I taste a lot of wine, and it’s rare that I am moved to spend valuable time writing about it non-professionally. But I’ve been turning these wines around in my head for a week now, since having a rare and unusual opportunity to taste them, and well, I can’t get them out of my head and looking forward to tasting them again someday. So here goes.
Checkerboard Vineyard, on Diamond Mountain, made by Martha McClellan (Sloan, L&M, and more). This is the most interesting, complex, and tremendously good “new” Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine I have had in recent memory. Probably the last time I got so charmed was tasting the delicious Seven Stones a year ago or so.
There has been a decade of investment, planning and building to build Checkerboard, and the devotion the owners have to the property is obvious. They LOVE that property, and it is a wild and beautiful spot for sure…bears, bobcats, mountain lions, etc.
First: the vineyard. A patchwork of plots, all at high elevation (2000 ft. being the highest I believe), with a terrifying amount of rocks and deep mineral deposits (and a fair amount of ryalite which I have noticed viticulturists and winemakers seem to get very excited about when they see it in a vineyard). It is everything you want from “mountain vines” up there, I would think…just a perfect setting, steep and rocky, great sun exposure, meticulous viticulture…planted and replanted until everything was just right, with the ultimate goal of coming up with the absolute best raw material to make wine from. Mostly Cabernet with a smattering of other Bordeaux varietals. At that elevation, near the top of the range, they are in the sun when the valley is foggy, and 10-15 degrees cooler when its blazing hot below. Good stuff.
The winery and caves are state of the art, small but highly functional, but with no expense spared on equipment, Taransaud oak fermenters, etc. Martha is obviously a meticulous vineyard tender, and a perfectionist winemaker, which is clear from the final product that I tasted. Michel Rolland consults, as well. Which brings me to…
The Wine: Heavy? No no. Fruit bomb? No sir. Tough-as-nails Diamond Mountain beast? No. It’s difficult coming up with something to compare it to…my mind goes more to Bordeaux than California, I think of things like Angelus…or Pichon Lalande…but anyway, it is sort of regal, with that hard-to-define but you-know-it-when-you-taste-it sense of finesse. I tasted 6 wines, 07-09, and all carry the thread: elegance, finesse, medium, almost airey, delicate mouthfeel, minerals, ultra-fine tannin and multiple levels of mostly blue fruits. It has absolutely incredible length, too, and this probably clinched the deal for me. It goes on and on and on. It doesn’t feel heavy, or manipulated, has no hard edges yet maintains a kind of kingly structure. Just great. Super small production, only 200 cases or less, I believe.
Here’s another thing. The “second” wine, King’s Row I believe it is called, is nearly as good as the first wine. In my experience, that’s pretty rare. Anyone who’s had a bottle of Carruades de Lafite knows it is generally crushingly disappointing…! I don’t know what these will end up costing, but I can’t say enough about the quality of the second wine. The star is clearly Checkerboard, but man I’d be happy as hell with King’s Row too. Both have that wonderful looooong, layered finish, elegant but rich feel, minerality.
Anyway, that’s it. I think the first release is the 2007, I see RP gave it a 95, which is pretty right on (personally I’d go higher, esp. on the 09 I tasted). Mailing list only…checkerboardvineyards.com for a bit more info. Nice to see another kickass producer on Diamond Mountain.
-S
Disclaimer: I am a retailer and may or may not at some time in the future get some of this wine to sell, although I seriously doubt it based on the production (200 cases) and the mailing list factor. Although I may get it in cellars we buy etc. Just sayin. This is more of a “heads-up” if you like great Napa cab.