A Retrospective of the Best of 1988: It Wasn’t Always a Vintage Year

Looking back at 1988, you’ll recall that it was the year of the short harvest, of warning labels and more Japanese investments into wine. And 1988 was also the year when new wine organizations to defend wine from attacks by neo-Prohibitionists were formed, when the Mondavi Mission linked wine and gracious living, and a year in which prices for wine, foreign and domestic, increased dramatically.

A two-year drought in California’s wine country ended, but California experienced its smallest harvest in years, driving prices for grapes up beyond many people’s expectations. (One Calistoga grower harvested 74 tons of Merlot grapes in 1987 and got only 19 tons in 1988).

The shortage created curious situations, such as the fact that some Sonoma County wineries paid more for Zinfandel grapes from Lodi, bought on the open market, than they did from Sonoma County (which had been contracted for earlier at lower prices). To combat the shortage of grapes in California, wine makers turned to Washington state, which had a surplus.

And planting of grapevines in hitherto barren vine land--Glenn and Colusa counties, to name just two--became so furious that grapevine nurseries ran out of rootstock on which to plant.

A Sampling of the Year’s Events

Tourists continued to inundate the Napa Valley, and the first stoplight in Calistoga’s history went operational.

The passage of the Omnibus Drug Bill in Congress meant that warning labels were mandated for the backs of wine bottles (as well as beer and spirits packages) by next November.

It was also the year that Montage, Dominus, Arrowood and Roederer released their first wines to wide praise.

Connoisseurs also were inundated in 1988 with a flood of great wine--at unfortunately high and getting-higher prices--because of the number of great vintages now coming to market. In particular, 1985 California Cabernets, not to mention the just-as-good 1984s; 1986 and 1987 California Chardonnays; 1985 Bordeaux, 1985 Burgundies and especially the 1985 red wines of Italy.

Moreover, Australia arrived as a force to be reckoned with as a fine wine producer.

It was also the year that three great forces in wine died: the Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton Rothschild; Renato Ratti of Abbazia dell’Annunziata in Italy; and Myron Nightingale, wine maker for Beringer Vineyards.

Before the year just past is nothing but a faded aroma, a look back at some of the more tasty events. Interspersed here are my selections for wines of the year from California. This list may include a few wines that may no longer be commercially available, though a few bottles may be seen on some wine lists.

Best New Winery With a Story to Tell: Richard L. Graeser Winery in the hills west of Calistoga. Graeser started his winery in 1985 and opened his tasting room last April 10, even though his prime Napa Valley property had been in his family’s hands for a generation--growing pears and prunes. Why no grapes? It seems that Graeser’s grandmothers, Della Baker and Ruth Graeser, were anti wine. Both were founding members of a Holtville branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, called the Della Ruth Circle. “It was organized at a local Methodist church in the 1940s,” said Graeser. Times change. Graeser now has grapes planted and is producing Chardonnay, Cabernet and Semillon.

Gewurztraminer of the Year: 1987 Navarro ($8)--I could recommend this one in my sleep, regardless of vintage. The perfect spicy varietal character is combined with very high acidity to make this Alsatian-dry style of wine a winner every year.

Strangest Trade of the Year: The shortage of grapes, due to erratic spring weather, wasn’t fully known until harvest time and then some growers hastily advised wineries they could not meet their projections. Robert Pecota, who annually makes a delightful Nouveau Gamay Beaujolais, had pre-sold 3,500 cases of the wine when he learned from one of his Gamay growers, from whom he expected 50 tons of grapes, that he’d get only 19 tons. “I called Sebastiani Vineyards and they were able to get me Gamay grapes from one of their Gamay growers--but I had to get them Napa Valley Cabernet in return.”

Merlot of the Year: 1985 Cuvaison ($18)--Spicy and complex, but without the fatness of other, more broadly structured Merlots. The Cuvaison style, starting with the amazingly fine 1984, is to accent complexity and fruit, but with a cedary note from oak and a slight herbal/olive element from a small amount of Cabernet.

Quote of the Year: Brother Timothy, for more than 50 years the wine master for the Christian Brothers Winery in the Napa Valley, was presented with a lifetime achievement award from B’nai B’rith. Ever active in promoting wine as a healthful beverage, and aware of legislation that would require warning labels on wine, Brother Timothy, in his acceptance speech, said, “When Christ turned water into wine, he didn’t put a warning label on it.”

Chardonnay of the Year: 1986 Sterling Winery Lake ($20)--Marvelous richness from the fruit and a gracenote of complexity that will grow with time in the bottle. The citrusy elements in the aroma, the understated depth, and the acidity in this wine are what set it apart from so many other wines that have only one element going for them.

Scare of the Year: Dry Creek Winery installed a sophisticated burglar alarm system when it remodeled offices and tasting room, and after the bugs had been worked out, the system was turned on the night of the Sonoma County Wineries Assn. dinner-dance. During the function, owner Dave Stare got a call from a neighbor: his alarm had gone off. Off Stare went at high speed to the winery. “When I got there, half the sheriffs in the county were there, and they thought they heard noises upstairs, so they began to creep up the stairs with their guns drawn, just like you see cops in the movies do,” said Stare. “Just then our winery cat comes prancing down the stairs.” Stare said one of the employees left the cat in by accident. It had triggered the alarm. Within 20 minutes, Stare was back on the dance floor.

Sauvignon Blanc of the Year: 1987 Dry Creek Fume Blanc ($9)--Scares aside, Dry Creek continues to be the leader in stylish, herb-scented Sauvignon Blancs, and the ’87 hits the same notes but with full and layered complexity.

Disappointment of the Year: Buena Vista Winery finally decided, after a year of uncertainty, that it will no longer produce its Pinot Jolie, a marvelous rose-type wine made from Pinot Noir grapes. It had been a singular statement for a fresh picnic wine and was clearly better than most White Zinfandels on the market and aimed at a similar audience.

Randyspotts Award for Creative Marketing: Guild Wineries came out with a line of wines under the Dunnewood brand, prompting super-upscale wineries Dunn Vineyards and Spottswoode to fume that their names had been misappropriated. Making matters more creative, Guild then opened a tasting room at Vintners Village in the Napa Valley, even though the company acknowledges that only 10% to 15% of the wine appearing under the Dunnewood brand will be from Napa Valley grapes. The wines are made in Mendocino County at the former Cresta Blanca facility.

Chenin Blanc of the Year: 1987 Preston ($6.50)--Another tossup with the 1987 Grand Cru Chenin Blanc, this wine won by an eyelash for its slightly more complex nature. Off-dry with a melony and citrusy element, fine for matching with food.

Shovel Blanc Award: To Alf Burtleson, the man who helped wineries go underground. His construction company specializes in digging caves in which to store wine. In 1988, Burtleson did more business than ever before, doing 22 projects for 19 different wineries.

Semillon of the Year: 1986 Clos du Val ($9)--This underrated grape variety is made into a wine by few wineries, and generally I like those from R.H. Phillips, Alderbrook, Duckhorn’s “Decoy” and a handful from Washington State. Clos du Val’s, however, is a classic, with delicate new mown hay and melon aromas, a round, full mid-palate and brisk food-matching finish.

Dedication Award: To wine maker Max Gasiewicz of Fisher Vineyards. In September, in the midst of the harvest, Gasiewicz’s wife, Diane, went into labor with their second child. The family’s obstetrician, Ron Unzelman, is very interested in wine, and during Diane’s 12-hour labor, “all we talked about was the harvest.” Mollie Elizabeth was born without complications, but Diane was amazed; “She couldn’t believe Ron and I were talking about Cabernet instead of the baby.”

Pinot Blanc of the Year: 1986 Chateau St. Jean ($10.50)--I had a near tossup between this wine and the 1987 Congress Springs, but the St. Jean got the nod for a bit more substance in the finish. Both wines are superb substitutes for Chardonnay at a much lower price.

Oops: During the Napa Valley Wine Auction, magnums of wine were placed in a nearby tent for the silent auction, in which bidders write in bids on bidding sheets. As the day wore on, and as the heat in the tent increased to above 100 degrees, the corks in the bottles began pushing their way out of the bottles. Wineries vowed to replace all bottles that had bad corks.

Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year: 1984 Hess Collection Reserve ($22.50)--Amazing richness and depth for a wine so young. Its greatest element is the round fruit, cedary/toasty depth, and chocolatey notes that give this wine such intrigue, making each sip so different from the last.

Milestone: Weibel Vineyards, located in Fremont, sold one-third of its 90 acres of land there in exchange for vineyards in Mendocino County, where the winery has another production facility.

Pinot Noir of the Year: 1986 Williams-Selyem Rochioli Vineyard ($24)--Opulent fruit aroma with a cinnamon/nutmeg note and very rich, toasty, complex taste. The new oak in this wine stands out now, but should fade into the background as the wine ages. Very limited in supply and sold out shortly after it was released. For a substitute, try the ’86 Williams-Selyem Sonoma County or the lovely 1986 Gary Farrell “Howard Allen,” both $16.

Runner-Up Quote of the Year: Brother Timothy of the Christian Brothers, age 78. Asked if wine should age, Brother Timothy replied, “I don’t know. But I do know that the older I get the better it tastes.”

Zinfandel of the Year: 1986 Quivira ($9)--Perfectly honed spiciness combines with raspberry/cherry fruit and a delicate pepperyness. The ideal choice for a plate of pasta.

Event of the Year: The Dec. 27 snowfall in Napa and Sonoma, making the bare vineyards look more like Germany than California.

Johannisberg Riesling of the Year: 1987 Trefethen ($7.75)--Another dry-styled masterpiece from this longtime Napa Valley producer of delicate, food-oriented Riesling.

Most Expensive Nap of the Year: A Northern California grape grower went on a short vacation in the spring, leaving his vineyard in the hands of a relative. The relative turned off the vineyard’s frost alarm because he didn’t want to be disturbed. Frost hit while the relative slept, and the grower lost more than 80% of his crop. Net loss: about $100,000.

Sparkling Wine of the Year: Domaine Mumm Brut Prestige ($15.50)--Beautiful balance between California fruit and French complexity. This latest release is the best of the three non-vintage wines this Napa Valley producer has released.

Most Curious Suggestion of the Year: The Assn. in Search of a Name staged a nationwide contest to seek a name for super-premium blended wines made from the Bordeaux grape varieties. One intrepid contest entrant, recalling that author Jack London once lived in the Valley of the Moon in Sonoma County, suggested that the premium blended wine be called Buck, in honor of the dog in London’s novel “Call of the Wild.”

Wine Maker of the Year: John Thatcher, Cuvaison Winery. Thatcher has turned around the fortunes of this Calistoga winery rapidly, making great use of the winery’s 300-acre vineyard in the cool Carneros region of the Napa Valley. Thatcher’s Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon are flavorful and balanced, without the excesses that make some wineries’ wines top-heavy. And after only two vintages, Thatcher’s Merlot (see above) has become one of the most stylish efforts in the state.

Wine of the Week: 1984 Torres Gran Sangre de Toro Reserva ($8.50)--Rich, ripe, gutsy wine from the Penedes region of Spain made largely from the Grenache grape. It has a taste more like a cross between Pinot Noir and Zinfandel with a hint of orange peel, and always is one of the treats coming in from Spain. The ’84 or the soon-out ’85 offer ample richness and zip to blend well with hearty stews and cool weather. Often discounted below $7, this wine can be consumed the day you buy it because of the lower tannins, but it will age beautifully for a decade.