Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/376390
48 / the tasting panel / september 2014 OVER THE TABLE J ohn Lockwood worked his first harvest in 2004 under the tutelage of David Mahaffey, owner of Heron Lake Vineyard and Winery in Wild Horse Valley, just east of the town of Napa. By 2008, after working harvests at Littorai in Sonoma and a spring stint in Mendoza, Argentina, Lockwood joined up with Ehren Jordan at Failla, where for five years he over- saw farming of Failla's Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast properties. "Enfield Wine Co. started as a side project when Mahaffey's contract to sell Chardonnay to Newton was up, and he wanted to make his own Chardonnay while contracting out some to a smaller client," Lockwood says. "Concern with the fairly unrecognized Wild Horse Valley AVA yielded no takers, so I decided to take the fruit myself. The vineyard produces really unique wines, largely because there are no other vineyards anywhere close to it." At this year's Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Ynez, CA, I was treated to a tasting of the Enfield 2011 Shake Ridge Ranch Vineyard Tempranillo, Amador County, a gorgeously textured wine, boasting a chalky and high- toned spice element; the Enfield 2011 Haynes Vineyard Syrah, Coombsville, which showed a lovely perfumed nose, blood red fruit, pepper, smoked meat and earth; and the Enfield 2012 Heron Lake Vineyard Chardonnay, Wild Horse Valley, a golden, juicy and superbly crisp wine, with integrated citrus and baking spice notes. On the horizon, Lockwood is planning to release a new skin-fermented Chardonnay from the Heron Lake Vineyard. The grapes are tiny clusters "with an intense golden color, and I decided to run with the gold theme and make an orange wine," says Lockwood. "Part of the goal is to take some risks each year—I'm a big believer in pushing, learning and expanding my knowledge and our knowledge of terroir in California." www.enfieldwine.com Winemaker John Lockwood Champions Up-and-Coming AVAs VINIUM: Super-Premium Box Wine with Minimal Carbon Footprints VINIUM is the story of three partners—Richard Cardoza, Richard Catania and George Bursick—dedicated to making premium bag-in-box wine for consumers as well as on- and off- premise accounts—and this is one pouch not to pass up. "We are producing super-premium Californian wine using minimal manipulation and filtering," says Catania. "Our winemaker, George Bursick [former award-winning winemaker at Ferrari-Carano], makes VINIUM wines from top appellations like Russian River Valley for our Chardonnay and Sonoma/Mendocino County for our Cabernet Sauvignon," Cardoza says. VINIUM ships the 9-liter pouches directly to restaurants in California. Varietal pouches include Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley Chardonnay, Mendocino County Zinfandel and Yorkville Highlands Sauvignon Blanc. Retail consumers will find VINIUM at Whole Foods Market, because, as Cardoza explains, the two companies share common core values. The ecological facts are clear as well—without heavy glass bottles, far fewer trucks are needed for volume delivery. And having tasted the wines, I can vouch that Bursick has done a terrific job, and these offerings rank among the top box wines in the U.S. —J. C. www.viniumwine.com VINIUM: Super-Premium Box Wine with Minimal Carbon Footprints VINIUM: Super-Premium Box Wine with Minimal Carbon Footprints VINIUM: Super-Premium Box Wine with Minimal Carbon Footprints VINIUM is the story of three partners—Richard Cardoza, Richard Catania and George VINIUM is the story of three partners—Richard Cardoza, Richard Catania and George Bursick—dedicated to making premium bag-in-box wine for consumers as well as on- and off- Bursick—dedicated to making premium bag-in-box wine for consumers as well as on- and off- premise accounts—and this is one pouch not to pass up. "We are producing super-premium premise accounts—and this is one pouch not to pass up. "We are producing super-premium "Our winemaker, George Bursick [former award-winning winemaker at Ferrari-Carano], "Our winemaker, George Bursick [former award-winning winemaker at Ferrari-Carano], makes VINIUM wines from top appellations like Russian River Valley for our Chardonnay and makes VINIUM wines from top appellations like Russian River Valley for our Chardonnay and VINIUM ships the 9-liter pouches directly to restaurants in California. Varietal pouches include VINIUM ships the 9-liter pouches directly to restaurants in California. Varietal pouches include Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley Chardonnay, Mendocino County Zinfandel and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley Chardonnay, Mendocino County Zinfandel and Retail consumers will find VINIUM at Whole Foods Market, because, as Cardoza explains, Retail consumers will find VINIUM at Whole Foods Market, because, as Cardoza explains, the two companies share common core values. The ecological facts are clear as well—without the two companies share common core values. The ecological facts are clear as well—without heavy glass bottles, far fewer trucks are needed for volume delivery. And having tasted the heavy glass bottles, far fewer trucks are needed for volume delivery. And having tasted the wines, I can vouch that Bursick has done a terrific job, and these offerings rank among the top wines, I can vouch that Bursick has done a terrific job, and these offerings rank among the top www.viniumwine.com www.viniumwine.com PHOTO: BOB MCCLENAHAN by Jonathan Cristaldi John Lockwood, owner and winemaker at Enfield Wine Co.