Perlises Pick: LAW ESTATE WINES

January 15, 2022 by Michael Perlis

The curving drive through the woods on Peachy Canyon Drive only heightens the anticipation of arriving at the gates that provide entry to Law Estate Wines and the experience it and the winery staff provide.

But it wasn’t always this way.

Our first taste of Law Estate was when they were pouring their first vintage at the Ojai Wine Festival in 2013. At that time, Michael wrote: “…speaking of Law Estate (www.lawestatewines.com), their wines really stole the show for me at this event, especially their GSM blend. A new player in Paso Robles, they haven’t even released their wines to the public yet. This is one you might want to get on board with early.”

To give credit where credit is due, it was Karen who had told Michael to be sure to taste the Law wines, especially that GSM blend named Sagacious.

Our next visit to Law was while the winery was still under construction. Sitting with General Manager Oliver Esparham, who we had met at the Ojai festival, we continued to be awed at the quality of the wines produced by such a young winery. Of course, Law’s geologist owners did their homework with site selection for their vineyards [all Law’s wines are Estate designated], a state of the art winery, as well as one of the best winemakers around – Scott Hawley of Torrin.

But those are old stories and visiting Law now is about tasting outstanding wines in a beautiful luxurious setting, whether on the outdoor patio with the gorgeous views or the spacious indoor tasting lounge. Though, all would be for naught were the hosts of your tasting not the best you might encounter anywhere, which they are at Law. Their hospitality is what elevates the tasting into the perfect experience that it is.

During our tasting, we had the great pleasure of meeting with Marketing Manager Jessica Locklin and were also joined by GM Oliver. Scott Hawley has moved on to focus 100% on his own label and former Assistant Winemaker Phillipp Pfunder now has full control of the winemaking process. The wines, if anything, are more delicious than ever.

We started with the 2019 Soph, a white blend of 47% Roussanne, 28% Clairette Blanche and 25% Marsanne with a really bright floral nose. Named after the Laws’ granddaughter [Oliver’s daughter], this is always one of our favorite white wines of the year. We were delighted that there was still some available to purchase as we had just run out at home.

Moving on to the red blends of mostly Rhone varietals, these are as usual stunning and virtually impossible to pick a favorite. Karen has always been especially partial to the one called Sagacious, as mentioned above [Oliver somehow still remembers this].

We tasted through the following reds:

2018 Beguiling – 85% Grenache, 15% Syrah

2018 Sagacious – 35% Grenache, 34% Syrah, 31% Mourvedre

2018 Audacious – 31% Grenache, 26% Carignan, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Syrah

2018 Aspire – 84% Syrah, 16% Grenache

One of the several great things about the Law tasting experience is that the taster is presented with the entire flight at once, with ample opportunity to go back and forth between wines to compare the various flavors. And Jessica, like everyone else at Law, was ever-present to graciously answer questions and provide additional information.

As we were tasting back and forth through the flight, Jessica asked if we had any preferences. Michael’s “I dunno, they’re all so good” was followed by Karen’s “You haven’t tried the Aspire yet.” Even though Karen loved the nice long finish and big mouthfeel of her usual favorite Sagacious and the dark ripe blackberry notes of the Audacious, she was spot on with the Aspire’s fruit forwardness and violet bouquet. Upon tasting it, Michael immediately agreed with an insightful “damn”.

Much as it is difficult to pick a favorite amongst Law’s wine selection, it is also hard to pick a favorite winery in Paso Robles. There are too many wineries in the area that we love for us to be able to say that there is a #1. But, you would be hard-pressed to find a better winery experience, wines, and people than Law Estate Wines. And now the addition of a guest cottage makes an extended stay possible. Plans are also in the works for an education center. With all that, you may never want to leave the property on your next visit.

LAW ESTATE WINES

www.lawestatewines.com

3885 Peachy Canyon Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446

Michael and Karen Perlis have been pursuing their passion for wine for more than 30 years. They have had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show them the way and after a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as they possibly could, they had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Michael and Karen do their best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers.

Perlises Pick: J DUSI WINERY

January 8, 2022 by Michael Perlis

A visit to Paso Robles is never complete for us without a visit to J Dusi Winery. Admittedly, it’s personal.

We first met Janell Dusi in the mid-2000s at a roadshow tasting for Paso Robles wineries held at a hotel in Santa Monica. At that time, she was pouring her first commercial vintage of Zinfandel made from the family’s historic Dante Dusi Vineyard off the west side of Highway 101. Planted by Janell’s great-grandparents in 1945, the amazing fruit had been traditionally sold to other wineries who were proud to designate the vineyard on their label. But Janell took the family business to the next level by making and bottling the wine under her J Dusi brand.

Since then, we’ve visited Janell many times, initially at the family home on the vineyard property and more recently at the winery/tasting room on Highway 46 West. Whether they know it or not, Janell and her family have become our Paso family.

Janell has also grown the wine selections beyond the flagship Zinfandel and even added another brand to the mix – Paper Street.

The first thing we noticed on this trip was how much the outside tasting area had expanded, with lots of comfortable seating and umbrellas, much of it colored the signature Dusi blue.

Then, Janell greeted us and, although we forewent our usual hugs, it was with immense joy that we sat down with her to talk about the last several months and sample several of the new releases.

We started with the 2020 Pinot Grigio. We found this to be super bright and fresh. Its low alcohol makes this a true summer wine, although we drink a lot of this all year long. It is not just popular with us, as Janell’s customers love it and buy it by the case. One of them even referred to it as “Dusi Water”, a term a stickler might find offensive, but not Janell. Hey, whatever keeps the customer happy, right? [Just a thought from us – much like in our neck of the woods, Agua Dulce means Sweet Water in Spanish, maybe she should rename it – not Acqua Dolce – but Acqua Dusi. What do you think, Janell?]

Second to be tasted but always first in our hearts was the Dante Dusi Zinfandel. This was the 2019 vintage and we noted that it was fruity and spicy [specifically with pumpkin bread spices] with a nice long finish. Classic Dusi Zin.

The next two wines were from the 2017 vintage. The Escandalosa is a blend of – not Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre – but Zinfandel, Syrah and Mourvedre. We’re not sure if the “scandal” is the unusual blend or what happened at the naming party that came up with it, but it had a beautiful cherry color and great spices from the Zinfandel. The other 2017 was the Caterina’s Vineyard Syrah, which was full bodied, well rounded, with notes of white pepper and a looong finish. Sadly, the 2018 version of this is the “last Syrah” from this great vineyard, although other varietals will be forthcoming.

We also tasted one of the wines from the Paper Street label – the 2017 Narrator. This is a classic GSM [40% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 20% Mourvedre] and was just perfectly balanced. The Paper Street vineyard was planted by Janell’s brother Matt and their father Mike on the West side of Paso Robles. Planted not only to Zinfandel, but also to Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah and Clairette Blanche [among others], Janell is doing great things with this vineyard, as are other wineries in the area. The name Paper Street has a double meaning, referring both to the vineyard not having a true address and as an homage to Matt’s favorite movie, Fight Club. Ditto with the name Narrator, referring both to Mike Dusi and to the Narrator in the movie.

Janell also told us of an exciting new development involving J Dusi Wines. You may have heard of the emerging market for canned wines. My initial observations have been these tend to be lower-end wines designed for maximum quaffing. Maker Wine Company (www.makerwine.com) is taking a different approach – focusing on quality wines from smaller producers in a convenient canned package. Janell’s contribution to the brand is a blend of the Zinfandels from the Dante Dusi and Paper Street vineyards. This should really “up” the perception of what canned wine is all about.

It was wonderful to visit with Janell, but she had a winery to run. We said our goodbyes after quick tastes of the yummy 2016 Zinfandel Port and the 2018 Haute Blanc Viognier Port and headed out, knowing we would be back to J Dusi on our next trip to Paso Robles wine country.

J Dusi

www.jdusiwines.com

1401 CA 46 West

Paso Robles, CA 93446

Mentors – from Michael Perlis (Originally posted June 2009)

January 1, 2022 by Michael Perlis

Over the last 25 or so years of enjoying wine, I’ve had the great benefit of a few individuals who have served as my mentors in this area.

Starting out, my first wine mentor was my boss Tim. We sometimes had to travel to see clients, and he introduced me to the miniature wine bottles offered on the plane, as well as enjoying wine with dinner. He also liked to go to the wine stores in the towns we visited, seeking out rare finds that were not available at home or were just priced lower because the shop owners didn’t know any better.

Next, living in San Antonio in the mid-80s, my wife and I made the acquaintance of a private wine broker who introduced us to the wines he was importing from Europe. I regret that I cannot recall his name.

Moving back to California in the late-80s, we spent a lot of time traveling the coast. And approximately mid-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, in the town of Cambria, we met Calvin Wilkes, who probably had the greatest influence on me of anybody in terms of my enthusiasm for wine.

Calvin ran a combination wine shop and tasting bar in Cambria, and I received the benefit of his knowledge, both in terms of local wines and wines from around the world. For a short time, he also had a small restaurant in the shop, which local winery employees would frequent.

Bringing in bottles from their wineries and sharing them just enhanced our own experience. We visited him often, until he moved to Pacific Grove, where he and his wife Michele run Fifi’s Cafe Bistro. We like to visit him there as well, and he professes to remember me from the old days. I recommend you stop in if you are in the area. Tell him “hello” from me.

We met DiMaggio Washington in the 90s, when he ran Select Wines. I think this was the first combo wine store and tasting bar in Santa Clarita. His Zinfandel tastings were a big influence on my ultimate focus on this grape, and the blind tastings were fun but challenging. It was only later, after reading more about DiMaggio, that I realized how patient he was with us newbies and how deep his own expertise goes. I haven’t seen him in a long time — I hope to rectify that soon.

More recently…

Gary R., who has tried diligently but unsuccessfully [albeit expensively] to get me interested in older Bordeaux style wines.

Victor Herstein at All Corked Up. who seems to have a palate similar to mine and has shown me the pleasure of mixing wine and rock and roll.

And, last but not least, Eve Bushman, who has allowed me in a small way to feel a part of this incredible industry.

To all of my mentors, past, present, and future, I raise my glass and say “thank you”.

For Laker Fans from Michael P. (Originally posted June 2009)

December 25, 2021 by Michael Perlis

Eve,

Here’s my post, if it could run during the upcoming Finals, that would be pretty awesome.

Michael

After family, friends, and career, I would venture to guess that two of the most important things in my life are wine and the Lakers. I’m not sure if this sound pathetic, but it is true.

I first became a fan of the Lakers in 1971-72, during that incredible 69-13 season, which included that historic 33-game winning streak. Watching Jerry, Wilt, Gail and the rest of the team during that championship season got me hooked.

Now I am not a fair-weather fan. Some people think that the Lakers have always been good. And, overall, they have been a very successful organization. But, they have had their trying times in between the great teams of Wilt and Jerry, Kareem and Magic, Shaq and Kobe, and now Kobe and Pau. I remember some pretty poor teams — teams that didn’t make the playoffs, or if they did, were eliminated early.

But through it all, I followed the Lakers, often listening to Chick’s “word’s-eye view” on the radio, as these were the days before home games being shown on cable. Actually, these were the days before cable.

In the mid-80s, I discovered wine. A lot of trials and tribulations there too, as I struggled to learn as much as I could about this incredible — what, beverage? Yes, but much more, at least to me. Finally, I was just able to enjoy what I liked and not worry too much about the details.

I was going to try to tie these two things together, my Lakers and my wine, talk about how when a great team plays together it resembles the components of a great wine coming together, but that would be kind of a stretch, don’t you think? But, what they do have in common is the enjoyment I get from them, and I think that’s what matters.

Which is why you’ll often find my wife and me at our favorite table at All Corked Up, watching the game and drinking [and sharing] our wine, especially this time of year.

Michael P.

Perlises Pick: Caliza Winery

December 18, 2021 by Michael Perlis

When we decided it was time to visit wine country again, selecting the region was pretty easy. Paso Robles has long been a favorite of ours, going back to the 1980s[!]. Deciding who to visit was a little tougher – there are a lot of people who we consider friends in Paso and many of the wineries are on our “favorites” list. In addition, there are many new wineries that deserve attention.

One thing that was certain was that we needed to visit Carl Bowker at Caliza Winery. The one and only time that we did visit Caliza must have been soon after they opened the tasting room in 2008 – Pam and Carl Bowker had started making wine commercially with the 2006 vintage, but didn’t make their first wines available until late 2008. [We had actually tried to plan a visit in 2018 but couldn’t coordinate schedules.] Since that one time, we had relied on tasting Carl’s efforts at various events, such as Rhone Rangers and the Garagiste Festivals and they were always outstanding. But with no events happening in the last year and a half, visiting became a must.

Upon our arrival at the winery at the end of Anderson Road in the Willow Creek District AVA, Carl gave us a 4-wheel tour of the hillside vineyard adjacent to the tasting room. Carl explained that while the Caliza property is 60 acres, only 28 of those acres are planted. The expected Rhone varieties are there [Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne, Viognier, Mourvedre / Mataro], along with some Primitivo, Petite Sirah, Tempranillo and Tannat. Limestone and slate dominate the soil in this area [Caliza means “limestone” in Spanish]. The qualities of the soil and the climate of the Templeton Gap are what make this AVA so unique and enables Caliza and neighbors such as L’Aventure and Booker to make such great wines, as do other wineries that source fruit from the area.

And great wines they are. Sitting outside with Carl and tasting through the lineup reminded us of how much we enjoy his wines:

2020 “Pink” Rosé – One of the more complex rosés we’ve had, with a rich, strong finish and notes of white peach; a very bright blend of Grenache and Mourvedre.

2019 Viognier – This delicious 100% Viognier was concrete egg fermented. We noted ripe melon fruit with a dry, medium finish, and a full mouthfeel.

2019 Kissin Cousins – the 2020 vintage is already sold out but fortunately Carl has some of the 2019 left of this blend (48% Viognier, 30% Grenache Blanc, 22% Roussanne) that is always one of our favorites. Fermented in a combination of neutral and new oak and stainless steel (depending on the varietal) this wine had a solid mid- palate, clean stone fruit, and white flowers on the nose.

2019 Sidekick – another tasty white blend, this one 80% Roussanne and 20% Viognier. Barrel aged with a rich golden color, and notes of fresh straw and chalk, this is a serious food wine.

2018 Azimuth –the first of four outstanding reds that we tasted, this one is a blend of 50% Mourvedre, 30% Grenache and 20% Syrah. Huge fruit, notes of cherry, complex but balanced.

2017 Cohort – 58% Petite Sirah, 28% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre. This one was held back a year so the Petite could integrate, which it certainly did in this superb inky blend.

2018 Syrah – no nickname needed for this delicious 100% Syrah. It was fresh, bright, big and rich.

2018 Companion – the only wine that contains some non-estate fruit, this blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Syrah created a terrific symbiotic pairing.

The accompanying cheese board from Paso favorite Vivant Fine Cheese with pairings selected specifically for the wines tasted just added to the experience, as did the great vineyard view from the patio.

As we were leaving, Carl mentioned that he had another important writer stopping in after us…from The Wine Advocate. Now that is impressive, but equally so is how Carl considered us to be important too. It goes to show you that he and the rest of the Caliza staff treats everyone with the same importance no matter who you are.

We Perlises don’t give number ratings, but we thought we’d share these with you from hugely respected critic, Jeb Dunnuck [as per the Caliza website]:

2018 Azimuth 95 points

2018 Companion 95 points

2018 Syrah 95 points

2017 Cohort 94 points

In your visits to Paso Robles wine country, you might be tempted to not go all the way to the end of Anderson Road. We really think you should because, if you don’t, you’ll be missing out on some great wines and wonderful down-to-earth people.

Caliza Winery

www.calizawinery.com

2570 Anderson Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446

Perlises Pick: What Wines We Are Drinking At Home – Part 6

December 11, 2021 by Michael Perlis

Admittedly, we meant to get back to this sooner. In wrapping up the discussion for now of the lighter wines we are drinking at home, this article will focus on a few more Northern California favorites.

Shane [www.shanewines.com]

We first discovered the wines made by Shane Finley several years ago. Back before Facebook became so popular, Michael relied on various wine message boards for news. And that was how he first heard about Shane and his eponymous label. The buzz was actually pretty compelling so Michael took a chance. We immediately became big fans of his Syrah and later [gasp!] his Pinot Noir. For lighter wines, Shane used to make a Grenache Blanc, but the last vintage of this seems to have been 2014. We’ve enjoyed his Rose, which used to be made from Syrah grapes but now with Pinot Noir. But the real showstopper for us in the light wine department is his Sauvignon Blanc under his Constant Disruptions label, which is a sub-project of his Shane brand.

Shane’s Constant Disruptions bottle art shows a picture of his parents as a young couple. The name “Constant Disruptions” refers to a comment about Shane on one of his early report cards, the Sauvignon Blanc is called “Infraction”. The wines are typically single varietal and the pricing is really amazing for what’s in the bottle. For those of you that fear Sauv Blanc due to its high acidity, you’ll have nothing to be scared of here – just rich pure delicious fruit. The 2019 was from the Russian River Valley. It had lemon notes with a lingering medium finish and paired perfectly with our roasted cod. Unfortunately, this was our last bottle of the 2019. Fortunately, our case of 2020s just arrived!

Navarro Vineyards [www.navarrowine.com]

In our search for lighter wines, we’ve taken the opportunity to try to some wines that we’ve been receiving emails from for what seems like years but had not checked out. One of these is Navarro.

Navarro is in Mendocino’s Anderson Valley. One of the special things about Mendocino County, in addition to the abundance of tasty wines, are the not-Napa/Sonoma prices, especially Navarro’s mixed-case specials. So far, we’ve especially enjoyed the Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer, both from the 2018 vintage. The Chard was medium-bodied with vanilla and pear notes – not over the top as it too often seems to be these days. The Gewurtz showed peach and lychee on the palate, a bright melon nose and a medium-to-long finish with crisp acidity. It paired perfectly with chicken in a honey/mustard sauce.

They are definitely on our list to visit when we start traveling to Nor Cal again.

Keplinger [www.keplingerwines.com]

Helen Keplinger is a superstar winemaker, having gained her reputation making wine for Grace Family Vineyards and Bryant Family Vineyard, among others. She is now totally focused on making wine for the label that bears her name. When we think of the Keplinger wines, we usually think of her powerful Syrahs and Rhone blends, so the relatively delicate nature of both the 2019 Eldorado and the 2020 Rose were somewhat of a surprise to us.

Not that their delicacy implied lack of flavor or complexity. The Rose is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvedre from the Shake Ridge Vineyard in Amador County. It has a luscious floral nose, with peach notes and a light to medium finish. The Rose is very crisp and paired perfectly with a salmon mousse appetizer. The Eldorado is a vibrant blend of Viognier, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc from Amador County. We noted guava tones and a long smooth finish.

Perlises Pick: What Wines We Are Drinking At Home – Part 5

June 26, 2021 by Michael Perlis

We were initially planning to continue this series on lighter wines that we are enjoying at home with some more Northern California wineries, but the recent collaboration with Eve reviewing some rosés pointed Karen and me in another direction.

Ted Plemons of Cass

We drink rosés all year long but I realize that some wine drinkers especially fancy them in warmer months so it seemed like a good time to report specifically on a few of those that we have been pleased with recently.

One rosé that we really have been fond of is called “And Why Am I Mr. Pink?” – interesting name, no? The wine is produced by the Underground Wine Project, which is an intriguing name in its own right. I contacted them for more info, and they suggested I reach out to Trey Busch, Winemaker/Partner of the well-known and highly regarded Washington state winery Sleight of Hands Cellars. His response:

“Thanks for writing, and hope your liver has been holding up this past year :).

The Underground Wine Project is a collaboration between Sleight of Hand Cellars and Mark Ryan Winery. Mark and I have been friends for a long time, and we started the brand in 2007 with 100 cases of Syrah. That has transformed into adding And Why Am I Mr. Pink? to the lineup, as well as our 2 red wines, Idle Hands and Devils Playground.

We wanted an edgier brand than either of us have now, and the UWP allows for us to play in that area. Our Mr. Pink Rosé is mostly Sangio with some Syrah as well. All stainless steel (no barrel aging). We wanted to make a porch pounder rosé and this fits the bill. Juicy, terrific fruit, but then awesome acidity to hold it all together. We are making about 14,000 cases a year with the goal to increase production moving forward. National exposure with Whole Foods has helped.”

From Karen for the 2018 vintage: White/pink floral nose, light to medium finish, clean mouthfeel, moderate pear fruit, definitely a porch pounder as we were relishing it on our backyard patio on a warm Saturday evening with light nibbles for dinner.

Another winery that I’ve been a big fan of over the years Cass Winery in Paso Robles. [Yep, Paso again. I make no excuses, Paso wines are some of our favorites.] And I couldn’t pass up their special offer for Valentine’s Day of a dozen rosés. [Get it? Of course you do.]

From Karen for the 2019 vintage of the Cass Oasis Rosé: White flower floral note, dry medium body, red ripe berry fruit from the 63% Mourvedre, fresh, soft and hint of sweetness from the 37% Grenache.

Finally, an article about rosés wouldn’t be complete without the one that Karen has pronounced as her favorite for the last few years from Hoi Polloi winery right here in the Santa Clarita Valley. Doug Minnick [one of the founders of the Garagiste Festivals – I am so looking forward to these returning!] and his partners produce an assortment of terrific wines.

From Karen for the 2018 vintage of the Hoi Polloi Rosé from the Colburn Vineyard, Paso Robles: Fresh, crisp, true strawberry nose, medium to long clean finish, elegant, well-rounded body, silky soft tannins, this rosé of Grenache never fails to deliver!

Underground Wine Project

www.theundergroundwineproject.com

Cass Winery

www.casswines.com

Hoi Polloi

www.hoipolloiwinery.com

Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 30 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers.

Perlises Pick: What Wines We Are Drinking At Home – Part 4

May 8, 2021 by Michael Perlis

It is finally time to move our focus to Northern California, so now we can write about the Big Three.

Ahhh, the Big Three. These are the three winemakers that have had the biggest influence on our wine drinking over the last 2+ decades. Not only do they make great Zinfandel [kind of a requirement for this Zinfan] along with other wonderful reds that are in our wheelhouse [think Syrah, Petite Sirah, etc.] but they also make wonderful lighter style wines.

In addition, they are all founding members of the Historic Vineyard Society [insert website], an organization dedicated to preserving California’s old vineyards.

Photo provided by Mike Officer of Carlisle

The Big Three are:

Mike Officer of Carlisle Winery and Vineyards

Tegan Passalacqua of Turley Wine Cellars and Sandlands

Morgan Twain-Peterson of Bedrock

Mike and Kendall Officer’s first vintage from their Carlisle Winery www.carlislewinery.com was 1998. They both kept their day jobs for the next few years, but given the immediate accolades they received out of the starting gate for their wines produced from old-vine vineyards, focusing on Zinfandels and Rhones, demand for them to increase production was high. They eventually were able to devote themselves full-time to the winery and their family – both of their children now work at the winery. While we immediately became huge fans of their red wines, they also make three whites that are definitely on our go-to list:

Sonoma Mountain “Steiner Vineyard” Grüner Veltliner: Not too many wineries use this varietal in California.

Sonoma Valley “Compagni Portis” White Wine: a field blend of primarily Gewurztraminer, Trousseau Gris and Riesling from the Compagni Portis Vineyard. Sonoma County “The Derivative” White Wine: The 2018 is a blend of Semillon, Muscadelle, Columbard and Palomino.

While many people consider Turley Wine Cellars www.turleywinecellars.com to be a Paso Robles winery since they purchased the old Pesenti winery in 2000, they also have a facility in Amador County, having acquired the Karly property in 2012. More to the Northern California point, Turley’s headquarters is in St. Helena in the Napa Valley. Under the auspices of Director of Winemaking Tegan Passalacqua, Turley produces an amazing number of delicious Zinfandels from some of California’s best vineyards, along with some Petite Syrahs, Cinsaults and even some Cabernet Sauvignon. If you are looking for lighter wines, they make some great ones as well. For whites, the Sauvignon Blanc is a favorite of ours and The White Coat blend is always outstanding. And yes, Turley also makes a White Zinfandel; but please don’t expect it to be that silly sweet stuff.

Tegan and his wife Olivia also own Sandlands www.sandlandsvineyards.com , where they focus mainly on “forgotten classic California varieties, primarily grown in decomposed granite (sand), from regions and vineyards that have been farmed for many generations but have remained the outliers of California viticulture.” Sure, they do make some outstanding Chardonnay, but don’t miss their Lodi Chenin Blanc or Cinsault, Mataro and Carigane from Contra Costa County, even a Mission from Amador County, among others. The wines have an old-fashioned flair to them, including lower alcohol by modern California standards and are lip-smackingly delicious. Prices are really reasonable too, but you need to try to get on the mailing list!

Last but not least, Morgan Twain-Peterson founded Bedrock www.bedrockwineco.com

in 2007, but winemaking would seem to have always been in his blood. As the son of Joel Peterson who created Ravenswood and now owns Once And Future Wine, Morgan made his first wine when he was 5 years old – I think he made Pinot Noir just to annoy his Zinfandel-loving father. We were first drawn to the Bedrock Syrahs, Zinfandels and Heritage field blends, but we have found the whites to be equally as compelling. Morgan and his now partner-in-wine Chris Cottrell are doing amazing things with Sauvignon Blanc. And if you or anyone you know thinks that Rieslings are not for them, please give Bedrock’s a try; you will change your mind. Finally, the Ode to Lulu is one of our favorite pink wines every year.

Be aware that all of the Big Three reserve the bulk of their production for their mailing lists, so I highly recommend you sign up – or get on their waitlists.

As the weather starts heating up and Karen and I get to being fully vaccinated, we are looking forward to traveling to our favorite wine regions and tasting new varietals and vintages and reporting back. But in the meantime, you’ll probably see another article or two in this series.

Perlises Pick: What Wines We Are Drinking At Home – Part 3

April 24, 2021 by Michael Perlis

When I started writing this series of articles about the lighter wines Karen and I have been drinking recently, I hadn’t really thought that so many of them would be from Paso Robles. After all, Paso’s reputation [at least in my mind] is for big delicious Reds, and there certainly are a lot of those coming from this area. And we don’t limit ourselves to PR’s AVAs, as I expect you know. But, as I’ve said, great winemakers make great wine, regardless of color, and here are three more wineries that produce some of our favorite lighter wines from the area. As an added bonus, they are all somehow connected to each other.

We’ve actually known Guillaume Fabre of Clos Solene www.clossolene.com the longest of these three, having met him at an event back in 2009. He was pouring his first vintage – a delicious Roussanne – and was still assistant winemaker at L’Aventure. But 2009 was long ago. We’ve followed him to the shared Paso Underground tasting room in downtown to Paso Robles and then to Tin City just south of downtown Paso. Now he and his wife Solene have their own property in the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles, from which they are creating some of the best wines in the region. I’ve always felt that his Red wines did a great job of showing how their inherent power could be softened into elegance without losing the characteristics of Paso.

The lighter wines are equally as stylish. Karen loves all of them when “paired with our “Snacks– Hunkered Down” nights of charcuterie and/or smoked fish, various cheeses, dried and fresh fruit, followed by lemon cookies or a scoop of ice cream.”

The pink La Rose is a Rhone blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Syrah, made from grapes specifically farmed for rosé – no saignee here! Very pale in color that belies the complexity of the wine itself.

Clos Solene’s Hommage Blanc is a classic white Rhone blend of mainly Roussanne plus Viognier and Grenache Blanc. Karen found it to be “full bodied…flowers, fruit, spices…”

Finally, En Coulisse is 100% Chardonnay from Santa Maria Valley’s Bien Nacido Vineyards. A nice rich Chard, and [per Karen] “not overpowering with oak, vanilla or butter but fruit forward…”

Guillaume is also partner in another Paso Robles winery with his brother Arnaud –

Benom Wines www.benomwines.com. They originally took over Clos Solene’s spot in Tin City, although I believe they have now moved to a larger space in the same area.

The name Benom is a riff on the French word “binôme” which translates to “a project together”. These French brothers have successfully combined their homeland’s heritage with all that Paso has to offer, with their blends showing what can be done by them in a place with no rules. No surprise, again, that the red wines are great, but this article is focusing on these lighter wines.

The L’Essor rosé combines Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon and Contrast is a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Neither of these could be made back home due to the rules about combining grapes from different regions. And they clearly should be. Karen loved the “bright fruit” of the L’Essor and found the Contrast to be “crisp, clean, full of fruit…”

As I mentioned at the start, this article is about three wineries that are somehow connected. Arnaud Fabre of Benom is also marketing director at Law Estate Wines www.lawestatewines.com, another winery that we first tasted at a festival. This time it was the Ojai Wine Festival back in 2013, when Karen came up to me and said “you really have to try Law”. As always, she was right and we have been big fans since. We met GM Oliver Esparham at the Ojai Festival and have visited him and the rest of our friends at Law at the state-of-the-art winery and tasting room many times – once even before it was complete. The winery and vineyards high up on Peachy Canyon are amazing in their own right. But, that would mean nothing if the wines didn’t match. And they definitely do. The Law wines are truly some of the best ones around.

With regard to lighter wines, Law makes two. The Rosé blend is typically Grenache based while the white Rhone blend Soph [named after the Laws’ granddaughter] is usually about half Roussanne. The exact blends vary from year to year for both of these, but they are always stunning and are present on our table [and in our glasses] often. I love that the description on the website refers to Soph as “an extremely moreish wine”. We definitely agree on that.

Next article, we’ll finally leave Paso Robles and look at wines from farther north. Unless I change my mind.

Clos Solene

www.clossolene.com

Benom

www.benomwines.com

Law Estate Wines

www.lawestatewines.com

Perlis Picks: San Luis Obispo County Wine — A World Class History (Book Review)

April 3, 2021 by Michael Perlis

Reading San Luis Obispo County Wine — A World Class History by Libbie Agran and Heather Muran with the Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County brought back a lot of great memories and also filled in a lot of gaps.

I think Karen and I started visiting the Paso Robles wine region in the late 1980s or early 1990s. One of my earliest memories of visiting the wineries of Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County dates back to us driving down the 101 from the San Francisco Bay area and making a pit stop at Castoro Cellars. Around that time, we also had many happy visits to places like York Mountain Winery, Estrella River Winery [Gary Eberle’s first winery], Arciero, Pesenti and others that are no longer with us, at least in their former incarnations. Castoro, of course, is still producing great wines, along with a host of others that we have seen spring up throughout the area that we have come to consider practically our second home.

And while I’ve felt that my knowledge of the Paso Robles wine region has been pretty extensive, this book taught me so much about what I didn’t know and really filled in the connections between the various industry icons over the history of not only Paso Robles but Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande as well.

The Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County was founded by Libbie Agran in 2015 to study and document the vineyards, varietals, growers and winemakers of the area going back to the 1700s. Working with Heather Muran [who served as a historian with the project in 2019 and 2020], the book [Libbie’s second], presents the history of the region along with the interrelationships of the people involved in an extremely readable and easy to understand fashion.

Libbie’s writing style flows off the page. She went through numerous oral interviews to collect history and information. The book is also highlighted with many family photographs of the founding members of the SLO Wine region. At the end of each chapter, Libbie lists several historical sites to visit that were discussed in that chapter.

But wait, there’s more!

While the book is a must-read in its own right, I also highly recommend that you check out the Wine History Project’s website. There, you can dig deeper into what is presented in the book and support the work that Libbie is doing. Last April [wow, time flies] I wrote about the film 91 Harvests Perlis Picks: 91 Harvests (evewine101.com) which covers the Dusi family history, but the website provides all the information on the other work that Libbie and her team are doing, as well as exhibitions around the area – I am definitely looking forward to checking these out on our next visit.

Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County

https://winehistoryproject.org/