Wine Each Week – 2017 MacRostie Chardonnay, Dutton Ranch

A tinkerer at heart, Steve MacRostie was drafted in the U.S. Army as a cryptographer. That means attention to detail and Steve’s wines, which I have reviewed for over a decade, all have the imprint of his attention to detail allover them. His 2017 RRV Chard offers upfront notes of muted lemon verbena and lime kefir, with mid-palate notes of guava, light honeysuckle, white peach, and pear, and back notes of browned butter along with a mild acidity. The wine went through a partial malolactic fermentation, then was aged for a scant 10 months in both new and used French oak, but that accounted for only 38% of an impact on the wine, therefore it’s not overbearing. The result is a playful, balanced (between oak and fruit) wine that is elegant, usable with a variety of foods, or just to enjoy as a classic Russian River Chardonnay.

601 cases

ORIGIN: Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California

ALCOHOL: 14.6%

PRICE: $48 (750ML)

SCORE: 93 POINTS

MacRostie

One Cool Cat: Pinot Noir & Steve MacRostie

Grapes are grown across Planet Earth so there is no shortage of growing sites. What is lacking is near perfectly suitable growing sites. Several years ago I visited Steve MacRostie at the base of his Wildcat Mountain property in Sonoma, overlooking the San Pablo Bay. We drove up a lengthy hill to the top of a sparse parcel of land where meek looking grapevines were planted. I wrote about the experience for IntoWine.com:

A wild cat & Wildcat Mountain Pinot

"I felt Wildcat would push the envelope, something untried. The cooler climates, the stressful site, the thinner soils; this is not a safe place to set up a farming operation. In a business sense it was probably rather stupid," he said plainly. Stupid or not, MacRostie planted 4 acres of Syrah, 23 acres of Pinot Noir and 23 acres of Chardonnay, all on volcanic soil with elevations ranging from 500 to 700 feet. From the very top of the vineyard, assuming it's a clear day, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Oakland and the Mayacamas mountains to the west. But it is the fog, funneled through San Pablo Bay from the cold Pacific Ocean that is the most frequent guest on Wildcat Mountain. "Often we're not above the fog or below it," says MacRostie with a grin, "we're in it." And if it's not the fog, it's the wind. The vines are literally windswept, bent back by the consuming force of wind off the bay, running up the mountain and pummeling the vines like a boxer with too much confidence. Though it is an odd choice for a vineyard, isolated and abused by Mother Nature, once you find yourself standing in its midst, it seems that it's the perfect place, where soil, prevailing breezes for cool climate varieties and well drained soil all complement each other to bring forth great wines. "What I didn't know was how windy it would be here and how difficult that would make the farming," he adds. "The vines read the climate as being cooler than it really is and they slow down their activity.  We don't have monstrous crop levels and we don't drop fruit. In fact, we're challenged in the other direction, how to get more crop."  (read the entire article HERE)

Fast forward to 2015 and I have the 2012 Pinot Noir Wildcat Mountain in front of me. There is a luscious spicy black cherry and blueberry cedar and vanilla component to this wine. It’s earthy, mineral driven, with a mild acidity that can only come from the beat up vines on Wildcat  Mountain. The velvety viscosity, earthy richness and specific flavors are unique to what MacRostie gets from this fruit. Only 878 cases so go on the prowl and find it. www.macrostiewinery.com

ORIGIN: Sonoma, California

PRICE:  $48 - 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 14.5%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  90 POINTS

A Scotsman and His Russian Chard

Steve MacRostie, whose family hails from Scotland, has been at the wine business for a long time debuting his first Chardonnay in 1974. It is merely one of many Chardonnay’s that clutter store shelves, right? Well yes, and no – it may sit aside other Chards, but this baby is the one you should be reaching for just now. The MacRostie 2012 Russian River Valley Chardonnay is one of those wines that can please a broad variety of palates, specifically those people who don’t like Chardonnay. This wine has it all: acidity, creaminess, notes of melon, peach, green apple, judicious oak and vanilla, a weight in the palate and is actually definable unlike the majority of tedious Chardonnays (at either the $10 range, or conversely at the $60 price point which are over-oaked and heavy handed). What MacRostie manages to do with classic Russian River grapes is make a Chardonnay that truly represents what Chardonnay is supposed to taste like. If you think Chardonnay is a either a butter and oak bomb, or you think Chardonnay equates with beige, you need to try this. And once you do, a kilt and haggis may not be far behind! MACROSTIE

Read about my visit with Steve at his Wildcat Mountain property HERE

ORIGIN: Russian River Valley, Sonoma

PRICE: $32 / 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  91 POINTS