Broc Cellars Rocks!
5/10/18 -
Based out of Berkeley, California, Broc Cellars is an exciting winery, headed by winemaker Chris Brockway, that focuses on offbeat wines from intriguing and often much older vineyards. Their winemaking process uses only native yeasts with minimal doses of SO2 at bottling. These wines are fantastic and full of energy, frequently from areas off the more beaten California wine trails, with none of the weightier tendencies of California style but still bursting with exceptional fruit.
Of their myriad compelling wines we have five awesome and individualistic bottles to offer today. First is their entrancing 2016 Solano County Green Valley Chenin Blanc: sourced from the Frei vineyard in this small AVA, located halfway from Oakland to Sacramento, and just over the Vaca mountains from Napa, this Chenin Blanc is from a decidedly maritime climate, contributing to the freshness and energy I associate with all Broc Cellars wines.
Next we have a couple of reds from some different interesting grapes. The 2015 Eagle Point Ranch Counoise is made from one of the more obscure varieties found in the Southern Rhone. Sourced from Eagle Point Ranch in Mendocino, this is a surprisingly dense and structured wine. Eagle Point Ranch is located at 1800 feet above sea level in the Mayacamas mountains, planted on thin rocky soil rich in iron. The vineyard is certified organic and no pesticides or herbicides are used. Counoise is not well known for its body, structure, or tannin, hence its common use as a blending grape in France, but here Broc Cellars manages to make a firm and supple wine that elegantly displays some of Counoise's wild berry and herbal characteristics. We also have the 2016 Alexander Valley Carbonic Carignan, one of their most fascinating wines. The Oat Valley vineyard, situated on sandy (and thus phylloxera-proof) soils, was planted sometime around 1890, which means the vines are almost 130 years old! These old vines provide fruit of astonishing concentration that is then given an extremely fresh treatment through the use of carbonic maceration. This balance of depth and freshness is truly extraordinary, and gives us a wine that is excellent now but that can also age for up to a decade.
Broc Cellars produces one of my favorite new takes on a classic California grape in their 2015 Vine Starr Zinfandel, which remains full of Zinfandel fruit but tops out at a more reserved 13.3% alcohol. Again from two vineyards, Arrowhead in Sonoma and Buck Hill in Russian River, I am amazed by the incredible verve and energy of this wine (not things I always associate with Zin). Picked at low brix to highlight acidity, the melange of red and blue fruit is still strong here but it is presented like a coiled spring on the palate: taut and roiling with energy, with a blast of excitement on the surprising finish. The last and most southerly offering we have is one of the great summer quaffing wines coming from the west coast, the 2015 Santa Barbara Cabernet Franc. Happy Canyon is the hottest AVA in Santa Barbara, but becomes quite cool once the sun sets. The Crown Point vineyard whence the fruit for this wine was sourced lies between 500 and 1000 feet in elevation, with mostly serpentine soils composed of loam/clay loam with varying amounts of chert. This is a wine with incredibly ripe and juicy vivacity, with succulent cranberry and raspberry flavors. Whole cluster native yeast fermentation was done in 5 ton wooden vats, with a bit of foot treading in the morning and a gentle pumpover at night. As with all wines from Broc Cellars, this wine has the great energy and tight, controlled fruit character that I believe expresses honestly the joys and limpid clarity of California sunshine.
- Andrew Farquhar
