Castor Membership July 2022: Keeping an Open Wine and “All You Need is Liev”
Trying to create bottle art-Twomey Sauvignon Blanc at their Sonoma winery, 2011.
“Keeping an Open Wine”
Twomey Sauvignon Blanc, California 2020
Starting out as a sommelier, I quickly came to realize that there were two wine worlds you could dwell in: one a never-ending discovery of people, places, and stories that made every glass you shared with your guests an experience, and the other a wearying procession of corporate regional managers, branded tchotchke giveaways, and people who referred to some of the greatest wines in the world by their SKU number. When I arrived at 4-Star restaurant Citronelle Michel Richard in Washington, DC to work at a program that was the then-current James Beard Award holder for Outstanding Wine Service, what became fascinating to me was how many wineries inhabited both of these worlds at once. There were estates that began as cult favorites known only to a few that had grown their brands to near omnipresence, and tiny farms that were so famous it seemed as though the people really responsible for their success were too humble to accept the credit, and so rather than coming around each year to present their own products they found it easier to align themselves with a marketing machine. Regarding the two aforementioned wine worlds, I was firmly in the camp of the former when it came to my favorite producers, for the simple reason that I hadn’t worked at a place that was important enough to warrant the attention of the latter. Citronelle changed that. Under the tutelage of my head sommelier, Mark Slater, we were deluged by tasting appointment requests from all sides, across the spectrum of the wine business. One of the first true sommeliers in Washington, DC (he had worked with Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate hotel prior to joining Michel Richard), Mark and the winelist he’d built taught me many things those first few formative years in my DC wine life. One of the most important lessons for me was to remain open and really judge a wine in the glass, as opposed to the tangled web of accompanying information (pricing, packaging, backstory) that the salesperson would dangle in front of you. Mark loathed Veuve Clicquot’s main brut champagne (he used to call it “Agent Orange”) not because of its ubiquitous grocery store presence and over-the-top promotional campaign, but because he thought it sucked. But the estate’s demi-sec dessert sparkling and tete de cuvee, La Grande Dame? Those Veuve Clicquot wines made Citronelle’s list because Mark always let his senses find the wines before he found the winery. I have always tried my best to retain that attitude when tasting and evaluating wines; whether you’ve never heard of it or your ears are ringing from over-exposure, if you stay open the wine will always present itself to you, and then the choice is yours. When I first encountered the Twomey winery, a second project from the Duncan family, proprietors of that steakhouse cabernet classic, Silver Oak Cellars, I had to stay open to the wines and keep them separate from the sometimes-cultish following that Silver Oak enjoyed. And when you have California Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot made in a very old-World style by a man who trained in Bordeaux, it makes that task a little easier.
Looking west over the Twomey Sauvignon Blanc vineyards in Calistoga to the Mayacamas mountains.
We used to sell a lot of Twomey Sauvignon Blanc. Like, A LOT. Five cases one week, eight cases the next, the wine was an unstoppable force that struck a perfect chord for a French-American bistro: a California Sauvignon Blanc made in a White Bordeaux style by a winemaker who had spent his formative years training at a little ho-hum property in Pomerol called Chateau Petrus. Daniel Baron was integral to Silver Oak’s continued success from the early 2000s until his retirement in 2016, having trained at the famous Pomerol estate under the Mouieux family, and then returning to America to be the opening General Manager of their esteemed Napa property, Dominus. No matter how engaged he became with the Cabernet grape that made Silver Oak famous, however, Daniel always had a place in his heart for the Right Bank of Bordeaux, so much so that one year he decided to use some Merlot vineyards to craft his homage to an Old-World style of merlot: moderate alcohol, the technique of soutirage traditionnel (racking from one vessel to another by gravity rather than pumping), and aging in French barriques rather than the American barrels that had made Silver Oak’s cabernets famous, or infamous, depending upon whom you spoke to. When Daniel presented his new wine to Silver Oak owner Ray Duncan and his two sons, Dave and Tim, they agreed that it was delicious, and they also agreed that it had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with Silver Oak. One thing you notice immediately, however, upon meeting members of the Duncan family is that they are open and accessible people-despite their brand’s prestige, there’s a decidedly down-to-earth, familial element to their philosophy that is palpable throughout the organization. So, rather than clamp down on Daniel Baron’s obvious talent, they decided to embrace it, and used their resources to found a completely different winery, which they named Twomey (the family name of Ray Duncan’s mother). Twomey was formed in 1999 and Daniel’s deft hand became quickly noted for the low-alcohol, Francophone-styled Merlot and the Sauvignon Blanc that echoed those of Bordeaux due to its gentle aging in oak barrels and lack of underripe, pyrezine-driven green notes. It was that Sauvignon Blanc and its success at Central Michel Richard (at one point we were the top account for Twomey Sauvignon Blanc on the entire East Coast) that got me a visit with Daniel Baron at Silver Oak and to the Twomey wineries in Calistoga and Healdsburg.
Daniel Baron’s former office at Silver Oak’s Oakville property, complete with autographed jerseys. During my brief visit, we bonded over the USWNT, baseball, and Bordeaux-varietal wines.
At the time I visited with Twomey, their Sauvignon Blanc was being sourced exclusively from their Calistoga vineyard and winery (the Sonoma County property dealt only with Pinot Noir, another grape that Twomey is well-known for); these days the production of the wine is split fairly evenly between estate-owned vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. For all of the fanfare that Silver Oak and Twomey enjoy, and their distribution nationally by one of the larger companies in the American wine and spirits industry, the Twomey Sauvignon Blanc still feels a little like a secret. Production of the entire Twomey line is around 20,000 cases but so much of that is their ever-growing Pinot Noir endeavors (they now have vineyards in Oregon as well as California) that the Sauvignon Blanc is harder to find. Recently, at a dinner I lead in Loudoun County, I was able to re-visit the Twomey after nearly 8 years not having tasted it and was delighted to find its style as on-point as ever, even with Daniel Baron’s retirement in 2016. The sourcing of fruit from both Napa and Sonoma makes it one of the few wines you’ll see with both counties listed on the label, and the resulting melange of terroirs makes the wine truly adherent to Daniel’s original stylistic litmus rather than a specific place. Do I usually feature wines from cult producers whose main offerings can be found at big-box stores? No. Is the fact that Twomey is now the official wine partner of baseball’s San Francisco Giants appealing to me? Not at all (and I love baseball). But enjoying the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc then and now, sharing this joy with my Castor members, I am grateful that I was taught to “keep an open wine”-D.
Twomey California Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Country of Origin: USA
Places and People: Founded in 1999 as a sister winery to Silver Oak Cellars, Twomey has long been known for Bordeaux-style Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as an ever-growing Pinot Noir program. The grapes for the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc are now split fairly evenly between Napa (52%, from their original Calistoga location as well as estate vineyards in Oakville) and Sonoma (48%, from their original Healdsburg location in Sonoma as well as their Merino Estate Vineyard).
Soil: Given the four different locations, the soil types are eclectic, ranging from marine deposits on the valley floor in Calistoga to alluvial and landslide deposits in Healdsburg.
Grape Varieties: 96% Sauvignon Blanc, 3% Sauvignon Gris, and 1% Chardonnay.
Winemaking: Organic viticulture, with a temperature-controlled fermentation done in tank.
Aging: The different terroirs of Twomey’s 2020 Sauvignon Blanc have given the winemaking team leeway to use varied aging vessels; in accordance with their homage to Bordeaux Sauvignon, wood barrels are used for 53% of the juice (split between traditional-sized barriques and Puncheons), with 39% of the wine staying in tank. Twomey also makes use of composite drums and concrete for the remaining wines. The wine is bottled approximately eight months after harvesting.
Flavors and Foods: A vibrant example of what Sauvignon Blanc can do when given proper treatment, the 2020 Twomey is at once refreshing and robust. A nose of grapefruit and fresh gooseberries (I know, this fruit is always in Sauvignon Blanc tasting writeups, but get them at the farmer’s market right now and you’ll see) leads to a palate that goes Bordeaux in structure but with fruit decidedly Californian: where Bordeaux Blanc might be a mix of lemon and lime zest and juice, the Twomey’s main fruit profile is more grapefruit and something even more tropical like starfruit or kiwi. As I mention in the story, the pyrazine, green pepper non-fruit that can pervade Sauvignon blanc are largely absent here, and the portion of juice aged in barrel gives the wine a more rounded texture, with less enamel-wearing acid to speak of. This combination of juicier tropicality and full-bodied mouthfeel makes the 2020 Twomey less of an aperitif (although shellfish will work, but I’d actually do more oysters rockefeller or clams casino than raw bar/steamed, respectively) and more dinner-focused: baked halibut with wilted spinach or watercress, roasted whole chicken with lemon (or more vibrant citrus like yuzu), and maki from your favorite sushi restaurant are all excellent options.
Service and Cellar: The 2020 Twomey Sauvignon Blanc is best served at a cool, but not cold 45-48 degrees F. The oak barrel aging should give this wine a little gentle oxidation that allows it to stay delicious for another 2-3 years.
The historic Lievland Estate Farm in Stellenbosch, Coastal Region.
“All you need is Liev”
Lievland Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Coastal Region, South Africa 2017
Sometimes, we are able to affect great change simply by appreciating beauty hiding in plain sight. South Africa is a country that has, for obvious reasons, seen its wine industry completely turn itself on its head over the last three decades. From the growing (and long overdue) diversity of the people involved, to what grapes are primarily grown and vinified, the country that has few rivals in the beauty of its wine regions has experienced a transformation. This is a story of two men who were already deeply involved in the business of wine in South Africa who found a beauty, hiding in plain sight, that caused them to fall in love with wine all over again.
Jose Conde and Tyrrel Myburgh certainly didn’t need another foray into the wine business. Myburgh’s family winery, Joostenburg Wines, and Jose’s eponymous Stark-Conde property had led the friends, along with Tyrrel’s brother Phillip, to found M.A.N. Family Wines together (named after the first initial of each of their wives), and it was while searching for a farm that could accommodate this growing venture that the partners discovered (or more accurately, rediscovered) Lievland Estate. Literally translating to “Love Land”, Conde and Myburgh did just that, developing a fast affinity for the once-proud estate, and not only deciding to headquarter their facilities for M.A.N. Family Wines at the 19th century property but endeavoring to restore the now-derelict farm to its former glory upon their purchase of it in 2017. Historically, Lievland was known in previous decades as the producer of some of the best wines the Stellenbosch region had to offer; the estate had seen six owners since being built in 1865 and has a claim as the first property in South Africa with a female winemaker (who happened to be a baroness seen plowing her own fields by horse), and one of the first estates to barrel age its Chenin Blanc. Upon their arrival at Lievland, Conde and Myburgh noticed two horses walking with a springbok (a medium-sized antelope that is South Africa’s national animal). The male and female horses were clearly protecting the springbok and in the ensuing days Conde and Myburgh could see that they’d adopted the smaller animal as their own; during the restoration process the gentlemen commonly saw this little nuclear family among the rows of vines. This gave birth to the newly formed winery’s label, a picture of the “Liev”-minded Cupid riding proudly atop a Springbok.
The rolling hills above Lievland’s estate
The region of Stellenbosch, east of Cape Town in South Africa’s Coastal Region, has long been the epicenter of the country’s wine industry, so much so that the appellation, not unlike Napa Valley, has several established sub-zones that usually never make it onto the labels. The Lievland Estate lies on the border between the Stellenbosch and Paarl appellations, in the shadow of the 1,000-foot Simonsberg mountain. Temperatures are a little warmer here than in parts of Stellenbosch closer to the sea, but the elevation serves to mitigate the warmth and the granitic soils drain well. The winemaking team of partners Conde and Myburgh, along with winemaker Riann Moller, are smart to use restraint in their handling of the estate’s fruit: Cabernet is blended with Shiraz and Cinsault to take advantage of those grapes’ savory and spice qualities, and the judicious use of oak barrels (only 5% new) makes for a startlingly good wine for the price point. The 2017 Cabernet is at once dense, inky, and subtle, with scores of stony, granitic earth running underneath the fruit on the palate. Tasting the wine in preparation for its Castor feature, I am struck by how food-friendly and terroir-driven the Lievland Cabernet is, truly reflecting the regal texture of this noble variety. A California Cab that I had used the previous week on a wine event sits nearby, and a quick comparison reveals the Lievland to absolutely smoke its American counterpart at exactly half the price. No doubt the “liev” that Conde, Myburgh, and their team have for this bucolic piece of property is readily apparent. All right, I’ve pounded this wordplay into the ground; go enjoy it-D.
Lievland Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Coastal Region 2017
Country of Origin: South Africa
Places and People: Located in the north of the Stellenbosch appellation in the village of Klapmuts, the Lievland Farm has seen six owners since its inception in 1865. Jose Conde and Tyrell Myburgh bought the property in 2017. The overall production levels are still quite artisanal, with the Cabernet 2017 coming in at just under 1,000 cases.
Soil: Clay-rich decomposed granite.
Grape Varieties: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cinsault, 6% Shiraz.
Winemaking: Hand-picked grapes into small lug boxes are then destemmed, crushed, and chilled as quickly as possible. After two days of cold maceration the team uses selected commercial yeast to start fermentation (I normally am a fan of spontaneous yeast fermentation, but in South Africa it is common to see wild yeast fermented wines take on an over-the-top gaminess that is best avoided). Controlled temperature fermentation is completed in 14 days.
Aging: After the Lievland Cabernet has its malolactic fermentation carried out in tank, the wine is matured for 13 months in a combination of 225 and 300 liter French oak barrels. Only 5% of these are new, and the lack of new wood is an inspired choice that allows the natural tannins of Cabernet to shine without drying, woodsy flavor profiles, allowing this structured wine to open up a bit more quickly without, in my opinion, taking away from its ability to age.
Flavors and Foods: The Lievland’s color is not as inky as typical Cabernet; possibly a sign that you have a more balanced wine on hand (thank goodness). The nose is refreshingly devoid of gamey, brettanomyces traits that can permeate South African red wines: purple and black fruits, violet, cassis, bloody red meat, and a little green pepper but even that is very faint. You can find some cedar and vanilla baking spice from the barrels on the nose, but nothing overbearing. The palate is a smooth, lush textural experience that doubles down on the black cassis, dark cherry, along with enough fresh herbal secondary notes to remind you you’re in Stellenbosch, but again, they are in check (sage being the most prevalent, with a slight mint/terragon hint also). Excellent overall balance and integration for a wine that has huge aging potential. I can’t overestimate how important of a decision it was to give the Lievland only 5% new oak aging; in fact, this armchair winemaker would do the entire cuvee in the 300 L barrels and abandon the 225s. The Lievland 2017 is a wonderful reminder that Cabernet Sauvignon actually does have a little acidity if as a winemaking team you allow it. Secondary non-fruit flavors of Sage, potpourri, violet flowers, and red meat all feature before the very peaceful finish-it’s been awhile since I’ve said that about a 14% abv wine! The wine has tannins but there is enough acid to keep them on the softer side, and thankfully most of them are varietally driven because of the lack of new wood. In fact, the oak notes are even less present on the palate than the nose. A not-overly-long finish (which I’m completely fine with as it demonstrates the balance of the alcohol) is smooth and soft at the back of the palate. Serve the 2017 Lievland with beef, somewhat obviously, but perhaps surprisingly I would avoid marbelized cuts-this is a tenderloin wine. Seared filet mignon, chateaubriand, whole grilled (heck try them all), rubbed with sage, garlic, and olive oil. This is a wine that pairs perfectly with summer but will still have you feeling a little fancy. The tenderloin would be wonderful finished with a Lievland-based red wine sauce if you can find the discipline to part with a little of it.
Service and Cellar: Red cellar temperature is a must; as the wine opens and warms, you will find a little bit of the gamey notes that I describe other South African wines having-serve the Lievland at 58-62 degrees F and you’ll be rewarded with a balanced, bold tasting experience. 30 minutes decanting is also recommended to keep the tannin level at bay. The 2017 Cabernet from Lievland is starting to open up now as mentioned above, but this is a 15 year wine in my estimation with the acidity and restrained nature of the fruit. Drink starting now and for the decade to come.