WTN: Can’t you Seaview, whoa can’t you Seaview

[David M. Bueker]

2012 Enfield Wine Co. Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Sonoma County, Fort Ross - Seaview (6/19/2019)
A little over three years since I first tried this wine, and it has blossomed. It’s still structured and classic in style, but the fruit has unfolded, and fully balanced out the tannic spine. It really is a new addition to the Cal Cab Classic lineup, leveraging the cool vineyard site to keep climate-driven ripeness in check. This is a red fruit Cabernet with just a touch of mid-palate plushness, ensuring it’s still fun to drink when dinner is over. I like the evolutionary trajectory, and will try to wait another three years before opening another bottle. Age ten seems like a solid bet.

Hmmmm, David...I’m surprised they could ripen Cab way over there on the Coast. What was the alcohol level? Harvest date? Amount of chaptalization needed??
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

13%

I think all the assumptions that have prevailed so long in California about what can ripen where, are based on some not-very-thought-out "understanding" about climate and growing season in the various areas where wine grapes are grown here. People were sure, back in the '50s and '60s, that you could never get wine grapes ripe in Carneros. Then, in the '70s and '80s, that Carneros was the perfect place to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In the '80s, anyone who planted Syrah there was thought to be pretty far out on the edge of sanity. In the '90s there were a few of us who'd already begun to wonder whether the Sonoma Coast might be too warm for Syrah, let alone Pinot Noir. Then, along came global warming.
And, of course, also that troll Tom Hill!

[David M. Bueker]

... In the '90s there were a few of us who'd already begun to wonder whether the Sonoma Coast might be too warm for Syrah, let alone Pinot Noir. Then, along came global warming.

I do wonder about Pinot in California. Even from seriously talented producers I find Pinots from supposedly "cool" sites to have candied flavors. Burgundies may be getting riper due to climate change, but they have not (based on what I taste) turned the corner into candied.

Syrah is another matter. Some of what Pax Mahle is doing with Sonoma Coast sites is completely convincing. He might even be making wines as good as some old guy whose name I cannot remember right now.