From a cold vineyard, located next to the Bay in the Napa Carneros, Bedrock Wine Company will be making Albarino starting in 2009.  The vines, which were planted last year, are adjoined to the very first Albarino vineyard in the United States.  I am currently talking to the vineyard owners about putting in small amounts of Godello, Treixadura, Caino Blanco, and Loureiro, in the hopes of making the first great “Ode to Galicia” wine in the country.

Though I am making a barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blend this year, I have long wished to make a truly bright, crisp, aromatically interested white wine; essentially what I drink the most of during the summer months.

More to come later……

The image of the red sandstone with the foiling samples on the front is to show the type of foiling we might use for one of the layers of soil.  The final image, which I am leaning away from, is just to show what the map of the Bay Area from the last round looks like with bolder and darker font.

Danke!

There is a scene in Revenge of the Nerds where the super-hot lead cheerleader gets deceived into getting head from one of the nerds on a faux-moonscape. She moans “God, it has never been so good, where did you learn this?” just before removing her permed locks to realize it is not her quarterback boyfriend nestled between her thighs but rather a bespectacled nerd in a gorilla suit. The gorilla responds something like, “I have been thinking about how to do this perfectly my whole life, I just never got the chance!” Well, in similar fashion, and I have been thinking about how I would make Hudson Vineyard Syrah for ten years now.

As I mentioned a few days ago in a post, the archetypal vineyard for North Coast California Syrah is Hudson Vineyard. Though Alban in Santa Ynez is probably the most important in the United States in terms of history, clonal assortment, pioneering viticultural techniques, etc. Hudson, along with Bien Nacido Vineyard, has been the most important in spreading the gospel of cool-climate Syrah. Though the amount of Syrah planted on the ranch pales in comparison to the amount of Chardonnay (and Lee is doing some amazing plantings of heritage California clones of Chardonnay right now– Hanzell, Mt. Eden, Wente, Hyde, etc.), the gang over at Hudson has spread the acreage out over a large number of small-winery clients– many of whom I am sure you have heard of. In fact, the number of amazing wines that emanate from Hudson is simply amazing considering it is nearly 1/3rd the size of Bien Nacido. This is clearly a result of the expertise and experience of Lee Hudson– the co-mack-daddy of the Napa Carneros with Larry Hyde. There is a scarce few blocks that are NOT growing vineyard designate fruit, and this is only because Lee is very conscious about only allowing the best wines to bear the Hudson name.

I am just pumped that today I became one of the vineyards clients.

The ranch is divided into two sections. The front ranch, which abuts the Carneros Highway as one passes Domaine Carneros on your way to Sonoma, is planted to Chardonnay (Kistler takes this), some Merlot and a small patch of Cabernet Franc (which makes up Arietta’s Variation One), and a few patches of Syrah, the two main ones being taken by Kongsgaard and Havens. There are also small patches of Grenache (also Havens), a touch of Viognier, and some new Roussanne and Marsanne plantings. The back ranch lies on the other side of a steep ridge, one of last fingers reaching towards the bay of the Mayacamas Range. Nestled in a little canyon all to itself, the back ranch features completely different soil types and slightly warmer temperatures (we are still in Chardonnay land though). The wedge of soil on which the grapes grow is actually a land fragment that lies along a faultline; activity long ago gradually moved this piece of soil up from around San Luis Obispo. In one section of new Chardonnay plantings there is actually what resembles black sand and pieces of sandstone composed of ancient mollusk fossils.

The 7 rows of Syrah. The last knuckle of the Mayacamas range is in the back-ground towards the south-west.

It is from this back ranch that a bevy of producers get small blocks of grapes– among them Patz and Hall, Arnot-Roberts, Lewis Cellars, Elyse Winery, Arietta, Cakebread, and Neyers, along with the Syrah and Chardonnay that Lee takes for his own wines. In addition, there are some experimental rows of cool aromatic Mediterranean varietals such as Refosco, Barbera, and Freisa, made, for the time being, into a house wine.

The fruit that Lee is selling me comes from the back ranch, on the top of a beautiful block of 9 year old, Alban Cote-Rotie clone, on 3309 rootstock planted on an 8×4 axis. The last couple years Lee took is for himself but has instead moved over a block so all of his grapes are grown near each other. I had his newly released 2005 effort in a blind tasting prior to the MW exam a couple of weeks ago and was blown over by it– deep, sexy, dark fruits, smoke, bacon fat, along with elegance and lift– it was actually better after 36 hours of being open.

Obviously, with such a prime parcel of fruit from one of my favorite vineyards, I am going to pull out all the stops. If the fruit is as strong as I expect it to be it will see fermentation in new puncheons, an extended maceration of 15-30 days post primary ferment, followed by 36-42 months in 100% new oak– ala Guigal La Turque, La Landonne, or La Mouline. Viognier will be used for cofermentation– as much as Lee can give me– hopefully between 3 and 7 percent. The decision of whether to use whole-cluster or not will be a game-time decision based on the year. My guess is that I will make two cuvees separately– one where the fruit is completely destemmed, the other utilizing 60-90% whole clusters.

As for cooperage, since I am planning on such an extended time in barrel I am using the tightest grain oak available from my favorite coopers. The base-note will come from my “bacon-fat and smoke”barrel– tight grain, long-toasted, barrels made for me by Tonnellerie Meyrieux. The suavity and sex-appeal will come from Tonnellerie Remond Troncais M and Allier M+ barrels, the top-note will be provided by the ultra-tight grain barrel from Tonnellerie Rousseau called the “Video.”

The contract signed today is the beginning of a truly long-term project where I try to make an epic California Syrah that will live up to the grapes sacred origin. I should note that, unlike other contracts where growers are begging for vineyard designation, I have no guarantee of being awarded that honor. As Lee said, the vineyard name only appears on the label when he tastes with the winemaker and both go “yes!” It is clearly a risk to take: Hudson fruit, as one would expect is expensive. Frankly though, it is a risk that I would have to be a f-ing idiot not to take– it is a risk I have been begging to have for over a year now.

Take that Terry Thiese and your, Kremstal Gruner Veltliner = hot sex, analogies!!

The last two days have seen a few interesting turn of events. I was told by Gallo that they were unwilling to sell me just a ton of Semillon from Monte Rosso as the small volume would be hard to accommodate. Since everything is sold in five ton minimum lots I asked if I could find someone to share the fruit with, if it was picked on the same day. The grower rep, who is the awesome Doug Wilson, said that such an arrangement could probably be made.

Though several names passed through my head, my first contact was with the man responsible for what I consider to be the best Bordeaux blanc style blends made in the United States. Luc Morlet, who recently released the first wines under his private label, was the long-time winemaker at Peter Michael and briefly at Staglin. At Sir Peter’s he was responsible for the L’Apres Midi, a barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc blend, of power, poise, and personality. His newly released “La Proportion Doree” under his label is sourced from old vine Sauvignon, Semillon, and Muscadelle from Dry Creek and Napa. Every report of it is glowing, 94 from Parker, 92 from Tanzer, yadayadayada.

I was amazed when, upon telling him the specs of the vineyard– 95 year old vines, glowing reviews from Diane and Zelma Long who got the fruit at Simi in the 80’s, beautiful aspect on a steeply sloped west facing vineyard on well drained volcanic red soil, etc.– that he would take half the fruit. I immediately contacted Doug, he pitched it to the powers that be, and we are now contracted for the fruit.

Though it is exciting that I will be getting enough Semillon to make an almost perfect replica of Haut-Brion Blanc, it is more exciting that I will get to glean some knowledge from the man responsible for the best made wines of the type in California.

1. How small most of the trees on the valley floor are. According to some accounts I have heard, the Wapo indian tribe, which made the valley a part-time residence prior to the Spanish missionaries, would apparently burn large tracts of land for farming– this could account for the lack of large vegetation on most of the valley floor.

2. No euculyptus! The tree was brought in later, as people thought the fast growing tree would be ideal for fuel and paper, among other things. Unfortunately, the tree took over, but since it was so oily it would cause chimney fires and was of little use in paper-making.

3. Beautiful architecture. I just love the large, wrap-around, decks on most of the estates.

4. How many vines there were. These photos were taken just as phylloxera vastetrix began its reign of terror. Though some of these vineyards were planted to varietals we are familiar with such as Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, many were planted to inferior mission varieties. Much like the outbreak of phylloxera in AXR-1 rootstocks in the late 80’s was a blessing in disguise (allowing people to replant on better trellising, with better clones, less vigorous rootstock, etc. etc.), the outbreak in the 1880’s allowed for replanting of better vinifera varietals.

5. That all of Sonoma Valley was essentially divided up by 5 or 6 enormous estates. The Buena Vista property took up the whole south-east corner. Vallejo has everything where the town is now. Caleb Cariger had the entire south-west part of the valley. The western edge of the valley, until Sonoma Mountain, was owned by George Hooper, Sonoma Mountain and current Glen Ellen by William McPherson Hill, and the center valley by Senator George Hearst (where our vineyard is). Wedged in between were a few smaller estates, but the valley was dominated by large landowners.

The town of Sonoma. The vineyard in the foreground is the Lachryma Montis vineyard of General Vallejo. It no longer exists.

Vineyards belonging to General Hooper on the flank of Sonoma Mountain. These vineyards are approximately where Mcrea vineyard, which goes to Steve Kistler, and is much smaller, lies now.

The residence at the “sobre vista” estate of Joseph Hooper.

The residence of William McPherson Hill.

The residence of Colonel Rogers. Just beautiful.

The “castle” at the Buena Vista estate. It burned several years later.

Grape arbor and hammock at the Ewell residence. Check out that mission grapevine!

Fountain at Vallejo’s Lachryma Montis estate.

The vineyards of William McPherson Hill. The vines towards the left make up the top of the current Old Hill Vineyard, the oldest in Sonoma Valley.

The residence of Caleb Cariger.

A road running through the property of Maxwell (where Lucky’s is now and the Boys and Girls Club)

The Winery of O. Rufus.

Another shot of William Hill’s property. What is that creature in front of the tree?

“Gift Vineyard” check out the early trellising and tight spacing of the vines in the vine-row.

My first stop was at Monte Rosso Vineyard. A stunningly clear morning, I was able to take some pictures of this historic property. I lived for a couple of years just below Monte Rosso in a quaint cabin when I was a kid– I mean the place had an outside shower. Quaint. The summer smell of bay and dust in the air, the skin peeling from the smooth red hide of the manzanita trees, and the mountain scrub oaks, all brought back a flock of memories.

Though set is not perfect anywhere this year– we had terrible conditions of heat and wind– my block of Cabernet is certainly better than some of the vines put out on a quadrilateral trellis. As you can see, there is excellent shoot length, and the mediocre set will guarantee balanced crop levels (it just might be hard on the destemmer when the fruit comes in!).

Below are photos of the original Mt. Pisgah winery, built in 1886, of the Cabernet block, the red soil from which the Monte Rosso name is derived, and one of the many spectacular views from the vineyard.

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!

While others pounded away at Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa, Michael was busy devoting himself to Syrah and Merlot.  In fact, it was Lee Hudson, of all people, who had planted Syrah in the early 1990’s who approached Michael about making a bit of Syrah.  Shall I repeat, Lee Hudson approached Michael about taking his grapes.

Michael, after doing an insane amount of climatology history and research realized the site was similar to Cote-Rotie, and accepted the grapes. There is an off-chance that Lee might have ripped them out if there had not been a buyer. Hudson Vineyard, which is considered by many to be the first truly”cool-climate” Syrah vineyard, and is now made into 23094239048 point wines by John Kongsgaard, Arietta, Arnot-Roberts, Neyers, Byron Kosuge, etc. etc. was essentially defined by Michael.

Let us not forget that in the early 1990’s the only people doing Syrah, who had a clue, were Steve Edmunds, Joseph Phelps, John Alban, and meh…..that is about it.

Around the same time, Michael contracted with lesser-known grower in the Carneros for Merlot and Cabernet Franc named Larry Hyde.  Starting around 1994 he began one of the first Cheval Blanc style blends in the Napa Valley– an elegant, perfumey wine called Bourriquot based on cooler-climate Cab Franc and Merlot.

Then, in 1997, after a visit to the Riax Baixas visit in Spain, Michael talked Doug Hill into planting two acres of Albarino in a cold, clay-ridden, part if the Carneros.  The resultant wine, which the fantastic importer Terry Thiese called the greatest white wine made in America, is a minerally, almost crunchy bright, example of the variety.  It was the first labeled Albarino made in the New World.

In a similar manner, he was one of the very first to latch onto the teachings of Patrick Ducourneau– the inventor of the modern-day micro-ox.  Launching into his new learning in a manner fitting his academic past, Michael quickly became on the early leading users (and understanders) of a method later embraced by Michel Rolland, Stephan Derenencourt, and many other leading (and well-paid!!) consultants.  This method of introducing miniscule amounts of oxygen to wine– a practice that has become controversial, particularly after the painful Mondovino (and I refer simply to its length and not its subject matter)– has redefined the way in which winemakers everywhere understand the role of oxygen in the winemaking process.

Michael’s understanding of making wine is easily in the 95-100th percentile of winemakers world-wide.  Unfortunately, his consumer base was, like-wise, in the small percentiles.  In order to satisfy investors, and perhaps in small part  to ensure a happy and secure life for himself and his lovely wife Kathryn (my label designer!), Michael sold Havens Wine Cellars last year to Billington Imports, a company which most famously imports Catena.

Late last week Michael issued his resignation from his namesake winery.

Though the reasons are long and complicated, I just wanted to throw out a bit of public acknowledgment and support to a mentor and good friend.  Long-time readers will notice that Michael was one of the first to, with no holds barred, let me interview him for the website.  He has always been an excellent winemaker who is merely a phone-call away if I need help or advice.  He is, in short, not only a class-act, but also given his multi-disciplinary past in academia, one those people that makes winemaking a joy– we can kibitz about Frank Zappa, Foucault, or Albarino.

This post is not really for anybody, but given the motto here of “it takes a village to raise a winery” he is one of the chieftans of my oenological village.

I figured that I might have everyones heads spinning and eye’s straining with the last few posts regarding label development and the cool old photos and maps I was able to dig up concerning the Bedrock Vineyard property. To add a little concreteness to all that history here are a few pictures I took late this afternoon out at the vineyard. As you can see, shoot growth has been screaming and we are just about through with blossom and set (though the Cabernet and a few of the mixed blacks seem a little shy). We got a shot of serious heat and then some winds and the some rains in the last couple of weeks– a good recipe for poor set. Though it is still hard to see how good or bad it is I am sure some varietals and spots of the vineyard might not have Wine Spectator cover-shot clusters this year.

In any case, here are some shots from around the vineyard. I just liked the old- Sonoma component of barrels under the awning of the 1910 farmhouse along with the peach tree. Another is of a CRAZY, and as yet un-shoot-thinned, ginormous 120 year old Alicante Bouschet vine, and the third is of a nascent Zinfandel cluster from one of the old vines.

I tried to get up to Sobre Vista to take a shot commensurate with the 1887 Monte Rosso and Bedrock Vineyards picture but I got yelled out for trying to sneak my way into a gated community. Bastards.

Speaking of Monte Rosso, my good friend and winemaking compatriot Michael Havens and I took a drive up to Monte Rosso to check out the Cabernet and Semillon. The Cabernet looks just great. In a number of other blocks the Cabernet is up on a quadrilateral trellising system and the vines have somewhat meager shoot-length. This is because four arms on the vine put a pretty heavy stress on the system. This works in some years, and better or worse depending on soil-type, but it seems to have limited the shoot-length rather severely this year which may impact set, and perhaps even future canopy needs. In contrast, my 8×5 spaced bilateral cordon VSP has great shoot length and seems to have good set– something I will need to confirm in a couple of weeks– but just looks lovely. There is good evenness in the block. As Michael rightly pointed out though, the close to true east-west row orientation will mean that I need to sample the north and south sides of the vine separately to make sure of even ripening.

In any case, back to those pictures! Enjoy.

Like so many others though, Hooker’s hopes of a quick fortune was not to be, and instead he apparently settled on farming as a vocation. At this point, most of the money to be made were in those industries tangential to mining as the exponential increase in the population expanded dramatically the demand for, well, food, liquor, and women. In the valleys of Napa and Sonoma, on the relatively fertile soils of the valley bottom within a day’s boat ride of San Francisco, much food was grown.

All of this though has been understandably quite speculative. Not only was moving around a lot common, there are few hard records that can link a person to a spot. This was made doubly hard by the earthquake of 1906 when many records of property transactions (a great tool for erecting the skeleton of a good historiography) were lost to fire and general pestilential-like destruction.

So, it was with some wonder and amazement that I stumbled across the original map used in the district court case by which Hooker claimed the large tract of land, now known as the Banana Belt, of Sonoma Valley. According to the information coming with the map at Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley the map is from 184?. Not an exact date to be sure. Part of me wonders if an exact date can be put on it at all given the fickle, constantly changing, nature of the judicial system in the years leading up to California’s statehood. The map is in Spanish however, which probably means it predates the establishment of codified California courts– though given the de facto bilingual nature of a culture dominated by Spanish and then Mexican influence even this is a hard justification to make.

What is clear though is that the map is beautiful and renders a relatively accurate outline of Sonoma Valley’s riparian paths. Based on these paths we can see where the present day Wilson, Hooker, and Sonoma Creeks come together in a pattern which corresponds to that on this map drawn close to 160 years ago. The first map shown is the larger-tract. In the second I have zoomed to the section of the map which indicates where Bedrock Vineyards is currently located.

Enjoy!

To find Monte Rosso. Find the top-point of the mountain (this is Mt. Veeder), then follow the shoulder down to the right. There is another little peak (Mt. Pisgah) there. Slightly down and to the right you will see the cleared sloped of Monte Rosso (then referred to as Mt. Pisgah winery vineyards). You can see how large it is.

To find Bedrock Vineyards (then known as Madrone), follow the canyon down to the valley floor that starts to the immediate left of Monte Rosso. The vineyard pretty much takes up the whole valley floor, as it measured 450 acres(!) at that time. Our current property is right beyond the creek, which can be delineated by the line of oak trees cutting through the center of the valley, its current 154 acres being quite small compared to the original tract.

The second photo is another in the same series but shot from higher up on Sonoma Mountain. I have marked where the two vineyards are.

There will he wholesale changes made.

Your input was really valuable, and I think Kathryn Havens and I are finally on track. I will post the next round of mock-ups once we get them.

To give a glimpse of some things I am thinking about here are some things I put together. Drawing is not one of my talents so give me the benefit of the doubt!

“Incidentally, Peterson’s son Morgan has begun a new winemaking project with his father called Bedrock Wine Company, and the 2007 barrel samples he presented to me showed very good promise in a distinctly elegant style.”

For the record, and so my dad does not get fired, Bedrock Wine Company is, for better or worse, all mine– I take complete financial and artistic blame.

That I randomly showed up at the appointed hour that Josh was going to be at Ravenswood with some fresh barrel samples just happens to be a matter of luck!

I am pleased that Josh liked the wines– I poured him the 2007 Bedrock Heirloom Wine, Lorenzo Heirloom Wine, Rebecca’s Pinot Noir, and the Kick Ranch Syrah. Most importantly, he described the wines as “distinctly elegant” something that I am certainly going for!

I did not pour him the Cabernet and Old Lakeville because they are so young that I cannot even evaluate them particularly well– much less a critic who is busy tasting 2005 and 2006 wines that are showing a lot more polish.

In any case, for a young little winery this is good news. Bubbles will be consumed tonight!