Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/833814
38 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2017 All this connecting was happening just six weeks before the 2014 harvest. "David [Ramey] came to me and said, 'You're gonna miss this harvest,'" Stanton recounts, eyes wide with remembered dis - may. "I said, 'It's my first harvest! I can't miss my first harvest!'" Cane, who worked his first career harvest in 1997, says, "It was the most stressful harvest of my life! We didn't have anything. The winery was a mess, and Natalie couldn't start until two weeks before harvest. Luckily, through my Twomey relationships I found a few good coopers who happened to have some decent barrels in stock." 2014 was a true test of mettle for the nascent cadre. Adding to the pressure, all the Pinot Noir came in at the same time. Yet somehow, with everyone on the team pitching in, Stanton didn't have to miss his first harvest. As for the raw material the Annadel Gap Vineyard provides, its location at a narrow choke point between Sonoma Mountain and Mount Hood gives the site all the requisite climatic and geological elements necessary in a potentially extraordinary winegrowing site. Climate: cool nights, morning fog, afternoon breezes. Check. Soils: well-draining combination of volcanic, glacial and alluvial. Check. Aspect: gentle, south-facing slope. Check. Add to these physical advantages the fact that the Annadel Gap Vineyard is being cared for in the most natural way humanly possible. Natalie, the Millennial in the gang, began working on her days off with Philippe Coderey, one of the world's best biodynamic consultants. Stanton exclaims, "It wasn't long before she had us convinced to make the vineyard biodynamic!" She's shepherding the process for both biodynamic and organic certifications. The vineyard is planted to Rhône varieties and Pinot Noir, includ - ing some rarer clones that Westwood happily bottled in single- clone wines. We tasted both the 2015 Estate Pinot Noir (1,125 cases, SRP $44) and the 2014 Heritage Clones (98 cases, SRP $56). Heritage Clone's small production means no wholesale, but ripe strawberry and rose petal characteristics make it a nice personal cellar selection. David Ramey believes all the Westwood Pinots should easily age ten years. After seven years exclusively focused on Pinot at Twomey, Cane embraced the opportunity to work with Rhône varieties. We tasted the delicious, rife with peachy stone fruit, 2016 Rousanne/Viognier. Alas, there isn't much of it. Currently, Annadel only has a total of five rows planted to whites. In reds, Westwood brings to the table small quantities of single variety bottlings. We tasted the 2015s of Estate Syrah (190 cases, SRP $56) and Mourvèdre (100 cases, SRP $48) at Westwood's Sonoma square tasting salon. Later, we enjoyed the 2014 Estate Counoise over lunch at The Girl & the Fig. The meaty and spicy Counoise with duck confit is unbeatable. As its vision coalesces, the company is doing some honing. Two proprietary red blends have been pared to one. Legend isn't strictly Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, but it's a solid stake in the increasingly popular GSM category. Barely two months in bottle, the 2015 Legend (1,560 cases, SPR $44) had already melded into a very smooth operator. "With the arrival of David Green in 2016," says Stanton, "the potential of the brand was harnessed and the por tfolio trimmed to ignite its next chapter. Legend is the embodi - Westwood Managing Director David Green. With Green's arrival in 2016 the potential of the brand was harnessed. As Managing Partner, co-founder Carl Stanton began assembling an elite gang of wine professionals to help revitalize Westwood