“Beautifully balanced” is 2019 Petite Verdot

August 31, 2022

Piedmont Post

Family Winemakers of California come to Oakland

By Pierre DuMont

On August 21 the Family Winemakers of California held their first ever tasting in Oakland. It is one of my favorite wine events of the year. Many of the people pouring the wine have the same name on their nametags as the name on the wine label. There is a warmth, and yes, love for the wines that you do not find at the more “corporate” wine events. The span of different grape varietals was intriguing. Like to taste a Semillon or a Barbera? How about Tempranillo or Alicante Bouchet? Come on in, they’re all here. I was never really able to find out exactly what constitutes a “family winemaker.” The vast majority of the wineries seemed to span the spectrum from small mom and pop operations to small/medium size operations making under 10,000 cases per year. As I meandered through the table-filled venue I focused on small wineries with which I was unfamiliar. There were so many great wines at the tasting – literally hundreds. But the following list catalogues the wines that stood out among a huge sea of also-rans. These are wines of great character and quality and are worth searching out. They show that some of the finest wines in the state are created in small, unknown, out of the way places by wineries that are fueled by family love and devotion.

2019 Hawk and Horse Petite Verdot

This Petite Verdot has a very fragrant nose with macerated black cherries and crème de cassis enveloped in a veneer of creamy oak that does not impede the fruit. The palate is full-bodied with a salacious dark, creamy cassis and chocolate-tinged fruit on the entry. It is beautifully balanced, with a long, sensual finish that demonstrates just what this esoteric variety can do in the right hands. It should last for 15 years in the cellar.