A very informative evening last night as Mike Weersing of Pyramid Valley Vineyards in New Zealand stopped by Solano Cellars (where I work part-time) and poured a few wines. I came away mightily impressed by the wines and wowed by Mike himself. Without a doubt the best proponent and explainer of biodynamic practices I've encountered, indeed he claimed that if it came down to choosing between making wine non-biodynamically and growing something else biodynamically, he'd choose the latter. A wellspring of information on all sorts of topics, it was fascinating to hear him talk about the aging of wine, wine closures (who thought that moribund topic could still be fascinating!), cold stabilization, sulfur, and, it seemed, dozens of other topics. Wow! He studied in Burgundy in the early 1990s and picked up an appreciation for the biodynamic approach as he tasted his way around, including stints working with Hubert de Montille in Burgundy, Deiss and Kreydenweiss in Alsace, and Ernst Loosen in the Mosel.
I didn't make notes of vintages and such, but the first wine, I believe was his Riverbrook Riesling, which was spectacular—refreshing and a favorite among attendees. The Kerner Estate Pinot Blanc was unusually full of character and had a touch of spice for a pinot blanc. Very interesting. The Hille Dry Semillon is a wine I've had before and I love, but it certainly is a love-it-or-hate-it in the reactions it produces. Very aromatic and very spicy with tons of flavor but very little residual sugar apparent to me. I loved it for its differentness but others found it to be a bit much. We've had the Eaton Family Pinot Noir on the bar over the last week at Solano and it is a crowd pleaser for sure. Richness balanced by great drinkability. I think this wine is outstanding and perfect for drinking now. I mean, right now! The Calvert Pinot Noir offers a deal more structure and is nowhere near as giving at the moment—feels like it is on a slow trip somewhere. A wine that needed more attention than a comparative tasting offered. The two homevinyard pinot noirs, the Angel Flower Pinot Noir and the Earth Smoke Pinot Noir sparked all sorts of interesting conversations with Mike. First of all the cloudy appearance of the wines opened a discussion on how many things modern producers of wine will do to their wine just for the sake of appearance, stabilization, filtration and the like. None of that here (and I think the pinot blanc was throwing harmless tartrate crystals as well). Then a discussion of the labels and the names. The labels for all of these wines are beautiful. Sort of botanical drawings of cuttings of the vines for the grape varieties within. Reminded me of the artwork in the Chez Panisse cookbooks and indeed that is where Mike got the idea (and the artist!). But the names and the drawings on the two homevineyard pinots aren't the grapes at all. When deciding how to name the two pinots from adjoining plots, Mike and his wife were pretty directly connected with the soil itself, as the biodynamic practices had them at ground level and they were intimately familiar even with the two different weeds that dominated the two different parcels. So the drawings are beautiful depictions of weeds and the names Angel Flower and Earth Smoke are derivations of the names of those weeds! Which somehow doesn't prevent the association for me of the Angel Flower being lighter and more elegant and the Earth Smoke being darker and more concentrated. But don't trust me. In any case, these two wines which were pretty much identical in every way (which is another great conversation to have with Mike) were two phenomenal and distinctive wines. I can't overemphasize the degree of class to these wines. The Hille Late Harvest Semillon was probably the only wine that really didn't wow me in any way, certainly correct and without fault, but it just lacked interest for me (that the dry version had in spades). Questions about what wines he chooses to produce brought forth the bottle of Howell Family Cabernet Franc and another great discussion of how Mike and his wife seek out growers of the offbeat and underappreciated grapes amongst his neighbors—including a recent addition of Savignin Gris from someone who thought they had bought Gewurztraminer from the local nursery! This wine was pleasant and Mike thought it had stuffing to go the distance, but right now there is fruit aplenty which is pleasant enough.
Fantastic to have the opportunity to meet and talk with someone so passionate, informed and incredibly gifted as a winemaker—reminds me why I enjoy this so much as a hobby. For anyone in the Bay Area, Mike will be pouring again at Arlequin Wine Merchant in San Francisco on Thursday—if you haven't met Mike and shared his wines, it's a great opportunity!