Seven % Solution Tasting Bergamot Alley 7/22/2017

The 5th Annual Seven % Solution celebrating varietal diversity in California. 31 Winemakers, 59 grape varieties 121 wines.

This tasting event is my favorite by far. While I enjoy and have plenty of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Zinfandel etc, the 7% solution is dedicated to all the “other” grape varieties.
The best part of the tasting is that these wines are not made for curiosity or fun but are serious wines that truly show the potential of California’s diverse climate and soils combined with lesser known grapes.
Below are my impressions, not full detailed notes on the event, I could not get to many of the wineries pouring but will be sure to get them next time.
One note about the facility, it was originally planned for Front Porch Farm but was switched last minute for Bergamot Alley. It was a hot day and BA did their best but the room became warm quickly and for a couple hours was crowded and tough to move around. Not ideal conditions but everyone handled it pretty well

Arnot-Roberts Very nice group of wines.

2016 Falanghina Dry Creek Valley: A new grape for me, this showed apple and floral notes, crisp and lighter in style with a mouthwatering finish.

2015 Ribolla Gialla Napa Valley: Lots of complex aroma and flavor. Apple, pear, florals, lemon peel, some spice. Very Good

2015 Old Vine White: Another nice white, peachy, mango, citrus, layered flavors. Very Good

2016 Gamay Noir El Dorado: Red fruit, strawberry, citrusy, summer red.

Bedrock: Only tried two of their wines.

2016 Riesling Cienega Valley: Totally dry, lots of florals, lighter style and refreshing.

2016 Red Wine Evangelho: Cherry, earthy, some spice, fruit forward another very good Evangelho.

Dirty & Rowdy Family Winery: Could have spent all day here as Hardy had lots of goodies to sample but did not want to hold up the crowd.

2016 Famillar Blanc: Combines texture, flavor and acidity. Add lemon, lime zest, minerals. Very chuggable. Very Good.

2016 Famillar: Signature D&R florals, red fruit, earth, spicy tangy. Very chuggable. Very Good.

2016 Mourvedre Antle Vineyard: Fragrant, rosy, dark cherry, earthy, good concentration. Reminded me of the wonderful 2013 Antle.

2016 Chenin Blanc: I did not jot down notes on this but was very impressed when tasted. Hopefully Hardy can help if looking in.

2016 Mourvedre Skinner Stony Creek: I think this is what I tasted (Hardy? , Cherry, red raspberry, florals, will be very good.

2016 Mourvedre Enz Vineyard: I asked Hardy to pick one last wine to sample. He chose the Enz vineyard. Dark fruit (red and black), earthy, herbs, great concentration. Has potential to be special. The only bad news is there is not a lot to go around.

As always, D&R is one of the highlights of this type of tasting.

Donkey & Goat: Unfortunately only tasted two of their wines, both were good.

2015 Eliza White Blend: Complex flavors, racy, good acidity but also nice texture.

2016 Twinkle Mourvedre El Dorado: Made in a light style, summer drinking red. Strawberry, cherry, some spice, bracing acidity. Chill it down and go to town.

Edmunds St. John: Only tasted one wine from EsJ. My bad for sure.

2016 Heart of Gold El Dorado: Apple, citrus, racy, good acidity, easy drinking. Very Good

Forlorn Hope: Only tasted two wines, both Carignan, both very good with and without sulfur.

2015 “The Kerrigans” (with sulfur) Mendocino Red cherry, dusty, earthy, nice concentration

2015 "St Kerrigan: Sans Soufre (without sulfur) Mendocino: For me, same as the above but with a bit more concentration. Very Good. I preferred the No Sulfur.

Harrington Wine: Very much enjoy talking to Bryan Harrington. Would have loved to have him as my Lab Partner back in the day doing extracts, tinctures etc.
Eclectic series of nice tasting wines. Only tasted three.

2016 Corvina Lodi: Very light rose like color, no shortage of fruit, raspberry, red berry, florals and some clove. good acidity, food friendly wine.

2016 Mission Lodi: Take a bowl of macerated strawberries, mix in some acidity and a few herbs and you have the 2016 Mission. Very unique, nice tasting red.

2016 Trousseau San Benito: My notes say complex, fruit and herbs, very tasty.

Idlewild Wines: All Piedmont varieties grown in California. Tasted three wines, all very good.

2015 Cortese Fox Hill Vineyard: Have enjoyed previous vintages, the 2015 is very expressive. Citrusy spicy nose, nectarine, peach pit, bright acidity, some tannins from the skin contact. Very Good.

2015 Barbera Fox Hill Vineyard: Black cherry, black raspberry, herbs, dried fruit, great acidity. Long finish. Very Good.

2014 Nebbiolo Fox Hill Vineyard: rose, cherry raspberry. herbs, tannins on the finish. Flavor are deep and persist on the long finish. More of everything complared to the 12 and 13. Potential to be special.

Jolie-Laide: We actually tasted their wines (Melon, Pinot Gris, Gamay, Syrah Halcon) the night before at The Brass Rabbit in Healdsburg where Scott Schultz (owner, winemaker) was hosting a wine dinner. I copied my notes, the notes are from a previous tasting rather than write them up again. The Trousseau Gris and Syrah Halcon (tasted at The Brass Rabbit) will be in the Fall release.

2016 Melon de Bourgogne Antle Vineyard: Whole cluster pressed to concrete eggs, lemon peel, chalky rocks, floral and apricot notes. Bracing acidity, this wine screams for shellfish - oysters and I will gladly accommodate that urge soon 11.2% ABV

2016 Pinot Gris Rorick Vineyard: Whole cluster 3 days on the skins. Pale salmon color, lively combination citrus, flowers and berry. A mineral spine, nice acidity and a bit of tannin make this a complete package. Very versatile with food. 12% ABV

2016 Gamay Noir Barsotti Vineyard: Crushed by foot and finished whole cluster. Fruity, strawberry, raspberry, tutti frutti along with floral and earthy notes. Good acidity, this wine is dangerous. Very very gulpable. 11.2 ABV

2016 Trousseau Gris Fanucchi Vineyard: Tasted at 7%. Orange peel, peach, nectarine, clean acidity, some tannin. Will be great with food.

2016 Syrah Halcon Vineyard: Mix of red and blue fruits, lots of white pepper, herbs, nice acidity. Young but great potential.

La Clarine: Not a lot of experience with La Clarine but was impressed with what I tasted.

2015 Rose Alors!: Watermelon, cherry pit, good depth of fruit, nice mouthwatering finish.

2015 Tempranillo Rorick Vineyard: Black cherry, apple skin, herbs, good acidity. Very Good

2015 Piedi Grandi Sumu Kaw Vineyard: Bing cherry, fresh soil, floral, herbs, tannins on the finish. Unusual but very good blend.

Leo Steen Cellars: As always Chenin Blanc was the highlight of the tasting. Amazing what he does with this grape

2016 Peabody Chenin Blanc Norgaard Vineyard: Apple, citrus, savory notes, bracing acidity, mouthwatering. Wild side of chenin, no sulfur. Very Good

2015 Chenin Blanc Saini Vineyard: Pear, apple skin, quince, good acidity, nice texture, good balance.

Martha Stouman Wines: Very nice debut of wines. Very much enjoyed speaking with her.

2015 Carignan Venturi Vineyard: Restrained expression of carignan, red cherry, spicy, bit of clove and herbs.

2015 Nero d’Avola Benson Ranch: Very expressive red fruit and herb aroma, burst of red cherry fruit, earth, herbs and spice. Bright acidity, screams for food, pizza anyone. Very Good

Matthiasson: I don’t have notes for the wines but did mark “good” for the White and Ribolla. Sorry about that.

2014 White Wine Ryans and Vare Vineyard
2014 Ribolla Gialla Oak Knoll Vineyard

Rootdown Wine Cellars: Very nice set of wines from Rootdown, the roses are top notch. Owner, winemaker Mike Lucia is a super nice guy.

2016 Rose Trousseau St Amant Vineyard: Strawberry, melon, savory, good acidity. Very Good

2016 Rose Mourvedre Dry Bone Vineyard: Strawberry, blood orange, bit earthy. Very Good

2016 Mourvedre Dry Bone Vineyard: Interesting to taste the wine from the same vineyard as the rose. Expressive red cherry, earthy, violets and spice. Good potential.

Ruth Lewandowski: Only tasted one of three wines but the potential is obviously here

2015 Chillion Cuvee Zero Cortese Fox Hill Vineyard. Speaking with Evan Lewandowski (owner, winemaker) this was 6 months on the skins. Had my spit cup ready.
Surprise, Full flavors of peach, apricot, floral, spicy, good acidity, bit of tannin, Very Good.

Unti Vineyards: Only tasted two wines here but both were nice. Also good values.

2016 Cuvee Blanc Unti Vineyard: Citrus, apple, pear, stones and minerals. Good acidity. Nice wine.

2015 Barbera Unti Vineyard: Cherry and cherry pit, herbs, spice and good acidity. Nice finish.


In summary an excellent tasting that I always look forward to. There were many wineries I missed. Although not tasted at the 7% tasting I recently tasted the wines of Wind Gap and Ryme at Open House events and can vouch for the wines from both wineries. The others we will get to either during the rest of 2017 or at next years Seven % Solution.

Tom

Damn, I wanted to go to this so bad but it was my Grand-Son’s 1st Birthday Party that day. Hopefully there are no conflicts next year (HVS Tour/Dinner) because this has been on my radar since the first iteration.

Thanks for all the notes Tom, very much appreciated!

Thanks for posting your notes, Tom! Very nice impressions of the wines that really helps to get a sense of what they’re like.

Seven % Solution may be my favorite annual Bay Area wine event - I wish I could have made it on Saturday but I was out of town. I’ve been fortunate to taste wines from many of these producers on other occasions over the past year but it’s a treat to be able to sample all these wines at a single event.

With so many interesting grape varieties from many regions, lots of them should be able do well and produce excellent wine in various parts of California. There’s no reason to restrict California wine to just the better-known Bordeaux or Burgundy varieties, and there are limited growing areas here that are particularly well-suited to those varieties anyway. Not all of the “other” varieties will succeed here, but here’s to all the growers and vintners willing to take a chance on them and expand the diversity of California wine.

Brian, do try to make next years tasting. It is a real eye opener as to what is possible with wine in California. Based on your tasting notes, I think it is something you will thoroughly enjoy.

Tom

Ken, totally agree that the 7% tasting is the best, most diversified tasting around. You summed up the ability to make fine wines from these varieties in California really well. Plus, if you do have some of these wines in your cellar (we do), it is a great opportunity to see where they are at, how they are evolving etc.

Tom

I was impressed by the overall quality at this tasting.
Personal favs were Ruth Lewandowski, Martha Stouman, D and R and the Rootdown Mourvèdre. But I can’t think of a single wine at this tasting that I would not be pleased to have a bottle of with dinner. And that has never happened before.
Best, jim

Too bad Hardy/D&R didn’t have his Furmint there to taste. It’s shockingly good.
Tom

Jim, agree, quality and breadth of wine at this tasting was impressive. Also enjoyed chatting with you before and during the event.

Tom, Hardy had a ton of goodies under the table, I commented on a few of them (Chenin, Skinner, Enz). The Cruse - D&R Furmint may have been there . I did taste that wine at the pick up and agree it is unique.

Tom

BTW, Tom - you commented on the A-R Falanghina and I wanted to mention a couple of other wines from the variety that you may be interested in checking out. Giornata in Paso Robles recently released a Falanghina that was fermented on the skins and then aged in a clay amphora and stainless steel. I tasted it a few weeks ago at the winery and really liked it - floral and savory. Pretty low production so I don’t know whether they’re sold out yet. Giornata’s current “Il Campo Bianco” wine is 50% each Falanghina and Pinot Grigio - lots of fruit but bright and fresh. Giornata poured at Seven % for one or two years but weren’t there this year.

Thanks Ken, good info. Been wanting to try some of Giornata Cal-Ital wines. The Giornata Falanghina sounds like a winner.

Tom

I am very grateful for your notes, Tom!!

There are many wines listed here that I would love to try, seeing as I am a sucker for Carignan and Mourvedre!

The Root Down wines appear to be solely available at retail, if their website is understood.

The Dirty & Rowdy “Enz Vineyard” Mourvedre is bound to be a phenomenal bottle of wine!

Drew,
You may want to hear Hardy tell about his vinification of the Enz wine. I don’t remember all of it but I realized when he was explaining just how much of his philosophy goes into his technique.
It will need time (and won’t be released for awhile) but I think you’re right.
Best, jim

Stupid question, but why “7”%?

Not a stupid question at all, Markus. From a Grape-Nutz write-up I did for an earlier Seven % Solution tasting:

According to the information provided by the event organizers, just eight grape varieties comprise about 93% of winegrape acreage planted in Northern California – the idea of this tasting was to highlight the other 7%, many of them lesser-known varieties.

And also:

I did think the name of the event was a curious choice – as fans of mystery fiction may know, “Seven Percent Solution” refers to the cocaine that detective Sherlock Holmes was supposed to have regularly injected. Will we become hooked on these wines made from lesser-known California grape varieties? Based on the wines I tasted at this event, I’d say the answer is elementary – it’s a distinct possibility!

Ken, thanks so much for posting about this. After I saw your post, I made plans to taste at Giornata a few days ago on a quick visit to Paso Robles, and it was a highlight. Brian graciously opened quite a few bottles for us after we had called last minute and it was really educational and fun, and we really enjoyed the wines. They seem really passionate about Italian wine varietals as a good fit for the Paso Robles area and terroir, and as a fit for Italian food (they had a staff member/assistant, Michele? who was there making ravioli with Brian’s daughters in the adjacent barrel room, and they were saying that Michele would be opening an Italian restaurant in the area soon, which sounded exciting). What was really interesting was when I mentioned how people on this board like Kevin Harvey had talked about the temperatures being the key to matching the Nebbiolo growing regions of Italy, Brian was saying he thought soil pH was more of the key factor. Anyways, it was a really fun visit and I appreciated the heads up.

This does sound like a wonderful tasting and I love the general concept.

One thing to note though - this really is more about North Coast Producers and there are very few wines included from the Santa Barbara or Paso area.

I know that it’s a challenge to include everyone, but there certainly are beautiful examples of a lot of these 7% varieties that are produced down here

Cheers.

Larry, with your reply you came up with a great idea. Why not form a Seven % Solution “South” that could include wineries from Santa Barbera area, Paso area etc.

You do realize that you have several wines that would be eligible .

A lot of work to try and form the group, find a place to hold the tasting etc, for sure it would be difficult but I bet it would be successful. Too many great wineries “down south” for it not to succeed.

Tom

Well, it is organized by a wine bar (Bergamot Alley) in Healdsburg, so it’s natural they’d have a somewhat local focus. There’s no reason there can’t be similar events elsewhere.

Glad that you had a chance to stop in at Giornata - really nice folks, and they’re making some of the best wines from Italian grape varieties in California.

The logistics of holding this tasting obviously limit the number of producers there, and Wes’ point about that is a good one. I’ve noted more than once that the producers who pour there probably represent 7% of the 7% - really just the tip of the iceberg with respect to wines made from these less widely-planted grape varieties in California, probably even considering just northern California. Regardless, it’s a terrific group of vintners who do pour at the Seven % Solution tasting.