When Is a Davis Bynum Not a Davis Bynum?

When it's a Rodney Strong.

On a recent trip to the Russian River Valley, I sought out the Davis Bynum winery. The night before, I had enjoyed one of his well-known Pinot Noirs and was suitably impressed. I thought I'd get me some myself to bring home.

But when we passed the place on the map, there was no David Bynum Winery. Just a place called River Bend Ranch. A local told us that, yes, this indeed was the Bynum place. We ventured into the tasting room and got our explanation. Last summer, Bynum, who is in his 80s, sold his "brand" and inventory to winermaker Rodney Strong, who will now bottle wine under the Bynum name. Bynum did not sell the winery itself, and will have nothing to do with the wines that will now be made under his name. Rodney Strong owner Tom Klein plans to make the Bynum wine from a number of
vineyards in Russian River Valley that he owns, along with "additional
negotiated grape contracts within the AVA." Rodney Strong Vineyards "luxury winemaker" Gary Patzwald will actually make the wine for the brand. To all of which my reaction is: WTF?

I don't know about you, but selling Bynum wines not made by Bynum and not even made on the Bynum land sounds kinda fishy to me, like someone's pulling a fast one. I asked if the new Pinot Noir made under the River Bend Ranch name was made by Bynum with Bynum grapes and was told "yes." So that's the wine I bought. And, what's more, is was a steal at $26, about half of what Bynum's wine cost last year.

The Pinot That Walks Like a Cab

In a few days, I'll be flying out to Sonoma County to visit my brother. In preparation for our visit to wine country, I thought I'd spend a few nights drinking wines from the area. I decided to focus on the Pinot Noirs of the Sonoma Coast, since it's not an area I spend a lot of time thinking about. I picked up a Chasseur Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2005 at Acker, Merrall & Condit on the Upper West Side and a Flowers Andreen-Gale Cuvee Pinot Noir 2004 at Beacon Wine & Spirits a couple blocks away. (That was my limit, since those two bottles put me in the hole to the tune of $90.) The unsmiling owner at Beacon always seems confident in his inventory. "You like this?" I said, holding up the Flowers. "I always like it," he monotoned, not looking up from his paperwork.

I drank them over the course of a few days and, while I admired them in the way a commoner admires a king, I can't say I loved them. Why? Well, let's just say they came on too strong. The Chasseur had an alcohol level of 14.5%, the Flowers 14.1% (though that seemed like a fib to me). They had all kinds of fruit, were majestic and balanced. Bright cherry, plum, perfume, all that jazz. A bit more spice and tobacco on the Chasseur, while the Flowers came off more polished and elegant.

But, in the end, as I enjoyed my glass with some approving nods, I felt I had been more bullied than seduced into a good opinion. To me, pinots this strong just seem out of whack with the varietal's inate character. The Flowers was so muscular, it had many of the characteristics of a California Cab. Both wineries brag of Burgundian methods, but their wines of Cali all over.

Once again I proved to myself, I'm just not a California boy.

Sampling the Sonoma Harvest

Last week, I attended a lunch at the James Beard House held by the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and the Sonoma County Vintners. It was their way to show off the new harvest and possibly stir up some press and tourism. Tyler Colman of DrVino.com organized the event and Murphy Vineyards owner Jim Murphy and Ravenswood Winery winemaker Joel Peterson were the speakers.

The lunch itself was of interest in that it was composed mainly of ingredients flown in from Somoma. Drakes Bay Oysters were followed by Corn and Cauliflower Soup with Dungeness Crab and Coconut, then Liberty Duck Confit, Heirloom Tomato and Lavender Coulis and Merlot Jus Tierra Farm Marrowfat Bean Ragu and Braised Red Chard, and finally Crane Melon Sorbet with Wild Coastal Huckleberries and Florentine Crisps. These were served with a series of Sonoma wines, including a lovely Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvee sparkler from Carneros, a full, grassy 2005 Baletto Pinot Gris from the Sonoma Coast (which went perfectly with the soup), a grassy, metallic 2003 Murphy Goode Fume Blanc Reserve from the Alexander Valley, and a series of Zinfandels from Ravenswood and Bucklin, including a 1995 from the former.

The most interesting part of the event, however, was the tasting of six sets of grapes flown in from Sonoma. Placed on individual long white plates in front of each guest, they included clusters of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah from Dry Creek Valley, Zinfandel from Russian River Vally, Cab Sauv from Alexander Valley and Cab Sauv from Sonoma Mountain.

The grapes were uniformly delicious, sweet and complex in their flavors. They beat table grapes to hell. The Zin grapes were the biggest of the six, with a ripe, cherry-raspberry taste to them. The Sonoma Mountain Cab grapes were warmer, fuller and more tannic than the Alexander Valley ones, which were more neutral and soft in their flavor. If winemakers have to spend their fall days sampling grapes like these, their jobs are pretty sweet.