Which Wine Changed the Way you think about Wine?
July 16, 2008 · Print This Article · Written by Jennifer
I was talking to my friend Carol (a longtime friend and neighbor) at a mutual friend’s 4th of July party. She tells me that she liked this website (which is very encouraging). However, one thing about I know about Carol is that she’s been living in this area since 1978. She has quite an interesting perspective. I love talking with her.
Anyway, going to parties around here exposes me to a selection of wine that you’d never see on the store shelves or even in high-end, exclusive wine shops. More often than not, the wine I see is the wine from people’s private cellars. What can I say? Healdsburg has a population density of wine makers.
I think we were talking about 1984 (the year Carol and her husband started their own personal harvest). But as we were talking, she said something about the 1978 Clos du Bois Merlot. And just the way she said it made me wonder what she was talking about. So I asked.
“It’s the wine that changed my life. It changed the way I thought about wine.”
Now, I’m a wine enthusiast-not an aficionado. I mean. I enjoy good food, good wine, and good company. (Can I be any more lucky living in Sonoma County?) I know if I like a wine, and living here in Healdsburg has exposed me to some really awesome wine, but, for the life of me, I can’t remember which wine was the one that changed the way I think about wine.
Can you?
Barbera. Raised in Sonoma County, I was familiar with the predominant Russian River Pinots and old vine Zins that were produced with regularity and success in the area, but I knew little of Italian varietals. Working for a winery in Carneros that featured italian varietals, I became involved in the Consorzio Cal-Italia trade group. As much as I sampled our winery’s production, it was at Cal-Ital trade shows where I could try a variety of wines made from barbera. At the time, I didn’t know where to “file it away” in my learned library of tastes, so I sought out more about it. While Cabs near and far have an earned pedigree that can command $60+ at the wine shop, I have found Barbera perfect for many of the meats (and savory vegetables) we BBQ at home throughout the year.
La Crema pinot noir was my first introduction into the lighter flavors of wine.
After trying that, I was more experimental into wines and even though pinot noir will always be my favorite wine, I hard come to enjoy bold and flavorful zins and cabs.
Hey, thanks for sharing. I love La Crema already, but I’ll have to try the Barbera.
Oh. So much wine. So little time. Sigh.
Carol’s going to call me later to give me more info on why she remembers this wine so well. AND she has another one.
Stay tuned….
Jennifer
I wish I could remember, but perhaps I’m still looking for that special wine to truly change my feelings and I have a feeling that it will be a sparkling wine or champagne.
That’s funny, as soon as I read the headline I thought “Clos du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon”. It was probably in 96 when I, like many others fresh from college, was discovering that some alcoholic beverages could actually be more than just a means to and end. I was lucky to meet the winemaker years later and shared this with her. She was sweet about it but I had the impression she’d heard the story before. Like Carol and I there have been many converts to wine thanks to Clos du Bois (no, I don’t work for them)
I just remembered the wine that made me start thinking differently about wine….Selby Bobcat Zin circa 2003.
I’d decided to spend my Sundays that fall learning about wines and tasting rooms in Healdsburg. It was the only wine that prompted me to join the wine club and buy half a case on the spot.
I remembered that today.
For me, it would have to be a Preston wine that I had the first time I visited the winery in 1995 for a wedding. Preston, in general, Lou, Susan, the cats, the gardens, etc. and most importantly: the sustained passion — really flip my lid about wine and wine culture. Now that I live in Healdsburg part of the time I get to wrap it all around me more and more.
For me it was the 1980 vintage, Topolos/Russian River Vineyards Zinfandel. It was old-vine, and that was something new after all the Napa/Schmappa stuff I’d tried before that. I took to Sonoma County right away. Free-thinking Italian style, not drowned in French finesse. I had never tasted a wine so big before. It had great balance and control too. 1980 was the height of the famous California drought, so imagine how little old-vine fruit there was, and how concentrated (but not jammy & fruity) it was. A bottle I would love to relive…in fact, I’m enjoying reliving it as I think about it now.