OK, confession time.  The past few years we haven’t been really psyched going to the annual Family Winemakers event in northern Cal.  I know, I know, why wouldn’t someone dedicated to fine wine be psyched about heading to the greatest showing of California wines in the state?  Sounds crazy.  But please understand, for us this is work.  Whenever we’ve attended this event the last few years it has been a litany of new producers trying to charge too much for their wares.  It was literally painful going from new Cab guy to new Cab guy, tasting their wine, and then have them tell you it was $125 a bottle and they were going “exclusively mailing list only and perhaps a few restaurants they were going to hand-select.”  For every Mark Neal or Mike Officer (Carlisle) we have found over the years there have been 20 other guys that didn’t have a clue. So we essentially fly up, spend hundreds of dollars, and leave with nothing more than memories of some pretty good $100+ Cabs and $60+ Pinots that will no longer exist in a few years because they should have been half that price.  Oh well, we’re not ones to suffer fools.

But this year, we thought, might be a bit different.  Economy in the tank, global premium wine sales ground to a halt and the closure and/or continuing liquidation of a few wineries throughout the state might actually have some of the upstarts paying attention.  This scenario, in conjunction with the outstanding 2007 harvest, would lead us to believe that there was some potential business to be done.  We were actually a little pumped to check out the show.

Believe it or not, more of the same.  More $60 Pinot Noirs, more $125 Cabernets, diamonds on the fingers, marketing plans culled directly from the Wine Advocate/Harlan school of wine sales.  Lord, when will these people learn?  It seems that no start-up wine producer wants to grow with their consumer, instead looking to hit ‘em directly in the pocketbook from the opening gun.  Is it the economics of a start-up operation that is causing this lack of reason?  If so, it appears that starting a winery would be the equivalent of buying a home at the market high five years ago, not even remotely economically viable.  Nope, I think it’s merely a matter of laziness.  Opening a few web sites, reading a few wine catalogs, and pricing their product based upon what everyone else is pricing their product, not taking in to consideratrion what the consumer actually wants to (or is able to) pay and/or their production costs, and/or whether or not all the other guys are selling their wines if they haven’t received 94 points from Wine Spectator.

We think globally here.  Napa’s competition isn’t the rest of Napa, it’s the rest of the world.  Bordeaux, Argentina, South Australia, South Africa, Chile are all trying to get their peace of Napa’s pie, and Napa is making it easy for them by jacking prices and cashing in on a brand (Napa Valley) that makes $20 wine fly off the shelves but carries no further weight once the wine hits the $40-$50 mark.  At that juncture it’s anyone’s game and…. 

Whew! Major digression!  Put away the soap box and on with the show.  All things considered the wines in geenral were pretty exciting.  The 2007 harvest was an outstanding one for California’s north coast so we wanted to take a good look at Pinot and Zin in particular…and we did just that. 

On the Pinot front there were some great wines to be had, including hot new releases from Benovia (Mike Sullivan’s awesome new project post-Hartford Court), Calera (new single vineyard are knockouts, in particular the 2006 Reed), Clos Pepe, Fort Ross, Keller Estate, Melville, Mount Eden (coming on strong with their 2005…),  Patz & Hall, Pisoni (quite elegant for this winery), Roessler, Row 11 (newcomer with a great value offering), Siduri and Varner (also 2005, must be a Santa Cruz thing…).

Zins were more of a mixed bag even in the context of this ‘best since…’ vintage.  We were taken aback by the latest from Benovia (again), Branham (great Rockpile), Conway Family (remember that name…), Dashe (elegant as usual) and  Mauritson (finally! their 2007 Dry Creek is great..)

Cab producers with their heads screwed on straight?  Hmmm…you’re looking at some of the usual suspects from previous vintages, including Barnett (not the $100+ Rattlesnake bottling), John Anthony, Keenan, Palmaz (their Cedar Knoll 2005 was great for the money), Snowden, Titus.  Wish there were more names here but most of the other candidates were either over-priced (though many were tasty), restaurants only, not up to snuff, or all of the above…

There are two white wines to give ‘props’ to.  First, the Varner boys are producing some wicked-good Chardonnays from their tiny plots in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and not charging an arm and a leg.  Nicest guys on the planet, always smiling, their wines are brilliant, support these cats!  Also, the Sauvignon Blanc from Greystack Cellars was truly exceptional.  Don’t know the whole story (the winery thinks it has to do with their northern Italian clone) but this is a brilliant wine and worth every penny…

Sign of the times?  There were a lot of  “A-list” producers at this shindig trying to drum up business. Names like Turley, Littorai, Martinelli, Robert Foley, Pride, Pahlmeyer, Paloma, Merry Edwards, lots of mailing list darlings plying their wares…

Next time…what we ate.

I’m having a bit of deja-vu boarding the flight for Bordeaux again, this time to attend the VinExpo wine show. But this trip will be a little different as I will be indulging in two of my passions. The first, of course, is wine. The second is accompanying me in a grey, bulky, protective flight case.

I have brought my limited, (thanks to Bannings Bikes) hand-built, Italian road bike and plan on exploring the rugged (well…if flat can be considered “rugged”) terrain of Bordeaux. Once again I will be staying with my “right bank family”, the Becot’s of Beausejour Becot and my Left Bank residence, Chateau Pape Clement has once again graciously opened its doors for me as well.

I am starting my journey in St. Emilion. After a breakfast featuring Dominique Becot’s world famous coffee, the first order of business is a bike ride with Gerard Perse (who says you can’t mix business and pleasure?), owner of Ch. Pavie, Monbousquet, Bellevue Mondotte, etc, etc. Rumor has it Gerard is a mean cyclist and has climbed every mountain stage in the Tour de France. He has promised to take me on a 70 kilometer ride throughout St. Emilion, Cotes de Castillon, Lalande de Pomerol and Pomerol. Hopefully the jet lag won’t affect my ability to keep up. Yea…that will be a perfect excuse if I can’t.

Upon meeting Gerard we sat in his kitchen for a quick cup of espresso (I needed all the caffeine I could get) before heading out on the ride. To match my Dario Pegoretti Marcello, he pulled out a beautiful Pinarello Prince that was computer sized for him by the factory. The bike is 100% carbon fiber and is a work of art to look at. Guess the owner of Pinarello likes Pavie. Once on the bikes Gerard seemed to decide to take it easy on me by cruising on a relatively flat road along the Cote de Pavie. He was pointing out all the different vineyard sights and it was a great way to really experience the terrain. After about 5 miles of getting warmed up he took a sharp left and before me stood what the local cyclists call a mini Alpe d’Huez containing a few switchbacks. The good news for me is that it is only about a 1/2 mile in length, the bad…It was a 12% grade. Once at the top we were in Cotes de Castillon where he showed me his property Clos Les Lunelles, a stunning vineyard, and seeing it helped me understand why this wine is so good and can compete with many top St. Emilion estates as it sits on the same strand of limestone cote as Pavie, Larcis Ducasse La Mondotte etc… We paused for a quick sip of water before heading off towards Pomerol to ride by some of the great estates in that appellation. When you drive by the vineyards in a car, there are many things you miss. But on a bike, it was truly amazing… I’m kind of a terroir nerd…. I want to see and understand why vineyard A produces better wine than vineyard B. After 3 hours in the saddle we ended up back at Ch Pavie. He invited me in for a drink and something to eat, but I had an appointment at Tertre Roteboeuf in an hour so we had to part ways. Gerard is an incredibly nice man. He is passionate and that passion shows in the quality of his wines. He invited me for dinner while I was there but we could never connect due to our schedules. Rest assured, I will be back to accept that dinner and another bike ride will definitely be on the schedule.

After a quick shower, it was off to see Francois Mitjavile, the man behind Tertre Roteboeuf. This is an incredible property with very unique terroir. We sat outside looking over his vineyard and there he explained why this wine is so unique. There are 12.5 acres of vines planted with 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Merlot vines are on average 45 years old, while Cabernet Franc ones are 5 years older. The subsoil consists of four different kinds of clay, which are resting on the bed of limestone. This combination of subsoil which is typical for the majority of vineyard in the Saint-Émilion “Côtes” (slope) is described as “cold soil”, because clay needs a long time to be warmed up, and the limestone is always humid and cold. This means that the grapes get the opportunity to get maximum advantage of the sun and reach perfect maturity very late. I learned so much, as he is one of those guys you can just listen to because he is very articulate and captivates you with his explanation.

With my lesson about the vineyard over, it was to the chai to barrel sample the 2008. One thing that was interesting is that he has you choose the barrel to taste from, an interesting philosophy to prove he’s not taking wine from the better barrels as samples. Once in the glass, the wine smelled like cherry jam. It was beautifully layered with notes of minerals, cocoa, Christmas spices, and a touch of oak. Incredibly fresh with an expansive mid-palate, silky sweet tannins and a finish that lingered on and on. Some compare his wine to Burgundy… and in 2008, I can see why, as it was simply breathtaking. After that we were far from being done as we tasted the 07 (big surprise), 06 (which was Francois’ most difficult to harvest) and then the 88! If you see 88 in the market, buy it as it is ridiculously great wine!

Once finished in the barrel room, we made our way to the dining room for lunch prepared by his charming and lovely wife, Miloute. After riding in the morning and barely having anything to eat so far in the day, I was starving by the time we sat down. For lunch, it was 2001 and 1986 Tertre Roteboeuf and 1995 Roc de Cambes. The 01 was in a really good spot…. still fresh with a creamy texture, wonderful acidity and sweet black cherry fruit. The 86 was classic (in a good way) with sweet currants, minerals, expansive mid palate and wonderful finish. The 95 Roc de Cambes was a surprise because it still had quite a youthful feel to it with sweet red and black fruits, silky tannins and great balance. Francois says the terroir at Roc de Cambes is almost identical to Tertre Roteboeuf. While Roc de Cambes is the best wine in Bourg, I couldn’t taste the similarity in the wines. After spending three wonderful hours with the Mitjavile’s it was time to leave. I believe I could have hung out till dinner because I enjoyed listening, learning and drinking the wines. But, my day wasn’t over….

Back at the Becot’s, it was time to put on the suit, as tonight I was being inducted into the Jurade de St. Emilion.

The Jurade dates back to July 1199, when the Falaise Charter was signed by John Lackland, King of England (and brother to Richard the Lionheart) who controlled the Aquitaine region of France. The charter confirmed the rights of the burghers of Saint-Emilion to administer their town and the freedoms and privileges that accompanied them. In 1289, in the reign of Edward I, these legal, administrative and economic powers were extended to the parishes of the Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion, hence the name “Jurade”. Wine being a major concern of this monastic city, the Jurade controlled the production and consumption of wine as it controlled everything else. It oversaw the production of “fine” wines, kept the iron that branded every single barrel, combated fraud and abusive practices, and destroyed wine that was judged unworthy of the name.
It’s an incredible honor to be part of such a long tradition whose members are people I’ve admired for many years. This year’s attendees included a couple of French movie personalities as well as Prince Albert of Monaco (who also was inducted). It was a great event and following the ceremony was a fun dinner that featured some nice wines. As the evening ended around 1am, I was dead tired. But, in Bordeaux fashion, it was a Champagne nightcap with the Becot’s, Jeffrey and Francoise Davies and yours truly….We talked about the economy, our new President, the 2008 Bordeaux En Primieur campaign and celebrated Fathers Day since all the men are fathers. After anhour or so… we said our goodnights and by 2:15am; I was in a comatose sleep. What a day… one I will never forget!