Mike and I were talking one day about vintage variation-you know-those often subtle differences between growing seasons and how it affects the wine. This is one area that it’s really difficult to make generalizations about. This is a good year. This is a bad year. What is a “bad year” anyway? Is the wine “bad”? Who decides these things? More often then not, it’s the press. Besides questioning the very methodology of determining good and bad vintages, Mike and I are more fascinated by the subtleties and it was my ascertion that even in “bad” years the wine is still pretty darn good. It’s just different. And aren’t those differences what makes wine interesting and fun. I think so.
One of the tastings we do here illustrates this point precisely. The reserve vertical tasting is the best of the best. We line up three of our reserve cabernets from the same block, made in nearly the same way with the same blend and we let our guests decide what’s what. The vintages are well aged from 1998, 1999, and 2000. I believe our wines really start to show their stuff at about 8 years so these wines are in their prime. This special tasting is available here daily and we’re always happy as your hosts to crack them open!
As Mike and I were chatting we came up with a good way of describing vintage variation. It’s like a thumbprint. Our vineyard is as unique as the grooves on your thumb. It is particular to this place and has definable qualities of soil, slope, spacing, and plant material. All of these things are the physical characteristics of what we call “Bloque Loco.” It’s one of the best spots for Cabernet on the lower ranch. Now the non-physical aspect of this block is how it responds to the growing season. That’s how hard you press down on the thumbprint. When the vintage is easy and all things go smoothly, the imprint of the vintage is light. When we need to respond to certain challenges during the growing season, like frost or shatter or an increase in mildew, the imprint of the vintage is heavier.
I think that is more illustrative way of defining the differences a vintage can have in a vineyard. Instead of writing off or presuming that “in this certain year” a wine is no good, this idea of a thumbprint engenders a willingness to taste, to experience a wine for what it is. One of the coolest things in tasting wine is spotting those differences and appreciating that particular moment in time.
Jay Kell
