Cartlidge & Brown

First published August 31, 2008 in the Benicia Herald.

With summer coming to a close, I feel I have to get out and get out of town, even for just a minute, as often as I still can. Thursday, I flitted out of the Herald offices just a bit early to cool off and cross over to wine country before the crowds moved in for the holiday weekend.

I directed my GPS and my inspiration for this week's column to Cartlidge & Brown Winery in American Canyon. Honestly, it was the closest tasting room I could find during my online search.

One of the things that makes hitting a tasting room on a slow day so enjoyable is all the stories your host can spend time sharing with you. The best story Lynae Anderson, Cartlidge & Browne's tasting room manager, told me was about the Rabid Red. On the label, there is a painting of a white dog with a black spot around one eye. As Lynae explained, owner Tony Cartlidge was dining at a restaurant in New York when he first saw this painting. He so liked it, he purchased the rights to the work and returned to California to work with his winemaker to come up with the perfect wine to pair with this image. Rabid Red, a blend of Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, now features this canine image on its label every year. So, if you think about it, the art comes free to you with each $15 bottle.

During my visit, Anderson also told me a little about the philosophy of wine maker Paul Moser. Moser, who has been with Cartlidge & Browne since 1982, favors blending, she explained. By this, he enjoys taking grapes of the same variety from various growing regions to create more complex flavors than can be achieved by producing wine with grapes all of the same vineyard.

My pick for winning wine, however, was one that came from a single vineyard. The 2007 Dancing Crow Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc from Lake County was the highlight of my afternoon. I was blown away by the bounty of fruit that tickled my nose as I lifted my glass. It smelled better than your average fruit stand! Naturally, I expected the flavor to be rather sweet, and tipped my glass toward my sweet tooth. Imagine my surprise when the wine proved to hold its own in terms of acidity. The cool, clean taste left me pondering whether I really had any need to taste further! If not for my sense of duty to review other varietals, I would have had a parking lot picnic with this $14 chilled bottle! I did leave thinking about what kind of fish to pick up on the way home that would pair well with this wine. Did I mention that this one's all organic too?

The biggest revelation I had during my visit to Cartlidge & Browne came from Anderson, not from a bottle. While we were chatting away about uncommon grape varietals sometimes used to produce wine, she told me about the Wine Century Club. The club is basically a fun little game for any true wino. Basically, they offer a downloadable list of different grapes, and as you try wines made with each one, you check it off your list. Once you made it through 100, you send in your list and four to six weeks later, voila! A certificate comes to your mailbox declaring you a member. I downloaded my form when I got home, and without putting too much thought into my history as a wine guzzler, I had 19. Now I can't wait to check off more. Check it out and let me know where you're at - let's see who hits 100 first!

If you would like to aquaint yourself with the Cartlidge & Browne Winery, you can visit their tastingroom at 205 Jim Oswalt Way in American Canyon or browse their website at www.cartlidgeandbrowne.com.