By Rick Riozza
With all the different “moons” showing up in our midnight sky this past season—such as the Hunter’s Moon, the Blue Moon, the Super Moon, the Beaver Moon, and the Cold Moon, it all brings us back home to one of your favorite vino voice articles this year: https://coachellavalleyweekly.com/moon-mountain-serenade/.
Quoting from that particular column: “Many of our wine loving readership continue to wax poetic when it comes to their favorite mountain vineyards. Sure—the valley’s vineyards are gorgeous with soft flowing hills of oak trees, nut trees, and the colorful vineyard leaves of autumn; but, that readership claims the fruit of high mountain vineyards are “closer to heaven and taste as such”
Many of you wine enthusiasts were over the moon to learn that the powers that be approved as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 2013. Moon Mountain is one of Sonoma County’s wildest places, set along the Mayacamas Mountains’ western flank above Sonoma Valley, where vineyards effortlessly outnumber wineries. It borders Napa Valley’s Mount Veeder to the east.
Recently, the Drinks Business website stated: “If someone told you they had just visited a fascinating California wine region– one whose rugged mountain vineyards are known for producing pricey and highly rated Cabernet Sauvignons and old-vine Zinfandels, a place where winery owners are a mix of Silicon Valley and Hollywood multi-millionaires with palatial winegrowing estates co-existing alongside growers who have farmed their mountain vineyards for generations – which region would you think they had toured?
‘You would be forgiven for answering Napa Valley, but you would be wrong.
‘The region is the Moon Mountain District AVA in Sonoma County, a mega-appellation on the Pacific Ocean where vines are grown in fog-enshrouded valleys. Yet the name Moon Mountain is itself telling, as it wouldn’t be too much of a flight of fantasy to believe it had once been a hunk of Napa Valley that had broken off and floated away and was still under the gravitational pull of its parent.”
For those so interested, let’s quickly bring you up to speed: Moon Mountain elevation rises from 400 to 2,300 feet. Of its total expanse of 17,633 acres, only 2,000 or so are planted, mostly to Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and other reds, including Pinot Noir,
What makes grapes grown in vineyards at higher elevations special compared to valley-grown grapes in the same region? It’s a combination of increased solar rays, greater (or sometimes lesser) temperature fluctuations, scarce water resources, dramatic weather patterns, and good old-fashioned steepness
And the accolades keep coming: “Moon Mountain is Sonoma’s equivalent of Napa’s Howell Mountain,” says Avignon-born Christophe Tassan, an epicurean polymath with serious culinary and sommelier credentials, who is currently wine director at Moon Hollow winery.”
Of course the question that comes to mind is: what the heck is an “epicurean polymath? An AI generated response defines it as: “An epicurean polymath is a descriptive phrase for an individual who possesses a wide range of knowledge and expertise across numerous subjects (a polymath) while also adhering to the principles of Epicureanism, which defines the highest good as the pursuit of a tranquil life free from pain and mental disturbance. Okay then, I guess we’re safe.
The polymath continues: “We still have the family wineries, but also the newer people who have the financial resources to show what is possible on Moon Mountain. The only competition [among us] is to see who can get the best out of the mountain.
“Increasingly, connoisseurs, collectors and critics are paying attention.” And, for some unexplained reason, those in the know with a belly full of wine when the full moon is out—the Moon Mountain wine dance becomes a celebratory gyration of twerks and other such distinctive moves. Oftentimes it involves feasts where a large chalice of wine is circulated cheering on the cycles of life.
So—one of the first movers and shakers to the rugged area became a Hollywood story: “It was a Hollywood screenwriter who ultimately authored the script resulting in Moon Mountain becoming an official appellation. In fact, “he” rather immodestly claims, “The history of Moon Mountain is divided into BR and AR – ‘Before Robert’ and ‘After Robert.”
“The “Robert” in question is Robert Mark Kamen, a well-known Hollywood writer, who penned The Karate Kid, and also the owner of the 280-acre Kamen Wine Estate. Kamen likes to tell the story about how in 1980 he was hiking with a friend after his first big script sale (the film was never produced) and fell in love with a rolling stretch of mountaintop, impulsively buying the property a week later. He began as a grape grower, planting Cabernet Sauvignon, but graduated to producing Kamen Estate wines in 1999.”
Unlike Napa’s Howell Mountain, Moon Mountain is a crazy quilt of multiple types of volcanic soils. A single vineyard may have several soil types bumping together, some redder and iron-rich, some with white ash deposits, others boasting loam and sedentary deposits, especially lower down on the mountain. Any red grape will grow well on Moon Mountain.
And now: Our favorite Kamen Cab to date: 2021 Kamen Estate Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Moon Mountain District, Certified Organic Vineyards ($100). Winery Tasting Notes: “The 2021 Cabernet is a complex and layered wine. Intertwining aromas of black currant, wild blackberry compote, cherry, crème de cassis, violet and crushed rock are the first impressions from the glass. This brooding wine takes a few moments to reveal notes of Asian spice box, shaved baker’s chocolate and a loamy underpinning that adds richness.
“The palate offers stratified layers of candied black and purple fruits that unveil themselves beautifully. There is a savory opulence that will continue to evolve as this wine ages. A seamless Cabernet Sauvignon marked by grace and balance with fine grained tannins that linger long after the last sip.” A definite holiday treat! Cheers!
