Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Vineyard Site Revived Almost 100 Years After Uprooting Vines

Some ran while others hit the ground and many screamed as two loud bangs rang out at the train station; once the panic subsided, those in the immediate area realized two men lay dead on the ground. And then, the realization that JC Weinberger, an important figure in the local community, was one of those men and someone had to tell his wife and daughter what happened. This incident, although extremely tragic, created a situation in the late 1800s that allowed a woman, Hannah Weinberger, to take her husband’s place as the director of the Bank of St. Helena, in Napa Valley, and, most importantly, to become the first recognized female winemaker in California who would tend to the olive tree grove and vineyards planted on their steep, terraced hillsides. 

In 1889, Hannah traveled to Europe to attend the Paris World’s Fair and won a silver medal in a wine competition. She was very successful as a businesswoman and winemaker, never remarrying, yet she had to pull her vines out in 1920, during Prohibition. 

Almost 100 years after the vineyard was grubbed up, a couple looking for a site with the potential to make stellar Cabernet Sauvignon with an authentic, rich history planted vines in 2019. Although it has been a long, arduous journey, first purchasing the property in 2013 and waiting for a permit that didn’t go through until the end of 2018, it was a thrilling prospect to be able to revive a great vineyard, which allowed a woman to thrive during a time when her gender made her a second class citizen, and continue the legacy of the first woman in Napa Valley to make great wine.

Hidden Vineyard Gem 

Caren and Nick Orum
Photo Credit: Thomas Heinser

Caren and Nick Orum are the married couple who took on this Herculean task and they do not shy away from a challenge. Both are from the South, Caren, born in rural Arkansas, and Nick, from Austin, Texas, and moved to New York City in the early 1990s and eventually made their way to San Francisco, where they sought to fulfill Nick’s dream to make great wine as he was a longtime Bordeaux wine lover.

So, they searched until they came upon a property near two Napa Valley vineyards that have received seven perfect 100-point scores from Wine Advocate, Vineyard 29 and Colgin’s Tychson Hill Vineyard- north of the town of St. Helena. They brought in vineyard engineers to test the soils and other aspects of the site to ensure if the potential for outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon was indeed possible. Every result assured Caren and Nick that the site did live up to its lofty neighbor’s potential. 

That is when the idea for their wine, Arborum, was born. Arborum is a name that combines the word ‘arbor’ to represent how they want to protect the nature on their property with their last name. 

Arborum Hidden Key Estate Vineyards
Photo Credit: Thomas Heinser

The authentic history of the site also drew them to this property as there is a rustic home that was initially built as a hunting cabin, seamlessly integrated with the forest on their land, and today, they live there with their three children. Surprisingly, within that forest was a grove of over a century-old olive trees that have handmade square nails in them with old metal stamps indicating that they were planted back in the 1870s, some as high as 50 feet tall. Since these olive trees had been neglected for so long, they have become part of the forest. So, Caren and Nick had no idea until they took on the demanding task of clearing the underbrush on their 20-acre property with a 26% degree slope that they had these rare, heritage olive trees. The estate backs up to Spring Mountain, which provides a natural spring that flows through the property and has a wide range of biodiversity – hawks, owls and beneficial insects mitigate any issues with harmful pests. 

Arborum

Caren and Nick meticulously take care of their 2.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, which ranges from 500 to 800 feet in altitude, by hiring Oscar Renteria and his team at Renteria Vineyard Management to practice precision vineyard management having a hands-on approach for each vine, becoming certified organic in 2021. Still, eventually, they knew they needed to find the ideal winemaker who could express the unique qualities of their historic site. 

Winemaker Andy Erickson
Photo Credit: Thomas Heinser

Caren said they reached out to an impressive list of eight Napa Valley winemakers, all of whom were eager to meet with them as the history and proximity to outstanding vineyards intrigued everyone. But they decided to go with highly respected winemaker Andy Erickson, who has had 25 years of winemaking experience in Napa Valley, as he takes a holistic approach as he is a winemaker who spends a lot of time in the vineyards, focusing on site expression and he has a wealth of experience of overseeing Cabernet Sauvignon vines on many premium sites in Napa Valley. Andy calls the Arborum estate “a real sweet spot” and talks about that feeling of walking certain pieces of land where he senses “something magical can happen,” knowing he can create a wine that reflects that “special place.” 

Unlocking the Past 

It has been over a century since the remarkable Hannah Weinberger won a silver medal in Paris with her wine from this incredible property. Yet, unfortunately, the glory of her vineyards was short-lived as Prohibition forced her to rip out the vines. Then, over time, it became overgrown, seeming more like a natural reserve than a once highly prized vineyard. Even Nick jokes that in his next lifetime, he will buy a property that already has a vineyard as they could not really initially appreciate the time and work it would take to plant a high-quality vineyard. But then that has been the issue with this special estate because it was too big of a mountain to climb for anyone to take on such the challenge of restoring it until Caren and Nick Orum came along. 

When they first bought the property, Caren noted there was this old magnificent oak tree in the middle of their circular driveway, as the property has many oak trees, and immediately, her children, who were four, seven and ten, found it to be the ideal place to play. One day, their middle child ran in, and she said, “Mom and Dad, I found a key!” Lo and behold, she had found an old key in a hidey-hole in the oak tree. The key didn’t fit into the old hunting lodge they used as their home but it looked like it came from Hannah’s time. Hence, they decided to call their estate vineyards ‘Hidden Key.’ Unfortunately, two days later, the oak tree spilt in half right where the hidey-hole was located, which was devastating to Caren and Nick since every aspect of the history of their property is precious to them. 

As they stood there looking at the place where the majestic oak tree once proudly stood, knowing that it had lived through so much and seen so many changes, a feeling came over Caren. It was a sign. It was a sign that the property was making the transition to them, as they had been handed the key, and Hannah’s legacy would not be forgotten as they would take it from where she left off, almost 100 years later. 

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/05/11/napa-valley-cabernet-sauvignon-vineyard-site-revived-almost-100-years-after-uprooting-vines/

2022 Arborum Proprietary White & 2021 Arborum Proprietary Red
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

Arborum will have their inaugural release this Fall, in 2024, and the two wines that will initially be released are below, 2022 Proprietary White and 2021 Proprietary Red, with a 100% Estate Cabernet Sauvignon planned for release in a few years. They intend to make around 500 cases of wine annually. 

Caren and Nick Orum are committing to donate one million dollars ahead of the launch to kick off their mission to give back to their community and protect the environment. Then, in the future, 100% of Arborum’s net earnings will go to charitable causes. They will divide it between 50% of people who live and work in Napa Valley, as they recognize that the wonderful wines that come out of Napa happen through hard work from people who struggle to survive, helping with social services and safety nets. The other 50% will be allocated to environmental causes with a conservation focus.

In regards to the environmental practices on their own property, besides doing all the soil studies and slope reports for data that is helpful for their vineyard management assessments, they also conducted several environmental studies, some required and some not required, going as far to ensure that there were no endangered northern spotted owls on the property, because if these owls had a habitat they wanted to make sure to protect it as Caren noted that they want their property to be kept as a “wildlife thoroughfare” as there are not a lot of properties in their area as heavily forested as they have left their property. 

Also, the Arborum wine labels have a tiny golden key in the middle as well as a key on the top of the capsule to reflect the connection to the old key found in the oak tree. There is also a wood cut impression at the bottom right of the label that is an impression of an old petrified stump found in their Hidden Key vineyard.

2022 Arborum, Proprietary White, Napa Valley, California: 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon sourced from cool climate vineyards in Coombsville. A lovely bouquet of honeysuckle, white peach and crushed rocks with fleshy fruit on the palate that is lifted by notes of lemon peel, marked acidity and a saline minerality. Release price $125.

2021 Arborum, Proprietary Red, Napa Valley, California: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon from Arborum’s Hidden Key Vineyard and 5% Cabernet Franc from Pritchard Hill. A vibrant wine with beautiful purity of fruit that ranges from rich black cherries to bright red cranberries intermixed with blackcurrant leaves and cocoa powder with lots of energy on the palate balanced with dense black raspberry flavors with hints of forest floor and volcanic rock knitted together with fine tannins with a long finish that lingers with enchanting violet aromas. Release price $265.

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Celebrating A Famous Wine Woman’s Legacy And Love For Chilean Wines

The fierce storm caused tremendous turbulence for even the large commercial airplanes that descended into Bordeaux City in South West France, as torrential rains and a torrent of winds battered the metropolis, keeping everyone indoors for fear of getting violently hurt by objects blowing around. Yet a woman in her mid-60s, who was the epitome of joie de vivre, filled with the enjoyment and happiness that the adventures of life brought her, would not be stopped by some “silly storm” to the dismay of her adult children begging her not to attempt a landing. After being tremendously relieved that the matriarch of their family, a shining beacon of light for all of Bordeaux and the wine world, had landed safely, her children insisted she stay there, in the city, and rent a hotel room for the night as it would be a treacherous hour long drive out of town, through the forest, to get back home to the region of Pauillac. She, however, wanted to sleep in her bed and was delighted to take part in another adventure and although that hour’s trip turned into four hours, arriving past midnight, she was glowing with excitement after having such a thrilling journey back home.

Many have referred to this fantastic lady as Wine Nobility, which would probably be too stuffy of a title for her, as she was away living life to the fullest and certainly didn’t take herself that seriously, according to her son. One of her greatest gifts was her ability to connect with people, no matter their background; she could make someone feel like they were on cloud nine after meeting her, as she loved people and was curious about everyone. Her love for people would have her family invest in a very unorthodox project in a faraway land in Chile, to the shock of all those around her.

Baroness Philippine de Rothschild

Baroness Philippine de Rothschild
Photo Credit:
Courtesy of Baron Philippe de Rothschild

She was Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, part of the prestigious Rothschild family known for some of the most famous fine wines in the world.

In the 1990s, she was very curious about the wines they were making in South America. Since Chile specialized in Cabernet Sauvignon, like the wines of her region, she decided to take a trip to visit with a bunch of producers. Of course, it was atypical for those in Europe to be interested in South America during that time and even though Baroness Philippine de Rothschild was known as one of the most adventurous people in Bordeaux, many thought that this trip was crazy, even for her, as it was so far away, in another hemisphere.

Her son, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, remembers that she came back exhilarated from her trip to Chile, as not only did she like the Cabernet Sauvignon wines she tasted but she fell in love with the people, exclaiming that they were “great” and “so much fun” and she loved getting a chance to speak Spanish. And that made it a done deal because, yes, Chile had all the practical components to make great wine such as vineyards, climate, good logistics and it was very organized, noted Philippe, but the idea that his mother loved the people was the most important thing to her, and so, to the utter shock of their neighbors and the world, the Rothschilds were going to make wine in Chile.

Escudo Rojo 

The Escudo Rojo vineyards in Maipo, Chile Photo Credit:
Courtesy of Baron Philippe de Rothschild

In 1999, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild founded a winery in Maipo, Chile that she named Escudo Rojo, the Spanish translation of the German name “Rote Schild” (or red shield). She wanted to give the winery her name because she believed in the wines of this beloved country that had won her heart.

When someone tells Philippe that his mother was a visionary, as Cabernet Sauvignon made in Maipo Valley, Chile, is celebrated worldwide today, he says his mother would have never called herself one because she was curious and it was as simple as that; she wanted to visit them, talk to them, see how they lived, and become part of their world, as she was always interested in people who would expand her horizons.

The Rothschild family did bring their knowledge of working with Cabernet Sauvignon from their prestigious estates, such as Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Clerc Milon, to Chile. Still, Philippe humbly expressed that they knew there was much to learn from the Chilean families working in vineyards there for generations. It is a true melding of their cultures, their way of lives and their experiences, and to further that symbiotic relationship, they have a work exchange program where Chilean employees come to Bordeaux to work at their estates to further their education and French employees go to Chile to work at Escudo Rojo to further their knowledge as well. Philippe noted that the French employees fall in love with the Chilean way of life just like his mother did, and they deeply understand how the people and the place captured her heart.

Philippe Sereys de Rothschild with his sister Camille Sereys de Rothschild and his brother Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild
Photo Credit:
Courtesy of Baron Philippe de Rothschild

Unfortunately, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild passed away in 2014 and even though she lived to the beautiful age of 80, it seemed like she would live forever because of her vibrant and joyful personality, and hence, it was shocking for the world of wine. Her son, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, took over the family wine business in 2014 after several decades in the executive business world. With his sister Camille Sereys de Rothschild and his brother Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, he knew that he needed to make a wine in her honor that would show the excellence of the land and people who took her breath away, so they bottled an ultra-premium wine called Baronesa P., using the Spanish word for Baroness as she loved everything Spanish, and most of all, the people who spoke the language.

When such a person passes away, the world seems dimmer as their bright, luminescent light is no longer there. Yet her children are ensuring that she lives on, keeping her way of life alive. In a world where divisive forces are tearing people apart more than ever, there needs to be an appreciation of differences as an opportunity to grow hearts and minds. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild knew the best way to do that was over a lovely glass of wine.

Link to original article on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/04/25/famous-wine-womans-legacy-honored-by-celebrating-her-love-for-chilean-wines/

2021 Baronesa P., Maipo Valley, Chile
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

2021 Baronesa P., Maipo Valley, Chile: 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Syrah, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Carménère. Deliciously delightful aromas of black cherry, cocoa nibs and baking spices balanced by complex notes of gravel and tobacco leaf with seamlessly integrated tannins that are silky along the sustained finish with lots of pristine, juicy fruit and fresh acidity.

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Italian Wine Estate Making Wines For Over 500 Years Showcases Old Vine Vertical

Feudo Montoni vineyards
Photo Credit: Feudo Montoni

The baby vine had everything it needed in its peaceful, ancient sanctuary protected by surrounding mountains, the highest reaching over 8,200 feet, in an area of the Italian island of Sicily where time has stood still for over 500 years on the Feudo Montoni wine estate. This baby Nero d’Avola red grape variety, known as Calabrese in this isolated Mediterranean paradise, was created directly from its mother by an old technique called “layering,” which has taken place under the care of the same family since the late 1800s, and the layering technique probably goes back much further than that time. This means that there is a direct connection between the DNA of the baby vine and its ancestor plants, which go back centuries. When one drinks Feudo Montoni wines, he is drinking the wines written about with praise in the late 1500s. He truly gets to taste this historic grape without it being altered by purchasing vines from a nursery, as grafting vines keep the lineage of these ancient vines alive, and the extreme technique of layering keeps that lineage as pure to the source as possible.

The province where this wine estate lies is called Agrigento and it is featured with great love and devotion by the Academy Award-winning Sicilian director Giuseppe Tornatore, known best in the U.S. for his Oscar-winning film Cinema Paradiso. Although Giuseppe Tornatore was born in the more urban, energetic metropolis of Palermo in Sicily, his nostalgic feelings for the Sicily of the past brought him back time and time again to shoot his films in Agrigento as it is an untainted area that still keeps its beautiful native beauty and way of life alive. 

Fabio Sireci, the multi-generational owner of the Feudo Montoni estate, is fiercely committed to “the mission” of keeping the old ways alive in his isolated paradise. He states that it is in his “blood” and his “reason for living.”

A Dying Art 

Feudo Montoni estate
Photo Credit: Feudo Montoni

Buying baby plants from the nursery is the most efficient option when a wine producer needs to plant new vines. Yet, in this isolated area within the province of Agrigento, in Sicily, the wine producer Feudo Montoni only works with “wild vines,” as they will either graft the vines or layer them. Both techniques are incredibly time-consuming and require a great deal of skill.

Most of their plants are grafted, initially planting “wild vines” from the area to establish themselves for one year in the soil and then carefully taking a piece of wood from one of their old vines, a.k.a. the mother vine, inserting it into the wild plants so it will take on the characteristics of vines that go back for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, this technique is a dying art as only a few people still use it on the island of Sicily. So, the family owner of Feudo Montoni, Fabio Sireci, said that the highly skilled grafter they use is an 80-year-old man and recently Fabio had 17 acres grafted and it took this grafter over a month to do it. Fabio says that he fears in 20 years or less, it will be impossible to find a highly skilled grafter who will not kill the mother plants in the process of grafting so he is trying to accomplish all the grafting he will need in the near future as soon as possible.

The layering technique
Photo Credit: Feudo Montoni

Grape vines can asexually reproduce; if a shoot from an existing 70-year-old vine is buried right next to it, the buried shoot will grow roots from the buds dormant in that shoot. Through time, that baby vine will grow and be an extension of that century-old vine. And when it comes to cutting the “cord” between the mother and baby, Fabio Sireci’s wife Melissa Muller, says that after the first few years they have to “cut the cord” from mother to baby as that is the only way that the baby vine will take off.

An aristocratic Spanish family built this baglio, an ancient Sicilian building with a courtyard, in 1469, which is part of the Feudo Montoni estate today. Photo Credit: Feudo Montoni

Of course, Fabio Sireci, the third generation of his family overseeing this ancient estate, and hopefully, one of his kids will be the fourth, cannot say what the vineyards were like over 500 years ago. Still, there is proof that there were vineyards on the estate and that they were highly regarded. Not only did a Spanish aristocratic family purchase the estate in 1469 and plant vineyards but then in 1595, one of the first treatises in Italian on the cultivation of vines was written by Andrea Bacci, who praised the growing tradition and the quality of wine made from this estate. 

Close to the Heart

When Fabio’s wife, Melissa, spoke more about having to “cut the cord” from the mother vine to the baby vine, she said it was an idea close to her heart. She and her husband want their children to grow into strong, independent adults, just like the baby vine cut off from its mother. But she also hopes that, in the future, her children will appreciate that they are part of something bigger than themselves: keeping this isolated paradise from getting corrupted and tainted by the constantly changing outside world and altering trends.

Most things in life are temporary but the love of this family that has taken on the mission to protect such a precious place has been represented for over a century with these vines and, hopefully, for many centuries to come.

Link to original article on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/04/20/italian-estate-making-wines-for-over-500-years-showcases-old-vine-vertical/

Vrucara Vineyard, Nero d’Avola vertical
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

The Feudo Montoni has a vineyard named Vrucara, a 150-year-old, pre-phylloxera vineyard planted with the Nero d’Avola red grape using the layering technique.

2018 Feudo Montoni, Vrucara Vineyard, Nero d’Avola, Vrucara, Sicily, Italy: 100% Nero d’Avola from the Vrucara vineyard. Thrilling nose of licorice and eucalyptus with lots of vitality with concentrated, fleshy blackberry fruit and a supple texture with complex notes of tobacco leaf.

2014 Feudo Montoni, Vrucara Vineyard, Nero d’Avola, Vrucara, Sicily, Italy: 100% Nero d’Avola from the Vrucara vineyard. Multifaceted fruit with dried cherries and wild mulberries that has dried herbs and savory spices with mouthfilling fruit flavors with a bright acidity and tannins that caress the palate like ribbons of silk. 

2010 Feudo Montoni, Vrucara Vineyard, Nero d’Avola, Vrucara, Sicily, Italy: 100% Nero d’Avola from the Vrucara vineyard. Impressively complex while also being still very youthful with notes of violets and crushed rose petal with juicy black cherry fruit and finely etched structure with a long expressive finish leaving wildflowers in one’s head.

Feudo Montoni wines
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

Also, Feudo Montoni showcased how well their white wine, Grillo, can age, as well as their other Nero d’Avola vineyard, Lagnusa.

2022 Feudo Montoni, Grillo della Timpa Vrucara, Sicily, Italy: 100% Grillo. Enchanting nose of honeysuckle and white peach with a stunning purity enhanced by intense mineral notes.

2016 Feudo Montoni, Grillo della Timpa Vrucara, Sicily, Italy: 100% Grillo. Like liquid gold with a golden color that is followed by the most delectable notes of dried apricots and orange marmalade with hints of lilacs and zingy lemon zest on the palate with a mineral edge and long finish.

2018 Feudo Montoni, Lagnusa Vineyard, Nero d’Avola, Sicily, Italy: 100% Nero d’Avola from their Lagnusa vineyard. The Lagnusa vineyard translates into “lazy” in Sicilian because it doesn’t produce that much fruit, it is a very low-yield vineyard on the hill. Deeply concentrated, delicious wine with flavors of plum pie and blueberry tart with baking spices and plush body balanced by fresh acidity.

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Pinot Noir Made By Wine Collector Who Discovers Ideal Soil For Greatness

Rhys Mt. Pajaro Vineyard
Photo Credit: Rhys Vineyards

There is nothing as thrilling as seeing some of the most famous Pinot Noir vineyards in the world right after being lucky enough to taste the heavenly wines made from these Grand Cru Burgundy vineyards. The most outstanding Pinot Noir wines in the world have ethereal aromatics that transport the drinker to another realm and in the best vintages, the flavors and textures on the palate are just as exquisite as the nose. No other wine on the planet can compare to these wines, and hence, why Burgundy wine collectors are a breed of their own, who have such an intense obsession with trying to relive another experience of tasting an otherworldly bottle. Their obsession is so strong that they are willing to get their hearts broken multiple times – just like when Pinot Noir is great, it is in a league of its own but when it is bad, the only thing that one can do is dump it down the drain. Since the weather can be drastically inconsistent in Burgundy and even range greatly among the microclimates of various areas, single-vineyard bottlings can be dramatically different depending on the vintage.

Kevin Harvey in the vineyard
Photo Credit: Rhys Vineyards

One man had a mission to find those different expressions of “minerality, tension and complexity” that he loved about Burgundy Pinot Noir wines and remarkably, he found them in a more consistent climate that would always be ideal for Pinot Noir year in and year out. That man is Kevin Harvey – born in California, raised in Houston, Texas and found his way back to California as a software entrepreneur who sold his first upstart company in the late 1980s. Since it was for a relatively small amount of money, as software was not the big business then that it is today, he thought about moving back to Houston as even back then, the cost of living in San Francisco was extraordinarily high. But fate had him meet his future wife who was California through and through, and so, he formed roots in California, pursuing other software ventures as well as delving into his passion for Burgundy wine.

Kevin was never personally impressed with the richer, more plush California Pinot Noir wines that were fashionable when he first got serious about collecting wine, so he kept going back to the outstanding vineyards of Burgundy, spending lots of time with wine producers (who had become friends) explaining what was so special about the top Grand Cru vineyards of their illustrious region: what they call “terroir.” Then, his passion for these stellar wines had him delve into the research of soil depth, composition, structure, chemistry, hydrology and climate, to name a few.

Eventually, he planted a vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which, to his surprise, seemed like the ideal soil for great Pinot Noir.

Santa Cruz Mountains

Mt. Pajaro Vineyard in Santa Cruz Mountains Photo Credit: Rhys Vineyards

It is not easy to impress a Burgundy wine collector as they are some of the most loyal wine drinkers on the planet and no other place can compare. Yet Kevin was intrigued by his research and he knew that it would take years of making one barrel of wine from his planted vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, to see if it was even close. He knew that making this wine in his garage with no background as a winemaker or vineyard grower would not show the site’s full potential and he would be lucky if the wine was even drinkable but it was good and improved over time; he couldn’t believe it. As someone already mindful that living in California was costing him a great deal of money, he was certainly in no hurry to spend significantly more by starting a winery.

Yet he discovered that much of the land where he could plant vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains has around 20 inches of clay soil with fractured rock such as decomposing limestone, with a high cation exchange capacity, allowing nutrients to become available to the vines. These plots were similar to the soils in the Grand Cru sites in Burgundy, where Kevin found the most complex and interesting wines. And since he loved the different expressions of various excellent sites in Burgundy, he was also intrigued by the idea that two vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which were only 400 yards away from each other, could be remarkably different because there have been millions of years of movement between the Pacific Plate, the North American Plate and the Farallon Plate in the area. Hence, the soil is like a layer cake with tens of millions of years of difference between those layers. For example, one vineyard could be on the part of the layer one million years old while another was formed 30 million years ago.

The idea that Kevin could have discovered a place that had the ideal soils, the ability to express a wide range of terroir of “various geologies of the soil,” and an ideal cool mountain climate was too tempting not to take the leap. In 2004, he founded Rhys Vineyards, and by 2007, he had five different Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards in production; today, he has six. During his early Burgundy collecting days, he could have never imagined that not only could he find a place in California that would have the same level of “minerality, tension and complexity” as his beloved Burgundy wines but these vineyards would be able to produce that high level of quality year in and year out, as there were none of the extreme spikes in vintage variation that unfortunately plagues Burgundy.

The True Test 

Rhys Mt. Pajaro Vineyard redwood tree and fog Photo Credit: Rhys Vineyards

Almost 30 years after he planted his first plot of land in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the mission that drove him all these years has been finally ascertained as he wanted his vineyards to get to an age where they would be in their prime, and therefore, he could finally see if they were capable of having multifaceted varied nuances from site to site. Also, it took time to learn how to manage his vineyards, which are 100% organic today, and he dry farms four of his oldest sites and is currently in the process of converting the others.

After spending all those years standing in the middle of the prestigious vineyards of Burgundy, noting how plots near each other could make wines with entirely different expressions of excellence, he is finally experiencing that for himself with his own vineyards in the much lesser-known area of the Santa Cruz Mountains. A place that will never have that many vineyards with only 1,500 acres planted, compared to Sonoma’s almost 63,000 acres, due to much of the Santa Cruz Mountains being protected by open space trusts and, according to Kevin, one cannot “farm economically” there since it is a patchwork of tiny plots, not making it appealing for big wineries to come in as they can’t have a contiguous 100-acre vineyard.

It is often impossible to see where life is heading as Kevin could have ended up back in Houston after selling his company for a relatively small amount in the ’80s, living an easier life with a lower cost of living. He would have had much more time and money to spend in Burgundy and build an impressive collection. Yet, love for his wife kept him in California and led him to the seemingly impossible: discovering an excellent situation in which he could make the wines he cherished yet with terroir expressions of their own. It hasn’t happened overnight and he didn’t know if the day would ever come, but it is here, and he is far from easing up on his mission as he is ready to take it to the next level.

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/04/07/pinot-noir-made-by-wine-collector-who-discovers-ideal-soil-for-greatness/

Bearwallow Vineyard in Anderson Valley
Photo Credit: Rhys Vineyards

Rhys Vineyards has also acquired a vineyard in Anderson Valley, California, a place prized for its cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to make vibrant still wines and top sparkling wines on par with Champagne. Unlike the vineyards he purchased in the Santa Cruz Mountains, this plot of land already came with six acres of Pinot Noir already planted but he planted an additional 25 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. His vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains have been planted with carefully selected clones of the grapes, as that was another facet of top-quality wine he learned from Burgundy producers. Then, he used a field selection from his vineyards in the Santa Cru Mountains to plant the rest of the Anderson Valley plot.

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Chardonnay, Anderson Valley AVA, California: 100% Chardonnay from the single vineyard Bearwallow, so even though it is listed as a regional wine, it is actually a single vineyard. Pretty floral notes with a wonderful mineral streak with lemon curd and peach cobbler flavors and a tangy acidity.

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Bearwallow Vineyard, Chardonnay, Anderson Valley AVA, California: 100% Chardonnay from the top grapes coming from Bearwallow vineyard. Bright lemon zest on the nose with a fierce stony minerality that has lots of drive and focus on the extremely long finish, leaving notes of sea spray and broken slate in one’s head.

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, California: 100% Chardonnay coming from three of the Rhys vineyards in Santa Cruz Mountains. More fleshy stone fruit flavors that are beautifully balanced by the electric acidity with hints of baking spices that has a wonderful expression of purity of fruit that is wrapped up in an overall elegance.

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Mt. Pajaro Vineyard, Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, California: 100% Chardonnay from Mt. Pajaro vineyard. A stunning Chardonnay that gives an exquisite expression of the exotic yet refined structural quality of a white orchard with aromas of citrus blossom, green mango and passion fruit with lots of tension and verve.

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley AVA, California: 100% Pinot Noir from the single vineyard Bearwallow, so even though it is listed as a regional wine it is actually a single vineyard. Effusive bouquet of aromas emanate from the glass with lilacs, shaved nutmeg and fresh morels with bright rhubarb flavors wrapped in very fine tannins.  

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Bearwallow Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Anderson AVA, California: 100% Pinot Noir from the top grapes coming from Bearwallow vineyard. Deep, multilayered wine with tree bark and forest floor that has rich flavors of black cherry and more substantial tannins and an alluring silky texture.

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Mt. Pajaro Vineyard,
Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, California: 100% Pinot Noir from six of the Rhys vineyards in Santa Cruz Mountains. An aristocratic wine that still has lots of generosity with layers of juicy red and black fruit with deliciously delectable notes of cocoa powder and candied wild violets yet it has an addictive savory quality that is brought over the top by the finely etched tannins.

2021 Rhys Vineyards, Mt. Pajaro Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, California: 100% Pinot Noir from Mt. Pajaro vineyard. A wine that leaves one speechless as it has an incredible depth of concentration with a mid-palate filled with brambly fruit that is multi-dimensional with sage, anise seeds, crushed limestone and smoldering earth dancing about in one’s head with an extraordinarily long, expressive finish that is lifted by marked acidity.

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100-Year-Old Wine Producer Makes Rioja Wine From Old Vines

The tiny, precious hands of the little girl were shaking as she held on to the trunk of a baby Tempranillo grape vine while her grandmother pushed dirt into the hole where the young vine was being held so they could plant this vine together, as for many generations, it has been passed on from grandmother to granddaughter. The little girl was always in awe of her grandmother’s beautiful hands, which were strong yet gentle, depending on whether she was laboring in the vineyards or stroking her granddaughter’s hair. She hoped that one day she could have such hands, the hands of a superhero, as there was no one else as amazing as her grandma.

In 1882, the wine region of Rioja, Spain, enjoyed a boom in wine sales as French producers were buying the wines of Rioja to help supplement their own demand, as many of their vineyards had been destroyed by the pest, phylloxera. So, the multi-generational grape growers in Rioja planted more vines of their cherished native Tempranillo red grape variety. It was a very exciting time; the grandmother told her precious little grandchild that the incredible vineyards of their people were finally receiving the glory they deserved and that her granddaughter would have a much better life that would be unimaginable, even to her grandmother.

By 1893, phylloxera had made its way down to Rioja a few years earlier and this pest started to feed on the roots of locals’ beloved Tempranillo grape vines, where it would either kill or stunt the growth of some of the vines. It seemed that the hope for the region had plummeted overnight and the grandmother passed away from the intense stress, leaving her 18-year-old granddaughter alone as the sole guardian trying to protect their small plots of vines as her parents wanted to rip out the vines so they could plant grain instead. With tears running down her face, she begged her mother not to pull out the one vine she had planted with her grandmother but in the end, it was torn out of the ground, destroying the most precious memory she had of her childhood with her hero. A local young man who had been courting this 18-year-old lady for years saw his opportunity to comfort her. He asked her to marry him and to move to Madrid for better opportunities. Overwhelmed with grief and the great disappointment of her parents killing something so precious, she went to Madrid with this young man. She married him, feeling at that moment that she would never return home again. 

During this time, a man named Ramón Bilbao from a small town called Etxebarri in northern Spain, around 60 miles north of Haro—the main town of Rioja—moved to Haro to start his own business. He open a grain warehouse as well as planted vines in 1914, which was a gamble considering that something else, like the devastation of phylloxera, could happen again in the vineyards. 

Ramón Bilbao

Sign of Ramón Bilbao
Photo Credit: Ramón Bilbao

Unfortunately, in 1929, five years after the winery, Bodega Ramón Bilbao, opened,  Ramón passed away, leaving his son Enrique to fulfill his dream, which he did with Bodega Ramón Bilbao becoming a very successful wine producer in Rioja, celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. Not only do they own their own vineyards but they have had a long-term partnership with multi-generational grape growers in the area to expand their sourcing of grapes from a wide range of small plots that include Tempranillo grape vines that are 80 to over 90 years old. No other wine showcases that beautiful partnership as does their wine, Mirto. 

Harvesting grape bunches by hand
Photo Credit: Ramón Bilbao

The first vintage of Mirto was in 1999, when the technical and general director, Rodolfo Bastida, joined Bodega Ramón Bilbao. He had been walking through the vineyards with a local grower in the sub-region of Rioja Alta, discussing the 1999 vintage, and the grower said to him, “Año de mirto año de vino,” which translates into English, “year of myrtle, year of wine.” Then he pointed to all the myrtle plants growing on the edge of the plot. It is a local expression that means thriving myrtle plants are an excellent sign for the vines and when the myrtle is great, the wine will be great. So Rodolfo decided to make a 100% Tempranillo wine sourced from multiple old vine plots and call it Mirto and the 1999 Mirto was a lovely wine out of the gates and after many years of cellaring, still impresses.

Rodolfo Bastida
Photo Credit: Ramón Bilbao

Mirto is just one of the projects that Rodolfo is spearheading as Ramón Bilbao founded a winery in 2019 called Lalomba (translating to hill), which is devoted to the exploration of a single vineyard estate called Lalinde which is located on a hill in the most eastern sub-region named Rioja Oriental. A section of the vineyard makes an ultra-premium rosé wine that is a field blend of the local red Garnacha grape and the white Viura grape made from vines that are almost half a century old. It makes a concentrated rosé wine with lots of freshness and minerality that improves with age.

Rodolfo is a native of Rioja and a multi-generational winemaker as his father and grandfather were also winemakers. He feels that he has come full circle with spending most of his time in the vineyards as he knows that thinking back to the 1800s, locals who made wine in Rioja lived in the vineyards and as more professional wineries started to become established, there was a change as his grandfather spent all his time in a lab with his white lab coat as it was crucial for Rioja to develop modern practices in the winery, analyzing samples to make sure they produced commercially viable wine. Then, his father spent half the time in the lab and half in the vineyards; as Rioja had established itself as a fine wine region globally with sound practices in the winery, there was a resurgence of appreciating the vineyards again. And now, Rodolfo spends almost all of his time among Rioja’s most precious jewels, those old vines planted so long ago that have been protected by generation after generation.

Nothing More Important 

It took many years before that young woman, who left Rioja in the late 1800s, spoke to her parents again and by the time she was in her mid-40s in 1938, she had her own daughter and granddaughter. The Spanish Civil War had been raging for a few years, with Madrid massively bombed by rebel planes; her husband was dead, her daughter’s husband was dead and it was only the three of them now. She knew a friend who lived in Madrid who was going back home to Rioja and she asked her to bring a letter to her mother telling her that she was bringing her daughter and granddaughter to visit them.

Then, there she was, in front of her parent’s house on their family’s piece of land in Rioja, where, to her surprise, they had started to replant vines. Her mother opened the door with a stoic look, staring at her daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter with an expressionless face and then walked past them with a bucket in her hand, making her way to her vineyard. The woman followed her mother, motioning for her daughter and granddaughter to follow her, racking her brain about what to say to her mother as she knew she had abandoned her parents for decades and didn’t know how to apologize. Then, her mother placed the bucket on the ground near a hole she had already dug. She beckoned for her granddaughter and little great-granddaughter to kneel next to her as they would plant a grapevine together. As they all started to push the earth around the trunk of the vine, the woman looked up at her daughter, who stood there in shock, and smiled at her as tears rolled down her eyes. She knew at that moment that there was no forgiveness needed as nothing was more important than family.

And that is what Rodolfo Bastida sees every day when he walks through the vines to make his wines for Bodega Ramón Bilbao – all the stories of the generations that came before him and how his mission is to honor those stories. 

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/03/21/100-year-old-wine-producer-makes-rioja-wine-from-old-vines

Lineup of Ramón Bilbao Mirto wines
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd
Lalomba by Ramón Bilbao
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

Lalomba by Ramón Bilbao

2017 Lalomba, Finca Lalinde, Monte Yerga, Rioja Oriental, Rioja, Spain: A blend of 90% Garnacha and 10% Viura from the single vineyard estate named Lalinde. A stunning rosé with a pale pink color with highlights of copper with grapefruit and lemon zest aromas with creamy lemon meringue and candied violet flavors on the palate with bright acidity and intense minerality.

2022 Lalomba, Finca Lalinde, Monte Yerga, Rioja Oriental, Rioja, Spain: A blend of 90% Garnacha and 10% Viura from the single vineyard estate named Lalinde located on a hillside on the Yerga mountain range. An intriguing rosé with smoky minerality and a bouquet of wildflowers on the nose with delicious mixed berries and juicy white peaches that has a refreshing finish with notes of wet river stones.  

Mirto by Ramón Bilbao 

1999 Ramón Bilbao ‘Mirto’ Villalba, Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain: 100% Tempranillo. From plots in the village of Villalba near the town of Haro with old vines around 70 years old. A multifaceted nose with smoldering cigar, fresh tobacco leaf, touch of bacon fat and broken earth with rich blackberry flavors intermixed with exotic spice and very fine tannins that caress the palate.

2006 Ramón Bilbao ‘Mirto’ Villalba, Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain: 100% Tempranillo. From plots in the village of Villalba near the town of Haro with old vines around 80 years old. Beautiful fruit aromas on the nose with hints of licorice and fresh herbs that has fleshy black cherry fruit flavors with a broad body. 

2010 Ramón Bilbao ‘Mirto’ Ábalos, Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain: 100% Tempranillo. It comes from plots in the village of Ábalos near the town of Haro with old vines around 80 years old. Wafting notes of espresso and cocoa nibs entice with its delicious aromas, plush texture, generous fruit flavors, and complex cigar boxes and tar notes.

2016 Ramón Bilbao ‘Mirto’ Cuzcurrita, Rioja Alta, Rioja, Spain: 100% Tempranillo. From plots in the village of Cuzcurrita near the town of Haro with old vines over 90 years old. An enchanting bouquet of violets on the nose with delectable blueberry tart flavors on the palate with very silky tannins that are finely sculpted and has a long, flavorful finish.

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Meet The Italian Wine Outsiders Who Raised The Quality Of Chianti Wine

As the teenage boy reclined on the white limestone rocks under the bright sun, the gentle sounds of the pristine turquoise sea gently lapping at the grotto near him, one would think that his passionate gaze was transfixed on the young Mediterranean women who seemed like goddesses in the golden rays of sunlight. Surprisingly though, something very different gripped the mind of this young man. As he stared out to the Adriatic Sea, he craved something more than the stunning raw beauty around him. Despite his home being a paradise, it was a poor area with minimal opportunity for work prospects and it seemed things would only get worse in time. He was an adolescent who had his back to the wall; food was scarce and the future seemed bleak for the wine-grape growing family in Puglia, the southern Italian region that experienced bleak times in the 1950s and 1960s.

Despite things being hopeless, this young man, Antonio Mario Zaccheo, came from a family that never gave up as they continued to experiment in the vineyards even though it seemed pointless as Puglia didn’t exist for the rest of the world. So, their grapes were worth very little.

Antonio, at 19 years old, received a professional wine certification after a couple of years of schooling as that was common over 60 years ago, and he then met Giovanni Carlo Sacchet, a young Italian man from North Italy whose family made gelato. Together, they formed a partnership that focused on achieving the dream of producing high-quality wine in Tuscany. They were outsiders who challenged the Tuscan wine aristocracy to make the great Chianti Classico wines wine drinkers know today, which was unheard of at the time as many were satisfied to keep it a humble, quaffable wine. 

Carpineto

Carpineto vineyard
Photo Credit: Carpineto

These young entrepreneurs purchased an estate from a church auction in the cooler climate section of Chianti Classico, in the tiny town of Dudda, in the area of Greve. They called their winery Carpineto, taking its name from the Greek word “carpos,” meaning fruit, which has always been their primary focus, growing the highest quality fruit from the beginning. This focus is evident in their native Sangiovese grapes which express themselves beautifully and elegantly. The journey to change Chianti for the better started for Antonio and Giovanni when they founded Carpiento in 1967.

Like much of Europe, Italy is a country where people associate themselves with their region, sometimes just their town, more than their whole country. So Tuscany is a country within itself and Antonio, coming from the South, and Giovanni, from the North, were treated like foreigners who were missing the privileges that a long-standing family would be given, especially considering that the majority of the vineyard owners back in the 1960s were the multi-generational noble families who, many times, placed a famous ancestor on their wine labels. 

Antonio and Giovanni didn’t have noble roots; on the contrary, they were both from humble backgrounds. Yet they had innovative minds and neither shied away from hard work. But when they bought the estate, they found a print of the painter Rubens in the corner of the building and since Rubens himself was a very distinguished-looking gentleman of stature, they placed him on their wine labels.

Sticklers for Quality

From the very beginning, Antonio and Giovanni were always about showcasing the native varieties of Chianti, mainly Sangiovese with a small amount of the other grape Canaiolo, which still holds true today and went to great lengths in the vineyards, such as lower yields and overall maintenance that required much more man hours, that was costly and simply exhausting, while still having to keep prices extremely low for decades as Chianti was seen only as an easy-going wine, not worth a higher price. This horrified their neighbors as they had a formula that worked: make lots of cheap wine that sold in large volumes; that way, one could make a decent profit.

Sangiovese grape bunch in a Carpineto vineyard Photo Credit: Carpineto

But these young men were going to prove that people would eventually pay more for great Chianti Classico wine and they did not have the baggage of a multi-generational Tuscan family holding them back. So their intense, youthful passion was unfettered, allowing them to push the limits of quality, even if it meant they went bankrupt. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain so they were not afraid to flip the industry on its head.

As all Italian wine lovers know today, Chianti Classico is an incredible success and Tuscany as a wine region is one of the most sought-after and prestigious in the world. That young man from Puglia eventually had a son, aptly named Antonio Michael Zaccheo, who ended up getting an MBA from U.C. Davis, worked for a multinational U.S. company and learned to speak five languages, all before he came back to help run Carpineto with Giovanni’s daughter, Caterina Sacchet, the head winemaker, and other family members on both sides who work for the company.

Today, Puglia is a popular tourist destination that brings people from all over the world to bask in its natural splendor; its current popularity is a heartwarming thought to Antonio Michael Zaccheo, knowing how hopeless things were for his father and grandparents in Puglia, back in the ’50 and ’60s. Even though he would not wish their tough lives on anyone, he knows that tough beginning in life was the key for his father to build a remarkable Tuscan wine empire, which today also includes estates in Montepulciano, Montalcino and Maremma, as well as being a key to his own successful experience in the U.S. that is now an asset to his family’s company.

And so, even though it is undoubtedly beneficial to be born into a family with wealth and prestige, the lack of such things didn’t stop Antonio and Giovanni; if anything, they used it to their benefit. And that fearless drive for quality was passed down to their children as they are the inheritors of that path that was carved out decades ago by their fathers, who changed the course of Chianti wines, rebuilding its foundation on quality that reverberated across the Tuscan region.

Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/03/09/italian-wine-outsiders-who-raised-the-quality-of-chianti-wine

2019 Carpineto, Chianti Classico Riserva
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

2019 Carpineto, Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany, Italy: 80% Sangiovese and 20% Canaiolo. Pristine red cherry fruit notes are simply breathtaking in this wine with hints of spice and floral notes, complex layers of limestone and smoldering earth that has silky tannins with a long, expressive finish.

2019 Carpineto, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva, Tuscany, Italy: 80% Sangiovese and 20% Canaiolo. Rich, brooding fruit with blueberry and blackberry that has espresso and cocoa nib notes in the background with a full body and refreshing acidity.

2019 Carpineto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Enchanting nose with rose oil and wild lilacs that has hints of minerality with crushed rocks and river stones with marked acidity that lifts the juicy fruit and finely etched tannins.

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Top-Rated Italian Wine Vintages Represent One Of Italy’s Most Important Wines

As he arrived in Montalcino, a hillside town in Tuscany, the young Italian man noted to himself that it was no wonder that Tuscany was the name that captured the hearts of those who wanted to live a life filled with beauty and enjoyment. Being Italian was one thing; even further, being Tuscan was something else. Still, the rolling valleys covered with vines, forests and olive groves, accented by the iconic centuries-old cypress trees created an enchanting world that made Montalcino like no other place on earth. Surrendering to the glory of great wine, delicious local food and the peaceful energy that is at once electrifying and meditative brings one to an ancient way of life that has survived extinction.

Leonardo Berti had already worked as an assistant winemaker at the legendary Tignanello estate while also participating in essential studies at the University of Florence regarding research into vineyards and their relationships to making great wine. Tignanello is a “Super Tuscan” wine where the famous Italian native red grape Sangiovese is blended with Bordeaux grape varieties. But Montalcino, especially the winegrowing areas for the Brunello di Montalcino wines, is about only 100% Sangiovese and is the purest expression of Italy’s most arguably important grape.

Leonardo Berti
Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

Eventually, Leonardo moved to Montalcino in 2016, and although he was well acquainted with beauty and living his best life as an Italian, he truly was taken by this Garden of Eden called Montalcino, which was rich with the abundance of some of the most delightful delectables in life, such as truffles, wild boar, excellent olive oil and wines that expressed the exquisite aromatics and flavors of the noble Sangiovese grape, all wrapped up in lush green woodlands. He found his wine home as the winemaker at the Poggio di Sotto estate, a place with remarkably steep vineyards and various clones (a.k.a. biotypes) of the noble grape, different Sangiovese vines that have slightly different characteristics, and the courage to be very hands-off in the winery, respecting the purity of expression that comes from this enchanting land.

Recently, he was happy to showcase several different vintages of Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, with five of them receiving the top rating of five stars from the wine trade organization, Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, who set the ratings for the Brunello wine vintages.

Uniquely Beautiful Estate

Sangiovese grape bunch
Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

“It is the easiest job in the world to be the winemaker at Poggio di Sotto,” said Leonardo, discussing their uniquely beautiful estate and the incredible Sangiovese grown in their vineyards. The sole mission of Poggio di Sotto is to express the multifaceted “noble soul” of Sangiovese that is enhanced by the mixture of soils, different elevations, as well as the various clones of the grape variety that are all special facets of the estate.

But Leonardo also brought attention to the fact that from the very beginning of the establishment of Poggio di Sotto as a winemaking estate in 1989, the owner, who knew nothing about making wine, brought on Giulio Gambelli, known as one of the great masters of Sangiovese. Gambelli believed nothing was better than the “purity of Sangiovese” that wasn’t covered up with too much oak or over-extraction. So even though there was a trend to make big, structured wines with lots of oak to help compete with other ultra-premium wines in steakhouses in the 1990s, Poggio di Sotto always stayed true to the elegance of Sangiovese.

A piece of galestro in the Poggio di Sotto vineyards Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

The energy in Montalcino is a mystical force that cannot be explained entirely but must be experienced. Part of that enchanting mystery in the wines is due to keeping to the ancient practices and continuing to follow the advice of the masters who truly understood how to allow space for the “noble soul” of Sangiovese to blossom. So, it is about keeping a hands-off approach in the cellar and honoring the old ways in the vineyards by randomly replanting the different clones of the Sangiovese grape. The estate has always used massal selection, taking cuttings from old vines to propagate new ones. Poggio di Sotto has a unique collection of 182 clones in a research vineyard on the property. Yet, keeping faithful to trusting the place and past generations more than some systematic approach, as they will aimlessly pick cuttings to use from this collection, although the Sangiovese masters might say that there is a greater power at work that does have an aim, as those in Montalcino pray at the alter of their vineyards.

Top Rated Vintages

Sangiovese grape vine
Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

The tasting that Leonardo led had eight vintages; as noted above, five were given the top rating. The 2010 vintage was seen as the vintage of the century at the time, that is, until 2016 and 2019, which were also represented in the tasting. For longtime Brunello lovers, it is undoubtedly a great time to be alive and a fantastic opportunity for those who always wanted to try this titan of the Italian wine world. Above all, the vintages share the qualities of multifaceted aromas and flavors, impeccable balance, distinctive expression of terroir (a.k.a. sense of place) and overall elegance.

2015, also a top-rated vintage, shares these qualities but had the great misfortune of being followed by the exceptional 2016 vintage with deeper concentration and more structure, so it is more sought after by collectors who want a wine that can be cellared for several decades. Finally, the fifth outlier of the top-rated group is 2012, a heterogeneous vintage with varying quality levels among producers depending on the exposition of their vineyards and the timing of their harvests. Some wines are off-balanced with too much ripeness, too little acidity, and, in some cases, green, rough tannins. Others, such as Poggio di Sotto, have juicy fruit, fresh acidity, and silky tannins, so it was a five-star vintage for some, but others may not live up to that prestigious rating.

Emotional Sensation

Since it seems that Poggio di Sotto was very smart in the choices they made in the toughest of vintages as well as the easy ones, it was interesting to note that even though Leonardo has an impressive background in researching viticulture and winemaking, he says that it is the “emotional sensation” that drives his decisions at Poggio di Sotto. Yes, they do conduct analyses of the grapes in various sections of their vineyards for many days before they decide when and how to pick the grapes, yet the emotional response they have when they taste the grapes from the vines, as they will taste grapes as well as place them through analyses, will have precedence over the scientific readout of the composition of the grapes. And they will go to great lengths to make great wine out of a challenging growing season, allowing the “emotional sensation” to lead them in the right direction, such as the 2011 vintage, where they picked berry by berry as some of the berries in a bunch were excellent while others were too overripe and desiccated.

In many ways, globalization has brought opportunities to those even in the far-flung, isolated areas of the globe. Yet, in other ways, it has made others abandon the ancient ways of their cultures to keep up with an international standard. It is not so black and white, where one is wrong and the other right, but it is more about finding equilibrium in a world where it is easy to go to one extreme or the other. It seems absurd to think that at one time, the locals were giving land away in Tuscany during desperate times, even in Montalcino, and now it is one of the world’s top travel and wine destinations. Among the Brunello producers, some keep up with international trends, while others keep to the old ways, even when it seems it could be a detriment to their business.

And so when Leonardo, a man who has already studied and worked with some of the top people in the wine industry, walks through the collection of 182 different grapes clones on the Poggio di Sotto property, knowing that some of the clones could have been continuously propagated from a vine that can be traced back hundreds of years, and stands there among these great treasures passed on by several generations, he hears the voice of the late Sangiovese master Giulio Gambelli to keep the purity of Sangiovese, Montalcino’s most precious jewel, at all cost. Leonardo doesn’t need to seek excellence by using techniques and equipment from the outside world, as excellence is already right in front of him, preserved by great sacrifices from those who stayed during the darkest of times, and all he needs to do is not ruin it.

Poggio di Sotto Vertical
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

Vertical of Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino:

2010 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Stunning pristine fruit flavors of red cherries highlighted with notes of rosebud that is underpinned by a stony minerality with an exquisitely fine texture and a good amount of fleshy fruit on the palate with added complex layers of espresso and cocoa nib with a magnificent finish with lots of energy and an incredible mouthfeel.

2011 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Overall juicy wine with cassis flavors intermixed with fresh red strawberries with a touch of plush fruit on the palate with incredibly silky tannins.

2012 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Spice box right off the bat with hints of toasted sesame seeds that has a broad body with lots of rich fruit that is lifted by floral notes and has an overall delicacy in structure that is simply charming.

2013 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. 2013 didn’t receive a five-star rating, perhaps because with the higher acidity and lower ripeness it doesn’t impress with a bang but instead wins one’s heart with its subtle complexity and vibrancy that is represented by dried herbs, crushed rocks and fresh leather that has zingy cranberry fruit with blackcurrant leaves with an electric, linear drive on the finish.

2015 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. The structure of this wine is breathtaking, like delicate lace that caresses the palate with nuanced finesse and has an extraordinary purity of fruit that is expressive on the very long finish. This wine is showing exceptionally well right now.

2016 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. 2016 will take a lot longer to fully mature than 2015. Still, it is already a legendary vintage with intense concentration and layers beyond layers of complex aromatics such as black truffles, smoldering earth and hints of bacon bits with decadently delicious flavors of cherry tart and raspberry preserves that has big tannins that are seamlessly intertwined with the wine and an overall freshness that gives an ideal balance to such intense concentration.

2018 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Leonardo is very proud of this wine as it was an extremely challenging growing season and he said it is really easy to make a great wine in a year like 2016 but the toughest vintages separate those willing to go the extra mile from the rest. This vintage is an incredible achievement for Poggio di Sotto because the best estates can be trusted to make top wine even in the worst vintages and they have risen to the occasion. Savory spices, forest floor and bright red cherries with finely sculpted tannins and broken earth with dried flowers that has crunchy cranberry fruit on the palate.

2019 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Leonardo noted that 2019 is extremely young at this time and is not showing its complete potential. Still, for those that are well experienced with various Brunello vintages, its potential greatness is unmistakable as it has a seductively plush palate with multilayer red and black fruit with subtle notes of blossoming jasmine and rose oil that is already extremely satisfying even though it is evident that there is still so much more to come with cellaring. The lively acidity brings a brilliance that makes this wine almost perfect.

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Rising California Wine Star Expressing Dramatic Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyards Owned By Telecom Pioneer

Steep terraced vineyards at Skipstone near pond Photo Credit: Courtesy of Skipstone

It was as if a dream had materialized with the steepest slope he had ever seen with gorgeously maintained Cabernet Sauvignon vines nestled into carved terraces, no less. Not much impressed this self-made telecom pioneer as he had traveled all over the world and seen every kind of natural beauty one could imagine. At a time, he wasn’t even thinking of making wine; the pure power of this estate’s resplendence was like a siren song he could not deny, and within an hour, he bought the property.

Fahri Diner is a man who has always been bold in taking on a challenge or dreaming big, even without the connections and wealth to make it happen. He was raised in Cyprus, the island country located east of Greece, and grew up in a farming family who loved making olive oil. An academic scholarship brought him to the U.S. to study electrical engineering at Florida Tech, and he went on to become a founder of the fiber-optic company, Qtera, which would eventually sell for $3.25 billion. Even though Fahri has taken on other business ventures since Qtera, he sought out another passion that had deep roots in his family and he wanted to reconnect to small-scale farming, creating high-quality produce such as the olive oil his family made. But would he stay in Florida? Go back to Cyprus? Or find a ranch in the gorgeous state of California?

Alexander Valley

View of terraced vineyards from the Residence Photo Credit: Courtesy of Skipstone

Fahri did what he always did when having to make a big decision. He went to a lake and skipped a stone; if it skipped three times, he would go to California and look for a ranch to reconnect to his farming roots. It was three times, hence, his two-year journey seeking out a unique property throughout California, from as south as Santa Barbara to as north as Alexander Valley in Sonoma County, began. Most people told him Napa was the place to be but Fahri has always trusted his instincts and didn’t see any properties that felt right. One day, in 2001, someone told him about a property in the Alexander Valley area in Sonoma County. When he had that moment of coming over the crest of the road, taking in those terraced vineyards on an extremely steep slope, he knew that this was the place, especially since there were olive trees so that he could make olive oil.  

At first, he sold the grapes from the vineyards to local wineries eager to get them. Still, it bothered him that these rare vineyards were not getting the acknowledgment they deserved. So, he hired a team of experts, such as winemaker Philippe Melka, a true living legend in the wine industry, to express the place’s unique terroir and aptly take on the name Skipstone as a wine producer. The journey of him reconnecting to his roots while combining it with his love for the U.S., his second home that has given him so much opportunity to succeed, has finally kicked off, full force, with the recent completion of the new Skipstone winery with the initial building of it colliding with taking on a fulltime head winemaker to lead the charge, rising winemaking star Laura Jones.

Landscape view with terraced vineyards
Photo Credit: Jak Wonderly

Alexander Valley may not be a household name for Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Still, it is considered by many in the California wine industry to be one of the most important wine regions for Cabernet Sauvignon, only second to Napa Valley. Many well-known wine producers source Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Alexander Valley, giving little attention to the place, and there are some ultra-premium Cabernet producers with Alexander Valley on their labels. Still, the wine producer often sticks with customers, while Alexander Valley often goes unnoticed. But that was part of what drew Fahri to this place; it was an underdog such as himself, and it deserved someone who would show its full potential.

Laura Jones

Laura Jones
Photo Credit: Jak Wonderly

His new head winemaking star, Laura Jones, is also an underdog who built a pedigree based on intelligence, talent and hard work, as she is originally from Wyoming but was able to get herself on the track of going into medical research in California, but when she was looking into grad schools, an encounter with someone in the wine world placed her on another path. So, she graduated from the prestigious graduate program in Viticulture and Enology from U.C. Davis and then went on to not only work in stellar wineries in California, such as Aubert Wines and Cliff Lede, but also spent some time in New Zealand and in Burgundy, France, at Domaine Armand Rousseau to give her an international perspective as well. 

Even though there are only 27 acres of vineyards out of the 200-acre estate, the first thing Laura wanted to do was to employ precision viticulture practices by assessing the nuanced differences of each plot. So she installed three weather stations, one on the steeper hillside, one near the flatter part of the vineyards and one halfway up the hillside. During the summertime, there can be a seven to eight-degree difference between some parcels. 

Laughing Laura Jones
Photo Credit: Jak Wonderly

One of the things that Laura loves about Skipstone, other than the uniquely outstanding vineyards, is that they have a full-time vineyard crew, which is atypical as many times, the majority of a vineyard crew are temporarily hired for the busiest times of the year. But since Skipstone has a 180-degree amphitheater with an intense 60% degree slope, there is always lots of work to be done year round as it requires a lot of manpower to maintain vines planted in these extreme locations. Skipstone’s vineyard manager, Juan Alcantara, has been there for 16 years and half the crew has been there for 15 years, another aspect of Skipstone that goes against the norm since there is typically lots of turnover in the wine business. This is an aspect that Laura is excited about, as it will allow her to refine vineyard management with the same team over the years. The team has been working organically as they have been CCOF certified since 2008. Still, she is excited to place more energy into more precise expressions of each parcel, as she digs into the rockier soils that give more concentration, the gravel which is ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and the clay dominant plots where Merlot and Malbec thrive.

Going Beyond Pedigree 

Philippe Melka will remain a consulting winemaker but Fahri knew that to bring the wines to the next level, he needed someone whose whole focus was the Skipstone wines, hence, his search to hire a head full-time winemaker. He was undoubtedly impressed by Laura’s pedigree in terms of her education and her work experience. Still, the idea that she had no advantages in the business made it even more impressive. He is someone who knows that it takes more than pedigree to catch lightning in a bottle, as the person who can think beyond the norms and commit her life to a business is more valuable than her start in life. Not only does Laura have that special spark that he has always looked for when starting a new venture but the idea that Laura is married to the general manager of Skipstone, Brian Ball, ensures that she can devote her life to this winery.

But it wasn’t easy, as with any married couple, each person wants to have their own achievements and that has been their journey since they met each other at U.C. Davis all those years ago. Laura has worked for well-established top producers and she could certainly have gone down a different path but one is never sure that a winery team will stay together; one can almost guarantee nowadays that people will come and go, and in a way, causing a step back in progress as the group synergy will take time to come together to make extraordinary things happen. Yet as she kept coming up to visit Brian at Skipstone, talking to Fahri about his commitment to excellence, seeing the most remarkable vineyards she had ever seen and tasting wines that had aromatics and textures that blew her away, and knowing that the vineyard team was there to stay, she understood that everything she had learned around the world all led up to the great things she could accomplish as a wine family at Skipstone.

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/02/10/rising-california-wine-star-expressing-dramatic-cabernet-sauvignon-vineyards-owned-by-telecom-pioneer/

Bird’s Eye View of the Residence
Photo Credit: Jak Wonderly

The estate of Skipstone can now be experienced with stays offered at the Residence at Skipstone, where one can live like a vintner but in the most luxurious way. The residence at Skipstone was the home of Fahri, his wife Constance and their small children. No expense was spared, so the house looks like a European castle with the stone exterior made up of stones pulled out of the property, and every sink in the house is a single boulder from the estate that has been cut and polished. Those are just a few stunning facets of this incredible 8,344 square foot home with five en suite bedrooms and a gourmet kitchen. But Fahri and his wife moved back to her home in Switzerland as they wanted their kids to grow up surrounded by family, and so, now their home is available to book for up to ten people. They have an estate director who will attend to every need, whether securing reservations at top restaurants, organizing winery visits, access to the Mayacama Country Club’s golf course, or arranging a wine tasting at the residence. Wine tastings that include not only Skipstone wines but also anything from Fahri’s personal cellar are available for purchase, which includes old Bordeaux, Napa and Sonoma benchmark producers from the early 1990s to 2000s and a wide selection of Champagne, just to name a few perks.

Also, Skipstone is building a second floor of their winery which will act as a stunning hospitality center to welcome guests. Sustainability is at the foundation of all these projects and they expect that when they are finished with everything, including being powered by 100% renewable energy, they will be only the fourth Platinum-certified winery by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

Lineup of Skipstone wines
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

The 2021 vintage was a small harvest for Skipstone, with their entire 2021 production consisting of only 2,000 cases.

2021 Skipstone, Preface Proprietary Red Blend, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of various Cabernet Sauvignon parcels on the estate. Preface is a selection from Cabernet Sauvignon vines that make a wine that drinks well at an earlier stage and it is at an approachable price point, so it is a great introduction to the Skipstone portfolio. This wine also allows for a stricter selection for their flagship, Oliver’s Blend. Lovely balance with red cherries and black raspberries with hints of broken earth and a beautiful texture finishing with a pretty floral quality.  

2021 Skipstone, Malbec, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 100% Malbec. Since they have a fair amount of Malbec that does really well in the clay-dominant parcels, they wanted to make a varietal bottling of Malbec to showcase that particular section. Laura loves the “inherent deliciousness” of their Malbec as they go out of their way to thin the crop, sometimes 50%, to get the highest quality. Yet, she balances out the fruit’s generosity by placing a portion of the wine in amphora, which brings out a savory quality. Decadent dark fruit with juicy blueberry and plum tart on the palate with a hint of allspice and dry herbs with a silky texture and long, flavorful finish.

2021 Skipstone, Ripple Effect, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 92% Cabernet Sauvignon with 8% Merlot, mainly from the Skipstone estate vineyards, with a tiny portion coming from another plot on the hillside outside of their estate. This wine is called Ripple Effect because they sourced a small amount from a hillside outside of their estate, it is the ripple effect of Skipstone emanating out of their vineyards. This wine illustrates the parcels on the estate that have more mountain fruit quality, which has slightly firmer tannins and high-toned fruit; hence, why they sourced outside fruit that would help highlight those qualities. Cocoa nibs and sandalwood incense on the nose with black cherry skins and broader tannins give more structure and shape with a vibrant and well-focused finish.

2021 Skipstone, Faultline Vineyard, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: Blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. This is their Right Bank inspired blend as it is Cabernet Franc and Merlot – the percentages change every year, and these parcels are located on a fault line. The Mayacamas fault line which runs through their property, is one of the most active faults in the area, which is good for them as it relieves pressure and lessens potential future disasters. The U.S. Geologic Survey has three permanent installations on the Skipstone property, so they are an official earthquake measuring station. Aromas transport one into a walk in the forest with notes of tree bark and morels with elegant red and black fruit on the palate with a fine-laced structure with a long, expressive finish, leaving wildflowers in one’s head.

2021 Skipstone Oliver’s Blend Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of a couple of parcels on the estate. This wine is mainly made up of the oldest vines on the terraced hillside, with a small portion of a couple blocks on the non-terraced slope. The lush texture of this wine is absolutely stunning, and the combination of the outstanding mouthfeel and complex aromatics of crushed rocks, fresh tobacco, and pristine fruit makes this wine a jaw-dropping beauty. Only 550 cases were made.

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Malbec Wine Pioneer Releases Argentinan Cabernet Franc Fine Wine

As the sun was rising in the distance, the peaks of the mountains looked like gigantic, mythical waves frozen in time. The multifaceted colors of these behemoths had a primary palette of terra cotta in the sunlight with patches of navy blue and touches of dark purple with an enchanting dusting of white snow. As the California winemaker gazed upon the scene, half asleep, he felt that he must have been dreaming, laying in his bed in Sonoma County in a deep sleep, having the best dream of his life. But no, he quickly remembered that he had left it all behind, a chance of a lifetime no less, to pursue uncharted territory in South America, as the wines during that time were still struggling to build an export market. He was in his mid-30s and he knew if there was a time to take a risky leap, leaving the comfort of a great job in a stable economy for the unknown, it was either at that moment or never.

But he could have never imagined that instead of his original plan to travel to Chile, the only known South American wine country in the U.S. during the 1980s, that he’d go to Argentina instead, where most of the wines were drunk domestically during that time. Whenever he would talk to people in the wine world back home in the U.S. about Argentina, they would say, “That’s in Chile, right?” not knowing that it was its own country.

Paul Hobbs in the vineyards
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

Yet this young man, Paul Hobbs, went to Argentina in 1988 and found his place working for a multi-generational wine-producing family, and eventually, he would become a key figure in producing the fantastic Argentinian Malbec wines that would become popular globally. Today, he has taken the next step in making a single vineyard Malbec that expresses a unique sense of place and he is also finding that Cabernet Franc is thriving in particular vineyards as well.

Argentina Malbec 

One of his contacts from U.C. Davis in California, Paul Hobbs’ alma mater, connected him with a gentleman from Argentina named Jorge, and so, when it came time for Paul to make that fateful trip to Chile, he thought it would be a good idea to invite Jorge as Paul didn’t speak Spanish at the time. Unfortunately, he didn’t know he was committing a major faux pas with the man hosting him in Chile, as he was ignorant of the complicated relationship that Chile and Argentina had with each other in 1988. So, his Chilean host told Paul to get rid of Jorge, which he tried to do, but little did Paul know at the time that Jorge had no intentions of leaving his side because he wanted to convince him to work in Argentina. The Chilean host kicked them both out, leaving Jorge the opportunity to drive Paul through the Andes Mountains into Argentina.

At that time within the wine world, Argentina had a lousy reputation for inferior wine which was due to political instability, making it impossible for them to participate in international trade over many decades. Their winery equipment was outdated, leaving much of their wine to oxidize. Since the wine was made mainly for local consumption, they didn’t bother bottling it and it was sold very cheaply in bulk. But the second Paul saw his first vineyard in Argentina, he was astonished by what he saw as there were rocky soils that would give enough drainage to create healthy roots and enough stress for quality vines. Also, he was utterly shocked that much of the vineyards were high-density plantings, which creates competition for minerals, creating a bit of stress that places enough energy into the development of the fruit and not too much into the canopy of the leaves. Argentina may have been backward regarding the wineries and cellars but they had a multitude of great vineyards that were ideally planted for quality wine.

Marchiori Vineyard
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

His companion, Jorge, not only came from an Argentinian multi-generational wine-producing family but he came from the Catena family. They had been wine pioneers for around a century, and today, they are considered the royal wine family of Argentina. The day after Paul arrived in Argentina and surveyed the vineyards, Jorge flew him to Buenos Aires to meet his older brother Nicolás Catena, who today is a living legend in the wine world, and there they began their partnership. 

Malbec grape bunches
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

Paul started to develop a program at Catena that significantly improved winemaking but also the overall management of the vineyards. “I was essentially that year in a learning situation,” admitted Paul, as he knew very little about Malbec and the vineyards of Argentina, and since there had been no significant viticulture research, he was starting from scratch. So, he used what he knew from his training and his time in California. They began to improve vineyard management by using less irrigation, opening the canopy for better aeration and sunlight exposure – as the fruit was placed in a sort of cocoon because of the hail storms in many areas of Argentina, and finally, pushing to get better pay for the growers as they needed to be paid for expending more effort to make quality grapes. 

Even though Paul already saw a tremendous amount of potential in the vineyards he visited in Argentina, he was further excited to notice that they had higher elevation land on the foothills of the Andes to plant vineyards that would get cooler weather yet with all the benefits of a dry, warmer region that includes low disease pressure and plenty of sunshine. But it was no easy task, as Argentine agronomical engineers, what they were called back then, thought the idea of planting in the foothills of the Andes was crazy. Yet he persisted, eventually getting Catena to plant the “first high altitude, high-density planting ever in Argentina” which they called Domingo after Nicolás Catena’s father. Paul notes that starting in the mid-1990s, many people, even the Europeans, started looking into planting vines in the wine region of Uco Valley in Mendoza, where the Domingo vineyard was located. “We had a massive expansion that created the Valle de Uco [Uco Valley] as we know it today,” said Paul.

But one of the reasons that Paul wanted to come to South America, especially as the son of a farmer, was that he wanted to have his own vineyards and make his own wine. So he left Catena to start his venture, Viña Cobos.  

Viña Cobos

Viña Cobos Winery
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

Paul founded Viña Cobos in 1998 with Andrea Marchiori and Luis Barraud and his partnership with this married couple was extremely fortunate as the company might have folded without them. Paul wanted to learn more about how old vine Malbec would express different terroirs, sense of place, because affinity for terroir expression is one of the markers of a high-quality grape variety. This project would source old vines in Mendoza, Argentina, from a few key areas to show the differences between these terroirs.

Unfortunately, since Paul and his partners were a small company with very limited resources, only $70,000 to start a capital-intensive business, their grapes were often sold out from under them to bigger wine companies with a lot more money. They would have an agreement with growers to buy their grapes as long as they employed practices for growing quality fruit, which was unnerving for the growers as they were sacrificing quantity for quality; since Viña Cobos had very little capital, the growers were already nervous. So even though agreements were in place, once Paul and his partners showed up at the vineyards to collect their grapes, they found out that their grapes were sold to one of the big companies, as the growers didn’t even bother to let them know that they had already sold the grapes. But Paul completely understands the growers’ desperate situation, yet it placed his tiny company, barely hanging on, in a tenuous position until his partner Andrea Marchiori’s father said they could use his vineyard, Marchiori estate. The vineyard is located in the well-known wine sub-region of Luján de Cuyo, and they would be allowed to implement extreme practices to achieve the most excellent fruit quality possible.

And so, the initial plan for Viña Cobos had to change; hence, instead of making a single vineyard comparison between a few different plots of old vine Malbec, they made premium entry-level to mid-level priced wines that were incredible expressions of Mendoza as a wine region. And those wines have sustained Viña Cobos till this day and contributed to the love for Argentina Malbec. 

Working in Viña Cobos vineyard
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

But finally, Paul has been able to return to his original dream of making the case for Malbec as a noble grape. First, he has released a bottling called ‘Vinculum’ that showcases the best grower fruit from that vintage. Another way that Paul has helped increase the quality of Malbec wine was to set up a new way of paying growers, which is unheard of. He sets the price upfront with them via a contract instead of waiting for the wine critics’ appraisal of the vintage to set the price; he even gives prepayments to the growers. That way, they have some money upfront to do the costly practices to grow the highest quality fruit and be guaranteed a very good price no matter how the critics sum up the overall vintage. Since Paul was raised on a farm, he knows that not getting enough money for any harvest can make or break a grower. 

And so, across the board, they can bring in the best quality. Yet, Paul has added some fun into the mix by introducing a contest for their ‘Vinculum’ bottling, where the best two or three growers that year are used in that bottling. The selected growers are announced at a party that Viña Cobos puts on to bring all the growers together, celebrating the glorious vineyards of the famous sub-regions of Mendoza: Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco.

The other project involves vineyard designate bottlings of not only the Malbec grape but also the Cabernet Franc grape. 

Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc 

Zingaretti Vineyard
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

Paul now makes single-vineyard bottlings from the following vineyards: Hobbs Estate (Luján de Cuyo), Zingaretti Estate (Valle de Uco), Marchiori Vineyard (Luján de Cuyo) and Chañares Estate (Valle de Uco), and interestingly Chañares Estate is located near where Paul oversaw the planting of Catena’s Domingo vineyards all those years ago. 

Chañares Estate
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

Chañares Estate was purchased by Paul 10 years ago. Still, he didn’t do the initial planting of the vineyard as it was originally done by three professors from the University of Mendoza. Surprisingly, these professors placed pyramids with stones inside to pull energy from the cosmos, something that one would never expect professors to do. Yet Paul says that they were ingenious in a way, as they left “natural zones,” leaving plants and trees and clearing paths around various sections of the vineyard that allow water to drain away. Since the vineyard is almost 4,000 feet on the foothills near the Andes Mountains, it can receive heavy rains, so the pathways allow the shower to wash away. Another benefit is the lack of hail storms since the storms “don’t really form this deep into the Andes,” as Paul notes. They are further down the slope, allowing him to avoid using hail nets, which he feels can sometimes get in the way of growing high-quality grapes. 

Bird’s-eye view of Chañares Estate
Photo Credit: Viña Cobos

Also, this vineyard has lots of rocky, stony soil encrusted with limestone. Even though the vines are only around 12 to 14 years old, their extremely thin root hairs go down over three feet, and because the root hairs are so thin, they can “glean very fine micro-nutrients,” which gives a distinctive sense of place to this vineyard. They have own-rooted Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vines planted in the vineyard, and funny enough, Paul says that despite Cabernet Sauvignon being known as a hardy variety that can grow almost anywhere, it doesn’t perform well in the Chañares Estate. Yet, Cabernet Franc shines in this vineyard. Even though Cabernet Sauvignon is more widely recognized, the stunning quality of the Cabernet Franc is undeniably excellent so he will replant the Cabernet Sauvignon with either Cabernet Franc or Malbec. He is hoping that Cabernet Franc’s popularity will grow among wine drinkers down the line, and notes that once these vines reach 20 to 25 years old, they will hit their peak and stride in quality.

The American Dream 

A brilliant young winemaker who was raised on a small family farm in upstate New York not only became the winemaker of a well-respected winery in Sonoma County but then, once the LVMH conglomerate purchased it, he was part of the most influential company specializing in luxury goods. He earned more than he could have ever dreamt and traveled the world, spending time in some of the most impressive headquarters worldwide. But it felt wrong over time; he was spending more and more time in boardroom meetings and participating in executive activities than in the vineyards. Was he crazy to even fathom the very thought of leaving? Did he not appreciate an opportunity that many would have died for?

Or maybe it is lucky to know oneself early enough to do something about it and knowing that sitting in the most luxurious offices in the world and owning expensive things will never fulfill someone who craves to be out in the vineyards, hands in the soil, working side by side with those who feel the same pull towards the land. 

As he gazes out of a gorgeous window with a jaw-dropping view during another board meeting, all he can see are those vineyards in his mind, and he wonders about vineyards in undervalued places in other exciting areas of the world. So he takes that leap to trade one American dream for a completely different one; creating a dream that didn’t even exist in reality, to make great wine in South America.  

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/01/26/wine-pioneer-of-top-malbec-wine-in-argentina-releases-cabernet-franc-fine-wine/

2019 Viña Cobos Wines ‘Vinculum’ Malbec, Chañares Estate Malbec & Cabernet Franc
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

Paul doesn’t like fining his wines as he believes it “clips their wings,” and he wants his wines to be free to “fly.”

2019 Viña Cobos, ‘Vinculum’ Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina: 100% Malbec from the best Viña Cobos growers selected for the 2019 harvest, 82% comes from Valle de Uco and 18% comes from Luján de Cuyo. Elegant nose with blackcurrant, touch of fresh herbs and violets with an underlying note of crushed rocks with silky tannins and subtle fruit and spices on the palate that has an overall quality of pure finesse.

2019 Viña Cobos, Vineyard Designate Chañares Estate, Malbec, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina: 100% Malbec from the Chañares vineyard, located 3,888 feet above sea level. Deep color with ruby core and purple edge that telegraphs the rich blueberry and plum pie flavors that are delectable with a mouth-filling lush texture balanced by vibrant acidity and savory notes such as wild thyme with a long, flavorful finish. 

2019 Viña Cobos, Vineyard Designate Chañares Estate, Cabernet Franc, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina: 100% Cabernet Franc from the Chañares vineyard, located 3,888 feet above sea level. Complex layers on the nose that are extremely intriguing with tree bark, dried wildflowers and an intense chalky minerality with ripe black cherry fruit on the palate that is shaped by finely etched tannins that give drive to this wine, finishing with a saline quality that is spectacular.

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Woman From Famous Fine Wine Family Takes Winery In Organic Direction

The tall, thick stalk reached an unbelievable height through the base of long, light green leaves that fanned around its base as if they were presenting a rare jewel. Adoring the top of the stalk was an explosion of thin yellowish-green leaves that shot out with spikes, all together forming a big, closed-tulip shape with turquoise flowers nestled throughout, making it an otherworldly plant with no equal.  

The South American country of Chile is known for its extraordinary exotic beauty; its native plant, Chagual, is one of the many exotically entrancing natural aspects that grows on the central coast. It is an integral part of the biodiversity of certain areas, as a specific type of butterfly, the Mariposa del Chagual – the largest butterfly in Chile – feeds on the top of the Chagual when it is a caterpillar and then, when it turns into a butterfly, it pollinates the flower, helping the Chagual plant continue to propagate. This butterfly species is already endangered and if there were no more Chagual, these butterflies would become extinct; without these butterflies, these remarkable Chagual plants would cease to exist as well.

And so, a prestigious Chilean winery, Los Vascos, has decided to place an impressionistic drawing of the Chagual on their first two organic wines, which are aptly named after this incredible plant.

Los Vascos 

Los Vascos winery
Photo Credit: Viña Los Vascos

Los Vascos is owned by the Rothschilds, the most famous fine wine family worldwide. One of the family members, Baron Éric de Rothschild, who has been in charge of the First Growth Bordeaux, Château Lafite Rothschild, since 1974, became fascinated with the vineyards of Chile in the 1980s. So, he asked the legendary head winemaker of Lafite, Gilbert Rokvam, to go to Chile to see what he thought of the vineyards out there. Gilbert found great potential in the estate vineyards of Los Vascos in Colchagua Valley, considered today the superstar wine region in Chile. However, it was unknown in the international wine world when Gilbert first surveyed the vineyards. It didn’t take long, once Éric de Rothschild bought Los Vascos in 1988, to attract major investment and make it the Chilean region with the top wine producers.

But Éric de Rothschild has a way of bringing great success wherever his energies are placed; when he was put in charge of Lafite Rothschild in the mid-1970s, the wines were having a lot of ups and downs in regards to quality and they were not living up to their place in history. Still, the same could be said for much of Bordeaux during that time. Not being one to rest on his laurels, as the wines still had no problems selling, he decided to make significant investments in the vineyards and winery, and since the 1982 and 1996 vintages, they have been making some of their best wines. Some argue that, today, they are some of the best wines on the planet.

The interesting thing about Château Lafite Rothschild is that it is located in the Bordeaux appellation of Pauillac, which has the largest number of First Growths from the 1855 classification with a total of three, and has several other esteemed châteaux that are classified. The great wines of Pauillac are known as big, well-structured wines that will last for many decades. Even though Lafite is certainly known as a wine with a long life, it stands out in Pauillac as the wine with the most finesse and, simply, the epitome of elegance that many other wineries have tried to emulate worldwide.

Saskia de Rothschild

Eric de Rothschild and his daughter Saskia de Rothschil
Photo Credit: Viña Los Vascos

Over four years ago, Saskia de Rothschild, the daughter of Éric de Rothschild, took over running Los Vascos, bringing a much stronger focus on sustainable practices. Saskia is 36 years old and has a fresh, new energy reinvigorating this Chilean estate but she is experienced beyond her years. Not only has she worked at stellar estates in Bordeaux such as Château L’Evangile in Pomerol and Château Lafite Rothschild, but she has had her own career as an investigative journalist, interviewing inmates at La Maca prison in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, filming the first female U.S. Marines sent to the frontlines of Afghanistan and investigated the mining industry in Greenland, just to name a few. She has traveled extensively, going deep into the culture and ways of the people, like any good investigative journalist. So, it is important to her to express the unique qualities of the Colchagua Valley in Chile.

According to the estate director of Los Vascos, Philippe Rolet, they have been organically managing around 200 to 250 acres of vineyards over the past 10 years. Still, since Saskia has taken over, they have significantly increased it to 800 acres and in the future, they would like to manage all of their 1,500 acres of vineyards organically. As mentioned, she has spearheaded the production of their first organic wines, fittingly called ‘Chagual.’

Elegance In The Most Unlikely Places 

Worker on a horse on the Los Vascos estate Photo Credit: Viña Los Vascos

It always seemed an unbelievable feat how Château Lafite Rothschild, under the guidance of Eric de Rothschild, would be able to produce some of the most elegant wines in the world in the prestigious appellation of Pauillac, known for its power. And Saskia is already tapping into the elegance that is within the power of the wines made in Chile’s Colchagua Valley, just like her father, with a great estate director by her side, Philippe Rolet, to find even deeper nuances of a graceful quality, within an area known for generous fruit ripeness, that is exemplified in their ‘Le Dix’ wine. And, especially, their top red wines are undeniably powerful, just like Château Lafite Rothschild.

But power doesn’t always have to push its way into a room aggressively or fiercely demand attention, sometimes real power is quiet and reserved, unafraid to take its time, so, once it does slowly reveal its secrets to the drinker, it is a moment that is profoundly gratifying.

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2024/01/12/woman-part-of-the-most-famous-fine-wine-family-takes-winery-into-organic-direction/

Le Dix Wine
Photo Credit: Viña Los Vascos
2022 Los Vascos ‘Chagual’ Sauvignon Blanc Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

2022 Los Vascos ‘Chagual’ Sauvignon Blanc, San Antonio, Chile: 100% organic Sauvignon Blanc grapes. They sourced these grapes in the much cooler coastal area of San Antonio from organic vineyards as they wanted a fresh, bright Sauvignon Blanc. Very refreshing nose of thyme and lemon peel with a zingy palate with flavors of lemon curd and mouthwatering acidity.  

2022 Los Vascos ‘Cromas’ Gran Reserva Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc Photo Credit Cathrine Todd
2022 Los Vascos ‘Cromas’ Gran Reserva Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

2022 Los Vascos ‘Cromas’ Gran Reserva Chardonnay, Colchagua Valley, Chile: 100% Chardonnay. Stony minerality and white peach aromas with ripe apricots and hints of spice on a moderately rich body balanced by high acidity.

2020 Los Vascos ‘Cromas’ Gran Reserva Cabernet Franc, Colchagua Valley, Chile: 100% Cabernet Franc. Crushed rocks with wild brambly fruit, a hint of fresh herbs and tree bark with a fine texture and a long, aromatic finish.

2020 Los Vascos ‘Cromas’ Gran Reserva Carménère Photo Credit Cathrine Todd
Los Vascos ‘Cromas’ Gran Reserva Carménère Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

2020 Los Vascos ‘Cromas’ Gran Reserva Carménère, Colchagua Valley, Chile: 100% Carménère. Earthy nose with dusty earth and tobacco leaf with richer fruit flavors on the palate of blackcurrant preserves and sage leaves with firm tannins that give shape to the generous fruit.

2019 Los Vascos ‘Le Dix’ Colchagua Valley, Chile: 92% Cabernet Sauvignon from old vines and 8% Syrah. This is Los Vascos’ top wine that represents the best of the best of the Colchagua Valley, where the outstanding achievement of the Rothschilds in Chile can be best experienced. It is called ‘Le Dix’ as that is the French word for 10 and it was first released in 1998 to celebrate Éric de Rothschild’s tenth anniversary with Los Vascos. This wine is mainly comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon from 80-year-old vines that come from a vineyard called El Fraile, which means the Monk, and it is the oldest vineyard at Los Vascos. Floral aromas delight the nose with blackcurrant leaf and a touch of cocoa nib, and black cherries mingling with cinnamon stick and grated nutmeg flavors along the silky tannins with a broad body that finishes with great precision.

Los Vascos ‘Le Dix’
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

2010 Los Vascos ‘Le Dix’ Cosechas Antiguas, Colchagua Valley, Chile: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon from old vines, 10% Carménère and 5% Syrah. The “Cosechas Antiguas” noted on the label indicates that it has been cellared at Los Vascos under a wax closure, and so, the 2010 and below 2003 are both “Cosechas Antiguas” bottlings. Layers of complexity with cigar box, black truffles and wild mushrooms with juicy black fruit on the palate encased in breathtakingly silky, fine texture.

2003 Los Vascos ‘Le Dix’ Cosechas Antiguas, Colchagua Valley, Chile: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from old vines. Intriguing smoldering earth and tantalizing cured meats, such as saucisson, with uplifting notes of anise seeds and fresh blackberry fruit with a lot of energy on the finish with a linear drive.

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