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 It's all about the vineyard, a magical, 60-acre parcel that sets tongues a-wagging and grown men a-drooling when they hear the name: Hayne Vineyard. (The drooling gets worse when they actually taste the wine that comes from this vineyard.)
Wine geeks have been known to order whatever else Turley Wine Cellars wants to sell them in order to get just one bottle at release of its famed Hayne Vineyard Zinfandel whose fruit comes from a teensy part of this 60-acre plot.
And now, the really good news: other members of the Hayne family have decided to start bottling the fruit from their own 15-acre corner of this near-legendary vineyard on the southwestern fringe of St. Helena and it is stunning, awesome, powerful — but better yet — balanced wine. And if that isn't enough to turn your head, it's half the price of Turley!
Despite the last name, Andy and Pam Simpson are fifth generation Haynes. Andy's grandfather, Francis Bourn… was the son of Maude Hayne… who was the daughter of the lady who started it all… Sarah Esther Chase… who bought this 60-acre plot in 1874. Whew! This family genealogical thing can wear you out, but let us assure you, not much has changed here other than generations of Hayne.
The vines are still gnarly, now 100-years-old,
head-pruned and still dry-farmed (not irrigated).
Andy is a civil engineer in his own practice in St. Helena so he graciously offered Pam, a veteran of the political campaign trail, to take the reins of their start-up winery on family land. Previously, the fruit from Pam and Andy's plot was sold to Martini… then for a time to Mondavi… and when the couple saw how popular Larry Turley had made the Hayne Vineyard, they decided to give Zin a spin.
Chase Family Cellars 1999, 2000 and 2001 vintages were custom-crushed elsewhere in Napa Valley, but the 2002 vintage (which is stupendous out of the barrel even after just 4 months) became their first home-made effort. And on release, if it's anything like the 2000 vintage which is currently available, it'll not just be home-made wine, it'll be home-run-wine.
Pam used to run around trying to scour up 5,000 souls to attend a political rally for a presidential candidate she was working for; now she runs around trying to find barrels, bung stoppers and bottles. "I think it was easier rounding up 5,000 people on a moment's notice!" she remarks.
Easier, yes, but not as rewarding. The couple renovated an old garage, turning it into a barrel-aging room. "Anyway you look at it, it's still a garage," says Pam. But Andy and I spent so much money insulating and fixing it up that we now call it our 'Garage Mahal.'"
Zinfandel is such a capricious grape; in one winemaker's hands it is thick in flavor and texture, meaty and sauvage, as in Charter Oak Winery; in other hands it exhibits high-octane (high alcohol), highly extracted, late-harvested, Port-like aromas and flavors; one thinks of Turley Wine Cellars in this connection. And at other times it is silken and rapturously balanced (here one thinks of the benchmark Zinfandel of Dry Creek, Sonoma County — Rafanelli).
Chase Family Cellars has a bit of the best of all these wines and winemakers' styles. It is a food friendly wine, it is not over-extracted, the fruit is not prunish or raisin-y from late harvest; it is not over-the-top alcoholic and, Thank God!, it is not over-oaked.
"We want the fruit to speak," says Andy, and he and Pam have encouraged their winemaker, Bill Ballentine, to let it speak loudly and clearly.
Visitors to Napa Valley who may wish to visit Chase Family wines
need to make an appointment; please call 707-963-1284 and speak
with Pam. And when you're on site… don't trip over the kids'
bicycles which may be parked just about anywhere around the
winery!
2000 Chase Family Cellars, St. Helena, Hayne Vineyard
Robust aromas of earth, dust and black fruit; on the palate, there is a cornucopia of rich, ripe blackness — blackberries, black currant, black raspberries and black cherries. Very much the Hayne character coming through. In the middle palate, there are field flavors, spices, and almost-but-not-quite cloves. This is a wine that paradoxically has power and restraint; it is beautifully balanced. On the finish, there are hints of cocoa, which become more evident if the wine is allowed to breathe for 30 minutes. But who among us can ever wait that long…?
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ilovenapa.com Rating:
$36 |
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