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By Saralyn Mehta, Sommelier( ISG), CSW
Adi Badenhorst grows the grapes for his Rhône blend in this Coastal Region vineyard.( Photo by Paul Martens) outside the box: nature vs. nurture
When my son Max was small, people would comment,“ There is no mistaking whose kid he is— he looks just like you!” It is true that he’ s my“ mini me.” But he doesn’ t just look like me; he is like me inside and out. Wow, the power of DNA. The interesting thing is, I don’ t look like anyone in my family. All my life, I have known that I was adopted. It was never a secret, it was just a fact. I never felt that my parents loved me differently than their bio-babies, but I always knew that raising me came with different challenges for my parents than raising my brother and sisters. I suspect it was like being handed a mystery seed and believing that, with enough love, care, and attention, they could grow me into a beautiful, whole human being. If you grow something( or in my case, someone) outside its box, can it be all that it was meant to be?
In an effort to answer that question, I began to experiment with wines made from varieties that were not indigenous to the regions in which they were being grown. That experiment turned me into quite the wine groupie for the likes of Bokisch, Badenhorst, Tablas Creek, Moffett, Hendry, and Coriole. I am completely in love with winemakers that are committed to what they believe in, who have the guts to say,“ This isn’ t what you’ re used to, but I ' m going to make it anyway because I believe in it!”
My love affair with“ outside the box” wines started with Esprit de Beaucastel, made by Tablas Creek.
This Paso Robles, California winery is a joint venture between famed Chateauneuf-du-Pape producer Château Beaucastel and American vintner Robert Haas. Cuttings taken from the vines at Château Beaucastel in the Rhône, France were planted in California with the belief that they would thrive. With great care and experimentation, the vines produced award-winning Rhône blends, far from where anyone expected them to thrive.
After experiencing the wines of Tablas Creek, I was inspired to try more of these fish-out-of-water wines. It wasn’ t long before I discovered the whole line of Bokisch wines. Markus Bokisch began his career by working in the California wine industry for heavyweight producer Joseph Phelps. After gaining some experience, he followed his heart( and his wife) to Spain, where their love affair with Spanish varieties was born. With great passion and determination, they returned to California and created a beautiful homage to Spain with a winery that uses only Spanish varieties. From bold reds made from Tempranillo and Graciano to cool whites made from Albariño and— my favourite— Garnacha Blanca, these wines are exceptional examples of what can be done with passionate creative thought.
There are many wineries experimenting with varieties that are not native to their soils, with amazing results. South Africa’ s Adi Badenhorst has an amazing Rhône blend called A. A. Badenhorst; Australia’ s Coriole
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