Oakland, California
Brumaire has become a major wine event in California, this year was the 4th edition of the wine fair, which has been organized by Bradford Taylor of Ordinaire wine bar, Josh Eubank of Percy Selections, Quinn
Kimsey-White of Psychic Wines and Matt Coelho of Woods Beer Co. What I find very nice on
a first visit is that there's still a sense of casualness in its 4th year, something that now lacks in several major natural-wine fairs in France, and the venue in Oakland may play its part : the Starline Social Club in Oakland is a multi-purpose venue, a bar, a concert hall, community building and cultural center, this place has a soul which compensates largely its limited surface, in short a great setting to house an event about wines with a soul...
What makes Brumaire interesting for all of us (including European visitors) is that this is a window to go taste the wines of the increasing number of winemakers in the United States who have made the choice to vinify naturally (wild yeast, no additives, no correction, little or no sulfites) and are often using grapes from dry-farmed vineyards, which is another challenge in the hot-dry climate of California and in the context of a productivist mindset where commercial growers look for volume. The wine event featured also several foreign winemakers (mostly French) who were present in person to pour their wines and exchange with the public.
In spite of this wine event hosting a very reasonable number of winemakers, I still managed to not being able to taste all of them, and I should have been more careful about that, I'm very disappointed for example to have missed Krista Scruggs (Zafa Wines) about whom I've read a lot, she was on top of my mental list and in spite of having shot this picture while walking around the room (I thought i'd come back later) I ended up not tasting her wines because when I showed up her sample bottles were already empty. Same for Frenchtown Farms, Aaron and Cara whom I visited last summer and are doing such a great job from the vineyards of Renaissance, I spoke a bit to them as they were entering the building but somehow failed to taste their wines by lack of discipline in my timing. I need to either limit myself to 3 cuvées and/or use a timer for a maximum time spent on each table. On the other hand I can't do like certain pros, tasting (without swallowing) all the cuvée at a brisk pace with barely a word and leaving.
Here's my glass, As an afterthought I should have brought it back to Paris rather than leave it there, it's certainly a rarity and trophy in Paris.... Here below are the participating winemakers and wineries by alphabetical order, they were quite many after all (but it doesn't excuse in any way my carelessness on organizing my schedule) :
Absentee, AmByth, Beaver Creek, Caleb Leisure, Clos des Vignes du Maynes, Clos Lentiscus, Clos Saron, Côte des Cailloux, Coturri Winery, Domaine Gramenon, Enek Peterson, Fable Farm, Frenchtown Farms, Hardesty Cellars, Julie Balagny, Ketevan Berishvili, Ketevan Ninidze, Kindeli, La Clarine Farm, La Garagista, La Lunotte, La Onda, La Perdida, Les Lunes/Populis, Marina Kurtanidze, Marto, Old World Winery, Oriol Artigas, Philippe Jambon, Purity, Rajat parr, Ruth Lewandowski, Sonoma Mountain Winery, Stirm Wine Co., Tamuna Bidzinashvili, Woods/Divine Origins,
Then, the "Young Guns" : En Cavale, Gearhead Wines, Ian McCarthy, Krista Scruggs, Methode Sauvage, Stagiaire, The Shaking Hand, Zumo.
Don't make any mistake with this shot of Julie Balagny and Julien Altaber waiting for visitors, this was a few minutes before the public could access to the room at 11 am (I think this should start at 10 am, 11 is a bit late), actually that's when I should have begun tasting to make for my time problem.... About the admission details, the fee at Brumaire was 32 $ (you could have lunch downstairs at the bar) and in spite of being expensive compared to the equivalent in France (often 5 to 7 €, La Dive is 10 €) the event was sold out, people trying to get a ticket through a waiting list. And it's cheaper than Festivin in Tokyo which is 60 € or something like that (but still worth it !).
This is the real situation, I can't imagine Julie's tasting table other than under assault by a crowd of thirsty tasters at Brumaire. One more remark on the people attending the wine event : the public over here is (and again, this is THE wine fair on the West Coast for these wines) very young on average, much younger than they are in Paris and in France where i'd say they're more likely to be middle-aged. This is a good omen for the future of the wine culture in this country.
At least I didn't miss Tony Coturri (of Coturri Winery), and to be sure I instictively jumped at his table first, before anyone was there. For European readers, let's say Tony Coturri is a pioneer of natural wine in California, and like it happened in France with the Hacquet sisters this was well before the movement started in Beaujolais around Jules Chauvet and Marcel Lapierre & friends around the early 1990s'. Tony's natural winemaking was an instinctive choice that proved prescient like with the Hacquet siblings, all these people are true rebels who felt what was right and were unafraid to go against the tide of their time, they were proven right decades later. Tony works in the same facility than his son Nic, they share the same philosophy regarding indigenous yeast and the refusal to use chemicals but nic tends to pick a little lower sugar than Tony does, Tony works more California style
Read here this recent interview and profile by Jenny Eagleton for more perspective.
__ Coturri, Hard Apple Cider (2018).Tony Coturri makes also cider, he says Sonoma had in the past because of the weather there, a wide diversity in agriculture, every kind of fruit. He says this has changed and as a result it's very profitable to grow fruits now because there are none, for example someone growing peaches there can get 4000 $ a ton. tony started making cider in 2008 he noticed that growers would take out the apple trees to get more vines and now it's turning around, young people get in and plant apples again. Tony vinifies his cider in neutral wine barrels, the fermentation is with wild yeast, nothing added. He holds back cider from the year (25 %) before and blends part of it with the current vintage to add complexity, this is very important for the cider. He bottles the cider when it's 1,75 Brix (he says if you bottle it at 2, it explodes...), it has to be done between 1,5 and 1,7 something like that, because what happens is that the cider carries a lot of sediment, and the CO2 is behind the sediment.
Cloudy cider, beautiful color with a very nice range of aromas, thin type of bubbles, and not being filtered, this is real food !
__ Red 2018, blend of 50 % Semillon and Carignan, a spring wine, early release. He says joking, this is what is called a redneck rosé, when they go to a restaurant where there's no rosé they sometimes mix red and white in a glass to have him have is rosé...
Tony ssays he makes this since 1985, he used at the time a vineyard in Sonoma, the grapes of which nobody wanted at the time because it was complanted white &
red, Zinfandel, Carignan, Alicante, Petite syrah, white grapes, walnuts, fruits, it was really the old way (and all head pruned, no irrigation), and so he made this type of wine from there. He worked at the type with these old peoplme who owned this parcel, they understood what he was doing, then they died, and the soon took over, but he put so much fruit on the plants that the branched broke off, then he began to spray them which had never been done before, Tony tried to talk to him but this was the end of their relation. Soon after he sold the parcel because he couldn't make the money he wanted from it. The wine has grenadine notes, blackcurrant, with sweetness.
__ Syrah 2016. The label says grapes sourced at Poor Ranch, Hopland CA, Avi of Absentee also buys grapes from them, they seem indeed excellent growers. Tony says interesting things about growers, he says organic farming is not everything, there is also the load of fruit that the growers let on the vines : even if by industry standards they're low yields, they still tend to overcrop, leave too much fruit on the vines, especially on
older vines that can't stand it, that's why when given the choice he prefers to buy from
the younger vines where the inbalance is less obvious. He says organic doesn't mean everything, for proof, the biggest seller of organic products in the U.S. is Walmart, not really close to what they're doing. He says the buyer should rather have knowledge of what the growers do, not be blind believer through a label. i can't but agree, that's why we don't need a labelling system for natural wine made from organic grapes, these people work openly, there's virtually no chance to cheat, and the wines wouldn't cheat anyway... Tony says he used to be certified organic, biodynamic, but there's no point to it, the organizations don't do anything, they just take your money, and he just let go.
Color is more matured, evolved for this Syrah, lovely. 14,8 %. Thin-tannin texture with complex sweet spices aromas.
__ Petite Syrah, Mendocino 2016, also grapes from Poor Ranch Vineyards in Hopland, these vines were planted in the 1960s'. Pretty wild mouth, very sharp.
__ Non-vintage red, a blends of a little everything stilml in barrel, there are wines in there going back to 2009, it's not a solera, just a blend including several vintages, with 4 barrels as a main and then a little bit of everything. Lovely color too. Delicate wine, some sweetness with oxidation notes, like a Port. Tony says the Xeres feel comes from the Zinfandel part.
Dani Rozman whom I missed alas when i visited his neighbors Aaron and Cara Mockrish of Frenchtown Farms last summer (he wasn't there) is also making wine near Oregon House on the Sierra Foothills with his domaine La Onda. Dani who is originally from the east
Coast travelled around and spent time in Chile where he discovered natural winemaking; from there he contacted same-minded vintners in the States and ended up working
with Gideon Beinstock in Oregon house CA, making his first wine there in 2013. He works from 7 acres (2,8 hectares) all from Renaissance, plus buys a bit of organic fruit from the area.He sue needs more grapes to make wine but 7 acres is kind of the maximum he can farm himself. Plus, since 2013 he also makes wine in the south of Chile in the Itata valley (he was leaving the following day for Chile for the harvest there...), living 11 months a year in California and 1 month in Chile for the harvest from old vines (follow him there in his instagram account).
__ Blanco de Tinto 2017, 100 % Cabernet Sauvignon, direct press, the 2nd vintage for this cuvée. Dani says that usually it looks more like wine but this year it's more like a rosé. Actually Dani started farming in 2016, with the vineyard of Renaissance he shares with Aaron and Cara. The linked story on Renaissance was written in 2006 when Gideon was still working there and you can read this insightful article by Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle about the Renaissance days (with rare pictures) and the transition to today, at one point at mid-scroll you can see Aaron and Dani working together in the vineyard. The wine has indeed a mouth of a white wine, with sort of white tannins Dani says that the 2 other vintages for this cuvée are bone dry while this 2017 is a little off dry, in 2017 all of his wines took a year to ferment, it had to do with the temperature in the cellar. He says he usually releases the wines not on planned schedule but when they taste good, it's all different, this one has been one year in barrel
and not released yet. Speaking of SO2 his wines have between 0 and 30 total SO2.
__ Amor Amarillo 2017, from grapes coming from the slopes at Renaissance, I believe. 40 year old vines, dry farmed, with sheep between the rows in winter months (now, actually, before budding of course). Unfiltered, SO2 a day before bottling. Super fresh mouth, fullness feel.
__ Syrah-Carignan 2015, grapes sourced at Poor Ranch also in Hoplnd, CA. Dani made this wine before the founding of La Onda, in the early stage of the project. Wholeclustered grapes, co-fermentation. A wine with character, firm grip on the tongue. Dani says that he picks the grapes in many passes in the vineyard, in 4 different days, picking whatever is ripe and adding the grapes in the same, already-fermenting vats. In one day he can pick 800 or 1000 pounds, so it's small amount after small amount added.
__ Cinsault-Syrah, a trial now, from a magnum, a less than 2-barrel batch he keeps for friends and family, not on the market. This was was his 2nd vintage in California and he was still organizing, he made it for fun. He hasn't access to this vineyard now but he found a biodynamic-farmed Cinsault and he tries to draw connections between California and Chile, making Cinsault in both countries.
The color here is not very dark, there's a nice chew with a long, magnificent feel down the thoat. Classy wine.
I now taste at the table of Fable Farm, They have been making cider for 3 years in Barnard, Vermont. I hear Johnny telling someone that what triggered them was seeing so many old orchards with fruit on the ground which nobody would pick. I see that they have the same issues over there than in Europe, it's amazing how people snub the best fruit and go instead
probably buy shiny commercial apples in the supermarkets (if they buy any fruit at all)... They
don't own any land, they work with other farms to source their apples.
__I tasted 2 ciders first, lovely, fresh and vivid drink, I understand they ferment by their own indigenous yeast. The first one was a cuvée named Emanation, the guy says it's like a pet'nat, made in stainless only, the 2nd named Fluxion is a Méthode Champenoise, it is barrel aged a couple years and If I understood well he adds for the bottle fermentation (as after 2 years in barrels the sugar is gone) a bit of mapple syrup. Both are strikingly good even if the 2nd is more subtle and complex with the aging.
__ Then I had a third cider made from both grape (skins) and apples, I think it was the cuvée named Vinous Venus 2015, it's some sort of rosé, they take the skins after a red-grape maceration and then steep them inside after pressing, they do that in barrels. and the sparkling is triggered with honey addition this time. Very interesting. I love this one, superb color, terrific cider with an acidulous aftertaste. These guys know what they are doing, good job. Sells for around 20 $ retail. Here is what the website says about this cuvée :
Contained herein is a dry, rosé hued grape —
apple wine. Two years in the making, we steeped
the skins, pulp, and seeds leftover from two different red wine macerations in cider barrels. The grape marc from the first year came from our friends and neighbors at La Garagista, while the grape marc from the second year came from our first ever production of red wine. We then blended the 4 barrels of grape marc infused cider with two barrels of cider that underwent a maceration of it’s own, wherein apple pomace was fermented with it’s juice. Before bottling we added honey for a traditional method sparkle. 8.5%
__ Leo, the last one I tasted, made from a white hybrid plus cider. Yellowish color, very turbid (like the others). Terrific drink (let's call it cider !) with froth like beer; thin bubble touch in the mouth, refreshing. Hybrids rock ! Empty glass : terrific aromas on the nose, this doesn't lie ! Here is the website info on Leo which sells for 22 $ :
Contained herein is a dry, sparkling wine made from a blend of 40% La Crescent grapes and 60% cider apples. Half of the grapes were placed into an open top vessel directly from the destemmer for a partial whole berry maceration and the other half was pressed immediately. This “orange” wine contains both the macerated and non-macerated La Crescent grape fermentations, blended with a carefully selected multi-year entourage of cider barrels. We dissolved in Barnard bred maple syrup at bottling for a traditional method sparkle. 9.5%
At this point I took the picture of the whole team of Psychic Wines, the caviste in Los Angeles, the founder of which, Quinn Kimsey-White (2nd from left) is co-organizer of Brumaire. You can see here also Zach Jarrett (1st from left), I had met Zach and Morgan (3rd from left) in Angers earlier this year at Les Pénitentes after they recognized me in the tasting event (made a picture there too). On the right, this is Sam.
Here we're not tasting wine but rather some sort of apéritif or Vermouth, using herbs. This isn't on the market yet (he's waiting for the administrative green light). the apéritif-winemaker here is Ian McCarthy, Artemis Botanical Wines don't seem not to be listed on the program (and I forgot to shoot a picture of the bottles), I know he works not far from here in Richmond, sharing the facility of Purity.
__ I first tasted a white "let's say Vermouth", named Gardener, it's made mostly with Verdelho, plus some Marsanne, quince and herbs of the Absinthium family. After fermentation he macerated quince, well grounded but with skins and seeds. Tastes close to lemon peel, very interesting, although I'm not familiar with this type of apéritif. He says somtimes he put herbs in the wine directly, sometimes in the alcohol, and more rarely, he puts them in the alcohol and have it distilled again to get it a little more gentle, get te arolmatic without the bitterness. About his training, he says he's been into distillation for a long time, doing eau-de-vie and whisky for the last 6 years and he has always been interested in herbs and aromatic essence.
__ A rosé now, named Water Burner, made in 2018 from macerated Pinot gris (a couple weeks of skin contact) and carbonic Pinot Noir, plus lots of aranges in here. More bitterness here, sweetness too. THe sweetness comes from addes sugar here but it's much less than what is found in commercial Vermouth, the Italians usually sport 150 to 200 grams per liter while here it's about 70 grams.
Very interesting indeed.
__ A red, named Plague Doctor, made from Syrah (Sonoma Mountain), actually Noel Diaz from Purity Wines whith whom he shares the facility made the base wine here, the story is, during the rush of winemaking they accidently threw away a half ton of his grapes and made up for the mistake by giving him much better fruit, in the form of this Syrah. Super nose, this smells like an old medicine recipe made with herbs, very appealing. Ingredients here : Cinchona (Quinine family), Cardamom and more spices i didn't grasp the name of.
I Stopped of course at the tasting table of Clos Saron where both Gideon Beinstock and his son were present and pouring. The first time I met Gideon was when he was still working at Renaissance, the pioneer winery at the origin of the North Yuba AVA (the winery was set up in 1978, the AVA was created in 1985 thanks to Renaissance's work), in this region located well off the beaten path for the mainstream wine public. Again, read this recent and insightful article by Esther Mobley with rare photographs about the rise of this
Renaissance Winery and Vineyards, which was the creation of this strange new-age group (the Fellowship of Friends), and where Gideon conducted through trials a thorough analysis of the different soils and terroirs with as a result a better understanding about which varieties could fit the best.
__ The Pleasant Peasant 2016, a red made from Carignan, 100-year-old vines (purchased grapes), he did this cuvée from 2014 top 2017. the label says foot-stomped grapes, no inoculations, acid correction, additions, fining or filtration. Bottle # 50 of 1835. 13,5 %. Sharp, aromatic mouth.
__ Home Vineyard 2014, Pinot Noir. Light color, a bit evoluted. Chalky notes. Astringency and character.
__ Old Block 2013, Pinot Noir, the 0,5-acre oldest part (block) of the Home vineyard. Non-grafted vines planted in 1980, soil : clay/loam, volcanic ash, elevation 1600 feet. Bottle 566 of 756. Good evolution level, feel like it's good to eat with. Nice red.
__ Stone Soup 2014, Syrah and a bit of Viognier. Darker type of wine, good length, thin and marked tannins. Vines planted on a steep slope with stony soil. very nice wine, love it. Also ungrafted vines, elevation 2000 feet. the label says : no additions, subtractions, inoculations, corrections, or makeup. Just rocks.
__ Once upon a Time 1993, Cabernet sauvignon. Evolved color with tile shades, rather light and translucent. Now, this wine shows its age but how classy it feels when swallowed ! Nice old lady ! bottle # 6 or # 10 (hard to read) of 49. The label says A relic from a bygone era, prior to the creation of Clos Saron, when Gideon was making wines at Renaissance Winery. For a younf AVA like North Yuba (1985), having the chance to taste a 1993 opens a window on how well these wines age, and I'm sure Gideon's winemaking skills even if uninterventionist, are even better today...
__ Camptonville Folly, Gewürztraminer 2016. Terrific nose. Mouth : so subtle and delicate, feminine. so beautiful aromatics, there's ananas, grapefruit... The grapes come from the area, he shares them with other winemakers.
Then I stopped at the stand of Brent Mayeaux whom I spoke to the previous day on Treasure Island. Brent is in the process of opening officially his winery, Stagiaire Wines, when the administrative papers will be in. Brent works only with organic + grapes, he'd notwork from anything else, he says that he just moved back from France in 2018 and when he came here in California he'd just show up and find organic vineyards he
could work with, but actually it's not that simple to find such vineyards and growers, most vineyard
get chemicals. He lives in SDanta Cruz and couldn't find available fruit there, so he works with vineyards in Mendocino and other places.
__ Sweat Dreams, Contra Costa white wine 2018 made from Chardonnay and Muscat. Super well balanced mouth. Easy drink, nice wine. He made one to two days of maceration where the Chardonnay and Muscat fermenting and aging separately in stainless, then blended just before bottling. All of Brent's wines are sulfur free. he says the sugar should be gone but in case it used crown caps as closures.
__ Sauvignon from a very old vineyard in Mendocino, should be pulled up alas one day. Super nice, gentle energy here ! Good balance and the wine expresses truth and harmony. Don't miss that one when on the market !
__ A red, Malbec & Chardonnay. Grapes from a 1st-generation organic, is converting his vineyard organic. Sulfur free like the rest. Crown caps too. Delicate rose aromas, peony, subtle red. 11,8 % alcohol. He picked the grapes early, picking the two varieties at the same time.
__ Zinfandel 2018, grapes souced in Mendocino. Super mouth touch and chew, freshness. Almost peppery like an Aunis. Grower : guess whom : the Poor Ranch family near Hopland... Next time I'll visit them ! Terrific wine, feels so easy and fresh in spite of its 13,5 % alcohol (not that high actually). Brent says that in California it is easy to get fruit with ripeness and richness, the broblem is freshness and drinkability, so here tjhere was one small ferment that was done carbonic, (actually he says he wish he hadn't done that because after all he thinks it didn't need the carbonic part), the rest was half whole clusters and half juice poured on top and staying put for 4 weeks, which gave an awesome ferment dynamic, he's just push the cap once a day to keep it wet, and there was no problem, no volatil acidity. The vineyard is located at 1200 feet ot 200 meters but it's a very hot site he says. He says that Avi from Absentee makes Zin from the same block.
In between I spoke with James Jelk who is starting a winery with associate Ryan Stirm in Santa Cruz, Florez Wines, he is a native of the region and studied enology & viticulture at UC Davis. He farms himself part of the vineyard used for his wines, organicly and without irrigation, he intends to eschew additives and correction, not using sulfur during the vinification and élevage, and never filtering. he was there to taste the wines like other visitors. Read this article about the project of James jelk and Ryan Stirm who also runs a Riesling-centered operation, Stirm Wine. And he works with Stagiaire too.
I didn't want to disturb Christophe Foucher of La Lunotte although I love his wines, I can go visit him in the Cher valley in the Loire, and I usually see him on the saturday market in Saint-Aignan on weekends. The young guy on the picture is Mac, he works with Bradford in Chicago, distributing wine and importing wine too.
Then, I found a spot at La Clarine Farm with Hank Beckmeyer, Caroline Hoel and a friend facing the visitors. It's been a few years since there's been a lot of snow this winter, going the same way statewide with lots of rain/snow that have filled up the reservoirs and hopefully the water tables beneath all over California.
__ Rosé Alors 2017, Mourvèdre 10 %. Super my visit at La Clarine but I follow what's going on there on Instagram and man,
nice rosé, with good spicy notes. Unfiltered, unfined, just a little bit of SO2 (20 ppm). Direct press, fermented in a pincheon
with wild yeast. Nice texture, easy to drink, only about 12 % alc. Hank ages his rosé another winter before he releases it, he likes it better this way. Hank works with growers of his region who do a very good job, because his estate vineyard gives very little fruit.
__ Petit Manseng 2017, a white. Gorgeous color, like wheat, and turbid. Nothing to say, this is balanced, easy with enjoyable white tannins. He found this Petit Manseng among rows of syrah he was working with on a 2900-feet high vineyard, a 20-minute drive from his place on volcanic soil, the leaves were very different, they look a little bit like Tannat (he has some on his own vineyard), so he decided to take it apart. Previously people wouldn't pay attention and pick them with the Syrah certainly, it has lots of acidity so it's a good blender.
Mo-Ma 2017, a dark rosé, made from Mourvèdre and Marsanne (that's why the name, not related to the Museum of Modern Art) picked and fermentation together. Granite soil, grapes sourced in Cedarville, a former goldmining area. Granite soil, a decomposed type of soil, almost like sand. Nice tile color. In the mouth, that's a damn super wine, super classy, my system loves it at first digestive glance ! Don't miss that one (although the other also). And guess what ? 11,2 % alcohol, i spotted that after.
__ Syrah (2017 I guess) from a volcanic soil. Nice power in the throat with chalky tannins. Love it ! Smoky and neat notes, lovely wine. Hank says it's very Californian, he loves it too. 250 cases of this. sells for 30 $.
Now we'll know that when he's not at Ordinaire in Oakland, Diego may be looking after his wine. Diego says he had made a little bit of wine before but never on this scale, here he
made 4 barrels of wine for his first vintage, 1 of white and 2 reds, plus actually a rosé. this wine is not on the market yet, of course it's highly likemy that you'l find the wine at Ordinaire when it's released, we joke there's a conflict of interest here, but a good one... His winery operation's name is Zumo (means juice in Spanish).
__ Phew 2018, mùade with Verdelho sourced in Contra Costa. Partial whole-clustered with a little of maceration, plus some carbonic maceration, it's a blend of different cuves, all being picked the same day. Nice turbid wheat color. Chalky white tannins. I was asking if he got supprt from fellow winemakers in this first vintage as I know it's often stressful the first time you vinify a sizeable volume without sulfur, and he says yes, there's the natural-wine community, other winemakers including Laureano coming to taste the wine.
__Flower Face, Tempranillo & Muscat 2018. Light, exciting color. Short maceration, no sulfites also. Acidulous notes in the mouth, easy drinking. Diego says it should be priced 20 $ on the shelves. More wines next year certainly.
At this point I spotted on the other side of the street this giant Calichill billboard (a cannabis delivery service), standing in our face through the window like in purpose, as to offer us an alternative high. No doubt, we're in California where Marijuana purchase and delivery is legal (if you're over 21). This said, I expected to smell more pot in the streets of San Francisco and Oakland but it was OK, not that much actually (maybe it's because it's windy...). I actually smelled it more last summer in the countryside driving in small communities with the windows open, it smelled sometimes like whole plantations were around, but I never saw one directly. I linked to the delivery company's website but I think the side effects of pot smoking are somehow overlooked, I'll keep with our liquid dope which is a real food for the brain and soul...
You of course visit the toilet once in such a tasting event, and i spotted the humorous signs showing the Starline Social Club complies with the gender-neutral rules, but not without humor.... This is a collage of the two separate signs, they were of course sticked at two separate toilets....
Jacques Mathieu of Côte des Cailloux planted in Sonoma a 2,5-acre (1 hectare) field blend (complantation) vineyard in 1996 with Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Counoise, Cinsault, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier and Chassellas, vinifying the wines at Coturri's facility, indeed a good reference to start something natural. He makes 250 cases of wine with this parcel per year, and if you count the purchased grapes he makes a total of 400 cases. I understand Jacques Mathieu arrived in the U.S. in 1982 from France, he speaks now French with a little bit of accent.
__ Mathieu, Marsanne,
Roussanne, Viognier 2018. Grapes sourced in the Russian River area, on Old River Road between Hopland and Ukiah, from a grower named Glen McCourty, he is also doing some research work at UC Davis (he wanted to prove you could grow Rhône varieties along the Russian River. All grapes are organic, whether from estate vines or contracted.
. This is a barrel sample, will be bottled when ready. Generous richness feel, power.
__ Côte des Cailloux 2017, Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre, Counoise, Grenache Blanc and Viognier, I understand this is the complanted parcel, everything picked together. Bottled 8 weeks before. The white brings the glycerine feel in the wine. Intense mouth feel, this is a serious blen with indeed this fresh spike to help the whole thing. 2nd sip : I enjoy the tannin.
__ Côte des Cailloux 2016, same blend. Just lovely, elegant, with this little something extra that awakes you. Very nice wine. 45 € retail.
__ Côte des Cailloux 2014. Same blend, other expression,more alcohol feel here I would say.
__ Mathieu Carignan old vines, grapes purchased at Testa Vineyards north of Ukiah in Mendocino county, this is an old grower family 'farming there since 1912). The vineyard here is dry farmed (no irrigation) and 127 years old. Man, very expressive wine, powerful and sharp at the same time, a California wine indeed.
__ Côte des Cailloux 2018, a barrel sample made of Syrah with a bit of white. Terrific color, chalky red, turbid. Fresh in the mouth, enjoyable astringency on the tongue. Goes down the throat with power, but classy. Will neither be filtered or fined, and so SO2 adding planned. Cloudy shades, relatively translucent, I love its color too, and it definetely tastes like it looks. So fresh... 30 $ retail, planned to be released end of may.
__ Côte des Cailloux 100 % Grenache, no oak, only stainless steel. More purple color, a bit sweet.
At that pont I spoke to Allistair Bellahsen who stands here along Quentin (manager at Ordinaire in Oakland) and Julien Altaber. Allistair is staying 10 days in California and visits his childhood friend Quentin (they worked together in Le Verre Volé a few years ago). He later opened (october 2018) with his wife Laura a restaurant in the south-west of France at the limit of Béarn and Basque country in Sauveterre-de-Béarn, the restaurant name is La Légende. At the time they set up a crowdfunding page for this restaurant, it explains everything on their project. They alas parted ways and his wife is in charge while he travels and looks for opportunities with vignerons, his plans this year is to make wine, he will work at Domaine L'Alézan in the Rhône to learn making wine, he wants to learn the whole cycle from the vineyard to the vinification and they offered him the opportunity to do it at their young domaine. He's happy because they work well in the vineyard, using also a draft horse there. Speaking of La Légende, Allistair has not sour feelings about it, he's happy his former wife keeps the project alive, and he's proud it works in this small village.
Caleb Leasure is making wine under his own label (Caleb Leasure Wines) at the same facility than Coturri in Glen Ellen, CA, sharing the same space and the same philosophy in terms of vineyard farming and uninterventionist vinification. His 1st vintage there was 2015, he sources his grapes from different places including Old World Winery as he's friend with Derek Trowbridge, the owner, and helps at the winery from time to time; he also buys grapes from Mendocino and the Sierra Foothills.
He now uses qveveri, these clay vessels commonly used in Georgia for skin maceration and élevage, he does his entire production in clay now, he has10 of them, the largest making maybe 800 liters although they're supposed to be nominally 600, it's artisanal manufactured and the volumes are not accurate. He just bottled his first wine from 2018 because the vinifications were swift
__ Caesura, Viognier sparkling 2018, grapes from the Sierra Foothills. For his 3rd vintage he made 450 cases total and he's hopeful to double his volume soon because he found more vineyards. Thin bubbles, good tension.
__ Verso 2018, a still white made of 25 % Semillon and 75 % Sauvignon. Maceration of 50 % of the skins for 6 months in qveveri, very long maceration indeed. The wine has this white tannin feel, nice one.
__ Red sample (not bottled), Mourvèdre (70 %) and Marsanne (30 %), grapes sourced in Placerville (El Dorado), also vinified in qveveri. 8-day maceration. Great balance, i love the mouth touch, this tannic feel, good balance with the alcohol, very nice ! Caleb says he lived in New York but was from the Bay Area originally. He also spent time in London and in France.
__ Aporia, Syrah 2017; grapes from Old World Winery, a family of growers with a long history. Vines planted in 1890, this parcel actually burnt in 2017, I understand it had to be pulled off, he still has something like 10 cases of this wine. Appealing complex nose, I love this wine, and only 12 % alcohol.
Of course you know Avi Deixler of Ansentee Winery, I visited him last summer and he is sure a mounting star in the natural wine scene here in California. His story on how he succeeded to base his
winery in a former dairy barn in a ranch near Point Reyes is all his style, against all odds
his demand to the local authorities was approved (Point Reyes isn't known as a wine region, much of the area is protected and tourism oriented).
__ NMWD 2017, from a magnum, the initials meaning North Marin Wine District, of which Avi is the sole member. Carignan only here, single barrel. Wow, that's a diner wine, serious stuff, my system approves noisily. Relatively dark color but see through. Private stash, means Reserve. A wine in its youth, you feel it, and it kind of says come back in two years ant it will taste even better, you feel it's alive and not frozen in its development, it's alive.
__ Flaws 2017, Abouriou. Made for Terroir wine bar in San Francisco (He and Luc Ertoran are good friends). So intense ! And there's this spike on the tongue, lovely ! This was the end of a long tasting day and I was limiting my tastes to a couple of wines, both to limit my input and try to see more people as closing timùe was nearing.
I spoke briefly to Marto Wörner (Martin Otto Wörner) who has been making his own wines in Germany for 2 years, in the Rheinhessen region; he is among the small but mounting number of natural winemakers in Germany, and he was among the wineries featured last year in Weinsalon Natürel, the natural-wine fair in Cologne. Marto otherwines has been making wine for 5 years, training at Matassa and Gut Oggau and now he farm 3 hectares in Flonheim. He comes from a family of winemakers but has his separate cellar and vineyard, and next year he'll take the whole family surface, converting it from what I understand to natural winemaking. His surface is made of 6 varieties, field-planted (complanted) together. They use a tractor but don't plow any more, they just cut the grass. Marto sells most of his wine in Japan, he likes is wines to be light, like 10 % alcohol and he doesn't add SO2.
__ Weiss 2017, a 6-variety blend, a first part with mainly Müller Thurgau and another aromatic variety I didn't grasp the name of, they were put to ferment on skins for 2 weeks, half is carbonic maceration, half without the stems, without punchdown because he doesn't want to extract the stems. Then he picked the Riesling and sylvaner from the same parcel and pressed all that together with the skin maceration grapes. This way he gets acidity and aromatic edge.
If my notes are correct the young woman on his side is Kae, she works at Kismet Restaurant in Los Angeles, they're close to Psychic Wines (2 miles away) and buy their natural wines from the distributors.
Here is the whole team of Verjus, the wine bar that has just opened in San Francisco 6 weeks ago. Located downtown in the financial district, it is both a wine bar or bistrot with good casual food, and a caviste with a wide choice of wines to go. More on Verjus later. All of them could be here at Brumaire as the place is closed on sunday.
I couldn't manage to taste Krista Scruggs wines because her samples were empty when I showed up (the red in Krista's glass is not hers), but at least I got an interview...
Krista Scruggs is the woman behind Zafa Wines, she is originally from Fresno, California, now makes wine in Vermont and has become the hottest winemaker for natural wines in the United States. Krista's wines debuted at Brumaire 2018 (her 1st vintage was 2017). She wanted to make wine but especially to farm and California being financially out of reach she got in contact at a brumaire with Deirdre Heekin of the biodynamic wine farm La Garagista (another top winery I missed in this Brumaire, shame on me !)where she was offered the opportunity to train there, and that's what led her to the faraway Vermont.
Her first contact with the wine trade was when she started working 7 years ago for Constellation Brands, this is a large conglomerate about as large as Gallo that owns many large conventional wineries, she was doing office work there in relation with the lab and cellars. While working the at Constellation she began tasting at Ordinaire in Oakland and while doing so oddly she didn't know she was drinking natural wine, it took her a few months to realize, until she went to Cahors and had a wine there that was organic and had zero sulfites, and she made the connection with the wines she had at Ordinaire and began to connect with the Gang of Four in the Beaujolais (Lapierre, Foillard and friends). Then she quit her job at Constellation, it had became obvious for her that it was not the way to make wine, going to work in France to learn with the producers. Back in California she ended up finding this position in Vermont, a small State that was not really on the wine map but which is now fully on the picture with Fable Farm,la Garagista and Krista Scruggs, the 3 of them farming biodynamicly... She got her first parcel last year, 10 acres (4 hectares), so in 5 years her vineyard surface will be fully operational; in between she'll source her grapes from the vineyard she was managing. Production this year 300 cases, next year probably 350. From her 10 acres she won't exceed 2000 cases cause she can't farm more than this surface. She sells to Jenny & François and the rest she distributes herself in Vermont (including in her tasting room. She says she feels very happy to be at 34 in her first vintages and have already her wines all virtually allocated, it's a lot of pressure but it pushes her to keep working well and make great wines...
I still managed to taste a wine from Julie Balagny :
__ Fleurie 2017 O Bella Ciao
n, a blend of several parcels because in 2017 very small volumes on Cayenne and En Remont (hail). She doesn't buy grapes generally (she'd be entitled to in 2017) but in 2018 she did it to help a woman who hadn't got her papers in time to conduct her own harvest (it was 3,5 hectoliters of Saint Véran). Wow, this Fleurie is just Gorgeous, superb blend of Gamay. 16 € without tax. I asked her if she still uses the vintage vineyard tractor, a Beaujolais-made Béné which she had in my first profile on her (mid-scroll on the story), she says yes, and after these few repairs it just works fine, including the cable on the side for plowing the steep slopes. If you love like me these odd-looking multi-purpose tractors, here's a dedicated webpage on Bénés, the pictures are excellent with details including the cable system on the side. I can't understand why they aren't manufactured again, they'd make a killing...
Here are a few wines from AmByth, a winery which I visited a few years ago when Frederic Ballario was workiong there and which is making uncorrected wine from vineyards that are biodynamic and dry farmed, this in a relatively dry and hot part of California, south of Paso Robles. They've been proving that even in an area where
drought is severe, you can work without
irrigation, and the winery is now listed by the mainstream media as being among the top ones in California for the quality of their uncorrected wines. The vineyard surface is 20 acres or 20 hectares.
__ Mourvèdre 2013. 15 months in amphora plus oak (blend of two, i understand). Super zspicy nose, sweet spices type. Such a freshness in the throat, that's a great wine to sip. Vinified by Gelert Hart, the son of Philip Hart, the founder of this pioneer winery. A top Mourvèdre indeed !
__ Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 with 15 % Syrah, grapes farmed biodynamic of course like the rest, also vinified by Gelert who has been making the wines for 5 years here. Fresh wine and silky, intense tannins, and such a good balance ! Exceptionnal wines indeed if small volumes. Just superb with a glorious throat feel.
__ Zinfandel 2014, grapes purchased from Por Que Vineyards, vinified by Gelert also. Exciting wine.
__ Adamo 2009, Grenache 59 %, Mourvèdre 17 %, Syrah 13 %, Counoise 11 %. Unfiltered, unfined, native yeast like the rest The nose can't lie here, exciting aromas opf underwood, leather. Sharp mouth. Vinified at the time by Philip Hart who now lives part of the year in Costa Rica.
The room was getting empty and i was about to leave when I met Kara who was working at Ordinaire, she now works with Connor at Ruby, one of the best natural wine bars in San Francisco, the place where you'll get only wines that got really nothing added, even the slightest sulfur addition. I am confused not to have visited Ruby this time again, it was already in my plans last summer.
This was time to leave, the staff was unloading boxes of empty bottles in this pickup, testimony of all the great wines people had that day in Oakland. Here Julien Guillot with Christophe Foucher.
Then don't count of going to sleep after Brumaire, keep energy for what comes next, there's more to do. We took an Uber for Soba Ichi, a very
good Soba restaurant in Oakland
where Kosuke was working (seems he works everywshere), it was not that cold so we stayed outside, it's located in a very quiet residential neighborhood, not downtown.
After that we went to Punchdown where we had a few glasses, D.C. (pictured on top) was there, plenty of people from Brumaire had landed here too, terrific ambiance, and Julien Guillot poured us from a magnum, a terrific rosé by Cornelissen, Susucaru Terre Siciliane Rosato 2017, an unfined rosé with an acidulous nose, candy-like mouth with a thin tannic texture that lasts long. All these wines were so good that even after a whole day sipping, there was still room for them in our system... I loved the Garagista Loups-Garoux 2016 which at last I tasted, this wine had a super saline edge, powerful at the same time, very neat and classy ! Vermont Rocks !! I spoke to Jon Piana at the counter, he's the guy from Fable Farm who poured his ciders and blends, he says he sells to Percy Selections and Zev Rovine.
Then there's the party at Ordinaire (from which this whole Brumaire thing started in the first place), and that was something ! Who says you can't drink booze on the sidewalk in the United States ?
No problem here and
from afar you could see this crowd of revelers with inside of course many of the winemakers who were at Brumaire. The program was good food, barbecue and salads on the sidewalk, see picture on the left (i didn't even took time to eat but my liquid food was probably so healhy...)...
... And quite a lot of wine with bottles passing around, and from everywhere, all regions making natural wine as you can gess, the winemakers having brought their leftovers and I understand that you could also buy your bottle from the shop. Really a terrific after-Brumaire, you need to be there after the tasting, unforgettable...
Aaron of Not Drinking Poison was there in California with his girlfriend for maybe 10 days, visiting also several of these winemakers in their facility and region. This guy lauds me for my work at Wineterroirs but he knows a ton of things on natural wine in France, staying with winemakers and visiting them repeatedly, certainly the man to consult for what's going on in the wine scene there Here on the picture he stands at the opposite of Jenny Eagleton with whom I spoke a bit and who I'm realizing only now is the writer I've linked to for several very insightful stories and reports she wrote on Sprudge. Great job !
Here (with Hank Beckmeyer making a sign in the background) I spoke to Natalie Hekmat who is opening soon a bistrot or Cave à Manger in Los Angeles, Voodoo Vin, the opening will be in fall 2019, probably in East Hollywood at 713 N Virgil Avenue, there will be both bottles to go like in a cave and natural wine to drink with small plates of food. Los Angeles is having more and more natural wine venues right now, I heard this was in part because many people were leaving the Bay Area because its high living costs (especially lodging).
Sergio Perez on the left comes from Bolivia and he says this is the next place to go for wine, he encourages me to visit, he did the harvest for Donkey & Goat in Berkeley and worked at Terroir and today works at Verjus, the recently-opened wine bar in the financial district in downtown San Francisco. In the middle is Fabien Rety who left France a few years ago and now lives here in Petaluma with his wife, he founded Avenue Vin and works at Verjus, planning to open something in Petaluma eventually, and he knows all these people, Ordinaire, Terroir (where he also worked), Verjus. Chris Scanlan on the right worked also at Terroir, he is into the wine scene since 2000 starting in Colorado and then in California in 2006 for the harvest, made his first own wine in 2012 (Pain & Glory Cellars) which is still in its élevage stage, he consults for Wood’s Brewery and worked for 7 years with Amy Atwood among other things. He plans with partners to plant soon Loire varietals in the Sonoma Coast.
Comments