Bradley N.
Yelp
Spring Release 2017 update: yes, it is true that Broc Cellars makes interesting and authentic wines that reflect artisanal winemaking sensibilities and a vineyard-specific sense of place, not to mention a quirky love for oddball grape varietals.
Yes, it is also true that few winemakers in California are as willing to cast their UC-Davis credentials to the wind in favor of free form enological experimentation, even venturing into historic viticultural territory by crafting contemporary vintages using heritage vines and heirloom grapes (like Mission, Valdiguie, Counoise, Chenin Blanc, and Carignan).
But the third leg on the sturdy Broc Cellars winemaking footstool is an unexpectedly good knack at throwing a really great party. A wine club pick-up party in an unassuming urban wine ghetto, you understand. Not a Bacchanalian disco bash beneath the stars, accompanied by neon lights and sun-bronzed shoeless dancers popping corks on expensive bottles of luxury branded sparkling wine.
It is West Berkeley, after all. Not Bordeaux during Robert Parker barrel tasting week, not a million-dollar Paso Robles sculpture garden with room for a Rolling Stones cover band, not an award-winning Napa Valley architectural trophy home that charges your Tesla with the power of the sun while you sip $180 Diamond Peak Cabernet from $60 Gabriel hand-blown crystal glasses. A Tuscan Hills sunrise view Chris B. and his half-dozen strong team of assistants and tasting room helpers most certainly have not. They have morning traffic on I-80 instead.
So, you improvise. You invite the Hog Island Oyster Company to serve raw sweetwaters from Tomales Bay outside on your crush pad. They bring Washington State oysters for the grill as well, slathered in chipotle whipped butter. You buy up a small army of locally made baguettes (being so close to Acme Bakery does have its advantages) and serve them with a tasteful array of cheese, sliced prosciutto, and dry salami. You set up several tables with the six spring release wines that your wine club members will receive in their own personal tote bags, and you throw in 2 bonus wines to taste at the end for good measure (both of which you will want to buy to add to your loot). You install elegant Japanese-inspired flower arrangements, but you leave the streamers and smoke machines behind. You don't blare loud 90s music or hide the signs of a working urban winery behind curtains or closed doors. You let people bring their dogs (on leashes) and infant children in strollers, you don't hand out tickets limiting you to 3 oysters only. You don't hand stamp or cast suspicious looks at that guy in the sweater who asks for yet another pour of sparkling Chenin Blanc to wash down his final raw oyster.
And you don't limit this party to members only, either (although they do get to come for free, with a +1). You charge $15 per person, the same amount as a regular tasting, and you waive it with a bought bottle. You don't count the pennies; you calculate the PR value of such an attractive event. You build it into your business model.
But above all else, you don't compromise on your original vision. You serve a nouveau Cabernet Franc mere months after the grapes were harvested. You don't mask the grape phenolics with the heady vanilla-rich aromas of heavily toasted oak. You don't gorge your native yeasts by feeding them with DAP. You open a 2012 bottle-aged vintage of Luna Matta Vineyard Mourvèdre (Paso Robles AVA). You serve a blended rosé and a single varietal vin gris. You make a wine from Mission grapes, which most people encounter only in history books on California wine. You adhere to minimally intervenionist methods, even if not everyone agrees that this makes the most crowd-pleasing, high alcoholic wines that flaunt their 95+ critical scores online and on the covers of wine lifestyle glossy magazines.
An hour later, you have sampled all 8 of the opened wines, plus a few "revisits." You have eaten a half dozen oysters, grilled and raw. You have broken your vegetarian vows and inhaled cured meat along with an extra glass of Mourvèdre. You have picked up your club allocation and added a half dozen extra bottles at a 25% discount. You are ready to head for home, to cellar some wines and set aside others for more immediate drinking - until the next time.
Who would have guessed that natural winemakers like Broc Cellars also know how to throw great parties? The next time you see people standing in line on the corner of 5th and Gilman on a Sunday afternoon, slow down and seek out free parking. And get ready to try some intriguing wine.
Note: a 2016 Lagrein Rosé (sourced from El Dorado County, Sierra Foothills AVA) was also released in spring 2017 but wasn't being poured at the release party.
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