It’s been eleven years since we started our first wine jobs, newly married and fresh out of college with what we hoped was just the right amount of naiveté and optimism. I (Emily) distinctly remember a day back then when we were hiking in Annadel State Park, talking about our future. Cody, with the blind confidence of a new cellar intern who had just learned how to operate a Waukesha pump, said his dream would be to make Riesling. The caveat? We would have to do at least one harvest in the Pacific Northwest or the Fingers Lakes, or even move there long-term to do that for a living. My supportive spousal response was, “are you seriously talking about our next move when we JUST got situated here??”
Yet here we are today, presenting a release with not just one Riesling from an amazing California vineyard, but two—with two more single-vineyard California Rieslings to come in our Spring 2023 release. How did we get here? I’m so glad you asked.
Cody’s love of Riesling goes back to his wine origin story, circa 2010. Having discovered the joys of wine academia while studying abroad in Rome, he spent his senior year studying wine in his spare time (and with the lion’s share of his meal plan funds, much to my chagrin). Somewhere in there, we discovered Terry Theise’s Reading Between the Wines, and therein lay the wine-inspiration for our future as we planned our big move to Sonoma County after our wedding. Thiese’s writing transfixed me. He describes Riesling as “so digitally precise, so finely articulate, so pixilated and pointillist in detail that other wines seem almost mute by comparison.” Rereading that now, I’m shocked that I didn’t realize it at the time: those same descriptors could be applied to none other than Winemaker Cody Rasmussen. The precision, articulation, and detail-orientation that Cody has exhibited since childhood are the same traits that make him a great winemaker—especially for a wine like Riesling that requires such meticulous focus.
When we first started Desire Lines in 2014, our primary focus was red wine; specifically, Syrah. Then we discovered Cole Ranch in 2016, left Cody’s business card paper-clipped to the vineyard gate, and miraculously found ourselves with our very own Riesling to make that year. In the six years since, we’ve sought out as much Riesling fruit as possible and have had the opportunity to work with Wiley (planted in 1976), La Jolla del Norte (planted in 1961), and Massa (first planted in 1967; current Riesling vines planted in the 90s). We’ve come to love Riesling even more as we make the wines each year and taste them as they evolve in bottle. It’s a huge honor to hear such positive feedback from wine critics and our loyal supporters alike. Next step: scheming to get more Riesling planted in great California sites…
*Pause for narration change as I reluctantly turn the keyboard over to Cody*
When we started working with Cole Ranch in 2016, I (Cody) joked to Emily that if we couldn’t sell Riesling, I’d drink it all myself. To my surprise and eternal delight, the response to our Rieslings has been tremendous – they’ve become banner wines for us, benchmarks for California Riesling, and some of our most popular wines.
Riesling has a storied history in the Golden State, first arriving in the United States with pioneering European immigrants in the mid-19th century. The first plantings were likely in Sonoma in 1857, courtesy of Agoston Haraszthy, followed shortly thereafter by Emil Dresser, who imported cuttings from his home in Geisenheim. At about the same time, Francis Stock planted Riesling in San Jose, followed by Charles LeFranc in 1862 in Santa Clara County. Riesling was ascendant in the 1950s and 1960s, and by the height of the boom in 1983, Riesling was the fifth-most planted white wine grape variety in California, behind only French Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. As recounted by the University of California Book of California Wine, edited by Muscatine, Amerine, and Thompson (1984):
"The new era of White Riesling dawned with the vintage of 1968, when Lee Stewart produced one with many of the charms of a good German wine at his old Souverain Cellars in the Napa Valley. It had the haunting floral scents and berry-tart juiciness that had been missing earlier in California. Stewart picked a bit earlier than his neighbors, fermented cool, and retained a shade less than 1 percent residual sugar in the finished wine, which he bottled soon after the harvest. Though oak flavors were no part of the design, the wine did spend time in large oak casks to soften it. Such is still the outline of the most foodworthy of California White Rieslings."
2021 marks an important turning point for our Rieslings – the first vintage fermented and raised in 1000-liter Stockinger ovals. I adore fermentation in wood for Riesling, and I’ve long wanted a larger fermentation vessel than our usual 228L barrels, for the sake of additional reductive capacity. Many of the German Rieslings that I admire are fermented in a large cask of one kind or another – fuder, halbfuder, stück, halbstück, etc. But, casks from the vaunted Stockinger cooperage in Austria are strictly allocated and hard to come by, and the cash for such a purchase was an even greater challenge in our first few years in business.
I’m pleased and not at all surprised that the wines from cask were just as beautiful as I’d hoped – more richly textured, with greater detail and precision, even if the wines from bottle are a little more reserved and youthful than previous vintages. As with all our wines, we’d recommend a healthy decant before enjoying, to give the wine time to unfurl, fill in, and flesh out. For all of our young wines, I prefer them on the second (or third) night open, white wines included.
2021 COLE RANCH RIESLING, MENDOCINO
The vines were planted at Cole Ranch in 1973, making it one of the oldest Riesling vineyards in the country. The vineyard sits in a narrow valley in the mountains between Boonville and Ukiah. The valley benefits from the cooling maritime influence of nearby Anderson Valley, and yet has a large diurnal and seasonal range of temperatures like inland Mendocino County. It snows in Cole Ranch once or twice a winter, and by October the nights are freezing cold. The vineyard is looking better than ever thanks to the care of new owners Mike and Jill Lucia, and Mike’s right-hand man Evie who lives on the ranch and has taken care of the vines for longer than we’ve been getting fruit.
We are fortunate to work with the fruit, and forever grateful that John Cole thought to plant Riesling in his valley almost 50 years ago.
The 2021 went to bottle this summer, but earlier this year we had the chance to send previous vintages of Cole Ranch and Wiley Vineyard to wine writer Stuart Pigott. We were beyond thrilled to have the chance for Stuart to taste our wines—he literally wrote the book (multiple books, really) on Riesling, and is one of the most thoughtful Riesling critics in the business. Here's what he had to say about our previous three vintages from this lovely site:
“Hard to resist this nose of spring flowers and ripe white peaches! Sleek and elegant, in spite of the ripeness, this is an ideal introduction to the new dry rieslings of California…” (2020 Cole Ranch Riesling)
“Complex and pristine nose of lemon (everything from blossoms to candied fruit), together with stacks of white peach, plus some floral and spice notes. Stunning interplay of concentrated fruit, intense wet-stone minerality and racy acidity on the medium-bodied palate. Serious structure at the long, dry finish. Excellent aging potential.” (2019 Cole Ranch Riesling)
“The generous nose of baked citrus, with a touch of toasted white bread, pulls you into this nicely matured California dry riesling that reminds me of the best wines of this kind made in the 1970s. Although this is properly dry, there’s nice richness on the mid-palate with mature and citrusy notes at the energetic finish…” (2018 Cole Ranch Riesling)
– STUART PIGOTT
The 2021 rendition of Cole Ranch practically crackles with energy – the tension and freshness of the wine recalls our 2018, which was similarly bracing. Candied lemon, white peach, and gorgeous floral top-notes leap from the glass, especially with air. 3.5 g/L RS and 7.1 g/L TA.
2021 MASSA VINEYARD RIESLING, CARMEL VALLEY
Massa Vineyard is a remarkable site – epic, and epically remote. The vineyard is set on the northern edge of Big Sur’s Ventana Wilderness; the road to the vineyard from the town of Carmel Valley is short, very steep, and absurdly twisty. Driving five tons of fruit out from the vineyard isn’t for the faint of heart (thank you summer road construction job during college…). To the south of Massa Vineyard, there’s nothing but miles and miles of wilderness and the remote mountain peaks of interior Big Sur. To the north, the vineyard’s most conspicuous neighbor is the Jamesburg Earth Station, a now defunct but massive satellite dish that once relayed worldwide footage of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The satellite dish was built where it is, in the remote and wild Cachagua Valley, because radio interference is minimal – even radio signals have a hard time penetrating the valley.
Massa Vineyard was first planted in 1967 by Bill Durney; the vineyard was known as Durney Vineyard. Cabernet Sauvignon was then the only variety planted at the vineyard, with cuttings supplied by Grandma Mirassou. The vineyard was the first vineyard planted in what is now known as the Carmel Valley AVA, and the wines from the vineyard enjoyed critical acclaim in the late 1970s and 1980s, even being poured for dinners at the White House during the Reagan administration.
The vineyard was purchased by the Heller family in 1993, following Bill Durney’s death. The Hellers re-named the vineyard Heller Estate and converted to organic viticultural practices – the vines have been farmed without the use of herbicides for nearly thirty years. Riesling was planted in Block 12B at this time, which are the vines that we now have the privilege of working with. The vineyard was sold again in 2018, purchased by Bill Massa, and re-named Massa Vineyard.
The vines at Massa Vineyard sit directly on the Cachagua Fault and are rooted in an unusual mix of granitic and metasedimentary rocks. I say unusual because granitic soils in California vineyards are relatively rare. While the granitic plutons that form the core of the Sierra Nevada are famous, there isn’t much granite to speak of in most Sierra Foothills vineyards, and none at all in the North Bay. The granodiorite and quartz monzonite that underlay Massa Vineyard come from the southern Sierra Nevada, thanks to the transform faulting action of the San Andreas Fault and the displacement of the Salinian Block.
In some mysterious way, I think the remarkable setting and unusual soil type stamp our Massa Vineyard Riesling with a personality distinct from our Mendocino County Rieslings (Cole Ranch and Wiley Vineyard). I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something singular to the austere phenolic mouthfeel, opulent orange citrus fruit profile, and herbal nuances that speak of California’s sunny Central Coast. The wine was fermented in a 1000-liter Stockinger oval and left on lees until bottling in July. The wine shows just a touch of matchstick reduction on the nose, which I adore, and it reminds me a little of the Rieslings from Hofgut Falkenstein. Huge thanks to Ian Brand for his vision and stewardship of this beautiful vineyard and for the opportunity to make wine from here (and thank you Morgan Twain-Peterson for your excellent fruit-trucking skills!) 4.5 g/L RS and 7.1 g/L TA.
2021 KICK RANCH SAUVIGNON BLANC, FOUNTAINGROVE DISTRICT
Kick Ranch is in the cool Fountaingrove District AVA in the Mayacamas mountains north of Santa Rosa. The Sauvignon Blanc block is planted on the rockiest soils at Kick Ranch, at the top of the ridge as the vineyard road winds upward past the rest of the blocks. The rocky soils keep the vine’s vigor in check; careful canopy management creates a range of sun exposures and gives a whole range of fruit flavors in the wine; and cold nights and generally cool days give the wine a citrusy, saline zest and floral raciness. We’ve been so pleased with the quality of the fruit and our wines from the vineyard that we decided to move the wine into our vineyard designate series.
The grapes were crushed by foot in the picking bins before being quickly loaded into the press for pressing. The juice was fermented in a combination of 228L and 300L barrels with a bit of new oak (22%) from the illustrious Stockinger cooperage in Austria, for a touch of floral, sappy oak sweetness. The wine was left on lees for ten months in barrel before bottling in July. Much like our Rieslings, the Sauvignon Blanc from Kick Ranch satisfies my desire for a cool-climate white wine imbued with a stern, zesty architecture into which we can knit lush fruit flavors and saline flourishes.
2021 EVANGELHO VINEYARD RED WINE, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Our Evangelho Red Wine, a blend of primarily Carignan with a touch of Mourvèdre, has become (I think) one of our most important wines – very old vines farmed with the utmost attention and care by folks that we love; from a historically under-appreciated California growing region; made in a fashion that blurs the line between Old World and New World; that blends classicism, freshness, and richness in one delicious bottle.
These old vines, planted own-rooted in the 1890s in the Oakley Sands, have seen and weathered it all and are wiser for it. The Oakley Sands are one of California’s most distinctive terroirs – extremely sandy soils and regularly gusty winds giving wines of freshness, elegance and perfume – and I’d argue that Evangelho Vineyard is one of California’s greatest vineyards.
2021 was characterized by extraordinarily light crops at Evangelho Vineyard, as a result of the extreme drought. The vines persevered, and I think you can feel some of the intensity and richness in the wine that may have something to do with the tragically light crop yield.
As in previous vintages, the wine was fermented with 30% whole cluster under a submerged cap and aged for ten months in neutral 400L barrels. The Carignan from Evangelho gives a juicy wine that smells of flowers and red fruits, with a soft tannin profile and vibrant acidity. The inclusion of cluster adds spice to the nose, while the small portion of carbonic maceration and Mourvèdre add flesh to the palate. The winemaking style is inspired by our love for the great cru Beaujolais of France (and in our book, that’s Clos de la Roilette’s Cuvée Tardive and the old-vine single parcels of Château Thivin): wines that are a joy to drink while young and age gracefully as well.
2020 SHAKE RIDGE RANCH SYRAH, SIERRA FOOTHILLS
In the short time since Shake Ridge was first planted in 2003, Ann Kraemer and her family have created one of the premier vineyards of the Sierra Foothills, built on Ann’s viticultural expertise and her family’s dedication to agriculture, community, and hard work. I don’t know of any other vineyard where the same folks get up at 3AM for the night pick, offer to make lattes for anybody trucking fruit from the vineyard in the morning, catch up on paperwork before lunch, go out to pull bird nets off for the following night’s pick in the afternoon, and then host dinner and make sure that everyone has a bunk before bedding down themselves. It’s an inspiring place to make wine from, in every aspect, and we’ve had the good fortune to work with fruit from Shake Ridge since 2016.
The 2020 vintage in the Sierra Foothills of Amador County was a warm one, and I think you can sense the warm August nights in the lush mouthfeel and extra dash of olive brine on the nose. The wine is its usual exotic, sultry self - salted plum, raspberry, candied orange rind, and white pepper make for an intoxicating brew. Unfortunately, this will be our last wine released from the 2020 vintage; sadly neither Griffin’s Lair Syrah nor Lichau Hill Cabernet Sauvignon were bottled due to smoke exposure from the LNU Lightning Complex wildfires.
