On our tour yesterday, our first stop on the tour was Vina de Frannes. The beautiful property site on 58 acres, surrounded by mountains. Within this valley, there are several microclimates, giving the ability to grow grapes of varying types. The average age of vines on property is 45 years! The Sauvignon Blanc vines are from 1930s plantings, and while they only produce 1.8 tons per acre compared to the average 8 tons, its worth it to maintain these vines as long as the resulting wine is flavorful. The bottling we tried was bright and clean with leche or cream finish that added depth. The 2017 Chardonnay was just my style with flavors of pears and lemon cream cookies ending in a smooth finish with a bright acidity to leave me wanting more. The vines are 50 years old, with low yield, and gradually some are being replaced as they stop producing. The wine was aged 6 months in 500 gallon new French oak barrels so as to add texture but not have a huge impact on flavor. I brought a bottle home! The 2015 Cabernet Franc is what this winery is known for. This grape is seldom planted in the area but is a success on this property. The wine is ages 12 months, with half in new French oak and half in neutral French, with 10% Merlot added to smooth out the tannins. The result is a wine that is lighter than a Cab Franc from California, with ripe red and black fruits, tobacco, cedar, and a touch of vanilla bean on the finish. And finally, after enjoying a cheese tray with the Cab Franc, we moved on to the final tasting, the Dus Late Harvest. This is a sweet red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. While not fortified like a port, its heavier than a typical Sauternes or Late Harvest, as this one is red wines. At $30 for the traditional 375ml dessert wine bottle, this could be an interesting wine to have in dessert wine flight, and I’ll keep it in mind. Just as we were preparing to leave, the winery staff ran to the front of the property, with smart phone pointed to the mountainside ahead. A Lynx cat was wandering in the cactus at the front of the building, and when the cook spotted it and ran to the door to take a closer look, it dashed away, as everyone gathered and tried to catch a photo. Alas, we didn’t see him, and we moved on down the road for more wine.
The next stop was Emeve Vinos, named using the first initial of each grandchild of the owners, the tasting room was modern and edgey. The estate has 18 acres under vine, plus the winery, tasting room, and family home. They are growing 9 varietals, having started 15 years ago, and are now to about 6,000 cases annually. We chose to taste only the wines that we thought would be a fit for a flight at Perspective, being only 100% varietals that are also grown in Texas, or traditional blends we thought we could find back home. This left several wines on the table that we didn’t try, but we were very pleased with what we tasted. The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon was delicious, with stewed blackberries, tobacco, leather, vanilla and cinnamon. It was aged half in French and half in American oak, and the result was balanced and flavorful. We brought home a bottle and are working hard to get a couple of cases as part of a new Cabernet Sauvignon flight for the shop. The 2014 Malbec was also aged 50/50 and was very good. I got white pepper on the nose, with a little more tannins at the finish than the Argentinian Malbec we currently carry. It would be a great addition to our Malbec flight, but its hard to replace the Argentina example when the grape is so well known from that area. The 2013 Shiraz was also excellent, and another one I brought home and would consider for a future flight. After spending 2 years in barrel, the results is lush blackberries, tobacco and vanilla with an inky mouth feel and balanced tannins. We ended with the Isabella white blend of Chardonnay, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. Flavors of green apple, papaya, white flowers and cream made this a delicious wine, even if it won’t fit on a flight for us.
Next we asked to be taken to Cava Maciel, as our distributor, Serendipity, carries their wines, and we knew it would be simple to get. After a bumpy ride a ways down the road, we stopped at a small property and ended up being served by the owner, Jorge Maciel. He was a gracious host and excited to have us tasting. The idea of getting his wines into a shop like our‘ s, with comparative flights, had him nearly giddy. We started with the 2013 Luneo 100% Mourvèdre. It was a balanced wine with an elegant finish that I wouldn’t normally expect from Mourvèdre. Flavors of fresh blueberries, vanilla and cooked cherries had me craving a steak topped with buttered lobster tail. And we brought a bottle home. Next came the 2013 Lactea Merlot, aged 50/50 in French/American oak, but with only 40% in new oak. There was a definite cocoa effect that had us dreaming for a mole sauce on enchiladas. Have I mentioned we hadn’t had lunch at this point? so the food pairings were really coming to me! The 2013 Alba is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and it was nice, but had a hint of sweetness on the finish that wasn’t to my taste. The 2014 Apoeo Nebbiolo is sourced from a vineyard just south of Ensenada and the coast breeze is doing well for these grapes. And finally, the 2013 Perigo Petite Sirah/Durif is a small production, with only 3 barrels made, and we couldn’t help but bring a bottle home. Jorge was pleased to show us his winery facility and we left excited for our new potential new partnership. At this point, food was a must. Our driver took us into Ensenada for traditional Baja fish tacos, from a food counter across from a construction site. And let me say, I’m not sure if it was the wine, or that I was famished, but these tacos were outstanding!
Afterwards, we ventured to our final stop for the day, Madera 5. The tasting room was in a warehouse district, but was a neatly appointed space. I understand the name to be a bit of an inside joke between the five owners, having something to do with golf and a Five Wood golf club, but I never got the full story. Regardless, the wines were tasty. The group began making wines in a garage back in 2007 and sourced their fruit from Valle San Vicente, which is just south of the city of Ensenada. We tried 5 wines and there were three of note. The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc-Chardonnay blend was 85/15% and was crisp and flavorful. The tropical fruit flavors were indicative of a warm climate Sauv Blanc, but the Chard added a creamy element that was well integrated. The 2015 Tempranillo-Cabernet Sauvignon was a 60/40% blend, and was a bold, tannic wine with flavors of jammy black fruits, tobacco and leather. We brought home a bottle for our friend Fermin, and he’ll enjoy the complexity. The other bottling was a 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon-Sangiovese with a 70/30% blend, which made us think of a Super Tuscan from Italy. We brought home a bottle and are considering this along side the Super Tuscan by Il Borro, the winery owned by Salvatore Ferragamo in Tuscany. Stay in tune with our coming flights by following this blog, or checking us out on FaceBook @iNeedPerspective.
After our wines, we bumped down the granite gravel road to Deckman’s for dinner. The restaurant was noted on several websites as a must in the area, and the locals confirmed. Upon arrival, its a little hard to tell exactly were to to, since there isn’t exactly an entrance – the entire restaurant is outdoors. There are covered areas to help shield against the weather, but there’s no ‘front door’ to enter. As we were seated, there were a few groups enjoying wines already. The chef and cooks are all working at an uncovered outdoor grill area, with the cold-food prep off to one side. The day had been drizzly and overcast, so the evening was a little chilly but we were comfortable. We opted to start with the lobster bisque and then share a ribeye. The bisque was perfect and the steak was so enormous we didn’t even finish half of it. It was well cooked to medium rare and the sides were root vegetables pureed and easy to use as a sort of ‘sauce’ on each bite of steak. This restaurant is a must if you come to the area.