Getting Along

In his January 21st blog, Eric Asimov referred to "Culture Wars over wine issues such as power vs. finesse, terroir vs. what's in the glass, traditional and modern," to name but a few. My response to his blog was published under his comment section on January 27, 2009. It read:

We at Cerro Prieto Vineyard and Cellars have just released our first commercial bottling, and were overwhelmed with just how delightful our low yield vineyard(1-2 Tons/acre) produced Cab, Merlot, and Syrah, that is the essence of terroir AND finesse in a glass. We can't wait to be ignored, ridiculed(Westside Paso Robles area), nor looked down upon by someone from the likes of WS. Our answer is very simple. We make people's wine experience enjoyable and rewarding...one client (wine aficionado) at a time.

The folks at Wine Enthusiast have been very generous to our vineyard (Sept., '07 issue by rating the 2004 Byington Cabernet Sauvignon, Cerro Prieto Vineyard) with 91 points. People who have drunk our wine have been equally gracious. But being ridiculed for not being Napa has grown old and frankly boring, because in WS anything other than Napa or France is inferior from the gitgo (Generalization, I realize). In the end it doesn't matter what the sage of Napa says...or not. What matters is what's in the vineyard, what is the vineyard like, and most importantly, what's in the glass. Snubs, guys like the snooty professor alluded to in a few articles above...those all just come with the territory, and have to roll like water off a duck's back.

The Paso Robles area is capable of making Napa cult-like Cab wines...and frequently does, tho one has to be selective. One just needs the terroir, the minute attention to detail, the low vineyard yields, and the love of the vine/wine to make truly remarkable Cabs and Bordeaux like blends. The main difference is that we do that at prices that are affordable for the majority of wine aficionados. Napa doesn't.(Again a generalization, but you get the idea). Those not familiar with our AVA are missing a bet...and to heck with snobbery, petulance, and dare I say it...ignorance.