Tablas Creek just planted a grape you’ve never heard of. But it’s a milestone for California Rhone wines

The wines of Chateauneuf du Pape, the famous winegrowing region in France’s Southern Rhone Valley, are usually based on Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre - if you know the term “GSM” blend, this is the antecedent - but a host of other grape varieties are permitted by the appellation and often used as minor blending components. Many are quite obscure: Ever heard of Bourbelenc? The renowned winery Chateau de Beaucastel has always used all fourteen grapes in its Mourvedre-based CdP.

当佩兰家庭-拥有Beaucastel co-founded Tablas Creek with the Haas family, 30 years ago, their first move was to import grapevines from the Rhone, to supplement the scarcity of vine material available domestically. (The importance of that program can’t be overstated: Since then Tablas Creek has provided budwood to about 600 West Coast wineries.) Obviously, the GSM heavy hitters were top priorities for import, but some of the obscure Chateauneuf grapes, like Picpoul and Counoise, proved surprisingly successful in Paso. So in 2003, the Haas family worked with UC Davis to bring in cuttings of the final seven Chateauneuf grapes. “My dad thought we should at least try them,” says Haas of his fatherRobert, who died last year. “He thought that was one of our responsibilities as one of the torch bearers of the Rhone movement.”

The grape varieties Cinsault, Clairette Blanche, Terret Noir, Vaccarese, Bourbelenc, Picardan and Muscardin comprised the class of 2003. (The only of these with much clout stateside isCinsault, which I wrote about recently.) After Tablas brought the cuttings stateside, UC Davis put all of the imported plant material through its extensive quarantine process. All were virused. It took varying amounts of time to render each variety virus-free; Muscardin just took the longest.

Tablas Creek always makes a standalone wine from its experimental grape varieties for at least a couple of years, just to see what they’re like. Some end up as components of the winery’s blends, but others have been successful as varietals. I particularly love Tablas' dusty strawberry-forward Terret Noir, which has heftier tannins than its limpidity would suggest; and their Picardan, which has the viscosity and white-flower notes of the more familiar white Rhone grape Picpoul.

So what’s Muscardin like? Since no Muscardin-only wine exists, we don’t know yet. “According to the Perrins, Muscardin is a large-berry, pale-colored red grape,” says Haas, “a bit like a more floral Cinsault or a less tannic Terret Noir.”

That description sounds pretty great to me - and seems like it could be perfectly poised to meet the demand for thetranslucent redsthat are on the rise in California right now. In fact, many of the minor Chateauneuf blending grapes seem to fit this profile. “Most of these are of the lighter-bodied, lighter-colored, higher-acid profile, which is something a lot of the newer-wave California producers are really looking for,” Haas says.

“That may be one reason they became trace varieties to start with,” Haas continues: “In the early 20th century you were looking for grapes that could provide richness and substance to establish the identity of a wine region, and the fashion was against these lighter, paler, more elegant red varieties.” Now, that’s most definitely changing.

*Wait a second. Fourteen?I, too, was always taught that Chateauneuf du Pape permitted 13different grape varieties in its wines. But that figure didn’t distinguish between Grenache Blanc and Grenache Noir. “Actually some sources now enumerate 19,” explains Haas. OK, so somewhere between 13 and 19.

Where I’m drinking

Some sad (for me) news: Maggie Hoffman, a vital contributor to our drinks coverage over the last three years, is moving to New York. (This is happy news for Maggie!) This weekend we’re runningher final Drink Up column, and it’s a perfect swan song — and happens to be about one of my own favorite neighborhood bars,thePlough & Stars(116 Clement St., S.F.). Maggie sets a beautiful scene describing the seisún, the impromptu musical gatherings, that take place regularly at this homey Irish pub.

“When you look closer at the fading photos of famed Irish musicians who’ve fiddled and sung and drunk a Guinness here, you’ll see that something special happens at the Plough,”玛吉写道. We think something special has happened here, too, thanks to her contributions.

What I’m doing

• In case this newsletter isn’t giving you enough of a glimpse into my life, I’ll be doing aReddit AMA周二,7月2 at 1:30 p.m. PDT. Look for it onr/sanfrancisco— and truly, ask me anything!

• Also,two wine-focused podcastspublished interviews with me last week: I spoke with Sam Benrubi for theGrape Nation, a great podcast under the Heritage Radio Network umbrella; and with Ian Osborn, a British Columbia deputy sheriff who hosts the podcastFriends of the Vinein his spare time.

What I’m reading

• Olethus Hill Jr., who is incarcerated at the London Correctional Institution in Ohio, writes about hismisadventures in making prison hooch— which includes a great tip about how to get rid of a spilled-wine smell.

• The Chronicle’s 2019Top 100 Restaurants list is live!Critic Soleil Ho has assembled an amazing list, and I had a lot of fun contributing to it. Check out the roundups oftop Bay Area wine lists, restaurantsspecializing in natural wineandthe best dining destinations for cocktails.

• I thought thatPatrick Heij’s profile of Saison ex-chef Joshua Skenes, from our Food & Wine section last Sunday, was a thrilling read.

• Did the ancient Celts drink imported Greek wine? A new study suggests the answer is yes, asChris Mercer reports in Decanter.