Breakfast Wines with Steve Matthiasson
A recent K&L staff trip to Napa Valley saw the NorCal sales team explore the cooler parts of the region with a day in Carneros and Coombsville, two of the southernmost sub-AVAs of Napa, with lots of moderating influence from the nearby San Pablo Bay. We started off the day with an incredible 8:30am visit with Steve Matthiasson at his Cressida Vineyard in the upper Carneros, right at the foot of the Mayacamas range as it descends towards the bay. The weather in Carneros behaved perfectly with thick morning fog slowly receding back to the bay as our crew walked up into the vineyard with the first patches of blue sky being revealed.
Steve Matthiasson is something of legend in Napa Valley. Having worked his way up through the wine industry on the farming and vineyard management side of the business, Steve has decades of viticultural experience farming sites across the entire region. Making wine, he says, was something that came later. He is essentially self-taught, his formal education being focused on the growing of grapes. In the last several years Steve has very much become known as one of the leading figures in the regenerative organic movement in California. Properties he works with follow organic protocols, low/no-till, extensive cover cropping, minimal irrigation, and other holistic farming practices. The goal beyond environmental sustainability is to have healthy vineyards with intact bacterial and fungal systems in the soils. Healthy soils feed healthy, balanced vines. Healthy balanced vines produce healthy balanced fruit. Fruit that can be picked at modest levels of ripeness (potential alcohol) but with physiologically ripe flavors and tannins.
Steve spoke with our team explaining that ripeness measured only in brix (the amount of sugar in the grape juice) ignores many other indicators of true ripeness such as acid levels, tannins, and other phenolic compounds in the grapes. He meticulously manages his vineyards from pruning through to picking to encourage a physiological ripeness at low sugar levels. This in turn allows for the production of modest alcohol wines that still have purity of fruit and resolved tannins. This is achieved without having to add water and acid or any number of other things commercial winemaking has normalized. All of Matthiasson’s wines are essentially natural wines, though not advertised as such. All are fermented with native yeast, the only addition to the wines is sulfur at modest levels. The vast majority of the wines only see neutral oak, and wines that do spend time in new oak typically only see a low % of new wood.
I must mention that Steve took several hours out of his day to welcome our team even as the first parcels of grapes were starting to come in from around the valley. I’m truly grateful for the time he spent with us especially at such a busy time of the year.
Cressida Vineyard, where our visit was graciously hosted, is a truly unique site. The vineyard runs along a ridgeline down one of the very last fingers of the Mayacamas Mountains as they trail off into the flat plains of Carneros. This long, thin, finger of vines occupies just the very upper west-facing slope of the ridge that is defined by its special underlying geology. While most of Carneros’ soils are dominated by heavy clays. The vines at Cressida grow in ancient fractured shale. These soils are tens of millions of years older than most soils in Napa Valley and predate the volcanic activity that dominates much of the region. These rocky, angular, ancient marine sedimentary soils really speak through in the wines.
As we stood in the vineyard, the morning sun now starting to warm our backs, we tasted through an incredible line up of Steve’s wines from the back of his (Rivian) truck. All of them had a sense of vibrancy and vitality. All were balanced and food-friendly, several downright quaffable (hello Cab Franc)! Every wine was met with unanimous appreciation from the team. Rarely have I seen 14 experienced (and opinionated) wine professionals in complete accord around a line up of wines! It was truly a magical tasting. Here is the line of wines we tasted with some of my thoughts on them. I truly hope you will check these wines out, they are some of the most engaging and delicious wines coming out of Napa right now, and the pricing is truly phenomenal given the quality and pedigree.
2023 Matthiasson "Linda Vista Vineyard" Napa Valley Chardonnay $29.95 (Elsewhere $40) One of my absolute favorite Chardonnays of the moment. And, how fun that it's literally one mile from my house to this vineyard! Linda Vista Vineyard sits just northwest of the city of Napa in the Oak Knoll District. This area has long been famed for Chardonnay. It really hit the big time when Chateau Montelena's Chardonnay took the win against top white Burgundy in the Judgement of Paris Tasting in 1976. That legendary Chardonnay was grown right next door to Matthiasson's Linda Vista site. This very southern part of the valley is significantly cooler than further north, with almost daily fog that breaks up late morning. The soils here are alluvial fans from the eastern slopes of Mount Veeder comprised of ancient marine shale. The vines here are three decades old and deeply rooted, drawing complex minerality from the soils. The Chardonnay is crafted in a perfectly honed crystalline style with beautiful freshness and vibrancy. The purity of bright fruit and white flowers works nicely with mouthwatering saline minerals. Such beautiful focus and linear precision. This gives 1er Cru white Burgundy a good run for it's money. An absolute winner at our Insider's Advantage special pricing!
2022 Matthiasson Napa Valley White Blend $29.95 (Elsewhere $45) This is such a fascinating, complex, multidimensional white wine. It really shows that ability of wine to show a sense of place, liquid rock, stony, saline minerals are at the core of this wine sourced from vines grown largely on ancient marine sedimentary soils. An unusual blend of Sémillon, Ribolla Gialla, and Sauvignon Blanc. But this wine isn't really about varietal character of any of the individual grapes; it's about how they all play a part in the symphony. Sémillon giving that classic, quite savory, waxy depth and texture, the Ribolla adding floral high tones and softness, the Sauv Blanc some electric acidity and verve. Even though it was perfectly delicious and quaffable standing in the vineyard in the crisp morning sunshine, it's a wine that begs for food. I really think this wine is phenomenal with a broad range of foods. Think crudité, hummus, charcuterie, young, soft cheeses...panzanella...I'm getting hungry now! Such a unique and gastronomic expression, love it!
2021 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $59.95 (Elsewhere $90) Anyone who craves great, old-school Napa Cabernet, the stuff of legends from the 1970s and 80s—with moderate alcohol, real varietal character, agability, and a food friendly structure...this is it! What's really awesome about this wine is that Steve sources the fruit from a tapestry of top-notch vineyards he farms up and down the valley. Each one meticulously farmed with organic practices for quality over quantity. The wine is full of briary red fruits, mulberry, red currant, camphor, tobacco, leather, and savory, dust earth components. The wine is lithe and and focused, much more reminiscent of traditionally made Left Bank Bordeaux than most modern Napa Cabs. If you enjoy wines of this style you have to check this out. Our recent staff visit to Matthiasson reinforced in my mind just how great Steve's wines are and how they represent a style that is still possible in Napa so long as you champion restraint and elegance over richness and brut force.
2022 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Franc $49.95 I was simply stunned with this Cab Franc. I went back from a couple more tastes even at 9 AM in the morning! Such a fresh, bright, red-fruited expression of the grape. The perfect balance of crunchy bright fruit and savory Franc deliciousness. I’ll let our friends over at Decanter describe this one more to you since they loved it just as much and we did!
97 points Decanter: “This year, fruit is sourced from the Matthiasson, Phoenix, and Cressida Vineyards, which are grown on shale soils in upper Carneros. The wine is intensely fragrant, with blue fruit aromas complemented by savoury notes of sage, peppercorn, bay laurel, and green tobacco. Medium-bodied, it boasts a crystalline purity of fruit and expressive saline minerality that carries through to a dazzlingly delicious finish—a beautifully balanced and evocative wine.”
2021 Matthiasson "Phoenix Vineyard" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $119.95 From a small block of vines directly above Matthiasson's modest winery on the lower slopes of Mount Veeder. The vines here were planted in 1982 and are growing on AXR1 rootstock. Despite being plagued by phylloxera, under Steve’s watchful eye and regenerative organic practices, they still eke out tiny amounts of fruit producing one of the most refined, elegant, and breathtaking expressions of Napa Valley Cabernet. Very deliberately NOT a big hulk of a wine, this wine is about finesses and poise. Elegance and delicacy unlike you’ll find anywhere else in the valley. Reminds me of the polish and aromatic lift of Château Palmer in Margaux. Stunning.
99 points Decanter: This is a single-vineyard expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Phoenix Vineyard surrounding the Matthiasson winery, situated on an east-facing steep hillside at the base of Mt. Veeder, on a promontory of rare ancient marine shale soils overlooking the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. Texturally and aromatically, it is so different from the Dead Fred Cabernet. This is super light and floral-driven and more like a Nebbiolo. It's aged in foudre to preserve the fresh fruit quality. Multiple picks ensure ripeness and some are whole cluster pressed. It's so pretty and pure it's almost like mineral water that's been flavoured. The wine has a natural grip and is laser-focused and linear. It is the epitome of elegance, a wine in a class of its own. A delicious wine that will last for half a century.