“Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking,” John Maynard Keynes, 1883-1946, In the New Statesman and Nation (July 15, 1933).
Back in the 1960s and ’70s, I used to take great delight in visiting the Heitz Winery tasting room on Highway 29 in the Napa Valley. Often, ol’ Joe manned the modest hut; he would dole out samples of his wares to you and measure your response. If you gushed with proper enthusiasm and sagacity, he would trot out his Big Gun – the prized Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, that dreamily deep and minty masterpiece. Ah, what a life, you’d think!
Winery tasting rooms can vary between quiet, intimate sampling affairs and raucous grab-a-thons, wherein one desperate taster would eagerly hope to enjoy even a dram of one of the winery’s hidden reserve jewels. Often, these same reserve wines would be available for purchase, particularly if you were properly enthused about its quality.
After trying the widely available Wild Horse wines and finding them to be soul satisfying and delightfully, dancingly deep, the winery was kind enough to send four tasting room wines my way. What unmitigated fun this was to take a front seat on winemaker Clay Brock’s Magical Bus!
Here are my tasting notes of these exceptional wines, using my normal “A”-“F” subjective scale. To my knowledge, all of these wines are available for purchase from the tasting room, or so the Web said (Gee – am I tempted to stretch my budget and grab some.):
1. 2009 Wild Horse Malvasia Bianca, San Bernabe, $20. Origin – Northwest coast of Italy. This had a pale and clear, almost white color with medium body. The nose trumpeted promising notes of melon and peach, hinting of sweetness to come. On the palate, it charged ahead with medium fruit, a tad of a surprise, gracefully easing into a dry, elegant finish. Great picnic wine! A-
2. 2009 Wild Horse Verdelho, Paso Robles, $22. Origin – Iberian peninsula. Barely off-white with heavy, almost cloying body. Faint, subtle nose carried whiffs of herbs and flowers. Lightly fruity middle with medium richness. Nice! A
3. 2009 Wild Horse Negrette, Calleri Vineyard, $26. These grapes originated from the Southwest of France in the Cotes du Frontannais region and are grown at 1100′ elevation. Pleasantly deep red/purple color with heavy body. The practically explosive nose delivered emphatic punches of violet and lavender. Elegant, long finish that begs for a rocking chair! A+
4. 2008 Wild Horse Blaufrankisch, Wild Horse Estate, $26. What – you say – I can’t begin to say this 10 times! (in Germany, this wine is known as Lemberger, for reasons that I cannot fathom). Inky, dark, brooding purple with heavy body. Deep, tremendously rich nose that almost seemed like a Hungarian wine. Rich, deeply fruity notes in the mouth galloped with abandon and no bitterness. Lingering, clean finish. No wimp, this race horse! A+
Today’s clear winner by more than a length was the mouth-filling Blaufrankisch. Clearly ready for the Derby.
Cheers to you, Clay Brock and crew!
