The MW, ZAP, and Hudson Vineyard, oh my!!

Some music from the ongoing soundtrack of Bedrock Wine Co. for your aural pleasure.

First, I want to issue a general apology to all of those who commented on the site recently, or emailed me personally, with thoughtful ideas and even some really excellent mock-ups of labels(!) to whom I have not written back. I am not ignoring you and will email or respond as soon as I can! I have a good reason, I swear!

The annual MW examination was this week. Thankfully I passed the theory section (i.e. long painful essays on oenology, viticulture, wine business, and “contemporary topics”) last year, so I only had to do battle with the Practical Examination– three mornings of blind tastings. I am happy to say that I feel far more confident in my performance this year than last, though I will certainly not tempt the gods of faith by saying I expect to pass. However, a years worth of preparation were poured into the last three days, so hopefully karma will reward me for my efforts.

Second, I received word this morning from Dr. Jim Wolpert and my vineyard manager Diane Kenworthy that Bedrock Vineyards has been selected as one of three sites in California to take part in ZAP/Davis clonal trials. What does this mean? It means that the 20 cleaned clones of Zinfandel, taken from the best old vine vineyards around the state and grown at the Oakville research station, shall be planted on our recently ripped, disked, and cleaned, 4.5 acre hillside where we pulled out some old, under-performing, Cabernet. The hillside, shared with Barricia vineyard, is one of the best spots in Sonoma Valley for Zinfandel. We were planning on planting Zin no matter what, but this makes it all the better. What it essentially means is that Bedrock shall be one of the first repositories for clean, old clone, Zinfandel in the state. The 20 clones, which will be planted randomly, will be picked separately and vinified, for now, at Ravenswood. The resulting data will be collected by Davis as research continues. Though we do not know the exact origin of each clone, we do know that cuttings were taken and cleaned of virus and disease from some of the greatest old Zin vineyards in California– Hayne, Teldeschi, Old Hill, Jackass Hill, Grandpere, Pagani, Lytton Springs, etc. etc. Frankly, as a grower and lover of Zinfandel, and as one who hopes to farm this vineyard into my own senescence, this is a wet-dream.

And speaking of spurts of joy!

I met with Lee Hudson for two and a half hours today. Though nothing is set in stone as of yet, there is the strong possibility that one of the sickest parcels of Syrah, grown at one of the sweetest spots in California for Syrah, by one of the best Syrah growers, will be coming to Bedrock Wine Company this fall.

I have lusted after this fruit since I tasted the 1998 wines from Havens and Neyers. My crush has only grown in subsequent years after tasting the efforts of Arnot-Roberts, Byron Kosuge, John Kongsgaard, Lee’s own label, and more wines from Havens and Neyers. I find that Hudson syrahs offer a ridiculous panoply of sauvage Syrah components like bacon fat, pepper, and smoke, and marries it with the rich rotundity of California fruit. If things go as planned, I will receive a whopping seven rows, .87 acres, of Alban clone Syrah. That Lee thinks highly enough of me to sell me any fruit (his other stuff goes to Arietta, Kistler, Patz and Hall, Cakebread, and The Scholium Project, to name a few) is a ridiculous honor that my limited experience making wine hardly merits. But god help me I will take advantage of it!