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Mission Codename: Billions and Billions

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Respond to reports of a superb Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon from Twilight Cellars/Thunderbolt Winery. Investigate the winery, and procure their highest-value Cabernet – for our Paso-loving Operatives.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Twilight Cellars/Thunderbolt Winery

Wine Subject: 2006 Stargazer Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: Richard Gumerman

Backgrounder:

Paso Robles, in California’s Southern Central Coast region (San Luis Obisbo County) is one of California’s oldest and also newest wine growing regions. The first vines were planted in the late 1700s by the Spanish missionaries.

Paso’s unique climate, perhaps influences its vine more than any other area in California. The hot, dry weather that is only minimally effected by coastal fog and wine results in grapes that are more concentrated in flavor and intensity. This climate makes Paso uniquely suited to grow the big red varietals including Zinfandel, Syrah and as in this wine, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Dark ruby hues deepen to a dark black cherry core. At the edge of the glass, lighter red runs a circle around the wine. Slow, thin, wine-stained legs move down the glass after swirling.

Smell – Lush and spicy with rich jammy black fruit of black cherry, plum, blackberry and blueberry. Sweet spice, cigar box , caramel, dark chocolate and vanilla-toasted oak sit beneath. As the wine opens up, savory notes of dried herbs and dried dark flower petals round out the nose.

Feel – Very smooth, rich and soft on entry, this medium-bodied wine has ripe tannins and sweetly tangy acidity that softens as it breathes. A touch of flinty mineral dries the palate, lingering long into the finish.

Taste – Fruit forward, with sweet flavors of jammy blackberry, black cherry, plum and cassis. These are framed by savory notes that mingle flint, dried herbs, black licorice, soft burnt caramel and a hint of green tobacco leaf.

Finish – Long and lush with lingering dark fruit, soft oak, spice, flinty minerals and dried flowers. At the end, the palate is left with a softly dry feel that invites further sipping.

Conclusion – What a great find this 2006 Stargazer Cabernet Sauvignon turned out to be! With its big, fruit-forward style and deep aromatic nose, we enjoyed this balanced wine a great deal. Fruity, earthy and savory all at once, it exhibits great balance. With enough acidity to make it an easy food companion, we’d recommend this wine with a nearly anything grilled, especially a garlic and olive oil rubbed New York steak. Enjoy now or for the next five to seven years, and decant for fresher fruit and a softer drinking experience.

Mission Report:

WINEMAKER INTEL BRIEFING DOSSIER

SUBJECT: Richard Gumerman

WINE EDUCATION: 5 years apprenticing at Wollersheim Winery during crush. Then 6 years here in Paso Robles making wine for 14 different clients and crushing up to 520 tons of grapes per year.

CALIFORNIA WINE JOB BRIEF:Grew up in Milwaukee, WI and moved to Newport Beach, CA in 1986. Education at University of Notre Dame in Business Finance and Economics. Worked at many financial institutions including General Electric and Bank of America doing Information Technology jobs. Dabbled in growing wine grapes for over 10 years, especially in Prairie du Sac, WI where I farmed Marechal Foch.

WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY: Pick the grapes when they are ripe and make the smoothest full bodied wine you can get and age it a long time in oak barrels.

FIRST COMMERCIAL WINE RELEASE: 02/10/2006

WINEMAKER INTERVIEW

AGENT RED: Greetings, Richard. We are thrilled to be showing your 2006 Stargazer Cabernet Sauvignon today. Thanks so much for taking some time to answer questions for our Operatives today.

RICHARD GUMERMAN: Thanks, Agent Red. May this be the first of many joint operations!

RED: Was there a specific experience in your life that inspired your love of wine?

RICHARD: My father was a wine collector all through my childhood. He would teach me about the differences between the different types of wine and where they were from around the world. Then on my honeymoon 22 years ago, we spent two days in Napa Valley and bought 9 cases of wine. We found out a couple of years later that the lowest rated wine that we purchased was 98 out of 100 points on Wine Spectator. So we discovered we knew what the good stuff was.

RED: What wine or winemaker has most influenced your winemaking style?

RICHARD: Philippe Coquard of Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac, WI. Philippe and I became good friends when we moved back to Wisconsin from California in 1996. He grew up in Beaujolais and told me to stick to the old world ways in making your wines. You can never go wrong making a wine that has already proven itself.

RED: Who do you make wine for?

RICHARD: I make wine mainly for the foodie’s that love to have wine with food. Along the way I also make wine for many other people, both under contract and for the mass market. But my main love is the people that have wine with a meal.

RED: Please tell me a little bit about the wine we are featuring today.

RICHARD: Stargazer is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and is characterized by dark cherry, subtle caramel and a hint of chocolate on the mid-palate with a delicate fragrant cherry nose and a long, silky finish. It is one of my favorites. The name came to us while we were laying in the back bed of our pickup watching the Perceid Meteor shower.

RED: What is your favorite pairing with today’s wine?

RICHARD: My wife Aurora is the food goddess at our place. She writes the food recommendations and she says have it with a thick Filet Mignon or Porterhouse Steak. Also, you can have it with a dark chocolate dessert. (that is her favorite way)

RED: In your opinion, what makes the Paso Robles region so special?

RICHARD: It is a combination of the 50 degree daily temperature swings and the calcareous (limestone) based soils. The vines have to struggle to grow in the limestone and then only get a few hours of heat each day to stretch out the growing season. Thus leading to more structure and flavor in the wines.

RED: What is occupying your time at the winery these days?

RICHARD: We are getting ready for harvest. It has been quite a cool year here except for the last 10 days. This has pushed us from being 3 to 4 weeks late to a normal harvest season. So we are cleaning and testing all of the equipment for harvest and watching the sugar levels in the grapes closely.

RED: How would you recommend people approach your wines and wine in general?

RICHARD: Because we age our reds at least 22 months in oak before bottling, you can expect our wines to be smoother and softer from the beginning. Our wine is meant to be drank with food so you can count on our wines to be a good pairing at any dinner you make or attend at a friend’s house.

RED: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

RICHARD: Our winery will be celebrating its 50 anniversary in late November. It started as HMR Winery back in 1961 as a 1200 acre ranch. They planted Pinot and Cabernet between rock outcroppings of limestone and by 1976 were making award winning wines that received accolades in Europe. A special competition was held in 1979 like the one in 1976 where Stags Leap won and HMR’s 1976 Pinot beat Romaneé-Conte. Then we bought the property in 2005 and have concentrated on Rhône varietals and Cabernet.

RED: Thank you so much for your time. We learned a lot about you – and your wine. Keep up the great work, we are big fans!

RICHARD: On one final note, I wanted to let your Operatives know that we were forced to change our name earlier this year from Thunderbolt. We chose Twilight Cellars which was the name of our Pinot Noir. I know some people think we did it because of the movies, but we had the name before the movies came out.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Twilight Vineyards Winery can be seen in this satellite photo.