Californian trend for ‘terroir-driven’ wine grows

“California cult wines are so hot right now!” exclaimed Michael Madrigale, head sommelier at Bar Boulud – a rather fashionable cornerstone of Chef Daniel Boulud’s collections of restaurants.

Though California Cabernets have always had a place on the book-sized wine lists of top Manhattan restaurants, Madrigale recently showcased the diversity of Napa Valley wines to his sommelier peers in an afternoon tutored tasting featuring three of the most celebrated women from Napa, winemakers Cathy Corison of Corison Winery, Rosemary Cakebread of Gallica, and Emma Swain, CEO of St Supery.

“What sommeliers need to know now is that there is a new style to California wines,” Madrigal said. “They have more finesse and elegance. The trend is for the terroir to speak for itself.”

At a barrel tasting of Napa Valley wines at the recent Premiere Napa Valley PNV trade auction, it was clear that terroir-driven wines are a key focus. The lots sampled at the barrel tasting were specifically created to be unique. Yet like fashion models on a catwalk parading high-priced designer clothes, the site-specific nature of these exclusive wines hint at what will be on the shelves of wine shops in a few years’ time.

Walking the floor of the barrel auction allowed prospective bidders to figuratively get a taste of the various Napa Valley appellations, from Diamond Mountain with its dense fruit to what can be described as “crunchy red fruit” of Calistoga. During the auction that followed, bidding for the mostly sixty-bottle lots was quite frenzied, with most lots selling for more than $50,000 and the auction closing with a record-breaking $6 million.

For the auction, PNV co-chairs Emma Swain and St. Supery winemaker Michael Scholz encouraged the contributing wineries to be as creative as possible in making their unique wines, the more outlandish the better. Some winemakers created unique blends, others used a combination of special parcials, while others chose innovative barrel and maturation techniques, such as a concrete egg.

The method of production, specific parcels, and even the clones, rootstocks, and cooperages used for the barrels were all enticingly described in the 140 page auction book. It was interesting to read the techniques employed, and see how 100% new French oak, for example, affected the wine. In the case of BRAND Napa Valley, for instance, the wine was fermented in 225 liter new French oak barrels for 45 days, then aged in the same barrel for 40 months (that 60 bottle lot went for $115,000).

The bidders were mostly American restauranteurs or retailers, with a significant portion of country club beverage directors. Gary Fisch, owner of the independent Gary’s Wine in New Jersey with multiple locations, says that the collectors he buys for enjoy letting the PNV wines mature, and then blind tasting them with friends to see how they evolved and if they can recognize the winery. Fisch – long known as one of the top bidders in the PNV’s 19-year history – says that he and the collectors develop a strategy according to their budget, and he bids accordingly. Fisch says that not all the collectors are impossibly wealthy, though they do spend an inordinate amount of their money on fine wine.

According to Swain and Scholz, the PNV has become dramatically more popular over the years, and more competitive as well, with the donating wineries trying to outdo one another to make a truly one-of-a-kind wine. For the PNV, St. Supery engaged celebrity wine consultant Michel Rolland. Other wineries hired the French-born consultant Philippe Melka, who may in part be responsible for the new, more restrained Napa Valley style. With the combination of New York based sommeliers like Madrigale spreading the good word about the Napa Valley wines, and the continuing success of the Premiere Napa Valley auction, there’s no question that Napa Valley wines are very hot right now.