The SOMM Journal

August / September 2018

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Day 1: Microclimates, Geology, and Soils To that end, there may be few better guides than Munselle Vineyards' Bret Munselle. The winegrower used the bus ride from the Geyserville Inn to our first destination to give us a crash course on the multigen - erational history of the Valley, orienting us within the landscape while pointing out houses his own family had lived in and plots they'd tended in decades past. After a Champagne toast atop Hawkes Pyramid Vineyard in Healdsburg, panel moderator Soltysiak picked up where Munselle left off with a brief overview of the roughly 22-mile-long, 3-mile-wide ap - pellation—including the little-known detail that it's generally 5–8 degrees cooler at its southern tip than at its northern end. The microclimates, it turns out, are all over the map. Silver Oak Cellars Director of Winemaking Nate Weis used a chart- by-chart comparison of two vineyards, Al - exander Valley Estate and Red Tail less than five miles south, to illustrate how the latter, though predictably cooler on average, has a higher maximum temperature due to radiation from compacted sandstone. Wetzel supplemented the lesson with a description of his Pinot Noir plot in an area where the grape is largely an anom - aly: "It works just in that one spot with its own little sub-microclimate by the river," he explained. "You can't grow it anywhere else—it's too hot." He added that while this heightened ability for diversity "makes the Alexander Valley hard to explain, [it] also makes it interesting." (As Cassie Sakai, Wine Director at Chicago's Girl & the Goat, joked, "I feel sorry for the somms who are going to have to memorize all the sub-AVAs in ten years because the sites are so different.") Considering this lofty potential for variation, Soltysiak asked the million-dollar question: "What defines an Alexander Valley Cabernet? There's always going to be a natural comparison between the Alexander Valley and the Napa Valley, especially where Cabernet is concerned, and it's a blessing and a curse to live in Napa's shadow." We pondered the matter while tasting through our first flight. Weis credited "a little more acidity, softness on the mid- palate, and much more structured tannins" for the extent to which the Alexander Valley wines "tend to age amazingly and During a tour of Alexander Valley Vineyards in Healdsburg, camp attendees visited the small cemetery where Alexander Valley pioneer Cyrus Alexander is buried. Laura Carpenter Hawkes of Hawkes Wine and Carpenter Wines serves up family-recipe brisket and ribs at Hawkes' Red Winery Vineyard. Houston wine consultant Nate Rose evaluates the first of many Cabernet flights at Hawkes Pyramid Vineyard in Healdsburg. 90 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018

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