Tasting with Our Favorite Winemaker, Cuvaison's Steve Rogstad

Steve Rogstad, Jeff Toister, and Sally Toister (all with purple teeth)

Last Friday, we had the privilege of drinking wine with Steve Rogstad, the winemaker at Cuvaison. 

It’s not a big secret that Cuvaison is our favorite winery. Their entire portfolio of wine is consistently outstanding. Cuvaison wines almost always appear in our blind tastings and have even won two single varietal tastings: Pinot Noir and Syrah.  

We met Steve at Cuvaison’s tasting room in Carneros and tasted through their current releases while picking Steve’s brain about all things wine. It was an unforgettable experience.  

We have a tradition of talking about the high points of our wine trip as we make the drive home from Napa to San Diego. Here’s a re-cap of our conversation about our experience tasting wine with our favorite winemaker. 

What was one of the most surprising things you learned?

[Sally] It surprised me to learn that he didn’t like to make Zinfandel. Well, maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t like to make it but it was just harder for him to make. That was surprising to learn for something that’s so damn good.

[Jeff] Yes! It was interesting to learn that Zinfandel grapes had more variability even in individual clusters that many other varietals. 

[Sally] What about you? 

[Jeff] I think for me it was learning about the Sauvignon Blanc clone called Sauvignon Blanc Musque. We don't typically like Sauvignon Blanc that's fermented only in steel, but we like Cuvaison's. Now we know that we like Cuvaison's and Cade's (which is made the same way) because of the Musque clone. It doesn’t produce that high grapefruit taste that you typically get in Sauvignon Blanc.

[Sally] It was also cool learning about the concrete eggs that more wineries like Cuvaison are using for fermentation. We’ll definitely have to learn more about that.

[Jeff] Yeah, we found three wineries on this trip that are doing that (Cuvaison, Cade, and Reynolds Family.)

[Sally] I also liked learning about the flexible layout of their winemaking operation. It was cool that they could reconfigure everything to meet the demand of whatever they were working on. 

[Jeff] Yes. It seems like a real advantage to be able to adjust your capacity almost on the fly based on whatever grape you are harvesting. Didn’t he say that he learned about this “smart shed” design from a winery in Australia?

[Sally] That conversation about the smart shed really brought out our nerd side.

How would you describe the experience of tasting wine with Steve?

[Jeff] It was cool that we were really drinking and enjoying wine rather than just tasting it.

[Sally] One thing that struck me is that we usually take copious notes when we’re tasting, but we didn't this time. We know we’re going to like their wine as long as Steve’s the winemaker. To me, it was really more about the experience of sharing the wine and learning more about it. 

For example, I enjoyed learning about the location of the vines being the number one factor that influenced the wine.

[Jeff] He talked a lot about how the different factors such as irrigation, soil, weather, etc. are all connected to the location. He even talked about using a different winemaking style depending on where and how the fruit was grown. 

[Sally] For me, it was great to see his passion come out as we talked about his wine. 

[Jeff] I think it was fun to just sit there and talk. Never once did he stop and tell us we were supposed to get notes of leather or whatever.

[Sally] Yes. It was funny that he half-jokingly said they sometimes just make that stuff up. 

We tasted a lot of stuff, what was your favorite? 

[Sally] I really liked the Spire Pinot Noir. The other one that disappeared in my glass pretty quickly was the Brandlin Cab. It was… magical. 

[Jeff] You know, when you look at it, their wines aren’t cheap, but they’re very reasonable for the quality of wine you’re getting. They have an excellent quality-to-price ratio.

[Sally] They definitely have a high QPR. What was your favorite wine?

[Jeff] I would say your picks are really good ones. I’d also say that every time I have the Mariafeld Pinot Noir, I’m surprised by how good it is. It’s slotted price-wise between their higher-end Spire Pinot Noir and their larger production Estate Pinot Noir, but there’s something about the Mariafeld Pinot Noir that just hits my palate the right way.

Bonus notes: We both talked about their outstanding Pinot Noir. The 2012 Estate Pinot Noir just received a 91 point rating from Wine Enthusiast. Reviewer Steve Heimoff said, "It defines the Carneros style."

Pinot Noir - St. Innocent

Pinot Noir is typically a medium bodied wine, light in color with flavors of cherry, raspberry and cranberry. Depending on the region, the level of fruitiness and influence of earthiness varies.  

California pinot's typically more fruit forward with bolder flavors. Oregon Pinots tend to be more delicate in the fruit flavors with more earthiness (I call them 'dirty Pinots."). Both styles are great for different reasons. It is also nice to discover those that have a little bit of both in the bottle, like the 2010 St. Innocent Temperance Hill Pinot Noir.

We discovered this wine on a trip to Willamette Valley in 2012. Not only did we like the taste, we also rated it with a high QPR score (what's a QPR score?). This wine is darker in color than you would find with a typical Oregon Pinot. Light smokey nose, dark cherry and raspberry flavors with a touch of spice.  Just enough earthiness to round it all out, with a very smooth finish. It paired quite nicely with our flat iron steak and pork chops!  

Keep an eye out for it in restaurants, or purchase directly from the winery.  Retails $32. 

Decimus Pinot Noir – “What You Drink Does Matter”

It’s not often you find a wine that tastes good, and helps a good cause.  A few years ago we received a couple bottles of Decimus wine from my brother, Greg and his wife, Jennifer.  The Chardonnay didn’t stick around for long, but we just recently popped open the 2010 Pinot Noir.  Delicious!

Sourced from grapes in Los Carneros, produced and bottled by Reynolds Family Winery in Napa, this Pinot Noir is a tasty food wine.  It is well balanced, with cranberry and raspberry on the nose.  The flavors continue in taste, with a touch of oak on the finish. 

You’ve heard of turning water in to wine.  Well, Decimus turns wine into water.  They donate 10% of revenue to provide clean drinking water to areas in need, worldwide.  They have partnered with Living Water International, which implements community-based water solutions in developing countries. 

Decimus produces limited quantities, and distributes over half to restaurants.  Look for it on a wine list near you, or purchase directly online.  The Pinot Noir retails for $50. 

Another great wine supporting a great cause is Ehlers, which donates a portion of their proceeds to international cardiovascular research.

Know of other wines which donate proceeds to a cause? 

Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir

It can cost a pretty penny to go upscale on a restaurant wine list. Add a few pennies more if the bottle isn't a current release. Typical mark-ups are two to three times the retail price, which can really add up.

We recently enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir while dining at the Plantation Gardens restaurant in Koloa, Kauai. This was definitely a vacation splurge but we didn't pay restaurant prices. That's because we bought it at The Wine Shop in Koloa and used their connections to avoid the corkage fee. It was all part of our plan to make our vacation better with wine.

Domaine Serene was one of the wineries we visited when we toured Oregon's Willamette Valley wine region in 2010. Their wines were impressive and we even enjoyed a bottle of their 2006 Rockblock Reserve Syrah at our anniversary dinner while on the trip.

Plantation Gardens has a very Pinot-friendly menu, which made it a great choice for this wine. The nose was pure Oregon funk, a distinctively earthy smell. The palate had cherry up front with undertones reminiscent of a fall forest. This strong earthiness is an awesome pairing with pork, short ribs, and root vegetables but also works with a wide variety of other food.

I don't know where you can find this wine on the mainland, but the 2010 release is available online directly from the winery.

King Estate Pinot Noir

 Business trips are a great opportunity to discover new wines.  Granted, it usually comes when out to dinner (where I gained my nickname of half bottle).  But, every now and then I am very fortunate to receive a nice bottle as a welcome amenity upon arrival to my destination.  

I recently returned from a trip to Seattle, and my arrival experience at The Westin was well, quite personal.  When the plane touched down, I (along with most everyone else on the plane) powered up my phone.  The first email I received was a personal welcome from the GM.  She indicated they had been reading our blog, and that a bottle of King Estate Pinot Noir (sustainably farmed in Oregon) was waiting for me when I arrived to my room.  I was in Seattle for a conference, and this welcome kicked off the week perfectly!

The King Estate Pinot Noir has a lovely dark ruby color, and flavors of black cherry and pomegranate, and a light spicy finish.  It has very soft tannins, medium finish with lingering fruits throughout.  It’s a fruitier pinot for Oregon, but quite delicious. 

It was an excellent treat to end each night with a glass!

Thank you, Westin Seattle!