Well, not exactly a Bordeaux, but a Bordeaux-style* wine—Clos du Bois’ Marlstone to be exact. Top-level, it sounds fairly simple. You mix together various percentages of the classic Bordeaux varietals to create something with a character all its own.
But in practice, it’s a bit more complex than that.
How Much of Which Varietal?
First of all, you’ve got the question: “what percentage of what grape?” In the regions of Bordeaux, there are tendencies towards particular varietals—in the Haut Medoc, for instance, they favor Cabernet Sauvignon while in St. Emilion they lean towards Merlot and Cabernet Franc. But here in California, anything goes. Which is why it’s so crucial to have a profile to shoot for. In the case of Marlstone, that means, “density, concentration and good fruit with violet, cassis and blackberry essence,” according to Erik, “along with a brightness on the palette and a softness of tannin.” The idea is, that profile will guide what percentage of which varietals will be included in the Marlstone blend.
What Goes Where?
Okey dokey. Only remember when I went tank tasting with Erik and the crew just after crush and there were hundreds of batches of wine from different vineyards and blocks? Those, my friends, are what these guys now have to navigate through to choose what to include. For six months now, they’ve been tracking each lot and creating individual profiles, in a sense, plotting where each one’s flavor, density, tannins and balance fall along the continuum as it matures.
The Winnowing
Once Erik knows what he’s dealing with, he chooses the ones he thinks will work best for Marlstone—45 of them in this case. Think of it as an artist choosing the colors he’s going to use in a certain composition; once the winemaker has accomplished this step, he knows the palette he has to play with.
The next step is to create trial blends with various percentages of those 45 components. Just to give you an idea of what we’re dealing with, there are 14 different lots of Cabernet Sauvignon alone from assorted appellations and vineyards, each imparting its own unique stamp of terroir and character to the blended wine.
Show Time
I showed up just as Erik and his team were evaluating the first four trial blends. I sat in awe as the three of them stared and swirled and stared some more and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed and, finally, sipped before scribbling intently in silence. These are artists at work, I tell you.
After about 20 minutes they convened and compared notes. Personal preference was definitely evident, but above all they were seeking to match the profile that has made Marlstone so beloved. That’s all fine and dandy, only we’re not talking about evaluating a wine in its prime. Just as the tank tastings were all raw components—fruit! acid! tannin!—so are the blends when they’re first concocted. To my naive palette, everything seemed discombobulated. But these guys can taste the future.
And as if that weren’t enough, now it’s on to refining the blend and factoring in how barrels will affect each of the components. What type of oak, and with how much of a toast, should each of them be aged in? How long? And what about the final blend?
I’ll tell you, the whole thing makes me dizzy, and not from wine. I swear. I really did spit . . .
* Meaning it’s blended from the classic grapes of Bordeaux; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.
7 Comments
Great and informative! I have been MIA from the blogging world for a while, and have truly missed reading your blog, but I’m back now! I just posted that I will be going to Sonoma next weekend, and am looking for suggestions - I would definitely appreciate a response from you, since I know how knowledgeable you are about wine country. Thanks in advance, and cheers!
Haha “dizzy” for sure..I can’t know how you’d know how/where to dizzily begin. The 2 people pictured do not look elderly (!) enough to be practiced enough! (I’m a little familiar with Erik O. from the ‘net, but who is the lady?)
I can’t help but wonder–if you’re “going for” cassis, violet, blackberry, do you have little vials of cassis, violet, blackberry around for reference? Or just some Marlstone from other years?
Foodette . . . We’ve missed you! So glad you’re coming to Sonoma this weekend. Will you be in Sonoma Valley, the Healdsburg area, or both? Here are my suggestions for the Healdsburg are (where you can hit Dry Creek, Alexander, and Russian River Valleys):
EATS
Cyrus — If you have the budget and can get a reservation, it is SO worth it. I’ve been meaning to do an “experiment” where we go and order a three course dinner and don’t go crazy on wine and see if it would end up being reasonable enough to do on a regular basis. But we always get carried away and go a million courses with nutty wines and caviar and then have to eat beans for three weeks to recoup our bank account ;-). Also, try Healdsburg Bar and Grill, which just changed ownership/management (fuzzy on the details there) to the Cyrus crew. I’m going for lunch on Thursday, so I’ll be able to report first-hand how it’s going. Bovolo, in Plaza Farms, is also worth a stop. Great breakfasts, lunch and gelato. Madrona Manor is another great dinner spot–in a Victorian up on a hillside. Jesse, the chef, is one of Sonoma’s unsung heros (and you can tell him I told you that ;-)). The Cheese Shop–one block north of the square in a strip-mall on Center–has FANTASTIC cheeses and all kinds of other goodies. Great place to put together a picnic. Ravenette (not Ravenous) is a tiny, six-table dinner spot next door to the Raven Theater (not movie theater, but around the corner). Great food, great atmosphere, great brunches too. Tough to get in though, there’s often a wait.
DRINKS
There are about a million tasting rooms around the Healdsburg Plaza nowadays, so you could probably spend a whole day just exploring there. In Dry Creek Valley, I’d recommend Preston (bring a picnic, bring a picnic, bring a picnic), Yoakim Bridge (great zins), Unti and Forth Vineyards (call ahead to see if they have time for a tasting/tour at their winery — tell Jann I’m sending you . . . ). In Alexander Valley, I’d stop by Clos du Bois (of course . . . you’ll get to taste their premium wines that you can’t find in stores. Including the Marlstone!), Alexander Valley Vineyards (historical place) and Hanna Winery. Unfortunately, bad me, I haven’t been along the Russian River route in a long time, so I’m not up on what to recommend.
Let me know how your trip goes!
Rosemary . . . It’s amazing, those guys have all those scents and flavors dialed into their psyche. It’s part of their education, and then just builds through experience. Me, not so much. I’d love to have “props” like vials on-hand–and, in fact, I’ve heard of that being the case at some wine sensory classes. Interesting question whether they have previous Marlstone vintages on hand to reference . . . I’ll check on that.
Rosemary . . . PS — the woman is Sue, Erik’s associate winemaker. She’s awesome. I was totally overwhelmed by the concentration of flavors, and she just looked and me and chuckled and said, “pretty intense, eh?”
And, yes, they do taste previous vintages of Marlstone before blending. According to Erik, they normally go back five years to see how they’ve aged, and then 20 years every few years just to check it all out.
Thanks so much for the tips - I am so excited and your response just made me start drooling!!!
Hi Lia, I had the opportunity to taste the Clos du Bois Maristone at the recent California Wine Tasting Event in Montreal. It was great fun because we don’t see too many California wines in Montreal. Congratulations.
Micheline . . . I’m so glad you got to taste the Marlstone! It’s a treat, isn’t it?