From the Petaluma Wind Gap, with Love

After hearing "you have to try such and such wine" or "so and so started this fantastic new winery" several hundred times, you start to get a little jaded. Especially when making the trek to this new 'hot' winery or tasting a few bottles from a new 'it' label produces nothing but disappointment and fatigue, not to mention burning a lot of time and gas. But there are times when either something about the description piques your interest, or the source is highly reliable and trusted, and you just go. That is what I did when my friend Dan told me to show up in Forestville on Saturday for an open house at Wind Gap.

Trust is a must when the trip involves veering of the 101 for 30 minutes and does not include a view of rolling hills covered in grape vines. But Petaluma, Sebastopol, Forestville and the rest of that area having enough vines, not to mention beautiful pastures and farm animals, to make it a scenic trip. Everyone has a different definition of cool, to be sure probably a few versions of it too, and for me one these has to be finding small, rural-ish towns not too far from a major city with a rustic, worn around the edges-type feel. Welcome to Forestville; almost worth the trip before exiting the vehicle. And after a little poking around and an attempted cellphone call (warning: weak signal area), you may find the Wind Gap Winery. Of course, this would require either a) inside information or b) an ability to infer that you are in the right spot by reading the sign which says 'American Wine Company'.

The winery is one of the oldest in the region and has been restored, at least enough to once again become a working winery, by Pax & Pam Mahle. Now this is really hitting the sweet spot of my definition of cool. And speaking of cool, that is one of the defining characteristics of the 'Petaluma wind gap' area of Northern California's wine country. Another 'cool' thing: serving great local food that pairs well with your wines. Waiting for everyone who came were sweetwater oysters, a cheese wheel, fresh bread, cured meats and lamb chops. How awesome is that? But I digress as this trip was really about the wine (or was it the food? or the people?)! I've long been a fan of Pax's wines, particularly the syrah's. His 2004 Alder Springs Vineyard Syrah is one of my absolute favorite bottles produced in the first decade of the this century and there are at least a half dozen still in my cellar. So, onto the wines...

2009 Trousseau Gris - Fannuchi-Wood Road Vineyard - Russian River Valley
Ever heard of Trousseau Gris? No? Neither had I. It is green apple, melon and peach...almost with the crispness of a Sauv Blanc however, there is more viscosity to this wine, not unlike a Viognier. Chill it, sip it, and/or pair it with some shellfish and kick back with an ear to ear grin for you just 'discovered' a new varietal that few folks have:-)

2008 Chardonnay 'Yuen' - James Berry & Brossaue Vineyards - Central Coast
I wondered why Pax would blend Chardonnay from two different vineyards...why not express the terroir of one or both of these terrific sites? So the clones are the same and both have mature vines...but all he had to do was tell me the definition of 'Yuen' - a Chinese word for 'connection that was meant to be'. Got it. That and the fact that it is a low alcohol, low pH, chalky wine with great minerality and flavors of stone fruits.

*Both of the above wines were fermented in concrete, egg-shaped tanks and some stainless steel. I've never seen these concrete tanks before and have to say it's pretty wild!

2008 Chardonnay - Sonoma County
A Chablis-style Chardonnay that while lacking the level of minerality of the Yuen, is still a very elegant wine with citrus, sweet orange and honey flavors. Whole cluster pressed and fermented in a combination of stainless steel, year-old French oak and neutral French oak barrels. The fruit was sourced from two vineyards I know well...Gaps Crown and Obsidian, both of which are ancient volcanic sites and the soil is perfect for making this style of Chard.

2007 Syrah - Sonoma Coast
This is definitely a 'lighter' style of Syrah, but it is not what you would describe as a light wine. It's a concentrated Northern Rhone-like wine with amazing herbal, pepper and olive notes on the nose, soft supple tannins and a surprising burst of currant and blackberry.

2007 Syrah - Castelli-Knight Ranch - Russian River Valley
Layers of rich dark berries and spice permeate your nose and cascade across your palate while black pepper hits you on the finish...completely opposite the Sonoma Coast Syrah. This is another highly concentrated wine that is layered and textured and finishes long.

2007 Syrah - Griffin's Lair - Sonoma Coast
This wine is a knockout! I don't know what to else to say other than grab the bottle with two hands, hold tightly that delicate stemware and be prepared for a rich, dense and powerful Syrah saturated with ripe blackberries, plums, meat jus and tar...from start to finish this was ridiculous. And to think that it will probably get better with a few years of age - if I can hold out that long.

Wind Gap Wines

I have to be honest with you. This article was about to be posted without including a single mention of the Agharta project. It's not that I don't like you or want to deliberately hide this wine from the rest of the world...okay, maybe the latter is true. But nobody really reads these posts of mine and Robert Parker already gave the 2004 Argharta a 98 point score, so here we go:

2004 Agharta - Syrah (92%), Grenache (5%), Viognier, Marsanne and Rousanne (1% each)
The first thing that you notice is how dark purple the color is...away from direct light it actually reminds me of the night sky when there is absolutely no moonlight and you can barely see the hand in front of your face. Next, the legs...thin to medium thickness streams of wine cling to the side of the glass after swirling. This is not at all fat, and all five varietals are very well integrated. The aroma is complex, to say the least, from smokey cedar and roasted herbs to tropical fruits to blueberry/blackberry and cassis. All of this comes out if you just spend some time with your nose in your glass. And the taste...it is classic Syrah in many ways with the rich fruit, smokiness, and forest floor-like earthiness but it is also dry, elegant refined - no doubt from just enough Grenache. The white varietals add to the complexity of the nose (Viognier) and palate (Marsanne, Rousanne) equally. Typically I try not to wax too poetic about wine lest I start sounding like every other wine critic, but this is for me a wine that does inspire and touch the soul. I've had it straight from a just opened bottle, decanted for an hour and somewhere in between...my recommendation is to decant for 20 minutes and enjoy.

Agharta