SUPERIOR WINE/HIGH QPR ALERT:

Today’s wine delivers value, well above its price class, easily earning it this combined special alert.

SECRET SAVINGS ALERT:

Subscribe to our Daily Dispatch (above) and you’ll always know what our Top Secret coupon code of the day is. Every day we issue a new members-only code that entitles you to have Ground Shipping included on orders of six or more and, sometimes, an added discount!

Mission Codename: The Elysian Fields

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Return to Paso Robles, to our friends at Twilight Cellars/Thunderbolt Winery. In time for Thanksgiving delivery, secure an ample allocation of their boldly delicious Petite Verdot.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Twilight Cellars/Thunderbolt Winery

Wine Subject: 2005 Velvet – Paso Robles Petite Verdot

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 Petite Verdot. Used primarily as a blending component, this Bordeaux delicious varietal is usually characterized as intense, dark, and with powerful flavors. Today’s superior wine marks the first time we have shown a single-varietal Petite Verdot and we are thrilled with our find. Read Agent Red’ s mission report and tasting notes below for the full intel on today’s exciting

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Darkest ruby hues, with evenly-concentrated color – from center to edge. After swirling, densely-spaced legs start very high up on the glass wall. They take a very long time to emerge, but then march steadily down the glass to the wine below.

Smell – Deep and sweet, with aromatic blackberry, blueberry, raspberry and cherry out in front. These sit atop subtler earthen components on bramble, soft spice, dried violets, sweetwoods and a hint of sweet tobacco.

Feel – Round at light-weight, at first. Then, the wine settles onto the mid-palate where it takes on a medium weight and becomes almost chewy. Integrated tannins and a bright acidity contribute to the complexity of the wine.

Taste – Ripe and sweet-tart, with blackberry, black cherry, dried cranberry, dark raspberry, dried mission fig, smoky strawberry, dried black flower petals with a subtle spicy and flinty component at the end.

Finish – Long and very flavorful, with dark fruit that morphs from sweet to tart to softly smokey as a a soft, mineral laden dryness encroaches.

Conclusion – This is a really delicious example of Petite Verdot! What took our tasting panel most by surprise was the amount of red fruit that shone through on the nose and palate. The cherry, strawberry and raspberry components are fresh and bright. On the palate, the wine is approachable and friendly, not the brash beast that some Petite Verdot can be. This is impressive, given that this particular PV comes from Paso Robles, where red wine can have more in your face attitude – and flavors that can be rather over the top. Alarmingly, it has been nearly two years since we have featured a Petite Verdot and while we have been offered our fair share of them, none have impressed us enough to present them to you. Until today!

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 2009 Velvet Petite Verdot today. Thanks so much for taking some time to answer questions for our Operatives today.

RICHARD GUMERMAN: Thank you for having us back on Wine Spies. We love what you guys do.

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 styles 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 goal is to make wine for people who love wine with a meal.

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

RICHARD: Velvet is our favorite wine. It is full of flavor and velvety smooth. It is great with food but also great by itself. Bottom line, this is good stuff.

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

RICHARD: My favorite food with this wine is Pork Roast. The tannins of the wine cut through the fat of the roast creating a purr-fect pairing. I also love it with game like Antelope.

RED: In your opinion, what makes the Paso Robles 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 busy making the 2011 wines. The strange weather we’ve had all year here in Paso Robles has made it more like a year in Bordeaux France than a normal warm year. We noticed this as harvest time was approaching and the fruit was acting like it was ripe but the sugars were a couple of points lower than normal. So the wines from 2011 at Twilight will be between 12% and 14% alcohol instead of being over 14%. The wines should be great.
RED: How would you recommend people approach your wines and wine in general?

RICHARD: Because we age our standard reds at least 22 months in oak before bottling, and our reserves at least 36 months, 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 is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month. It started as HMR Winery back in 1961 as a 1200 acre ranch. They planted Pinot, Cabernet and Chardonnay between rock outcroppings of limestone and by 1975 were making award winning wines that received accolades in Europe. A special competition in Europe was held like the one in 1976 where Stags Leap Cab won. In 1979 HMR’s 1975 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: 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.