Category: Wineries

The wines at Rombauer are undeniably BIG, but the experience of visiting their winery for a tasting is definitely an intimate one.  Maybe it’s because the proprietor’s family is descended from the Irma Rombauer who wrote The Joy of Cooking, which was once America’s basic cookbook.  There’s something homey about a visit to the Rombauer winery.  It’s still family-owned and operated and has been a part of Napa Valley’s wine history since 1980.

The view from Rombauer’s porch

To get to the winery, you have to turn off St. Helena’s Silverado Train and climb a long hill until you are greeted by an astonishing view of Napa Valley.  (See our previous article on wine with a view.)  Visitors are invited to bring your lunch and sit at one of their eight outdoor tables overlooking the valley.  You don’t have to buy anything from them, but it would be impolite not to get something.  As we said, it’s a bit like going to Grandma’s for a picnic.  You feel very welcome.

The tasting room is very “country” style, in keeping with the Rombauer family’s overall attitude.  It’s in a long, narrow room that doesn’t accommodate many people at the same time so they don’t take parties larger than six people.  There are no buses and no stretch limos; which is a distinct plus as far as we’re concerned.  It would be hard to fit more than a dozen people in the room but you can take a glass out onto the porch if it ever gets squeezed (which it never has in our experience).

We must say that those who serve you are more pourers than educators, but they make up in enthusiasm for what they lack in detailed winemaking knowledge.  There’s usually someone around who does can answer your questions if the server gets stuck.

Now, as to the wines themselves there is some controversy.  You’d better like a very distinct California style, from back in the good ol’ days, or you’re going to be overwhelmed at Rombauer.  They are best known for their Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Chardonnay and these all have considerable depth and flavor.  And they all have a lot of alcohol;  almost all their wines are over 14% alcohol and a few of their Zins top out at 15.9%!  ‘Nuff said.

It would be one thing if they just poured you a few meager sips.  But the Rombauer folks are very generous, indeed, especially if you take their Proprietor Flight for $30.  You’ll get everything they offer you and then someone will say, “Well, which one did you like best?”  Upon answering, the server will often say, “In that case, I think you’d like this”…and this, and this, and this.

Knowing that this is likely to happen, one of holds back a little in order to drive away safely.  The idea of sitting down for a picnic at that point sounds very attractive.  In all seriousness, each of us has walked away from Rombauer at one time or another feeling just a little woozy.

We don’t think that Rombauer will ever build a Napa Palace unless the family
decides to sell out to an international wine conglomerate.  Given the history of the winery that seems very unlikely.  But who knows?  If you like your wine tasting experience to be rustic, friendly and welcoming by all means include Rombauer in your wine tasting plans.  If you prefer glitz, there are other places in Napa Valley that are likely to fit your bill.

 

 

 

It’s not every day that you can buy a bottle of wine from a prince. Yes, a real live prince and members of his family for that matter.  Oh, sure, you’ve had wine from vineyards owned by princes, dukes and counts but we’re talking about handing a prince some money and he hands you a bottle.  Such is the opportunity you have at Castello di Borghese in Cutchogue on Long Island’s North Fork.

There are quite a few reasons to visit Castello di Borghese besides hobnobbing with Italian royalty.  The foremost is that it was the first winery in this sector of New York State, when it was known as Hargrave Vineyard.  Alex and Louisa Hargrave had the wacky idea in 1973 that the land that had been used to grow potatoes for generations would also be suitable for wine.  Today there are more than 50 wineries there.

For more than 25 years they made a variety of wines and sold them in bottles a distinctive lattice label.  They tried quite a few varietals, including Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir.  It was our opinion (and still is, to an extent) that the terroir of the North Fork favors Cabernet Franc more than other grapes and so this Hargrave was our favorite.

(A little side story: The first time Steve invited Lucie to dinner, he wanted to serve his girlfriend from Québec something she had never tasted before, so he opened a bottle of Hargrave Cabernet Sauvignon.)

In 1999, the Hargraves sold their vineyard and winery to Prince Marco Borghese and his wife Ann Marie.  That is how it came to pass that we bought a bottle from a prince.  Marco and Ann Marie have passed away, but the winery is run by his heirs, so you still have your chance.

Another reason to taste Castello di Borghese’s wines is that they still rank among the best in Long Island.  Their wines continue to win awards among local and national competitions.  Now, the North Fork isn’t Bordeaux and the best of the region do not compare with the world’s greatest wines.  But then again, New Yorkers don’t have to take a flight to sip a bit from some pretty respectable vineyards when they go wine tasting on Long Island.

Photo courtesy of North Fork Weddings

Befitting its status as the North Fork’s first winery, the tasting room is, well, tasteful but unassuming.  The building is a little pink ranch house with a simple bar for tasting, in a room big enough to withstand weekend crowds.  People have been tasting here for many years and so it is a popular destination.  Castello di Borghese does require reservations for buses and stretch limos, but here as elsewhere it can get quite crowded on summer weekends.

A few wines bear some attention.  The Petit Chateau (a red blend); Chardonette and Fleurette rosé pay homage to the winery’s history with a bit of the lattice design.  Allegra, their dessert wine, is often quite good.  It’s not truly an ice wine, since they chuck the grapes in the freezer rather than letting nature take its course.  But it comes out pleasantly sweet all the same.

If you don’t mind an hour or two on the Long Island Expressway, a sunny day on the North Fork is always pleasurable.  And if you do go, you should definitely visit the Prince’s own Castello di Borghese.

We didn’t get the chance to visit any wineries in Croatia, so we can’t include a winery review in this issue of Power Tasting.  Instead, we’re reprising a review of Grgich Hills from the April 2016 issue.  Why Grgich Hills and why now?  This is an edition of Power Tasting dedicated to Croatia and its wines.  Mike Grgich is one of California’s best known and beloved winemakers and is undoubtedly the best known winemaker of Croatian descent anywhere.

 As noted below, Mr. Grgich has in recent years grown grapes and made wine in his native country.  While there may be some exceptions we’re not aware of, the only place you can buy his Plavac Mali or Posip in the United States is at the Grgich Hills winery in Rutherford.  Interestingly, the winery is now growing Crjenak Castelanski in California.  They claim that this grape is either a predecessor, distant cousin or twin sister of Zinfandel.  We offer no opinion, but love the idea that someone is trying to make an unheard of wine in Napa Valley.

The Croatians are very proud of Mike Grgich and feature his local wines prominently.  Look closely at the wines displayed at the Dubrovnik Enoteca and you’ll see his Plavac Mali on the barrel head.

Shortly after this issue went to press, Power Tasting learned of the death of Miljenko (Mike) Grgich at age 100.  We wish to remember the life and career of a great winemaker.

There really isn’t anyplace left in Napa Valley where you can visit a winery the way it was in the beginning of the region’s rise to worldwide prominence.  There are more than a few wineries you can visit that were originated by the old-timers: Joseph Phelps, Caymus, Robert Mondavi, Heitz Cellars, Beaulieu Vineyards and Chateau Montelena come quickly to mind.  But these are all rather palatial and bear little resemblance to what were once essentially factory buildings surrounded by farms.  If there is one place that has preserved at least a bit of the atmosphere of the 1970’s, it’s Grgich Hills Estate.

Its story is almost as important as its physical presence.  Miljenko Grgich, universally known as Mike, was the winemaker at Chateau Montelena who made the winning white wine at the famous Judgement of Paris in 1976.  He needed capital to open his own winery and so teamed with coffee magnate Austin Hills to found Grgich Hills.  Quite elderly now, he can still be seen on occasion at the winery, keeping an eye on his heritage.

The winery itself is a simple, vine-covered industrial building.  It sits right along Route 29 in Rutherford and at some times the Wine Train runs right in front of it.  What the Grgich Hills lacks in architectural splendor it makes up in authenticity and a welcoming atmosphere.  The building is surrounded by vineyards and gardens.  The tasting room is a wood-paneled bar, much like the sort you might build yourself if you were setting up a party room in your basement.  The servers are usually friendly and efficient and try to make your visit enjoyable and memorable.

The Grgich Hills winery

The tasting room

Like many Napa Valley wineries, Grgich Hills produces wines from a wide number of varietals.  It is best known for its Chardonnay which is what has come to typify Napa Chardonnays: buttery, oaky, deeply flavored, full of fruit.  Depending on your tastes it is either the apogee of what California has to offer or an avatar of the excess that California has allowed itself.  In trying the Grgich Hills chard, you can calibrate your mouth on the scale of California white wines.

Grgich Hills also has well-regarded Zinfandels and Cabernet Sauvignons, again highly fruit forward and intense.  Over the years, we have bought their Merlot more often than any other of their wines.  They also offer a few oddities, especially the Croatian wines from Mike’s own vineyards in his native land.  You can taste grapes utterly unknown in America, like the white Pošip and the red Plavac Mali.  They’re something like…well, nothing that we’ve ever tasted before.  If you have a chance, you should taste Grgich Hills’ renowned dessert wine, Violeta, named for his daughter who now runs the estate.

Stepping up to the bar is rewarding, but if you’d like to go deeper, the winery offers a number of tours and seated tastings.  The latter may be a good choice on weekends, when every winery on Route 29 is jam-packed.  Grgich Hills also has one attraction that we consider to be just plain silly.   For $30 ($15 for kids) you can take off your shoes and stomp grapes.  You’ll get a tasting, a stomping, a t-shirt and sticky feet.  It’s not our thing, but it’s quite popular.

A great thing about Grgich Hills is its combined sense of history and modernity.  It’s one of the places where it all started, under the guidance of a winemaker who helped define Napa Valley.  But it is still contemporary, with wines that have evolved…a bit.  It’s one of the last independently owned, quality wineries in the valley, which by itself makes Grgich Hills worth a visit.

The word caliza means limestone in Spanish.  In winemaking, it means soil that is rich in this mineral so it adds depth and minerality to the grapes grown in it and to the wines made from those grapes.  It is also the name of a winery in Paso Robles where we guess the dirt is full of caliza, or limestone.  It is not exactly an easy winery to find.  You drive down Route 101 from downtown Paso Robles, turn off on Route 46 and then search for Anderson Road.  Up at the end of it is Caliza.

We happen to like their wines and have joined the Caliza wine club.   They specialize in Rhône grapes and make an excellent Syrah and a wine called Azimuth, a typical Rhône blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.  It’s our favorite of their wines.  They also throw in some oddball grapes including Tempranillo and Primitivo.  One thing can be said about their wines in general: they’re not for the faint of heart.  They are all power hitters and approach or surpass 15% alcohol.  Eat a hearty breakfast before visiting.

The tasting room is in a hacienda-like building nestled at the bottom of vine-covered hills.  The room itself is open and airy, very bright and sunny, with a long bar.  Like many wineries in the Paso Robles region they are open only Friday through Sunday and by appointment on the other days.  You will be served a white or two, maybe a rosé and then you can get into the reds.  If you’re lucky, your server will be Carl Bowker or his wife, Pam, who own the winery and make the wine.

Theirs is the kind of story that those of us who enjoy visiting Wine Country always dream about.  Carl was a businessman who grew tired of the nine-to-five grind.  They visited Europe and became dedicated wine tasters themselves.  Carl attended some winemaking courses and, lo and behold, bought some land, planted some grapes and they became wine people.  If you don’t get to meet Carl or Pam, don’t worry; their story is printed on the walls.  But if you do meet them, especially on a quiet day, they’ll be glad to tell you their story.

In some ways, the best part of a visit to Caliza (other than the wine, of course) is the absence of Napa-style excess.  The tasting room is pleasant but is not likely to be featured in architecture magazines.  Your experience there is about the wine, not the building and the grounds.  The people are friendly and have the time and interest to talk with you and explain their philosophy of winemaking and the nature of their wines.  In other words, Caliza offers a wine tasting experience that focuses more on the taster than on their own magnificence.

If you’re going to Paso Robles, we definitely recommend that you make Caliza one of your stops.  And say hello to Carl and Pam for us.

Wine tasting in Sicily is unlike other places we have been, even in Italy.  For one thing, there is no essential place to go to, no Medoc or Napa or Tuscany.  The Sicilians grow grapes and make wine almost everywhere on the island.  For another, unless you are a real specialist in Italian wines, you probably haven’t heard of any of the better wines made in Sicily.  Finally, most of the Sicilian wines available in the US, until recently, were either overly acidic or overly sweet, so there’s not a lot of incentive to find the wineries and taste what they have to offer.

Donnafugata, in the town of Marsala on the west coast of Sicily, can really change your thinking about Sicilian wines.

The Donnafugata winery facilities

The name of the winery is taken from the great Sicilian novel, Il Gattepardo by Giuseppe di Lampedusa.  It means “the fleeing woman” in Italian and in that language the word does roll off the tongue.  However, to American ears, particularly ears that are near Brooklyn, it sounds so much like the dismissive “fuggedaboutit” that is attributed to that borough.  Try to overcome this prejudice when you visit Marsala.

Unfortunately, the town is not close to other tourist destinations, such as Palermo, Agrigento, Syracuse or Taormina.  That means a visit to Marsala entails a long drive, fortunately over well-constructed and well-marked highways.  The town itself isn’t much to see and the wineries for the most part look like factories from the outside.  Ah, but it’s what’s inside that counts.

At Donnafugata, there is no bar as such for you to just step up to and taste.  You take a brief tour through what is, indeed, a factory – as all wineries are to a great extent.  You learn about the Rallo family that owns and runs Donnafugata and get a pretty good overview of Sicilian grapes and winemaking techniques.  We found the selection of wines to be very interesting, with Nero d’Avola as the primary red grape but with several quality wines that add Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Whites are from a broad selection of grapes, mostly unknown outside of Sicily, such as Catarratto, Grillo, Zibbibo and Ansonica.  They do have several Chardonnays just like back home.

Your tour guide offers you a tasting in a small room, little more than an office.  Our guide was a fellow named Marco, who was very enthusiastic and eager to please.  He would have opened every wine they make if we had allowed him to do so.

Marco getting ready to serve

One of our great discoveries was the dessert wine called Passito.  It is made from Zibbibo grapes on the island of Pantelleria, closer to Tunisia than to Italy.  It is made by placing a large portion of the harvest on cloths in the fields, in order to turn the grapes into raisins.  The remaining grapes are vinified and then passed over (hence, Passito) the raisins and allowed to macerate.  The result can be exceptionally sweet but if managed well, made into a complex, aromatic dessert wine that is, as the Italians say, uno vino de meditazione, a meditation wine.  Donnafugata’s Passito is called Ben Ryé, or “son of the wind” in Arabic.

If you intend to visit Donnafugata, be certain to make a reservation and give yourself plenty of time to get there.  Like all of Italy, they close for a leisurely lunch, which means that if you are driving from afar, you don’t have a lot of time to visit multiple wineries in the area and still get back to your hotel before dark.  (The highways are fine but the streets in the towns and cities are a bit of a challenge.)

St. Supéry

We read in Wine Spectator recently that the family that founded the St. Supéry winery is selling it to the Chanel company.  Chanel is best known for perfume, of course, but it already has winery holdings in France.  We can only hope that the new owners continue the excellent tasting experience in the winery’s St. Helena location.

As you pull onto the property from Napa valley’s Route 29 you see a large white clapboard house on your right.  It’s called the Atkinson House.  St. Supéry has restored the house, both inside and out, and it is open to the public by appointment.  It features a living museum of a late 1800 vintner’s life.  This historic old home is an archetype of what anyone would expect a prosperous St. Helena farmer to live in…a century ago.

The Atkinson House belies the handsome building that contains the tasting room.  The main tasting room itself is modern and airy with windows that overlook the vineyard.  They also have a lot of merchandise for sale.

The Atkinson House at St. Supéry  (photograph courtesy of St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery)

Most of the time, we recommend that visitors just belly up to the bar to get an overall sense of what a winery produces.  This is certainly true at St. Supéry, where the tasting room is capacious enough even to accommodate weekend crowds.

As we have written elsewhere, there are some good reasons to take special seated tastings.  [See By Appointment Only]  At St. Supéry, the special tastings are well worth considering.  They have several, including a wine and cheese pairing and a class that they call Aromatherapy with a Corkscrew, which we haven’t tried.  We did take and highly recommend their Vineyard to Glass tour.  An experienced sommelier hands you a glass of wine and then escorts you outside to walk through the vineyards.  St. Supéry places great emphasis on terroir, and when you can see the ground and the vines where the wine you are tasting comes from, you really understand the inherent relationship among dirt, sky, water and wine.  If you go, don’t miss the exhibit of the different soils in their vineyards.

The tasting room employees we have encountered were welcoming and knowledgeable at St. Supéry.   In addition to the people, the architecture reinforces the pleasure of a tasting.  The gallery on the upper floor is usually worth a look, as well.

In the past we have bought St. Supéry’s Cabernet Franc and Merlot.  We especially enjoy their Bordeaux blend, which they call Elu or “the Elect” in French.  Elu should definitely be included in any tasting.  Make sure to see the bottle, because the label is especially attractive.

There’s a winery we know that isn’t exactly off the beaten path, but the path isn’t very obvious either. Truchard Vineyard (www.truchardvineyards.com) is on Old Sonoma Highway at a driveway where the road bends a little. If you approach the winery from the north (the town of Napa) you might just catch a glimpse of a sign by the right side of road. But if you’re coming from Route 121 that runs across Carneros, the sign is facing the other way and you’ll probably drive right by Truchard. We have, every time we’ve visited this winery.

It’s worth the effort to find this little corner of Napa Valley that has seeming let time pass it by. There is no ornate “visitors center” here, just an old barn on one side, a home on the other and a patio out front leading to a classic stone entrance to their cave. The attraction of a Truchard visit is not going to be the architecture or the tasting room; it’s the people and the wines.

Photo courtesy of Napalinks.com

Each time we’ve been at Truchard, we have met Jo Ann Truchard who, with her husband Tony, followed a crazy dream and became grape farmers and winemakers when nobody saw the potential for developing vineyards in their neck of the Carneros woods. Mrs. Truchard is quite voluble about their history (alas, we’ve never met Tony) which you can read on their web site or let her tell you when you stop by. It is an inspiring tale of grit and artistry that’s worth reading or hearing.

When we first visited, we met Mrs. Truchard in the barn, where she explained the vineyard history and offered us a glass of Chardonnay. On that occasion, we had only a little time and said (as we often do) that we’d like to focus on red wines only. She remonstrated that we had to try this white wine, because after all it’s a “true chard”. With a smile on our faces, we tried some and liked it enough to buy some. She then led us into the cave, where there were bottles open all around. What a selection! Truchard makes all the wines you’d expect, leading with the aforementioned Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir we really like. Those are the grapes normally grown in Carneros. But Cabernet (both Sauvignon and Franc)? Zinfandel in the coldest, wettest part of Napa Valley? Rousanne? Tempranillo? The Truchard family seems to be fearless about what they grow. We enjoyed their wines so much that we joined their wine club on that first visit.

In a more recent visit, we only tasted in the barn, because the 2012, 2013 and 2014 harvests were so enormous that there was no room left in the cellar. It was very much like California wine tasting in the old days. You just stand around; somebody pours; you taste…and taste…and taste. Seriously, be careful about consumption when you visit Truchard.

Most of Truchard’s production is sold to other winemakers, including Frog’s Leap, Nickel & Nickel for their Chardonnays; Robert Mondavi uses some for their Cabernet Sauvignon; and Conn Creek and ZD buy Truchard’s Sauvignon Blanc. So you might have tasted Truchard grapes without knowing it. We were told that only 5% of their grapes are bottled under their own label.

You really do need an appointment to visit Truchard and they don’t offer many. If you can find the time on your schedule, this winery is a welcoming little corner of the Napa Valley of yesteryear.

A visit to a tasting room may be the only way to learn about unfamiliar wines. In some cases, there may be a winery or wines that you have always liked in the past that you think have taken a turn for the worse. There might be a new owner or a new winemaker, a change in philosophy, renovations in the tasting room or maybe just a bad year. We recommend that you give them another try a few years later. Maybe they are simply not as good as you’d like to remember…but maybe they have returned to form.

Let us tell you about two experiences we had recently that underscore this advice.

Limerick Lane (www.limericklanewines.com) has the distinction of being the first winery we visited together year ago. It became our favorite source of Zinfandels and later one of our favorites for Pinot Noir. We even joined their wine club to receive shipments of wine throughout the year. At the time, Limerick Lane was owned by Michael Collins, who sold it to Jake and Scot Bilbro in 2011. We didn’t care for the first wines we tasted from the new proprietors and dropped out of the club. (In a recent article in Wine Spectator, the Bilbro’s indicated that they weren’t as pleased as they could have been with their first wines, either.)

That’s about the wine, but what about the experience of wine tasting there? The winery is approached along a long road – Limerick Lane, of course – in the furthest northeast section of the Russian River region. It’s a bucolic area and there are none of the grand buildings that house wineries elsewhere; this tasting room is just an addition to the side of the industrial building where the wine is made, facing some of their vineyards. The primary attraction, other than the wine itself, is the fellow who will pour it for you, Peter Leary. He has been at Limerick Lane for over a decade. Peter always has a story to tell, a little something to enliven your tasting and really knows and explains what he is serving. Let’s also add that he has a very good memory; even after four years of not seeing us, he remembered us as soon as we walked in the tasting room.

We were delighted to find that the Zins had returned to our taste and a bit saddened that Pinot Noir had been de-emphasized. We were also quite pleasantly surprised to learn that Limerick Lane was now quite sought after. The wine club was no more and several of their offerings were allocated (meaning that you have to be on the list to have the opportunity to buy just a few bottles.) We immediately returned to the mailing list, happy that the Zinfandel we had always liked the best remained available without allocation. Only when we returned home did we learn that Wine Spectator had listed four Limerick Lane bottlings among the top-scoring Zinfandels of the 2012 vintage…including our favorite!

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Dry Creek Vineyard (www.drycreekvineyard.com) had long been one of our favorite wineries to visit. The building itself is a gorgeous Wine Country style building, covered with vines, set in a broad lawn with many shady trees. There’s even a little trail for visitors to walk through the vineyard. Picnickers are welcome and the winery is literally in walking distance of the Dry Creek General Store. They also sell some fancy pork rillettes, salamis and cheeses in the tasting room. It’s only fair that you cannot bring any other alcohol with you (it’s also a state law) but the tasting room will gladly sell you a bottle or even wines by the glass. It is an utterly charming location for a lunch or a lazy afternoon.

Photo courtesy of Dry Creek Vineyard

Inside, the whole theme of the tasting room, and of the labels as well, is sailing. There’s a big painting of  a sailboat behind the bar and the room is decorated with nautical gear, all very welcoming.

Back in the early days of our wine tasting careers, we picked up some very nice but rather small (and free!) glasses with our visit. Back then, the focus of our attention was their premium Merlot. Alas, on one occasion we arrived there to find that they had de-emphasized the Merlot in favor of single vineyard Zinfandels, which at the time were not to our tastes…and they weren’t giving any glasses anymore. Disappointed that we could not get our Merlot, it took us several years to return to this winery.

On our recent visit, we were delighted to find that the Zinfandels and other red wines were very much to our tastes, indeed. The fellow who served us, Bill Langley, very patiently listened to us, opened one bottle after the other and gave us a thorough grounding in Dry Creek’s production. We bought a bottle that day, had it for dinner that night, came back the day after and bought a few more. As soon as we came back home, we joined their wine club and we are very excited about it.

Both stories give a lesson. If you once enjoyed a wine tasting and then had reason to change your mind, go back another time and try it again. You might fall in love all over again with the wines. Maybe it wasn’t the wine that changed, maybe it was you. Or maybe they just caught up with your tastes.

Both stories also have a lot to do with our wine tasting experience at either winery. Not only the wines but Peter and Bill made the difference in our experience at both wineries. They’re friendly guys, interesting to listen to and also interested to listen to us and our past tasting experience at their respective wineries. On top of everything, they made the difference in our tasting experience and explained us why their wines are what they are now. That was enough for us to buy their wines and sign up with their clubs.

Thanks guys. We’re back.

 

If you visit Tuscany, you really ought to go wine tasting. There are many sectors where they make among the most famous Italian wines: Chianti, between Florence and Sienna; Montepulciano, where you’ll also find Vino Nobile; and Montalcino, where Brunello is made. By law, Brunello must be 100% Sangiovese and one particular winery started it all, as recently as the 19^th century.

Ferrucio Biondi-Santi was a descendant of an aristocratic wine-making family. In 1888, he determined that bottling a single varietal wine would heighten the reputation of the wines of the region and, not coincidentally, would reward long aging. It was the first Brunello, which can today only come from Sangiovese grapes grown in the fields surrounding the lovely village of Montalcino. (The town is worth a visit for its own sake. How could anyone skip a town dedicated to gorgeous panoramic views, excellent restaurants and wine tasting?)

Biondi-Santi is still very much in operation, selling one of the higher priced wines of Italy. There are several levels of visits available, ranging from $16.50 to $55 at current exchange rates. If you just want to taste this famous and fabulous wine, you have to take a tour. The tours are very popular, so you must have an advance reservation.

Tenuta Greppo

The villa and winery are just south of Montalcino. We had a hard time finding the winery, as there are no signs indicating Biondi-Santi. If you go, look for Tenuta Greppo, which is the name of the villa.

On the tour, you’ll see the historic home and the usual presses, mixing tanks and aging casks that are the same the world over. Except that Biondi-Santi does not use barrels, just large casks of very neutral oak. We say very neutral because they’ve been in use for decades, one more than 100 years old. As mentioned, they take aging very seriously there.

It is in the nature of Brunello that it must be aged for a long time before release, 50 months for a regular (or normale) wine and another year for a riserva. And once you buy it, you ought to lay it down for several years before opening a bottle. The more “modern” Brunellos are made to drink sooner, but Biondi-Santi is anything but modern.

As they pour out the tasting, the tour guides extol the aging potential of their wine, saying that a Brunello purchased today will still be drinking well 85 years hence. How interesting. Steve asked, “I understand about the longevity of the wine but I’m more concerned with my longevity. When should I open it?” They thought about it and said that their wine could be opened ten to fifteen years from harvest.

Going wine tasting is such a pleasant thing to do and Biondi-Santi was a wonderful wine tasting experience full of history and great wine.

 

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.