LORING WINE COMPANY
Vineyard Weekend - Camp Pisoni
Visting Brosseau, Rosella's, Garys', and Pisoni Vineyards
Since I'm new to the "owning a winery thing", it's sometimes hard
for me to get my head around the fact that I've made wines that people
are willing to shell out their hard earned dollars to buy. Despite the
fact that I've gotten good reviews, and that people I admire post nice comments
on my wines, I still feel kinda like an outsider. I guess I'm just a
consumer wine geek at heart - and I'll probably always be. So when a
weekend like I'm about to describe happens, I find myself feeling like
the luckiest boy in the world! Saying that I felt like a kid the very
first time they visited Disneyland would probably capture the feeling
best.
Since I live in the LA Area, I don't get up to Monterey County to visit
the vineyards very often. That doesn't concern me in
the least from a quality control standpoint. That's because the guys
I buy fruit
from are some of the most dedicated (and crazy - in a good way) people
I know when it comes to wanting to create great wine. The best thing I
can do is stay out of their way. I do like to visit occasionally, just
because I really like my growers (as friends) and heck, hanging out in
vineyards is fun! One of the vineyards I buy from (Brosseau) has a B&B
in the middle of their vineyard -
Inn at the Pinnacles.
The B&B had just opened, so I thought it might be fun to invite friends
and family to join in the vineyard visits - stay at the B&B - and just
have a nice, relaxing weekend. That was the plan... things turned out
a bit differently :)
Kimberly (my sister), Audrey (my other sister), Bob Summers (a WCWN regular), and myself got to the B&B Friday evening. The Brosseau's were nice enough to prepare a bunch of food for us - and we ended up having quite a party. I don't remember how many bottles of wine were opened - but it was a lot. Bill Brosseau is the assistant winemaker at Testarossa - so Testarossa wines were the theme of the evening. A couple of wines that stood out for me were the '99 Testarossa Niclaire Pinot Noir and the Testarossa Rosella's Chardonnay. OMG was the Rosella's Chard AMAZING!! Needless to say, the weekend had started off with a bang!
The next morning started with a nice breakfast at the B&B. I'd arranged to meet Jeff Pisoni in Soledad, where we'd also hook up with the rest of my group. We arrived at the McDonald's parking lot to find both Jeff and Mark Pisoni - already a pleasant surprise since I didn't know that Mark would be joining us. Mark and Jeff are Gary Pisoni's sons, and they're really nice guys. Within a few minutes Roy Kim (another WCWNer), Becky, and Gary showed up... followed shortly by Mike and Porsche Machado and Bob Summer's friends Georgia and Don. The plan for the day was to tour Rosella's, Garys', and then Pisoni Vineyard, where we'd have a picnic lunch and drink some wine.
The picture on the top left is at Rosella's Vineyard, which is Gary
Franscioni's vineyard. Our second happy surprise of the day was that
Gary Franscioni was able to meet us at the vineyard.
Gary Franscioni is the "other" Gary at Garys'
Vineyard (along with Gary Pisoni) - and Rosella's is named after his
wife. I'll be getting fruit from this vineyard for the first time in
2002. My sisters and I have tasted 2001 barrel samples of Rosella's
Pinot Noir at Siduri and Testarossa... and the fruit is KILLER.
The other three pictures are taken at Garys' Vineyard.
Who's that in the photo? (listed from left to right):
UPPER LEFT: Gary, Porsche, Jeff Pisoni, Audrey, Don, Georgia, ME!,
Gary Franscioni, and Mike (Hey, turn around Dude)
UPPER RIGHT: Porsche, Gary, Roy, Georgia, and Gary Franscioni
LOWER LEFT: Jeff Pisoni, ME!, and Mark Pisoni
LOWER RIGHT: Jeff Pisoni, Roy, Becky, Gary, Bob Summers, Don,
Mike (Dude, I said turn around!), and Mark Pisoni
After the tours at Rosella's and Garys' we headed south to Pisoni Vineyard.
We had brought food and wine for our picnic at Pisoni - but the Pisoni's
had another idea in mind.
I'd never been to Pisoni Vineyard before, so I didn't know what to expect. Jeff said they had some picnic facilities, which I took to mean a few benches and maybe a porta-potty. I GROSSLY under-estimated what was to come. As we pulled up, I saw the pond and mini Mountain Chalet that was Camp Pisoni. And then I saw that someone was doing some BBQing - for us! And to top it all off, Gary Pisoni was there to great us! At this point, I was already flying. Then Gary shows me the cake that his Mom made for us. And all I can think at this point is... "I'm not worthy". UNBELIEVABLE. The rest of the day is pretty much a blur as I'm in my own little heaven.
The picture on the left is of Gary Franscioni and Gary Pisoni. Gary F is the "quiet one", and Gary P is the pedal to the metal, loud and crazy, super party dude. I'm sure that Gary F is a super outgoing guy, but anyone would seem mellow when compared to Pisoni. The picture on the right is some of the crew drinking and talking with Gary Pisoni (Mike - seriously Dude - we need to address this fear of the camera issue).
After a while, Gary decides that it's time for a tour of the vineyard. And not just any tour... not when Gary Pisoni is the tour guide. This would be an "Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom" jeep ride - for real!! No tracks, no seatbelts - just sit down, hold on, and let's go! And with all of the stories Gary tells along the way, you'd think he was a frustrated Jungle Cruise guide. I said this was like going to Disneyland! And wait, in the photo on the upper right... is that Mike actually facing the camera? As with most things in life, a glass of wine makes everything better!
The last half of the day was spent in the caves. The Pisoni's plan on finishing the caves this year, and will hopefully be able to start using them as their winery. Currently, they've been making their Pisoni and Lucia label wines at Siduri. And in keeping with all things Pisoni, the caves aren't just for winemaking... they're also for partying! Who else but Gary Pisoni would put a gigantic fireplace inside his wine cave? UN-FREAKIN-BELIEVABLE!!! His plan is to glass that part of the cave off from the wine storage area - so that he can sit at his table, eat and drink, be warm, and look at all of his barrels of wine.
We ended the day by heading back up to the Brosseau's B&B for a BBQ and (gasp) more wine. We did a mini Garys' tasting - but I was so far gone at that point that nothing really registered.
What a day! What amazingly fun and gracious people. Gary Franscioni - Gary, Jeff, Mark, Eddie, and Jane Pisoni - and the Brosseau's had all treated us like family. What I had thought was going to be a simple, relaxing day turned into one of the most fun, crazy, non-stop days I've had in a very long time. Way beyond what I could have ever imagined, and way more than I'm able to convey in words. I was stunned. I was left speechless. And I'm still recovering!