Pictures: Stainless steel fermentation tanks and a selection of tonneaux,or medium-size oak barrels stacked outside and inside at the Thunder Mountain Winery in Paso Robles, a vineyard scene on the Vineyard Drive, , Jonny indulging at the 2006 Hospices du Rhone, Paso Robles.
August 10th; the Pourtal Wine Bar in Santa Monica:
We had gathered to taste the wines of Bonny Doon from Santa Cruz Ca. and meet the wine-maker Randall Grahm . Grahm has been wending his eccentric way through the Californian wine world for more than a quarter century now. The difference being, of course, that, at first, he was considered a strange fellow for searching out varietals from the French Rhone valley and beyond, whilst now he is praised for his foresight! Certainly the Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and others are right at the forefront of the wine industry now and the annual Hospice de Rhone gathering in Paso Robles,Ca is a hedonist’s delight for lovers of Rhone wines and their emulators all over the word.
We came to taste the Cigare Volant the flagship wine. I thought I’d ask him if he had any memories of the 2004 vintage . He did not. But he did recall that in the beginning when he made the first wine in the broad Southern Rhone style ( that would be 1984) the technique was very rough and ready:
“ Just get plenty of Grenache. Mix in the other varietals and let it sit in a huge wooden tank after fermentation”. He said that since those first vintages his technique had improved and some sophistications were made.
“ But you know; now I have come full circle.” That rough and ready technique he started off with is the one he has come back to in recent times.
Over the years he has added the Cigare Volant white and rose. He makes a splendid Syrah as well as wine from the Nebbiolo and Sangiovese grapes. The favorites of Italy and particularly Tuscany. He talked eloquently about how he had made his way in the in wine world and how he had stumbled on the Rhone style.
“ Well, you know at first I was just a Pinot Noir fan but then- well-it broke my heart." He was in contact with Kermit Lynch, an innovative wine-importer from San Francisco. “Kermit introduced me to the wines of the Rhone Valley and I found my calling.”
I was taking all this in and meanwhile going back to the tasting spigots located round the room. The Pourtal has an innovative system in which flights of wine are located in oxygen free cabinets. On entering the bar you buy yourself a smart-card and put money on it. Then you go round the room inserting the card above the wine cabinets. When you press the button below any wine the machine dispenses a one-ounce pour into your glass and deducts the appropriate amount from your card. One finds it frighteningly easy to run through your weekly allowance with just a few tastes.
Having tasted several of the wines of Bonny Doon as well as some others I returned to the little circle surrounding Randall.
Now he was expounding enthusiastically on a new system of ageing or “elevage”.
“ I put the wine in demijohns- glass containers, also know as carboys- and “bons-bons” in the French. About 5 gallons capacity. The result is phenomenal.” Well, actually the result should be phenomenal but we don’t know yet as he only started with the 2008 vintage.
“ Yes .I have divided the 2008 wine into three parts. One goes into the traditional Rhone barriques –large wooden casks holding hundreds of gallons.
Some go into Bordeaux-style tonneaux- much smaller barrels. And the last part I am ageing in the glass…and I like it.”
So you will have to wait and see the results. The 2008 vintage is a good three years away from being released. The 2005 is now being released to members of the Wine Club. It costs $32 a bottle.
The Boony Doon Vineyard has practised Biodynamics since 2004 ( more..)
Well, one thing in the wine world has absorbed me this year: Big Bottles.
Magnums Jeroboams Methuselahs Imperials: the names are so evocative.
The 2008 Bordeaux futures campaign this year started it. Looking at the order sheet one day I was told that on almost all wines one can order magnums, double magnums and imperials. Some charge more for this bottling service than others.
Then later in the campaign a new size surfaces. A few chateaux offer their wine bottle in Melchiors.
Never heard of a Melchior ? You are not alone. I hadn’t and neither had Grahm. But a Melchior holds a whopping 18 L of wine or 24 bottles. So effectively it is two cases worth of wine in one bottle. I haven’t seen one yet- it must be impressive.
And more recently I have seen the 2007 CNDP’s ( that’s Chateau Neuf du Pape to the ignorant) offered in sizes on the pre-arrival offers: magnums, double magnums jeroboams and so on.
Well, that interests me a lot as I am planning a wedding dinner for myself and I want to have plenty of large bottles on the top table.They look great and make the party.
So as I found a moment to get his attention I mention my interest to him:
“ I’m a big-bottle freak. Can you help? Maybe, if I come to the winery?”
I seem to have struck a chord.
“ Oh absolutely. I can hook you up with 3 and 5 liter bottles. And not just one vintage: from 2005 ,2006 and 2007. I love big bottles too. Never had bad wine out of big bottle.”
We parted on good terms and I intend to take Randall up on his word when I am next in Santa Cruz : described in the Bonny Doon Vineyard brochure as ‘ The heartland of New Age thinking, dreaming and deferred transition to “adulthood ‘. Now someone up there has a way with words!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
No comments:
Post a Comment