Wine Sleuthing on Mount Veeder

“But, sometimes when we're on the road, we like playing the wine sleuth. This time, that's what we did. Over the course of the next day, we decided to try to make sense of Calafia on our own. Why was this wine from Mount Veeder -- an appellation known more for structure and aromatic complexity than for opulence -- such a mouth-coating crowd pleaser? We drove up the crazy, winding road to Mount Veeder, shrouded in a redwood tunnel (wondering how many cyclists were blown into the ditches that bracketed the narrow blacktop each year). We went all the way to Konrad Vineyard, felt the cleansing wind and the warmth that bathed this volcanic soil parcel and its perfect southwest exposure. But we still weren't believers. Okay, the wonderful, explosive red/purple fruit attack made sense. And the fine, supple tannins and firmness of the finish. But somehow, that sweet, opulent middle was out of place. Finally we gave up, found the number, and called Randall Johnson.”

“Konrad was the discovery," Randall said, "but it was the Malbec that the little French consortium traded me in 1991 that was the epiphany. That wine, made from an eight acre planting on Mount Veeder, made me understand what Konrad was missing. The Malbec was like the jelly in the Konrad donut.”

“This is a rare, tiny-production, mountain Cabernet-dominated wine made largely from that exquisite, southwest facing spot on Mount Veeder. Since 1991, the year of Johnson's Malbec Epiphany, a small dollop of luscious purple fruit Malbec has been injected into the wonderfully structured, aromatic Konrad Cabernet.”

9/15/09