Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews

Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet, and Wine Blogging’s Willie Nelson

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Oct 1, 2014

Tasting Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet with Alder Yarrow

As part of the VH1 Storytellers series, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson record an acoustic album together. For classic country fans, like myself, it’s a beautiful moment bringing two of the greats together. In the liner notes Cash explains how sitting side-by-side with Nelson on stage, Cash couldn’t help but envy Nelson’s picking ability. He plays fine guitar.

In the world of wine blogging, I’m no Johnny Cash (he’s one of the best, most soulful that ever was) but I do think it’s fair to call Alder Yarrow our Willie Nelson — prolific writer, writes notes for the best (Jancis Robinson as the wine world’s Patsy Cline-one of the finest country voices in history?), one of the longest blogging careers at the top.

Still, why the comparison?

The Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers’ Association invited Alder Yarrow to participate in an exclusive appellation tasting of Cabernet. He was kind enough to extend the invitation to me. So, this past weekend the two of us sat side-by-side tasting through 53 Cabernet library wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains. Sitting there side-by-side with Yarrow, I couldn’t help but admire his wine note ability.

Keep an eye out for Alder’s write-up on the tasting at his site Vinography (here: http://vinography.com/). He is likely to post thorough-going notes for the wines, as well as his overall assessment of quality for the variety in the region. Speaking with Alder after it was clear our views overlapped around a number of aspects, and diverged in others. I’ll let him share his own thoughts when he chooses to post them.

The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA

click on image to enlarge

An AVA since 1981, the Santa Cruz Mountains was one of the first appellations to be defined by its mountain topography. The San Andreas fault carves the region running roughly diagonal up the middle north to south. Acreage within the appellation rises to the highest peaks around 2600 ft. but, importantly, not all acreage within the overall area count as part of the AVA. Instead, the boundaries descend to around 800 feet on the Eastern side, and 400 feet on the coastal, with valley floor properties falling outside the region. Fog articulates the limits of the lower elevations — the appellation grows above it.

The Santa Cruz Mountains count as their own unique region. The AVA stands below what we call the North Coast, and above what the TTB describes as the Central Coast. Though they often get lumped into the Central Coast in wine review discussions, the mountains technically, and climatically prove separate. The Mountains also fall outside the San Francisco Bay appellation. Effectively, then, the Santa Cruz Mountains rise as islands on their own above the fog — from the Bay to the East, from the ocean to the West, between the North and Central Coasts.

Historically, the area has produced some of the most important wines of California. Paul Masson began growing sparkling wine on the western slopes, eventually inspiring Martin Ray to produce the first varietally specific still wines at what would become Mount Eden. Later, in the 1960s, Paul Draper would help rediscover what we now call the Ridge Monte Bello site, growing wines that would compete against the best of Bordeaux.

Variety in the Santa Cruz Mountains

The Santa Cruz Mountains wine growing region includes around 1300-planted acres. The vineyard totals separate into fairly even quarters, with Cabernet, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay encapsulating three, and mixed other varieties taking the fourth.

After our tasting we enjoyed lunch with Paul Draper. As he explains, historically houses with vineyards on the eastern side of the San Andreas fault such as Ridge, Woodside, and Kathryn Kennedy grew Cabernet, while domains on the western side such as Thomas Fogarty or Varner grew Pinot. Chardonnay has done well throughout. Mount Eden, along the center line of the AVA, has long grown all three.

Overall temperatures certainly factor in to the historic placement in plantings. Generally the eastern side tends to be warmer. However, thanks to the folds and faults of the mountains, an incredible variability of microclimate dominates the appellation. More recently people have begun identifying warmer pockets on the western side as well so that today Cabernet is planted throughout the AVA.

Tectonic activity produces soil richness. With its multiple plates, the Santa Cruz Mountains offers a lot of soil diversity as well. Ridge, for example, sits atop some of the only limestone in California, while Varner rests in mixed loam over rock, and other areas depend upon decomposed rock, or clay.

Thanks partially to its remoteness — its harder to build direct roads in mountain terrain — the Santa Cruz Mountains have predominately held smaller producers. One of the effects of size, however, includes greater variability in wine quality. In an area not dominated by large name houses, it becomes easier for anyone to enter the industry, buying a few grapes to try out making wine. That sort of situation also often means producers with less connection to overall trends or styles of the wine world. So, while some of the best of California owe their heritage to the mountain AVA, the region as a whole does not currently meet that benchmark.

Cabernet Tasting from the Santa Cruz Mountains

the line-up of 53 Santa Cruz Mountain Cabernets

The library tasting consisted of 53 Cabernets (blend and varietal) from the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. The producers were invited to select bottles from their library collection in order to show their wines across vintages, and with some age. Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards selected four wines from the mid-1980s. With the exception of two newer projects, all other producers selected wines from the mid-2000s. Left Bend, and Lexington are both younger projects, and as a result presented wines since 2010. During lunch Draper also opened a 1985 Ridge Monte Bello.

Because I expect that Alder will likely present thorough-going notes for the wines, I am going to share overall impressions from the tasting. Alder’s insights through wine notes are reliably good.

Post Edit: Alder Yarrow’s write-up on the Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet tasting has just gone live. It’s excellent. Check it out here: http://www.vinography.com/archives/2014/10/bay_area_bordeaux_tasting_sant.html

Overall Impressions of Santa Cruz Mountain Cabernet

Throughout, the wines carried a sense of persistent and vibrant acidity, with a stimulating presence. The Cabernets also consistently held a line of aromatic, oily-tree forest ranging from eucalyptus, to pine, to cedar, often showing pine alongside one of the other two. The fruit notes varied through a range of dark fruits and creamy violet in the younger wines, or red currant and rose in the older wines, however, the wines throughout showed a note of sour or bing cherry.

Faults appeared in around a handful of wines, though never through an entire portfolio. In each case we opened a backup bottle to check whether or not it reduced to bottle variation, or a winemaking issue. In a few portfolios where there were not necessarily faults, cellar quality was problematic. Due to proximity to fog, disease pressure can be an issue within the Santa Cruz Mountains. However, the loose bunches of Cabernet tend to mitigate such issues for that variety.

Considering that the overall fruit quality was good in more than half the wines, it was disappointing to discover a predominance of oak that cloaked or obscured the fruit. In many cases, oak use in the wines was difficult. It is clear that there are high quality sites within the appellation for Cabernet. With the amount of work that goes into farming such fruit, it is a shame to see site quality obliterated by woody character. The issue tended to be a matter of over-oaking wine, but in some cases appeared to be also a question of oak type with wood spice standing disjointed to the fruit.

Stand Out Examples of Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet

Five individual wines in particular stood out for quality in the tasting.

* The Santa Cruz Mountains Vineyard 1985 Bates Ranch Cabernet, 12.5%, showed nice vibrancy with a lot of life, offering floral and berry aromatics alongside a pleasing mid-palate through finish of red and dark berry, eucalyptus, and pine with hints of molasses and tobacco. The wine carried still strong, though not aggressive tannin, and a long lightly drying finish.

* The Santa Cruz Mountains Vineyard 1986 Bates Ranch Cabernet, 12.5%, offered wet tobacco, eucalyptus, and floral aromatics, followed by a creamy mid-palate of violet cream, and integrated berry with eucalyptus and pine. The tannin to acid balance was pleasant and well executed, coupling with pleasing subtlety of flavor throughout.

* Ridge 2005 Monte Bello, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 6% Petite Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 13.4%, while still quite young, offered a nicely integrated wine of strength with elegance. Sour cherry comes together here with both red and black currant alongside Monte Bello’s characteristic eucalyptus, and still apparent oak baking spice. The wine wants a lot more time to develop and deepen, but is structurally beautiful now.

* Mount Eden 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, 83% Cabernet, 14% Merlot, 1.5% Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Petite Verdot, 13.5%, carried creamy aromatics of cedar integrated with dark fruit, carrying forward to a creamy mid-palate of black currant and cassis, cedar, hints of butterscotch, and a pop of hot pepper heat through a long drying finish. I’d love to taste less wood here, but for the most part the spice knits well with the wine.

* Kathryn Kennedy 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.2% proves to be riper in style than the other stand out wines of the tasting, but carries a seamless presentation. Graceful aromatics of creamy spice, and violet carry forward into elegant tannin with flavors of sour cherry and dark fruit accents, creamy ginger, and violet. I believe this wine will continue to increase in elegance as it ages.

I am also interested in keeping an eye on the two newer projects — Lexington, and Left Bend.

Lexington offers good quality right out of the gate, which is no surprise considering its pedigree. Tommy Fogarty, and Nathan Kandler have been developing the site for quality fruit, and make beautiful wines through their other label Thomas Fogarty. They poured both the Lexington Gist Ranch 2011 Estate Cabernet, and their blend, the 2011 Apex (which in 2011 proved to be almost entirely Cabernet). Both wines are nicely done, and Apex carries a lightness, with less woody character to it I find exciting.

The Left Bend wines currently show a lot of new oak, which is challenging. However, I mention them because the 2010 and 2011 wines appeared to have pleasant fruit quality. My hope is that new label==new barrels, and that as the winemakers develop they will shift to letting the fruit more clearly shine through.

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Post Edit: Alder Yarrow’s write-up on the Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet tasting has just gone live. It’s excellent. Check it out here: http://www.vinography.com/archives/2014/10/bay_area_bordeaux_tasting_sant.html

If you are interested in tasting more Santa Cruz Mountain Cabernets, Premier Cruz will be happening in early November, and this year focuses on Cabernet. Tickets are already on sale.

For more information: http://scmwa.com/event/premier-cruz/

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Thank you to Megan Metz, Marty Mathis, and Alder Yarrow.

Jr Makes a Documentary: Burl Patrol, a look at burl poaching in the California Redwoods

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 26, 2014

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Jr Makes a Movie: Go Jr!

This summer Jr, aka. Rachel, had a heck of a summer. It started first with a month on a commercial salmon fishing boat in Bristol Bay, Alaska working with a life long friend of ours. She then joined an OMSI summer camp for two weeks making a documentary in the California Redwoods.

Along with her team of three other high school students, Rachel filmed a documentary on burl poaching in National and State parks. She conducted the primary interview with Ranger Jeff, as well as filming, editing, and planning with her team members for the rest of the film.

Check it out!

Burl Patrol from NW Documentary on Vimeo.

What do you think of the movie? Feel free to let Jr know through comments here.

Cheers!

Winemaking in Talhas: The Pottery and Winemaking of Alentejo, Portugal

Portugal

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 25, 2014

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The Pottery and Winemaking of Alentejo

200 year old Talhas, or wine pottery of Alentejo, at Esporao, Sept, 2014
(the vessels shown here are both well over 7ft tall)

Romans brought the tradition of making wine in clay vessels to what is now known as Portugal. Though winegrowing was established through the Iberian Peninsula prior to the influx of the Roman empire, their influence shifted styles of winemaking in the region.

In the Southcentral portion of Portugal, the area of Alentejo has served as a historical center of pottery in the Iberian Peninsula. Through the region, master potters produced large talhas de barro, or Portuguese clay fermentation vessels for wine. What is unique about the talhas, when compared to the widely discussed tradition of amphora in general, is the range of use the talhas provide. Wine made in talhas traditionally was fermented, stored, and served all within the same vessel.

Talhas were made of clay from Alentejo, then wax lined. The vessel was then filled with clean whole clusters for ambient yeast fermentation. During fermentation, vessels were left uncovered, with occasional punch downs to break up the berries, while minimizing extraction. Once fermentation was complete, the grape cap would rise to the wide part near the top of the vessel, and the wine sink underneath to the length of the vessel body. The talhas was then topped off with olive oil to prevent oxidation or contamination of the wine. (Because of the difference in weight, olive oil remains on top, not mixing with the wine itself.) Once drinking of the wine was desired, it would simply be drained a carafe at a time from the hole near the bottom (the dark spot on the talhas to the right in the photo above). The wine, then, was essentially racked off a cup at a time, rather than all at once, minimizing storage or preservation challenges. In this way, the talhas held the same wine continuously from fermentation through storage to drinking.

Few potters make these traditional vessels today, as winemaking through the area has shifted to more modern methods in wood. Today, winemaking in talhas has become a sort of tavern phenomenon. Bar owners with a talhas in the back are able to get just enough fruit to make their own wine to serve for customers. A few wineries, however, are beginning to experiment with making wine in talhas again, seeking to recapture old methods.

Talhas at Esporao

Luis Patrao, Esporao red winemaker, Sept, 2014

At Esporao, red winemaker Luis Patrão has begun working on fermentation trials winemaking in telhas. He intends to convert a portion of winery space entirely to traditional Alentejo winemaking, removing all stainless tanks from the area in order to instead use only lagares, and talhas de barro. If the trials are successful the results will likely be bottled as a private reserve.

In working towards the project he researched traditional use of talhas through historical letters of the region, and oral histories shared by area elders. Talhas over 200-yrs old were purchased from regional wineries no longer using them.

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To read more about the history of Portuguese winemaking: http://www.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/detalhe_conteudo.php?id=16&lang=en

Thank you to Luis Patrão, Pedro Vieira, and Brendan Drewniany.

Tasting the Wines of OLO at Quinta de Val-Boa, Vinho Verde

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 18, 2014

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Growing the Vinho Verde: The Wines of OLO

In the Basto zone of Vinho Verde, Jorge Quinta of OLO at Quinta de Val-Bôa grows white wines that bring together lifted texture–all lightness and length–with rich flavor. It’s a young project that has already garnered international attention, carrying distribution in the UK, and being regarded as one of the best wines of Portugal for 2014.

view from the front of Quinta dd Val-Bôa in the Basto zone of Vinho Verde

The project brings together long-standing friends Jorge Quinta and Dirk Niepoort. Prior to his venture into winegrowing, Quinta owned one of the top restaurants of Oporto, through which he and Niepoort’s father, Eduard, developed their most popular dish, pepper steak served with young vintage port. Sitting to lunch at Quinta’s table with the two men–Jorge and Dirk–feels like I’ve been invited into a great intimacy. I don’t glimpse all the details of its history, but I can feel the comfort between them.

Jorge Quinta pouring his OLO 2012 bruto, sparkling white Vinho Verde

Outside we begin the meal with Quinta’s 2012 bruto–a fully dry sparkling white Vinho Verde that carries a textural richness and purity refreshing alongside the salty meats and fish we’re eating. We’ve been served charcuterie, and what Quinta calls fried sardines though they look and taste just like smelts, small fish I grew up eating in Alaska.

The joke there has always been that you know you’re family if you’re invited to share smelts. The little fish are eaten whole like a breadstick from head to tail with the guts and bones intact. Cooking them smells up the house so much you have to be comfortable alongside the person you share them with.

Niepoort explains he wants Quinta to hold the 2012 bruto, and not release a sparkling wine until the 2013 is ready. The 2012 is delicious but Niepoort believes it will be insightful to see how the wine develops over time.

As we snack through the foods outside, Quinta describes a sort of experimental traditionalism. He wants to make wines of his region, but avoid knowing in advance exactly how they’ll be made. It’s a balance of making crucial decisions in advance, while avoiding a formula. “One of the most important things,” Quinta tells us, “is the point of the harvest. Without that there is no point, you have to adjust to it.” Each vintage, he explains, puts differing demands on the grower-winemaker. You decide what to do in response to those demands, rather than deciding in advance the wine you’ll produce.

As Quinta describes his goals, he excitedly points out his newest acquisition for the winery — two large casks he will use to make rosé. As he explains, five of the casks arrived in Portugal from Denmark in 1910 full of beer. He has no idea how old the casks were at the time. His father-in-law acquired them next to make red Vinho Verde. In the last year, Quinta received two of the five. They’ve been without wine in them now for six years, so he’s been soaking them to prepare the wood for next year’s rosé. After finishing the bruto, we move inside for a sit down lunch.

Val Bôa 2013 Vinho Verde

We begin with soup made half of wild mushrooms, and half wild asparagus, both harvested from Quinta’s 3.5 hectare vineyard. Quinta’s VAL-BÔA Vinho Verde pairs beautifully. It is a wine Niepoort describes as all about harmony — the kiss of sweetness balances the high acid so well the two appear together as simply light refreshment on the palate. It would be perfect too alongside spicy Thai food in the place of Riesling.

The VAL-BÔA opens a point Niepoort has come to believe strongly in winemaking. “It is more important to get the acidity right than to get the alcohol right.” He explains. That said, the VAL-BÔA comes in at 11%, the OLO wines at 12.5%. Niepoort’s point is on deciding when to harvest. He makes picking decisions now almost ignoring sugar levels in favor of the preferred acidity. The alcohol will take care of itself. It’s an idea he believes supports the ultimate aging of the wine, and, more importantly, it’s pleasure now. “The point of it is the lightness” of the wine, he says.

OLO 2012 Mondim de Basto

We move to the main course. Quinta has chosen to serve us a traditional Portuguese dish, bacalao, of dried cod, and potatoes. That morning though he was also able to take a fresh white fish from a river that runs through the vineyard. They’ve baked it covered in herbs, alongside lightly minted rice. We enjoy both with the core wines of the OLO portfolio — Alvarinho, and Mondim de Basto, a Vinho Regional Minho white blend. The Basto brings together traditional Portuguese varieties–Trajadura, Pedernã, Alvarinho, Avesso e Azal–in a branco (white) blend.

The Mondim de Basto has recently received the country’s top attention. The news is to be released the day after our visit, and Quinta is very pleased. Jaoa Paulo Martins named it one of the top white wines of Portugal for 2014 in his book Vinhos de Portugal, considered the top wine review text for the country.

It’s a beautiful wine that offers incredible lightness amidst intensity of flavor and a creamy midpalate followed by tons of length. When it was first bottled, Niepoort explains, it was one of the best white wines he’d ever tasted from Portugal. Then it refermented in the bottle.

“It refermented in the bottle.” Quinta tells us. “I slept on it for three nights.” He points at his eyes. He’s actually saying he barely slept. “I have to either [dump it] or go forward. I decide I go forward, so I had to reopen 17,000 bottles.” To correct the problem they had to open every bottle to filter the wine, then rebottle everything. “Unbelievable amount of work.” Quinta says. The wine is beautiful, but Niepoort clearly misses the magic of what it had been before. For Quinta it’s still a wine to be proud of. Martins’s regard simply affirms it.

We pour the OLO 2013 Alvarinho. I smell the wine and am immediately dumbfounded. It’s unlike anything I’ve smelled before, not a typical Alvarinho. It’s as if Quinta anticipates my thoughts. “There is no other Alvarinho like this,” he says. “You can like it or not but there isn’t.”

The wine is confounding but pleasing. It’s all lightness and pungency on the palate, simultaneously strange and attractive. The nose almost spiced, almost sweet, then both disappear. The palate almost hints oak, then stretches through the midpalate into a minutes-long and lifting finish. It’s a wine of contradictions–spicy but not, sweet but not, woody but not, intense but light–held through Niepoort’s idea of harmony.

Leaving the restaurant business to open the Quinta de Val-Bôa, Quinta carries what feels like realistic pride in OLO, as well as a new sense of inspiration. His wines are beautiful, and he keeps the achievement in larger perspective. “What I know about wine,” he explains, “is 15%. In that 15% I know a lot. I still have 85% to learn.”

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Quinta de Val-Bôa does not currently have, but is interested in representation in the United States.

Thank you to Dirk Niepoort, Jorge Quinta, and Joao Pires.

Harvest Among the Old Vines of Douro, Bragao Vineyard in Photos

Portugal

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 15, 2014

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Visiting Bragao Vineyard in the Cima Corgo of the Douro

In the heart of the Cima Corgo grow the highest quality vines of the Douro, in the hands of the best producer capable of giving layered mountain complexity with a lift of freshness on table wines, the same fruit somehow lively even in the richness of port wine.

Far up the valley of the Rio Pinhao, a tributary of the Douro, stands the Bragao Quinta. Built in 1826, its stacked schist construction offers a testament to the persistence of life in the Douro, a region whose terrain proves resistant to too much modernization for its near impenetrability.

The quinta stands above mixed variety old vine vineyards ranging from 40 to near 100 years of age. Most fruit is sold to producers of the Douro. Small quantities are kept for wines of the owner. For the owner, fruit is brought into the 1826 winery only on Mondays to be foot tred in the lagares (open top stone fermenters unique to Portugal. The Bragao lagares are shown above.) now being cleaned and prepared for the 2014 harvest.

Like many vineyard owners through the region, Antonio Tavera grew up in Porto migrating to the Douro for harvest. He was born at the quinta during harvest while his father brought in grapes, and has since inherited the property.

Thanks to the mountainous nature of the region, electricity has reached the Douro only in recent decades. Before electricity, Antonio explains, the only light they had came during the day from small openings in the rock walls of the building. At night, oil lamps made from converted oil cans (like the small green one shown above) faintly illuminated the space.

Chalk marks along the wood cask help the winemaker track the 4:1 brandy to must ratio in making the port.

Outside, the vineyard crew walks the length of terraces in 90F degrees to carry back grapes for port wine just harvested. The vines in this section of the vineyard range between 40 and 50 years old, planted in a field blend of mixed varieties, insurance against the variability of vintage.

Taking the grapes back to be picked up by truck includes descending steps made with slabs of schist extended from the rock wall by only a few inches, then returning to climb the same steps for another tub to do it again.

It took me at least 90 seconds to descend steps it took this woman carrying a full tub no more than 30. She walked the terrace towards me all the while smiling.

A Day in the Douro with Quinta dos Murcas in Photos

Portugal

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 13, 2014

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Photos from Visiting the Douro with Quinta Dos Murcas

After two days in Alentejo we drove to the Cima Corgo region of the Douro to spend a day with Assobio, and Quinta Dos Murcas.

Vineyard manager, Margarida Figuerieda brought us to the top of the vineyard in the back of a small pickup truck to see the first vertical vineyard planted in the Douro — a practice taken from the Mosel after Quinta Dos Murcas then-winemaker visited the region. The south facing 30-degree slope receives lots of sun exposure, and therefore ripeness.

The Douro region carries lots of schist, with the Douro Superior (closer to Spain) primarily populated by dark schist. The rock is used to make posts at the ends of vineyard rows, rather than wood.

Assobio red wines are harvested from a cooler planting behind Quinta Dos Murcas where the wind picks up whistling through the canyon. The cooler pocket keeps more freshness in the wines. The label name, Assobio, is the sound of the wind whistling.

West up the Douro sits the Quinta Vale Figueira vineyard, named for the fig trees that grow there.

New buildings cannot be constructed on raw land along the Douro. However, many of these properties include old winery ruins from the last two centuries. Land already containing a structure such as these can be rebuilt for a newer purpose.

The day we visited, September 11, 2014, harvest began on Tinto Roriz (also known as Aragones in the South, and Tempranillo in Spain). It was the first day of harvest at Quinta Dos Murcas.

Winemaker Michael Wren leads the Douro winery during harvest. We were able to taste tank and barrel samples of the 2013 Assobio, and Quinta Dos Murcas Reserva red blends.

Then taste 5 and 10 year tawny ports from cask. The house makes only 10 year and vintage ports but works towards a 5-year tawny style to use for blending with older barrels into a 10 year style.

A Day in Alentejo, Portugal in Photos

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 10, 2014

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Portugal: A Day in Alentejo with Esporao

After a day of travel, we arrived to Lisbon early morning, then drove southeast, checking into a hotel in UNESCO World Heritage site, Evora, Portugal. The city stands within a 15th c. outer standing wall, with the center including portions of an 11th c. fortification. Ancient megolithic monuments, 3rd century B.C. archaeological sites, and hints of Moorish architecture dot the countryside. Mostly it is the sky. The region of Alentejo, in which Evora sits, is known for its clarity of light, its pure wide open skies.

After checking into our rooms, we immediately drove another 45 minutes south to Reguengos de Monsaraz, “the people’s town,” a settlement outside a castled hillside where the nobility used to live. Reguengos de Monsaraz proves the heat of Alentejo, bringing August and September grape harvests (early for much of the Northern hemisphere) of primarily red wine grapes. Esporao hosted our first day of travel through the region of Alentejo.

olive oil master blender Ana Carrilho

Olive oil proves to be one of Portugal’s treasures. While olives grow well throughout the Mediterranean, most countries have few controls on its growth, production, sourcing or labeling. While Italy is recognized as home for Extra Virgin Olive oil, for example, much of the fruit in such bottlings does not come from Italy, but instead elsewhere where farming can be done at higher volume for less. The country does not place very strong legal controls on one of its iconic exports. Portugal instead has taken the slower path keeping its focus on smaller production, higher quality oils with DOP controls.

Master blender Ana Carrilho studied olive agriculture, and blending while also teaching the subject in universities in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Today she creates high quality blends from three DOP regions of Portugal using a range of varieties. For quality olive oils the focus rests in freshness. The best oils are consumed immediately after bottling, with ideal age being within a year to three years after depending on variety. Galega, for example, tends to last long in bottle, while Arbequina keeps less well.

Esporao chief winemaker, David Baverstock, hosted lunch for us enjoying several of the wineries wines including a beautifully crisp 2012 Bruto Metodo Classico sparkling wine made from Antao Vaz, and Arinto, and 4, a red blend offering a combination of fresh red and dark fruits on a backbone of structure with satisfying acidity.

We were talked into changing clothes for a ridiculous while fun grape stomping session in Touriga Nacional fresh from the region.

I’m such a joiner.

One of the coolest elements of the visit included a walk through a ten hectare experimental vineyard where each row grows a different variety. The site offers local producers, and universities alike insight into the growing potential and constraints of the region.

Cuttings for the experimental block were optained from nurseries and vineyards throughout Europe and showcase not only indigenous, but also international varieties. Alicante Bouschet, for example, a French variety known for its exquisite color, was found to be quite expressive in the region, and is now more common in red blends throughout Alentejo.

Among red varieties, Alicante Bouschet proves unusual in that its juice and meat squeeze red while other dark grapes retain white insides.

In the midst of Reguengos de Monsaraz structures from the 12th and 15th centuries still stand. From the top of a 15th c tower originally built for Duchess Catarina de Bragança, who went on to marry King Charles II of England, there remain beautiful views of gardens and countryside,

as well as a historic 15th c. church that once stood in the center of the local village.

TTB UPDATE: What Makes an Effective Comment? TTB Extends Sta Rita Hills Expansion Comment Period

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 8, 2014

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The TTB Extends Comment Period on the Proposed Expansion of the Sta Rita Hills

map of the current Sta Rita Hills AVA, the proposed expansion would be in the Northeast

Late last week the TTB announced it was extending the comment period for Notice No. 145, Proposed Expansion of the Sta. Rita Hills Viticultural Area until December 5, 2014. The extension allows more time for individuals to compose and submit responses to the possible expansion either for or against the proposal.

The TTB granting the extension is unsurprising since the comment period previously coincided exactly with harvest through the region, which would make interested parties ability to submit commentary more difficult.

The proposal for expansion comes as a result of a petition submitted by Patrick Shabram on behalf of John Sebastiano Vineyard, and Pence Ranch in March, 2013. If approved, the expansion would extend the current Sta Rita Hills AVA to the East by an additional 2,296 acres. The Sta Rita Hills Winegrower’s Alliance has come out as unanimously opposed to the proposed expansion.

In response to such proposals, the TTB opens a comment period in order to gather information and perspective from interested parties. Comments are needed in order to legitimate or refute information relevant to possible expansions. With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to take a look at (1) how the TTB process works in such matters, and (2) what counts as a useful or effective comment within the TTB process.

TTB Basics: Understanding the Purpose of the AVA

The TTB serves as a regulatory board for the United States Government, within the United States Treasury. As such, the TTB operates to regulate legal strictures around alcohol and tobacco. One of the matters that the TTB supervises is the establishment, or expansion of American Viticulture Areas (AVAs).

The purpose of the AVA, for the TTB, rests in informing consumers the origin of the wine. Towards this end, the U.S. AVA system takes into account factors that would impact viticulture, but not the wines themselves. This is unique compared to many European models for wine appellations. Many appellation systems outside the United States, Europe being a prime example, also regulate stylistic choices, and/or varieties grown.

U.S. AVAs, however, are defined based on the unique geographical conditions of a region that affect viticulture, and then classify that growing region in relation to an appropriate geographical name. In other words, an AVA is meant to articulate growing conditions unique to a specific place, and to name it in a way consistent to the place. That is, if there are multiple areas with the same name, the TTB will ask the people that submitted the proposal to generate a new title that can be distinctly identified from the other areas that have similar monikers, while still unique to the area being named.

As a goofy example, the Simpsons would have a hard time creating a grape growing region named “Springfield” since there are so many other areas with the same name. They’d have to create a name for the region that could not be mistaken for any of the other Springfields. For example, within TTB practices it would be unsurprising for them to use a name such as “Springfield of the Simpsons.” (What on earth would wines from there be like?)

Another current example relevant to the overarching region of Santa Barbara County can be found in the Happy Canyon proposal, a sub-AVA approved within the Santa Ynez Valley AVA. Because there are regions elsewhere also known as Happy Canyon, the TTB asked for the proposed title to be modified in a way that would clearly show it to be unique to Santa Barbara County. The approved sub-AVA name, then, became Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara.

TTB Process: The Purpose of the Comment Period

Importantly, the TTB serves as a regulatory board, not an investigative one. What that means, is that when the TTB receives a proposal for the establishment or the expansion of an AVA it does not investigate the accuracy of the data submitted. That is, it does not go out and do additional data gathering, nor does it do additional research of the region.

The TTB assumes the information submitted in a proposal is in essence accurate. What it will consider is whether or not the data submitted offers sufficient evidence to approve the proposed AVA, or expansion.

Because the TTB is not an investigatory board, when considering new proposals it opens a comment period to allow interested parties to submit additional data, and insight that might give valuable perspective on the proposal itself, and whether or not the evidence submitted is sufficient to approve the proposal.

In other words, the comment period is an important aspect of legitimating, or negating the worth of a proposed AVA, or its expansion.

What Counts as a Useful or Effective Comment?

The comment period is designed simply to allow supporting, or negating information and perspective in relation to a particular proposal. Comments submitted that speak to anything outside the specific proposal are effectively irrelevant to the process, and will not be considered in relation to the proposal. In other words, critiques of the TTB itself, or the AVA system, or other AVAs, etc, are irrelevant to the comment period of a specific proposal, and need to be submitted elsewhere.

Useful or effective comments, then, directly address the evidence within a particular proposal, and the question of whether or not such evidence sufficiently fulfills the requirements for establishing or expanding an AVA.

What are those TTB requirements?

The TTB American Viticulture Area (AVA) Manual states exactly what is required to submit a complete proposal for AVA expansion. The requirements for expansion closely resemble the requirements for a new AVA.

Here is the list of requirements as stated within the TTB AVA Manual itself (pg 5-6 w further explanation in sections VIII and XI).

For an expansion of the boundary, substantive evidence for how the name of the existing AVA also applies to the expansion area;
For a petition to modify a boundary to expand an existing AVA, substantive evidence that demonstrates how the area affected by the proposed change has distinguishing features affecting viticulture that are the same as those of the existing AVA;
For a petition to modify a boundary to reduce the size of an existing AVA, substantive evidence that demonstrates how the area affected by the proposed change does not have distinguishing features affecting viticulture that are the same as those of the existing AVA;
A detailed explanation of how the boundary of the existing AVA was incorrectly or incompletely defined, or is no longer accurate due to new evidence or changed circumstances, with reference to the name evidence and distinguishing features for both the existing AVA as well as the area affected by the proposed boundary change;
Appropriate USGS maps with the proposed change boundary clearly shown on them; and
A detailed narrative description of the entire proposed new boundary line using USGS map markings.

For a proposal to be considered complete by the TTB, each of these elements must be addressed within the proposal. That is, they are required. The current comment period for the proposed expansion of the Sta Rita Hills AVA is meant to allow interested parties the chance to address the question of whether or not the way those elements have been addressed is sufficient to approving the expansion. In other words, the application itself is complete. The question at hand is whether or not it sufficiently argues for its request to expand the AVA.

How to Write a Useful or Effective Comment

What counts as relevant information within a comment? Effective comments contain evidence that supports or negates (one or the other) any of the requirements. Evidence can include, but is not limited to: weather data, soil information, vegetation changes, geographical features. Evidence can be presented through expert opinion and analysis of data information, and also through anecdotal testimony. In either case though, the comment should directly address the elements relevant to the petition itself.

Both experts and non-experts are invited to comment to the TTB during a proposal comment period. In either case, what is important is that one testifies to things within his or her experience in relation to the requirements of the petition.

For those that are interested in submitting a comment to the TTB in relation to either legitimating, or negating the proposed expansion of the Sta Rita Hills, then, there are three key questions that should be addressed, each of which addresses at least one of the requirements listed above.

As shown in the TTB AVA Manual, any proposal must show that:

(1) The area proposed for expansion can be appropriately understood in name as part of the region that the original AVA name denotes.

In this case, it must be appropriate to call the additional 2,296 acres of the proposed expansion part of the area “the Sta Rita Hills.” To put that another way, it should be apparent that “Sta Rita Hills” is still the right name for the proposed expansion area.

(2) The area within the expansion is the same as the area within the current Sta Rita Hills.

That is, the distinguishing features affecting viticulture within the already established Sta Rita Hills AVA must be the same as those within the proposed expansion area.

In other words, any commentator that wishes to support the proposed expansion can submit information, or testimonial providing evidence for the similarity of the 2,296 acres being like the region already established as the current AVA.

Any commentator that wishes to negate the proposed expansion can submit information, or testimonial providing evidence that shows the differences of the 2,296 acres from the region within the established AVA. Again, similarities or differences can rest in weather, climate, temperature, soil, and vegetation, as well as overall geographical features.

(3) The area within the expansion area is uniquely distinct from its immediate surrounding areas.

This requirement demands a little more explanation.

The area proposed for expansion should be distinct not just only from distant regions, but from those areas immediately outside the proposed expansion boundaries. In other words, where the boundary is drawn should not be arbitrary, or even approximate but instead definitive of the unique geography of the growing area.

Comments submitted should either support or negate the differences of the area immediately within the proposed expansion area, to those immediately outside the proposed expansion area.

The Sta Rita Hills-AVA, however, is a sub-AVA. That makes this requirement a little more subtle. That is, the Sta Rita Hills are considered distinctive enough to merit being their own sub-AVA, while still generally congruent with the overall conditions of the Santa Ynez Valley as a whole.

Similarly, the other two sub-AVAs currently within Santa Ynez Valley — Ballard Canyon, and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara — are both considered to be distinctive enough to merit their own sub-AVA statuses, while still generally congruent with the conditions of Santa Ynez Valley as a whole.

In the case of the Sta Rita Hills expansion, then, the proposal must show that it is distinct not just from the other sub-AVAs within the Santa Ynez Valley, such as Ballard Canyon, or Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara.

Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara have already been proven to be appropriately distinctive enough from their immediate surrounding areas to merit their own sub-AVA statuses. Similarly, the Sta Rita Hills has already proven to be distinctive enough from the other areas of the Santa Ynez Valley, and thus carries sub-AVA status.

The result of this is that because Ballard Canyon, for example, is an already established sub-AVA, it has already been shown via that sub-AVA proposal and approval that Ballard Canyon is distinct not only from Sta Rita Hills, but also the areas immediately East of the Sta Rita Hills, such as Buellton Flats. That is, Ballard Canyon is already shown to be distinct from not only Sta Rita Hills, but also the proposed expansion area.

It would not be uniquely insightful, then, for the current expansion proposal to simply show that the proposed expansion area is distinct from Ballard Canyon. Instead, it must show that it is distinct from the rest of the area known as Buellton Flats, and from weather in places like the town of Buellton. Otherwise, the currently proposed expansion boundaries would seem to be arbitrary.

What the expansion proposal must show, then, is that the proposed expansion boundaries are not arbitrary, nor even approximate of a distinctive zone that is the Sta Rita Hills. Instead, the expansion proposal must show that it is uniquely different from the portions of the Santa Ynez Valley immediately outside the proposed new boundaries.

The comment period is an opportunity for interested parties to provide evidence approving or negating the strength of the submitted proposal for expansion around each of these three questions — appropriate name, similarity to the established Sta Rita Hills, and distinctiveness from immediate surrounding areas.

Studying the Issue and Submitting Commentary

If you are interested in submitting a comment in response to the Sta Rita Hills expansion proposal, you now have until December 5, 2014.

If you submitted a comment during the previous comment period opened when the proposal was first submitted in March, 2013, you must submit a new comment within the current comment period for it to count within the current comment period.

In commenting, provide evidence from your experience on any or all of the three pertinent questions of name, similarity, and difference. You can also consider reading the petition submitted requesting the expansion, in order to provide clarification of its strengths or weaknesses in relation to these question.

***

To read more on the TTB requirements, take a look at the TTB AVA Manual: http://www.ttb.gov/wine/p51204_ava_manual.pdf

For the original proposal of expansion submitted March 2013 by Patrick Shabram: http://www.ttb.gov/foia/petition-establish-expand-sta-rita-hills-american-viticultural.pdf

For the original 1998 Santa Rita Hills proposal (the name was changed to Sta Rita Hills in 2006 due to name similarity with a winery in Chile): http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=TTB-2014-0007-0006

To read the evidence as submitted in the proposed expansion: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-08-07/pdf/2014-18705.pdf

For the notice of expansion of the comment period until Dec 5, 2014: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-09-03/pdf/2014-20929.pdf

For more on the argument both for and against expansion of the AVA as understood by representatives of each side: http://wakawakawinereviews.com/2014/08/06/an-in-depth-look-at-the-proposed-sta-rita-hills-ava-expansion/

***

To see current comments on the proposed expansion: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=TTB-2014-0007

For relevant notices of proposed rulemaking, including links on the original proposal for expansion, to current comments, and how to comment: http://www.ttb.gov/wine/wine-rulemaking.shtml

To submit your own comment: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=TTB-2014-0007-0001

Pinot Meunier, Poe Wines, and Van Der Kamp Vineyard

California

Hawk Wakawaka

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Sep 2, 2014

4

Poe Wines Pinot Meunier from Van Der Kamp Vineyard

Yesterday, Samantha Sheehan, and Shawn Johnson of Poe Wines, and I traveled to the Van Der Kamp Vineyard near the top of Sonoma Mountain in order to pick up Pinot Meunier. Along with just picked Pinot Noir, the fruit has been pressed for rosé.

Following is a look at the beautiful, while obscure variety.

Sam Sheehan with Pinot Meunier for Poe Wines, September 2014

Years ago a 1er cru Burgundy made me realize wine was special, but a still red Pinot Meunier made me fall irretrievably in love wine. I’ve spent the years since hunting the variety around the world.

Pinot Meunier proves rare in terms of unique bottlings. Its primary home rests in Champagne, where it serves as one of the three legal varieties of the wine, capturing the most acreage of any variety in the region thanks to its easier reliability in cool zones. (Historic plantings of four other varieties are also allowed but uncommon.)

loading the Pinot Meunier into bins to drive down Sonoma Mountain, Sept 2014

Historically in France, Pinot Meunier tended to be planted in cooler areas as a sort of insurance grape, proving able to ripen where Chardonnay and Pinot Noir did not find enough warmth. Thanks to Pinot Meunier budding later, it also buds more reliably than its cousins. As a result, it was at one time throughout Northern France. Today, outside Champagne it remains in small pockets of the Loire, as well as Lorraine along the border of Germany. In France, outside of Champagne, examples of Pinot Meunier are made as either a still red wine, or rosé.

Pinot Meunier can also be found as a still red wine in Germany where it is more often bottled under the names Müllerrebe, or Schwarzriesling.

Shawn Johnson getting fruit ready for transport, September 2014

In the New World, Pinot Meunier appears primarily in Australia, Oregon, and California. Historic plantings of Pinot Meunier from the 1860s still produce fruit in Victoria, Australia, being bottled by their owner, Best’s Great Western as an Old Vine wine. Best’s treats the variety as one of its foundational grapes, also bottling a separate Young Vine Pinot Meunier from cuttings planted in the 1970s.

In Oregon, the variety was first established in 1965 when the original vines entered Willamette Valley via David Lett of Eyrie. The still red wines made by only a few producers in Willamette have remained largely under the radar. New plantings have just begun in the Valley, as devotees of the grape have brought a little more attention to the grape type.

Sam Sheehan and Dixie Van Der Kamp, September 2014

California treats Pinot Meunier primarily as a component of sparkling wine, growing it in cooler zones of Mendocino and Carneros. A few very small bottlings of still red wine examples from these sites are also produced.

As one exception, the Van Der Kamp family established the variety on their 1200-ft elevation, 60 acre vineyard-farm in the early 1980s, producing one of the early examples in the state of a still red wine expression. Today they have 3 acres of the variety, planted alongside 22 acres of Pinot Noir.

Martin Van Der Kamp, September 2014

Established wine knowledge has it that Pinot Meunier does not age well. However, examples of still red wines from both Oregon and Victorian producers that still carrying vibrancy 20, 30, and even 40 years later would disagree. In sparkling wines, Krug most famously uses ample portions of the variety in its champagne, which is also known to age beautifully.

Pinot Meunier brings higher natural acidity, and more transparent color than Pinot Noir, while also carrying a greater sense of mid-palate fleshiness with flavoral delicacy. In sparkling cuvées, the variety contributes aromatics, apparent fruit, and a sense of body for the style’s acidity. In red wines, both a sense of natural spice, and a light metallic backbone appear.

Van Der Kamp Vineyard, September 2014, morning
(the crazy dark line that shows in the sky between the tree line and the mountains is the morning inversion layer)

As a result of its layered subtlety, the variety shows most beautifully picked with a sense of freshness, with a lighter hand in vinification, and an absence of new oak. Though some producers do make still red wine examples with more work in the cellar and new oak presence, such an approach obscures the pleasantly delicate elements of the variety turning it into a heavier wine.

Thanks to the unique conditions of the Van Der Kamp vineyard, their Pinot Meunier combines the variety’s naturally lifted acidity, with thicker skins and still smooth tannin. The skins offer the possibility of brawn that some producers prefer, while the smooth tannin and juiciness carry the freshness resplendent in the grape.

Shawn and Ulysses Van Der Kamp lifting prayer flags to mark the start of harvest, Sept 1, 2014

Inspired by the uniqueness of the Van Der Kamp Vineyard, Samantha Sheehan, and Shawn Johnson work with the Van Der Kamp Vineyard Pinot Meunier for Poe Wines. Last year, they produced a sparkling expression of the variety (still aging in bottle).

They also made a vin gris style rosé in 2013 of both Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. The fresh fruit zing-iness of the rosé proved to be one of the most popular wines of the Poe portfolio. For 2014, Poe Wines again takes the Van Der Kamp Pinot Meunier alongside old vine Pinot Noir to make rosé, pressing the grapes yesterday. The fruit tasted delicious.

How to Help #DrinkNapa #NapaStrong

Hawk Wakawaka

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Aug 27, 2014

5

A Look at Napa Valley

Rachel and I walked downtown Napa yesterday taking pictures. A room from the second floor of the building that held Carpe Diem, a restaurant that hosted a bitching locals’ night making wine bottles half-off on Tuesdays, now sits on the sidewalk below. The roof dangles over it. Around the corner the County building is closed, unable to issue permits to people needing to do home repairs after the earthquake, because the County building itself suffered too much damage.

Mixed between such scenes are long stretches of businesses already open. Owners of restaurants and wine bars in downtown Napa after the earthquake discovered red wine streams rushing their hallways, and cellars feet deep in glass. In merely three days they’ve already cleaned. Losing days for a small business isn’t an option.

Along 1st, Oenotri opened two days ago with its seasonal menu, and a full bar. Their food is excellent. They’re known for their cocktails. One block over, the brand new Cadet Beer & Wine Bar re-launched last night. The hand-crank prosciutto slicer is turning. Most of the wine list (awesome wines from all over the state) are still represented. Two blocks down, Backroom Wines shop already has its bottles shelved and ready for sale. Wines by the glass are also resuming.

As much damage as has happened in Napa Valley, and it is significant, the biggest cost and long-term damage could come from loss of tourism. Harvest in the Valley proves the most important time of year not only for the wine it produces, but also the tourism revenue it generates. Numerous businesses are reporting reservation cancellations for weeks from now. Images seen in the news and online have convinced some the Valley as a whole is a demolition zone.

But, structural damage to the Valley has occurred in pockets centered primarily in South and Western Napa. With only few exceptions, wineries are still operating and open for business. Even wineries that have gotten ample coverage from damage to infrastructure, like Trefethen, and Hess Collection are ready for tasting room appointments. They’ve simply changed the building they’ll be pouring and hosting in.

Napa Valley does need help. Speaking with businesses hit hardest by the earthquake several things are obvious. It is small businesses, and everyone’s employees that have suffered the most devastating losses. Many larger wineries are providing time off, and assistance to employees who lost homes. Small businesses, as mentioned, can’t afford to close. They need the transformative strength of consumer buying power.

Here’s how to help.

1. Buy, and drink Napa Valley If you can afford it, don’t just pop open bottles of Napa wine you already have in cellar. Order bottles of Napa wine from your local wine lists, wine shops, and through online stores. Winery business models depend on bottles being sold through multiple channels. That means, every purchase you make of a Napa wine, even when not directly from the winery itself, will help keep that winery operating.

2. Eat, and drink Napa Valley If you are anywhere within proximity of Napa Valley, find a day you can drive up and enjoy a meal at any of the restaurants in the area. Everyone in the Valley suffers from loss of tourism revenue. Your visit to the Valley, anywhere in the Valley, makes a difference. As mentioned, downtown businesses in particular need your help. Restaurants along 1st, and also along Main are open. Oxbow Market is also open.

3. Stay Napa Valley If you had a trip planned for Napa, keep those reservations. Everything you need as a tourist is still here. The wine industry is still cranking through harvest. The harvest experience is yours to be had. The truth? Everyone in hospitality is going to be happy to see you. You can expect service friendliness to be up a notch. Driving through the Valley there are few visible signs of earthquake damage. The Valley is beautiful.

4. Community Contributions As mentioned, it’s employees, and individuals in the Valley that have been hit hardest. Many people have lost homes. Some are in homes without water. The Red Cross has provided temporary housing. The Food Bank is feeding people. Aldea Children & Family Services is providing counseling, and crisis relief for people affected by the earthquake. All of these groups can use your donations. Following are links for how to donate.

Aldea Children & Family Services http://www.aldeainc.org/get-involved/donors

Napa Valley Food Bank http://www.canv.org/donate.html

Red Cross Napa Valley Chapter https://www.redcross.org/quickdonate/index.jsp

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