Last weekend Paul and Stef of Stefania Wine asked for volunteers to help out at the Chaine d'Or vineyard in Woodside, so on a glorious Sunday morning I drove up to lend a hand. Chaine D'or is located close to the junction of 84 and 35 (Skyline). It's a pretty 2 acre vineyard on a south facing slope, planted in 1987. The upper and lower blocks are Chardonnay, with a block of Cabernet in between. It is laid out in rows running north-south at the top, gradually curving to almost east-west in the lower part. The vineyard uses the Vertical Shoot Position trellising system which originated in France and is now common practice, particularly up in Napa and Sonoma, but at the time its use in California was considered novel. In Chaine d'Or there is a single lower wire around 3' off the ground to which the vine's cordons are trained. Above it are two pairs of catch wires which are fixed (in some vineyards they can be raised and lowered, but not here) and at the top, around 7' up there's a single wire that the vine's tendrils can latch on to.
The rootstock is unknown; it was whatever the nursery had in at the time. Paul's guess was St. George since that was popular then, though the leaves don't seem to match.

View of Chaine d'Or vineyard looking south. Morning fog burning off the mountains.

I arrived a little after 9AM. The crew had already started; some had been there since early morning. We were tucking the vine shoots under the catch wires as well as removing suckers and shoots without any clusters. (The grapes are fed by the leaves further down the shoot; any shoots without fruit simply use up nutrients and water.)
As you can see by the first picture, left untouched the vines will grow in all directions and their tendrils will wrap around those of vines in the next row, making passage difficult. This also provides an environment where powdery mildew can proliferate. Once tucking is complete the vines can be treated by spraying with organic sulphur.

Finished rows of vines. Workers and tractors can move easily between the rows.

Suckers are shoots emanating from the base of the plant.
In this case the sucker is coming from below the graft,
so the leaves are those of the original rootstock (left).
Compare size and shape that of the grafted Chardonnay.

Vineyard work is, like most forms of farming, pretty laborious. The essential tools are sunscreen and water; a hat is advisable and pruning shears come in handy.

The job was straightforward; feed the flexible shoots under the two sets of catch wires and point them at the upper wire. The shoots are flexible and rarely break by accident, unlike the brittle stems of many garden plants like tomatoes. It all seems very simple and relaxing; just you, the vines, a nice warm day and the constant scream of motorcycles tearing up and down Skyline; it sounded more like Laguna Seca than sleepy Woodside. The work doesn't seem particularly strenuous, but I certainly noticed the effects in my back and shoulders later that evening!

The vines were on the whole looking healthy; most of them are over 20 years old and a few are showing signs of common diseases, such as shoots with red, shriveled leaves.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a later maturing grape,
so it was largely unaffected by the weather;
the clusters looked to be in much better shape.

Sadly the Chardonnay crop appeared to be exceptionally small; it's doubtful that there will be enough fruit for a commercial release.

It may surprise some of  you to know that this year's crop is not determined by the weather at the time of flowering (though obviously that can have an effect) but by the weather the previous spring. That's when the buds which would produce this year's crop developed. Spring 2010 was particularly cold, with lots of late frost, and it's likely that Chardonnay yields across the state will be significantly lower in 2011.

We called a halt at around 2PM after a good 4 hours of work. We still hadn't quite finished; there were a few rows left, but Paul's day crew would take care of them the following morning.

Overall it was an enjoyable way to spend a summer morning, but for a deskbound computer geek like me it's hard to imagine doing this on a daily basis. The next time you look at a neatly manicured vineyard remember that it doesn't get that way by itself; spare a thought for the humble labourers, and raise a glass to them.

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Following the visit to Varner (see previous post) our group called in at Chaine d'Or. Paul poured a few barrel samples of the 2009 and 2008 vintages.

2009 Syrah, Split Rail Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains Barrel sample
Since the beginning Stefania have been looking for a local source for Syrah, and have found an excellent one in the Split Rail vineyard.
The nose is savoury, with soy, smoke and black fruit. It's rich and intense; lots of black fruit and white pepper, with a touch of liquorice on the finish. Delicious, even at this early stage.

2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Chaine d'Or Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains Barrel sample
The Chaine d'Or vineyard is in a particularly cool microclimate; as a result the wines are very strucured and take a while to come round. The 2009 has a nose that's somewhat old world, with earthy, meaty and forest notes, with some smoke. In the mouth it's tight with black fruit and lots of tannin especially on the finish. It's going to need at least 5 years.

2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Crimson Clover Vineyard, Santa Clara Valley Barrel sample
The Crimson Clover Vineyard will replace Uvas Creek as Stefania's source for Santa Clara Valley cabernet. The vineyard is located in the same vicinity and is farmed by Paul and Stef. The nose is elegant and dusty; on the palate there's rich blackcurrant fruit with, biscuit and herbal notes on the finish. It's a big, rich
new world wine in stark contrast to the Chaine d'Or Vineyard.

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains Barrel Sample
This is the final blend, returned to barrel prior to being bottled. At the moment it's pretty tight; the nose was showing some earthy black fruit, but not much. There's the typical blackcurrant, eucalyptus and menthol from previous vintages, with good structure and a long finish.

If you're already on the Stefania mailing list these should be no-brainer purchases. If you aren't on the list then you should be; I don't know of anyone making better wines anywhere in California at this price point.

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I normally begin my posts with a brief overview of the winery in question, but for Stefania I've already said everything there is to say. Instead I'll start this one with a whole slew of disclosures: these wines were received as trade samples and were not tasted blind. Add to that the fact that Paul and Stef are friends, I've been a fan of their wines since release and have purchased every wine they have released to date.

Okay, so with that out of the way, what do we have? The Stefania Spring release comprises a brace of Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignons. One is a blend from several vineyards that Paul and Stef manage, together with a significant portion from Harvest Moon/Martin Ranch. As you'll know from my previous post this vineyard is located in a valley at the south-east end of the appellation.

By contrast, the other wine is from the Chaine d'Or Vineyard in Woodside. This is at the northern end of the AVA, not far from the historic La Questa vineyard and close to Summit Road. It's significantly cooler up there. So what we have is a quite interesting contrast. I therefore decided to open the wines side by side and drink them over two nights. The bottles were recorked but not refrigerated.

2007 Stefania Cabernet Sauvignon, Chaine D'Or Vineyard
Not decanted. On first opening all I got was oak; it took quite some time before the fruit started to show on the nose, along with some smoke. Similarly on the palate the first impression was of tartness, austerity and light weight. Over the next hour it loosened up to reveal complex black fruits - cherry, currant and berry with fine tannins.

On day two the nose had earth, oak and fruit right from the start. It seemed to have significantly more weight than before, good blackcurrant and black cherry flavours with fresh earthy notes. A light and elegant wine. I'd give this at least 5 years. 91+ $24

2007 Stefania Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains
Not decanted. This has a lot more fruit on the nose. It's smoother, fuller bodied and significantly more opaque than its sibling, with plenty of up-front black fruit. Over the next hour it seemed to tighten up; the tannins and oak became more pronounced.

On day two it was much the same story; some more smoke on the nose, brambles, blackcurrant and mint, good structure. Drinking nicely now, but will certainly last a while. 92 $40

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Having opened two of the recent Stefania releases you knew it was only a matter of time before I got to the last one, the Chaine d'Or vineyard Chardonnay.

Chaine d'Or vineyard, pictured above, is located off Highway 84 in Woodside, to the east of Skyline Drive. It's a little over an acre on a cool southerly slope. The vines were planted a little over 20 years ago by Jerry and Anne Anderson in the grounds of their home. The Andersons made wine under the Chaine d'Or label for many years, but have now retired and the vineyard and winery is now managed by Paul and Stef Romero. The old Chaine d'Or label has largely been discontinued in favour of the Stefania label, though a few cases are still marked the old way for some older restaurant clients.

I don't normally decant white wines, but I did with this as it's so young and I wanted to see what the air did to it. Initially the nose was quite floral; with time it showed more of a lime character. On the palate it had lots of chalky minerality, flavours of green apple, hints of butterscotch and a creamy mouthfeel. I'm assured that it sees 75% new oak, but you wouldn't think so from the way it tastes. It continues to remind me of Cooper Garrod's Gravel Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay, and to a degree of Clos LaChance's Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay. While it's probably my least favourite of the Stefania range, it's a nice example of a Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay, and a pleasant change from the butterball style. 89

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