Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/148134
It is in the El Dorado sub-AVA of Fair Play that Greg and Sharon Baiocchi found their perfect perch to land Baiocchi Wines & Vineyards in 2005, after nearly three years of searching in Paso Robles, Mendocino, Sonoma County, Santa Cruz Mountains and Amador County. Says Baiocchi, "We looked high and low, and ended up with a high. El Dorado is ideally suited to the type of wines we already knew we wanted to make: world-class wines from Rhône and Spanish grapes." The Baiocchis set immediately to task, planting five acres of Syrah (three different clones), four acres of Grenache (two Tablas Creek clones and one from Alban), two acres of Mourvèdre and 1 acre of Tempranillo. The vineyard sits on 10%- to 25%-grade slopes, high above any fog line at 2,150 to 2,300 feet. "To understand our terroir," says Baiocchi, "it might be easier to think of it as a river canyon region. Our vineyard sits atop a convergence of three river canyons, each bringing a strong influence of breezes blowing in from the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. These winds that cool off our grapes every afternoon, even while summer temperatures are rising. At night we get cooling winds from the opposite side, blowing in from the Sierra Nevada Mountains." The Fair Play soil is a mix of decomposed granite and sand—much of the AVA, in fact, is exposed seabed, pushed up eons ago by the colliding tectonic plates that formed the Sierras— adding to the devigorating conditions: an ideal "hot climate" terroir, similar to that found in the best regions of Southern France (such as the Rhône and Provence) and Spain (Priorat and Jumilla). "Vines struggle here," says Baiocchi, "so vigor is kept natuThe Baiocchis' new lifestyle rally low, which means there's less goes beyond winegrowing. excess growth to thin. What you Pictured here is Sharon with get is smaller clusters and berries, her pet sheep. giving us more concentration, more intense phenolics, and finer tannins in the wines. It still has to be managed correctly, of course, but it's a classic environment for these types of grapes." Cognizant of the fact that more and more consumers, especially Millennials, are looking for greater purity in wines, and fresher ideas from winemakers, from the beginning the Baiocchis have been fermenting on indigenous yeasts and bottling wines unfiltered. "We work so hard on the vines, it makes sense to retain a strong sense of place in our wines—we want you to taste the vineyard, not just varietal characteristics." Looking back on his former life in executive management for a number of service industry companies before "dropping out" to take the winegrowing plunge, Baiocchi can now wax vinous: "From the beginning we felt we needed to go at this from the ground up. We weren't just going to crush grapes and fill barrels, we also wanted to get our hands in the dirt—drive a tractor, raise a little sheep, bring some plants to life. We didn't get into this to make a million dollars; we did it mostly to do it . . . "The difference is now we enjoy our lives. Winegrowing is like a gift that you can't wait to open each day!" Baiocchi Current Releases gb 2012 del papa, Fair Play ($24) gb is Baiocchi's "sibling brand" consisting of fruitfocused wines finished with very little new oak. This white wine, a native yeast co-fermentation of Viognier (70%) and Roussanne (30%), is from grapes sourced from a neighboring mountainside vineyard (the Baiocchis have immediate plans to grow three acres of their own white grapes on the north side of their property). del papa exudes a gigantic bouquet (white pepper spiced lilac, lavender and peach skin) and fullbodied flavors (and impeccably balanced 15.3% alcohol) wrapped in creamy, honeyed, viscous textures, lifted by lightly tart, lemony fresh natural acidity. gb 2011 G minor Fair Play ($24) An , estate-grown, native yeast co-fermentation of Grenache (44%), Tempranillo (24%) and Syrah (32%) inspired by the power and finesse that Greg Baiocchi has always found in Rachmaninoff's Prelude Opus 23 #5 in G minor. Loaded with lush, gorgeous strawberry/ blueberry jam-like fruit, sneaking gently onto the palate before spicy, earthy flavors begin to take a full grip in the middle, then finishing with broad, meaty, toothsome texturing. Baiocchi 2010 Grenache, Sharon's Vineyard, Fair Play ($39) This is a "big boy's" Grenache, unlike any other grown in California—pure, unadulterated, heady, seriously intense strawberry-ish varietal fruit tinged with rose petal and twists of pepper, lapping up against a dense, fluid wall of sensations bolstered by fine-grained tannins and a graphite/minerally, earthen sensation. august 2013 / the tasting panel / 91 TP0813_066-103.indd 91 7/24/13 9:51 PM