Left bright and early Saturday morning for a 10 AM appointment with Ben Sharpe, the “majordomo” of CAPTURE. While we loved their Sauvignon Blanc from DAY ONE I don’t think we ever got the whole story. Now we have it and it is quite interesting.
This is a story of three partners, families actually. Mike and Carol Foster, Denis and May-Brit Malbec, and Ben and Tara Sharpe. The Fosters, from Vermont who truly wanted a California Vineyard of supreme excellence, Denis Malbec the Cellar Master and Oenologist for years at Chateau Latour in Pauillac, his wife May-Britt named the top Sommeliere in the Nordic world in the Mid 1990′s and subsequent PR Manager at Latour both of whom were looking for a new challenge in the USA. Ben Sharpe was defacto admin assistant to Jess Jackson for two years and wouldn’t you know it developed a yearning for his own vineyard and winery. These three families were brought together to develop…….CAPTURE.
When Shelley and I arrived in Healdsburg where Capture is “headquartered” we expected the typical high class tasting room, and were hoping to finally get to taste the red wine the whole world is waiting for. Absolutely NONE of this happened. Ben piled us into cars and headed off to their Tin Cross vineyards at the top of Pine Mountain in what is now the Alexander Valley Appellation. His answer to the red request was a smile and….”nobody tastes the red till we’re ready” “maybe you are interested in the Chardonnay”
THE WHAT…..WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN! ! ? ? More on this in a few minutes.
We drove to a train station that doesn’t exist, left a car, and then went straight up Pine Mountain to Tin Cross vineyards. Ben explained the basic “raison d’etre” of Capture and while a little skeptical I decided to keep and open mind, and sure enough they are RIGHT ON. The philosophy, buy the very best vineyards, hire the very best farmers, and own grapes that are capable of making world class wines.
Tin Cross dates back to the Thomas Jefferson Land Grant of 1805. The last owner of Tin Cross was the Statser family. They sold fruit to Newton for their Reserve Unfiltered Chardonnay and to Imagery for their Reserve Cabernet. Mr. Statser finally had to sell this Mountain Top ranch and it just so happened to be when The Fosters were wandering around the Alexander Valley looking for their dream vineyard. They immediately brought in the Sharpes, who contacted the Malbecs and within minutes a love affair happened between people and land!
I have NEVER seen a vineyard so meticulously taken care of. Understand please that the slopes are like the bunny slopes at a ski resort. This is NOT easy! The attention to detail is unlike anything I have ever experienced! The property itself, with some old houses under reconstruction is simply breathtaking. Obviously…..I too have fallen in love with this property.
The Chardonnay. They made 10 barrels from the vineyard planted in 1985. The grapes were totally sustainably farmed. As the pig I am, I asked for the entire Mid-Atlantic allocation (Between New Jersey and Georgia) and at this point Ben told me we could get half……WOW….when it is finally released in October. The price could be as high as $50 but we’re working on that.
So we found something we never knew was happening, fell in love with a vineyard at first sight, and still are using our imagination to dream about a red wine. At this point we still hadn’t touched a drop of wine, so we went into the guest house at the top of Pine Mountain and opened a bottle of the 2009 Capture Sauvignon Blanc. Those of you who remember just how wonderful the 08 was can rest assured, this is just as nice.
We then drove down the Mountain and into Geyserville to visit with Bill and Susan Arbios. Mills blew thru their Praxis Viognier earlier this Spring and we still have some of their 2005 Alexander Valley Cabernet in the store (only a couple of cases).
They share a quaint tasting room in downtown Geyserville, the town being the size of the block MILLS is on. They share this tasting room with several other growers. Bill had been the winemaker for Lleyth and others during a 25 year career before he and Susan did their own thing.
I remembered tasting the Praxis Merlot and Pinot Noir when Susan was at Mills and really liking them. We revisited these wines, and at some point soon we hope to have them at MILLS. There is soooooo much terroir in these wines and both will be under $20– it was too much to ask for.
We asked Bill where we could go for a “local flavor” sandwichn ad he sent us 7 miles down the road to The Jimstown Country Store. This was an old time Country store in the middle of nowhere, (Jimstown it seems is three buildings). The sandwiches were to die for, the atmosphere right out of the wild west. What fun!
Tomorrow is an important day…..visiting Del Bondio, Domaine Carneros, and Staglin!
Peter
PS: Shelley, Annapolis finest AP US History Teacher was so appalled at my spelling and grammar that she insisted on fixing this one before publication……<G>