Mayacamas is one of the greatest wine producers in the history of California. The age-ability and distinctiveness of its wines make it hard to argue with the success of their winemaking approach. However, that very regimen—cement fermentation, large and small oak aging (less than 20% new), no fining or filtering, etc.—is near obsolete in the Valley today. The new “California Style” we’ve aforementioned calls for maximum ripeness, new oak (much of the time with an obnoxious toast), maximum extraction, and a general free-for-all when it comes to the other manipulative practices. In tasting Mayacamas’ wines against a slew of those like Colgin or Harlan—which often cost three, four, even five times as much—there’s a feeling of inexplicable depression, perhaps because they remind us of what once was.
For us they recall a time in California that we’ve only read about, a time before modern Napa winemaking, a time so carefully captured in Steinbeck’s masterpiece East of Eden: dusty, pioneering, and full of spirit, albeit worn. In drinking the Mayacamas wines, one can’t help but feel that the spirit that propelled the settlement of the state during the turn of the century was still alive and well in the Napa Valley in the late 60s and early 70s, and in small ways, maybe even today. Mayacamas stands to be that pioneering minority once again, aiming to reintroduce us all to California’s roots, to the real wines of the Napa Valley, to the very essence of the California spirit they so gracefully embody.
The wines are available all over the country in current (Cab releases at around $50) and back vintages (from the late 60’s forward). Here in New York you can find the largest selection of these wines at Bedford Wine Merchants.
Where to drink: Eleven Madison Park, Rouge Tomate, BLT Restaurants, Gramercy Tavern, USQ Cafe, Alto
Portraits From Napa’s Old School: Mayacamas
Mayacamas is one of the greatest wine producers in the history of California. The age-ability and distinctiveness of its wines make it hard to argue with the success of their winemaking approach. However, that very regimen—cement fermentation, large and small oak aging (less than 20% new), no fining or filtering, etc.—is near obsolete in the Valley today. The new “California Style” we’ve aforementioned calls for maximum ripeness, new oak (much of the time with an obnoxious toast), maximum extraction, and a general free-for-all when it comes to the other manipulative practices. In tasting Mayacamas’ wines against a slew of those like Colgin or Harlan—which often cost three, four, even five times as much—there’s a feeling of inexplicable depression, perhaps because they remind us of what once was.
For us they recall a time in California that we’ve only read about, a time before modern Napa winemaking, a time so carefully captured in Steinbeck’s masterpiece East of Eden: dusty, pioneering, and full of spirit, albeit worn. In drinking the Mayacamas wines, one can’t help but feel that the spirit that propelled the settlement of the state during the turn of the century was still alive and well in the Napa Valley in the late 60s and early 70s, and in small ways, maybe even today. Mayacamas stands to be that pioneering minority once again, aiming to reintroduce us all to California’s roots, to the real wines of the Napa Valley, to the very essence of the California spirit they so gracefully embody.
The wines are available all over the country in current (Cab releases at around $50) and back vintages (from the late 60’s forward). Here in New York you can find the largest selection of these wines at Bedford Wine Merchants.
Where to drink: Eleven Madison Park, Rouge Tomate, BLT Restaurants, Gramercy Tavern, USQ Cafe, Alto
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