The controversy over high alcohol levels in wine continues unabated.
The subject seems to arouse strong feelings because it obliquely questions
one's taste, and no one likes to be accused of having poor taste!
Unquestionably, California produces too many wines that are impressively
massive, but as undrinkable as cough syrup. While the underlying issue
is that people have different ideas of what is good-I like oranges,
you like apples-insecurity and pride get in the way, and the argument
degrades into, "I'm right, and you're wrong." For me, every wine style
has its place; I drink light, crisp, minerally rieslings with lower
alcohol levels in the summertime and hearty reds like Châteauneuf
du Pape and Amarone in the winter. One of the great joys of wine is
that it is so varied-you can always find the right match for the meal
and your mood.
However, after 30 years of
winemaking, I have clear opinions of how wine needs to be structured
in order to taste delicious and age gracefully. So much potential
greatness is lost by waiting for more heft rather than picking grapes
at just the right moment. In contrast to the general drift to pick
riper and riper grapes, in the last five or six years we have redoubled
our efforts to harvest ours in that two-to-three day period when one
can capture every ounce of nuance and individuality that a special
vineyard can produce. And I'm thrilled that the results of our efforts
are finally coming in.
Yet, the quest for better-balanced
wines is not only about alcohol and ripeness. New wood barrels are
often used in the production of the finest wines, and many people
confuse quality with the characteristic toastiness of a fine French
oak barrel. I see oak as a potential destroyer of individuality, masking
terroir, and since 2000 have scaled back its use dramatically. Our
wines are still raised in wood; however, we now use mostly older,
more neutral barrels to allow the personality of the vineyard to dominate.
We have also fundamentally
changed the way we extract the flavors from red grapes. Grape skins
contain a lot of character, and this is extracted by the juice during
fermentation. The yeast convert the natural sugars to alcohol-which
is a powerful solvent of harsh constituents in grapes-so we have modified
our winemaking to capture more of the soft fruit and spice flavors
earlier in the process, and avoid extraction later when the alcohol
has reached higher levels. This has allowed us to make wines that
are still fabulously intense in flavor but less heavy and tannic,
with the added bonus that the wines that are both age-worthy and pretty
tasty right now. This newsletter describes some of our latest successes
with these refinements to our craft.
Adam Tolmach
2008 RIESLING KICK ON RANCH
Santa Barbara County
I had never thought much about riesling until I moved to Ojai full
time in 1993. The summers here are hot, and I found myself drinking
more and more white wine during those hot months. I don't care much
for semisweet wines, but the dry style rieslings from Germany and
Austria are quite thirst quenching-and surprisingly food friendly
and versatile. That love of the classic dry rieslings led to my curiosity
about a small vineyard way out west of the town of Los Alamos. By
coincidence, it's just a few miles from where I got my start in the
wine business. Old-timer grape king Dale Hampton once told me that
this area was particularly well suited for riesling, but since grape
quality and the economics of the wine business don't always jive together,
almost all the Riesling in the valley was torn out and replaced with
chardonnay. I had seen Kick On vineyard in the early days when it
was just being planted but had forgotten it had riesling, so when
I heard that some was available, I jumped at the chance. 2007 was
our first offering, and it was a take-no-prisoners-styled wine that
had searing acidity-and tasted terrific with goat cheese and crackers.
This 2008 is also dry-and strikingly unlike other California rieslings
if a bit more consensual. It has a beguiling lemon peel aroma and
fresh, crisp minerally flavors, yet it is richer flavored and rounder
than the previous effort.
2008 CHARDONNAY
BIEN NACIDO
Santa Maria Valley
Some people get the wrong idea
when I talk about making wines with better balance. It doesn't mean
the wines are going to be thin and insipid, and this chardonnay illustrates
how pleasurable wines of balance can be. Our 2008 Bien Nacido is wildly
aromatic, with pear and coconut notes, and despite having seriously
high acidity, it comes across on the palate as rich and generous,
a character I attribute to the vineyard's age, a mature 37 years.
Older vineyards are thought to give wines more length and intensity,
and this is clearly the case here. We often have felt that this chardonnay
can be a bit too much and have worked over the years to tip the balance
away from excess and to avoid having the flavors too cloying. Since
2000, we have fermented and aged the wine in exclusively older French
oak barrels to avoid the distraction and heaviness of new wood flavors,
and we pick the grapes at reasonable sugars to keep the wine crisp
and the alcohol in check. I think this one really works!
2007 PINOT NOIR FE CIEGA
Santa Rita Hills
Wow! This wine has a fabulous
aroma that is very showy right now. It reminds me of a walk in our
hills just after a rain, with scents of damp earth, sage, and thyme.
Unlike all of the earlier vintages that we produced from Fe Ciega,
this one is easy going, with gentle, savory cranberry and blueberry
flavors. When a bottle of this wine is left open for a few days, it
remains fresh but tightens up a bit, and the wine shows its tannin
more clearly, which tells me that, despite its precociousness, it
has a long life ahead. As always, our best pinot noir.
2007 GRENACHE THOMPSON
Santa Barbara County
Grenache always has more tannin
than pinot noir, but this is one of our most supple efforts since
our first in 1998. Two clones of grenache were used here, with a large
dollop of mourvedre and syrah added for good measure-all from David
Thompson's fabulous vineyard just outside Los Alamos. If you enjoy
the critically acclaimed California and Australian efforts that are
syrupy sweet and 16% alcohol, I guarantee that you will not even vaguely
understand this grenache. However, those seeking a flavorful, aromatic,
fascinating, food friendly wine will be amply rewarded. A personal
favorite.
2006 SYRAH THOMPSON
Santa Barbara County
My criticism of Thompson syrah is that it tends to be a bit monolithic.
To remedy this, since 2003, we have been adding increasing amounts
of grenache and mourvedre, and we love the results. This 2007 has
a beautiful aroma, a lively play of bright stone fruits and herbs,
and reminds me of a modern style Châteaunuef du Pape-not a bad thing
at all! Generally, these Thompson syrahs have been impossible to drink
when young, but this one is different. It doesn't give up one ounce
of intensity, but it's just a lot less awkward-and really downright
charming. I see a drinking window from now through 2025.
2006 SYRAH MELVILLE
Santa Rita Hills
A very original aroma of black
pepper, herbs, and roots, this Melville syrah expresses what is so
special about cool climate syrahs. I like them because, although they
are fruity, they go beyond simple fruitiness-there is another dimension
of enticing aromatic spiciness. This syrah has great density of flavor,
but is not overly heavy. It possesses earth and animal flavors, and
has mouth-coating and delicious tannins.
2009 ROSÉ
California
Maybe it doesn't make sense
to like rosé so much, but a good one is really good! In the old days
we used to make it dark, soft, and full to the point that it could
have been confused with a pinot noir. The wine was a meal in itself.
But I have turned away from that style; I now prefer rosés light and
zippy-so much easier to slurp with lunch on an unbearably hot day.
Inspiration has come from rosés as diverse as the ultra expensive
Château Simone to the completely unpredictable Francois Cotat, which
when it's great, there's none better! This year we made ours from
Roll Ranch syrah picked at a zippy 22 Brix sugar with a spot of added
viognier and sauvignon blanc.
2008
CHARDONNAY
Santa Barbara County
So often California wines
that try to be light and lively turn out to be less than inspiring.
Here, by contrast, is a wine that comes across as light and easy,
but is actually deceptively complex. This vineyard blend of chardonnay
is brimming with aromas of pear, yet it has an intriguing nervy undertone.
Bracing flavors of greenery and earth give an incredible fresh juicy
quality to the wine, leaving you with a pleasant mineral aftertaste.
2008 PINOT NOIR
Santa Barbara County
This wine is the product of
our quest to make exuberant California pinot that has a more European
sensibility, and we are particularly delighted with the results. By
picking grapes that are not over-ripe, we have achieved a wine that
has better acidity, more aromatic thrust, and a deliciously fresh,
fine-grained finish. Sourced from some of the best vineyards in Santa
Barbara County, the blend is 52% Solomon Hills, 32% Bien Nacido and
16% Presidio.
2005 SYRAH PRESIDIO Magnum
Santa Barbara County
This is our first wine from
Doug Braun's lovingly farmed Presidio Vineyard. Doug has been making
wine for years, and recently found this property west of the Santa
Rita Hills appellation and planted it with organic and biodynamic
growing in mind from the start. His first crop was in 2004. I find
his vineyard compelling for a few reasons. First and formost is the
cool climate. The lack of heat preserves the distinct character of
the grapes--their struggle to ripen at this windy site is essential
for their unique personality. The vineyard is situated in a great
spot on a gentle southerly slope, and the vines are planted close
together in very poor sandy soil. Doug's commitment to organic and
biodynamic farming has been great for grape quality because succussfully
farming without the usual chemicals requires a special attentiveness
to the needs of the vine, which has a direct bearing on what sort
of quality the vines will produce. Although it's difficult to quantify
all the differences between conventionally grown and biodynamically
farmed fruit, perceptive growers I talk with think there are clear
advantages to the natural approach. The wine we made was immediately
a standout in the cellar. It bears the mark of being grown in a particularly
cool spot by its spectacular aroma of bright berry fruits and peppery
herbal earthiness. There is a density and sexy, musky vineyard personality
that is hidden by its freshness, but it will become apparent with
age. Immediately after bottling in March of 2007 the wine closed down
and hid most of its promise. However, now, a year and a half later
it is beginning to show its stuff. With a good decanting it is perfect
with savory dishes, though it still has years to go before it peaks.
OJAI WHITE & OJAI
RED
Non Vintage, California
Don't let yourself be distracted
by the affordable price. These two wines are terrific, always full
of charater and easy to enjoy. They are made with the barrels that
did not make the selection for the single vineyard bottlings and they
received the same care and dedication as any of our more recognized
wines. The result is a winery blend that seems to follow it's own
mind and achieve quiet elegance.