Why is it called Mercy, you may
ask? We did. What we heard from the two vintners who were
there (that was a treat) was that they realize growers of anything agricultural
are at the mercy of nature. Or as their website
says, "Through the millennia, Man's quixotic attempt to produce the finest
wines has borne an unyielding Truth: The Vine is always at the Mercy of Mother
Nature."
The Mercy vintners, Mike Kohne and Mark
Dirickson, use grapes from three
properties. They are particularly fond
of the Arroyo Seco River Bed area, loving the unique rocky
"minerality" the soil gives to the grapes.
Two of our favorite wines--the 2009
Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco and the 2008 Syrah-- had grapes from the Zabala
Vineyard, and as luck would have it, Luis Zabala popped into the tasting room
while we were there.
Plus, we learned yet some new vocabulary
to add to our wine tasting lexicon. The
2009 Chardonnay (which also has grapes from the Griva vineyard) was fragrant,
aromatic, and "brisk." We like
"brisk." The 2008 Syrah--deep,
rich, fruity-- was described as "furry" by MK. That's a new one. When pressed further, she defined
"furry" as "what chocolate does in your mouth." We each
bought a bottle.
After we had finished our tasting of
seven wines (for $10), we were asked if we had the "bandwidth" for
one more. There's another creative use
of words. "But of course," we said and tasted a wonderful 2010 Pinot
Noir.
The tasting room is open for sales and
tasting Thursday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
(831 659-4321).
We loved
our wine tasting experience and learned a little more about cloning and the
impact of soil and weather on grapes. Plus,
we certainly added to our colorful wine vocabulary. We also each came home not only with strong,
unique wines, but also a Riedel glass that says "Have Mercy." We definitely will. We hope you will, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment