The Eloquence of California-French

     In the language of wines, the eloquence of California-French is beautifully expressed in three wines I tasted from Paso Robles. These are rich, provocative wines of incomparable style. Each one is emblematic of the term, California-French as an apt description of their unique character. They are alluring wines possessing the delicate balance of tannins and acids of French wines and the distinctive rich texture of wines from Paso Robles. They are decidedly—California-French!

Bernard and Stephan Asseo, Winemaker

     The 2006, Estate Cuvée from L’Aventure is a wine of singular character and style. It is a unique blend of 49% Syrah (a mainstay of the Rhone Valley) and 37% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Petit Verdot (staples of the Bordeaux region), defying comparisons to wines from the Rhone Valley and Bordeaux, France. On the nose there are enticing aromas of black tea, currant and smoke. These same wonderful aromas are transformed onto the palate as titillating taste sensations for added pleasure. L’Aventure’s Estate Cuvée is a well-balanced, luscious wine to compliment juicy steaks, hearty beef stews and other robust beef dishes.

     Another full-bodied California-French gem from Paso Robles is the 2006 Cuvée des Trois Cépages (Vintage of Three Types of Vines) from RN Estate Vineyards. This wine is a classic blend of varietals used in making wine on the left bank of the Gironde River in Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The Cuvée des Trois Cépages “feels” heavier in the mouth than most Bordeaux blends; with rich black cherry flavors and hints of black tea and currant that coat the palate from the first sip to the last

mouthful. The tannins and acids are very well balanced, with a touch more tannin than acid, which is just as it should be for a wine with this blend of grapes. The “feel” and texture of the Cuvée des Trois Cépages is that of a more mature wine. Layered with nuances of black fruit and subtleties of non-fruit flavors, it is a sensuous taste adventure for oenophiles and novices alike. Savor this big wine with beef, steaks and other robust dishes such as braised leg of lamb.

     Completing our trio of singular wines from Paso Robles is the 2006, Cote de Tablas Blanc, from Tablas Creek Vineyards. This is an intriguing white wine, blended with organically grown Rhone Valley varietals: Viognier, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. On the palate luscious tropical fruit acids coalesce with rich butterscotch flavors, thrilling the palate with unexpected taste sensations from a white wine. The Cote de Tablas Blanc is a flavor-rich sipping wine to relish alone or with rich oily fish such as Chilean Sea Bass or Monkfish.

 California-French wines, such as these defy the comparative labels attributed to them as “Rhone Clones” and “Bordeaux blends”. With their tantalizing layers of flavor and rich textures they are anything but clones of something else or “just like” other wines. They are uniquely California-French!

Road Less Traveled Part III

The Dawning of California-French Wines

     A glass of wine is an enticing collection of flavors waiting to unfold on our palates. With each sip, our taste buds are awash with the fruit flavors, acids and tannins that titillate our senses. Every mouthful reveals a wine’s individual style, structure and character that either reaffirms our expectations of a certain type of wine or creates a new standard by which we will judge other similar wines in the future. Then there are wines that are so unique, so individualistic that when we have them it is as if we have never sipped this type of wine before. This is what I experienced on a road less traveled.

     While tasting over two hundred different wines, from over thirty wineries and vineyards along the winding backs roads of Paso Robles California I came upon the unexpected, an uncommon reward for my efforts—a new style of wine. These wines evoked such new taste sensations that the usual comparisons with other such wines were inadequate. As a way of setting these sumptuous Paso Robles wines apart from what others “label” as “Rhone Clones” or “Bordeaux Blends” I created a new term, California-French to exemplify their unique individuality. Referring to these wines as “clones” of the Rhone Valley or merely “blends” from the grapes used in Bordeaux is inaccurate. They are wines with exceptional richness and texture, in a class by themselves.

     Wine producing countries, states and regions all have, what I call “personalities” or certain taste sensations that are associated with and expected from their wines. Good examples of wines from the Rhone Valley in France, such as Cote du Rhone, are light to moderate in body with mildly spicy fruit flavors, low tannins and moderate acids. Typical wines from Bordeaux on the other hand, will have more body, noticeable tannins, moderate acids and fruit flavors that are reminiscent of currants as well as non-fruit flavors such as smoke, tobacco or chocolate. Referring to a particular wine as a Rhone Clone or Bordeaux Blend, with similar taste characteristics as those from these two French wine producing regions, is a popular and until now an accurate way of describing such wines. That was before I tasted wines from three vineyards in Paso Robles California. Each vineyard produced wines of such unmatched style and character that they demanded their own unique descriptive category, hence the term—California-French.

Next month we will “taste” the wines and meet the vintners and vineyard owners of these extraordinary wines.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. By Robert Frost