The Dust is Evident in Rutherford

Preisers’ Reserve:   How nice it is to be a relatively new winery, and yet be making such a fine product that you are selling out all you produce. No worry about advertising or finding customers. The only concern is making certain the allocations are fair enough so you don’t lose your loyal base.

Well, John and Laura Bremer’s Bremer Family Winery has reached that level, and of all their excellent offerings, we spotlight the Petite Sirah, a deep, luscious, complex Bob Bolan creation that can be experienced only at the winery, and is almost impossible to find even there. What this means is that you will need to visit the family (and on the right day our favorite educator Rich Hedrick) at its gorgeous Howell Mountain setting to taste what you can (beautiful Chards, Cabs, and Blends), and then join the private club to buy what you can’t routinely taste. While we don’t often recommend you buy too much of what you have not sampled, the Petite Sirah is one of the best gambles in town.                           

 

The Dust is Evident in Rutherford

While a number of appellations now host events that feature semi-expansive tastings of their wines, none do so with quite the elegance and aplomb as does the Rutherford Dust Society, a 14 year old group of growers and vintners dedicated to promoting the highest standards of wine production in the Rutherford viticultural area. We covet our invitation to join the esteemed press that tastes and analyzes the finest of the new releases from this Cabernet Sauvignon heartland every year, and are always amazed at the continuing quality of top California wineries.

For the past few years this event has been hosted by Rubicon Estate (formerly Niebaum-Coppola, which is now in Sonoma County). Rubicon is still owned by the famous director and is a terrific stop for the visitor, offering museums, a unique retail room, and of course a tasting of its award winning wines. We and the other fortunate writers attending the morning session of the Society function were served 27 new vintages to evaluate before enjoying a spectacular lunch and then gravitating to the larger tasting, which features currently available Rutherford wines and is open to all the trade.

But for us, the morning press session, which also includes lectures by some of the Valley’s finest winemakers, is one of our best times of the year. Just a quick browse of the Cabernet Sauvignons at the table would make any wine lover jealous – Beaulieu Vineyard, Flora Springs, Frank Family, Freemark Abbey, Frog’s Leap, Fountainhead, Hewitt, Honig, Laura Zahtila, Monticello, Pedemonte, Peju, Pina, Provenance, Quintessa, Raymond, Round Pond, Rubicon, Rutherford Grove, Sawyer, Scarecrow, Slaughterhouse, Staglin Family, Sullivan, Tres Sabores, Trinchero, and William Harrison. And these wineries were not just “represented” --  most had submitted some of their finest juice.

Our Favorites From the Press Session Regardless of Price:

1. Staglin Family 2005 Estate ($175 – 2,500 cases made): With apologies to everyone else, this entry was in a class by itself. Deep black cherries and plums were evident everywhere, and the smooth tannins allow you to consume it now, but are buff enough to suggest you wait five or six years at least. The finish was spiced with creamy coffee and butterscotch and a last breath of minty eucalyptus.

2. Scarecrow 2005 ($100 – 881 cases made):  A relatively small production makes this wine very difficult to find, but well defined layers of dark fruits, creamy chocolate, crème brule, and baking spices make it well worth the search.

3. Monticello Vineyards 2005 Tietjen ($58 – 228 cases made): No surprise here for us, in that the Tietjen is superior every year. The vineyard supplies fruit that makes a spicy, dark berried wine, with hints of vanilla and clove. The winery guides the vinification so that this entry is always seamless and well balanced.

4. Quintessa 2005 ($135 – 10,000 cases made): It is stunning to realize that this winery routinely produces some of the best Cabs in the world, yet makes a whopping 10,000 cases. That is why, even though $135 is not inexpensive, one can still find this wine, while often being unable to locate others of the same quality. Here we have fabulously expansive fruit and noticeably strong tannins that integrate almost perfectly, leaving you with an ending that goes on and on while you talk about it.

5. Frank Family 2005 Rutherford Reserve ($85 – 2,000 cases made): Year in and year out, one of the Valley’s finest, and, if you have been reading our column over the years, one of our all time and current favorites. It has all the usual characteristics of fruit and chocolate, but until we read the winemaker’s notes there was one flavor we had not identified – tamarind. Superbly balanced and seamless, this is a wine to enjoy for years.

6. Hewitt 2005 Rutherford ($85 - 4,600 cases made): If you are a Bordeaux lover, this is one for you. Licorice, cherries, and chocolate bounce around the palate for a while, but then comes a forest floor, leather, and woody finish that lets you know this wine is from Rutherford.

7. Rubicon Estate ($145 – unknown how many cases produced): Showing complex layers of plumy fruit and berries, with chocolate and a touch of latte leading to meaty, lip smacking tannins, this bottle is happily approached now or in several years.

      8. Beaulieu Vineyard 2005 George De LaTour  Private Reserve ($115 – 12,500 cases made):  Layers of dark juicy fruit, toffee, chocolate, and red licorice yield to a slightly tart, dusty cocoa finish.

9. Sullivan Vineyard 2005 Reserve ($100 – 100 cases made): Like all the Sullivan wines, this one shows wonderful complexity. As the wine opened, each taste hinted at different herbs and spices. Consistent throughout were flavors of red fruit and welcome tannins.

10. Peju Province 2005 HB ($225 – 350 cases made): Classic Rutherford all the way, various chocolates and coffees are brought to mind as the sensation of evaporating fruit leads to a woody-leather finish. The use of new oak is evident here, but the fruit stands up to it.

 

Best Value to Quality in the Press Session:

1. Sawyer Cellars 2005 Estate ($48 – 1,850 cases made): Velvety tannins surround blackberries, cassis, and chocolate in this harmonious wine. The layers are easily differentiated as each bursts subtly on your palate before the lingering finish of signature “dust.”

2. Monticello Vineyards (see above).

3. Provenance Vineyards 2005 Estate ($45 – 31,000 cases made): We don’t know how Tom Rinaldi continues to make this many cases of great wine at this price. You would think every winery in California could do it, but apparently not, as this has become a yearly mystery, and is still without peer. We picked up red and black cherries-in-chocolate at the front, and then a mid palate of peppery spices, before enjoying the dust and mocha on the finish.

4. Tres Sabores 2005 Perspective ($64 – 200 cases made): Better known for its killer Zins, that won’t be the case for long if every Cab effort matches this one. This is a lively wine with bursting fruit throughout, especially on the finish – a sensation we greatly enjoy.

5. Freemark Abbey2005 Bosche ($45 – 2,000 cases made): The surprise of the tasting for us, as this winery had been off our radar for a while. This entry, however, hit us with red fruits in the front, and dark ones mixed with chocolate in the back. But for the fact that it was a touch “hot,” even after a sufficient time to open, the wine would have been almost irresistible.

6. Round Pond 2005 Estate ($60 – 1,300 cases made): This wine makes a statement by showing off its consistency at every phase of the tasting process, including a dynamite finish that is absolutely representative of the region’s terroir.

7. Frank Family (see above).

8. Laura Zahtila 2005 Georges III ($65 – 842 cases made): So close to our top ten above, this bottle shows off its deep garnet color and a nose of plums. There is evidence of great structure, and we found some very pleasant smoke and toast.

9. Raymond Vineyards 2005 Rutherford ($55 – 1,155 cases made): A blast of stone fruit hits the nose, followed by a smooth mid palate. The wine then picks up in intensity once again in the back, and leaves a satisfying finish.

10. Trinchero Family Estates 2005 Chicken Ranch ($30 – 3,150 cases made): We admire a winery that is unafraid to put its $30 wine next to those charging up to $225. Though a bit light on the nose, this wine makes up for it with a beautiful mid palate of red berried and vanilla, and a lingering dusty finish.

 

At the full trade session that followed, we found two notable wineries that did not have their wines in the earlier meeting. Martin Estate, featured in a recent column, was pouring its Estate and Reserve Cabs. As they say, “trust us” when we report that they were better than ever. John Robert Eppler was sampling both his 2005 and 2006 Cabs, and we liked them both.

All the wines we tasted at the press session represented the 2005 harvest. Some were just being released, and some will not leave the cellar for up to 7 or 8 months. In that the season was devoid of usual heat spikes, temperatures during bloom were favorable, and cool weather in September and October of that year allowed flavors to mature, vintage quality seemed pretty high.

Because wineries themselves have a stake in every vintage being superb, we give those in the Rutherford Dust Society great credit for allowing the press and trade unfettered access to what will soon be released so that unbiased and independent evaluations can be made. Fortunately for all of us in this country, California vintages remain remarkably consistent in their excellence.