Visiting David Coffaro

Early in the year 2000, Steve found a wallet in a New York taxi. Checking the contents, he found that the owner lived in Windsor, CA. He called, left a message on the answering machine and shortly after received a call from the rightful owner. When that fellow came to pick up his wallet, he offered Steve a reward, which was refused. Then, a few weeks later, a box with three bottles arrived in Steve’s office, a gift from the wallet-owner. One of these was from David Coffaro Estate Vineyard in Dry Creek (http://www.coffaro.com); in an accompanying note, the man described David Coffaro as a “mad genius”.

Fast forward to mid-September of that year. Steve and Lucie took their first trip to Wine Country together and stopped at a rather ordinary-looking house at the intersection of Dry Creek Road and Yoakim Bridge Road. A bearded guy in sandals, shorts and a sleeveless tee shirt asked what we wanted. We said we were there for a tasting and he said that the tasting room was closed for the harvest. Steve pleaded a bit and said that Lucie had come all the way from Québec and that we’d heard that Mr. Coffaro was a “mad genius”. The man replied, “I don’t know about genius, but I’m sure I’m mad. So come on, I’ll open a bottle and have the rest for dinner.” That, of course, was David Coffaro. If you ever want to experience the “madness” of a unique winemaker, this is the winery for you.

We’ve been back many times. We’ve even joined the Coffaro wine club. And every time we see David, he’s wearing that same outfit. (To be fair, one time in December he abandoned the sandals for sneakers.) The winery is little more than an oversized garage with a lot of barrels in it. The tasting area is a small bar in one corner, festooned with memorabilia of Mohammed Ali and the Oakland Raiders. The back of the winery/garage has a sofa and a huge screen. It seems that David and his wife, Pat, like to show movies now and again for the neighbors. Not your typical tasting room but, hey, it’s decorated in Mad Genius Deco.

And then there are the wines. Everybody has a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Zinfandel; so does Coffaro. Believe us, nobody else is making blends that include grapes such as Aglianico, Souzao, Lagrein, Alvarelhao, Peloursin, Carignan, Barbera and Tannat. No one else is even growing most of those grapes, so a visit at Coffaro gives you the opportunity to taste some wines not available anywhere else. And as long as the bottles are in stock, you’ll have the chance to taste an amazing variety of wines, from the usual things to the truly unique.

You’ll generally have a chance to chat with David himself, or if not, with his assistant winemaker. Once, again during the crush, we visited and there were some vats of freshly squeezed juice bubbling away at the door. David handed us a stick and said, “That vat is fermenting too quickly. Go break the cap.” So we became “assistant winemakers” for the day. He also handed us each a plastic glass and invited us to taste the juice.

If things aren’t too busy – and sometimes even if they are – David will say, “How about a barrel tasting?” He’ll walk you over to some barrels, grab a wine thief and pour a little of this or that in your glass. After you’ve tasted it, he’ll add a little of that or this and ask you how you like it. Now you’ve joined his research department.

One thing you may notice is that all Coffaro wines have screw caps. David Coffaro is an evangelist for screw caps and was one of the first in California to use them. He has been a strong voice promoting the replacement of corks for screw caps. He strongly believes that wine can age as well with a screw cap as with a cork, without the risk of spoilage. (Steve shares that opinion but Lucie prefers the corks even if we unfortunately sometimes get some corked wines.)

David is also the “weather man” of Dry Creek. He installed a weather data station in his vineyards. The data is uploaded to his website every 15 minutes and is available through his website.

All of Coffaro’s wines are huge, powerful and rather high in alcohol. Most are estate grown, right in the backyard. There are better wines to be tasted, but there are few tastings that are as unique or more fun.

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