Barrel Tasting with Sonja!

Sonja Magdevski, owner and wine maker at Casa Dumetz Wines, held a special event for wine club members, a barrel tasting of some of her 2018 vintage wines. Sonja began her adventure into commercial wine making in 2008, with a focus on Rhone varietals.  She bottles under three labels: Casa Dumetz, Clementine Carter, and The Feminist Party.

Sonja does not own a vineyard, so she purchases fruit from a number of local growers with whom she shares similar farming philosophies.  She makes the decisions about when the grapes are picked and influences other choices for her vines during the growing season.  I asked Sonja why she chose to focus on Rhône varietals and this was her answer:  “Rhône varietals have a wild character that I adore. Encircling that energy with a finessed, elegant approach is my goal, so that the vineyard shines through.  That means the location, the farmer, the farming, everything.  I joke that I make a lot of Grenache and I don’t really know what Grenache tastes like.  I look to these decisions described above to guide me.”

Barrel tasting generally means that you are sampling directly from the barrel, but because the event was held at her tasting room in Los Alamos, Sonja had siphoned wine out of the barrels and into bottles at the winery for pouring at the tasting. Typically, the first taste of any given wine is the finished product. Having an opportunity to taste directly from the barrel, when the wine is very young and is undergoing secondary fermentation, provides a preview of what’s to come.  Interaction with the winemaker, Sonja in this case, provides deeper knowledge of the growing year, the wine making process, and what to expect from the finished product.

Among the featured wines, that will be bottled under Sonja’s Clementine Carter label, was 2018 Grenache Sta. Rita Hills.  The wine is light ruby in color with delicate floral scents and bright red berries on the palate.  The second Grenache we tasted, 2018 Grenache Kimsey from Ballard Canyon, was a deeper shade of ruby with dark cherry flavors and hints of pepper. Sonja chose to make this wine using half stemless grapes and half whole cluster. In whole cluster fermentation, the grapes actually ferment from the inside out, resulting in overall less time on the skins. This process can dilute the color of the wine somewhat, but the inclusion of stems imparts greater aromatic character.

The highlight of the tasting was a five year vertical of Grenache Larner, vintages 2014-2018, with 2018 still being in barrel.  The 2018 is currently an incredible, almost magenta color and because malolactic fermentation is ongoing, it has just a touch of fizz on the tongue. I look forward to sampling the finished product! Each of the five vintages had unique characteristics, but the 2016 was my favorite.  It is a beautifully balanced Grenache bursting with characteristic red fruits and undertones of savory spice.

Accompanying our tasting was an incredibly beautiful table of fruits, cheeses, nuts, dried fruits, and pickled vegetables.  It was intriguing to pair different bites with various wines, noticing how the food flavors impacted the wines.

It was a delightful and educational afternoon, savored by all of us.  Looking forward to the 2018 release!

Cheers!