New wines from Alienor

Denis Malbec, former winemaker at Château Latour and since 2000 with his Swedish wife May-Britt vintner in Napa Valley, started to make wines under the Alienor label in 2005. Their red cuvée is a very good and highly recommended interpretation of red bordeauxs, and since based on Merlot and Cabernet Franc, it’s more towards the St Emilion style than the Médoc.
I’ve been writing about these wines before, but here are some new efforts well worth looking for. Both the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2008 La Roseraie are inaurugal releases, and in the pipeline there’s a dark red wine of Syrah and a sweet late harvest of Sauvignon Blanc. Both these wines are still in barrel when this report was written.

2009 Sauvignon Blanc / 88 p
This is the first vintage of the sauvignon, made of the Clone 1 from an organically block planted in 1998 on eroded alluvial soils at 400 meters of altitude in Vindrem Vineyard in Kelseyville in Lake County. Approximately a third of the juice is fermented in small steel drums, the rest in brand new French oak barrels. Denis Malbec told me he had to use new oak for this inaugural vintage, but in the future, there will be a third each of new oak, neutral oak and steel drums. There was no malolactic, so the acitiy is very fresh, but it is balanced by a fine texture, which to a certain extent was enhanced by some bâtonnage during the three months of oak ageing that took place. Color is pale straw and the nose is bright and intense with notes of grapefruit, some passion fruit and just a dash of the oak. It’s not too far away from white Bordeaux. I’d love to see this wine in the coming few years, as I expect it to evolve into a more complex taste just with another year in the bottle. Serve it at 12 degrees to oysters, elegant fish dishes, pan fried or grilled white fish with lemon, or just because it’s so good and refreshing. Only 133 cases were made of this wine.
Drink it 2011-2016.

2008 La Roseraie / 85 p
This rosé, also an inaugural vintage, is made with the saignée method by bleeding of the juice of equal parts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and oinly two percent of Petit Verdot) after just a few hours of maceration from the fermentation of their 2008 Alienor Grand Vin. Again, grapes are sourced from vineyards in Lake County. The pink colored juice was fermented in neutral French oak barrels with commercial yeast and then kept in the oak for around one year, and during the ageing there was some bâtonnage. It’s a very classic rosé, pale pink in a typical French style, and the nose is quite elegant but also a bit closed. For sure there are notes of the oak, as well as texture and just some tannins and bitterness thereof, so I guess this is not everyones rosé. However, I find it attractive in it’s classical, well structured and somehow complex style, but I rather drink it with food (pasta, grilled fish or seafood, greens and cheeses) that having in on its own. Serve it a 12-14 degres.
Drink it 2011-2014.

2008 Alienor Grand Vin / 90-91 p
As the 2007 vintage, this is more or less a blend of 49 percent each of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with a splash of Petit Verdot. Five to seven days of cold soak, then the fermentation takes place in five ton stainless steel fermentes for two weeks with regular pump over. After little more than two weeks of postmaceration, the wine was barreled in French oak barrels, 70 percent new, and kept there for 22 months. It’s still a very young wine, driven by its rich and slightly sweet fruit and the spicy oak, but underneath that, there are those fine notes of lead pencil I found in the previous vintages, and I really like that. It would benefit from some more years of bottle age, or if drinking it today, a good hour or two of decanting. Also on the palate, it’s a bit closed, of course, and although the tannins are huge, they are mature and in no way aggressive, dry or bitter. They just hold the fruit back, today. Keeping the wine in the mouth for a minute, one more easily can take notice of the great and very much Bordeaux like qualities there is in the wine, and that’s very promosing.
Drink it 2013-2023.

No oak please!

Chardonnay is by far the most popular white wine in California, so it’s no surprise that it’s the most widely planted green grape variety in the state. However, it wasn’t in the past – few grape growers planted this variety in the 1960s, and those who did, were recommended not to. The change came in the 1970s, and even more in the 1980s, when Chardonnay took its first steps to its present glory. Over the years, the oak fermented wine from Chardonnay had become the most typical California white wine. Also, the style changed into something very different from what was found in the rest of the world from this classic variety. The American winemakers had finally defined their own style for the beloved Chardonnay. The wines were now riper (most of them were often harvested at high Brix levels), richer and seasoned with sweetish and toasted oak. At first, everybody seemed to like them, and sales skyrocketed.
In the early 90s, a change came – a movement known as ABC, Anything But Chardonnay, came. More and more, consumers had enough of the sweetish, overly ripe and rich, and oaky chardonnays. In Australia some winemakers started to ferment Chardonnay in stainless steel tanks and labeled the wines as “Unoaked Chardonnay”, a style that over the years gained popularity. In the mid 90s, dry and crisp wines of aromatic grape varieties such as Riesling, Grüner Veltliner and Albariño came in fashion just because they were crisp and always unoaked. More than the ABC movement, this new trend “forced” winemakers of Chardonnay to change their philosophies.
Since then, I’ve seen this change at almost all wineries I have visited. In a long term perspective, vineyards have been planted in cooler areas than in the past to get grapes of this new, more elegant quality. But equally important, grapes are now harvested at lower Brix to retain a fresh natural acidity (and avoid acidification), to get lower alcohol levels, keep more bright fruit flavors and more floral notes, and to give an overall better balance. In the wine cellars, some winemakers started to work with cold soak to extract more aromatic compounds from the grape skins, but more important, the use of vessels for fermentation changed dramatically.
From using one hundred percent oak, and a high proportion of that would be new oak, winemakers moved into more neutral oak (one to five year old barrels) and larger barrels, or even into stainless steel tanks, smaller steel drums or cement eggs. At first, this was only done for wines in moderate price levels, but in the early 2000s, more and more high end unoaked chardonnays (20 dollars, and above) were introduced on the market. At Melville Estate in Santa Rita Hills, winemaker Greg Brewer started to make a very crisp Chardonnay Cuvée Inox, which inspired him to make a series of chardonnays fermented in steel and neutral oak under his own label Diatom. In Russian River Valley, Marimar Torres started to make her Chardonnay Acero, fully fermented in stainless steel. These pioneer wines, and many more with them, are now just part of what is widely seen on the market – fresh, crisp and aromatic chardonnays with no or just little oak.

2008 Chardonnay from Rivino Winery / 88 p
From the 80 hectares Schrader Ranch located between US 101 and Russian River in Redwood Valley in the heartland of Mendocino, Jason McConnell and his wife Susanne Jahnke-McConnell started to make small amount of wine in 2008. The ranch was bought in 1993 by Gordon Jahnke, a law professor from British Columbia in Canada, but he had no intention to make wine. Instead grapes were sold to other wineries, among them Kendall-Jackson. Still around 95 percent of the grapes are sold, but under the stewardship of Jason McConnell, who started to make some wine for fun in 2005, there’s now a tiny production of around 1 300 cases per year.
The grapes, only Dijon clones from Block 2 close to the river, were harvested at 24 Brix, and whole cluster pressed. The juice was then cold settled at 8 degrees Celsius for a few days before it was fermented for almost a month at low temperatures in a small stainless steel tank. There were no malolactic fermentation and no bâtonnage during the ageing, and the acidity feels a bit higher than the 5.6 grams per liter there is. This first vintage is a wonderful effort, it’s totally dry, fresh and ultra pure with notes of brownish-green pears (just like you’ll find in white burgundies), lemon and almonds as well as the steel itself. It's a very attractive wine.
Drink it 2011-2014.

2007 Chardonnay from Roederer Estate / 87 p
No wonder Roederer Estate in the cooler northern part of Anderson Valley is one of the best sparkling producers outside of Champagne. The climate is considered cool by Californian standards, but not as cold as in Champagne, still this wine shows a quite European structure and fruit flavor. Grapes are all estate grown, harvested at low Brix in mid September and then pressed in whole bunches. After débourbage, the juice is transferred into stainless steel tanks (80 percent) and neutral French oak barrels to ferment. The latter fraction goes through malolactic fermentation, the stainless steel one not. Tasted completely blind, one would never put this wine in California – unless you have tasted a Californian wine like this before. It’s more like the wines of Mâconnais in the southern part of Burgundy, well, not totally. It doesn’t have that kind of minerality. There’s not a single note of oak, just that fine texture that the ageing in oak, on lees, results in. It’s delicious, light and fresh, a bit short, but very elegant. The only sad thing is that production is only 200 cases, and that the wine only is sold in the tasting room at Roederer Estate in Anderson Valley. And when you are there, take the opportunity to buy some of their great sparkling wines!
Drink it 2011-2014.

2008 Chardonnay Del Lago from Ceago Vinegarden / 87 p
Ceago Vinegarden is the new home for Jim Fetzer, past president and co-owner of Fezter Vineyards before the family sold it to Browne-Forman. In 2001 he bought a 66 hectare walnut ranch close to Clear Lake in Lake County. Here he cleared land to plant 20.25 hectares of vines and made his first wine (a Cabernet Sauvignon) in 2005. This is Sauvignon Blanc and red wine country, but this wine is proof of the potential of Chardonnay. Grapes are whole cluster pressed, and the juice is the completely fermented in stainless steel tanks, but left on the lees for some months to gain texture. It’s a lovely unoaked chardonnay – very pure, crisp and fresh with notes of lemon (almost sweetish lemons) and Granny Smith, it has that typical steely character, but also some complex notes of almonds that don’t come from oak – it’s either terroir or the effect of the lees. The finish is long, and very elegant.
Drink it 2011-2013.

Two faces of Petite Sirah from Langtry Estate

Petite Sirah has over the last century become a typical Californian variety, just like Zinfandel. According to the latest harvest report, there's 2 864 hectares of Petite Sirah planted and in production. Still it’s not particular common as a varietal wine – most of the grapes end up in blends with Zinfandel and Rhône varietals, where they add color, structure, deep fruit flavors and some spiciness.
The most important regions for Petite Sirah are San Joaquin Valley (687 hectares), where it is blended into bulk wines at low prices, and San Luis Obispo County (470 hectares), where Paso Robles have proved to be a very reliable source of some very good varietal wines. Matthias Gubler, winemaker at Vina Robles in the eastern side of Paso Robles, is very excited about Petite Sirah and believes that Petite Sirah will be one of the fines grapes of the region in the future. He is not the only one to salubrate this grape. Well known Bob Foley of Robert Foley Wines in Napa Valley, is also very fond of Petite Sirah.

Today one will find some Petite Sirah in Sacramento, Yolo, Almeda, and Lake County. Napa Valley (283 hectares) and the inland of Mendocino (209 hectares), Sonoma (198 hecatres) are also homes of some fine wines of Petite Sirah.

Durif is the original name of this grape (at least, that’s the common and also by DNA proved theory), although there are a few alternatives to it. Anither one, not proved, is that Petite Sirah is a natural crossing that occurred in the late 1800s, at the time when many European grape varieties were brought to United States. I always refer to the evidences scientist like Dr Carole Meredith have come up with, and it this case it clear that Petite Sirah was born in France in the 1870s, as Durif. The French wine growers never liked it, but growers in California planted it in the 1880s, most likely as a field blend with Syrah (just to make it more confusing), Zinfandel, Carignane and Alicante Bouschet. At least, this is how you will find the oldest vines of Petite Sirah today.
The grape itself seems to have picked up more of the character of Peloursin than of its other parent, Syrah. Color is always dark and the tannic structure important, but although the wines are rich in dark fruit flavors, they most often lack the complexity the wines of Syrah shows.

Guenoc Valley is a single estate appellation in the southeastern corner of Lake County. It’s just in the shadow of Howell Mountain of Napa Valley – and so are the prices of the wines from here. There’s only one producer here, Langtry Estate, but on their ranch of 8 900 hectares, only 162 hectares are planted to vines. They make four wines of Petite Sirah, two of them from the Serpentine Meadow Vineyard, which is located on the valley floor below the winery (altitude is around 300 meters above sea level). The unique thing about this vineyard is that the soil is dominated by serpentine, a soil type very high in magnesium. That, and the fact that the soil tends to absorb a lot of water, and then dry out very quick, creates a lot of stress to the vines. Most winegrowers have noticed that the vines become weaker, thinner, more sensitive, and also later to ripen the grapes. Well, this may well be so elsewhere, but these wines are superb!

2007 Petite Sirah Serpentine Meadow Vineyard / 90-91 p
One hundred percent Petite Sirah normally results in a very rough and tannic wine, but in this case I find it to be surprisingly well balanced. The reason for that is spelled “tannin and bitterness management”. First of all it is important to reduce yields to get the grapes fully ripe – I guess the serpentine soil, to a certain extent, is part of that. A strict selection, fully destemmed grapes, and a careful extraction during the fermentation are also crucial. At Langtry Estate, the winemakers also remove as much seeds as possible during the fermentation process.
The wine is dark, dense and purple blue in color. On the nose, you’ll find a sweetish spiciness of the 24 months of ageing in the highest quality American oak barrels, but not too much oak tannins on the palate. The fruit flavors are truly text book to Petite Sirah – the wine is loaded with blueberries and sweet plums, but in a good way, and the richness makes a good balance with the structure. I kept the wine in the glass for 15 minutes, and it opened up beautifully during that time, so decanting is half an hour prior to serving it is recommended. It’s not a charming wine to just take a sip of – this is a wine that’s needs rich foods like steaks, venison, duck or goose.
Drink it 2010-2017.

2007 Petite Sirah Port Serpentine Meadow Vineyard

/ 90 p
This is quite funny – it’s actually almost the same wine as the dry version. During the fermentation, a small lot was treated differently … with the port wine method. When the alcohol had reached six percent, a neutral brandy from Sonoma was added to the fermenting wine, which killed the yeast and left around 75 grams of sugar unfermented. In the ready wine, alcohol then reached 19 percent. It’s a superb, sweet and quite port like wine with lovely flavors of sweet blueberries, cherries and chocolate. Acidity is good, and of course the high alcohol gives a kick in the long, sweet and silky aftertaste, but that’s just what it should. I’d love to taste this with a chocolate fondant with compote of cherries, or to a blue cheese like Forme d’Ambert. Serve it at 14-16 degrees.
Drink it 2010-2022.

2004 Madder Lake Syrah from Copain

I really like the wines from Wells Guthrie and his Copain. They’re all most often quite elegant, I wouldn’t say truly classic since they have the typical Californian fruit, still they’re never too ripe, nor to strong. For the pinots, harvest is done at no higher ripeness than 23 Brix, for the syrahs just a bit riper, hence alcohol levels at moderate 13.5 percent for the pinots and 14.2 percent for the syrahs, the most.
For both Pinot Noir and Syrah, the vinification is carried out in the same way, which means a few days of cold soak before the juice is fermented with its natural yeast in small open top fermenters with frequent pigeage for a gentle extraction. However, for the syrahs, most of the grape bunches are not destemmed, like in this wine where Wells used 75 percent whole cluster.
The more European oriented philosophy have made Wells Guthrie turned his view to cooler vineyards sites, most of his Pinot Noir grapes are purchased from the cool wine region Anderson Valley in northwest Mendocino, whereas Syrah is sourced from many regions, like Santa Lucia Highland (the great Gary’s Vineyard) and Chalk Hill (the Brosseau Vineyard) in Monterey, Santa Ynez Valley (Harrison Clarke Vineyard) and Lake County.


2004 Madder Lake Syrah / 91 p
The grapes, in this cuvée approximately 95 percent Syrah and five percent Viognier, are all sourced from Lake County just north of Napa Valley. The two grapes are co-fermented and wine is then kept in French oak barrels to mature. Color is still youthful, dark and purple and almost opaque, and the nose is rich and densely fruit driven in a quite seductive way, where notes of dark cherries and blackberries as well as plums are enriched with a lovely aroma of sweet apricots and violets (these notes derives from the Viognier), and also a delicious dash of dried French herbs. It’s a young wine, quite ripe and lush with a fine texture of sweet fruit and glycerol, yet marked by tannins and a toasty and slightly bitter oak structure. It’s lovely, for sure, but still I’d like to keep it another year or two before I touch it again, only because the finish is a bit closed and bitter at present. When I tasted it, it took almost 30 minutes in the glass for the wine to open completely, so decanting is needed if served young.
Drink it 2011-2024.

Alienor 2005, 2006 and 2007

Former winemaker of Château Latour, Denis Malbec, and his Swedish wife May-Britt, has since 2001 made wines in California. Most of their time, they make and blend wines as consultants for their customers, among them the top notch Kapcsándy Family Wines in Yountville and Blankiet Estate (since January this year).
Under their own label Notre Vin, they make some exquisite wines at one of their customers winery in Sonoma, the well structured and intensely fruity Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the even better but far too expensive Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Their Pinot Noir Clos Madeleine from Sonoma Coast is good, but lacks finesse and intensity.
They also make a very interesting wine from grapes sources in Kelseyville in Lake County, called Alienor. The Merlot is planted in 1993 in the Roster Vineyard, the Cabernet Franc from a suitcase clone from Bordeaux in 1999, and the Petit Verdot a Quercus Ranch in 2002. Depending on the vintage, the cuvée varies a lot. These are the first three vintages. Harvest is done by hand, followed by a careful sorting process, light crush and a five to seven day long cold soak. Fermentation is taken place in small stainless steel tanks with regular remontage. The cuvaison stretches over three weeks, and thereafter the wine is transferred into small French oak barrels, of which 60 per cent are new, for malolactic fermentation and 20-22 months of ageing.

2005 Alienor / 90-91 p
In this inaugural vintage, Cabernet Franc counted for 96 per cent of the blend, with a balance of Merlot and a tiny per cent of Petit Verdot. It’s really a St-Emilion look-alike, and it’s damn good. The nose is medium intense, quite classic and very elegant with notes of cedar, and with a complex touch of consommé. Tannins are surprisingly silky, yet they add a fine structure to the fine tuned fruit, and the aftertaste lingers for a minute. It’s a beauty.
Drink it 2010-2016.

2006 Alienor / 89 p
The 2006 vintage were made of 92 per cent Merlot, which explains why this is the softer wine of the trio. You’ll find some slightly sweet fruit qualities and less complexity in this vintage, which is more California styled (of course, it’s from California), rather than classic. Also, tannins are softer. It’s good, but not great.
Drink it over the next 2-3 years.

2007 Alienor / 91-92 p
Of the trio, this was the perfect blend, equal parts of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and just one per cent of Petit Verdot made up the cuvée. Again, there are a lot of Bordeaux-like qualities on the nose and on the palate, with a delightful grassiness as well as cassis and blackberries, and just a small hint of the oak and coffee. On the palate, it’s well balanced, intense and youthfully fruit forward, yet with a great portion of finesse, and the tannic structure is mature, well integrated and fine. For 65 dollars, it’s a catch! Only 225 cases were made.
Drink it 2010-2020.