2016 Po·lyph·o·ny Release
People often ask which wine I am most proud of. It's not a specific wine but more of an attitude or philosophy.
It starts with a core belief that the fundamental purpose of any business is to enhance the quality of life for it's customers. It's an attitude of contribute, keep contributing, constantly improve your skills so you can contribute more.
"The purpose of life is not to be happy, it is to be useful, to honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I have been blessed with the gift of observation. Through observation I see patterns and potential. After decades of observing the wine biz, I have not only learned to play the cards I'm delt, often to a winning hand, but with deeper understanding and imagination, I have recognized the opportunity to create a new game. I believe that's called a "Game-Changer."
THE CARDS: With each vintage, every vineyard, clone and lot of grapes make up our new hand. We have the privilege of sourcing from the finest and most unique vineyards in California. We always have a good hand. We recognize the responsibility to play the hand wisely. Our growers and Members count on us.
THE GAME: Our game, our strategy is to carve up, into small pieces the grapes we receive from a single vineyard. By fermenting each clone, separately, in multiple lots with carefully selected yeast strains, we can capture all the subtle and complex nuances that a particular vineyard has to offer. From a single vineyard we may have three clones. Ferment each clone with three distinctly different yeast strains and we then have nine completely different wines with a broad variety of textures and flavors. To add more diversity and complexity, we age in a strategic cross section of barrels from different coopers, forests, toast levels and ages. The variety of flavors and textures turn into a kaleidoscope of Pinot Noir.
Then the hand is played when Fernando and I blend the components to create the most complex, interesting, age-worthy wine that captures the flavor of it's birthplace.
Actually, the real hand is played after the wine develops and blooms in the bottle. Then, we hope to trigger an emotional response. If you can feel the passion and love that started in the vineyard and was carried through with our stewardship, we have played a winning hand.
THE CHANGED GAME: With our singular vision of creating the most age-worthy and complex Pinot Noirs and a combination of A.D.D. and curiosity, the leap from our single vineyard wines to Po·lyph·o·ny was almost inevitable. We now see it as a responsibility.
While assembling the single-vineyard final blends
(Imagine a table with 8-10 lots from 17 vineyards in small sample bottles to choose from - that’s 136 -170 samples for the mathematically challenged)
... A.D.D. and curiosity took hold of us, and we did the unthinkable (in the Pinot Noir world), we thought... I wonder what this bright tangy component from the Lester Family Vineyard from Santa Cruz Mountains would taste like with the deep, rich 943 Clone from Tondre Grapefield in SLH?
Sacrilege! - And… Holy Shit that's good!All this, just to lead up to answering the question, what am I most proud of. Well, in over 1,000 years of Pinot Noir production worldwide, I'm certain we were not the first to blend vineyards. I know this for sure because many of the lower priced "California" Pinot Noirs are blends of components from different vineyards and appellations. It's a great way to take the lots that don't fit into a single vineyard blend and find complimentary lots to balance out the extreme flavors or add complexity to an otherwise uninteresting wine.
What's different here, with Po·lyph·o·ny, is this would entail blending great wines from cherished vineyards. Wines with that vineyard name on the label would be a guarantee of a great experience and command the highest price.
THE DELEMA: For 1,000 years Pinot Noir has been marketed that the "Value" of the wine is determined by the vineyard that it came from. The greatest of wines reflect the coveted flavor of that very special place (terroir).
Only a complete nut-job would blend from these great vineyards to get a "California" Pinot Noir with no Provenance.
I am proud to be that nut-job!Many sample blends were made from the 2010 and 2011 vintages. The wines were incredible, but we never found the courage to break with 10 centuries of tradition, until...
It was the day before Thanksgiving and the Winery was closing for the holiday. I had a half-bottle each of Tondre Grapefield and Lester Family Vineyard Pinots and I thought, what the hell, I poured them together and brought them to Thanksgiving dinner the next day. When I poured the wine, which no one knew what it was, the room got quiet. One person finally said, "What is this!" Another, "This is the best Pinot Noir I've ever had!"
Then, my son Ryan asked the question of questions. He knew all that had led up to this, "Dad, why is it that we're not making the best wine we possibly can? If we really believe the best wines are the most age-worthy and complex, and a blend would accomplish that like no other wine, why haven't we done it?"
It was just the catalyst this nut-job needed. Po·lyph·o·ny was born.
In 2012 we made specific lots that we believed would be ideal for the Po·lyph·o·ny cuvée.
Over the years, all our hopes and beliefs have been reinforced. One major blinding flash of the obvious is:
There isn’t a single-vineyard on earth that could produce the diversity of flavors, textures and nuances that are found in Po·lyph·o·ny.
This was a very long answer to what am I most proud of.
The one-line answer. I am proud that we had the courage to follow our hearts, to share the best we can create with you, and contribute in our own unique way.
In my humble and honest opinion – If our example can spark the courage in others to follow their hearts, to find ways to enhance the lives of others… we will have lived well.
I'll let my friend Ralph put a bow on this with another quote.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages... In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.
The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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