The Road Less Traveled Part 2 - The Rule Breakers!

According to the dictionary, the word “rule” is defined as, “prescribed guides of conduct or actions”. Rules give us a sense of security and create order in an otherwise insecure and often chaotic world. In a society, for instance the “rule of law” establishes proper behavior for everyone to live by. “Rules of thumb” are markers or standards to help us make decisions. There are also rules that we make ourselves to determine what to expect from others and the best way to evaluate certain products. For example, “as a rule” people who lie cannot be trusted and custom-made is better than mass-produced; items that cost more are usually better than those for much less money and so on.

When it comes to wine, I have very definite “rules” that guide my judgments and influence my purchasing decisions. One of these rules is that the better wines will normally come from winemakers who meticulously watch over the vines, personally supervise or handpick only the finest grapes from their own vineyard. This stems from the belief that when winemakers use grapes from their own vineyard they can select the best grapes for their wine, which they are not necessarily able to do if they purchase grapes from someone else’s vineyard.

My other rule is not to waste my money on wine made from grapes varietals, indigenous to other countries, produced here. I have tried many wines from such as Spain’s Tempranillo and Italy’s Sangiovese, produced in California without success. In the past, these rules have kept me from wasting my wine budget on certain domestic wines and enabled me to get the best value for my money.

In part one of “The Road Less Traveled” series; we discovered very good wines from a group of “Not-Your-Typical Winemakers”. In this installment, we are going to meet two winemakers who are breaking my “rules” with such stunning success that I am obliged to mention them as the “exceptions” to the rule in my wine classes.

Michael Barreto's Wines

The first “rule-breaker” is Michael Barreto, an affable young man who has been making wine since 1999. Unlike the “not-your-typical-winemakers” in part one, most of Michael’s education and work experience involves wine and winemaking. In 2002, Michael and his wife Joey established Barreto Cellars to produce wines featuring the native grape varietals of Portugal, where Michael’s family is from, and Spanish varietals. .

There are no flowery descriptions of Barreto Cellars vineyards to share; no picturesque scenery or quaint home overlooking a valley—just great wine. All the grapes in Barreto Cellars wines are purchased from other Paso Robles vineyards, which makes Michael and Joey’s accomplishments that much more outstanding. Not only are they producing very good wine from grape varietals grown on “foreign” soil, they do not own the vineyards where these grapes are grown. I had tasted other wines made from Tempranillo by other California producers, who did own the vineyard where the grapes were grown and they were not worth the money or simply not pleasant. Then I met Michael Barreto.
Part of Michael’s concept for Barreto Cellars is to “produce wines for an entire meal”, he said during our interview. In keeping with that philosophy, Barreto Cellars produces a very nice, crisp Verdelho, a white wine made from a Portuguese grape varietal to start a meal. There are two red wines for the main course; the first is a Tempranillo. The 2004 Tempranillo I tasted had a pleasant raspberry aroma on the nose, a good balance of acids and tannins with spicy chocolate flavors. It was richer than most imported Spanish Tempranillos but still maintained the grapes basic fruity characteristics. The other red, the 2004 Vinho Tinto consists of grape varietals native to Spanish and Portugal, then barrel aged for sixteen months and bottle aged for an additional twelve. It is a complex, full-bodied wine with rich chocolate cocoa flavors—a hearty, wine lovers wine. Completing the Barreto Cellars “wine meal” philosophy, is a delicious “Port” styled wine with spicy aromas of currant on the nose that is rich and mellow to taste. This fortified wine is wonderful way to top off any meal or just sip for the pleasure of it.

Without realizing it, Michael Barreto has broken two rules that I have held near and dear to me for quite some time. Broken rules not withstanding, my wine chiller now includes some very enjoyable wines, made from Spanish and Portuguese grape varietals from Barreto Cellars.

John Backer - August Ridge

The next rule-breaker is just as pleasant a surprise as Michael Barreto is with an Italian varietal. The Sangiovese is the primary grape of Italy’s highly regarded Tuscany wine region. During my visit to Paso Robles, I tasted countless numbers of wine made from this grape by other producers. Some were better than others were but mostly they were all not worth their premium price tag compared to the less expensive Sangiovese wines from Italy. That was until I tasted the estate grown Sangiovese from August Ridge Wineries in Paso Robles.

My enthusiasm for this wine is unbridled. It is lush and opulent with a distinctive style of its own. It is also fuller and richer than any wine I have had from Tuscany and is still very much a Sangiovese, a flavorful wine for pizza, pasta, veal and beef. The Sangiovese from August Ridge is an elegant wine, reminiscent in many ways of an Italian opera—dramatic and very entertaining.

In 2001, John Backer and his wife Jill Zamborelli Backer purchased their forty-acre vineyard in Paso Robles to grow Italian grape varietals and make wine that would combine the rich, robust character of California with the sophistication of European wines. Their Sangiovese not only accomplishes their goal but also creates a new description for Sangiovese that is, “distinctively August Ridge of Paso Robles”—bravo!

In our final installment of “The Road Less Traveled”, we will meet winemakers who are creating a new style of wine, California-French. Until then remember, sometimes the best rules are the ones that are broken.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the dierence.  By Robert Frost