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Where Lust and Rapture meet: the Michael David Winery

By Uncorked | Monday, May 12, 2008, 06:29 AM

David Phillips polishes off a slice of pie at his family’s market and restaurant at the Michael David Winery

LODI, Calif. — The Michael David Winery takes their winemaking seriously. The names of their wines — not so much.

The winery — one of the trailblazers in the quest for higher quality in California’s next up-and-coming wine region of Lodi — produces a broad array of wines with whimsical names such as Seven Deadly Zins (which naturally led to its companion wine, Seven Heavenly Chards), along with the Earthquake line of “ground-shaking reds” and luxury bottlings named “Lust” (zinfandel) and “Rapture” (cabernet sauvignon).

It all comes from the twisted and talented minds of David and Michael Phillips (why yes, they DID go to Catholic grade school, how did you guess?) and their families, the fifth- and sixth-generation farmers here in the fertile flatlands of Lodi, 90 miles east of San Francosco.

The brothers’ ancestors started planting wine grapes in the late 1800s to diversify the family farm, and by Prohibition, were loading railroad boxcars with grapes headed to Ohio and New Jersey for purely, um, sacramental reasons. Folks back east ate a lot of grapes — and churches held many communions — back then.

Through the 1970s and early ’80s, the Phillips family did what virtually all of their neighbors in Lodi did: grew lots and lots of grapes and sold them to the local cooperative, which in turn sold to giant producers such as E&J Gallo and Sutter Home. In 1984, though, the family, with Mike Phillips as winemaker, started bottling and selling a portion of their crop at $3.99 or $4.99 a bottle.

Growth and accolades followed, as the Michael David Winery helped lead a quality resurgence in Lodi. Winemakers and vineyard managers in the region discovered they could take advantage of the region’s climate — a break in the mountains to the west funnels in ocean air that cools the vines nearly every afternoon — and its winemaking heritage: the region boasts some of California’s oldest grapevines, including acres of zin vines that are over a century old. (The Phillips brothers themselves own some 135-year-old Cinsault vines whose juice goes into the “Incognito Red, a Rhone-style blend.)

The Phillips and their neighbors started pruning their vines more aggressively, limiting irrigation to stress the vines, reducing crop loads and taking other steps to enhance quality. The resulting wines boast lush fruit, very mild tannins, wonderful concentration and, more often than not, very attractive quality-to-price ratios.

Today, the Michael David winery is a bustling place. It produces 250,000 cases of wine per year under its own label and farms 500 acres of grapevines, while also growing other fruits as well as vegetables and herbs. It also operates a fruit and vegetable market and restaurant, with a menu that takes full advantage of the fresh produce. My wife, in fact, ate what she described as “the best piece of pie I’ve ever had” — an apricot pie still warm from the oven — at the Michael David restaurant. And let’s just say my wife does not praise pie lightly.

Thus proving that at Michael David, rapture isn’t limited to just the wines.

(Photos by Mark Fisher)

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One state resolves wine direct-shipping issue — could Ohio be next?

By Uncorked | Friday, May 9, 2008, 06:19 AM

One prominent Midwestern state has found a way to resolve its wine direct-shipping issues, and the resolution appears as if it will please wine consumers who are on the receiving end of some of those direct-from-the-winery shipments, according to this Wines & Vines story entitled “Illinois Opens to Direct Shipping.”

The new Illinois law also allows small wine producers to bypass wine wholesalers and distribute their wines directly to retailers — something that to my understanding, would NOT be legal in Ohio under current laws (correct me if I’m wrong). What impact would it have in Ohio if we were to embrace such a law?

Illinois lawmakers didn’t embrace free-market openness entirely: The Illinois law also appears to prohibit out-of-state wine retailers from shipping directly to Illinois consumers through the Internet.

The Ohio General Assembly is contemplating changes in the Buckeye state’s wine laws. Anybody know the latest on these efforts? And what do you think of the Illinois law?

Mark Fisher

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A wine-drenched weekend in May

By Uncorked | Friday, May 9, 2008, 06:11 AM

Your best and brightest wine tastings and events listing, courtesy of a Dayton-based wine listserv, is your with but a click of your mouse …. Can life get any better?

Continue reading "A wine-drenched weekend in May"...

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California’s next up-and-coming wine region

By Uncorked | Thursday, May 8, 2008, 06:57 AM

One of the ancient vines that are a common sight in the vineyards of Lodi.

I have finally blown the dust and the mold (was that botrytis?) off of the notes from my trip to California a month ago and wrote a wine column that will run in Friday’s Dayton Daily News. But once again, you Uncorked readers are SO special that you get a sneak-peek. I hope to write in greater detail about Lodi and its wineries and wines here on Uncorked in the coming days, but in the meantime ….

LODI, Calif. — A handful of California wine-producing regions — Santa “Sideways” Barbara and Paso Robles come to mind — have taken their turn in the “new,” “hot” or “up-and-coming” spotlight in recent years, striving to join the ranks of the Napa and Sonoma heavyweights.

But watch out. There’s a new kid in town — a surprising contender that no one thought could ever rub shoulders with the big boys. Suddenly, the underdog has blossomed and is ready to rumble.

Say hello to Lodi. Yes, Lodi.

For decades, this was the bulk-wine capital of California, where flat terrain and fertile soil nurtured vast acreage of vineyards to produce mammoth yields of grapes whose juice went into jug wines and other mass-produced brands. The Lodi region’s annual yield of 600,000 tons comprises nearly one-fifth of the entire state’s wine production — more than Napa and Sonoma combined. The focus was definitely on quantity, though the quality was by no means shabby. Just a bit diluted, perhaps.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, though, some winemakers and grape-growers started looking toward other wine regions that were enhancing the quality (not to mention prestige and — ahem — prices) of their wines and figured, “Why not us?” They started irrigating less, pruning more, dropping fruit during the growing season to concentrate flavors, and taking other steps to boost quality.

And it worked.

You can taste the results in widely available wines such as Seven Deadly Zins, 6th Sense Syrah, Incognito and Earthquake wines from the Michael David Winery, the region’s highest-profile quality leader. You can also taste it in the wines of several emerging stars such as Macchia, makers of several zinfandels from various parts of Lodi and the Sierra Foothills and of Italian varietals suh as nebbiolo, sangiovese and barbera; Borra Vineyards, which produces stunning Rhone blends it calls simply Red Fusion and White Fusion; and Jessie’s Grove, makers of a fine white Rhone blend and an inexpensive ($12.99) zin it playfully calls “Earth Zin & Fire.”

The best place to sample Lodi’s quality renaissance is at the source. The region is easy to get to — it’s 90 miles east of San Francisco. The tasting rooms are uncrowded, and most don’t charge for samples. Unlike Santa Barbara and Paso Robles, the wineries are fairly close together, and in between visits, you’ll drive by some of the most beautiful, gnarled old vines (some well over a century old) that you’ll find anywhere.

There are, however, a few signs of growing pains: a handful of wineries have let success go to their heads and are mimicking their colleagues in other California wine-producing regions by releasing highly extracted, over-oaked reserve wines at prices heretofore unheard of in Lodi.

Let’s hope that virus doesn’t spread.

Lodi’s best wines exhibit the region’s signature attributes of lush, forward fruit with comparatively low tannins. The wines seem perfectly in tune with what today’s new generation of wine consumers is looking for. And the quality-price ratio is very, very attractive.

Score another victory for the underdog.

— For more about Lodi and its wineries, check out www.lodiwine.com.

(Photo by Mark Fisher)

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Brain vs. tastebuds: the REAL wine smackdown

By Uncorked | Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 09:02 AM

No reason whatsoever for you to read any fancy schmancy prose I might come up with — at least, not on this day, when the freshest wine post on the internet is so compelling. It’s entitled Wine’s Pleasures: Are They All in Your Head?, and it’s written by New York Times wine guy Eric Asimov, he of The Pour wine-blogging fame (there’s a link to Eric’s blog now on the right-hand side of Uncorked, under “Other wine blogs”).

The piece explores the nuances — and there are many — of the recent studies that suggest many wine drinkers prefer less expensive wines when tasting blind, and that the perception of a wine’s taste can depend on what we’re told about the wine’s price. It’s fascinating stuff, and none of the issues are black-and-white.

Take a look at Eric’s piece and let us know where you stand.

Mark Fisher

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My turn in the fermentation barrel

By Uncorked | Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 06:37 PM

As one Uncorked commenter noticed and pointed out yesterday, Tom Wark, author of Fermentation who has done more than any other human being to further the cause of wine blogging in America, scraped the bottom of the wine barrel yesterday and threw a spotlight on Uncorked.

Careful — the picture may blind you.

Tom has a bit of fun with the interview questions, and I, well, yes, I MIGHT have had a little fun back …

Mark Fisher

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One California winery tackles the wine-ratings conundrum head-on

By Uncorked | Monday, May 5, 2008, 06:49 AM

An alert reader who noticed the robust response to our Uncorked entry of 10 days ago entitled “Clive Coates slams Parker, Wine Spectator and ‘emasculated’ wine trade” shared an email he received from high-profile Siduri, the Sonoma-based winery that makes several highly regarded pinots from throughout California and Oregon. With a subject line that simply said, “Some Thoughts from Siduri Wines,” here’s how one California winery tackles the wine-ratings conundrum (and the issue of very divergent wine reviews of its wines) head-on, directly with its customers.See if you find it the breath of fresh air that I did.

Dear Friends,

We wanted to chat a bit with each one of you about the press, wine reviews, and Siduri Wines. As you may recall, we introduced the last newsletter writing about the press and the power of wine reviews. We wrote, “ We always have to be cautious that our excitement for reviews doesn’t become so consuming that we start to produce wines with these reviews in mind. Nor can the success of our sales efforts be wholly determined by reviews. With both Siduri and Novy we are committed to doing everything possible to produce wines that we believe in. We want to make wines of increasing complexity that are the finest possible representations of the place and the vintage. We are also committed to selling these wines honestly, certainly using reviews at times, but also selling the wines based on their merits and honestly representing what we think of their quality.”

These comments were especially prescient as we have recently received a slew of interesting and very divergent reviews. Here is some of what is being said:

2006 SiduriChehalemMountainPinot Noir ($29)

90 Points, Wine Spectator : “Smooth, harmonious, and appealing….Has style and transparency.”

87 Points, Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine : “…if not one for finesse, either now or in the foreseeable future….”

2006 Siduri Sonatera Vineyard Pinot Noir ($49)

95 Points, Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine: “…this opus from the Sonoma Coast is a rich and lavishly filled wine whose impressive complement of very deep and delicious fruit comes with no debt to overdone ripeness.”

88 Points, Wine Spectator : “This is marked by herb and cola flavors….that turns delicate

2006 Siduri Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir ($48)

93 Points, Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine : “…A classy and complete package that ranks among Siduri’s best efforts in 2006

85 Points, Wine Spectator : “Dried herb, cola, and sassafras flavors thin out on the finish”.

So, as a consumer, how are you supposed to make sense of such wildly varying thoughts on our wines? Here are a few suggestions:

1) Taste the wines and decide for yourself. Honestly (and obviously) there is no greater indicator of quality than your own palate. Many smaller wineries are not open for tasting but we believe very strongly that we need to make our wines available for you to taste. Accordingly, we are open 7 days a week, from 10 am to 3pm, by appointment for tasting. Anytime you want to come by and taste we encourage you to do so. And, should you want to taste a specific wine we encourage you to ask about it and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

2) Attend one of our Open Houses. We have numerous events throughout the year (the next one being the huge 10 th Anniversary Novy Party on June 7 at the winery). At these Open Houses we pour a huge range of wines so that you can taste them side by side and decide for yourself which ones you prefer.

3) We realize that for those of you who live away from the Bay Area it is not so easy to just come up to the winery and taste. Consequently, those of us that work at the winery are spending quite a bit of time on the road selling wine and, in every market, attempting to do winemaker dinners, public tastings, etc. We attempt to email each of you to let you know when we are coming but if you would like a full listing of our current travel plans you can always reach out to us at vino@siduri.com.

4) We also attempt to make it easy for you to sample our wines. Unlike some wineries, we don’t have minimum orders, bundled offerings, hostage wines, or any of those other practices that bother us too. And we are happy to hold your wines here at the winery, consolidating orders until you’ve reached a quantity that saves you some money on shipping.

5) Finally, please take the time to get to know those of us that work selling wine at the winery. You can always reach out for Jody ( jody@siduri.com ), Kate ( kate@siduri.com ), Jonathan ( jonathan@siduri.com ), Jeff ( jeff@siduri.com ), Dianna ( dianna@siduri.com ), or me ( adam@siduri.com ). We are all more than happy to share with you our honest thoughts on all of the wines (we have favorites and not-so-favorites ourselves), get to know your particular tastes, and recommend wines that we think you would like. Despite the obvious self-interest involved, we have truly found that it not only makes us feel better about ourselves but is really in the best business interest of the company to only recommend wines that we honestly think you would like.

We hope that this is interesting to you all. Please feel free to reach out to any of us should we be able to help you at all with any of our wines. And should you want to see for yourself what the wines taste like we have attached an order form below. You can send that in by return email to vino@siduri.com , call us with an order at 707-578-3884, or fax it to 707-578-3884. Thanks for your continued support.

Cheers,

Adam & Dianna Lee and Everybody at Siduri & Novy Wineries

So, what do you think? Were those reviewers tasting the same wines? When’s the last time you saw a winery call attention to wildly divergent reviews of their wines? And if wine distributors and retailers took the same approach as that of Siduri, would Clive Coates still call the wine trade “emasculated?”

Just wondering …

Mark Fisher

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