Wine Tasting Notes
Cold Heaven Cellars.
The name “Cold Heaven” comes from a William Butler Yeats poem. As Morgan Clendenen started her winemaking venture, se searched for a name. At the time, many people told her that the Sanford and Benedict Vineyard is too cold for Viognier and that the fruit will never ripen sufficiently. She wanted the name of her label to reflect the excitement and innocence about wine she felt when she started in the wine business in North Carolina (and perhaps to defy the skepticism of her venture she encountered and the often jaded attitudes encountered in the wine business). She associated that earlier time in her life with Yeats poems. On opening a book of Yeats works, she came across a piece called “The Cold Heaven” – a very dreary poem. She felt the history and climate of the Sanford and Benedict vineyard seemed to sync with the name of the poem rather than with its content.
Morgan Clendenen started in the wine industry working for an Italian wine importer in her native North Carolina. She then moved on to a boutique wine importer to optimize her learning curve. A move to a sales and marketing position at Robert Sinskey Vineyards, in Napa, led to her meeting Jim Clendenen. The two married and she moved to Santa Barbara County. There, she pursued Viognier. This was not an immediately obvious direction. Au Bon Climat was well staffed and she did not have the platform to bring anything new to the Pinot noir movement. When Au Bon Climat was, by chance, offered a lot of Viognier, Cold Heaven Cellars was born.
She knew next to nothing about Viognier then and had only some practical knowledge of wine making and no formal training. She learned winemaking “on the job” but had some amazing tutors: Jim Clendenen, Bob Lindquist (Qupe), Billy Wathen (Foxen), Bruno D’Alfonso (at the time at Sanford and now with Badge and diBruno as well as consulting for other area labels). “I had a mass of people around me. Great teachers, but I also had my own ideas of what I wanted to do”. Nobody could offer her a clear definition of what Viognier is. The main thing she noted about local Viognier was that, in most instances, it lacked acidity. Few people were making Viognier and even less making it well. “People didn’t know how to handle it [the grape]”. Remarking how flabby the early California Viogniers were, she says: “Acidity makes the wine that much more palatable, easier to drink, and you enjoy the rich flavors instead of being attacked by them. It’s like eating rich foods: you can only eat so much“.
Part of Morgan being the “Ambassador of Acidity” is also being a “terroiriste”, inspired by Condrieu as much as by John Alban and Calera. “You could say: ‘It takes a deft hand’, but I think it’s the place it comes from and the cooler the climate the better. If you have a good vineyard, then half your work’s done”. She spent time in Cote Rotie working the Condrieu harvests. There she not so much developed, but reinforced her opinions and preferences. And, yes, she learned how to pick the grape at the best time to make great Viognier.
Having worked with the vineyards from which she sources her fruit for so many years, she has a very good feel for the grapes by sugar levels alone and she usually picks her grapes around 23 to 24 Brix for the optimal combination of richness and acidity as well as reserved alcohol. “With Sanford and Benedict, I pretty much know what the grapes taste like from the time they’re on the vine to all through the barrel”.
Morgan tries not to cater to consumer, making wine for her own palate in the belief that people with similar palates will gravitate to her label. “I truly believe the best way to sell wine is to make wine you like to drink”. In the process, she hopes to dispel some core misunderstanding about Viognier. The main one being that Viogner is not food friendly and is better as an “aperitif”. She makes a wine that can be paired with acidic dishes with lots of tomato. She admits that, even at its best, Viognier still does not work well with everything.
In making her wines, she takes a minimalist approach with no new oak – for the most part using neutral barrels. “I try to use as old of an oak barrel as possible, given the wood is clean and healthy”. The exceptions to this is the Deux C Saints and Sinners Viognier made from 50% Santa Barbara fruit and 50% Condrieu fruit under the Domaine de Deux Mondes label in partnership with Yves Cuilleron– whose approach, at Les Chaillets in Condrieu, is very different, with liberal use of new oak. This wine is assembled in Santa Barbara, with finished, stable Condrieu wine is air shipped in air-tight containers (a total of 2 weeks door to door). Once in Morgan’s hands, the wine undergoes some additional testing before blending. Stateside, Morgan sources fruit from Bien Nacido, Beckmen’s La Purisima, Sanford & Benedict, Le Bon Climat, Vogelzang, and vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills. She says that, stylistically, she seeks to make the wine fit a style and profile rather than letting the fruit dictate the direction of the finished wine. This style, in addition to crisp acidity, is made to have no residual sugar. Cold Heaven wines are priced according to complexity - with fruit from the older vines being more pricy. She also makes a Syrah, with which she is just getting familiar. In the future, look for a Cold Heaven Roussanne bottled as a varietal and not blended with other varieties.
2005 Cold Heaven Cellars Viognier, Le Bon Climat Vineyard, Santa Barbara County 94 Points
2003 Cold Heaven Cellars Syrah, Second Sin, Santa Barbara County 93 Points
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