Wanted to do a standalone thread on these wines.
Per other thread, here in Sea Ranch on vacation. Had a great visit with Molly Drew yesterday and also had a chance to chat with Jason Drew as well, who was busy putting cider in tanks(which they also make from their old orchard). Pretty darn special things happening here, wines we tasted were 100% on. Lovely drive up from Elk, where the pretty incredible Harbor House restaurant is located. You can also access from the Anderson Valley side, but it is fair to say these folks are remote.
Jason and Molly have been at it since 2000, when they bought a ridgetop (1300 feet) apple orchard with a view of the Pacific - right on the hot/cold zone line. They replanted much but not all of the orchard, and also source grapes from elsewhere on the ridge and other high elevation sites in the Anderson Valley. Partial whole cluster, native yeasts, mostly neutral oak. For a couple cuvees they do use 30% new oak which is steamed/no toast to mainly reinforce structure. The wines are a great combo of serious and accessible. Nothing over 13%. Very clean wines, natural without naturelle (we had a good chuckle over "the kids").
Here's some notes:
'22 Chardonnay Bahl Briney This is from two high altitude Anderson Valley sites. Quite a lot of power in this wine, without for a second being overripe. Complex within a single sequence. I tried to synch this up with something French and came up with a flavor profile of a top Maconnais with the structure of a top Chablis 1er or GC. We had a bottle later with Izakaya dinner in Point Arena and it really stood up and integrated great with everything.
'22 Pinot Noir Anderson Valley the Fog Eater I believe from the same vineyards as the Chardonnay. I totally adore this wine - a top flight unoaked Beaune came immediately to mind. Somehow very refined and very glou at the same time. We opened a bottle with a picnic on the Stornetta/Pt Arena hike at it was pretty terrific, drunk out of bottle.
'22 Pinot Faite de Mer Radiolaria From the farm itself, from blocks that have lighter soils. Denser than the Fog Eater, brought to mind a fine Pommard. Evergreen, just a lot of dense complexity. Great now or later
'22 Pinot Faite de Mer Field Selections Yet even denser wine, still Pommardian in character, this one I would tend to age (any of these would age great btw).
'21 Syrah Valenti Ranch This site is just three miles along the ridge from the domaine - worth a drive by which we did. Loved this very accessible yet serious Syrah...this one brought to mind a refined Cornas. 100% whole cluster, totally neutral oak. Completely blows the Rule out of the water, this was terrific now but I'm sure it will just get better.
What hutzpah these folks have - basically just decided to go for it and bootstrapped the whole thing, trusting themselves - sure there were many tough years - here as the vines pass 20 years and Jason's winemaking skill has honed, just on top of their game. Highly disorderly recommended.
Per other thread, here in Sea Ranch on vacation. Had a great visit with Molly Drew yesterday and also had a chance to chat with Jason Drew as well, who was busy putting cider in tanks(which they also make from their old orchard). Pretty darn special things happening here, wines we tasted were 100% on. Lovely drive up from Elk, where the pretty incredible Harbor House restaurant is located. You can also access from the Anderson Valley side, but it is fair to say these folks are remote.
Jason and Molly have been at it since 2000, when they bought a ridgetop (1300 feet) apple orchard with a view of the Pacific - right on the hot/cold zone line. They replanted much but not all of the orchard, and also source grapes from elsewhere on the ridge and other high elevation sites in the Anderson Valley. Partial whole cluster, native yeasts, mostly neutral oak. For a couple cuvees they do use 30% new oak which is steamed/no toast to mainly reinforce structure. The wines are a great combo of serious and accessible. Nothing over 13%. Very clean wines, natural without naturelle (we had a good chuckle over "the kids").
Here's some notes:
'22 Chardonnay Bahl Briney This is from two high altitude Anderson Valley sites. Quite a lot of power in this wine, without for a second being overripe. Complex within a single sequence. I tried to synch this up with something French and came up with a flavor profile of a top Maconnais with the structure of a top Chablis 1er or GC. We had a bottle later with Izakaya dinner in Point Arena and it really stood up and integrated great with everything.
'22 Pinot Noir Anderson Valley the Fog Eater I believe from the same vineyards as the Chardonnay. I totally adore this wine - a top flight unoaked Beaune came immediately to mind. Somehow very refined and very glou at the same time. We opened a bottle with a picnic on the Stornetta/Pt Arena hike at it was pretty terrific, drunk out of bottle.
'22 Pinot Faite de Mer Radiolaria From the farm itself, from blocks that have lighter soils. Denser than the Fog Eater, brought to mind a fine Pommard. Evergreen, just a lot of dense complexity. Great now or later
'22 Pinot Faite de Mer Field Selections Yet even denser wine, still Pommardian in character, this one I would tend to age (any of these would age great btw).
'21 Syrah Valenti Ranch This site is just three miles along the ridge from the domaine - worth a drive by which we did. Loved this very accessible yet serious Syrah...this one brought to mind a refined Cornas. 100% whole cluster, totally neutral oak. Completely blows the Rule out of the water, this was terrific now but I'm sure it will just get better.
What hutzpah these folks have - basically just decided to go for it and bootstrapped the whole thing, trusting themselves - sure there were many tough years - here as the vines pass 20 years and Jason's winemaking skill has honed, just on top of their game. Highly disorderly recommended.
