Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Two Shepherds 2017 Cinsault Ancient Vine

Written by Allison Levine on June 12, 2019

Wine

It is possible you have not heard of the grape Cinsault. A dark-skinned grape, it is typically blended with Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre in a Southern Rhone blend. It is rather uncommon to find Cinsault produced as a single-varietal wine but one winery is producing it. Two Shepherds, based in Sonoma, California, produces a single bottling of Cinsault and it is so delicious, the Two Shepherds 2017 Cinsault Ancient Vine is the Please The Palate Wine of the Week.

Wine blogger turned winemaker William Allen is the owner and winemaker of Two Shepherds, along with his partner Karen Daenen. Allen started making wine in his garage and began commercial production in 2010, producing 175 cases. Today he makes approximately 1500 cases per year, but each wine under the Two Shepherds label is a small lot of 25-200 cases each.

Two Shepherds specializes (primarily) in Rhone varieties. Allen seeks out cool climate vineyards, old vine vineyards and unique plantings. He approaches wine with minimal intervention, using native yeast, minimal SO2, whole clusters and neutral barrel fermentation and aging to produce unfiltered and unfined wines.

The Two Shepherds 2017 Cinsault Ancient Vine comes from the 135-year old Bechthold Vineyard in Lodi, which is believed to be the oldest surviving Cinsault Vineyard in the world. The vineyard is dry-farmed and organic and produces low yields. Allen handpicks the grapes which are whole cluster and foot tread. They are fermented with native yeasts and gently pressed to neutral barrels for 8 months of aging on the lees.

The Two Shepherds 2017 Cinsault Ancient Vine is a beautifully fresh and aromatic wine with notes of raspberries, cherries, violets, roses and pepper. It is elegant, fresh, crisp and light. And, add a little chill to it and it is all the better.

Only 125 cases are made of this wine. It can be found in local wine retailers or it can currently be found on the Two Shepherds website, where you will find it for $32. Order it today as it will soon only be available to Flock Club, their wine club, to members only. Of course, you can join the Two Shepherd Flock Club and you will not be disappointed!

Maude Journeys To Sonoma

Written by Allison Levine on May 28, 2019

Food Wine

In 2018, Maude Restaurant shifted the concept to highlight wine regions around the world. They covered Rioja, Burgundy, Central Coast, Piemonte in 2018 and started 2019 with Western Australia. When the Maude team picks their next location, the team (chefs and wine team) travel together for an immersive trip. They do this trip in secret as they do not let us, the customers, know what the next region is until one month prior to its launch. To date, most of the regions have been quite a distance from Los Angeles and the team has slipped away for up to a week to explore the region.

For the April – June menu, Maude ventured to Sonoma County. Sonoma, with its proximity to the Russian River and sixty miles of California coastline, was the inspiration for the spring menu.The team flew up on a Saturday night after service and spent a whirlwind weekend in Sonoma where they foraged, fished and learned about fermentation. They then created a menu retelling their experience to us.

Back in March, I attended an “Off the Menu” meal at Maude which was a sort of research and development of the Sonoma menu. Looking back and comparing the menus, I see the evolution of most of these dishes but for the Sonoma menu, the dishes were perfected and delicious.

Our meal began with the Biodynamic Preparation. Inspired by a visit to the winery Littorai, where winemaker Ted Lemon farms biodynamically, there were five small bites displayed on a wood and wire tray, similar to what is used in biodynamic farming. The amuses included an oyster with yarro root, tempura stinging nettle, ramps, soft kogi panna cotta and sourdough bread with oak bark butter.

The Garagiste Wine Festival Returns to Sonoma to Showcase 40 Micro-Production Winemakers

Written by Allison Levine on April 9, 2019

Lifestyle Wine

If you like to find the unknown winery, the small production winery or just meet new winemakers, then the Garagiste Festival is for you. Throughout the year, Garagiste Festival takes place in Paso Robles, Solvang, Los Angeles and now Sonoma. For the second time, Garagiste Festival returns to Sonoma on April 13th and I wrote about what you might and why you might want to go in my recent column in the Napa Valley Register which you can read here.

Everyone knows the riddle: “How do you make a small fortune in the wine industry? Start with a large one.”

The dream to own a winery and make wine can seem like a fantasy. Land costs in Napa and Sonoma are prohibitive when a vineyard in Napa will cost anywhere from $120,000 to more than $370,000 per acre and a vineyard in Sonoma can cost $70,000 to more than $150,000 per acre.

Even if you do not own a vineyard, buying quality fruit in Napa and Sonoma can be costly. In 2016, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon averaged $6,829 per ton and Sonoma Pinot Noir averaged $3,678 per ton. But, despite these costs, there are small winemakers out there who are striving to make the best wines possible, even without a venture capitalist behind them.