The idea of Fieldstone Baco Noir was to make a wine that
reflected the dirt directly. I had read an article Anne Zimmerman had written
in San Francisco of a “Dirt Tasting” and simultaneously I had heard about this
idea that Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon had attempted to dump crushed rock into
his wine to give his wines more of a mineral driven finish.
The idea of the Dirt Tasting to me was one of the coolest
things I had ever heard of. They had a giant Riedel wine glass of dirt from a
particular farm. Then they had vegetables to taste from that dirt. And they
also had wines and the dirt those grapes were grown in. Was an idea! What a
direct correlation between product and environment!!!
In the “tasting” they let you smell the dirt, then mixed it
water, smelled it again, and then tasted it!!!
“I was stunned,” wrote Zimmerman. “I’ve had some miraculous
food experiences, but nothing that illustrated so convincingly the connection
between the health of the land and the food that I put in my mouth.”
I let my passions and my inquisitiveness get the better of
me. I tried it for the first time last year or so with the 2010 Baco Noir Old
Vines. As I told Debbie Gioguindo, the Hudson Valley Wine Goddess, “I sent my
sons to ride around the farm and let them drive the farm truck. We got river
stones from around the farm, scrubbed them with brand new scrub brushes and
fresh water. We put those in the tank. Then I had some limbs from a local oak
tree that had fallen years ago milled at a local wood mill, and then kiln
dried. And we put some of that in. And we let it sit for four months and
change.
The first time I tried it, in the first week, it tasted like
mud with moss. It was awful. The second day it tasted worse! I thought to
myself, I better not tell my wife I just ruined $7000 worth of wine! But four
months later, and a lot of anxiety in between, it all worked out.”
The reviews were unanimous. It was a hit. The limited
edition wine sold out in about eight weeks.
“Concentrated black fruit flavors are pleasant but obscured
by generous oak treatment and slightly confectionery flavors of cherry vanilla
and mocha chocolate. Hints of tree bark and green, vinous flavors peep through
cream and vanilla notes on the midpalate,” wrote Anna Lee Iijima lat year in
Wine Enthusiast.
Debbie Gioquindo wrote in March of 2012, “I found aromas of
earth, mint and black cherry filled the glass with light hints of minerality
and oak. I would think that would come
from the field stones and the tree. To bad he didn’t name the tree. (something
like Fred). The palate was filled with plum, black fruit, mid palate of cherry
vanilla with a black peppercorn on the finish. Kudos to Carlo, you didn’t ruin
$7000 worth of wine. It’s quite tasty
and I enjoyed it!” Thanks, Debbie!
And finally, New York Cork Report Editor-in-Chief Lenn Thompson
wrote, “Dark fruit -- black cherry and plum -- with mustard seed, violets and
curry spice. Soft and lush with forward fruit, low tannins and just enough
acidity. Plum, juicy and fruity. Long finish with subtle vanilla character.”
To read
about the dirt tasting go here:
http://www.culinate.com/articles/features/laura_parker_taste_of_place
