What is California Style?

I just returned from a trip to Europe, where I had the great pleasure of sharing a bottle of San Sakana Las Madres Syrah with my Italian friends. Generally, we plan these events in advance: pick a night, pick a type of wine, arrange for an evening of tasting and comparisons. Aside from our syrah, I brought a small vineyard, low yield Sangiovese from Sonoma (good fruit but lacked depth and finish), and from Italy we shared a Ripasso, Brunello, and a Barbaresco. More about these later, but the reaction to Las Madres was what I wanted to write about.

Overall the Italians loved the depth and finish of the Las Madres; they also picked up the taste of black olives in the wine, and admired its great balance and long finish. What surprised them was the alcohol at 14.5% - not uncommon at all for a California wine, but with most Italian varieties in the 13-14% range, it is a noticeable difference.

So what makes this Californian? I think it is in the particular attention we pay to full physiological maturity of the grapes before harvest. California vineyards have been putting a lot of emphasis on this, and using indicators like grape seed appearance as the final indicator of full ripeness, rather than strict numerical targets of brix, pH and TA. Granted, the 2004 harvest in California saw a late season heat spell just before harvest, which pushed the sugars up as the fruit was still reaching peak maturity, and this accounts for some of the added alcohol, but even in 2005 with the cooler season, the fruit was allowed to hang until the physiological apex was reached. This is not to downplay the results achieved in other regions -- for sure, the greatest wines still come from France and each region plays to its strength in soil, climate, and fruit. Not better, but different -- and maybe that is what makes Californian wines what they are.

Now back to the wines -- by far the Barbaresco was the best: long finishing and deeply aromatic with a complex of flavors and aromas that kept you coming back for another taste, if only to identify that last aroma (was it really Chinese 5 Spice?). Wish I could remember the label, but it was a friendly evening and after 5 bottles of wine, I'm glad I remembered the types! the Brunello was a disappointment -- a wine specially selected and aged for 5 years should show more body, but this wine showed well, indicated promise in the mid palate -- then dropped off a cliff like a lover forlorn. Sad.

The Ripasso is an interesting wine, one which most probably haven't heard of. Amarone, as most know, is a Valpolicella wine made by taking Passito grapes and drying them on a rack for 2-3 months prior to fermentation. This process intensifies the fruit without making it overly alcoholic, and Amarone wines can easily age for 10 years before drinking. Ripasso is an entirely separate wine, typically an everyday red made in the usual way, but then racked over to barrels containing the must from the Amarone grapes for 2-3 weeks, then re-racked into their permanent barrels or foudres. The process gives tannin, color and flavor to the wine, and is a popular if inexpensive wine found throughout Italy. The Ripasso we tried did show some of the complexities of the process, though truth be told, it was competing with 4 other wines of unusual depth and power, so it was understandably overshadowed.

The moral of the story: any chance you get, bring a couple of bottles of Californian wine to share with your Italian friends, and the evening will always turn into a wine tasting party lasting until the Restaurant is forced to close!

Q's, pls. email me - peter@sansakana.com

Peter Himes
Fish C