The Castell del Mirall vineyards are located in the Penedès Denominació d’Origen (DO) of Catalunya, not far from the capital of the magnificent, most European of cities, Barcelona. I am interested in this winery for a few reasons: they use Braille labels, something I was to learn from David Assens, Export Manager from Castell, when he wrote a comment on my post about the subject. And earlier this Spring I was to learn of a water crisis in Barcelona. The city has begun to import water, 5 million gallons from nearby Tarragona has just arrived, later this week more will be shipped from Marseille. A fuller account may be found from Sky News. Hence a question arises as to the impact of the drought on the wine industry in nearby Penedès DO. Lluís Ferré, 2nd generation winegrower at Castell del Mirall, kindly agreed to discuss these matters, and more. David Assens translated from English to Catalan and back again. My great thanks to him for his assistance.
Admin I was originally drawn to Castell Del Mirall because yours is one of the few wineries in the world who add Braille to your wine labels. What was your motivation?
Lluís Ferré Our motivation was to be able to propose our wines to broader audience and not to forget people with this disability.
Are your Braille labels in Catalan? Do you relabel for the export market?
LF We do relabel in English. The Braille code only indicates the name of the wine and the vintage.
What has been the Spanish wine industry’s reaction to your Braille initiative?
LF People thought it was a pretty good idea; some winemakers said they will follow.
Barcelona is currently in the grip of a very serious drought. What has been the impact of the drought throughout Catalunya, especially among the local wineries?
LF We may lose 20% in terms of yields, TBD.
If the drought continues for another few years how will Castell Del Mirall respond? And the other wineries in Catalunya?
LF I think people will increase ploughing and use more cover crops in the vineyards and control even more the canopy. Of course they could choose more drought resistant varietals (Spanish), and also plant at higher elevation.
Do you believe the drought is a consequence of Global Warming? If so what are the long term consequences for Catalunya wineries and vineyards? How is the wine industry in Catalunya preparing?
LF Yes it is. We may have a drastic increase of sugar and higher pH in the future, which could lead to less ageing potential for the wines. Once again, more and more vineyards are now planted at 1500-2000 ft.
Here in Cailfornia Napa winegrowers have awakened to climate change. Do you have any advice for them?
LF Try to not force the nature: I mean they should plant varietals and rootstocks that really fit their terroir and climate.
Tell us, if you will, about the terroir of your vineyards. Where are they located? At what elevations?
LF Our vineyards are located in the Penedès region very close to Barcelona.
In Castellet i la Gornal (Baix Penedes) at 400ft, is located the “ Corral d’en Refeques” vineyard. It is the largest in size, with a total of 25.66 Hectares (55 acres), dedicated to the following grape varieties:
Cabernet Sauvignon: 19.17 Ha
Chardonnay: 4.57 Ha
Tempranillo: 2.64 Ha
Xarel.lo: 4.58 Ha
Syrah: 1.98 Ha
Merlot: 2.72 Ha
The “La Granada” vineyard, close to our village where the winery is spreads on 2.61 Ha property, at 500 ft, that includes:
Chenin Blanc: 2.08 ha
Garnatxa Negra: 0.53 ha
In the village of Guardiola de font-Rubi at 1200ft ( Alt Penedès) is located the “Cal Escudé” vineyard on 17.08 Ha (37 acres), planted to the following grape varieties:
Macabeo: 3,85 Ha
Merlot. 3.36 Ha
Syrah :3.68 Ha
Sauvignon Blanc: 1,62 Ha
Muscat d’Alexandria: 1,90 Ha
Parellada: 2,67 Ha
Our soils are composed of clays, limestone and granite. The average yield for dry wines is 3 tons/acre and 6 for Sparkling.
Castell Del Mirall produces quite a few wines! Could you tell us something of the grape varieties you grow?
LF As you can see, we grow Spanish, Catalonian and French varieties. We use the three Spanish and Catalonian varietals which are Xarel·lo, Macabeu and Parellada for our Cava Sparkling wines which are bottle fermented, (like in Champagne).
Beside this you see we mainly use Cabernet, Tempranillo, Merlot for our barrel aged wines and young wines.The Syrah usually goes into our entry level red and rosé. The Chenin Blanc goes into a white blend, and the Chardonnay is single varietal: and barrel fermented.
What is your case production? And how much is consumed in Spain? And in the balance of Europe? Great Britain?
LF We make 20.000 cases per year, 16.000 are sold in Catalonia (Northern Spain). The 4000 cases remaining are sold in the UK (200 cases), Japan, Germany, Holland, Sweden and the state of Florida in the US.
Who buys your wines? What are your target markets?
LF Our customers are generally in search of premium wines. As a result our wines are sold mainly in wine shop and restaurants and not in supermarkets.
We would love to conquer the US on a larger extend.
What ‘green’, environmentally sensitive practices does Castell Del Mirall have in place, or will begin in the future?
LF Basically, we never used herbicides in the vineyards and we spray very little. We are thinking of recuperating rain water and treat it for use in the cellar in the future.
Why can’t I find your wines in the United States?
LF Our importer in Florida is very small. Also, the sub prime crisis and the exchange rate €/$ slows down our expansion in the US for the moment.
What did you think of the film Mondovino?
LF In some ways, it is a caricature. But it is also true that influential wine critics (like Bob) can standardize the taste of fine wine.
What websites would you recommend for the American interested in Spanish wines?
LF We like this one: www.winesfromspain.com/
Thank you for your time, Lluís.
Admin
Jason Lett has been the vineyard manager and winemaker at The Eyrie Vineyards in the Willamette Valley since 2005 when his celebrated father David ‘Papa Pinot’ Lett decided to pass the torch. Jason had already achieved quite a reputation of his own for quality with Black Cap Winery, so one might think assuming responsibility for the family’s winery would be quite a task. Truth is Jason has played a fundamental part in Eyrie vintages since childhood, as you will read.
I am not one easily given to admiration but I must say Jason is quite the gentleman, generous and forthright, a dedicated family man.
Admin What are your earliest memories of winemaking with your father at The Eyrie Vineyards?
Jason Lett Starting when I was 3 or 4 I sometimes got to spend the night at the winery with Dad during harvest. At that time Dad was using a hand operated basket press that had to be taken apart and the press cake broken up in order to be pressed again. This was after a long day of picking, and pressing went into the wee hours. I would goof around, “working,” generally getting underfoot. Dad always let me feel like I was actually helping.
I would finally go to sleep on the old leather couch in the crush office, wrapped up in his sleeping bag. Dad would finish up late and drive us home in the old flatbed truck we used to haul the harvest. The sound of that straight six motor made a nice coda to the day.
As a youngster what tasks were you given in the vineyard and winery?
JL In the winery my favorite job was punching caps - this is the pigeage where you submerge the skins back into the fermenting roil. It’s still my favorite job - it is the most revealing contact with the grape, even more than drinking the wine.
In the vineyard, I did a lot of “suckering” - preserving the form of the vine by removing shoots from the trunks. The shoots are called “suckers” but I always wondered who exactly the sucker was. Still, the job goes to the short and flexible so as a kid I fit the job description. The Chardonnay was always the worst - it throws a lot of shoots and the rows are LONG, so it seems by the time you’ve come to the end of the row it’s time to do it again.
At what age did you begin to work the Crush?
JL Define “work!” Kids LOVE making wine - it’s playing with your food on a major scale. You get everything covered with juice and then spray it down with a waterhose. For a kid, what could be better?
Sometimes I had a hard time believing that I could actually get paid 25 cents an hour to play with grapes.
I still do.
Were you always interested in winemaking?
JL It was always background, and always interesting, but it was also always Dad’s thing. As a teenager I certainly put more distance between myself and the winery. Still, I worked summers in the vineyard and made enough to save up to travel to Europe.
As a teen you lived and worked summers in Burgundy. Can you tell us a little about the experience? What kinds of lessons did you learn?
JL Again… “work?” I went over with my folks when I was 13 and met a lot of great people for the first time. I have a great memory of tasting with the Potels. I was welcomed into the cellars with my dad and put through my paces. I was asked for my opinion more often than I deserved. I had already mastered spitting, but there was a certain floaty sensation mounting the cellar steps for lunch.
I went back to Burgundy again, alone, when I was 17. I went to work with some family friends in the cellars and in the wine trade. There were great opportunities but they were pretty much lost on me. The French education system separates kids into tracks - artisan or academic - early on. So all the kids my age in the cellars were way better trained and way more focused than I was, and the adults were so much more sophisticated than a country bumpkin like me. It was pretty intimidating, and truthfully it put me off winemaking as a career choice.
I wound up soaking up quite a bit by osmosis, fortunately. Of course, I look back now at what an incredible opportunity that was and wish I could have been less ambivalent. But I’m also glad that I gave myself the opportunities to explore different fields that I later did. If at 17 I was completely convinced I wanted to be a winemaker I’d probably be pretty bored with making wine now.
You took a degree in Botany from the University of New Mexico. You also were a research asst. at Oregon State University. What was the principle focus of your research?
JL At the University of New Mexico the lab I worked for was trying to get a handle on the incredibly intricate strategies that plants use to time the germination of their seeds. In a demanding ecosystem like the New Mexican desert these strategies can drive the dynamics of entire communities of plants.
We spent a lot of time in pristine field sites, collecting seeds, taking measurements… it was wonderful work. Exacting. Scientists have to be great craftspeople. There were aesthetic benefits as well. After a good rain, everything would explode into bloom. Made you feel very… connected, being engaged with that level of intensity.
At OSU I worked in the “small fruits” program - blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries mostly, but also Oregon quirks like Loganberries and Marionberries.
We did variety evaluation, experimental trellising and training techniques, as well as the day-to-day tractor work. I also helped survey raspberry fields in the northern Willamette Valley. This was terrific - I gained a real appreciation for the tenacity of the farmers around here and their belief in the quality of Oregon fruit.
As anyone who’s had an Oregon strawberry can attest, the Willamette Valley produces stunning flavors.
I am glad to see that consumers are wising up and reaching around the packers, straight back to the farms. The locavore movement is really fantastic.
My hope is that some day people will argue just as vehemently about the provenance and terroir expressed by what is on their plate as they do by what is in their wineglass.
Would you tell us a little about your first solo wine, the 2002 BlackCap?
JL Having grown up around winemaking I felt pretty comfortable that I knew what it was all about, and still very ambivalent about it. I had established a career in another field - what did I need to make wine for?
But I had a friend, John Davidson of Bernard Machado Wines, who had both vineyards and a winery and offered me the loan of both if I wanted to try making wine. I put him off for almost a year but he was really insistent. He offered me complete control, complete access to his vineyards, even down to picking the rows I wanted to use and the day of harvest. Same in the winery - John let me decide everything, from selecting the barrels to dictating how to wash the hoses.
It was a true act of generosity and the experience was absolutely transformative. With that first vintage of 66 cases I realized that winemaking was completely different when you are dragging the hoses in the service of your own wine.
It turned out that winemaking encapsulated everything I loved about ecology - uncovering the interaction of plants with place - just experienced in a much more direct way. As an ecologist I spent a lot of time sifting through different kinds of statistical tests, trying to find the one that separates the pattern in the data from the noise. But making wine: Bam! The pattern is evident, right there on your tongue.
Alice Feiring, author of the wine blog Veritas In Vino, has praised Black Cap. She wrote it “had the guts to let the earth (and not just the fruit) shine through”. What is your take on wine critics? Is it possible they have too great a hand in driving wine styles? I’m thinking especially of high alcoholic fruit bombs so much favored by Robert Parker.
JL Critics say nice things sometimes and cruel things sometimes. Alice said a VERY nice thing.
Either way, if you love it you will keep making wine no matter what the critics say. It helps to be driven by your vines, rather than any “style” you’re trying to achieve. If you express the vintage and express the site and keep the wines clean, then you’ve done your job.
Of course good reviews buoy your spirits and bad ones bring you down, and sales trends tend to follow what the critics say. For a lot of the larger wineries this must breed a pragmatic approach about what must be done in order to pay the bills.
I have been so incredibly fortunate to have my Dad be my role model. He is very Taoist in his approach to winemaking - do not compromise the expression of the vineyard. Above all he’s taught me, keep your ego out of it. Once you use the wine to build a monument to your ego, it goes dead, it becomes beverage.
You then went to work at Bishop Creek Vineyards. What possibilities did you see there that so excited you?
JL Bishop Creek Vineyard is a laboratory - it is a very diverse site, makes some of the most distinctive wines in the Yamhill-Carlton district, and the owners were really cool to work with. They let me immediately transition to sustainable vineyard practices and made some big investments in new equipment. It was a great place to learn more about the intricacies of growing Pinot noir and increased my appreciation for Pinot’s ability to express the nuances of site.
Here in California many vineyard managers and winemakers are sometimes instructed to produce the house ’style’ even if it is at odds with their better judgement. Decisions made for them might include the use of 100% new oak, picking at very high brix, micro-ox and reverse osmosis. Do the wineries in Oregon generally give a freer hand to winemakers they hire? Are they receptive to change?
JL Kenneth, I can’t answer this question. I don’t have enough experience to make the comparison.
It is fair to say Oregon leads the rest of the nation with respect to Green, Organic practices. Of course, your distiguished father, David Lett, was a pioneer in this respect, and in whose footsteps you follow. What is it about Oregon that has allowed eco-friendly practices to flourish?
JL Dad was deeply influenced by the writings of Rachel Carson. He came to Oregon with the goal of growing grapes without toxic chemicals - a pretty radical idea at the time. He describes his Entomology class at Davis as “here’s the bug, here’s how to kill it.”
Many of those coming after my Dad were also looking for new ways of doing things… that’s why they were coming to Oregon - so we started with a fresh sheet of paper when it came to viticulture.
All of us in Oregon were lucky to have strong ties to Europe - we weren’t exactly fumbling in the dark. We had strong relationships with the Swiss, especially two researchers from the Federal Research Station in Wadenswil, Werner Koblet and Ernst Boller.
Koblet showed us how to train the vines to maximize ripeness and minimize disease pressure in a cold climate, things that have become standard worldwide, like leaf-pulling in the fruit zone.
Boller created the grape growing standards for the International Organization for Biological Control. His guidelines form the basis for Oregon’s LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) program.
Koblet and Boller’s work and our personal friendships with them gave Oregon a strong foundation in sustainable growing.
Was it written in the stars that you would one day take over at Eyrie Vineyards?
JL Good lord, no. Dad loves making wine so much… it was impossible to imagine him wanting to pass that on while he could still run a winepress. There was a time when I thought I would have my label and he would have his, but he really surprised me when he asked me to come back as winemaker. That brought a huge, shocking realization to me that he and I were both maturing.
David ‘Papa Pinot’ Lett is quite the determined man, an iconoclast and brilliant winegrower. Despite already having proved yourself a very capable winegrower was there some trepidation when he asked you to become Eyrie’s winemaker and vineyard manager in 2005?
JL Trepidation my part, certainly. Dad’s too, probably, but he’s doing a good job of hiding it. He has continually astonished me with his approval of what I’m doing at Eyrie, and for my part I take the legacy of his winegrowing approach - honor the grape, trust nature over technology, keep your ego out of it - very seriously.
In late 2006 I was putting together blends for the 2005 Reserve Pinot. This is a wine that has to age for decades, the best barrels from the oldest vines. But within that blend there’s an opportunity to play with shading, from strawberry to wet earth. I came up with something pretty radically to the earthy side, but Dad loved it. It’s a bit different than the Reserve wines of the past but Dad saw what I was doing and told me to take it forward. That was great.
Eyrie Vineyards is not Organic certified yet has always been sustainably farmed. Why not be certified?
JL Certification is basically licensing a trademark. The trademark is supposed to do all the work for you - it’s a way to communicate to the buyer. The certifying entity is supposed to help tell your story.
Having that tag on your bottle is a short cut for talking to people directly about what you do.
There are a lot of aspects to what we do that are uncommon - no irrigation, no ripping or tilling the soil, things that are allowed under the existing certification schemes that we don’t necessarily agree with.
I’m not saying we’d never certify, just that we don’t want to be lumped into a set of practices that we may not agree with 100%.
So, if we do certify, we’d STILL have to explain what we do that makes us unique. So there’s not much point, is there?
Could you tell us a little of how Eyrie’s vineyards are maintained, how Eyrie sustains biodiversity, beneficial insect populations, the health of the soil?
JL Hmm, positivity through the word “No.” No herbicides. No insecticides. No irrigation. No synthetic chemicals. We’ve been doing it that way since year zero.
The way we treat soil is unique, born out of a lot of reverence for lowly critters.
Soil is a living thing, composed of the particles of dirt and all the living things that hold it together. It is a delicate balance of bacteria, fungus, algae, insects, plants. Mechanical manipulation of the soil upsets the balance.
Basically, once a vineyard is established (about 8 years after planting,) we don’t till. We mow the grass between and under the rows, but we don’t like to see exposed dirt.
Grapevines are very dependant on their relationships with soil fungi for nutrients. When you till the soil you change the balance of the populations, throw the balance out of wack.
I saw the point of this early on. When I came back to Eyrie I took a bunch of soil nutrient samples. The vineyards hadn’t been fertilized in years, and I was expecting to see big deficiencies.
When I got the lab results back, I was shocked: there was no problem. I took the analysis to the local organic amendment expert (who also happens to sell fertilizer) and he told me the soils were fine, no additions needed.
Where, in those decades, were the vines getting their nutrients? From the ground, from their deep relationships with soil organisms. So we tread lightly.
What changes if any have you brought to Eyrie these past few years?
JL I’m not consciously trying to bring any changes. I’m using the same pieces of equipment I grew up with, making wine from the same vines, blending in the same way.
But in spite of that, change is inevitable. Wine is the expression of many, many tiny details. How tight you clamp a hose during racking can influence how much oxygen the wine picks up during transfer and in turn how the fruit is expressed. Topping barrels every 14 days creates a different wine than topping every 10. The sum of these little decisions is inevitably a different wine. Better? Worse? Time will tell. If I make enough bad decisions the wine will cellar poorly, if I make enough good decisions I’ll be drinking 2007 Eyrie in my dotage.
Is it your hope your children will become winemakers?
JL They’re winemakers now! My 4 year old loves to help at harvest, just like I did. And my 7 year old is getting ready to bottle her first wine - 6 cases worth. We walked through on a hot afternoon in September 06 and she tasted Pinot noir grapes from every single different clone and block in the old vineyard, and she chose her favorite rows.
We picked and crushed them for her. I gave her the options, and she decided wanted to play it safe and do a yeast inoculation instead of wild yeast. But she opted for an old-school champagne yeast instead of one of the new high tech ones. That’s my girl…
She’s done all her work by smell - she doesn’t care much for the taste, as of yet. That’s fine, this wine is her 21st. birthday present to herself. Right now, I’m her designated taster. I can’t wait for her Grandpa to try it, I think he will love it.
Future projects?
JL One vintage at time. I promise to keep it interesting.
Thank you, Jason.
Admin
My most recent article on Celebrity Wines (see post below) was fun to research and I discovered a lot of new information on wines and wineries. However since posting it’s become clear my research was not as thorough as I may have hoped, and since I do strive to be accurate in all I do (another side of my borderline OCD!) then an update is required.
First it would appear I fell into the trap of believing an urban myth regarding the recently married Mariah Carey and her namesake vineyard in Mendocino. Although the offending section has been removed from the original post it would be unfair on the winery to simply have them “disappear” from a topic they are, one way or another, linked to.
The story seems to have started in early 2006 and is referenced by the Irish Examiner and quickly spread around the net. Unfortunately this was a case of Chinese Whispers based on Mariah enjoying their Zinfandel, but not enough to buy the company!
Jim Caudill, spokesman for Brown-Forman who distribute for the vineyard said “Ah, if only it were true. Mariah Carey has nothing to do with Mariah Vineyards other than enjoying the wine and often giving it as gifts.”
On doing more detailed research it would appear that the facts have been out there for almost as long but I suppose some stories just sound like they should be right!
Secondly Paul Smith, winemaker at OnTheEdge Winery in Calistoga sent me a modest e-mail “We are way under the radar so it is no surprise our partner and Head Coach of the stem box was missed as a celebrity winemaker”.
OnTheEdge produce the Frediani Vineyard Jean Louis Vermeil Cabernet Sauvignon, named in honour of NFL Head Coach Dick Vermeil’s ancestry, and on reading some related stories it became clear that this partnership is exactly what the original article was designed to catch.
I have to admit the name Dick Vermeil didn’t instantly light up in my memory (for which I blame the fact I’m British and this is an NFL sporting legend!) but then I also found Paul and Dick’s guest appearance on a May 2007 episode of Gary Vaynerchuk’s WLTV which I remember watching at the time – making my omission doubly embarrassing!
Thanks to Jim and Paul for getting in touch.
Greybeard.
Note from the Admin: I just couldn’t resist adding one other celebrity to Greybeard’s fine list: Crunk rapper Lil John. He has launched Little Jonathan Winery. Crunk Juice anyone?
Winemaking, a revered calling for those fortunate few; working the land, toiling the vines, something handed down from generation to generation, something that fate alone chooses. Er….well, no – not really, or at least not any more. Barry Manilow wines anyone?
In today’s society money and fame can obtain pretty much anything, and the wine world is no exception. There is an ever expanding list of celebrities and businessmen who are getting involved in wine and, while generalisations are always dangerous territory in writing, there does appear to be three categories that you can slot the majority of these ventures into – Marketing, Business or Love.
Marketing - The celebrity is predominantly a name or face on a label and is unlikely to have been anywhere near a grape press or fermentation vat (or even the winery!). It’s not hard to see why this model works, with legions of fans clamouring to buy anything linked to their idol a bottle of wine is an obvious addition to the merchandising arsenal. Cynics would argue promotion is the name of the game here and the contents of the bottle are a secondary consideration.
Celebrity Cellars is a good place to start if you are interested in labels , with Madonna and KISS included in the range all the wines are from Temecula Valley winery Miramonte. Barry Manilow has covered his bases with his M Line Wines, produced for him by Flora Springs in St. Helena, Macchia in Lodi and White Crane in Livermore.
Business - In this model the winery may have a rich or famous name on the deeds but they are involved in a business, and probably not their only one. The role is predominantly a figurehead, the name helping with the marketing but the resulting wine is a result of managers and winemakers with little or no influence from above. From what I’ve heard Dan Ackroyd’s new venture fits into this category as well, although one would hope that Dan, having invested $1 million into Niagara Cellars in 2005, is aiming to become one of those more serious and respected winemakers.
However the final category is what many of us dream of, the romantic ideal of someone who, through fame or fortune, is able to realise their dream of making wine…. this is for Love. Here the name is not just an owner, but is actually involved in many or all aspects of the wine process and, although in the end it may still be a business, profit isn’t the most important factor. A couple of years ago The Discovery Channel broadcast “The Grape Escape” about the Eaglevlei Estate in Stellenbosch, bought by North East (U.K.) businessman, Tony Hindhaugh. The series followed him from first buying the ailing winery through the trials and tribulations of producing his first vintage. I’d also put music legend Sting in this category - he bought his Tuscan summer home (and Yoga retreat) Il Palagio in 1997 and the wines produced here are currently only available locally and for family friends.
What about the “first lives” of these people who have decided to become involved in all things vinous, what careers allow such later-life luxuries?
With the millions that top Sportsmen earn it’s no surprise they are well represented in the lists, such as former SF 49ers Quarterback Joe Montana who paired up with Beringer’s Ed Sbragia to produce Montagia wines.
In Motor Racing NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon linked up with August Briggs Winery out of Calistoga to produce his Napa Valley wines and F1’s Jarno Trulli bought Podere Castorani in Abruzzo, Italy, although it was Italian Mario Andretti who originally bridged both sports & countries with his Napa Valley winery.
Top golfers have also moved into Wine, with the Great White Shark himself, Greg Norman selling wine from California and from Beringer Blass vineyards in Australia. Nick Faldo’s wines come from Katnook Estate in Coonawarra, Arnold Palmer wines are made by California’s Luna Vineyards and even John Daly, that renowned wine drinker, is getting in on the act, although I couldn’t identify where his are made! However it is South African Ernie Els who has the best credentials here, with a winery in Stellenbosch in collaboration with Jean Engelbrecht from Rust en Vrede.
Music and wine also seem to be a perfect match. For the girls Olivia Newton John founded Koala Blue Wines in 1983. For the boys Bob Dylan’s “Planet Waves” is made by Fattoria Le Terazze in Italy’s Marche region, while Mick Fleetwood has wine produced for his Private Reserve line by Casa Cassara in the Santa Rita Hills.
British crooner Sir Cliff Richard bought Quinta do Moinho in the Algarve, Portugal, in 1993, planted a vineyard in 1997 and, together with 2 other properties in the area, established Adega do Cantor making “Vida Nova” wines. 
The Algarve is not overly renowned for its quality wines and Vida Nova is for general drinking at around the $16 price range, but apparently each vintage has been steadily improving. Cliff was famously “stung” by celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay, on his show The F-Word in 2006, in a blind tasting of his own wine - the Video clip shows several other celebrity wines in the “tasting”. Unsurprisingly the press sensationalised the story at the time, even though it seemed to have been taken in good nature by Cliff on the show.
It can be argued that TV and Film have provided the most recognisable names and also, so far, the most credible participants in the Wine World, although not necessarily both together. Paul Newman has his “Newman’s Own” wines produced by Three Thieves, part of the Rebel Wine Company, while Davy Crockett himself, Fess Parker, has been making wines out of the Santa Ynez valley since 1989. Parker’s grand tasting room was the site of the scene from the movie Sideways where Miles eventually downs the dregs from the Spit Bucket!
Two actors that have been noticed by the professionals since they took to winemaking are New Zealander Sam Neill and Frenchman Gérard Depardieu. Jurassic Park’s Neill owns Two Paddocks in Central Otago and has gathered a good reputation for his Pinot Noir, although it is difficult to find as production is limited. Depardieu (U.S. readers may know him from Green Card, while in Europe his Cyrano de Bergerac and Obelix are more renowned) is so dedicated to winemaking that he has acteur-vigneron on his passport. He makes wine out of his Loire Valley property near Anjou, Château de Tigné, and has shares in Domaines Alain Paret in Condrieu and Château Gadet in the Médoc.
However the name most people think of in this category has to be Francis Ford Coppola. In 1975 wine-lover Francis and wife Eleanor bought a Victorian house in Rutherford, California, as a country retreat, “a cottage, a place to write and a couple of acres to make a little wine.” The house was the Niebaum mansion, and came with vineyards that were part of the famed Inglenook Estate, a winery set up by Finnish sea-farer Captain Gustave Niebaum who had Californian wine winning awards in Paris 87 years before the better known 1976 “Judgement”. In 1995 Coppola bought the remaining acreage and the Inglenook Château for his Niebaum-Coppola brand, eventually changing the name in 2006 to Rubicon Estate, named after its most famous wine. Separate to this is the Rosso & Bianco brand out of Geyserville, Sonoma, which produces more affordable wines including Director’s Cut and Diamond Collection.
So does any of this make a blind bit of difference to the quality of the wines produced? In an attempt to put some of this into perspective for the average wine drinker (is there such a thing?) I carried out a simple tasting with 3 of the easier to buy bottles from some of the wineries mentioned above, all less than $20.
Eaglevlei 2005 Merlot $14. This had a really smoky nose with a lot of red fruit and oak. Smooth in the mouth with mild tannins, a little cherry, tobacco and a rich chocolate undertone, this was light-medium bodied and has a very quick finish which lets it down, but otherwise was a very pleasant Merlot and, for the cheapest of the three, was my favourite. 86-87pts.
Vida Nova 2005 (Aragonêz, Syrah, Trincadeira) $16. A raspberry jam nose, with a dose of alcoholic spiciness. It had good general mouthfeel and body, but there’s an imbalance with too much heat on the finish and a green bitterness that doesn’t sit well with the fruit on the nose and first taste. Overpriced for what it delivers, 82-83pts.
Francis Coppola Diamond Collection 2005 Gold Label Chardonnay $18. Citrus and zesty nose with a buttery texture, a little wooded finish, nice enough taste. Quite dry with a quick finish and a touch of heat on the end. Not a bad Chardonnay, but for the most expensive wine it didn’t match up to its price tag. 86-87pts.
This is by no means a comprehensive coverage of who’s who - I could go on, but there are too many B-List celebs getting involved in this sort of this to cover them all. In attempt to satiate my OCD here a quick list of some others you may find…
Richard Branson, Lorraine Bracco, Celine Dion, Sir David Frost, Jerry Garcia, Lleyton Hewitt, Mick Hucknall, Vince Neil, Jamie Oliver, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Savanna Samson, Michael Seresin, Barbara Streisand, Alex Trebek.
For most of these wines you’re unlikely to be getting a bargain, but for Manilow, Madonna or Mötley Crüe fans that’s probably not their prime concern anyway, however for the rest of us you should at least be getting something moderately drinkable and not too far out of the typical Quality-Price-Ratio range, and for this it is more likely to be the hands-on owners and those with a some passion for wine who are likely to deliver - the Neills, the Depardieus and Coppolas of the world. Who knows, should that lottery win come in a Greybeard Cuvée may be in the offing!
Greybeard.
Nicolas Quillé is Randall Grahm’s right hand man in the Pacific NorthWest. Yet Mr. Quillé remains independent. He speaks his mind. I think that is precisely why Mr. Grahm paused when, after he put some of his Bonny Doon labels on the market, Mr. Quillé protested that the Pacific Rim line should be retained: Riesling could do great things in Washington State. Mr. Grahm listened, Mr. Quillé went to work.
Supplemental to this interview I suggest readers visit the fine geological vids on Wine Press North West, and this page. View the August 14th, 2007 entry and that of October 30th, 2007.
Admin
Born in France, what was your first exposure to American wines?
Nicolas Quillé When I was in high school and then in college, I worked for a small wine shop in Lyon and I recall selling and tasting a Zinfandel from California (I can’t remember the name but it had a hot air balloon on the label). I don’t remember liking it that much but I was only 16 at the time.
The second experience was in California itself. A good friend of mine brought a secret bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and asked me to taste it blind. He then went on to ask me how much I would pay for it. It was good and I thought this could be about $25. Well, it was a Caymus Special Selection, and when it told me the price (it was about $100 at the time) I thought that this was really a great country to make wine in!
Before you came to the US you took university degrees at Dijon, in Bourgogne & at Reims, in Champagne. Could you give us a glimpse into the French university system with respect to viticultural degrees? What was your course of study?
Nicolas France has 5 universities that deliver a 2 year degree in Enology (Bordeaux, Dijon, Reims, Montpellier and Toulouse). They recruit only students that already have a 2 year college degree in agriculture (mine was a technical degree in animal production and plant genetics). The curriculum requires students to do two harvests in a wine cellar or a wine laboratory (I worked for Antonin Rodet in Burgundy and Domaine de La Courtade in Provence). The curriculum is a broad mix of Chemistry, Biology, Viticulture, Enology, Accounting, Sensory Evaluation, Fluid Mechanics, etc… They are no elective classes in France, you have to take it all!!! I must say that I was good at Statistics, Enology, Sensory evaluation and Chemistry. I was pretty lame at Viticulture…
A peculiarity of the French system is that each school specializes in its local specialty (Dijon – Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Reims – Champagne making…). After my Master’s in Burgundy I went for another year to get a specialization in Champagne winemaking and Champagne laws as I thought I might end up in Champagne making bubbly (My father works for Laurent Perrier Champagne). Not many students go for a specialization year as it requires students to have a Master degree in hand already.
How does viticultural/enology training in France differ from UC Davis or Cornell, the US approach generally?
Nicolas France has many layers of education from certificates to 2 year technical degrees to Master degrees and the possibility to specialize beyond the Master or to acquire a Doctorate. France has also many students trained in the Enological field (they churn about 180 student with a master degree in Enology every year). Most students in this field come from the industry with parents that are in the wine trade in some fashion. In France, winemaking schools are not open during harvest and they require students to work in the industry during that time. I never went to Davis or Cornell but it is my impression that students are more academic than their French counterpart. They often are very technically correct but lack some creativity. Obviously this is a very general statement.
What initially brought you to America?
Nicolas After my military duty in the French Air Force, I was looking for an international experience to sharpen my winemaking skills. I found a harvest job (in 1997) through the Paso Robles Grower Association at J. Lohr winery in Paso Robles. It was supposed to be a 3 months assignment so I came with just a small duffle bag full of clothes. The chemistry was good at J. Lohr and I never went back to France. I ended working for J.Lohr for a year and a half.
We’ve read you took a business degree, a master’s, from the University of Washington. From your point of view how were merlot’s fortunes affected by the film Sideways? Did you enjoy the film?
Nicolas Unfortunately I did not see Sideways. I think that Merlot was in a mature phase of its growth anyway and that the movie just precipitated this. I also truly believe that wine tastes are changing in the country as our food taste evolve toward lighter, fresher foods. Merlot is too big of a wine to be your everyday red. My opinion: switch to Riesling.
And while we’re on cinema, what is your take on Nossiter’s Mondovino?
Nicolas I saw Mondovino twice. It is a very good, thought provoking documentary that I would recommend anyone in our industry to watch. It is obviously a very personal take on the industry but it reinforced two life guiding principles for me. 1) Wine is a beverage for everyone, there is no need to make it a complicated and elitist drink. 2) The magic of wine comes from the people and the land, in the long run this is what makes it such a fascinating drink.
When did you first learn of biodynamics? What was your impression?
Nicolas Like most people I probably read about it in some trade magazine and never paid attention to it. Randall Grahm is really the person that did the most to educate me. I always had a lot of respect for Randall, so when we discussed it I never had a doubt that this was something that I should be more aware of. I have, to this date, some reservation about certain aspects of biodynamics but I am overall in agreement with the principle that the vineyard is a part of a greater organism. I guess that I am not a biodynamic jihadist, I am more of a moderate recent convert.
And now, with respect to the Wallula vineyard, what percentage is biodynamic?
Nicolas All our Riesling is Biodynamic at Wallula. This represents 140 acres total and is without a doubt the majority of all Demeter certified vineyards in Washington State. Our acreage represents about 25% of the Wallula Vineyard and this is, to my knowledge, the only part of the vineyard that is farmed biodynamically.
Could you give us some idea of the insect complex at Wallula. What are the principle grape pests in the area?
Nicolas We are blessed with few pests overall in Eastern Washington. By far the two main concerns are leafhoppers and dust mites.
And soil-borne diseases?
Nicolas None that I know at Wallula. This is pretty much virgin ground so it has never been introduced with weird pathogens.
The last time I was in near the Tri-Cities the wind was howling at 30 mph! How does wind complicate the local viticulture? How is erosion minimized? What inter-row cover crops are used?
Nicolas The main challenges in a high wind viticultural region is evapotranspiration; the vines’ stomata let much water out of the plants which requires frequent watering. Thankfully, the water retention of our soils is quite good which alleviate the need for heavy watering like this is the case for the windy Malborough region in New Zealand. We have also decent challenges with canopy management and cordon rollover on young vines (this is when the cordon rolls and “reverse” spurs position so the shoots are pointing down on a traditional Vertical Shoot Positioning trained vine). Your point about erosion is real because our soils are wind blown deposit and they leave as fast (or faster) as they came. As a result cover crops are a necessity in Eastern Washington. At Pacific Rim we are moving slowly from seeded covercrop to native grasses which are easier to maintain and a bit more “natural”.
There can be significant differences in the depth of loess deposits on the Wallula slope. The hard pan of calcium carbonate there averages to 1 foot thick. How is terroir affected by the shallower vine rooting?
Nicolas Not sure where you got the information about the calcium hard pan or “caliche” as it is referred to (may be you are referring to the Wahluke slope that is rich in caliche in an unpredictable way). This caliche layer is the result of the accumulation of calcium carbonates at the same levels, years after years, due to weathering. We do not have that problem at Wallula because over time the site had received a fair amount of wind blown loess (we think we have 40 feet) that “renewed” the top soil regularly thus moving up the crystallization zone and avoiding a calcium “loading” at the same level year after year. Because we are sitting at 1,200 feet we also have pre-Missoula flood soils below the wind blown loess (may be another 40 feet). Our soils at Wallula are definitely deep and we have buried drips down 3 feet to promote root exploration and lower water usage.
With only 6-7 inches of rain locally, how does Wallula irrigate?
Nicolas It is all irrigated with drips (underground drips). The water is pumped straight from the mighty Columbia River.
My understanding is that 15% of Pacific Rim’s riesling is of German origin. In another interview you stressed its use in blending with Washington juice for ’stylistic’ reasons. What are those reasons?
Nicolas We only use the German fraction for the Dry Riesling and it makes up 15% of that blend. The reason for using the German component are purely stylistic as you are pointing out and it is by far the most expensive part of the Dry Riesling blend. The German component usually comes from Rheinhessen and is selected by our friend Johannes Selbach in the Mosel. We use the German wine for several reasons. First, it is generally riper at lower Brix and therefore help us maintain our alcohol levels low (toward 12.5%). Secondly, it is high in acid and reduces our overall pH while boosting the total acidity of the blend. Finally the German fraction is low in phenolics and rich in minerality bringing an extra twist to the overall blend. I would love to replace it with a Northwest sourcing but haven’t found where it could come from yet.
In addition to practicing biodynamics, what other ‘green’ initiatives does Pacific Rim currently employ or plan to employ, particularly at the Port of Kennewick winery in West Richland?
Nicolas The list of our efforts and our dreams runs long. Several themes run through the business and guide our actions; first we want to be as sustainable as possible and second we do not want to greenwash the company. Our path to sustainability so far has lead us to work on 1) growing grapes that are good for your health 2) Reducing our energy footprint at the winery and our waste impact and 3) increasing the recyclability and the use of recycled material of our packaging. Our efforts are greatly helped by the fact that we are focused at 90% on Riesling (which creates great efficiencies).
We have right now 30% of our grapes farmed under Biodynamic practices. We are working with the remaining 70% of our growers to establish an Integrated Environmental Plan where we commonly agree on improving the sustainability of our viticultural practices. We have been putting together a grading system to help us grade each block on about 25 criteria and we are working on classifying all chemicals (organic or synthetic) used in our vineyards. This will lead on some serious progress I believe.
The winery was built with many energy saving features (use of natural lights, special insulation, roof that can support solar panels) and we have very high tech equipment (cross flow filters, centrifuge, Electrodialysis) that allow us to reduce our waste stream and our energy consumption. We are moving toward zero waste rapidly as we do not use diatomee earth in our filtration and we compost 100% of our pomace waste back in the vineyard.
We have greatly simplified our package which reduces waste tremendously. We are also requiring our suppliers to outline their sustainability efforts to understand their position on this topic.
We have a few other venues that we are exploring to reduce our post bottling environmental impact such as warehouse optimization (efficient shipping route, low case good inventory…) or the use of lighter alternative packaging.
You’ve mentioned the desire to let wild fermentations run their course. Can you tell us of Pacific Rim’s success with this approach?
Nicolas Our successes are very good so far. Our single vineyards are 100% wild fermented. In 2007 our sweet Riesling was 75% wild fermented and the Dry was 20% wild fermented. We are moving toward 100% wild ferments for 2008 with the exception of the Vin De Glaciere which is made from frozen grapes (can’t keep the yeast alive on the skin when it is frozen). We have put in place an elaborate system to make sure that we prepare a “pied de cuve” or starter for each vineyard a week before we receive the grapes from that vineyard.
Would you tell us a few of your favorite Washington wineries?
Nicolas My preference is based on several factors such as the winery philosophy, how good they are at their specialty and the personality of the person in charge of QC: Cayuse for its Syrah, probably one of the most Terroir focused wine in the State – Christophe Baron. Woodward Canyon for their cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series – Rick Small. Boudreaux Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon– Rob Newsom. Chinook for their Sauvignon Blanc – Kay Simon.
Why only do Riesling?
Nicolas We believe that to do things well you have to focus. What other varietal than Riesling can provide you with such a great array of styles that allow you to focus while also having fun and diversity? Riesling can fulfill us in many ways and is so relevant to today’s food. It is crisp, very natural and untouched and works with so many different cuisines. It is the greatest grape in the world.
We focus on Riesling (90% of our production) but we also play with Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer. We are not against trying a few other varietal in the future, but we want to stay very focused on Riesling because we want to make the best Riesling in the country and may be one day in the world.
Thank you, Nicolas.
Admin
Phil and Peggy Crews are the owners of Pelican Ranch Winery in Santa Cruz, Ca. *Though their website is in need of a serious overhaul useful information may still be found there. They enjoy a substantial subscriber base and sell a high proportion of their wines through their tasting room which is open from 12 to 5 Friday through Sunday. An eclectic mix of people pass through their door, university students, winemakers, tourists, and wine enthusiasts, of course.
They are active members of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association (SCMWA). I caught up with Phil at their winery located on Inglas St. in Santa Cruz.
Admin When did you become a winemaker?
Phil Crews When did I become a winemaker? Well, that’s almost a philosophical question! At this point in time I don’t consider myself a winemaker because the goal is to buy the best grapes we can, to harvest them at the correct moment, to put them in the best available cooperage, and not to have to do anything. And the result of that process would be being a wine shepherd, not being a winemaker.
So I have been making wine since the early ’70’s. We established the winery in 1997 and moved to our current spot here five years ago. So, I’ve seen a lot of grapes come and go. I’d say probably 80% to 90% of the fruit we get is really great and so all we have to do is shepherd it from the vineyard into the bottle.
Do you have long-term contracts with grape growers. How does that work?
Phil Crews I would suspect we’re like other small wineries, and that is its pretty much a gentleman’s or gentlewoman’s agreement basically. I think a good example is that since ‘97 we began getting fruit from Los Carneros and the contract comes either simultaneous to the harvest and crush, or maybe a few moments before. By and large we don’t have any long term contracts with anybody. But yet we’ve been making the same wines from the same vineyards over and over again. There are some people who would like to engineer contacts and we’re willing to do that.
Actually, there is one exception, I won’t mention the vineyard, but the ideal situation is to become partners with a particular vineyard and then sharing in the risk in terms of the harvest and how Mother Nature is going to treat the grapes. So we’ve got a situation where we own fruit in about an acre of land, and we dictate what the tons per acre will be. We’re simply paying for an acre of fruit at a certain value. I think more and more people are going to go to that arrangement. That really develops the partnership with the vineyard and the winemaker.
And to return to the earlier question, winemaking really begins in the vineyard. The winemaker doesn’t do anything, in my opinion. Its the vineyard and the grower that really does it all. Of course, the winemaker is capable of screwing it up!
How many cases do you produce a year?
Phil Crews I would appear that we produce 1000 cases. And that number gets bumped up and down as a function of last minute changes in terms of grapes coming in. Our goal, our model is very different than a lot of places. What we’re doing is making about 20 different wines, exploring terroir under the circumstances of the different regions of Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains and beyond. We’re going for maritime location of grapes, and were getting enough grapes to make as many as 150 cases but as little as just a barrel’s worth, which can be from 22 to 25 cases. So, let’s see, for the last four years we’ve pretty much followed that model, it’s been creeping up a bit, but usually no more than 20 wines from 20 tons of fruit. In principle that translates into about 1000 cases.
And your barrel program?
Phil Crews What we’re doing in terms of wood, and everybody is challenged at this point, the amount of euros that a dollar will buy, of course, we all know is going down. Still I feel firmly we have to use French oak. About 10% of our wood is Oregon oak and about 25% of the wood we get is brand new French oak. All the wines are barrel fermented. And we keep barrels only about 4 years. This is really what all wineries do if they’re trying to produce wine at the top of the flavor profile. So that’s what we’re doing and we’re going to keep experimenting. I’ve tried a few American oak barrels, I’ve tried Hungarian oak, I’ve tried Yugoslavian oak, but for the flavor profiles we’re going at it just doesn’t work. So French oak is the key. Oregon barrels, however, offer very unique notes, they provide a really interesting tool to produce flavors and aromas that are unmatched by French barrels, or other parts of the country.
What kinds of wines do you specialize in?
Phil Crews Our focus is wines typically found in the Burgundy and the Rhone regions, both red and white. In Burgundy the white grape chardonnay is the most renowned, pinot gris is close behind that. Another kind of obscure fact is that we make a dry gewurztraminer and in maps that I have of Burgundy going back 500-600 years ago show that Alsace was once a part of Burgundy. Recently someone asked why we don’t put our gewutrz in a hock-type bottle so I tried to remind them of this fact. Essentially we make any wine that I think will fit nicely into a Burgundy bottle by tradition.
So the reds from Burgundy are pinot noir. For other reds we look at the Rhone; the top of the list there would be syrah. All single vineyard, like the whites. Now, there are blends we make as well, two unique blends, inspired by Rhone practices. One, Trois Amis Rouge, is a red blend of three grapes, again from a single vineyard, syrah, cinsault, and actually the petit verdot is a ringer. That’s the only grape we’ve ever had in the winery that is not traditionally Burgundy or Rhone. Of course, we know the petit verdot comes from Bordeaux. We also have a white blend, Trois Amis Blanc, that is based on fruit from the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA and that’s a combination of viognier, roussanne, and marsanne. Two things that make these wines really great: firstly, the origins in the Santa Cruz Mountains, secondly, the co-fermentation, cold harvest, and barrel fermentation of all of these. And I would say that these blends are truly spectacular and something that is representative of things we’re going to continue to do.
In the past we made something we called Spectrum Rouge that illustrates our program with zinfandel, but we mixed in syrah and actually chardonnay. And there was a wonderful array of flavors and aromas that were found with the Spectrum Rouge. So zinfandel is another wine we make. And again, a question comes up, why do we bottle zinfandel in the Burgundy-type bottle? There is no short answer. The long answer is that most people… well, the short answer is that most wineries put zinfandel, for reason not at all clear to me, into a Bordeaux bottle. And given that we now know the origins of zinfandel are in Croatia it seems to me that Burgundy has a greater kinship with Croatia than does Bordeaux.
Anyway, that sort of lays out what we do here in terms of the various wines. We have about an equal mix of red and white wines, actually at this point its about 65% red, 45% white. When we started the white wines were all chardonnay but as the years have gone by we’ve expanded to these other things that really compliment the chardonnay nicely; the pinot gris, the gewurtz, viognier, roussanne, and marsanne.
One other thing to take note of, if the focus of the winery is to delve in Burgundy and Rhone style grapes then I think the ultimate expression of that is to have pinotage in the flavor mix. This coming spring we’ll release our first pinotage. Down the road we’ll add mouvedre. Assuming the wine staff can get their act together!
In addition to winemaking you have a career outside of the winery. Could you say a little bit about that?
Phil Crews Very briefly, because the readers of you blog would be quite bored with that exercise! Winemaking involves really capturing beautiful flavors and aromas that I regard as secondary metabolites or secondary chemistry and so my ability to look at that contribution to wines comes from the research I’ve been doing over the last thirty years that looks at natural products chemistry of marine organisms. Our lab on the University of California Santa Cruz campus is a thriving entity and there are many lessons that I’ve learned from doing academic research that I try and bring back to the winery. So on a day to day basis I’m a thesis advisor to all of the students who work with us; and on a day to day basis at the winery, as I said earlier, I’m the wine shepherd. I’m watching over the barrels, trying to steer them in the right direction, and not try to introduce any artificial influences. And that is also what I am doing up at the university, trying to steer student minds toward quality.
Is their anything else you’d like to add?
Phil Crews I’m trying to bring the sense of education back to the winery. For every Passport what we do is a really fun thing: I set up a tent, I have a series of questions that I present to people and get them to participate in the answering of the questions. And generally the reward for correct answers is to be able to taste barrel samples! Its been a delightful experience that we’ll repeat four times a year. I think people have really have come to enjoy this and note that if they want to have that experience they come to us at Passport.
Something special that we’re going to do in the near future is have a series of tastings of what I call ‘mystery wines’…
Blind tastings?
Phil Crews Ah… I’ll just leave it at ‘mystery wines’. It will be three or four wines that we’ll present with questions that people will have to answer. It will be a very eye-opening. Another eye-opening thing we do on occasion is we ask the question: What would you do with a bottle of Pelican Ranch wine in the unlikely event at dinner you simply can’t consume the whole bottle? And I call that my ‘open bottle tasting trial’. We’ve explored here at the winery various regimes for preserving that wine for a twenty-four hour period or longer. The outcome has been quite surprising, based on trial and error.
One other thing for the future is an exploration of our labels, a review of all the unique information we provide.
Thank you, Phil.
Admin
*Their web site has since been updated!
Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard needs no introduction. I shall not attempt one here. I will, however, suggest interested readers take a look at a recent post at Appellation America and enjoy Mr. Grahm’s newsletters and other writings found following the Bonny Doon link above. A final note: a second, no less important part of this interview will be posted in about ten days. Mr. Grahm has graciously invited yours truly to a barrel tasting. Notes to follow! Admin
The Ca’ del Solo vineyard has been biodynamic certified since 2003. What changes in the vineyard have you noticed?
RG In fact, the vineyard was not certified until the ‘06 vintage, though we have been farming it biodynamically since ‘02 with some mixed results in the early going. In fact, we really didn’t get our biodynamic practice together until maybe ‘04, ‘05. We have really begun to see the most dramatic changes in the last few years. Better nutrient levels in the musts, much lower need for irrigation, more even ripening (though not in all blocks), but most importantly, a greater expression of minerality in the wines, evidenced both in organoleptic evaluation and confirmed through our sensitive crystalizations of the wines.
One of the curious features of Demeter, BD’s certifying agency, is that they seem to play ‘catch-up’ with accomplished vignerons. In the winery, for example, to quote Nietzsche, “All things are permitted”. Why hasn’t BD played a more aggressive rôle in setting standards for a host of techniques including micro-ox, reverse osmosis and wine additives?
RG What you have so acutely observed is perhaps just an artifact of the American Demeter organization, which until recently has had few vineyards and wineries to certify. They are trying their best to get up to speed on winemaking practice, and to adopt standards that have international applicability. I, myself, sit on the winemaking standards committee within the Biodynamic Trade Association. We have quite recently come up with a set of standards that address the particular practices that you reference. (That was the relatively speaking low-hanging fruit and only took a year and half to develop.) Soon, I am hopeful that Demeter will address grape growing practices in more specific detail, and that will be truly a major can of worms.
You’ve introduced a daring innovation in labeling, the listing of ingredients on Bonny Doon’s 2007 Ca’ del Solo Albariño and Muscat. What has been the wine industry’s reception? And the public’s?
RG Well, so far the industry and public have been relatively silent on the subject (stunned indifference), though a few wine writers seem to have noticed, as has a fellow from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who is trying to understand precisely what we are up to, and whether or not he has an ally in us. Myself, I am trying to hold our company to a certain standard. We are ourselves moving in the direction of far less adorned, interventionist winemaking and I see this particular initiative as a way of continuing our own momentum in making wines more “honest” and straightforward, “franc” the French would say. It is quite useful for consumers to educate themselves as far as what goes into a bottle of wine. Apart from alerting the profoundly allergic to a certain lurking danger (probably a relatively small fraction of the wine drinking public), more realistically it might help consumers better understand their own preferences and predilections. Maybe they find that they prefer wines w/ lower levels of SO2, unfiltered wines, etc. I’m really not trying to tell my colleagues how they should be making wine, though certainly a part of me would love to do so. I do think that if wineries were compelled to list ingredients and relevant winemaking practice, in general the quality of wines would improve, or at least the wines would be less messed with. Withal, I think that ingredient labelling is bound to come; I would just like to see it adopted intelligently.
You’ve mentioned Cosmoculture now and again. Domaine Viret, its creator, has shaken up the wine world, especially in France, with what they’ve called their ‘beyond organic and even biodynamic’ approach. Can you give readers a measure of your interest in this movement?
RG I’m not yet sure if it officially qualifies as a movement, but I am extremely interested in what the Virets are doing, with “informed water” and the strategic placing of stone menhirs as a means of aligning energetic fields within their vineyards. I am particularly interested in the possibility of making wines that have a strong life-force, i.e. the ability to tolerate multiple saturations with oxygen without themselves becoming oxidized. While I can’t, of course, make any of these claims on a wine label, I am virtually certain that these strongly anti-oxidative wines are far healthier for consumers than wines with less capacity. Maybe it is a function of greater mineral concentration - that certainly couldn’t hurt, though I’m sure that the physical manifestation of a wine is but an epiphenomenon of its energetic configuration. (That’s a pretty New Agey construct.)
As a practical matter senescence or the aging of a vine is a common occurence in the vineyard, yet it sometimes seems death has no voice, so to speak, in BD or Cosmocultural programs. How is vine death understood within BD and Cosmoculture?
RG I can’t speak for cosmoculturists, nor am I a particularly well educated anthroposophist, but certainly vine ageing/non-productivity and ultimately death is acknowledged. My guess is that it would be thought of as a weakening of the vine’s innate power/organizational forces, as far as its ability to resist Nature’s counter-force - the reduction of the living being back to its elements. 
Ultimately sickness and death whether it be in humans, animals or plants is Nature’s way those beings are most capable of contributing in some way to Nature’s plan. The biodynamic practice is in fact an extremely practical one and exists in the service of a larger aim - a productive and thrifty farm. Old vines are certainly acknowledged for their wisdom - old vines, especially those that are still healthy are capable of expressing qualities of complexity that younger vines cannot begin to approach. There is a very clever vigneron in the Loire by the name of Claude Courtois, who believes strongly in the community of vines (and other crops). He feels strongly that a vineyard must consist of vines of all populations, that the older vines have something valuable to teach the young ‘uns. He would never remove an entire vineyard of old vines and replace them with young ones - that would result in a sort of Lord of the Flies scenario.
And speaking of senescense, one day Robert Parker will retire. What influence might this have on the fortunes of winegrowers but also on wine reviewing generally?
RG I think that the balkanization and fragmentation of wine reviewing will generally be a very positive development as consumers will gradually find critcs who are more or less sympathetic to their personal aesthetics and winemaking values. I think that all power and influence centered around a particular individual is an artifact of a young wine drinking culture, and it makes for a certain efficiency (kind of like monotheism). But certain polyphony is a much more natural, healthier and sustainable state of affairs.
Getting back to Bonny Doon, I’ve watched the transformation of your former property on Inglas St. in Santa Cruz. I must admit I was saddened when the paintings disappeared. What has happened to them? Will you commission new art?
RG We sold the building and are currently leasing it back. The thought in selling it was to a) take advantage of what appeared to be the top of the real estate boom (good job on that, Randall), but more significantly, give ourselves a kick in the butt as far as finding a new site for a winery/vineyard and perhaps also tasting room, with luck located somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We are making plans to move the tasting room ultimately down from Bonny Doon to Ingalls St., at least for a few years (maybe more), and new beautiful murals will spring up.
My understanding is you’ve taken an interest in cement tanks. Word on the street is that you previously experimented with plaster/cement-coated oak barrels. A recent article in Wine Business Monthly suggests cement fermenters have become attractive to high-profile Cali producers. Do you plan to use them?
RG I am very interested in cement tanks, but in fact more interested in using cement as a medium to insert within the matrix of a wooden tank. (We tried one barrel and it is not so interesting, chiefly in virtue of its extreme weight and difficulty to clean.) If you plaster the interior of a wooden tank, you have the opportunity to impregnate the plaster with all sorts of interesting crystals (it’s that New Age thing again), which may well have a bearing on the life-force of the wine. We’re doing some experiments now to really test out that hypothesis. As far as the cement “egg” fermenters, this may be God’s way of telling winery owners that they have too much money. It is an enormously cool idea, but fearfully expensive. But, yes I’m intrigued.
When you settle into your new digs on the West Side of Santa Cruz do you plan to introduce new wines and high-end blends? And, if so, will you source from the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA?
RG We have already introduced a few new wines in the last year - Le Vol des Anges, which is an exquisite dessert wine (botrytised roussanne) and definitely a major step up from Vin de Glaciere. We have been working on some single vineyard syrahs, including Bien Nacido as well as a few others. I would love to source more fruit from the Santa Cruz Mt. AVA, but so far have not really found the fruit that really sets me free.
Have you considered making a sparkler?
RG We made an interest pseudo-Sekt from riesling for our DEWN club, but it was a major pain in the neck. I’ll never say never. Might be fun to make from roussanne or grenache blanc.
Given the increasing sensitivity of the public to the general notion of the ‘carbon footprint’, do you think the world-wide increase in the use of screw caps might be vulnerable to the charge of being ‘anti-green’?
RG Yes, it may be, but like everything else in life, I am sure that the problem is more complex that it appears on the surface. I for one don’t know what the energy requirement is to make screwcaps vs. what it takes to process corks, and whether indeed there are aspects of the processing of corks, viz. eluting every last molecule of trichloroanisole that aren’t incredibly resource/energy intensive.
What is your current rôle with the Rhone Rangers, a movement you helped to create?
RG All-but-forgotten progenitor.
You have been quite a prolific producer, both in the wine world and with your writings. You have read widely. Might you have a book in you?
RG There was a book in me, but it is now in the hands of an extremely prestigious publisher. There is some editorial review that needs to occur, but if the stars align, it should be coming out a year from this Fall.
What books are you currently reading?
RG Haven’t had much time for fiction (sigh), but have been reading “The Holographic Universe” by Michael Talbott - a sort of unified theory of everything. On a more personal side, I’ve been reading “Undefended Love,” a self-help book for conquering one’s fear of intimacy.
Where are you in your quest to find appropriate land for the plantation of a grand cru vineyard in the New World?
RG Going in circles.
Thank you very much, Randall.
Admin
(Let me add that I was intrigued by Mr. Grahm’s reference to a forthcoming book. In a separate e-mail he wrote this:
“The working title of the book is Been Doon So Long…. and it is a compendium of essays, poems, stories, etc., many of which appeared in the BDV newsletters over the years. We still have a few hurdles to clear, but it does appear very likely that UC Press will be publishing it in Fall ‘09.”)
This is the first in a series of interviews I’ll be conducting with winemakers of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA.
Was wine a common drink in your family’s household?
Michael I grew up in England during the 50’s and 60’s when table wines were not as popular as they are today. Far more beer was drunk in those days. In my family wine was regarded as a bit of luxury. We had wine for dinner only on special occasions and then it was usually a white wine. But there was always sherry or port in the liquor cabinet. My mother would have a little glass of sherry on occasion in the evening.
When did you begin making wine? What was your initial inspiration?
Michael I really got into making wine when I was at UC Davis during the early nineties. But before that I had made hard cider when I was at art college in the UK and messed around with getting all manner of things to ferment. In England you can drink alcohol by the time you are 18, so at college, Mateus Rose was one the tipples of choice. Also my uncle had a pub, The Wagon and Horses, in Chorley, Lancashire, and he used to let me help him tap the oak barrels in the cellar. A year after I finished art college, studying photography, I started working on cruise ships as a social photographer. Ships are like floating hotels, and wine and food are very much part of the ambience the cruise ship. In this environment, I began to develop an interest in wine. Also we were visiting many of the wine producing areas of the world. This is when I began to take note of the various wine regions of the world. So when it became time to swallow the anchor (to settle ashore), I was ready to do something different. At that time I was visiting California, and the wine business seemed like a very attractive profession to be involved with.
Could you tell us about your wines?
Michael With Sones Cellars we are focusing on only a few varietals, mainly Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. The reason for this is that we like these varietals ourselves; we want to make wines we enjoy drinking. For sale this year, we will have three Petites and a couple of Zins. Our aim is to produce vineyard designated wines of the two varietals showing off the grape and appellation. California is the natural home to Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, with both varietals having been heavily planted here since the late 1800s. Our goal is to produce quintessentially Californian wines, and both Zin and Petite thrive here. Why imitate Burgundy? Let the Burgundians do what they already do well. For the last couple of vintages we have also made a white wine blend, which we call La Sirena. This is a blend of Pinot Gris, Viognier and a little Sauvignon Blanc. Here our goal is to produce something that is different from the mainstream white wines.
Having worked at number of different Santa Cruz Mountain wineries I have been exposed many and varied styles of winemaking. It has been a good experience which has led me to believe that least intervention in the wine making process as possible is the best way to go. I like making wine without the use of some the modern processing techniques, such micro oxygenation or de-alcoholization. These techniques are used to produce wines that fill the marketing parameters set by a winery sales team. A lot of the wines you find in the shops nowadays is made this way. With our wines we make them to the best of our abilities and then let the customer decide whether they like them or not. Hopefully we will have enough people who like our wines and buy them, that will allow us to make a livelihood out of being winemakers.
How much do you produce, and what are your growth projections?
Michael We started off very small, producing only 350 cases for our first 2003 vintage. In 2007 we produced around 800 cases and for this year we hope to break the 1,000 case level. Lois and I want to keep Sones Cellars a small family winery that we can manage ourselves, so we plan to grow to about 2,500 cases and stop there. Though it sounds big to us now, that is still small in the winery scheme of things.
What projects are you working on now?
Michael Well, the next thing for Sones Cellars is to move into to our new little winery. Lois and I started making our own wine in 2003 at Byington winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Since then we have been itinerant wine makers, fermenting and cellaring our wines at other wineries in the Santa Cruz area. Finally some time in May of this year we will be able to put Sones Cellars and all our wine paraphernalia under one roof on the west side of Santa Cruz on Ingalls street.
Any advice for someone thinking of beginning their own label?
Michael Well, there’s a question. The wine business is something that prospective wine makers should think long and hard about before venturing into. It is relatively easy to make good wine; it is a lot harder to sell it. There is so much competition nowadays, and on all levels of quality. For a number of years you invest a lot money before you have even sold a single bottle. It is the nature of the business; you buy the grapes, cellar the wine for a year or two, bottle the wine and it is only then that you see any return. As they say “To make a small fortune with a winery start with a large one.”
Where can we find your wines?
Michael We have just started this past year in getting our wines into shops and restaurants. Locally in Santa Cruz, Vino Cruz and Shopper’s Corner carry our wines. Or you can get them directly from us if you live in California. Until we get our winery established, we are limited to Californian customers only.
Thank you, Michael.
Admin
If you’re into Pinot Noir and you haven’t heard the name Kutch then it’s time to seek it out. If you’re into Burgundian style Pinot Noir and you haven’t heard the name Kutch then it’s time to find some. If you don’t know the story behind Jamie Kutch and his love for wine then you’ve come to the right place. The story is actually pretty simple and I’m not th
