October, 2006
A new winemaker has joined Koehler Winery. While new wineries and vineyards seem to spring up in the Central Coast like mushrooms after a rain and Koehler has had a number of winemakers since its beginnings in 1997, the buzz surrounding new winemaker Chris Stanton is warranted.
Unassuming and soft-spoken, Stanton brings over 25 years of winemaking experience and a passion about wine growing and wine making that emanates from his very core: He seems to commune with the vines and the wine. Despite his gentle demeanor, he is very clear about his firm convictions and opinions, which he quickly and clearly voices - albeit with a gentle tone.
A native of Napa, Chris is a graduate of U.C. Davis' Department of Viticulture and Enology. He has extensive experience in the vineyard as well as the winery from crush to cooperage. He apprenticed in all areas of winemaking. He has a long resume and a long list of accolades in the national wine press. It was his track record that drew success-driven Peter Koehler to seek out Chris for the winemaker position.
Chris comes to Koehler with many expectations placed upon him. The Koehlers want success and the ensuing recognition and status in the world of wine. Past winemakers Kris Curran and Michael Roth produced good, approachable wines at Koehler but none that ranked in the upper echelons of Central Coast wines. Michael Roth, Stanton’s immediate predecessor, is now with Demetria Estate, in the Santa Rita Hills and will be releasing wines starting with a 2005 vintage. Kris Curran, a native of the Santa Ynez Valley, also made wines for Koehler previously, but is now concentrating on her own label.
We visited with Chris, toured the upgraded facilities and barrel tasted his new reds. We learned about his stylistic and wine making strategies and what he wants to see in a wine. The interview also revealed the insides of the transition a winery must go through in pursuit of better wine. There will be some gradual and immediate changes at Koehler. Most immediately visible will be a change in the line-up of wines. There are also changes in the vineyards: from canopy management to pulling one varietal and planting another. Here, then, is Chris in his own words:
rwb: So you came down from Sonoma County, what made you come down?
CC: I like it down here. It kind of reminds me of Napa when I was growing up. Napa is really quite bit different than when I was a kid. The wine country, when they came in the late 60s, early 70s, really changed Napa. There are five times as many people there now. I think that since I was born and raised up there, it was good to move.
rwb: Was it more you searching for a change or did Peter [Koehler] give you an offer you couldn’t refuse?
CC: I had a recruiter, a friend who’s been a recruiter for more than 20 years. She’s moved me a couple of times in my career, every time I moved.
rwb: Is it a paradigm shift moving down here, because Santa Ynez, and Koehler itself, is more Rhône-heavy than up north?
CC: Oh, yeah. I like these varieties, though. We’re going to have to grow what works right here, like these Rhône varieties. Syrah is starting to become popular up north too, but it’s still a little warm in Napa. These Rhône varieties are going to do real well and I’m looking forward to making them. We made everything up there anyway, so there is no shift of winemaking paradigm in coming here.
rwb: Is there anything you expect to change at the winery?
CC: First, we’ve started in the vineyard. Felipe [Hernandez, vineyard manger] is doing a lot more work with the plants: shoot thinning, dropping the green fruit, a lot of canopy management that he had not been able to do in the past. These are nice old vines but they weren’t taken care of completely and had too much of a wood to fruit ratio. There was not enough money being put into the vineyard. The grapes were being sold at lower prices to others. Now, we’ve decided to be an estate winery and we won’t be buying or selling grapes to anyone.
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rwb: What changes are you anticipating to the winery facilities themselves? CC: We’ve got some new [fermentation] tanks, we’ve extended the crush pad, we’ve got a better pump - more gentle - a Wakashaw pump. Just handling the grapes a lot more gently. Not a lot of difference. Mostly in the vineyard, though, is the big change that we’re making. We have bought a lot of barrels which Koehler hasn’t bought in the past. |
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rwb: So is it a change of cooperage?
CC: Yes. Well, just buying it. Lot’s of it. French oak. They hadn’t bought any in 2004 and very few in 2003. We were really heavy from 2000 and 2001 so we had all this old oak, but nothing brand new. So there’s a lot of new oak that’s coming in - last year and this year. A lot of the old stuff will be going away. That will be a big change. We’ll also be able to handle a lot more grapes. We’re going from 4,000, 5,000 cases to over 10 [thousand], so we’ve had to step everything up: new tanks, new space.
rwb: So those are the most immediate changes. But is there a five or ten year plan? Not just increased capacity but stylistic changes?
CC: Right, there’s not a lot of changes now. Getting the vineyard in shape takes a couple of years. We’re going to remove the five acres of Chardonnay and change it to Grenache Noir [3 acres planned] and Viognier [2 additional acres planned]. I just bottled the 2005 Grenache Noir but we don’t have enough of it. We don’t need so much Chardonnay. This isn’t the perfect climate for it. It does OK, we have some by the driveway but it’s a little bit warm up here. Since we can do really well with red grapes and Rhône varieties, we’re going to convert mostly over to that. We can buy cool weather Chardonnay for almost nothing – cheaper than growing it. There’s no sense in us growing a cooler weather variety here in this warmer area.
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rwb: So, those are the long-term changes in vineyard management. In the meantime, will you be doing anything different in the winery itself? CC: Not really. We’ve put in a humidity system, cooling system in all the warehouses. I’m working on that so now everything is temperature controlled and humidity controlled. Mostly the new oak and just the equipment we needed to handle all the fruit. |
rwb: What’s your favorite varietal here?
CC: Syrah. That seems to be one of the best here right now.
rwb: Is that what you put the most stock into, here?
CC: It looks like it, yeah. Quite a bit of it. We have three clones out here and they ripen up at three different times so we pick them all separately and put them together at the end.
rwb: Are you looking to change any of the wine line ups?
CC: We added that Grenache and Riesling.
rwb: How about the old staple, the Magia Nera?
CC: That’s still going. A new version, though.
rwb: Do you see yourself eradicating any of the current line up?
CC: We had a Demi Cuvee which is gone now. But I will make another Rhône variety [blend] when we have some Mourvedre coming on which we’ve grafted. So I’ll have three varieties that’ll go into something, some kind of blend. We don’t know what it’ll be but it won’t be Demi Cuvee.
rwb: Is there a reason why you’re abandoning that line?
CC: I don’t like that name.
rwb: Other than the name, what about the wine itself?
CC: I don’t mind those two varieties being put together, but we’ll have a third now, Mourvedre, so it’ll be even better. We’ll have Grenache, Syrah and we’ll be growing some Mourvedre here. What name will go on it, I don’t know. It just reminds me, when I first started, Demi Cuvee was a semi-sweet sparkling wine that we made at Hanns Kornell Champagne. The name just didn’t go well with a nice Rhône blend. We’re not going to do Pinot Noir anymore either. Grenache is going to be our Pinot Noir.
rwb: How old are your Grenache vines, by the way?
CC: All these vines are about thirty five years old. We’re grafting over. We’re leaving the roots behind and t-budding the varieties over so the first year it’s OK but the second year you really have a nice crop. You’ll see that as you’re coming in the driveway. You have Syrah and Viognier, and then coming up the hill you have Cabernet on the left and some Mourvedre on the right – those brand new vines that were grafted last year.
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rwb: You’ve been busy. CC: It’s been a busy thirteen months since I’ve arrived here. It’s been busy for me because I don’t know what Peter’s got set up. We’re talking all the time with distributors, trying to decide how we’re going to try to sell our wine. We have a lot of things going on. We just are at that point where we have to start thinking where we’re going to start selling all this wine. After New Year’s we’ll have to do something. So we’re just at that point where we’re trying to put the past behind us and start the future. That transition, in the wine business, takes a couple of years. rwb: It’s not a horribly damning past you have to overcome. CC: Oh, it seems like. |
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rwb: Really? Why is that?
CC: I feel that we can make a lot better wines from these grapes that we’re growing. We do have a lot of work to get where we want to be. A lot of that work is already taking place in the vineyard.
rwb: Is there anything that is very daunting to you or you’re concerned about that is going to be a very big gamble for you here?
CC: No. It doesn’t seem like there’s going to be any gamble for us here. We’re all on the same page: Peter [Koehler], Felipe [Hernandez] and myself. We all have the same goal so we’ll achieve that. It just takes a little longer when you’re in the agriculture business than it does in manufacturing. Peter’s used to manufacturing and being able to make big changes very quickly. We’re looking way ahead to be where we want to be. We want to be a 10,000 case winery and that’s what we can grow out here. We’re going to be completely estate. I had to cut out a lot of people we were selling grapes to. Obviously, we sold more than half of those before. We gave everybody notice that we’re not going to be selling anymore grapes. Working with other wine growers, wine makers is kind of a pain in the butt. They never want the grapes the day I want to pick them. (laughs).
rwb: How’s the harvest looking?
CC: We’re just waiting. We’re not in any hurry. We’re going to let leave them go as long as they can. If we can get them to hang without the sugar increasing or the pH or TA [Titratable Acids] getting out of hand, we’ll let them hang.
rwb: In doing some reading about you, your background and where Peter was coming from, we came across an article on the web site of one of the local newspapers which starts with a quote of Peter [Koehler] saying: “I want a 90 point wine”. Now you’ve had a lot of success with your wine and certainly gotten a lot of accolades from Parker. That’s a lot of expectations. How do you feel about that?
CC: (Laughing). It is. Plus, it makes me nervous because I know he doesn’t taste blind. For him to see the Koehler label, it would be a big jump because he would have to score it 5 points more than he ever has to get to 90. [Robert Parker Jr. rated the 2003 Koehler Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills at 85 points. redwinebuzz.com rated that wine at 89 points]. Rather than going after the numbers, I’m just after getting some good wines out there. Eventually that’ll come, but I’ve learned it takes a long time. You can’t expect to go from 83, 85 points to 90-plus that next vintage. It’ll be a gradual increase.
rwb: In an ideal setting what is your attitude towards wine making? Is it more hands-off, or very meticulous vineyard management, or just letting the vineyard or terroir express themselves under the right circumstances and then extensively manipulating the wine in the winery?
CC: I prefer to have most of the work done in the vineyard. You’ll see most of the fruit out in the sun now. The vines have been leaf thinned. That’s the first thing. Once I get into the winery: minimum handling. I don’t want to over-process it or anything. I taste them every day. I let the wines tell me what needs to be done. I just extract what needs to be extracted, not too much. I get them cleaned up and racked and on to aging. I really don’t over manufacture them. I do a lot to the grape juice. I believe in getting the grape juice in grate shape right away. I want the pH, TA and additives squared away and start fermentation. I do as little as possible, I would say. I cold soak the reds and do a slow cool fermentation in tanks on the whites.
rwb: How would you describe, subjectively, your ideal wine? What do you strive for?
CC: Intense varietal character. If you can smell that glass and know that it’s Syrah or Cabernet or know it’s Grenache. Also, that nice finish, that nice lingering finish. It’s so important, those two: That up-front aroma and then that finish after you swallow the wine that’s pleasing and makes you want to have another. As long as I take care of those two.
rwb: So what do you NOT want in a wine? Let’s flip it around.
CC: Oh, boy. I don’t want you to wonder what it is because we’re going to have so many. We’re going to have six reds up there, and I want them to be distinctively different from each other. We’re going to have 100% varietals so I want that [varietal character] in your face.
rwb: So are you going for more of a Central Coast, highly extracted, bold wines or distinctive, but more streamlined styles?
CC: Well, I have wines from one extreme to another: from the light, elegant Sanford Pinot Noir to the big, bold, high alcohol, in your face, extracted Syrah. With about 14 wines that we make, especially with the five whites, having them all stylistically different has been quite a challenge. For instance, the Viognier: it’s hard to make a big Viognier when I have a great, big, huge Chardonnay that I just bottled - fully extracted, 100% new oak and butter. Then a another Chardonnay that’s Chablis styled. Sauvignon Blanc. So you have these five wines and they can’t really be similar. So, where do these fall in? So the Viognier gets right in there where it’s not the big, over the top wine but it’s not a Chablis styled Chardonnay either. When you’re going through the tasting of these wines, they’re not that similar. I’d like to do away with Chardonnay and make room for a bigger Viognier. And that’ll come down the road as we remove the vineyard. I’m only going to remove half this year and, then, the other half I have another year to think about it. I still have another five acres of Chardonnay and it seems to be a big seller out here. Everybody’s looking for Chardonnay here so we may keep half or all of that. It’ll be hard to do away with it completely. I think I can take it down to 500 cases or something like that.
rwb: Most everybody is making wines ready to drink now. Are you looking to make “drink nows” or are you looking to make wines that have greater aging potential?
CC: I believe I’m making nice, age-worthy wines. Obviously, they’re coming out kind of young now. You can see they’re austere and crisp, on the lean side. I think a lot of the whites you’re trying right now, in three to five year range, will be real nice. The reds that I’m making are in that style for aging. It’s a five, eight ear range for these Syrahs, Grenache. Then I have some cabs I’m hoping will be very, very age worthy. That’s how I was trained. We didn’t drink young wine when I was a kid. I mean, if we had a bottle of Cab, we looked at it and if it wasn’t ten years old, we sent it back down and grabbed another bottle.
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rwb: Tell us about your Cabs here at Koehler. CC: We have a regular Cab that has some Cab Franc in it and I have a reserve. [We barrel tasted both 2005 Cabs later with Chris and they were very promising. Their young and vibrant character was paired with dense fruit and balanced extraction. We look forward to seeing how these wines come out] |
CC: Cab’s a tough variety to grow in this area so it needs to hang. We’ll have probably three quarters of a ton to the acre. It’ll be a very, very small production, but we need to get that bell pepper character out of there.
rwb: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
CC: I’m doing as little as possible. That’s about it. My boss hates to hear that. (laughs). We’ve been pretty aggressive out here in the vineyards and as long as we can get everything we need there: nice flavors, mature character, the one thing we want to really guard against is a green or bell pepper character in Cabs.
The next several years will be ones of change and evolution for Koehler. With sizable acreage of mature vines, a knowledgeable wine maker who has impacted the business plan and set the winery on a new direction, Koehler is poised to make great strides in quality. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend as well as the Reserve Cabernet will definitely be ones to watch. Stanton has a very good understanding of what it takes to get the best side of a wine to show. He seems to have full cooperation from the owners and the vineyard manager. There will be some line up changes most immediately, but it will take several years to affect a profound change in the grapes themselves and that will make for improved quality in future wines. Koehler wines do not have a large quality hurdle to overcome but it's the little things that slowly elevate the wine to higher standards. Stanton brings those skills and knowledge to the table. We wish him the best of luck and the fullest resources to bring Kohler to the next level.
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October Wine Reviews:
2000-2001 Cottonwood Canyon Synthesis 91 Points
2001 McKeon-Phillips Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points
2002 Rio Seco Cabernet Sauvignon 91 Points
2002 Rio Seco Cabernet Franc 89 Points
2002 Lucas&Lewellen Cabernet Sauvignon, Valley View Vineyard 95 Points
2003 Lucas&Lewellen Cabernet Sauvignon Cote Del Sol 91 Points
2003 JanKris Merlot 90 Points
2003 Koehler Cabernet Sauvignon 88 Points
2003 Clautiere Cabernet Sauvignon 93 points
2004 Consilience Cabernet Sauvignon, Camp 4 Vineyard 87 Points
2004 JanKris Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points
2005 JanKris Cabernet Sauvignon 89+ Points
Get the buzz:
-
Wine reviews
-
Great stories
-
Interviews
-
Wine education tools
-
New content every month
It's FREE!
Click here
October Wine Reviews:
2000-2001 Cottonwood Canyon Synthesis 91 Points
2001 McKeon-Phillips Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points
2002 Rio Seco Cabernet Sauvignon 91 Points
2002 Rio Seco Cabernet Franc 89 Points
2002 Lucas&Lewellen Cabernet Sauvignon, Valley View Vineyard 95 Points
2003 Lucas&Lewellen Cabernet Sauvignon Cote Del Sol 91 Points
2003 JanKris Merlot 90 Points
2003 Koehler Cabernet Sauvignon 88 Points
2003 Clautiere Cabernet Sauvignon 93 points
2004 Consilience Cabernet Sauvignon, Camp 4 Vineyard 87 Points
2004 JanKris Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points
2005 JanKris Cabernet Sauvignon 89+ Points
Tip of the month:
Refrain from opening the wines you just brought home from your trip to wine country. Don't open them for at least a few days. Vibration during travel may cause “Bottle shock”. Aromas and flavors are muted in bottle shocked wine and it may take up to a week for it to recover and settle. Be very careful, also, not to let your newly acquired beauties to be exposed to excess heat during travel. Heat stress can lead to "heat shock". The flavors of the wine will be muted and taste ‘cooked’. Unlike bottle shock, a cooked wine cannot recover.
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Wine reviews
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