It’s not that the flavors explode. The name — Eruption — alludes to one of Brassfield Estate Winery’s vineyards, perched on an extinct cinder cone overlooking Clear Lake.
Instead of a blast of fruit and cheerful essences streaking across the palate, the wine presents itself with outspoken confidence. In the first encounter is a quick realization that the 2013 Eruption will bring quite a bit of pleasure to the table.
This begins when you pour the first glass, releasing aromas of dark berries, beaten leather, plums just sliced and a hint of something like smoldering loam. What follows broadens your smile: strident, juicy flavors like a bowl of berries and fruits at the peak of ripeness, rich bursting blueberries tossed with vanilla resting in a trough of weathered leather — a beautiful confirmation of your redolent introduction to the wine.
OK, so Eruption does start with a rush, if not an outright explosion. But there’s something more, a few charming and elusive character quirks that make you want to pour another glass — and then another — and commit yourself to the bottle.
Lurking around on both the nose and the palate are warming notes, like lightly charred toast and sultry southern afternoons, surrounded in this case by curing leaves and hot asphalt. Before these draw you into a contemplative mood, however, rays of bright berry jam encourages more celebratory tone.
And then it all decides to stick around for awhile, developing even more as the flavors linger. The finish is just as memorable as the aroma and the initial taste. No wonder this vintage captured Best in Class at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. It’s both a great table wine and a bottle to appreciate.
“When we’re blending it our mantra is ‘does it taste good?’” observed Brassfield winemaker Jason Moulton. “It’s friendly with all occasions.”
Best to leave off right there at the sheer enjoyment part. For if you begin to ponder too deeply, you become caught up in the intricacies of the art-slash-science behind the product.
It’s difficult to say whether Moulton finessed all this character from the blend of grapes or of wood. The wine spent time in French and American oak, with 30 percent of the staves being new. But it is created from four varietals, led by almost equal parts Malbec and Syrah, rounded out by Petite Sirah and Mourvedre.
Malbec and Syrah account for the rich burst of jammy fruit, certainly. And chalk up Malbec’s tendency to develop vanilla traits when exposed to oak. That gravelly asphalt must result from the addition of Mourvedre, which also thickens the blueberry flavor. Maybe credit Petite Sirah for the lingering tannic quality. But the rest? How much of it is one grape playing off the other? How much is owed to Lake County’s 2013 growing season, which produced so many spectacular wines?
“It’s incredibly complex,” Moulton acknowledged. “It’s take a couple of years of trial and error. The Malbec made the wine what it is.”
The grape brings a lot to the blend — bold dark fruit, juicy plumb and wisps of acrid smoke. It provides the blueberry edge, furthered by Mourvedre. But when Moulton considers the Eruption, he finds and expression of something more down to earth.
“Those aromatics are the volcanic soil, to me,” he said. “That’s what that wine is imparting: deep, rich, red volcanic soil.”
Eruption is engaging and engulfing. It opens as a breezy glass of pleasant juice but closes … well, it doesn’t close; Eruption just begins wrapping you in layer after layer.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
