Getting the new-wave Napa vibe with Benevolent Neglect
Minimal-intervention Californian winemakers going off the beaten track
It’s been a week of discovering new grape varieties and uncharacteristically hot, sunny weather.
For those of you reading who don’t live in England and are perhaps unfamiliar with the habits of the nation when the sun emerges for more than five minutes, it may bemuse you to discover that a common characteristic is for the English to go a bit crazy.1
The spring has been awful, and to get a few days of continuous sunshine is a catalyst for all-day drinking and general joie de vivre over the weekend. In London the beer gardens were bursting, the bins in many of the big parks overflowing with cans, discarded picnic food containers and empty bottles of prosecco.
But it never lasts for long, and the forecast for next week is, unfortunately but rather predictably, a return of clouds and some rain.
The beginning of the glorious weather coincided with a trip to Pacific Wines in Islington for a tasting of the wines of Benevolent Neglect, and the evening opened my eyes to the creativity and diversity of Californian wine.
Benevolent Neglect2, which started making wine in 2013, has been described as ‘new wave Napa’ and its tasting room, together with a vinyl lounge, is located in Napa’s trendy SoFi District.
A joint venture between Matt Nagy and Ben Brenner, Benevolent Neglect sources fruit from a range of sites in California, from Mendocino and Lake County in the north, Yolo County in the Central Valley close to Sacramento, Dry Creek Valley and Carneros in Napa-Sonoma and Santa Lucia Highlands and Lime Kiln Valley in the Central Coast.
As Matt explained at the start of the tasting, there is a minimal intervention approach to winemaking, with very little new oak, no additives and no fining and filtering of the red wines. The philosophy is transparent winemaking, allowing the terroir of the vineyards to do the talking in the bottle.
If you thought Californian wine is all about high-alcohol cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel, oaked chardonnay and fruity pinot noir then it’s time to think again.
Fiasco Pet Nat (12.5% abv ) £38 (available from Pacific Wines, as are all the wines below)
Originally named, being a blend of fiano, refosco (hence ‘Fia-sco’), nero d’avola (grapes you’re more likely to associate with Italy), furmint and chardonnay. The grapes are grown in Stuart Bewley’s Alder Springs vineyard in north Mendocino County, just 12 miles east of the Pacific and 150 miles north of San Francisco. This has a funkiness you tend to expect with pet nat, but it’s not overpowering, allowing the stone fruit flavours to come through. Has had some lees ageing. Would happily drink again.
Windmill Vineyard Vermentino 2021 (12% abv) £33
Fruit from a vineyard in Yolo County close to Sacramento, vermentino is another variety more associated with Italy (in particular in Sardinia) as well as the south of France. The grapes were picked early to ensure high acid, and the wine spent six months on the lees to help tame the acid. No malolactic conversion. Quite textured with peach and ripe apple.
Nelson Family Vineyards Riesling 2019 (11.3% abv ) £37
From a vineyard in Hopland, Mendocino. The grapes for this riesling come from vines planted in 1974. This was one of the standouts of the evening. Made in an off-dry style (15g/l of residual sugar), and beautifully balanced with the high acidity. Stone fruit and honeysuckle with tertiary notes starting to emerge. California is not associated with riesling, but this demonstrates there is potential granted the right terroir and precise winemaking.
Bengier Family Vineyard Ribolla Gialla Orange Wine 1029 (12.5% abv) £46
Another standout. So far this year I’ve had orange wine that is either undrinkable owing to poor natural winemaking or too bland, but this one hits the spot. A relatively short 15-day maceration time on skins and two years in barrel. Full-bodied with great texture. Ribolla gialla is another variety more associated with Italy and is used to make orange wine in the Friuli Venezia-Giulia region in north-east Italy. Bengier Vineyard, organically farmed by the famed Steve Matthiasson, is in the Oak Knoll AVA in Napa and receives cooling-influence afternoon shade from the Mayacamas Mountains.
Windmill Vineyard Counoise ‘Rosato’ 2021 (10.4% abv) £33
The first time I’ve come across counoise, which is a permitted variety in Chateauneuf-du-Pape red blends. This is made in a similar way to a rose, the juice spending a week on the skins before pressing. Red, crunchy fruit, will be perfect chilled on a hot day.
Counoise 2022 (12.2% abv)
Fruit sourced from Windmill Vineyard (66%) and Alder Springs. Picked in late November in order to achieve phenolic ripeness. A light red wine, easy drinking with fresh red fruit and some pepperiness.
Las Madres Vineyard Syrah 2019 (13.9% abv) approx £45
Las Madres is in Carneros, which receives cooling influences from Pacific breezes funnelled in through San Pablo Bay, making it an ideal area to grow cool climate varieties such as chardonnay and pinot noir. Syrah also responds well to the cooling influence, and this example, which underwent 50 per cent whole bunch fermentation, demonstrates rich, black fruit with spice, black pepper and some game the variety is renowned for.
Flight 20 – new discoveries
Vina Ventisquero ‘Tara’ Syrah 2016, Atacama Valley, Chile (£47.50, Hedonism)
Another New World syrah, produced from grapes grown in desert-like conditions in the north of Chile. 13.5% abv, Ripe fruit with baking spices, chocolate and vanilla, silky tannins with long finish, the rich, sweet fruit evolving with tertiary characteristics. Will age for a few more years.
Cantine Borga Manzoni Bianco 2022, Veneto (£21.35, Humble Grape)
Manzoni bianco is a cross of riesling and pinot blanc and appears to be gathering popularity (M&S stock one for £8 in its ‘Found’ range). It’s the first time I came across it and this was a fruit-forward wine with ripe stone and tropical fruit, but with also a pleasing freshness characteristic of many well-made white wine from the north of Italy.
Winzer Familie Gregor Schup Rotgipfler 2013, Thermenregion, Austria (£15, 125ml glass, Humble Grape)
Rotgipfler accounts for just 120 hectares in Austria and is a natural cross of savagnin and roter veltliner. Gold in colour, this is full-bodied with orange, honey and smoke. Unique – will definitely be trying this again.
Listen to Mad Dogs and Englishmen by Noel Coward
The name derives from Barry Humphries of Dame Edna Everage fame, who once said: “I believe the secret of parenting is benevolent neglect. I put my family last, because if you don’t, if you put them first, they never thank you. You’ll never get a word of thanks from them.”