Villa Creek
By David Keck
Over here at VT Wine Shepherd, we’ve developed our book of domestic wines slowly and thoughtfully, as there are a lot in the market and we want to be sure that what we add to the Vermont wine scene is truly contributing something new and exciting. With that in mind, we recently touched base with Master Sommelier Anthony Anselmi out in Truckee, CA. Anthony has been a friend for a long time, and has worked with some of the most respected wine importers in the industry. Recently he started representing a few tiny estates in California that are doing great work and after tasting some wines we agreed with him, these wines are amazing and need to be in the Green Mountain State.
The first producer we wanted to bring to your attention is one of the very cool new kids in the Paso Robles appellation. Long the land of Zin and Rhône Varieties, Paso is warm and the west side of the appellation in particular has the potential to make truly world-class wine. Villa Creek wines are produced with grapes from the home estate called MAHA, as well as the James Berry vineyard (farmed by the Smith family and home of the iconic Saxum wines), Luna Matta, and Slide Hill.
The Villa Creek project was started by the Cris and JoAnn Cherry in 2001 with grapes sourced from some of the most exclusive properties in Paso. In 2004 they moved onto the MAHA property, built the winery in 2006, and in 2012 planted the first estate Grenache vines on the south-facing, high elevation (1500-1800 feet), calcareous slopes. Everything is done on the estate according to the cycles of nature, without irrigation, pesticides, herbicides, or other chemical additions. There is a flock of sheep that roam the property under the watchful gaze of their three Anatolian-Pyrenees, along with chickens, pigs, and goats, all helping keep the balance in the soil.
Villa Creek is produced from organically and biodynamically farmed grapes, everything is hand-picked and double sorted, sometimes whole cluster is utilized (about 20%) and the winery is Demeter certified.
We’ve got an awesome selection of wines from some great mid-week wines to really stunning, crazy high-scoring blockbusters. We’re not generally big on talking scores over here, but when the ‘entry-level’ wines are consistently in the mid-90s from all of the major publications (Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate) and the top wines are in the high 90s, it’s worth mentioning!
‘CHERRY HOUSE’ WHITE 2019 & RED 2018
The Cherry House wines are both Rhône blends that are rich, full-bodied and super-affordable. The White is Clairette and Grenache Blanc while the Red is Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre.
VILLA CREEK ‘AVENGER’ 2017
A Syrah based-blend (rounded out with Grenache and Mourvèdre), this wine is a truly outstanding, well-rounded but intense wine that ranks with some of the top bottlings of the region (think Saxum, L’Aventure, etc) for a fraction the price. This wine drinks spectacularly well now and will age for a decade or more.
‘ROCK AND FLOWERS’ 2018
This is the tribute to Grenache, with some Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan. Much of the fruit comes from the home MAHA estate with the rest coming from friends farming organically nearby. Rich and concentrated without losing the floral and spicy nature of Grenache, this wine is classic Paso and worth buying a few to drink now and a few to lay down.
‘HIGH ROAD’ JAMES BERRY VINEYARD 2018
From one of the most iconic and important vineyards in the United States, this wine does justice to its source. Simply sexy wine—it’s rich and supple, without being weightly, it’s spicy without being too over-the-top, and has fruit but isn’t a fruit bomb. We don’t get much of this beautiful wine, but glad to get some!