The Big Idea: Women at the Helm
A fresh generation of brilliant women are steering the wine industry, from small houses to the world’s most respected estates. This past year especially has seen exciting young, new executives and wine-makers taking the lead.
In Bordeaux, Saskia de Rothschild has become the first female chair of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), with eight industry-leading properties on three continents. At 34, she’s the youngest person now heading up a Grand Cru Bordeaux estate (you might have heard of it: Château Lafite Rothschild). She’s already making changes, such as farming completely organically this year for the first time. She’s also dusting off age-old practices for the Bordeaux region, shifting the 2019 en primeur tasting to a virtual one for select critics and buyers, but also using her background as a journalist to bring the region to life via social media and broaden the audience for the region’s wines.
When she first arrived at DBR, no women sat on the board or led any of the domaines. Now two do: the winemaker at Château l’Évangile and a head of R&D. Rothschild says, “This hasn’t been done consciously as positive discrimination. It happened because these women had the best profiles for these positions. It’s a sign of general change in the industry that we now have equal talent in both genders.”
Also in France, Vitalie Taittinger has taken over as president of the venerable Champagne Taittinger. Like Rothschild, she has been pushing for greater sustainability and organic farming, to great success. In California, Remi Cohen has been named CEO of Domaine Carneros, Taittinger’s West Coast sparkling-wine powerhouse.
That over half of the Domaine Carneros management team are women might make it seem like an incubator for a unique “female management style.” But Cohen pushes back on that question. “Some believe that women may be more empathetic. But that isn’t something I think about. Plenty of men have those characteristics, and many women don’t. What’s most important is a diverse leadership and team. Studies have shown that companies with people of diverse backgrounds tend to perform better and attract a broader customer base.”
In Sonoma, Hélène Seillan is now the leading hand on the ground for Vérité, having worked with her father, Pierre Seillan, who oversees Vérité as well as Château Lassègue in Saint-Émilion and Arcanum in Tuscany. At smaller estates around Napa and Sonoma, assistant winemakers are filling the pipelines for the future, and others are coming into their own, such as Laura Díaz Muñoz, at Ehlers Estate, who has forged a beautiful bottle of a varietal rarely experienced on its own, Petit Verdot. A certain willingness toward adaptation characterizes this new generation, and already the wines are better for it.
-
Winner: Harlan Estate 2017 Napa Valley
Image Credit: Jessica Miller When Bill Harlan acquired his first acres of raw land in the western hills of Oakville, with the vision of producing a wine that in time would be recognized among the first growths of the world, he didn’t rush. Along the way, Harlan (the wine and the vintner) might have inspired competition among Napa Valley reds that at its peak pushed past nuance for the sake of lushness and power. But for this vintner, it was never about explosive style. It was about the land, about slowly learning its requirements and expressions. “Much of the character of the wine comes from the fact that the vineyards are next to these wild lands, this forest,” says Harlan.
The Harlan Estate 2017 seems a vivid reflection of place, benefiting from those years of study and the age of the vines. Floral notes mingle with forest, tobacco, mint, spice and crushed rock, while mountain herbs season rich layers of cassis and dark mocha through an endless, elegant finish. It’s bold and structured (in fine-tannin style), but also seamless, fresh and graceful.
Winemaker Cory Empting describes the challenges of the 2017 season in three words: heat and fire. During the final, brutal heat of the summer, the vines shut down, and when the fog returned, sugars actually retreated as tannins ripened. He was given a second chance, harvest- ing most of the fruit at pinpoint ripeness before the devastating fires of October. His luck has become ours. $1,620
-
Champagne: Taittinger 2008 Comtes de Champagne; Sustainability: Ruinart Champagne
Image Credit: Jessica Miller Champagne: Taittinger 2008 Comtes de Champagne
It’s no real surprise that the effervescent winner this year hails from the 2008 harvest. That vintage continues to be one of the most outstanding of the millennium for Champagne. Taittinger extended the aging process for an extra two years for this bottle, with the result being that, much as we wanted to move on to the early issues of 2012s and the slew of non-vintage Champagnes that came this year, it was a 2008 that captured our palates once again.
Comtes de Champagne is Taittinger’s superlative expression: made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes from the coveted Côtes de Blancs and only in the best years, freeing it from overly tart influences of apple and lemon sometimes seen in Champagnes. It has just the right notes of toasty brioche, without veering into buttery tones, cut by the perfect degree of saline minerality. Its fine bubble is almost imperceptible. The wine’s delicate nature balances beautifully with powerful aromas of pear and orange blossom, while the hint of honey on the finish calls you to chase it with yet another sip. $240
Sustainability: Ruinart Champagne
For any brand mulling its carbon footprint, shipping eventually raises its polluting head. In wine, the problem is especially fraught: Protection can’t be compromised in the name of sustainability. Ruinart toiled for two years, creating seven prototypes before devising a solution with an innovative “second skin.” The molded paper shell serves as both a layer against the elements and an elegant dinner jacket. Made of cellulose fibers from eco-managed European forests, the skin is nine times lighter than previous gift boxes the wines were shipped in, which results in a 60 percent reduction in carbon emissions. It’s recyclable, obviously, while also enhancing the bottle’s elegant sensibility.
Its preservation chops impress as much as the eco stats. Wine needs safeguarding against light as well as bumps in the road. A new technique infused the cellulose with a natural metal oxide that reinforced opacity. The matte textured skin also resists water, maintaining its integrity in refrigerated shipping and even, for several hours, in a bucket of ice. As befits a Champagne maison, a discreet monogrammed “button” releases it into your grateful hands.
-
The Hat Trick: Penfolds
Image Credit: Jessica Miller In a year of many lows, Australia’s Penfolds managed a remarkable high: a trio of fine wines. To begin, in August of 2020, the producer issued g4, the second edition in its planned triumvirate of cuvées of its most collected Shiraz: Grange. Then it followed up with the 2016 Grange, which fast became a critical darling. Finally, in early spring, it launched four groundbreaking new bottles of its California Collection.
Each of the 2,500 bottles of g4 is numbered and has an elegantly simple label that’s a departure from a typical example of Grange. But this bottle is far from typical. Its tagline, “Greater than the sum of its parts,” is something that could be said of nearly any Penfolds wine, but it resonates as especially true of this mix of vintage years: 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2016. Chief winemaker Peter Gago says, “These four Grange vintages are among our favorites of the last two decades.” And we’d say their sum, in the shape of this g4, is among our favorite wines of the last two decades.
The California Collection debuted in early 2021, introducing two special bottles, designated as “wines of the world” for their inclusion of fermented juice made on two continents. The premium Quantum Bin 98 is made with Shiraz from Australia and Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, and the delicious all-Cab Bin 149 is named for the 14.9 percent of Aussie Cabernet in its blend. The two other bottles include fruit from multiple California AVAs—a rare practice Stateside— and Penfolds’ Shiraz cuttings planted in the US more than 20 years ago. Few producers could pull off such a hat trick in sequential years, let alone in a matter of eight months. 2016 Grange, $850; g4, $2,500; Quantum, $700; Bin 149, $149; Bin 704, $70; Bin 600, $50.
-
Pinot Noir: Beau Marchais 2019; Chardonnay: Kosta Browne 2018 El Diablo Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
Image Credit: Jessica Miller Pinot Noir: Beau Marchais 2019
When French winemakers set their sights on West Coast Pinot Noir, they usually land in Oregon, which aligns on many fronts with Burgundy. But Philippe Cambi, a multi100 point winemaker—a.k.a. the Grenache whisperer of Châteauneuf-du-Pape—had never made a Pinot, so he had no Burgundian reference points when he partnered with his friend Adam Lee to apply his whispering skills to California Pinot.
Together, he and Lee—widely known for Pinots under the Siduri and Clarice Wine Company brands—deliver opulently styled California Pinot Noir from three sites: one in Monterey’s Santa Lucia Highlands, the other two from Clos Pepe Vineyard in Santa Barbara’s Santa Rita Hills. This winner leads with lovely minerality, savory tobacco and licorice, but then exudes sweet fruit over fine tannins. It’s a long, lush, textural wine.
Under the direction of one of France’s most respected winemakers, the inaugural Beau Marchais Pinots carry more newworld character than most of Lee’s other versions. But they’re beautiful, a new voice among the West Coast’s worldclass Pinot Noirs. $95
Chardonnay: Kosta Browne 2018 El Diablo Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
As great California Chardonnay continues to distance itself from the stereotypical style built around oak and butter, Julien How sepian, winemaker at Kosta Browne, creates a considerable distance between that cliché and this rich but intensely vibrant white.
Savory, wet-stone minerality opens on the nose, intriguingly layered with exotic citrus, orchard blossoms, hints of tropical fruit and crème brûlée. Contradictions abound on the palate: The Chardonnay is mouth-filling and textural to the extreme, but it’s also delicate. Bright apple toggles with stone fruit and lemon zest. Distinctive mouthfeel is the goal, according to Howsepian; he has even introduced some foot-treading to create more solids in the cause of richness.
Would he compare it to France’s great Chardonnays? Not so fast. “We strive to one day evoke California Chardonnay across the globe in a similar vein as Burgundy, in terms of quality and distinction,” he says. “But it’s important for us to remain unique and stylistically at arm’s length.” $160
-
Burgundy: Olivier Bernstein 2018 Mazis-Chamberlain Grand Cru, Burgundy; Bordeaux: SGC 2018 Médoc Bordeaux; Italian: Ornellaia La Grazia, Bolgheri, Italy
Image Credit: Jessica Miller Burgundy: Olivier Bernstein 2018 Mazis-Chamberlain Grand Cru, Burgundy
Bernstein is likely almost unknown to most American Pinot Noir fans, but his wines are well worth discovering. Affable and approachable, he has none of the sniffiness you’ll sometimes find from top châteaux. Maybe that’s because Bernstein doesn’t have his own domaine. Yet. Having made some scratch in the transportation world first, in 2000 he turned toward winemaking and, later, the niche he had always loved as a consumer and collector: Burgundy’s Grand Cru estates. But buying such vineyards was like trying to score the Hamptons house that’s near the water and a short walk to town: everyone’s dream, but rarely attainable. If the owner quits, the plot is deeded to the kids.
But Bernstein persisted, leasing older-vine parcels that some growers wanted to rip out for their low yields. Those were exactly the vines he was looking for. Over time he became a trusted steward and eventually came to own a few of his favorites, such as one in Mazis-Chambertin, the soil that informs this special 2018 bottle. The vintage is a pure expression of a Pinot Noir: mouthwatering cherry fruit with layers of spice and herbs. Fine tannins give just the right level of structure to make the wine a perfect match for food but eminently sippable on its own. On the nose it explodes with a stunning fresh, floral quality that’s unusual in a Burgundy and complements its savory flavor. $1,350
Bordeaux: SGC 2018 Médoc Bordeaux
While this brand, whose acronym stands for Le Secret des Grand Crus, got its start in 2006, it remains under the radar for most American oenophiles. Largely because it plays hard-to-get: An average of 1,100 cases are produced annually, and to get your hands on the wine, you need to be invited to the allocation list (called “Le Cercle”), which will run you a yearly $28,500. For that, you get 16 bottles each of SGC’s three wines: Médoc, Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The gold-etched bottles certainly speak to exclusivity, but it’s what’s inside that matters.
To that end, founder Arnaud Christiaens began with science, which was surprisingly hard to come by in Bordeaux in 2006. Rather than purchase one estate, he leased individual parcels of land owned by small producers who had just the right soil composition. From there, he built his small treasury of premium wines, which have achieved scores that outrank or match those of significant houses. The SGC 2018 Médoc shows a beautiful inky opulence with a lively perfume and strong tannins—but, happily, not so much that they stop it from drinking well now.
Italian: Ornellaia La Grazia, Bolgheri, Italy
Napa isn’t the only winemaking region where 2018 is proving an excellent vintage. Tuscany also benefited from a return to more normal climatic conditions, producing a strong yield and some very healthy grapes, as evidenced by this beautiful new edition from Ornellaia, which estate director Axel Heinz has called “La Grazia,” or grace.
The wine is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a splash of Petit Verdot, a classic Bordeaux mix that has the vivid freshness lately seen in the best years from Bolgheri, near Tuscany’s coast.
The estate handpicked and sorted the grapes, with each varietal and vineyard block vinified separately, aging in oak for about 12 months. Only then was the balance between each varietal conceived and married, and once again returned to barriques for another six months before aging for a further year once bottled, producing silky smooth tannins and a long finish. The wine tastes more of red fruit than black, but it’s still rich, dense and savory with herbal notes and a whiff of wild fennel. Winemaker Olga Fusari points to its “intense aromatic expres- sion” as a hallmark of the vintage. $250
-
100-Pointer: Tor 2018 Black Magic, Napa Valley; Emerging Region: Quilceda Creek 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
Image Credit: Jessica Miller 100-Pointer: Tor 2018 Black Magic, Napa Valley
When a top critic gives a wine 100 points, most agree it’s a subjective opinion of perfection. But when four award the same wine 100 points (something that, to our knowledge, has never happened—until now), that approaches objective perfection.
The blend of uniquely co-fermented Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot with a little Cabernet Franc in this Tor 2018 Black Magic (made only in great years) is dense and dark. Beautiful high-toned aromas of florals, forest, graphite, tobacco, exotic spices (anise stars) and black and blue fruit give nuance to the wine’s power. And the dark-plum and blueberry flavors fill the mouth, layered with dark cacao, and persist endlessly, lending finesse to a magnificent structure.
This wine brand, founded 20 years ago by Tor Kenward, a much-respected former vice president at Beringer, has made a reputation on showstopping Bordeaux reds. According to Kenward, though, a wine like Black Magic is made only from barrels that capture his attention and that of winemaker Jeff Ames in the cellar. “Drinking this,” he says, “is akin to drinking a wine with another wine jammed into the same space so that it tastes richer than it possibly can be.” Indeed. $450
Emerging Region: Quilceda Creek 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
When it comes to Washington, the “emerging wine region” label might be fraying a little, with more than 1,000 wineries in the northwest region now (and growing). And it has been a few years since the state’s winemakers, taking it on the road, have been asked which side of the Potomac their winery is on. Still, California must be chased.
The Golitzin family founded Quilceda Creek back in 1978, and it would go on to earn six perfect 100-point scores from Wine Advocate. (Curious fact: The Golitzin family are descendants of Prince Lev Sergeyevich Galitzine, a winemaker for Czar Nicholas II and dubbed the creator of Russian Champagne.) The Quilceda Creek 2018 Cabernet proves the wisdom of the Golitzin family’s choice of Washington. (It was only the 12th bonded winery, post-Prohibition, in the state.) Aromatic forest floor, mint, warm spice and crushed tobacco leaf unfold around classic cassis on the nose. A cherry-cordial character joins velvety tannins and savory minerality to create an incredibly elegant wine. $200
-
Tasting Room: Aperture Estate
Image Credit: Joe Fletcher If a wine can be a lens on the terroir of a vineyard, then this new tasting center certainly qualifies as a lens on the specific winery it’s now joined to and on its proprietors. Sonoma Valley’s Aperture Estate was founded by the father-son team of Andy and Jesse Katz, with son Jesse taking the lead in winemaking. Andy is a professional photographer, and his work in that realm helped inspire this stunning hospitality space, from the gallery-like white interior to the building’s octagonal shape (like the shutter on a camera’s lens) to the center oculus in the ceiling that lets light stream in from above.
The bold, modern space ditches the old tasting-room model of shellacked wood and dark interiors in favor of light and bright, with industrial materials, such as the custom-made concrete tables on the patio. The project was a collaboration between the Katzes and Signum Architecture and H. Palmer Design for the interiors. Massive windows open to the patio, showcasing the vines and encouraging an indoor-outdoor flow for guests. The sleek tasting bar looks like something you’d find in a Michelin-starred restaurant, providing plenty of space for guests to experience Jesse’s Bordeaux-style wines. And, of course, Andy’s work lines the walls. The space officially opened in July 2020, with in-person tastings. Several private lounges can host small groups for special sips of bottles available only on-site. Expect catered wine-pairing dinners and events to begin this fall.
-
Lifetime Achievement: Rolando and Lorena Herrera
Image Credit: Courtesy of Rolando and Lorena Herrera When Rolando Herrera starting working in the wine biz, he didn’t like the taste of vinified grapes. But that changed once he tasted from a barrel at Stag’s Leap, the vineyard where he learned so many of the lessons he carried forward to Mi Sueño, the winery he and his wife, Lorena, started 24 years ago. “Suddenly I understood this is what people are talking about,” he says.
Rolando moved to Napa Valley from Mexico with his family at age eight. A few years later they moved back, but he returned as a teen, enrolling in high school and finding work. He and Lorena met in church and dated for a decade, before marrying in 1997. That same year, they purchased some grapes and decided to crush them on their own.
Now, with Mi Sueño, they produce around 15 wines annually. They started with a Chardonnay, making just 200 cases that first year, and quickly reached acclaim. Their third vintage, the 1999, was poured at the White House. Gradually they acquired eight vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
The wines are known for their consistency, a trait Rolando chalks up to “having 100 percent control of the land, as farmer, grower and winemaker. When you farm your own land, you can make changes necessary to ripen your fruit,” he says.
While Rolando and Lorena have reached a kind of pinnacle and their newly released 2017 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon may just be the best they’ve made, they’re far from done. A quarter of their Petaluma Gap land will go to white Bordeaux varietals, and some to other grapes rarely seen in the region, such as Albariño, Riesling and Viognier.
But the Herreras’ success isn’t easy to emulate. “As beautiful as this industry is, it’s still very competitive. The amount of capital you need is enormous.” Rolando believes that’s the biggest barrier for other immigrants and people of color. “I got into the industry so young. I didn’t have to hire people, I already knew so much about it,” he says. “I just needed the money to get started, and back then, that was $60,000. Now you need hundreds of thousands.”
