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The Americas Producers
Name: The Americas
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The Bond wines sit side-by-side with Bill Harlan’s lofty ambition to create a Napa Valley first-growth at Harlan Estate. Bond is an exploration of the diversity of the very best of Napa terroir, as expressed through Cabernet Sauvignon. The name Bond evokes the long-term alliance between the owners, growers and winemakers who have combined to made it possible. Vecina comes from east-facing terraces that get the full morning sun and a bracing dose of San Pablo Bay wind. On the other side of the valley, St Eden is from iron-rich volcanic soils, and tends towards the more opulent and exotic.
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Between LA and San Francisco, Santa Barbara County may not yet be as well known in wine terms as Napa or Sonoma, but it is an area very fast on the rise. It is already home to some extremely distinguished vineyards and wineries. It’s a diverse place, too; the eastern inland reaches are hotter and are most known for Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, while the west excels at cool climate, ocean-influenced Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
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Site selection, low yields, native yeasts, grapes grown from well-established vines on east-facing volcanic hillsides - Cristom gets everything right. From beginnings thirty years ago in a derelict barn in the Eola-Amity hills, this has become one of Oregon`s premier wineries, producing top-flight Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It was the vision of Paul Gerrie, an engineer brave enough to throw over the day job to pursue a love of Pinot Noir.
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From his cellar in Healdsburg, David Ramey sources fruit from some of the best vineyards up and down Napa and the Sonoma Coast. He spent sixteen years making wine in California before founding Ramey Wine Cellars; he`d been involved with a variety of prestigious estates, but it was during his stint at Dominus when owner Christian Moueix allowed him to make `a little Chardonnay on the side`. That was in 1996. By 2001 he had quit the day job and was dedicated full-time to Ramey Wine Cellars. Fast forward a bit more.
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When Ehren Jordan set up Failla with his wife Anne-Marie (it`s her maiden name), he was set on becoming one of California`s self-styled Rhone Rangers. He worked in the Rhone, though it is in his role at Turley Wine Cellars that we know him best. His track record there is indisputable. He is an autodidact who has learned more by doing rather than academic study. However the emphasis very quickly shifted to the potential of cold climate Burgundy varieties. -
Founded in 2001, Freeman Winery is the fruition of Ken and Akiko Freeman`s longstanding belief that California can produce Pinot Noir every bit as complex, age-worthy and eloquent as Burgundy`s best. Ken and Akiko visited 300 potential vineyard sites before settling on the redwood-ringed hillside estate they now occupy, just outside Sebastopol. They source fruit from some of the area’s best growers, from cool hillside sites in the Russian River Valley and remoter, rugged spots on Sonoma Coast.
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Grace Bridge is made by Scotto Family Cellars, who are by no means the biggest Californian producer, but aren`t the tiniest either. They have good vineyards and know how to manage them effectively too. Their wine benefits from economies of scale and they have chosen to produce Grace Bridge in a drinkable style, not dark coloured, jammy and overextracted.
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Occasionally in this job I`m tasting a range of wines from a producer I`ve never heard of and very quickly, in wine after wine I`m asking myself - so how the heck did they do this? Previous experience of Washington State wines was entirely of the mega estate kind, so I wasn`t prepared for the intensity and the freshness of Gramercy`s wines - nor for their vivid flavours and the sheer energy present in the glass.
