Bonanza Cabernet

Most of us are attracted to labels.  Marketing survey specialists Nielsen determined that “six of 10 consumers prefer to buy new products from familiar brands…because they signify quality and inspire confidence”. We are generally willing to spend more for shirts sporting an alligator logo and perfume produced in France.

We also spend more for wines vinified from grapes sourced in Napa Valley. Napa Valley grapes set the post Prohibition standard for quality Cabernet, and that perception of quality logically increased interest in Napa Cab. Inevitably increased interest in a product available in limited quantities in turn leads to an increase in price. A basic principle of economics is that increased demand for a product available only in finite quantities will ultimately lead to an increase in price. Eventually, the increase in price also generates a perception (often deserved) of quality. It is price that ultimately determined the classification of French Bordeaux from first to fifth growths. “Brokers from the wine industry ranked the wines according to a chateau’s reputation and trading price, which at the time directly related to quality”.

In Napa, this demand-price upward spiral has resulted in Cabernet grapes that, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture April 2019 report on the 2018 statewide grape harvest, pushed the average price to $7,500 per ton(up 6.6% from 2017). The price of Napa Cabernet grapes translates into an average of $75 per bottle, and a profit of $24,000 per acre. Obviously, the price widely varies from Screaming Eagle at more than $3,500, and Harlen Estate at more than $1,000, to Louis Martini in the $30 range.

Comparatively, a vintner can purchase a ton of Sonoma or Marin County Cabernet for approximately $2,800. According to Wine Searcher, the most expensive Sonoma County wines are Chardonnay (Peter Michel “Point Rouge” at just over $400 a bottle). The most expensive Sonoma Cab on the Wine Searcher list is Kamen’s Estate Kashmire selling at less than $200 a bottle. Interestingly, Napa’s Screaming Eagle has a 91 rating, while Sonoma’s Kamen was scored a 93. Lake County Cabernet generally sells for even less per ton.

One of the expensive Napa Cabernet options, and one of the finest, is Caymus Special Selection ($170 retail for the 2016) produced by the Wagner Family.

The Wagner Family helped pioneer Northern California wine. In 1906 Carl Wagner purchased Napa Valley vineyard land in Rutherford. By 1915 the family built a winery that would eventually produce 30,000 gallons per year just prior to Prohibition. Unfortunately, Prohibition shut down the winery. In 1941 the second generation of the Wagner Family (Charlie) and his wife, the former Lorna Belle Glos, purchased 73 acres of their own near the family farm in Napa and plant fruit trees. The orchards were not profitable and in the 1960s Charlie pulled the orchards and planted vineyards, including some with Cabernet Sauvignon clones “acquired from Stags Leap grown by Nathan Fay”. The new business model was not working. Charlie was preparing to “give up…and move to Australia”.

A pivotal moment then occurred in the history of Napa and for the legacy of the Wagner Family. In 1972, the third Wagner generation, represented by Charlie and Lorna’s son Chuck, joins the operation, not long out of high school, promises to make the enterprise solvent. The family ‘store’ becomes very solvent. They establish Caymus Vineyards and in 1975 released the first ‘Special Selection’.

Caymus Special Selection has twice been named Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year and earned a slot on the magazine’s “Top Ten List” six times in nine years.

Today, the fourth generation of Wagner’s are making wine. Chuck’s son Joe launched Belle Glos (and eventually Meiomi Pinot Noir…eventually sold to Constellation Brands for $315 million). Chuck’s son Charlie develops Mer Soleil, including the popular Silver, an unoaked Chardonnay fermented in cement tanks. And, in 2013 daughter Jenny joined the family business and today is responsible for Emmolo (named for her mother) Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.

In the late 1980s, the Caymus created Conundrum (eventually producing Red, White, Rose and Sparkling) blending multiple varietals into wines that are consistently agreeable from vintage to vintage.

The Wagners are in the forefront of both the wine history and the wine business of Napa Valley.

Okay…so you are saying that this post seems disjointed. I begin with a conversation about the price of grapes and then pivot to the Caymus and the Wagner family.

There is a connection…

Joy and I just returned from a driving trip from Charleston to Ohio, to the Catskills, to Westchester County New York, to New York City (see the musical Tootsie if the opportunity should present itself), to Washington D.C. (dinner with nieces now working there), and finally back home.

The trip provided the seeds for multiple posts, but we begin with Bonanza Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 1. It was wonderful to Steve Morrison and Jay Gruber of Sterling Cellars who shared many wonderful wines and were very interested in our reaction to this one.

Bonanza is, ‘surprise’, another Wagner product. But, it is also a unique wine.

As most of you known, virtually every wine, particularly reds, are the result of blending various varietals and various vineyards. Bonanza is also a product of blending. However, unlike blending just varietals and vineyards, Bonanza is the result of blending various vintages.

To be fair, the Wagner Bonanza is not the first wine to explore the blending of vintages. Champagne and Sherry producers have long followed this model. Distributors and retailers were suspicious of NV8 Cain Cuvee (a blend of the 1997 and 1998 vintages), but a positive reception by consumers mitigated those fears. Sean Thackrey’s XIX Pleiades (a blend of primarily Sangiovese, Voignier, Mourvedre from multiple vintages) earned 93 points from the Wine Enthusiast. Marietta has produced more than 50 vintages of ‘Old Vine Red’, a popular wine amongst many Sterling patrons.

The law permits wineries to blend as much as 5% from previous vintages into blends without referencing that addition to the blend. Understand…5% from a strong vintage to a weaker vintage may significantly, and positively, alter the consuming public’s perception of the weaker vintage. Cain Cuvee, Pleiades, and Old Vine Red simply extend their vintage blending beyond 5%.

The real issue is not vintage labeling, the issue is quality offered at a reasonable price.

The Wagners make excellent wine. Caymus (both the regular bottling and the Special Selection are outstanding); The Unoaked Silver Chardonnay is popular even among Chardonnay drinkers who would prefer a ‘buttery and oaky’ wine. Meiomi remains popular as a Constellation mainstay, and Belle Glos Pinot Noir is uniformly excellent. Good winemakers know how to make good wine.

With Bonanza, the Wagners have sourced excellent grapes from locations that are not as expensive as Napa. They can produce a wine that is hopefully (Lot 1 is the first vintage) consistently good at a price that is potentially attractive as an ‘everyday’ wine.

The first vintage offers a deep red color with floral tones, lightly toasted oak, and elements of dried dark fruit on the nose.  The palate elements include the dried fruit with added hints of vanilla. There is also an element of sweetness (similar to Meiomi Pinot Noir). The tannins are soft, and the finish is medium in length.

Wine Searcher suggests an average national price below $25. And, keep in mind that Bonanza is worthy of a place in your wine rotation, you can often receive a discount from retailers by joining their wine club or by purchasing ‘unbroken’ or mixed cases. This is an excellent $20 California Cabernet value.   You can find it in many of our favorite wine shops…Chan’s Wine World in Florida, Sterling Cellars in New York, and at most Total Wine locations.

The circular route that took us from South Carolina and through New York allowed us to visit with friends of many years. And, the trip also offered an introduction to new products. I will discuss many of them in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, considered trying Bonanza Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 1.

Coppola, Movies, and Wine

Francis Ford Coppola is an American entertainment legend. For nearly 50 years Coppola has been recognized as one of America’s finest film directors and writers. He won an Academy Award for his co-authorship of Patton (1970) and was rightfully lauded for 1972’s Godfather (Best Picture). In 1974, The Godfather Part II, became the first sequel to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Although many of his recent efforts have not been as successful, his reputation and his fortune were already assured.

In 1975, using proceeds from the Godfather films, Coppola and his wife Eleanor purchased a Napa Vineyard. And, for 45 years he has steadily developed The Family Coppola – ‘Movies, Wine, Food, Hideaways & Adventure’.

While the movie connection is interesting, the focus of this blog is wine. And, it is wine for which Coppola has been known for nearly as long as he has been writing and directing films.

He was a raised with the ready availability of wine that his grandfather, Agostino, made in the basement of his New York apartment building. Wine has long been at the center of Coppola’s life.

Interestingly, despite his long tenure and success in Napa/Sonoma wine Coppola has attracted nearly as much criticism for his wine efforts as he garnered for his unfortunate 1996 film, Jack. The film starred Robin Williams as 10-year-old trapped in a 40-year-old body. One film critic (in a retrospective of all Coppola films listing them from worst to best) noted that Jack underscored “all the ways in which Big (the wonderful Penny Marshall 1988 film starring Tom Hanks) could have gone horribly wrong”.

Coppola clearly took a misstep with Jack, and James Conaway believes that Coppola also took a misstep in his efforts to engage with Napa wine. Conaway is a critic of the industrial approach to wine, and the effect of wineries on the social and physical ecosystem of Napa and Sonoma.  Conaway has referred to Coppola as a “lifestyle vintner. A ‘lifestyle vintner’ is by definition (according to Conaway)…somebody who wants to have the vintners’ life and let somebody else do all the work…”. Conaway’s criticism has been largely focused on Coppola’s efforts to restore Inglenook.

Inglenook’s twisted history is actually the story of many Napa wineries. Founded in 1879 by a prosperous Finnish sea captain Gustave Niebaum, the winery architect he hired pioneered the growth of gravity flow wineries. The winery prospered. Niebaum died in 1908 and during Prohibition the winery, as did most of its neighbors, closed. Inglenook reopened following Prohibition, and Niebaum’s great-nephew, John Daniel Jr. eventually took control of operations. By the mid-1940s Daniel’s Inglenook wines were considered amongst the best of Napa.

By the 1960s, however, rumors circulated that Inglenook was in financial difficulty. There were very strong indicators that the winery had not generated a profit since 1933. Equipment was aging and the Niebaum fortune was depleted. John Daniel was nearing 60 and there were no heirs interested in taking responsibility for Inglenook. In 1964 United Vintners, a financial descendant of Allied Grape Growers, and the producer of Italian Swiss Colony, purchased the Inglenook name, winery, and 94 acres (there were originally more than 1,600) of vineyards for $1.2 million.

United Vintners promised to maintain quality production, but abandoned that promise by 1967, and in 1969 United Vintners was purchased by Connecticut based Heublein Spirits. Focused on low cost-high profit production, Heublein grew Inglenook into a seven million case brand…most of it high alcohol and low cost. Any Inglenook association with quality wine ended during the Heublein era.

Heublein was eventually purchased by R.J. Reynolds and the wine assets were slowly sold off.

In 1975 Francis Food Coppola purchased more than 1,500 acres of the original Inglenook property and the Niebaum family home (but not the winery) for $2.2 million. He established Niebaum-Coppola, and in 1985 released a Cabernet focused blend named Rubicon under the hyphenated name.

In 1995 Coppola spend an additional $10 million to purchase the winery buildings. He immediately removed the industrial look of newer United Vintners and Hublein structures to restore  Inglenook’s historic appearance. In 2011 Coppola spend millions more acquire the trademark rights to the Inglenook name. Coppola now controlled the property and name of a winery whose heritage only existed in rare bottles of cellared bottles from the 1940s and 50s. In 2009 a new Inglenook Cabernet was on the market.

Questions now swirled around Coppola’s intentions. Did he hope to recreate Inglenook in the image (and flavor profile of John Daniel), or did he hope to fashion a 21st Century Inglenook?

Critics of Coppola’s efforts are in agreement with former Acacia owner/winemaker Mike Richmond that Inglenook’s “time has passed”, and that the winery can never recover the mystique it enjoyed during the ‘glory days’ of John Daniel. However, John Daniel’s daughter Robin Lail, owner of Lail Vineyards and a friend of Coppola, believes that Coppola “set out to create a new Inglenook for the 21st Century and beyond”.

Coppola responds to both critics and supporters saying that, “Our goals are very similar to a European family that owns a first-growth. We are proud of it, we live here, we revel in this beauty. We consider ourselves custodians of it”. The goal, says Coppola, is not to make money, “I don’t get money out of Inglenook, I put money into it. I live off of the movies that I made 40 years ago”.

In 2011, Philippe Bascaules was named Inglenook’s General Manager. Bascaules splits his time between Napa and Bordeaux where he is the Director of First Growth Margaux. He says that his responsibility is to respect “the heritage…to preserve the elegance…and to evoke emotion”.

Bascaules hiring was not easily accepted by ‘Napa classicists’ who believe that Napa Cabernet should represent the efforts of Napa winemakers. Both Bascaules and Coppola have withstood the criticism and have served the legacy of Gustave Niebaum and John Daniels well. Inglenook Cabernet (generally in the $60+ range) have been consistently rated 90+ (the 2014 received a 94 from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate).

Most of us, however, are not drinking $60 wines regularly, but we can still enjoy the ‘fruits’ of Coppola’s ‘Winemaker Lifestyle’. Beyond Inglenook, The Family Coppola now bottles more than 1.7 million cases of wine (mostly from California…although in 2018 they purchased Willamette Valley’s Vista Hills). Most of the 1.7 million cases are bottles that sell under $15. The Family Coppola winery is now the 15th largest in the United States.

Joy and I recently enjoyed a ‘cocktail hour’ with friends and neighbors and opened a few bottles of the Coppola Diamond Collection 2016 Claret. Aged for 14 months in French Oak, this Cabernet based (75% with 21% Petit Verdot and 4% Petite Sirah) offers a dark and rich Bordeaux style wine at a budget friendly price.  And, for followers of ratings, the 2016 Claret earned 91 points from the Wine Enthusiast.

The Claret may not carry the prestige of Inglenook, but it does carry its ‘lifestyle winemakers’ determination to “make the resources and provide the direction”. Francis Ford Coppola may never turn a profit from his efforts to restore Napa’s Inglenook. However, he seems to be making money with Family Coppola wines based in Sonoma, vinified “in the same spirit as the wines of his grandfather…to share with friends and family”.

It is clear that even though Francis Ford Coppola ‘does not know how to make wine’, he knows how to direct the making of wine. He knows how to put the parts together…be it be a $60 Inglenook or a $15 Claret.

The ‘lifestyle vintner’ has invested 45 years and untold millions in his quest to restore Inglenook and grow Family Coppola. And, while he may only have a layman’s knowledge of the process by which wine is vinified, but he is very well steeped in the process by which classic wineries are preserved and new ones are developed.

A Wonderful Ridge

As regular readers know, Joy and I often enjoy a lunch of cheese, meats, or ‘lunch bites’ at Accent on Wine in Summerville. The state of South Carolina allows wine shops (with the appropriate license) to sell wine by both the bottle and by the glass. And, we take advantage of that policy to try new wines and to reacquaint ourselves with old ‘friends’ in new vintages.

This past week, while visiting Accent on Wine, I spotted a bottle of Ridge 2016 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah. Produced with fruit sourced from the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma, this 90+ point wine (according to Antonia Galloni and James Suckling ratings) was retailing in the mid-$30s. The combination of Ridge and Petite Sirah was irresistible.

This 2016 Petite Sirah (2000 cases produced) is sourced from vines that were planted between 1901 and 2008. The age range may seem enormous, but the older vines produce fewer, but intensely flavored grapes, while the newer vines produce larger crops with grapes that give the winemaker an opportunity to create a product that is both fresh and juicy. Ridge first bottled a version of this wine in 2002 and has decided to age the Lytton Estate in American Oak for 12 months (10% new oak and 45% of barrels that are up to two years old and 45% in barrels as old as four years). Many American winemakers (particularly those working with an intensely deep dark wine like Petite Sirah) have focused their barrel program on French Oak. The decision to age a big wine in American Oak is unique, but Ridge has long been noted for a unique approach to wine making.

The original Ridge winery is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains just south of San Francisco. That winery is located at 2,300 feet of elevation on Monte Bello Ridge. The drive to visit the Santa Cruz winery requires a trip along a  road that is not ideal for those with any hint of acrophobia. Nevertheless, the trip up (and up and up) that road ultimately brings you to a beautiful winery and tasting area and tasting facility with extraordinary vistas.

In 1991 they purchased a second facility at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley area of Sonoma.

The ‘original’ Ridge vineyards were planted in 1885 by a “prominent member of the northern California Italian immigrant community”, and was largely operated as a hobby. It was shuttered during Prohibition. Following the passage of the 21st Amendment, the mountaintop vineyard was reestablished and managed by another group of amateur winemakers. In 1959 Stanford Research Institute engineers with commercial ambitions, led by David Bennion, purchased the vineyards and winery. The new ownership immediately bonded Ridge and by 1962 produced a Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon. The first Zinfandel, the grape for which Ridge may be best known, found its way to bottle in 1964.

Bennion was both the winemaker and the manager of Ridge until 1970. In 1970 Bennion made the winery defining decision to hire Paul Draper as winemaker.

Draper, who majored in philosophy while a student at Stanford, eventually strayed from seeking the meaning of life to improving the quality of life. He made wine in Chile, and then moved to Bordeaux (reviewing 19th century wine texts in their original French) and studied the process by which many of the world’s finest wines were vinified. As part of his self-education in winemaking, Draper had the opportunity to taste the 1962 and 1964 versions of Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet (both 90+ point rating vintages) “made in old oak barrels with native yeasts and natural malolactic fermentation”. He recognized the potential and he accepted Bennion’s job offer. For the next 47 vintages Draper guided Ridge first as winemaker and then as CEO and winemaker.

It should be mentioned that the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello was included in the famous 1976 Paris tasting that put California wines on par with the best of France (see Bottle Shock for the movie version of George Tabor’s fun read, Judgement in Paris). The Ridge entry finished a “respectable fifth” in this initial contest. However, a 30th Anniversary Tasting rated Ridge Monte Bello first. Stag’s Leap, whose Cabernet finished first in 1976, was ranked second. In fact, California Cabernet based wines finished 1-5 in the 30th Anniversary Tasting ahead of both Bordeaux classic’s Mouton-Rothschild and Haut-Brion. Clearly, Ridge DNA grape’s could create a great wine with the ability to age. Draper institutionalized that ‘greatness’.

But, back to Zinfandel. Draper loved the grape and ultimately worked with more than 100 Zinfandel vineyards. However, by 2016, the year of his retirement, Draper had cut the number to his 14 favorites.  One of our favorites is the Ridge Pagani Ranch Zinfandel. Consistently rated over 90 points, this Sonoma Valley vineyard located near the town of Kenwood, features century old vines that produce consistently excellent wine…with a little help from the winemaker. Ridge has been bottling Pagani Ranch Zin since 1991. With more than 4500 cases of Pagani Ranch bottled you should be able to find this wine virtually everywhere.

Draper is a viticultural purest, but he is also a scientist. He dislikes the ‘homogenizing’ effect of university programs that focus on developing wines that will score over 90 points thus competing for consumer attention. He also dislikes high alcohol wines because he feels that higher ABV often serves to hide the imperfections in the wine. The Ridge 2012 Monte Bello Cabernet was universally rated north of 95 points and only offered 13.8% ABV. Despite this lower alcohol content, Decanter Magazine’s reviewers suggested would not be fully ready to drink until 2022. And, while the Ridge labs are considered one of the most sophisticated of any ‘smaller’ winery, Draper argues that the function of the lab is to “analyze, not tweak, the wine”. Ridge also strongly supports sustainable farming practices, and an organic approach to winemaking.

John Olney is the Ridge Winemaker in Lytton Springs, and a longtime friend and colleague of Paul Draper. His most telling comment regarding Draper is that “he is a relentless taster”. And, during his tenure Draper encouraged everyone associated with Ridge to taste continuously. He believed that the winemaker’s art was validated by those who consumed their wine.

So…whatever your budget can handle, be it a Pagani Ranch Zin, a Monte Bello Cab, or a Lytton Estate Petite Sirah…you should taste…as Paul Draper would urge…you will not be disappointed.