Copain Viognier, 2009 Tous Ensemble, Mendocino County

Copain Wine Cellars was founded in 1999 by Wells Guthrie and Kevin McQuown with just 200 cases of Pinot from Dennison Vineyard in Anderson Valley. Wells started his career working at the Wine Spectator’s San Francisco office as a tasting coordinator. It was during these first few years that he fell in love with Syrah and moved to the Northern Rhone. Wells worked for Chapoutier for two seasons in both the winery and vineyards learning about the Northern Rhone varietals and Biodynamics. Outside of Chapoutier, Wells spent as much time as he could with Jean Louis Chave, who he feels had an equally important impact upon his experiences in the Rhone. Following Chapoutier, Wells returned to work at Turley Wine Cellars working in both the vineyards and cellar. Today, Wells is the full-time owner and winemaker for Copain Wine Cellars.

Wells Guthrie has taken his Northern Rhone training and appreciation of Northern California's gentle ripening seasons to new heights in his recently assembled winery in Healdsburg. All of the vineyards are organically farmed, as Wells states, "As winemakers we are just custodians of that fruit allowing for the reflection of the site, varietal and vintage." Minimum intervention and organic farming practices allows Copain wines to display the natural balance of flora and fauna inherent in each site to impact the developing vine, fruit and finally the wine. The project is all about balance and elegance, which is achieved on their vineyard-designate wines as well as their multiple vineyard "Tous Ensemble" label.

 

For their first release of "Tous Ensemble" (French for "all together") the Viognier grapes were sourced from McDowell Valley Vineyards in Mendocino County.  However, the third release may just be its last as noted by the winemaker because of difficulty in vineyard commitments.

Copain's 2009 Viognier has captured the classic Viognier aromatics and flavors of fresh apricots, honeysuckle, as well as green papaya, Meyer lemons, apricots, Granny Smiths and hints of honey and fresh flowers (not as floral as most California Viogniers). This pale, lemon-colored wine is light and racy, avoiding the weighty, waxy nature of overly ripe Viognier and is a great white for those looking to enjoy the aromatic headiness of the varietal but with a medium-bodied palate with balanced acidity and a medium-length creamy finish.

Copain is dedicated to producing top-quality vineyard designated wines that are complex, varietally correct, and food friendly without being heavy handed. Winemaker Wells Guthrie believes that quality starts with the vineyard. In pursuit of this, Copaín has created and will continue to seek relationships with growers who are committed to what they believe are the key attributes necessary to produce world class wines: vineyard exposition, clonal selections, and dedication to organic farming practices.

Grapes are night-picked to maintain cold temperatures and whole cluster pressed once they arrive at the winery. This ideology is applied at the winery, where all fermentations occur with native yeast and the goal is to gently extract the flavors given from the vineyard with minimal intervention by replacing punch downs with pumping over just once a day to avoid any hard physical extraction, and using a maximum of 30 percent new French oak. Picking with lower potential alcohols over the past few vintages has let the purity and expression of each site shine: naturally keeping the wines lower in alcohol has resulted in retaining a brighter, more lively acidity and freshness on the palate making the wines more enjoyable with food.  The wine is stainless steel fermented and lightly filtered before bottling.

The Mendocino County AVA (American Viticultural Area) is located in the northernmost part of the North Coast AVA in California. The region, which is one of the state's largest wine-growing areas, is recognized for both its diversity and the quality of its grapes. Viticulture here dates back to the mid-1800s, following the California Gold Rush. As in so many US states, the wine industry was virtually destroyed by Prohibition.  

Located directly north of Sonoma County and about 90 miles north of San Francisco, the Mendocino wine region is bounded by California's Coastal Mountain Range, the Pacific Ocean and the great northern redwood forests. A mountainous region, it is part of the seismically active Coast Range and is also the place where the San Andreas Fault reaches the ocean. Almost 60 percent of the county is blanketed with coniferous forests.

Nearly all Mendocino vineyards are in the southern half of the county, which is divided into two distinct climatic zones by the Mendocino Range. Most of the vineyards are located in the inland valleys in the south and east areas of the region. The vineyards growing white wine grape varieties are located on flood plains and alluvium along the Navarro and Russian Rivers. Most of the red varieties are grown on the bench lands above. However, new areas for winemaking are being discovered further north where there are distinctive microclimates suited to growing grapes.

Wines from this region are often considered to be excellent value for money as they are not as well known as those from other parts of California. Land prices are also lower than further south. Many winemakers concentrate on growing organic grapes, with nearly 20% of the county's total production certified as organically grown – more than any other wine region in California.

Anthill Farms Syrah, 2009 Peters Vineyard, Sonoma Coast

Anthill Farms is a collaborative effort between three guys who met while working at Williams Selyem in the Russian River Valley. They joined forces in 2004. The three young winemaking partners, Anthony Filiberti, Webster Marquez, and David Low, focus on extreme cool climate sites on the far coast of Sonoma and Mendocino counties. The emphasis at Anthill Farms is on the vineyards and have named their winery Anthill Farms to emphasize the many tiny individual vineyards that form “the link between place and product.” The trio avoid calling attention to themselves, preferring to bring notoriety to their winegrowers. Wine & Spirits magazine wrote that the team produced two of the most exciting syrahs that they tasted in 2011. 

The 2009 Sonoma Coast Syrah comes from the Peters Vineyard. The Peters Vineyards sits right outside Sebastopol in western Sonoma County. Randy Peters and his father-in-law, Tom Mukaida, farm this vineyard outside of Sebastopol in western Sonoma County. The southern slopes of these hills form the northern edge of the Petaluma Gap, which rushes cool, marine air from the Pacific Ocean inland. These Syrah and Viognier vines, which Randy planted for them just a few years ago, occupy less than an acre at the lowest edge of this cool, foggy vineyard.  Originally an apple orchard, this vineyard was replanted in the early 80's, has lots of hot, daily sun exposure but is close enough to the coast to get morning and evening ocean fog. This cool, foggy vineyard produces dense, meaty fruit that is fully developed and loaded with complexity for an Hermitage-like expression. This vineyard's soil composition is a rich Goldridge Sandy Loam. 

Though Anthill Farms focuses on producing exceptional pinot noir from a broad range of North Coast vineyards, their last few releases of syrah caught our attention. The properties are managed with intensive and meticulous farming practices, with minimal ecological impact. As for winemaking, there *are two unchanging goals: to make wines that express the growing site and the characteristics of the vintage above all else, and to make wines that, simply put, taste good. These goals require gentle handling from crushing to bottling, judicious use of oak, and, perhaps most importantly, leaving the wine alone as much as possible.

The partners themselves farm many of the small plots where they buy their grapes, and the results of this labor of love are remarkably seductive wines that combine concentration and finesse. Because of the demand in their highly sought out wines, the company has grown from producing 200 cases in 2004 to 1,800 in 2009 to over 2700 in 2011. In 2009 Food & Wine Magazine named Anthill Winery the Most Promising New Winery.

The dark purple fruit, though rich, does not sit on the palate at all heavy or flabby, but is expressive and keeps you digging your nose back down deep into the glass again and again for another whiff of that black pepper spice.

This wine’s nose exhibits pronounced resinous aromatics alongside a bouquet of morello cherry, violets, river stone, and meat. The mid palate is simultaneously powerful and weightless.

The experts weigh in:

97 points - Wine & Spirits:
'The body of this wine is straightforward. It's stemmy and meaty, what Syrah should taste like,' commented Eric Railsback of RN74... .The aroma of the wine is what kicked several tasters into overdrive, trying to capture their reaction in words. Taking a step back from the pure sensuality this offers as it plumps up with air, it's possible to imagine that stemminess evolving into the scents of green peppercorn, black peppercorn, basil and thyme, a high note of meadow flowers, intoxicating to smell. Meanwhile, the texture of the wine is about as luscious as it could get while the flavors remain savory. The tannins are fine, without any spike, creating a kind of effortless friction as if rubbing against the nap of velvet." (10/11) 

93 points - Rhone Report:
"Very peppery and gamey, the 2009 Anthill Farms Syrah Peters Vineyard has knockout cool-climate aromatics of peppered beef, violets, black raspberry, sappy herbs, and crushed rock like minerality on the nose. Similarly textured to the Sonoma Coast, with beautiful polish to the tannin, and a suppleness that keeps you coming back to the glass, it firms up nicely on the finish and should age for 7-8 years, if not longer. I'd like a touch more depth through the middle here, but this is still one solid bottle of wine. (Dec 2011)"

92 points - Josh Raynolds (International Wine Cellar):
"Opaque purple. Shows a compelling array of red and dark berry and floral scents, with complicating spice and mineral nuances and an intriguing hint of apricot. Spicy, precise and energetic, with sappy raspberry and blackberry flavors, a jolt of cracked pepper and slow-mounting smokiness. The spice and floral qualities carry through an impressively long, insinuating finish, which leaves sweet red fruit notes behind. (May/Jun 2011)"

Sonoma Coast
The Sonoma Coast AVA in California is an extensive wine region stretching from San Pablo Bay to Mendocino County and covering an area of 500,000 acres (202,000ha). The Pacific Ocean is the main influence on the cool climate here, bringing lots of rain and foggy mornings. There was a time when the region's climate was deemed too cool and marginal for growing grapes. However, most vineyards are planted on ridges, keeping them above the fog and exposing them to the ripening forces of the sun.

Urban Legend, 2009 Mourvedre, Amador County

Steve and Marilee Shaffer are the owners of Urban Legend Cellars, established in 2009 at 621 4th Street in Oakland.  With their pit bull, Sunshine, they are one of three wineries in the relatively new Jack London Square area. Steve and Marilee Shaffer make the wine and do just about everything else as well.  

The couple, who emigrated from the East Coast to the Bay Area, caught the winemaking bug by experimenting in their garage before turning professional. In the winery there is no formal tasting room. Steve and Marilee said they did most of the work themselves, with lots of help from friends.  (sourced from: http://fthorsberg.wordpress.com/tag/urban-legend/)

 

Urban Legend sources certified organic components and keeps their winemaking pretty simple—grapes, yeast, and not much more. Their Mourvèdre is a recent addition to our wine list and offers some different nuances than the other Mourvèdre wines on the list. The wine has very floral aromatics. Notes of rose hips, violets, and dusty herbs may be a product of the vineyard; Wine Tree Farm, located just outside Amador City.   

Wine Tree Farm is located on over 100 acres in Amador County, on one of the historic farms, known as the Torre Ranch. The old farmhouse was built in 1902. The farm was uninhabited for at least 20 years before it was purchased in 1998 by Corinne Moore.

Amador County seems to be well suited to Mourvèdre, also known as Mataró and Monastrell, it is hilly and warm.  The Shaffers describe the taste and the texture, “In the mouth, the ’09 offers soft red fruit—raspberry and cherry with a little red licorice. It’s light in the mouth, but a touch of Grenache rounds out the mid-palate. It’s structured, but soft, without overly drying tannins that are often its bad dog characteristic.”

In 2011, the Mourvèdre won a Silver San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

Appellation: Amador County
Blend: 97% Mourvèdre, 3% Grenache
Alcohol: 13.5%
Acidity: 0.55 g/100 mL
Residual Sugar: < 0.1%
pH: 3.55
Malolactic Fermentation: Complete
Barrels: 2 and 3 year old French oak
Harvest Date: October 20, 2009
Bottling Date: August 23, 2010
Release Date: October 31, 2010
Total Production: 70 Cases

More about Amador County:

In the heart of old gold-mining country, in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, lies picturesque Amador County, bathed in history and filled with the promise of a growing wine industry. Part of the larger Sierra Foothills AVA (American Viticultural Area), Amador County is located 40 miles (64km) east of California's state capital, Sacramento. 

Most vineyards here are planted at altitudes of 1200 to 2000ft (365–609m), on sun-drenched hillsides. The hot days cool down considerably as night falls and breezes blow down from the Sierras, cooling the grapes and enabling them to retain the acidity that is essential for balanced wines. Decomposed granite soils are iron rich and laced with sandy clay loam, making them able to retain some of the limited rainfall. These are ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality wine grapes. A high percentage of the area's vines are also grown organically. Wine growing is an important part of the local economy, representing 50% of the region's agriculture.

Donelan, 2009 Venus, Dry Stack Vineyard

Donelan

“Venus” is a refreshing, lovely blend of 90% Roussanne and 10% Viognier, once again primarily from Dry Stack Vineyard in Bennett Valley. 

Dry Stack Vineyard is a cool vineyard that ripens the Roussanne very slowly. The grapes were harvested at a potential alcohol of 12%. Viognier from Kobler Family Vineyard was added to bring a “lift” to the aromatics along with a touch more depth to the mouth feel. Those looking for low alcohol offerings will love the 2009 Venus. One would never believe that based on the intensity of flavor.  

Named after Venus, the goddess of both love and fragrance, this wine had a lot of great floral flavors.

This wine, with its aromas of beeswax, lily, and freesia, is complexly flavored but without the overbearing weight of a typical Roussanne. The 2009 Venus exhibits crisp, fresh, delicate but impressively intense notes of lychee nuts, caramelized citrus, spring flowers, fresh pears and honeysuckle. Medium-bodied with lively acidity as well as an exotic perfume and a dry, zesty style, I would recommend drinking it on the early side because of its exceptional aromatics. Great dry finish and a minerality on the back end.

The moderate 2009 season promoted freshness and structure, placing the fulcrum (point) of the mouth feel in the support of acidity. The Donelans’ describe their philosophy of tension in winemaking in the following way; “This season, more so than many recent vintages, allowed us to preserve tension without sacrificing substance. Tension is the wire from which all in wine is hung; tension without substance is tart, light, and wanting; substance with no tension can be obtrusive, if pleasurably broad. But tension with substance is structured, supple (even plush), and produces a more enticing wine than any other combination.” 

From QLI website: Not that it is a problem, but a winery in a business park in Santa Rosa really seems far far away from the multi-million dollar palaces of Napa. However, a walk into the "winery" makes you realize that there is actual work going on here. Its not just perfectly polished casks and shiny floors. People go about tasting and assembling wines and whatever else needs to be done. What you probably would not imagine is that these wines are some of the highest rated Rhone Rangers to come out of California.

However, things here started with a different name about 10 years ago. Pax was the name of the winery, named after Pax Mahle the previous winemaker. He made wines that were rather big, if not over the top and quite delicious. However, since around 2007 things have changed drastically. The name of the winery has changed to Donelan Wines, the owners' name and a new winemaker has come on board. The young man now in charge is Tyler Thomas, who makes wines that would astonish more than one of us. 

Bennett Valley & Dry Stack Vineyard

Bennett Valley's climate, soils and history, make it totally unique in California - and probably the entire new world. Bennett Valley is one of the newest and smallest AVA's in the US. The cool, marine climate, combined with volcanic soils, give the wines produced from Bennett Valley a unique personality not found anywhere else.

For 3,000 years Bennett Valley was occupied by the Miwok and Pomo Indian tribes. They lived and hunted in the area, collecting obsidian from Bennett Peak and used it to make tools or to trade with other tribes.

As European settlers grew in number (and the Native Americans were wiped out by European diseases) Bennett Valley became an important agricultural center for Sonoma County, growing a wide variety of crops- including wine grapes. it's hard to think of now of sleepy Bennett Valley as a thriving area, but in 1850's even Jack London was drawn to the area for its beauty - and its wine.

 Isak de Turk was the most famous of many vineyard and winery owners in Bennett Valley producing over 100,000 gallons of wine a year in 1900. There were twice as many acres of grapes in production in Bennett Valley in 1900 than there are now and at least 6 times as many wineries. Phyloxera and prohibition ended grape production. Most of the farming moved away as transportation improved to the point they could no longer compete with larger farms. Farm crops were replaced by cattle in the 50's and 60's and today all that is left of Bennett Valley vibrant past are the foundation of a winery, the Grange Hall, the post office building and a few other odds and ends.

Eventually grapes returned to Bennett Valley in the 1970's when Dave Steiner planted his ranch on Sonoma Mountain. though the late 70's and ealry 80's several vineyards were planted and Matanzas Creek Winery was established. There was a long lull in planting in until a mini-boom of planting occurred in the late 1990's and early 2000's.

Groundwork, 2009 Grenache, Santa Barbara County

"Sans Liege is the brain-child of Curt Schalchlin who worked for David Corey of Core Wines and Russell From and Mac Myers of Barrel 27, Herman Story and McPrice Myers. Definitely pushing the envelope for richness, you wouldn't mistake these wines for their French counterparts but they well reflect how these varietals express themselves here in California. The 2007 Groundwork Santa Barbara County Grenache is a hedonistic example of this grape varietal. It has copious amounts of red cherry fruit, some spice notes and a smooth easy finish. It is not huge on structure, so don't think to put this one away but it is pure pleasure in a glass right now and for the next couple of years". (Keith Mabry, K&L Hollywood)

This wine flaunts the diversity and elegance of Central Coast Grenache, leading with aromatics of raspberry cobbler, white pepper, Moroccan dates, tart cherries, cocoa powder, brown sugar and Provencal lamb stew. In the mouth are subtle shadings from blood orange, eucalyptus, fresh ground espresso roast, thyme, forest floor and grilled venison. A pleasant, dusty herbaciousness rounds out the palate, recalling rosemary, sage and tarragon.

"Curt Schalchlin–winemaker and owner of both the Sans Liege and the Groundwork labels–is making some of the most interesting and sought-after wines in the state of California.  His winemaking style, eccentric personality and artistic labels are all very reminiscent of that of Manfred Krankl of Sine Qua Non fame.

Sans Liege and Groundwork are two tiny one-man shows located in the heart of Santa Barbara County.  From the vineyard to the cellar, from marketing to delivery, Curt does it all.  While wearing so many hats admittedly keeps him incredibly busy, it also guarantees that his uncompromising high level standards are consistently met and the proof is in every bottle of wine that he makes.  Curt’s passion flows in his current lineup of latest and greatest, which showcases his talents and highlights the great success that was seen in both the 2009 and 2010 vintages along the Central Coast and beyond.

While no one would mistake this for a French wine, it is a wonderful interpretation of this famous Rhone varietal.  It starts out with dusty red fruit, grenadine, violets and chalky mineral notes with a fine balance of fruit intensity and spice. The red raspberry, strawberry and cheery fruit coats the palate with hints of crushed rock, fennel, white pepper, truffle and anise." www.sfwtc.com

Shane, 2009 Ma Fille, Sonoma Valley

Shane winery produces Rhône varietals exclusively, which plays right into the hand of the girl & the fig’s “Rhône alone” wine list.  This particular Rosé exhibits striking neon pink and ruby accented color.  Ma Fille means “my daughter” in French.

From the website:  “Our mission is to produce hand-crafted, small lot, terrior-specific Rhône varietal wines infused with the passion of their winemaker and the purity of their vineyards.  We work exclusively with growers committed to the highest expressions of their vineyards.  With such partnerships, we seek to create wines of nuance, balance and originality.”

SHANE FINLEY, in the summer of 2001, left New York City and his job with an insurance company to begin his winemaking career as a harvest intern. Without any formal training in wine, he started at the bottom and began to work his way up. Shane's first harvest was in Santa Rosa, CA at Copain Wines. He was given the opportunity to participate in all facets of winemaking and the experience galvanized his desire to continue his winemaking career. 

In 2002, Shane worked for Torbreck Vintners in South Australia's Barossa Valley as a harvest intern. After completing the vintage at Torbreck, Shane moved to the Northern Rhône to take a year internship at Domaine Pierre Gaillard. Unlike his previous posts, Shane worked in the vineyards as well as the cellar. Living in the small town of Malleval, Shane spent much of his time with Pierre and his family. It was at the Gaillard's dinner table where he built the foundation of his winemaking philosophy. Upon his return to California in July of 2003, Shane became the Cellar Master at Copain Custom Crush. He began working closely with clients such as Dumol, Carlisle, and Pisoni Estate as well as Copain Wines' winemaker Wells Guthrie. In 2005, Shane took the job as Assistant Winemaker at Paul Hobbs Winery. Here he began to cement his winemaking philosophy. 

In the spring of 2006, Shane accepted the position of Associate Winemaker at Kosta Browne Wines. Shane works closely with Michael Browne crafting their renowned pinot noirs.

In his spare time, Shane is the owner and winemaker of Shane Wine Cellars.

Varietal: Syrah

Aroma:  Watermelon, passion fruit, papaya, citrus, and pomegranate.        

Body:  “The acidity is focused and zippy. The Ma Fille packs impressive depth for a rosé – especially one with sub-fourteen percent alcohol. This is a wine of well-defined edges, refreshing flavors, and a juicy finish.” - Shane Finley

Cases produced: 250

Appellation: Sonoma County