 The grapes of Mt. Diablo
Jessica Yadegaran
Contra
Costa Times
Posted: 01/28/2009 12:00:00 AM PST
Updated:
01/28/2009 12:46:42 PM PST
The term terroir was coined by
the French to denote the special characteristics that
geography bestows upon grapes, and, ultimately, on wine.
Surely, then, every place
that has soil has terroir. Every place where wind,
sun, rain and a smooch from God — if
you believe in that — brush the soil is capable
of producing wines that reflect its terroir. Even Walnut
Creek.
Tim
Jochner of Walnut Creek Calif. walks through
a row of his vineyard at his Shadowbrook Winery
in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan.
21, 2009.Tim Jochner opened the winery
in 2005 and just won a silver medal for his
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon at the Chronicle
Wine Competition. (Dan Rosenstrauch/Staff) |
Two Contra Costa County wineries proved that when they
took home a total of 12 medals at this month's San Francisco
Chronicle Wine Competition. This is buzzworthy, as it's
the largest blind tasting competition of American wines
and the judges are among the best palates in America.
Even more intriguing is that the grapes that produced
the award-winning wines were grown on or at the base
of Mt. Diablo, where harsh conditions and nutrient-deficient
soils make for elegant, complex wines.
It's no surprise. The Mt. Diablo area was a popular
spot for growing grapes in the 1800s.
By the turn of
the century, one third of the area's agriculture was
planted to vineyards. But in 1911, the grape mite phylloxera
invaded and killed most of the vines. The fate of the
mountain's grapes was sealed in 1920 with Prohibition,
when nearly all the vineyards were replanted to walnut
and almond orchards.
Nearly a century later,
Walnut Creek's Shadowbrook Winery, the first in the
city to obtain a winery permit since Prohibition, took
home a double gold — a first
for Contra Costa County — for its 2006 Rose, a
gold for its 2006 Syrah, a bronze for its 2006 JonRae,
a Bordeaux blend, and a silver for its 2006 Cabernet
Sauvignon. The latter is particularly noteworthy, as
the wine came from four-year-old vines, yet shared the
spotlight with older Napa stalwarts Cakebread and Grgich
Hills.
Tim and Courtney Jochner of Walnut Creek Calif. enjoy
a tasting inside the barrel room inside their
Shadowbrook Winery in Walnut Creek Calif. Wednesday,
Jan. 21, 2009. Tim Jochner opened the winery
in 2005 and just won a silver medal for his 2006
Cabernet Sauvignon at the Chronicle Wine Competition.
(Dan Rosenstrauch/Staff)
|
Ever determined to showcase his wine's potential, Shadowbrook
proprietor and wine master Tim Jochner insisted on entering
it in the $45 and over category of cabernet sauvignons,
even though it retails for less. This is the winery's
first commercial wine competition and every wine Jochner
entered won a medal. Naturally, he is a bit elated.
"We are just trying to produce a world class cabernet
sauvignon from Walnut Creek because we grew up here and
love it here," he says. "We want the people
and the restaurants here to drink and serve our wine
and be proud that it comes from their backyard."
That part, unfortunately, has been challenging. Jochner
and his wife, Courtney, have trouble getting appointments
with local restaurants and wine buyers. Their wines are
available at a local liquor store and a restaurant, but
that's about it. At a recent upscale walk-around tasting,
one consumer dumped Jochner's wine when he heard it was
made from grapes grown in Walnut Creek. Never mind that
he had tried it and loved it.
The Jochners opened the micro-premium winery (their
permit limits them to 1,000 cases) in 2005 in a quiet
residential area at the entrance of Mt. Diablo State
Park. As such, their ornate tasting room and property,
once graced by the late Robert Mondavi, is not open to
the public, and even organizing private events for their
100 or so wine club members can be challenging, because
of city ordinances.
Still, Lochner and his winemaking
partner, Mike Lavezzoli, nurse with pride their six
acres at the base of the mountain. At harvest, they
hand pick the grapes — all six
varietals: Chardonnay, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot,
Zinfandel and Petit Sirah — and run them through
a destemmer-crusher. Next, an army of friends help with
must sorting, taking care to remove remaining stems or
subpar fruit from the sorting table before the grapes
ferment in individual 1.3 ton tanks. Jochner favors cooper
selection over oak barrels, and filters his red wines
very little.
A self-taught winemaker, Jochner has consultants on
hand to help with decisions on picking and blending,
but he and Lavezzoli do all the labor and cellar work,
and Jochner makes the final calls. When Randle Johnson,
winemaker for Hess Collection and Artezin, heard Jochner
was looking for a consulting winemaker, he jumped at
the chance.
"I was intrigued with the idea and the slopes of
Mt. Diablo," he says. "And I could tell from
the vineyard operation that it was first class."
Johnson said the news hasn't circulated around Napa
yet, but those who have heard are surprised, to say the
least.
"People are jaded and chauvinistic about terroir," he
says. "But you should never dismiss anything. Every
wine in the world deserves a fair shake."
Sterling Albert Winery in
Concord certainly has gotten its fair shake. Winemaker
and grape grower Sterling Albert took home seven medals
at the Chronicle's competition, two of which have his
Mt. Diablo trademark. "It
received a silver as the group award, but I thought it
deserved a gold," says judge and Wine Press Northwest
Magazine editor Eric Degerman of the 2006 Mount Diablo
Syrah. "I voted it as gold because I really enjoyed
its plummy overtones and found its structure juicy and
balanced. It's just what I look for in a New World Syrah.
In fact, I thought that it might have been from Washington
state."
Albert studied viticulture and winemaking at UC Davis
and ran a landscaping company until 2008, when he decided
to grow and sell grapes from his vineyards in Sonoma
and Alexander Valley full-time.
In 1998, he met Father Richard Mangini, who owned 3,700
acres on the northern corner of Mt. Diablo known as Mt.
Zion. Albert was drawn to the area's harsh conditions
and thin, nutrient-deficient soils. In 2000, he found
a plot next to Mangini's house and planted 9,000 vines
of cabernet sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel and Sangiovese.
Not surprisingly, the same northeastern facing spot was
a vineyard before Prohibition.
"The sun exposure is from sunup to when it rolls
behind the hill around 7 p.m. in the summer and 3 p.m.
in winter," Albert says. "It's almost perfect."
The soils are to Albert's liking as well. An offshoot
of volcanic rock, the red loam clay soils have a top
layer of granite and sandstone, which Albert says is
reminiscent of Napa's Howell Mountain. To prove Mt. Diablo's
unique terroir, Albert planted the same syrah clones
at the same elevation (about 800 feet) on his vineyards
in Sonoma, and the wines turned out completely differently.
"What I get from Mt Diablo are earthy, herbal notes
such as rosemary and lavender," he says. "Those
flavors are not in my Sonoma syrahs."
Today, Albert's business
is thriving and it's largely because of the size of
his production. He makes a sweet-spot 5,000 cases a
year — Mt. Diablo wines account for
20 percent of his total production — with most
distributed to Canada and a dozen states outside California.
The Mt. Diablo wines are sold at more than 20 local retailers
and restaurants, and the Whole Foods in Walnut Creek
will begin carrying them in February.
"I'm not medal shopping," Albert explains. "I'm
trying to make history. I've done blind tastings against
Silver Oak and Jordan and eight out of 10 people pick
the Mt Diablo. They're just amazed."
What does all this point to? A future Mt. Diablo Appellation?
Albert doesn't think so. Growing on the boundaries of
a state park is unrealistic, and the mountain is landlocked,
so it's not an easy or cheap place to farm. And, when
it comes to value, land developers always will choose
houses over vineyards, he says.
"But I think the area can have a good name as people
keep growing quality grapes in the next few years," he
says.
By then, perhaps we'll be sipping Jochner's award-winning
cabernet sauvignon with a steak in downtown Walnut Creek.
Reach Jessica Yadegaran at 925-943-8155 or jyadegaran@bayareanewsgroup.com.
The Mt. Diablo Wineries
• Sterling Albert Winery is at 150 Mason
Circle, Suite J, Concord. 925-363-3339. www.sawinery.com.
Tasting room hours are noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays. The winery's
two Mt. Diablo wines are available at Bo's BBQ in Lafayette,
Cask Wine Bar in Danville, Luna Restaurant in Concord
and Nines Restaurant in Brentwood.
• Shadowbrook Winery is at 3739 Shadowbrook Court in Walnut Creek. 925-988-9463.
www.shadowbrookwinery.com. The tasting room is not
open to the public but you can join the wine club by
visiting the Web site. Shadowbrook's wines are available
at Massimo Ristorante and M & M Cork & Bottle,
both in Walnut Creek. -- Jessica Yadegaran
A tasting of Mt. Diablo
• 2005 Sterling Albert Mt. Diablo
Cabernet Sauvignon: From the Mangini/Albert Vineyards
comes this smooth, elegant expression of Cabernet with
all the chalk and minerals of a fine French wine and
the bright, ripe berry and blackcurrant aromas that can
only be made in California. $26.
• 2004 Sterling Albert
Mt. Diablo Syrah: A well-balanced Syrah clocking in at
a relatively modest 12.6 percent alcohol with earthy,
herbal notes, blueberry and blackberry flavors, and aromas
of butterscotch pudding. $26
• 2006 Shadowbrook Winery
Rose: The winery's first rose vintage is a double-gold
medal winner and comes in a $10, 375-ml bottle. The rose
is a blend of four varietals and displays mouthwatering
aromas and flavors of watermelon.
• 2006 Shadowbrook Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon: A truly premium expression of the
grape without the premium price tag or locale, this Cabernet
Sauvignon starts with a smooth entry of blackberry and
black currants followed by white pepper and milk chocolate
flavors. The tannins are integrated and will do the wine
wonders in five to 10 years. $42. In 2006 Shadowbrook
Winery JonRae: A tribute to the winemakers' fathers,
John Lavezzoli and Ray Jochner, the second vintage of
this red blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Malbec,
Cabernet Franc) expresses the Mt. Diablo terroir with
aromas of black cherries, blackberries and eucalyptus
followed by a finish of spicy Mexican chocolate. $58.
• 2007 Shadowbrook Winery Chardonnay:
Unlike the big personality of its 2005 predecessor, Shadowbrook's
latest Chardonnay is made in a crisp, lighter style,
without compromising a full, round and rich mouth feel.
Tropical aromas and flavors of pineapple and toasted
coconut reign, and will continue to integrate as the
wine ages. $38 (April release) -- Jessica Yadegaran |
