Fremont Creek Wines

WITH ELEGANT GRACE, the waiter presented the bottle of Chardonnay for my approval. Fremont Creek . The simple, contemporary label was new to me. It conveyed the idea of a tumbling rivulet. Nice. Clean. I leaned forward to determine the vintage--1988. Produced and bottled by Beckstoffer Vineyards. I nodded, and the wine was poured. Andy Beckstoffer, my host, waited for my reaction. I swirled the wine, noted its good yellow-golden hue and enjoyed the balanced, mingled scents of fruit and the toasty vanillin of oak.

Beckstoffer is widely recognized as one of California’s leading growers of premium quality grapes. From his Napa Valley and Mendocino County acreage, he has supplied such first-rate wineries as Beaulieu, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Parducci, Fetzer and Scharffenberger. I knew this wine had to be good. Clean, sprightly acidity gave vivid life to the rich complexity of apple, pear and almost tropical fruit savors. Added time would give more depth to the butterscotch suggestions that came from partial malolactic fermentation. “It’s young,” I said, “but it’s very good.”

Beckstoffer smiled. “We want you to taste the grapes, and this takes careful husbandry of both the vine growing and the wine making,” he said.

Next, I tasted the Fremont Creek 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon. “It’s been aged in the same traditions as Beaulieu--100% in American oak,” Beckstoffer said. It had pleasing hints of black cherries, cassis and cedar.

When Heublein decided about a year ago to sell five premium parcels of the Beaulieu Vineyards, Beckstoffer--then president of the Vinifera Development Corp., a subsidiary of Heublein--bought them. He also bought Vinifera, to make his own wines, and renamed it Beckstoffer Vineyards. Then he appointed Dimitri Tchelistcheff, son of wine consultant Andre Tchelistcheff, as his wine maker.

The Beckstoffer/ Tchelistcheff collaboration assures quality Fremont Creek wines. There’s a perky, crisp, melony 1988 Sauvignon Blanc ($9.50) that shouldn’t be missed, along with the 1988 Chardonnay ($7.50) and 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.50). All have outstanding aging potential, yet are ready to drink now.