6,100-year-old winery in Armenia
Amazing…just imagine the amount of Brettanomyces is in that winery! Tee hee. I wonder what the price tag would be on that puppy if there were actually still an amphora left.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/11/worlds-oldest-winery-found-in-armenia/
Sangiovese Cal or Ital
This evening was a vino fest of Sangiovese. A ridiculously naughty blind tasting of 12 wines, made of predominately Sangio and were either from Italy or California. Damn if it ain’t crazy that many of the Italians smelled of tomatoes…guess that just really smacks you up-side-the-face the idea of regional food and regional wines were really made for each other.
Byington & Downhill Winery
I have never been lucky enough to make it up to Byington Vineyards & Winery in Los Gatos, but today I did!
I headed up there to meet with Frank Ashton, General Manger of Byington, but better yet, the owner/winemaker/all-knowing-powerful-OZ of Downhill Winery.
Now Byington is more of the typical (and I mean that in a good way) Santa Cruz mountain winery in that they excel in their Pinot Noirs and SCM Chardonnays as well as 3 different Cabernet Sauvs, a SCM Syrah and a Merlot. But they also make a Ventana Sauv Blanc, a white blend of Viogner and Sauv Blanc, Cab Franc, Zin and a Pinot Noir Saignee (bleeding off the juice after a very short period of skin contact to create a rosé).
One side of the road, the estate Pinot Noir vines had already been pruned, manicured with purpose, if you will. But this side still had it’s wild side showing. Dormant vines are absolutely monumentally one of my favorite forms in nature!
The place is huge, not quite palatial, but it even has a cave..amazing! Built sometime in the 1990s, when I stepped in the ambient air temperature inside was significantly warmer and damper that in the winery. they hold dinners and events in there. Hells yeah, I am thinking a Medieval Times like dinner with large turkey legs you can gnaw on like a rabid hound and a whole boar then drink your wines from a 1 gallon stein. What-do-ya-think?
But even more exciting is the line up of wines that Frank Ashton himself is creating. Of course he has something to tickle everyone’s Elmo…Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Cabernet Sauvs and a Bordeaux bland…but he has an even more intriguing and stellar line up with a Syrah/Grenache blend, Primtivo clone Zin, 2 freakin Barberas, not to mention a rosé made of Barbera, a Torrontes (the star white grape in Argentina).
AWESOME. I went home with a Torrontes and a Barbera for helping with bottling. I will let you know how happy they make my mouth!
Old Telegram Vertical
I will have to thank my Italian Wine whore friend Marci for setting this tasting up. Old Telegram for those not in the know, has been produced by good ol’ Bonny Doon Vineyards and is made from Old Vine Mourvedre.
Not made in every vintage, we had lined up 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. These wines have seen the progression of Randall Grahm’s cork to screwcap program. The 1998 had a real cork, the 2000 had a synthetic cork while the rest were screwcaps.
Now there is a man name Jimmy who is in our tasting group, southern gentleman to hizzle. He works and has worked at Bonny Doon for load of years and knows more about the wines than I could ever hope to imagine of myself. He provided insight and info into the OT as well as Marci that I did not have the time to scribble like mad into my notes. Here is what I do know:
The majority of the Mourvedre always came from Del Barba Vineyard in Contra Costa County, sourced from 100 year old vines….yeah I would call that old. These vines were not irrigated, it was not necessary. Some was sourced from the Pato vineyard in Contra Costa as well.
So we did the line up in 3s start from oldest to youngest. The picture above is the 1998, 2000, 2001. It seemed as though the 2 with corks (1998, 2000) has the telltale orange tinge from an “older wine” however when you got to the 2001 (screwcap), the wine was much bright still had more red to it, and only a very slight orange tinge.
2002-04 also under screwcap, fared pretty well in terms of color. Red hues instead of orange.
The unfortunate thing that I got in all of the wines, was acetone…not that pleasant but it was also a very minor player when it came to the aromas.
1998- Brown sugar, ginger bread, raisin, slight oxidation, hay, strawberry jam.
2000- again brown sugar, pine/eucalyptus, earthy, fairly acidic, dusty tannins
2001- briar and bramble, plastic, beefy cured meat, vinyl, decent acid and tannins.
2002- red berries, nice structured tannins, slightly metallic finish.
2003-salami, bright juicy red fruit, slightly hot on the finish, chunky tannins.
2004- far less fruit, more chunky meat (beef stew?), slight green bitter tannins but nice structued tannins.
Pre Esoteric Randall
In the Late Harvest book by Michael R. Holland, this is the shpeel that is given for good ol’ Bonny Doon Vineyard in 1983:
Ah yes, those Burgundian varietals that Grahm always makes nowadays. This is hysterical for me and probably for those who know BDV as they have always been on the more eccentric side of wine varietals like Ruche or Uva di Troia or Loureiro. note that both these wines are from Sonoma because as stated above, the first official crush at BDV was not until 1983.
Eye-Stabbing Wines
Christian Audigier wines have eye-gouging labels, I have absolutely no clue how good these wines are, but I tell you…if you ever have thought that labels DON’T sell wine, these say differently. Especially because they are Ed Hardy style.
Audigier’s nickname is Le Vif “the fast one”, this is kind of scary and amusing as well. “His striking bottle designs, inspired by Audigiers rock ‘n’ roll street style and Hollywood glam, can be seen in the world’s coolest most exclusive bars, clubs, restaurants, hotels and the sort of corporate events whose tickets are definitely to die for!”
Um, yeah…die would be a good word as to describe what I would like to do.
Heart O’ the Mountain
The Winery
Santa Cruz Mountain Passport is held 4 times a year and put on by the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association (SCMWA). The past two of these passports I have had the awesome opportunity to work at Heart O’ the Mountain in Scotts Valley. This is Alfred Hitchcocks old estate and has been producing winegrapes since 1881, thought not continuously., and is owned by the Brassfield family, I believe since the mid 1970s. 
They specialize in Pinot Noir and have the Pommard clone as well as the Dijon Clones 115, 667, 777, 828. I was told they originally had a few Pinot Gris vines growing but pulled those out and planted more Pinot Noir. In November we poured their 2007, 2006, 2004 Pinot Noir (a blend of 667, 777 and Pommard), this they call their decision wine because they were trying to decide if they should make their own wine or sell the grapes…guess what they decided. This past Saturday we also poured this, it was amazing how much bottle variance there was in this 
wine, it seemed a little over the hill but still very quaffable. In November we also poured their single-clone Pommard and 777 (which I call Lady Luck, the Triple 7 was by far my favorite!!! This past Saturday, these single cones were not being tasted because they are in such limited quantities now. Bob Brassfield, the patriarch was as I say “thieving from the bunghole” of he single clone 828 barrel sample. I HEART THIS WINE and told Bob he should have been selling futures on it. His son, 
Brandon, is the main winemaker. They are both humble, extremely friendly, easy to laugh, and Brandon especially always has a big ol’ young kid smile on his face.
The past two times I also worked alongside some wonderfully wicked awesome people. Here from left to right Becky McMillion, Cameron, and Lauren Rizzolo.
Heart O’ the Mountain is absolutely making some of THE best Pinot Noir in the Santa Cruz Mountains. If you get a chance, give it a swirl!
CAVA: Capitola Village
Cava is located in small, foo-foo Capitola Village. Run originally by Cliff and Zach, Cliff is still the wildly spicy bold bottle of wine is sans cork, Zach (aka Zach is no longer there). 
The atmosphere is cozy almost a-frame mountain chalet in a beach town. With high wooden beams, a roaring fireplace, they just need a few bearskin rugs to lay down on with your love and drink an entire case of wine. On Tuesday night’s it’s pub quiz and meet your maker night. 2 weeks ago, my team and I won the quiz and got an entire round of Brillat-Savarin French triple cream amazingness cheese that is full of gooey creamy buttery heaven and wonder! 
They have a fairly well-rounded selection of wines not only by bottle but by the glass, Spanish, French, Italian, Bubbly, and yes a decent selection of Santa Cruz Mountain wines.
Cliff can be a jack-ass sometimes, but it’s more like a “me” jack-ass. Full of spit and vigor, ridiculously sarcastic, blunt and remarkable knowledgeable. Don’t let any tangy first impressions get you down about Cliff is is pretty full of cool. Julie is also there, a certified sommelier who has a cute button nose. She will humble you with her knowledge and with her humility and humor.
Forbes Mills Museum: Doo
A few more pix from the museums installation of Vine to wine: History of Local Vintners. Yup, this actually was worn around Flavor Flavs neck for approximately 
5 years until the Novitiate Winery saw him wear it on an awards show. they filed a law suit for legal custody of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition Gold medal and won. Now it is having the time of it’s life sitting in this lifeless display case! YEAH!
Then we come to P.F. Lint Wine grower Distiller. First, who the hell would want to drink a Lint wine, that just sounds like you are going to pull wads of dust from your mouth for the next hour. Not refreshing whatsoever. Mr. Peter Lint does not have a shit load written about him, not in the material I have. Charles Sullivan’s “Like Modern Edens” says that at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915, “Peter Lint received a Grand Prize for his Los Gatos Cabernet Sauvignon”. Well, glad I could try it. 
Ah yes, the ever popular Wine Topping Can imported from France. The tin Man from the Wiz of Oz actually wanted this, not a freaking heart, but this shit was so expensive because it was from France that the god-damned cheap Wizard of Oz gave him a heart instead. What a bastard. Well Bob Roudon (Roudon-Smith) had deep enough pockets to get this, nanny nanny billygoat Mr. Tin Man! 
Here with see a quadruple Martin Ray Label display. Martin Ray’s “no-compromise approach, using French wine making techniques to create wines of the highest quality that influenced a generation of winemakers”. The sad thing is that he eventually dies with no money and no clue as to what influence is winemaking skills left on the community. What a bunch of assholes they were. 
Paul Masson on the other hand, generally got the credit he deserved, such as winning numerous accolades for his wines such as this Sparkling Burgundy. He lost approximately 62,00 bottles to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906…that falls under the “not so wicked awesome” heading. this vintage 1908, is also the first year he released the Oeil de Perdix (from the last posting, Eye of the Partridge) probably the most famous libation creation of Massons.
Speaking of Voluptuous
I understand that they are supporting breast cancer research, but dude, really? I think they could have brainstormed a little more. I give you Cleavage Creek:
Anyone have some other wine labels or names they wish had someone would have taken a little more time on?
