Pey-Marin Vineyards

Last year, Jon Pey called me up and asked if I wanted to learn how to chip-graft new budwood onto existing rootstock in a vineyard. Jon is a marketing veteran of various global wine lash-ups, including the Mondavi-Rosemount joint venture in Australia. But when he gave me the location of the vineyard, it was in northwestern Marin County – cow country. And when we got up into the vineyard and joined the crew already at work, the job was to convert Merlot vines to Riesling. That day I learned not only about chip-budding, but about how far Pey and his wife, Susan, are willing to go to demonstrate that Marin County is wine country.

Anyone willing to roll the economic dice on Riesling in this country is obviously mixing plenty of passion with prudence. The wine proves out, however. The aromas are clean, fresh and incisive; while I didn’t find the German signatures (apricots and diesel fuel), there was plenty of honeysuckle, leechee, apple and citrus. The wine’s even more persuasive in your mouth, wrapping a savory core of wet pasture in a smooth blanket of cool sweet fruit. I could have wished for more length, but then again, I could say that about half the wine I taste. The finish here is mouthwatering, and at a classic 11.8 alcohol, all you need to prepare for another sip.

Reviewed August 21, 2006 by Thom Elkjer.