The SOMM Journal

August/September 2014

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{ SOMMjournal.com }  73 If anyone can command a room it's Jordan's winemaker, Rob Davis, who along- side the legendary André Tchelistcheff made the very first Jordan Cabernet in 1976 and has been doing so every year since. Having made 37 vintages of a wine synonymous with Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Davis is unques- tionably an expert on the region. An avid triathlete, Davis does much of his training in the surrounding hills. He has made it his mission to find the very best vineyards and make the very best wine. "It's all about the soil," says Davis who cites Pétrus, the Pomerol château famous for its clay soils and the silkiness of its tannin, as an inspiration for his wine. "Finding the correct soil is really what I want do," says Davis. "You can say the appellation has its characteristics, but it's the vineyards within that appellation that are key. You have Pomerol and then you have Pétrus. You have St. Émilion and then you have Cheval Blanc. That's really what we are exploring—finding the right climate for the right cultivar and finding the best soils within that." On a table in the center of the room is a sample of gray/green soil with the warning "Don't ever plant grapes in this type of soil!" Yet, until 2006, most of the grapes for Jordan's wine were coming from grapes planted in that very soil. Serpentine, California's state rock, doesn't drain well, says Davis. And drain - ability is crucial. "The vine has to have water," says Davis, "and things that are growing on the vine require different amounts of water at different times." If the vine still has access to water right after berry set, the clusters and berries are going to be big bigger and the flavors will be less concentrated. Vines in poorly drained soil (such as vineyards associated with flood plains) also tend to have more vigor - ous vegetative growth. The fruit has less concentration and more green bean character, requiring additional hang time to mitigate the green, herbaceous notes. Longer hang time means higher sugar, higher alcohol. "We're getting away from green bean and into what the French call cassis—this blackberry character." Getting away from green bean, a characteristic that many of the sommeliers in the room admit to associating with Jordan Cabernet, meant getting away from the estate and away from what Davis calls the "hillside myth." If anyone can command a roomful of somms, it's Jordan winemaker Rob Davis. Soil samples from Jordan's various vineyard sources.

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