Cima Collina

Archive for the ‘In the Vineyard’ Category

I came down to Monterey from the North Coast wine regions in 1998 to continue working in the wine industry.  At that point I was, frankly, sick of Chardonnay and tired of the same, redundant heavy, oaky, malo-lactic-y, flabby stuff.  A lot of my disinterest stemmed, also, from many years of monitoring thousands of chardonnay barrel fermentations (the kind of job given to novice but enthusiastic cellar rats because nobody else wants to do it).  In one particularly large winery I worked for, it meant hours upon hours of manuevering a scissorlift through a cellar crisscrossed with wine and air hoses and  also with “fixed” stacks of barrels — sometimes 30 feet high – and doing my best to not to get stuck in drains (not fun when 30 feet in the air, leaning like the Tower of Pisa) or pop a cellarguy’s airhose (it’s hard to flee from a mad cellarguy in a slippery wine cellar, take my word for it).  So, I guess you could say that Chardonnay and I had shared some baggage.

Then, I came to Monterey and learned what Chardonnay is down here, and it renewed my interest and enthusiasm in the most common of varietals.

I bet most people don’t know that some or most of the grapes in an “X” bottle of $8-,$10,$12-California or Central Coast Chardonnay most likely came from Monterey?  Then, of course, there are the higher-end local Chardonnay producers, such as Talbott (Sleepy Hollow, Diamond T), Paraiso, Morgan, Pessagno, and Mer Soleil — to name a few — that are well known for great Monterey Chardonnay.  Yep.  There are roughly 38,000 acres planted to winegrapes in Monterey County and around 14,000 acres is Chardonnay.  That’s a lot of grapes, and they make their way into a huge range of wine products. 

Historically, much of the land in Monterey has been used for dairy farms or grazing, with the rich, fertile soil in the Salinas Valley used for row cropping.  But there are benchlands and rather rough, rocky places that weren’t good for traditional farming, and the land wasn’t all that valuable either, so early wine companies started planting grapes, and mostly white varietals on the recommendation from UC Davis.  Well, as it turned out, not only was it relatively affordable to plant grapes on land in Monterey, but the climate and soils here are very well-suited for Chardonnay.  Monterey Chardonnay has got to be one of the most dependable and consistent agricultural crops around — I would bet money on it.  From year to year it is simply, and beautifully, the same:  relatively easy to manage in the vineyard, good, dependable croploads, highly consistent flavors and attributes, great acidity, vintage to vintage.  That’s one reason why those “X” bottles of Chardonnay are so reliably consistent from year-to-year.

As for Cima Collina Chardonnay, it has been an overwhelming success and we are, officially,  Sold Out.  With that said, we have saved a few cases to get our restaurant friends, such as the Village Fish House, Sierra Mar and Passionfish, through the summer.  I’ve also heard that Star Market in Salinas has a little left.  Here’s to Monterey Chardonnay and summer!

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Ah!  If we could all become wiser from a glass of wine.  Well, maybe there’s hope for the human race yet if we could all drink a glass of old vine zin once in awhile.  I’ve been reading the newest issue of Wine & Spirits magazine and the highlight is a spirited and informative article written by David Darlington entitled:  “Sonoma Valley Zin:  The ancient, mixed black of Monte Rosso, Old Hill and Pagani”.  Mike Martini — wise wine man and wine industry “survivor” extrordinaire — has a great quote about the character expressed in grapes from old vines.  He says:

What old vines give you is wisdom….That wood is twisted and gnarled from any number of things– tractor blight, pruning wounds, animals racing through — that alter the structure of the vines, which have consequently built up phenolics.  Phenolics are a healing agent; they’re used in medicine as a bactericide, so any time you have something that creates scars on wood, it races phenolics to the area.  It’s a natural compound to protect the woody structure against a hostile environment.

You get complexity from that — a bigger array of basic building blocks coming from the vine to the grape, helping to counter excessive oxidation and lots of different things.  A younger vine doesn’t have anywhere near that breadth of components.

  I love this kind of stuff — this is what gets me out of bed and into the winery or the vineyard most every morning!!  (It also reminds me of an excerpt from Colette’s writings that I mentioned in a previous post — please see Old Words as a Reminder of Delightful Simplicity)  The concept of grapes and consequently wine as a tonic or medicinal that translates not only soil and weather, but time and the wisdom conferred through the experience of the vine is extraordinary and one, I fear, we have left by the wayside, at least in our culture.  Kudos to Wine & Spirits for this kind of much-needed wine writing.  Good job also to David Darlington for a very well-written article and for presenting some of the folks who make up, at least as I see it, the true character of the wine industry.  After reading the article, I only have one wish:  if old vine zin can truly transfer some kind of wisdom through wine, I only wish there were enough for all the folks on Capitol Hill and, needless to say, the White House to imbibe…….

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San Antonio Valley….in California?

Finally, the San Antonio Valley AVA was approved this month, and there are many happy folks walking around in Monterey County because of it.  I’m definitely one of them.  This area has fabulous potential for growing a wide range of varietals — from Petite Sirah and Cabernet Franc to Syrah and Marsanne.

There are three things that make this area a great growing region:  climate, soils and the vineyardists themselves.  It is a “high” valley (it ranges in elevation from around 900 ft up to almost 1400 ft), is relatively close to the Pacific Ocean (about 15 miles as the crow flies), and surrounds Lake San Antonio — a reservoir of some size.  So, this region experiences highly moderating effects from the maritime influences in the area.  It gets hot here — hot enough to ripen varietals that demand some sun and heat — but it cools down at night, and the fog comes in most evenings.  The difference between daytime highs and nighttime lows is usually 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  Soils consist of gravelly loam and clay, and can sometimes be quite rocky as well.

So, why San Antonio Valley (this region has also been referred to as “Lockwood Valley” as well)?  It has mostly to do with the history of Spanish explorers and missionary settlers in the region.  The San Antonio river runs through the region and the San Antonio mission (and some very old grapevines, I might add) still stands only a few miles from where most of the current vineyards are planted.

Oh yeah — those San Antonio Valley folks!

I almost forgot the third reason that makes this region great – the visionaries who are planting and managing the vineyards and making San Antonio wine.  I enjoy working with the growers of the region because what they all share is a certain spunk, sense of individuality and strong commitment to what they are doing.  They are very willing to work with the winemaking community as well.  Examples?  Those that come to mind are Lockwood Oaks, Newell and Escafeld.  Look for either these vineyard designations or their estate wines in the future — they are all producing mighty fine products, in my humble opinion.

For more information about this region and it’s vineyards and growers, check out The San Antonio Valley Vintner’s and Grower’s Association or the Monterey County Vintner’s and Grower’s Association.

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Arroyo Seco is a little-known AVA outside of this area, but one that I think deserves some attention.  It sits between the Santa Lucia Highlands to the north and the San Bernabe AVA to the south, and extends west-southwest into the Arroyo Seco canyon. Most of the AVA is at about 300-400 foot elevations and will often see the sun before the Salinas Valley does below, but remains cool because of the almost constant breeze that blows down the canyon.  The soil in the lower part of the AVA is cobblestones, while in the canyon it changes into chalky rock.

This AVA supports an amazing variety of winegrapes. Sauvignon Blanc is grown in the cooler, lower parts of the AVA,   Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah are grown throughout, while in the upper reaches Cabernet and it’s relatives are grown quite successfully. 

I like this region for the diversity of the varietals grown there but also for the luciousness of the wines it produces.  Sauvignon Blanc often shows nice acidity and delicate aromas.  Chardonnay here tends to express tropical fruit and food-friendly acidity.  Merlot is immediately soft, round, and the greeness this varietal often shows is replaced by a chaparral or sage character which reflects the environment in which it is grown.  Merlot and Syrah both tend to show incredible color development and develop ripe, rich fruit flavors.  (Although a particular wine writer seems to think that Syrah “must have some pepper” flavors in order to be Syrah, I know for sure there is a great deal of wonderful Syrah planted in this area that is just lucious and brilliant and, no, doesn’t show much pepper — white, black, red or any other color — but is just as interesting and is just as much Syrah as any other, without it (….hmmmm  If a bird doesn’t fly, should we call it a bird? If coffee doesn’t have caffeine, is it still coffee?))  But, I digress…..

 There are a number of both large and small vineyards here, with new plantings coming into production every year, so I think in the years to come we will see more and more quality wines that will come specifically from the Arroyo Seco.  But, when here to taste the Syrahs from this region, be sure to bring your pepper grinder…..

 

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Most folks who live in California, but who don’t live in Monterey County, have no idea what the word wind means.  I’ve lived in many parts of California and have visited a number of places around the world, and the only other places I’ve encountered wind like we have here was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, some parts of Africa, and in the southern part of the north island of New Zealand.  The wind blows here in the summer almost everyday, like clockwork, in the afternoon.  Here on the coast it can be gusty, cold and somewhat annoying, but in the middle of the Salinas valley — in the heart of wine country here — it picks up speed and dust and can be something with which to reckon.  The wind is such a force here that it plays a part in real estate values.  For instance, in Soledad, the direction in which one’s garage faces determines, in part, the value of one’s house.  If the garage opens into the prevailing wind, it makes the house less valuable than those with garages that face in different directions.

We are in our summertime weather pattern here once again:  fog in the morning that clears after awhile, and then the winds pick up around noon, and then the high fog blows in the evening.  This pattern is influenced by our proximity to the Pacific Ocean, mostly, and is the main reason why this is such a great place to grow winegrapes.  But the wind is a challenge to grapegrowing as well.  Grapevines simply do not grow well in an environment in which the wind howls every afternoon.  This kind of wind forces the vine to shut down by closing its stomata (the openings on the undersides of the leaves through which the leaves transpire carbon dioxide and water) because otherwise it would lose too much moisture.  The problem with this — especially on a daily basis — is that when the stomata are closed, the plant can no longer photosynthesize, so it’s growth is stunted and its carbohydrate stores are minimized.  Vines exposed to the daily wind tend to have smaller & tougher leaves, shoot length tends to be shorter and crop loads lighter as well.

So, what is one to do in order to grow grapes here?  Well, a grapegrower has two options:  1.  find a site that is protected, but not too protected.  These sites will be breezy or slightly windy, but aren’t subject to gale-force winds.  Having some breeze, afterall, is important to make sure there is enough air circulation within the vine to prevent molds and mildews from developing.  2.  if one has a site in the valley, then use windbreaks.  Windbreaks in other parts of the state are a no-no — there are a number of reasons for this:  eucalyptus, which is been traditionally used as a windbreak, tends to impart a menthol flavors to grapes grown near it; birds tend to nest in windbreak trees; trees tend to shade out the vinerows nearest them, making them minimally productive.  But here in Monterey, most folks use trees that aren’t eucalyptus and aren’t conducive to nesting birds.  The shading of vinerows or loss of productive area is looked upon as a small sacrifice for the overall health of the vineyard.  Afterall, as the wind blows here, windbreaks can help increase the health of vines and, in the end, the cropload and quality of the harvest.

 

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Here are some recent photos of our own organically certified estate vineyard, Hilltop Ranch, in Carmel Valley.

In the photos on the left, top and bottom, is Pinot Noir on the top or crest block.  Appolonio, our one and only vineyard guy is working on them here.  The photo on the top right is the lower block.  There is a few rows of Pinot Gris in the foreground and the rest is Pinot Noir.  In the back of this photo there are new retaining walls that were put in place late last year (this part of the vineyard is very steep).  The bottom photo on the right is the pond and bridge and in the back, behind the oak trees in the pond block with is all Dijon 777 clone Pinot Noir.

I will post much more information about the ranch as soon as I can pin down Appolonio, our ranch managers Tom and Cara, and our owner, Dick, for photos, so I can put their mug shots for all to see.

Some Housekeeping:

We were featured this week as the small business blog of the day. Check it out!

Today:

We will pour wine at the South Valley Wine Auction in Morgan Hill.  A fun event to benefit the athletic programs in the local school district.

 Tomorrow:

We will pour wine at the Simon Bull Gallery from 7-9 in Carmel.  This is a benefit for International Students, Inc.

We will pour wine in Monterey at the 10th Annual Legal Services for Seniors Cioppino Event in Monterey.  It should be a fun and lively time. Phil, from Phil’s Fish Market in Moss Landing will be servin it up that night.

 

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• Carmel Valley, CA 93924
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