© 1996 JDM Enterprises
ATLAS PEAKby Jerry D. MeadWriting about Atlas Peak Vineyards can get a little tricky. You see Atlas Peak is the brand, it is also a place, a mountain overlooking the 1500 foot high valley overlooking Napa Valley, and it is also a government-approved AVA (American Viticultural Area). Originally a collaboration between the 600 year old Italian winemaking family Antinori and several American partners, Atlas Peak is now operated by a company called The Wine Alliance, which also brings you the wines of Clos Du Bois, William Hill and Callaway. Each winery operates totally independently of the others, with its own winemaker, vineyards and management. John Falcone, the Atlas Peak winemaker, grew up working in the Santa Clara Valley wineries of friends and relatives. Once the cellarmaster at Atlas Peak, he left for another cellar job where he was promoted to winemaker, finally returning to Atlas Peak in that same capacity. At the moment, just four wine types are made at Atlas Peak, where 500 acres of cool climate mountain vineyards provide slow ripening and low yields. And there are 35,000 square feet of wine aging caves dug into the nearly solid rock mountain providing a constant temperature for the fermenting and aging of the wines. The four wines produced are Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, a blended Cabernet and Chardonnay. While all the wines are excellent, it is Sangiovese, that classic grape of Tuscany, for which the winery is best known. Atlas Peak, due to the Antinori connection, was the first American winery to really focus on the grape and has done everything possible to promote it ever since, to the point of actually encouraging its competitors to grow the grape. It is Atlas Peak that is organizing the first international symposium on Sangiovese in July of this year with many of the world's greatest producers participating. Even if you are not familiar with the Sangiovese name, chances are you've enjoyed a wine made from the grape. All the most famous red wines of Tuscany enjoy it as at least a base, and those include both Chianti and Brunello. The problem with Sangiovese, and there is one, is that not unlike Pinot Noir it can make very great wine as well as thin, uninteresting plonk. Like Pinot, if it is grown in the wrong soil or climate, and especially if it is overcropped (and Sangiovese will produce huge crops if it is not restrained by the vineyardist), the resulting wine can be pale, insipid and wimpy. Many California producers have found it necessary to regularly blend other grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel to give the wines both color and spine. While the wines can be delicious, it doesn't take much blending for Sangiovese to be overpowered by the blender. Atlas Peak strives to make 100 percent varietal Sangiovese whenever possible, but does blend in judicious amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc in poor years. My point is this, if you've had an unpleasant experience with Sangiovese, give it another try. If I had written off the variety in California after the first half dozen tries, I'd have missed some really wonderful red wines. Just as our talented California growers and vintners are mastering Pinot Noir, they are learning more about Sangiovese with every passing vintage. Atlas Peak 1995 Chardonnay ($16) There are 6000 cases of this very good wine and it walks the line between oak and fruit styles so nicely that it should please fans in both camps. It is 100 percent Chardonnay, 100 percent barrel fermented in 45 percent new or nearly new French "barriques" and then aged in barrel for another nine months. Fairly big, with lots of citrus flavors, including grapefruit, tangerine and a little tropical pineapple. The wood is attractive but doesn't dominate. Very crisp acidity makes it food friendly. Rating: 88/85 Atlas Peak 1994 Sangiovese ($16) Red fruits. Wild berry, cherry and plum, and you'll think I've lost my mind, but the crisp acids and almost floral quality that Sangiovese often has leaves a kind of kumquat/loquat undertone. (I cannot remember ever having used those descriptors for a red wine!) More delicate than Cabernet Sauvignon, and more elegant than most Merlots, it is easy to drink without being simple or one dimensional. Try it with salmon, veal, pork or pasta dishes. Rating: 89/87 Atlas Peak 1993 "Consenso" Cabernet Sauvignon ($22) This interesting wine uses Sangiovese the way many wineries use Merlot, as a blending agent, in this case to soften and round out the hard and super-intense, mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon. The precise blend is 80 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 16 percent Sangiovese with the balance going to tiny amounts of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Big ripe plum flavor with a spicy note and hints of green olive and anise complexity. It's a big, bold mouthful of red wine, made supple by presence of the Sangiovese. Match this one to red meat. Rating: 89/84
WINE OF THE WEEKWines are scored using a unique 100 point system. First number rates quality; second number rates value.
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