thai).
JB:If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?
DR: A 1989 Petrus, because Carla and I were married in Montagne-Saint-Émilion while working chezMoueix, and she picked those grapes.
JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?
DR: I’m loving cool-climate Syrah these days … (plus the odd bottle of Brunello).
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?
DR: Our Pedregal Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet, any vintage.
JB:Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside your home and workplace)?
DR: Baci in Healdsburg (closely followed by Campofina, Barndiva, and Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar).
JB:If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?
DR: Just as when you (or at least I) buy a car —stretch just a little — spend a little bit more than you thought you should.
JB:What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?
DR: The long drive from Mexicali to Hermosillo in 1974, wondering what I was going to do next: The inspiration came to me, “Why not make wine?”
JB:What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?
DR: I was monitoring the top of a 12,000-gallon tank of fermenting Chenin Blanc at Simi Winery in the early ’80’s, and we wanted to mix it, so a cellar worker put a propeller mixer into the racking valve down below. We turned it on and off slowly several times — no reaction. So we left it on longer … disaster! The overflow went for minutes; the aisle was 6-inches deep in wine. We lost a thousand gallons and learned that you don’t do that to a tank of fermenting wine.
JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?
DR: “Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.”
And: “I drank a bottle of wine for company. It was Château Margaux. It was pleasant to be drinking slowly and to be tasting the wine and to be drinking alone. A bottle of wine was good company.”
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 some of my 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.
Pisoni is a name that needs no introduction — especially to lovers of wine. First, there’s Gary Pisoni, who, back in the 1980s, convinced his farming family to plant grapes on their land in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Those hallowed 40 acres of vineyards have been producing great fruit — Syrah, Chardonnay, and, of course, Pinot Noir — since then.
A family of wine: Jeff, Gary, and Mark Pisoni
And it is a family affair, which brings me to the subject of this Wine Talk, Jeff Pisoni, Gary’s son and Pisoni Estate’s vintner. (Jeff’s brother, Mark, is vineyard manager at the estate.)
Jeff, who has a bachelor of science degree in enology from Cal State, Fresno, worked at Bernardus and Peter Michael prior to joining the family concern. Since 2009, he has also been head winemaker at Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery, about which he says, “I’m not trying to make a style. Fort Ross Vineyard is the style.”
Fort Ross is the sole winery Pisoni works with apart from his family enterprise. The vineyard, the closest one to the Pacific Ocean, is in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. “I tried the Fort Ross Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at a tasting and was struck by the luscious fruit, fine minerality and crisp acidity in each wine,” Pisoni says, referring to his introduction to the fruit there. “The cool climate and the strong character of the vineyard were clearly evident. My goal is to continue to express the personality of the vineyard and the wonderful style the winery has worked so hard to establish.”
I tasted through a selection of Fort Ross wines this week, including the 2017 Stagecoach Road Pinot Noir and the 2018 Chardonnay, both clearly made with precision and care. Pisoni’s approach is on display here, and it’s one I appreciate and admire.
Let’s see what he has to say in Wine Talk:
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?
Jeff Pisoni: 2013 Prager “Steinriegl” Riesling. Wachau, Austria. With the down time from shelter in place, I did some organizing in the cellar and opened up this bottle. It was tasting great — fresh, complex, and elegant. My wife and I drank this with grilled sole. I purchased this wine upon release for $30.
Next, 2018 Fort Ross Vineyard Chardonnay. This variety can take many forms. Our approach with Fort Ross is bright and vibrant, but still with nice texture from the high-elevation mountaintops. I found it particularly satisfying, as I think a lot of people turn to a reassuring familiarity while being in a shelter-in-place situation in the world. This brings the beauty of California with a refreshing finish. You can get this for $44 a bottle.
Finally, the 2015 Renaissance by Clape. I love this producer. Clape has a way of capturing so much intensity and purity. Weather recently has also been cold and rainy, which I think fits well for a rich syrah. This was paired with a grilled ribeye steak. What else is needed? This wine was purchased for around $75 per bottle.
JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?
JP: Sure! I would buy a 6-liter bottle of 2017 Chateau Latour. It’s my younger son’s birthyear and I still need to find a bottle for him. Might as well go big, right? As a backstory, my father gifted me a 6-liter birthyear bottle of Chateau Latour, 1979. (And yes, Bordeaux was a little cheaper back then!) I have not opened it, yet.
JB: What is your favorite grape, and why? If you can’t single out one — I know, it’s difficult — choose one that speaks to you in a particular way.
JP: Right, it’s hard to choose a favorite, but I am extremely passionate about Pinot Noir. Yes, there is the beauty and enigmatic nature of it, the fine balance between amazing and mediocre, the multitude of elusive nuances. I am also really drawn to challenges, and nothing challenges one’s winemaking skills like Pinot Noir.
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?
JP: Our Fort Ross Vineyard “Top of Land” Pinot Noir cuvée. It’s a wonderful combination of Pinot Noir’s power and elegance.
The wine blend is of specific blocks and mostly heritage clones. It really conveys the essence of what Fort Ross Vineyard is about. The structure comes from the rugged mountain soils of our high-elevation sites, while the elegance is from the coastal climate that is only possible from a vineyard like this, at one mile from the Pacific Ocean. Overall, it has a great depth of flavor and structure that will age well for 10-plus years in the cellar.
This wine also speaks to the history of the vineyard. First planted by Linda and Lester Schwartz in 1994, the vineyard in total is 50 acres, but made up of over 30 unique blocks. Each block has its own personality. This wine, being a block selection, shows unique aspects of the vineyard and also the idea that Linda and Lester wanted to explore this detail of the vineyard.
Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery occupies a special place near the Pacific Ocean.
JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle?
JP: There is a great restaurant here in Santa Rosa called Stark’s Steak & Seafood. It has a fantastic wine list and a great bar scene in the evening. It is a wonderful atmosphere for a relaxing glass of wine and/or dinner. When you are in Sonoma County, check it out.
JB:If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?
JP: I hope that if people have a chance, they will buy a wine for drinking early and a bottle (or more) for aging. It’s fun and educational to watch the evolution of wines. It also gives you more bottles and opportunities to taste, evaluate, and discuss. I enjoy collecting things in general, so I always default to saving wines for a long time.
Fort Ross Vineyard wines need to be in your cellar and on your table.
JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?
JP: Blind tasting wine with my father when I was a teenager. My father was instrumental in me deciding to be a winemaker. He was a farmer turned grape grower turned winemaker — and a viticultural pioneer.
He had a vast wine collection he started in the 1970s, and he would often open wines and introduce them to my brother and me. We loved the learning and experience of the different wines and regions. Well, many times, he would open wines and not tell us what it was — he would ask us to guess the variety, region, and vintage. It was an awesome experience, and very influential for me. In the blind tastings, we obviously had plenty of wrong ideas, but I remember making a few great calls and it brought a very strong connection to wine and the concept of terroir.
JB: What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?
JP: One time an intern had filled a 15-gallon stainless steel keg with juice and closed it with a valve. This was during harvest, so it went unnoticed for a few days — long enough for the keg to ferment and build up a lot of pressure. When we tried opening the valve, it plugged with grape solids, so we could not release the pressure. We then had to very, very carefully remove the fitting that held the valve in place. This exposed a 2-inch hole in the top of the keg. In a fraction of a second, a 2-inch vertical stream of wine shot up from the keg and hit our 25-foot-high ceiling. Nearly all the wine was lost to the upward stream, and we all just looked around in awe for a few moments.
JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or film?
JP: I grew up in Monterey County, so John Steinbeck was an important author for us. And Cannery Row was a fun read:
“Two gallons is a great deal of wine, even for two paisanos.”
Want moreWine Talk? From Paris to Los Angeles and many other places, the goodness flows
Tasting rooms are closed, no one is traveling, and you need more wine. Here is a perfect way for you to buy a few bottles (or cases) of Napa selections: Open The Cellar.
Napa Valley Vinters has organized the two-day event (April 14 and 15), and if your cellar needs to be restocked, take a look at the selections on offer. Many of the bottles are normally available to clubs members only, while others are typically sold only at the wineries. (Library releases are also available.)
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the wine industry hard, and this sale is a great way to help out. Plus, it’s easy: “You support the employees and small family businesses in wine country, get an exclusive wine and you don’t have to leave your couch,” Napa Valley Vintners says.
Let me know what you decide to add to your inventory.
The tariffs will remain at 25 percent, stated the Office of the United States Trade Representative last week, and that’s a good thing for the wine and spirits industry. However, it is far too soon for cries of joy.
The U.S. was mulling slapping tariffs at a much higher level — perhaps as high as 100 percent — but decided to maintain the status quo.
Airbus is the entity the U.S. government is upset with, and that dispute is the cause for the current tariffs that are imposed on European wines, cheeses, and other items. The USTR’s office, in its Feb. 14 statement, added that the tariffs on Airbus will increase to 15 percent from the current 10 percent, effective March 18.
According to the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), referring to data from economists at John Dunham and Associates, under current tariff levels, the U.S. beverage alcohol industry could lose as many as 36,000 jobs, and awards of $1.6 billion in wages, which could cost the U.S. economy more than $5.3 billion in 2020.
“Our industry provides consumers with the most diverse selection of products in the world and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country in an array of related industries,” said Michelle Korsmo WSWA president and CEO. “Our members offer products for every taste, budget and occasion and are already being negatively impacted by the imposition of retaliatory tariffs by China and the European Union on U.S-origin distilled spirits and wines – these tariffs will only increase that burden.”
The 25 percent tariff in place now apply to still wine with an alcohol content below 14 percent produced in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Wine from Italy, as well as all sparkling wine, is spared. The tariffs also effect single-malt Scotch whisky, whiskey from Northern Ireland, and cordials and liqueurs hailing from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.
Stay tuned, because this trade dispute is far from over.
I have been drinking wines from Ehlers Estate for a good number of years, and this week was finally able to visit the winery, which is located in St. Helena on an historic property that was developed by Bernard Ehlers in the 1800s.
Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Rosé comprise the bulk of the estate’s offerings, and based on some tank tasting, I am excited about what Ehlers’ new winemaker has under way.
Her name is Laura Díaz Muñoz; she took over as winemaker and general manager of Ehlers in 2018 … and her touch and style are evident everywhere. There’s a concrete egg in the winery’s tank room (a first at Ehlers), and Muñoz has long-term plans for some of the estate’s established vines — she is confident that they have much more (quality) life in them.
Laura Díaz Muñoz pulls a sample in the Ehlers Estate tank room.
Muñoz is from Spain, and studied enology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.
“I was sitting with my father in northern Spain at a restaurant during a family vacation, and he ordered percebes and a local wine,” she told me when I asked her about her introduction to the world of wine. “I sipped the wine, and tasted the seafood and smelled the sea air, and from that moment knew that I somehow wanted to live and work with wine.”
After graduation, Muñoz worked at several wineries in Spain, then took her skills to New Zealand and Chile. California was her next stop, and she has been in the Napa Valley for more than a decade, making wine for Cardinale, Galerie, La Jota, and, since last year, Ehlers.
Muñoz checks Cabernet Sauvignon in one of Ehlers’ vineyards.Ehlers has a new addition in its tank room.Muñoz walks a different section of Ehlers’ 42-acres of vines every morning.
Jeremy Parzen brought Flavio Geretto to Houston this week, and the two gentlemen poured some great wines, wines from Villa Sandi. They opened a Pinot Grigio and some Prosecco.
“Soon, Prosecco Rosé will be everywhere,” Parzen says, and I don’t see why it won’t.
Geretto, who’s with Villa Sandi, and Parzen, who works with the concern (social media, web design), were speaking to a small group of people assembled at Vinology, one of Houston’s better wine bars.
“I know a lot about Italian wine,” Parzen said, “but I’m learning things from Flavio every day.” And Geretto knows from his Prosecco. He’s enthusiastic, and the bottles he had with him are worthy of your attention. They are fresh, balanced wines, and I’d be happy pouring any of them to my guests.
Flavio Geretto, of Villa Sandi, takes Prosecco seriously. (Photo by The Brockhaus)
Here’s what we tasted: Il Fresco Prosecco; Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore; Rosato Il Fresco (brut); and a Pinot Grigio delle Venezie. (We were also treated to a wine that I cannot discuss, because I don’t want to make anyone envious.)
Here’s Geretto talking about Prosecco.
What do you know about Prosecco? Here’s what Jancis Robinson wrote about it, on her superb site, back in 2017
For years champagne ran the most sophisticated and effective public relations machine in the world of wine. Consumers were convinced that champagne and only champagne was the socially acceptable lubricant for celebrations and smart dinner parties.
But all that has changed. A vast army of enthusiastic wine buyers regard Prosecco as their drink of choice rather than second best – even though it is made by a much more industrial process than champagne or any of the other wines made sparkling inside individual bottles rather than in big tanks. I have to admit that Prosecco seems to disagree with me. I find too many of them too sweet for my taste, and for reasons I don’t understand, a mouthful or two of Prosecco often seems to precipitate a headache. But it’s obviously not genetic; my daughters adore the stuff.
Fake news has hardly impinged on the world of wine but I honestly thought it had last January when I read that Prosecco producers were applying for UNESCO world heritage status for their growing area, 35,000 acres (14,154 ha) of vineyards in virtually the whole of north east Italy. It was doubled overnight in 2009 when they cunningly renamed the eponymous grape responsible for their wine Glera and registered Prosecco as a protected geographical indication instead. (It hasn’t stopped the odd Australian using the P word, so popular has the wine style become.)
Yes, UNESCO recently added the Prosecco region to its World Heritage list, and that’s not Fake News. And, you should drink Prosecco … just pay attention to the residual sugar.
Parzen did a great thing for Prosecco by organizing the seminar. (For your reading pleasure, the Wine Talk featuring Parzen.) And if you haven’t already, add Do Bianchi to your reading list.
I’m undertaking a historical and literary study of Prosecco, and you can read my findings on Mise en Place as they are published. Meanwhile, drink well, and with people you love.
Holiday season’s here, and the Wein is fine. I’ve already offered up a slate of selections for gatherings, parties, and dinners — click here for my selective and approachable holiday lineup — and I’m tasting a lot of wines, some of which will end up as gifts or being paired with holiday meals. I’m sure you’re doing the same.
Wine shops and bars are also busy, and you should stop by your favorite one(s) and peruse the shelves. Then visit one that you never have before. Find something new to your palate, ask the staff what they’re drinking, and stock up.
To get you started, Avondale Food & Wine’s Holiday Wine Market should be on your agenda. It takes place today (December 13), from 6-8 p.m. For $20, you get appetizers and the chance to stroll through a market featuring pop-up shops including Houston Dairymaids and Heights Vinyl. Bonus: purchase a wine from Avondale’s worthy inventory and your $20 is refundable.
Avondale Food & Wine wants to help get you in a festive mood.
Then, when Saturday arrives, make sure you set some time aside to visit 13 Celsius, because their Annual Holiday Wine Sale & Customer Appreciation Event is taking over the space on Caroline beginning at 11 a.m. A multitude of wine sellers (including Monopole Wines, whose team I recently joined — more on that soon) will be on hand with great pours and amazing bargains.
I’ll let the 13 Celsius crew speak for itself:
It’s that time again! Our annual wine sale and customer appreciation event takes place on Saturday, December 15th.
As our little way of saying thank you for 12 wonderful years, we have scoured the market to find the best wines for you and your family to celebrate and share this holiday season. Come say hello and taste through this massive stable of amazing wines. Decide which ones you like and gleefully purchase them at foolishly low prices.
Finish up the last (or at least some!) of your holiday shopping with: Weights + Measures’ fresh-baked bread Houston Dairymaids with more delectable cheeses than ever before
This event is free to attend and no reservations are required!
Here’s what Monopole will have for you at the sale: the 2015 Kerloo Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley Washington), the 2014 Y. Rousseau Tannat (Russian River Valley), and the 2015 “La Sorella” Pinot Noir from de Lancellotti Family Vineyards. Come by and say hello, and taste some great wines.
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