Volcanic soils set Lake County’s wines apart — and make it a great winetasting destination.
Arpad Molnar was normal. Like so many others, he and his brother Peter settled into Napa Valley vineyard life, while at the same time operating a cooperage in Hungary’s famed Tokaj region — all very typical. Things were going well. And then… “People thought we were crazy,” Molnar recalled.
The pair purchased a steep slope on a wind-blasted Lake County ridge littered with glassy black obsidian, with barely a sheet of dirt to entice a farmer.
Jim Fore of Fore Family Vineyards clung to his sanity a bit longer, at first turning his back on a piece of hillside studded with volcanic rock. Again, however, the longtime Napa Valley vintner succumbed to whatever temptation causes a winemaker to seek out the roughest of high ground.
Perhaps Fore, the Molnars and all the other people producing wines from Lake County’s range of volcanic mountain soils aren’t so foolish, after all. Wines from the region — in particular the Red Hills and High Valley AVAs — have been winning awards and growing in stature.
Part of the momentum gained by California’s finest little-known wine region
comes down to the skill of stalwart winemakers. Much of the credit belongs, however, to the rutted ground. Sometimes blasted by basalt, other times draped in red stones or razor black glass, it defines Lake County wines.
“In Napa, we have richer soils,” Fore explained. “But grapes don’t require too much. Grape vines are tough critters. They’ll grow on concrete.”
But there is apparently something to be said for the qualities imparted by rocky, parched, mineral-rich soil. Canada’s first Master Sommelier, John Szabo, toured the world for his book “Volcanic Wines: Salt, Grit and Power” (Jacqui Small, 2016). He believes Lake County’s brutal hillsides will soon be recognized for world-class bottles.
Gregory Graham, who tills a vineyard perched above the community of Lower Lake, plucks barely two tons an acre from his vines. But the resulting wines clobber the competition when entered into contests. The 2012 Gregory Graham Syrah earned best of class from the most recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. While syrah is generally a fruitforward varietal, the Gregory Graham vintage finds an earthy balance, with impressions of pepper and chocolate, pitted black olives and aged vanilla.
Boatique Winery’s 2014 Malbec romps across the palate, playfully tossing out fresh plums, ripe cherries and juicy blackberries followed by coffee, tobacco and blackstrap molasses. It’s a wine in beautiful balance. And former Boatique winemaker Luke Bass again credits terroir.
“Whatever is going on up there is perfect for malbec,” he said. “I’ve been very impressed.”
That tension between fruit and earthiness, between sugars and acidity lumped into the term “balance” also describes the Fore Family 2015 Mourvedre. At first wanton, flaunting bright plum and blueberry flavors, it soon withers into stewed fruits, black pepper and chiseled stone.
It’s more rustic in character than the favored cabernet sauvignons of this region. Yet Fore has become a big fan of the varietal he once considered useful only for blending into his stellar GSM (grenache, syrah, mourvedre blend).
“Is it the elevation? The soil?” he asked. “I’m 10 degrees cooler than Kelseyville” — a reference to the Kelsey Bench AVA far below in the valley leading to Clear Lake.
As a result, Fore harvests later, allowing for more of what winemakers call “hang time,” which concentrates the grape flavors just a little further.
Molnar planted large plots of cabernet sauvignon at a half mile up — 2,640 feet of elevation — joining Lake County’s most popular crop. He considers the region California’s “next great cabernet frontier.” His 2011 Obsidian Ridge cabernet sauvignon dodged rainy weather that frustrated vintners in Napa. It seems to leap from the glass, with cherry and plum frolicking over dark chocolate drizzled with vanilla.
The 2014 Collie’s Cuvee from Laujor Estate — a blend composed from 80 percent Red Hills cabernet sauvignon — shows lithe, graceful fruit at first before yielding to dense, savory notes and cured tobacco.
“The cabs do well here, without question,” said Laujor winemaker Cheryl Lucido.
Amy Thorn, who tends vineyards in Napa as well as Lake County, agrees. Her 2013 Thorn Hill Volcanic Cabernet Sauvignon offers a moment alone with decadent chocolate before strains of tannic leather haul the fruits down to earth.
The binding tannins suggest a bottle to save.
“I’ll put my Red Hills Cabernet against my Napa cabernet any day,” Thorn said. “The Red Hills has the potential to create wines that age for 20 plus years.”
Cabs aren’t all. Szabo, a partner in WineAlign.com as well as gallivanting author, notes that Lake County’s sauvignon blancs are already the best in California.
Shannon Ridge winemaker Joy Merrilees describes her 2016 sauvignon blanc from the winery’s Vigilance label as “a mouthful of flavor.” It bounds forward, peeling apples and knocking pears to the orchard floor. Yet a rustic minerality and raspy hint of dried lemongrass chaperone the buoyant fruit — a crisp and bright, yet measured wine.
Other examples of Lake County’s volcanic wines can be found scattered around Clear Lake, at Hawk and Horse, Brassfield Estate and Six Sigma. Yet the winemakers are all wary when it comes to matching volcanic soil to quality.
Szabo understands their hesitance. “Soil composition clearly modulates the way a plant grows and behaves,” he said. “It’s just that drawing any direct connection between soil and grape/ wine chemistry is devilishly complex.”
Lake County’s volcanic soil wines are simply different. And they find favor with those who challenge the twisted roads leading into the county.