Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/807387
82 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } APRIL/MAY 2017 In January, we met for dinner with the seven members of the 2017 Master Sommelier panel at Healdsburg's Dry Creek Kitchen. For the panelists, it was the end of Evaluation Day One, and fatigue might have been expected after tasting and evaluating 30-plus wine lots. But the private dining room buzzed all evening with the energy and warm camaraderie that comes from a day well-spent in the company of peers. Clearly, they hadn't been bored. As Keith Goldston, MS, from the Rosewood Hotel in Washington, D.C., expressed it, "Sonoma County is an incredible spot to make many different styles of wines—it's almost like a whole country in one county." We had an opportunity to experience Sonoma County's diversity firsthand through the wines of the dinner hosts, Clay and Carrie Mauritson. Clay, whose winegrower family settled in the hills of Northern Sonoma County in 1868 and planted their first vineyard in 1884, is the Mauritson winemaker and an SVC board member. Beginning with a delight - fully fragrant Mauritson Cabernet Franc/ Malbec Rosé, we eventually sipped our way through wines made from six of the 60 grape varieties. The second wine, the Mauritson 2004 Sauvignon Blanc, was the first wine ever made at Mauritson, and everyone agreed that it had aged with the elegance of a grande dame. The silky, as yet unreleased, 2014 Rockpile Cabernet Sauvignon Clay chose for the finale gave us a hint at Mauritson's Barrel Auction lot—a 2015 special cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon. Two stunning Mauritson Zinfandels starkly exemplified the diversity of vineyard terroir that can occur within a stone's throw. The wines paired perfectly, yet dif - ferently, with Dry Creek Executive Chef Scott Romano's exquisite spiced Liberty duck breast main course. Clay explained why. "The fruit for our 2014 Rockpile Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel grows in one extreme," he said. "It's a place with 20-million-year-old sandstone soils from the Pacific bed. On the opposite extreme, only 150 yards away, our 2014 Cemetery Vineyard Zinfandel is from a place that has about the worst con - ditions you can grow Zinfandel in because it' s a combination of shale, serpentine and schist . . . but somehow it works." This lesson led us to a discussion about how the Master Sommeliers work. The lots are blind tasted and assessed according to "a common language of generally accepted set of criteria for fine wines," explained Peter Granoff, MS, owner of San Francisco's Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. "Things like bal - ance, concentration, fruit and finesse—most somms can agree on those. But when you have the wines in front of you, then people's biases, sensitivities, even metabolism come into play. That's why you taste wine in a group." Nonetheless, judging barrel samples is different from judging finished wines. "At times," Peter admitted, "someone in the group will have to remind us all, 'Hey, wait a minute—this is a barrel sample. Let's give this a fair chance.'" It's in this regard that the training and expertise of the Master Sommeliers is invaluable. Their task is to see past whatever current stage the wine might be expressing and to imagine where it will be when it evolves. As to what value the trade bidders might find in the Sonoma County Auction this year, the Master Sommeliers, who are all trade members themselves, offered a few insights. Jack Mason, MS, of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Houston, TX, told us, "From light, crisp whites to rich, balanced reds, there was quite a spectrum of styles that all performed at a very high level." Randall Bertao, MS, from Los Altos Golf and Country Club in Los Altos, CA, added, "The quality was very high across the board and will offer some great surprises for lucky bidders." { auctions } A tank sample of the Mauritson Rockpile Rosé. Dry Creek Kitchen Executive Chef Scott Romano introduces the dinner at Healdsburg's Dry Creek Kitchen.