Peay Vineyards, 1123 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Ste E #347, Cloverdale, CA 95425 ● www.peayvineyards.com ● jenn@peayvineyards.com
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I can no longer in good conscience call our February release a spring release. Nope, not when it is in the single digits
outside where some of you reside, and in the chilly 40s for us north coast Californians. So, I write you from the depths
of winter where we have snow a-plenty (woo hoo!) and its cousin back from an extended sabbatical—RAIN—is falling
from the sky and filling parched West Coast reservoirs. This fall we had an excellent 2021 harvest and the wines I have
tasted so far are superb—accessible and nuanced with depth of flavor and site character. They have another year-plus
to age and until then we are setting our eyes on the 2020 vintage, the first wines of which we are releasing today.
Let me start by saying—not to worry, the wines we made and bottled from the 2020 vintage are good. We don’t have
smoke in our wines from the disastrous fires that whipped through California and Oregon wine country. This is nei-
ther due to our being geniuses (well, not wholly), nor that we used technological trickery to strip smoke aromas from
our wines (we did not.) As with all things at Peay, our coastal location up against the breezy Pacific Ocean and our
distance from the fires raging across the West Coast of the United States moderated the fire’s impact. Now, winemaker
Vanessa Wong did a lot of research (and also learned from our last fire vintage in 2008) and she knew there were cer-
tain things she could do to minimize the perception of smoke in wines when there are fires: she did not use any new
oak barrels; she did not use any stems in our red wines; and, she shortened cold soaks prior to fermentation. We usu-
ally utilize all of these processes but some of the compounds found in new oak are the same compounds in smoke
taint and stems retain those aromas at a much higher level than if you removed them prior to fermentation. This made
an enormous difference when we tasted our wines in comparison to our peers who had not taken these steps.
Nevertheless, we did find some smoke aromas in 4-5 of our 32 lots of Pinot noir picked during our few days of Red
Dawn when the sun was blotted out by smoke. Crazy-looking sky. We sold them off to the bulk market. Adios. What
remained were sound Pinot noirs but there were a few wines (about a third) that did not taste like a Peay Pinot noir. In
conjunction with the fires, there were a series of offshore events that linked up and created very warm weather during
the second half of August and the beginning of September. It was hot. Pinot lots that were near ripening shot up in
sugar and fruitiness and that was evident in the resulting wines. As we sat down to make the blends in the spring and
summer, we identified about 57 barrels of Pinot noir that were excellent and tasted like Peay wines. We made the Es-
tate Pinot first—as always—blind of production. With so much less wine, instead of making 3 separate Estate-labeled
Pinot noir—Ama, Pomarium, and Scallop Shelf— we decided to make just 500 cases of an Estate blend that represents
that quality level. We then made 900 cases of the Sonoma Coast Pinot noir in a blind blending process and the remain-
ing barrels went to our second label, Cep. All in all, we made about half of the Pinot noir we typically make under the
Peay label. It is the cost of maintaining quality standards and our trust with you, our supporters.
As for the other wines, the notes on each wine can be found inside but the Chardonnays are complex and intriguing
(and typical in style to Peay Chardonnay), as is the Viognier. They have a touch more weight than usual due to a
warmer vintage but retain their site expressiveness and are quite appealing right out of the gate. The Syrahs are about
to be bottled and will please everyone who is a fan of Peay Syrah, though produc-
tion was low again. We are replanting a few acres of Syrah to address that issue in
the vineyard but, alas, that will only further reduce production for the next few
years. And, by gum, we actually made Roussanne in 2020! So, as with a lot of
things over the last few years, not all the news is bad. These are quite good wines
that are ready to be enjoyed now and will enhance the gatherings that have been
put off for far too long. A toast from the coast to that.
Peay Vineyards, 1123 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Ste E #347, Cloverdale, CA 95425 ● www.peayvineyards.com ● jenn@peayvineyards.com
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Peay Viognier does not often resemble the typical French or American Viognier in
style. This is due to our very cold location for growing this grape variety. The wine
has a more mineral and herbal-driven character with high acid and balanced alcohol;
in other words, the opposite of the typical Viognier. Our 2020 reflects the warm vin-
tage and has fewer green, herbal descriptors but captures the lemongrass, jasmine
and candied ginger notes often featured in our Viognier. These bright aromas are
underpinned by lanolin, biscuit and beeswax notes. The mid-palate is silky and
round and finishes with bright acidity which is well-integrated with the overall pro-
file of the wine. You can drink this now and for the next 3-5 years without any concern of fading. $46/btl during release,
$49/btl after.
For the first time, the 2020 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is made entirely from Char-
donnay grown on our vineyard and walks the line between two worlds; capturing
the silky texture and pleasure of the New World and the structure and verve of the
Old World. The result is a seductive, well-balanced Chardonnay that has intensity,
nuance, and depth, and doesn’t teeter either an austere or opulent experience.
This wine reminds me very much of a Chardonnay from Meursault. The nose is exot-
ic and engaging with lemon meringue and buttered brioche aromas touched off by a
hint of flint smoke. The fruit on the palate adds a little baked lemon and crème brûlée notes. The texture on the palate is
silky and the various aromas are knit together and harmonious making this wine ready to enjoy now. The wine finishes
with a freshness and a hint of saltiness. The next day the wine had lost some of the young, baby fat characteristics (crème
brulee, brioche) and more minerality came to the fore. Drink now or hold for 3-5 years. $45/btl during release, $48/btl after.
This may be the most hedonistically pleasing Sonoma Coast Pinot noir we have ever
made. The warmth during harvest is reflected in the wine with the fruit notes driving
the profile. Many blocks usually found in the Estate Pinot noirs are in this blend and,
as a result, you find some of the blood orange aromas from Scallop Shelf (due to the
Pommard selection) and cherry notes from Ama (block 7 suitcase clone) playing lead-
ing roles in the aroma. The palate is soft, juicy and round with some cherry licorice
and mineral notes added. The finish has slightly salivating acidity with hints of the
earthy, dried forest floor notes common to our wines though less than in the 2019 or
Upon release we oer you wines in amounts based on your purchasing history and then, after the three week release pe-
riod, we raise our online prices $3 per bole. We do not sell these wines into distribution and, eventually, to restaurants
and retail stores for an additional six months. In the case of the 2020 Peay Sonoma Coast Pinot noir, the Estate Pinot
noir, the Viognier and our Syrahs, we may sell very few cases to restaurants and retail-
ers across the country. This vintage there simply is not enough wine. When a wine is
sold out online, it is likely gone for good. If this happens, please contact us and we will
see what we can do to nd you a few boles.
To order, please use the link in the Release email you received from us on February
2nd. It will send you straight into the Shop section of our web site. If you do not see the
release email, check your spam folder. Or, you can request a new password at our web
site peayvineyards.com. Any questions or issues, please contact me at
[email protected]m or Jenn at jenn@peayvineyards.com. Thank you.
Continued on page 3
Peay Vineyards, 1123 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Ste E #347, Cloverdale, CA 95425 ● www.peayvineyards.com ● jenn@peayvineyards.com
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2018 Sonoma Coast Pinots. Due to the fruit-driven vintage and winemaking decisions (no new oak), this wine is fully-
integrated despite its youth and is ready to strut itself right now. I recommend a little decant to let the wine emerge and I
found it even more energetic and expressive on day two. $45/btl during release, $48/btl after.
Savoy Vineyard in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County is one of California’s
most highly regarded, classic Pinot noir vineyards and for good reason. The wines
are seductive and have concentration and depth while speaking loudly of their spe-
cific place. The 2020 Savoy is deep, layered, and brooding. The wine is less floral than
in cooler vintages featuring more fruit and earth flavors. There is a little meatiness
along with the cherry, blackberry and plum notes. Minor hints of sage and lead pen-
cil frame the fruit. You should buy and drink this Savoy while you wait for the 2019
to unwind. You won’t be disappointed. $66/btl during release, $69/btl after.
Our Syrah have built a robust following and the few cases we make are selling out
quickly as the world wakes up to the greatness of cold climate Syrah. For those of
you not on the bandwagon, I can only beat the Syrah drum so many times until I
bludgeon you into indifferent numbness. But, I will try one more time...holy moley,
drink this wine! The 2019 La Bruma has everything cool climate Syrah drinkers love.
The nose is knockout gorgeous with spiciness and lavender floral notes accenting a
boeuf bourguignon, inky, black fruit core. This wine tastes just like the dish and
should accompany it (see recipe on page 8). It has the layered meaty, herbal, mush-
room-laced dense core found in a properly made reduction sauce. The acidity is fresh and bright and the alcohol moderate
at 13%. The wine makes you groan with belly and brain pleasure. It is on the young side for drinking now and would bene-
fit from 3-5 years from vintage to soften tannins and allow flavors to integrate. You can age this wine for decades as it has
high acidity and tannins which will preserve the fruit and keep it lively. $57/btl during release, $60/btl after.
Last Chair Kitchen & Bar Wine Dinner 2/1 Whitesh, MT ShuleCork Charitable Auction 3/28-29 Kansas City, MO
Winter Release Opens 2/2 Open House @ The Winery 5/14 Cloverdale, CA
Metropolitan Club Dinner 3/3 SF, CA NYC Event 5/17 Manhaan, NY
Common Thread Wine Dinner 3/21 Savannah, GA NYC Event 5/18 Manhaan, NY
Dorothy Wine Dinner 3/22 St. Simons, GA West of West (WOW) New York 5/19 Manhaan, NY
Cep Spring Release 3/23 West of West (WOW) Chicago 5/22 Chicago, IL
High Museum Charitable Auction 3/24-26 Atlanta, GA Hermitage Inn Dinner 6/19 West Dover, VT
Dallas Event 3/29 Dallas, TX Fall Release Opens 8/3
Austin Event 3/30 Austin, TX Elanus Release Opens 10/5
Houston Event 3/31 Houston, TX Open House @ The Winery 11/12 Cloverdale, CA
Peay Vineyards, 1123 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Ste E #347, Cloverdale, CA 95425 ● www.peayvineyards.com ● jenn@peayvineyards.com
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People often ask me about the seasonal rhythm of my work as a winemaker. In the fall and winter, I
squirrel away in the cellar tasting but, in the spring—and especially the summer - I spend a lot of time
out at our estate vineyard on the West Sonoma Coast. There are many things to monitor in the various
vineyard blocks and I help Nick out with the farming by inspecting the vines’ growth, monitoring their
cultivation, and assessing the development of the grapes. During the summertime, when they are out of
school, I bring along our two boys: Julian and Cyril. There isn’t a whole lot to do for the typical ‘tween
and teenager as our internet out there in the hinterlands is metered (gasp!) making streaming impossible. So, they read
books, loaf about, and mess around with rocks and sticks. What I’d really like them to do is help us out with our work in
the vineyard (*sigh*, we are still working on this!) One other thing they like to do is listen to records, the vinyl kind. About
ve years ago, the boys discovered Nick’s record collection stored in crates out at the vineyard farm house. They wondered
how exactly do you play a record? We showed them the stereo system and instructed them how to gently handle the rec-
ords by the edge and how to drop the needle on the far edge of the record. I must restrain myself from rushing in to take
over as DJ when I see them heedlessly pulling records out of the sleeves which, of course, end up in scaered piles spread
out on the oor. And that record scratch sound is far more viscerally unnerving when it is genuinely produced by a mal-
placed stylus rather than a canned cliché sound eect. I must admit, however, it is a satisfying sight to behold my young-
sters sprawled out on the couch or the rug reading liner notes and discussing which songs had Bon Sco singing (or
screaming as it were) or Brian Johnson at the mic. There was one summer where I swear I heard Yes’s Fragile played seven
times in a row. Those pinging two strings plucked at the beginning of “Roundabout” are forever inscribed onto my brain
just like the groove on the record itself. And I recall the time I left the house in the morning to the raling percussion and
jungle cries of Santana’s “Borbolea” only to come back from my walk in the vineyard to hear the whooping voices and
gongs of that same song two hours later. Yeah, that was a peak parenting moment. Very cool.
I am tickled that the kids enjoy actively listening to music as a pastime rather than just having music played in the back-
ground while engrossed in some other activity. I also like that they listen to music that was made by actual musicians play-
ing actual musical instruments and singing with their own non-auto-tuned voices. There is something rather persnickety
in me that necessitates music must be created by playing an instrument with some level of technical prociency
achieved by hours of practice—enhanced, of course, by natural talent. For me, musicians need to be able to physically pro-
duce with their own ability sounds that integrate into a compositely pleasing or thoughtful assemblage of tones and
rhythms. I know I sound like a curmudgeon or “an old head” as my kids would say, especially to my 15-year-old son who
a few years back took to making songs on GarageBand, with its trove of dierent premade loops and beats and array of in-
strumental eects. And, lately, he has started evaluating dierent songs created by video gamers that accompany dierent
levels of video games on their merits of “listenability” as if any of it, to my ears, was “listenable.” Now I know beer than
to get into a debate with my son as to whether these sonic creations can really be classied as music or not based on my
denition because the retort I would get from him would be a brutal eye roll and “Ugh, mom, you just don’t understand.”
This line of thinking makes me recall an article I read several years ago about a tech company who stated that they sought
to make “molecular” wine with water, ethanol and the 200 or so compounds that make up the aroma and avors of
wine. Visions played in my mind of Star Trek Next Generation’s Jean-Luc Picard (whose family were vintners which I
thought was so cool in my doubly geeky—viticultural AND sci- fan girl--way) ordering up a
“synthehol” version of a Château Latour on the starship’s replicator just as easily as he makes his
usual request in his plummy voice, “Tea, Earl Grey, hot.” The company’s founder stated that to syn-
thesize a wine the challenge would be to identify its compounds and then, “determine the ratios in
which they exist together…it's simply a maer of replicating each molecular compound in the lab”.
Wow, that sure would make this whole dang business of making wine much easier, right? We would
save so much time, space, energy, and money. It would likely make us vintners obsolete. I could re-
tire and live out the rest of my days virtually on a “holo-deck” as long as I am leing synthetic life
take over. (Pardon me, I’m leing my inner Trekkie come out). Meta-verse here we come!
Can a wine really be just a concoction of its dierent chemical components or a blend of its aromas? Perhaps they thought
it was not unlike creating a perfume. After all, fragrances are comprised of known aroma compounds
Continued on page 5
“Wine, Latour, cellar temp.”
Peay Vineyards, 1123 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Ste E #347, Cloverdale, CA 95425 ● www.peayvineyards.com ● jenn@peayvineyards.com
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.
whether naturally derived or synthesized chemically. And, indeed, the way a winemaker like myself approaches making a
blend can be very much like a way a perfumer creates a scent: with the goal of keeping a balance of fragrance notes in
mind—a complex and nuanced spectrum of aromas that complement one another. However wine and perfume are not
completely analogous because you only smell perfume, you don’t taste it or drink it. Wine needs to have a balance of avors
along with other factors that inuence the palate like weight, alcohol, acidity, bierness, and astringency which in turn have
to be in harmony with the nose as well. Perhaps this is what this molecular wine company found insurmountably elusive.
Six years from their founding, they no longer regard themselves as a “winery” as originally monikered but rather a
“beverage” company and have yet to bring a wine to market despite some $30M in venture capital funding. I can’t help but
dream of what kind of tractor we could get with a fraction of that kind of backing.
Maybe it is more akin my son‘s way of making tunes on his GarageBand app. Seing aside the argu-
ment that one can genuinely compose and play music using an electronic medium, is cuing and
pasting canned loops of beats and sounds really being a musician? If I open up the fridge and pull
out the salami, ham, Gouda cheese, mustard, and pepperoncini and layer it all together with some
bread to make a towering stack of a multi layered sandwich is that cooking? Creative? Yes. Enjoya-
ble? Certainly. Delicious? By all means. But, is puing together a Dagwood sandwich truly a culi-
nary endeavor? It denitely is more than the sum of its parts but is it a gastronomic creation, espe-
cially if the ingredients are the same ingredients that can be found by anyone at anytime in any supermarket deli case?
No. The sound a musician makes with his or her instrument varies: it is never completely even in tone nor at times in pitch
and rhythm—it modulates a lile otherwise it sounds mechanical and monotonous. When recording that musician-made
sound to create loops to layer into tracks that natural variation is recorded and embedded into the sound. The human ear
can pick out when a sound is synthesized versus naturally made. I think this variance is what the human brain responds to
and nds emotionally compelling. Even when skillful musicians play with synchronized almost mechanical precision like
Duane Allman and Dickey Bes do with their harmonizing twin-guitars in The Allman Brothers’s “Blue Sky”, you can tell
those aren’t robots making that music. Random trills and musical embellishments added by the musicians’ whim are aural-
ly appealing—you hear this whether in a Bach minuet or an Irish jig played on a ddle. The very essence of a jazz player is
to improvise melody and meter. That four count pause that Whitney Houston takes before the drumbeat cues her to belt out
“And IIIIII-eee-IIII-eee-IIII, will always love youuuu-ouuuu-ouuu” adds a swallow-the-lump-in-throat moment before the all-out
pathos. These are the expressive parts of crafting something that does not end up an unvarying, mundane and unfeeling
product like a song made up of ingredients taken from a sound pantry or a wine made up of curated chemical compounds.
The making of wine has the elements of both human inuence and its reaction to nature, as a grapevine and as a wine dur-
ing the fermentation and aging which shape it and give its characteristics. These inuences have impact on the wine not
only within its year of harvest but from vintage to vintage. To some, keeping a wine consistent would be a desirable thing.
And making a wine synthetically could certainly be benecial in that regard—the notion of vintage would become irrele-
vant. Yet, this synthesized beverage would then be not much dierent than a avored water that has hints of fruit aromas
—there would be no notion of vintage, appellation or terroir. Even though Mother Nature can make grape-growing so con-
founding and stressful with her unpredictable weather, it is what denes what a wine is in my opinion. The very essence of
a wine is capturing a grape’s place: its terroir, in its time: its vintage. This is why we do what we do: farm grapes on the
West Sonoma Coast to make a wine that reects nature. Live human beings making a real and living thing.
Scrolling through Spotify on my phone this past year I asked my teenage son what the “lo-” in the lo- hip hop genre re-
ferred to and he told me that there is often the use of noise such as hiss and record scratches as part of the overall sound
mood. I thought this hilarious because it isn’t the record scratch noises of vinyl records that oer the listener the emotional
recall of the warmth of an analog sound recording. *Eye roll*. Though, I love playing records, I admit I
do not enjoy geing up every 20 minutes to ip the record. I beg my kids to listen to the whole side, at
least—streaming has spoiled them into wanting any song by instant request. For accessibility, music
streaming is a great thing but it has made me wonder, will all of our experiences become distilled
down to playlists, algorithm driven collections of manufactured moodscapes with clichéd aectations
like record scratches for emotional eect? It’s a distressing thought. To counter it I cue up Bon Sco’s
raw energy at the end of “Highway to Hell”, “and I am going down…all the way”. I am heartened in ap-
preciating that as with certain important things in life: You. Simply. Cannot. Synthesize. THAT!
Cyril channeling Angus
Peay Vineyards, 1123 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Ste E #347, Cloverdale, CA 95425 ● www.peayvineyards.com ● jenn@peayvineyards.com
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.
Last week I tasted with a wine writer I previously knew only by reputation. She is the
well-known author of a famous wine book and now, as seems appropriate, she has a
robust social media presence. She came out to the estate vineyard on a wet, winter day
and after walking out to the knoll and returning through the redwood fairy ring, we
went inside to taste.
I had lined up our current wines and threw in a few older vintages for context. It was about 20 wines, in all. The Chardon-
nays—especially the 2014 Estate Chardonnay—really grabbed her aention. We marveled at its elegance, minerality, and
freshness, especially in comparison to the disappointing Chardonnays I recently opened from another country - who will
go unnamed - that in their relative youth rolled over and died in my cellar. After tasting our singular Viognier, and before
marveling at the soulful 2007 La Bruma Syrah, we tasted Pinot noir. To help explain why we make four Pinot noirs from
our Estate vineyard, I mentioned we grow 11 selections of Pinot noir across 35 acres. As we have the benet of a full-time
crew, this allows Vanessa to pick only rows and sections that she feels are at their peak readiness. We built a winery with
dozens of small open-top, temperature-controlled tanks so we can ferment and age 32 individual picking blocks separately
before blending them into four wines. Over the years we have come to understand the unique character of each lot and a
wine may lean more in a fruit-driven direction, or have more intense oral aroma, or emphasize earthy and mineral notes.
As a result, each vintage, there are 32 elements—think of them as colors on her palee - that Vanessa can apply when
siing down to paint the four Peay wines. The three Estate Peay Pinot blends are built mainly around one or two of these
Colors (selections) and that drives their overall aromatic prole. Other selections and blocks are added to complement the
core of the wine and its expression of our terroir. Ideally, oral, fruit, and earth aromas can be found in all of our Pinot noir
blends. Each plays a role, harmoniously working together to create a compelling and complex taste experience that chang-
es and surprises you as you take a sip, drink a glass, and eventually polish o the bole.
Think of a wine as a three-story building. High up on the top oor are the oral aromas owing about in the breeze mak-
ing a rst impression and complementing the essence of the building like an ornate cornice. They catch your aention,
make you stop and focus, triggering your brain to wander to other memories associated with this aroma. Below, in the
middle oor, lies the core of the building where the fruit resides giving shape, volume, and depth to the palate. These aro-
mas can often tell you a lot about a vintage or a grape growing region. And, below, on the ground oor, is the foundation,
the base; where Atlas carries the wine in the dark and shadows. Most, but not all, complex red wines should have top, mid-
dle, and bass notes and they should unfold as the wine is smelled, sipped and lingers on your tongue
after swallowing. They will come out at dierent times in the glass in varying amounts based on their
sensitivity to oxidation. After extended exposure to oxygen, the overall balance of these characteristics
may shift as more volatile aromas have blown o and less volatile ones have emerged. It is why some
people suggest you allow a wine to breathe a lile (particularly young wines) to allow some of the less
volatile, bass and fruit notes to emerge and balance out the oral aromas. It is my explanation for why
some people say the best taste from a bole is often the last sip. The last sip sat decanting in the bole
for the longest amount of time and likely more bass notes were present and that person liked the
musky, earthy aromas best. This process also takes place in the bole as it ages in your cellar. Over time
the bright oral and fruit notes subside and the earthier, funkier, oxidative aromas emerge and take
precedent. Figuring out whether—or maybe, when—you prefer freshness and fresh fruit power versus
earthy and oxidative aromas is part of the journey of wine appreciation. There is no right answer for every person or every
wine. It is why I equivocate a lile when anyone asks me when they should open one of our wines.
You may rightly ask what I mean when I say a wine is oral, or fruity, or earthy. Specically, if I say a wine has hints of
jasmine or turned dirt aromas, are the compounds in those foods the same ones found in the wine I’m describing? Well, in
some cases, yes, they may share a few compounds. Often they are similar but not exactly the same, but it beats saying eve-
ry wine smells like fermented grapes and moving on. So, here are quick explanations of what I mean when I use these
terms and what role they play in shaping a wine.
Floral aromas tend to be most obvious when smelling a wine in a glass (aromas travel up your nostrils outside
your mouth in a process called orthonasal olfaction). Think rose petals, jasmine, lavender, orange
Continued on page 7
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7
blossom, patchouli (the hippie aroma I credit to whole cluster fermentation that can be a wonderful o-
ral accent when deftly employed, or an aromatic bulldozer when overdone). These—like all aromas—are
also sensed as you sip the wine and smell them through retronasal olfaction, at the back of your mouth.
They play a very important role giving wine “lift” or “brightness” or “top” notes and convey lightness
and high tone elements that dance around the edges of a wine’s core. They also tend to be volatile com-
pounds and hence are most evident when you rst expose the wine to oxygen by opening a bole and
then pouring and swirling the wine in a glass. And, not surprisingly, they fade relatively quickly in your
glass and bole as oxygen releases them. It is why oral wines and varieties (think Gamay, Dolceo, or
Muscat) are best enjoyed in their youth as once you get to the end of a bole, or pull the wine from your
cellar many years down the road, they may have long left the party leaving lile of interest in their wake.
Oftentimes, fruits are the most obvious aromas in a wine and can dominate the prole of a specic wine, especially
when the grapes are grown in a warm climate. You taste them all over your mouth but they are most obvious to me in the
smell and also as the rst impression at the front and middle of my tongue when I take a sip. I think everyone knows what
I mean when I say I smell cherry notes in a wine. But, perhaps, it is only a rough idea. Is it a store bought cherry or a sun-
ripened cherry picked while hanging from a branch in an orchard in June? What variety of cherry, the tart Rainier or the
classic sweet Bing? Is the avor the sugary pulp of the cherry or the tarter, perhaps, more bier skin? Did you eat it while
oating down the Seine on your honeymoon? We all have memories of “cherry” unique to our experience with the fruit.
All that aside, we are likely in a similar world when we talk about fruits but there is a wide spectrum of fruit avors to
choose from. For red wines, are they black-colored fruits like cassis, blackberry, and plum or red fruits like cherry and
strawberry. Are they tart red fruits like pomegranate, raspberry and apple? For white wines we run the gamut from green
fruits (apples, grapefruit) to stone fruits (peaches, apricots and pears) to tropical fruits (bananas, pineapples, guava).
That leaves the bass-noted, earthy aromas. These can be the most fascinating aromas and also the most fraught. If
you have ever read one of my tasting notes you know that when describing our Pinot noirs and, specically the expression
of terroir found in our Pinot noirs, I often use the expression “dried pine needle, forest oor”. So often, in fact, that my pre-
teen kids mocked me on NYE by asking if a glass of sparkling wine in my hand had forest oor qualities. Comedians. It
may seem hard to convey earth aromas as, well, we don’t eat earth/dirt. But, we do smell it, which is 94% of what we expe-
rience when we eat, anyway (the other very important 6% consisting of sensory sensations like bier, sour, sweet, salty,
and umami and don’t forget textural elements like astringency, weight, etc.) My specic taste memory is when I dropped
my backpack at the base of a conifer in the Sierras and the ground released a mushroom, bark, damp, decayed leaf aroma.
But earthiness can also be used to describe aromas in the “mineral” world. The smell of slate after a rain. The smell of a
pencil when licking the lead tip. The aroma of black tea or dashi broth. Sometimes these bass avors can be “funky” and
have qualities that some nd unpleasant: Horse stall, fresh tar, sweat, black walnut, compost. Alas, each to his own.
In addition to aromas found in a wine, I often categorize vintages as a oral, fruit, or earth vintages and credit the weather
or some other factor present during the growing season for augmenting that character in the wines. I nd it useful for com-
municating why the “same” wine in a subsequent vintage may reveal a slightly dierent personality. It is why wine is so
darn compelling. It is not the same every year. It is not Coca-Cola you mix in a lab (no oense to Coke, there are few bever-
ages beer on a hot day or when feeling a wee bit sluggish due to over-indulging the night before). Vintage variation is the
main reason why I drink grower Champagne and not Champagne from the “Great Houses” who seek a consistent “house-
style”, year in and year out. It is why I always buy cases from my favorite producers every year despite having “plenty” of
their wine. Every year there is a new batch imprinted by the vagaries of the growing season with no doubt something
slightly dierent for me to engage with over the many years ahead.
So, I have classied the vintages below to give you a sense of what, as a whole, you may sense from Peay Pinot noirs due to
the weather that year. Floral and fruit vintages tend to be most demonstrative when young and show that nature for a few
years after release. Earth vintages may take a lile time to unwind and will not have quite the aromatic lift as oral and
fruit vintages but may have more density and longevity. Maybe. I hope it is directionally useful to you as you wander to
the cellar to grab a bole of Peay. Most of these wines have changed considerably since release so the direction they leaned
on release may no longer be—in fact, is quite likely—no longer the case. And, that, is another one of the pleasures of wine.
Floral aroma, wafting
about in the clouds
Fruit: 2003, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2020 Floral: 2011, 2014, 2019 (earth, too) Earth: 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015
Harmony: 2002, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018
Peay Vineyards, 1123 S. Cloverdale Blvd. Ste E #347, Cloverdale, CA 95425 ● www.peayvineyards.com ● jenn@peayvineyards.com
8
I remember my rst Boeuf Bourguignon. My mom served it over pappardelle
and I wondered what alchemy was simultaneously heating up my insides and
exploding the pleasure center in my brain. I am prey sure she used Julia
Child’s recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking which is where I copped
most of the steps for the recipe below. I have added a few new ones over the
years as friends have shared their tips, and I dropped a step or two I found
vestigial. One friend, in particular, was locally famous for his Boeuf Bourgui-
gnon. He would call you on the phone and in a horribly overdone French accent cackle with glee that he was cooking “zee
Booof Bourgeegon” while stirring the cubes of beef in bacon fat. He died unexpectedly a year ago. I made this dish around
the New Year and thought of him. I missed hearing the delight in his voice as he anticipated tucking into a bowl of Boeuf
Bourguignon slowly prepared and heartily enjoyed. Needless to say, our Pinot noir will go well with this dish (it is beef
from Burgundy) but you would be remiss not to try it with our Syrah which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, a beer pair-
ing. Ça alors, take that Burgundians!
1. Set oven to 275-300 degrees. Cook the bacon on medium in a heavy, oven-safe casserole pot.
Remove when chewy, chop into thumbnail size bites, and set aside.
2. While bacon cooks, cube the beef and apply salt and black pepper liberally, then dredge
through our to cover. Shake o excess our. Turn heat to high and drop cubes of beef in
the bacon fat and brown on all sides. Don’t overcrowd the boom and do it in batches as
you want the beef touching the hot boom surface so it forms a yummy crust (thank you,
Maillard reaction!) Remove cubes and rest in a bowl.
3. Add white wine to the hot pot and deglaze the pan by scraping the brown bits with the
boom of a spatula. Pour that on to the beef cubes in the bowl.
4. Reduce heat to medium-high, add olive oil, onion, carrots, and celery and sauté until they
soften and start to burn/brown. Add garlic and tomato paste and stir for one minute until
paste starts to darken a lile. Don’t burn the garlic.
5. As vegetables cook, use cheesecloth and combine the rosemary, 3 sprigs of thyme, parsley, 6
black peppercorns and 2 bay leaves together and tie o with kitchen string to make a bou-
quet garni.
6. Add back to the pot of vegetables the beef, juices, the bacon, the garni, 2 cups of beef broth,
parmesan rind, and an entire bole of red wine to cover. Raise heat to high until the juices
boil. Once boiling, put on lid and put in oven. Check on the pot in 20 or so minutes to be
sure the liquid is simmering and it is not a rolling boil. After 2 1/2 hours check to see if the
meat is tender when prodded with a fork. You don’t want mush, you want some texture to
the meat (but not chewy.) It typically takes about 3 hours for me.
7. While the stew is in the oven, sauté mushrooms in buer over medium heat for about 15
minutes. Set aside.
8. Peel the pearl onions by cuing o the hairy top and peeling o the outer layer. Add them to
a small stock pot with 2 cups of beef broth, 2 sprigs of thyme, and a bay leaf and simmer for
40-50 minutes.
9. When the meat is the right texture, discard the bouquet garni and parmesan rind. I keep the
vegetables but some people remove them and set aside just the beef. Strain the juices into the
stock pot and reduce the liquid on high heat until the consistency is thick enough to coat a
spoon and slowly drips o. Give yourself 20 minutes for that step. Add the beef, vegetables,
the mushrooms, and the onions to the stock pot and stir to integrate avors.
10. Serve over mashed potatoes or wide noodles (pappardelle, e.g.)
4-5 strips thick cut bacon or make
lardons
4 lbs chuck, lean cut into 2” cubes
Half a cup flour
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil
1 medium sized yellow onion,
diced
3 large carrots, cut lengthwise and
diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
2 tbs tomato paste
3 bay leaves
Sprig of flat leaf parsley
2 large sprigs of rosemary
6 black peppercorns
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bottle of red wine, preferably
tasty. Could use Pinot, I use Côtes
du Rhône
4 cups Beef stock
Rind of Parmesan, 2”x2” hunk
1 1/2 lbs mushrooms. Use a variety
or if button is what you have, fine.
Butter
18-20 white pearl onions (or red if
that is what the store has)
Pasta (shape up to you) or mashed
potatoes
