As much as I enjoy tasting different wines, I also love talking with people in the wine business.
Last week, in Santa Monica California, I attended a get-together where Tony Princiotta was pouring his wines.
If you haven’t heard of his wines, it is forgivable, as Tony, with his ‘Little Anthony’ label, is a true ‘garagist’, making a Syrah from two rows of vines he contracts in the Santa Ynez region north of Los Angeles.
Tony, a life-long resident of Santa Monica and wine buyer for the Beverly Hills Cheese Shop, showed me a picture of his ’winery’ – four large plastic drums standing in his garage right next to his 1969 Camaro convertible Indy Pace Car!
His wines are good, inky dark, and well-made – though not widely available, obviously.
Tony, however, has connections all over California, and when I headed up to Sonoma, I made a point to visit some of the places he recommended.
Red Car is located just north of the town of Sebastapol, and its wines are all sourced from vineyards very much in the Sonoma Coast region, with no vineyard more than 8 miles in from the ocean, and most much closer than that.
Its owner, Carroll Kemp, a friend of Tony’s, explained that he got his start, too, in the Los Angeles region as a ‘garagist’, except that in his case, the ‘garage’ was actually his second bed room!
At present, his wines are not available in Ontario, but he is hoping to find a good distributor here.
The style is not what I would consider typical of California, but would be more reminiscent of Burgundy or our own ‘cool climate’ wines, showing lots of refinement and class.
Carroll was forthright, and showed his independent streak when he suggested that 2011 was a great vintage, though many gave 2012 the nod over it; the 12’s are drinking really well now, but the 11’s are the wines that he believes will hold for the long haul.
Each vintage has its challenges, and with 2014 the challenge was in the early bud-break and the drought which is now in its third year.
The harvest this year is actually 3 weeks ahead – “The vines know more than we do… and with less water they want to ripen sooner,” he said, and he feels the true depth of flavor is yet to be revealed.
One of his wines, the 2012 Vivio Vineyard Roussanne, comes from the Bennett Valley, about 8 miles in from the coast, is still considered a cool climate wine, as ocean winds curl inwards off Point Reyes along what they call the Petaluma Gap, moderating the temperatures inland.
The Roussanne, a grape associated with Provence and the Rhone, is rarely seen in Sonoma, and the wine shows some honeysuckle and almond in a quiet wine that slides in smoothly, leaving its flavours to open up in your mouth as you swallow.
Red Car’s labels are interesting, as each carries the profile of the land in from the ocean, and marks the elevation of the vineyard in which the grapes were grown.
The fine Fort Ross Seaview Estate Vineyard Syrah at 1000 feet has the highest elevation of the Red Car wines, and is in fact above the fog line: it is common in Sonoma for the fog to roll in from the ocean every evening and to settle in everywhere until late morning – it can be so foggy that at one winery, workers would refer to a vineyard it owns as “Pneumonia Gulch”.
So, cool as the site is, being above the fog works for the Fort Ross-Seaview grapes in giving them more sunlight.
As with many Sonoma producers, the wines are not inexpensive, retailing in the $40 to $60 range, but they are very well-crafted, and we may yet see them find their way to Vintages.
Vintages October 11 Release
Benziger Chardonnay 2012, $19.95, would be a good wine for Thanksgiving, with some acidity and subtle creaminess and peach and pear notes on the palate – Benziger is dedicated to sustainable farming, and so you can expect very pure flavours here.
Folie à Deux 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, $24.95, should deliver good dark fruit and depth – this producer was located in Napa – where this wine was made, but is now operating in Sonoma, I believe.
Prunotto Mompertone, $18.95, is a northern Italian blend of Barbera and Syrah from Piedmont and will offer dark cherry and plum with clove and coffee notes – a good, deep Italian red.
Vina Tarapaca Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, $17.95, is a top-notch cab from a top producer in Chile: the wine will be big, bold and juicy - an excellent value.
Elderton ‘Friends’ Shiraz, $17.95, will give fans of full-bodied Aussie reds everything they could wish for – a wine that writer Natalie McLean has described in the past as “liquid opulence” – the days are getting shorter and colder, but this wine will give great consolation.
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I always think of serving a good Ontario cranberry wine. Currently, the Great Northern Road store has 32 bottles of the Muskoka Lakes Cranberry, $15.95 – it is tart and sweet at once, and perfect with the bird…but don’t wait too long to buy it, as it is sure to leave the shelves quickly in the next week or so.
Tickets will be on sale for the Art Gallery of Algoma’s “Witches Brew” event on October 31, where we will pair some Hallowe’en libations with excellent appetizers prepared by Fransizi’s. Call 705-949-9067 to reserve.
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