Page 38 - April 2016

by gary kurTZ
a common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
— douglas Adams
if there were one thing the Arizona wine scene has more than its fair share of, it would be fantastic facial hair. while it usually comes in the form of an epic beard, (I’m looking at you Rob Hammelman) the truly shining examples are the moustaches. And I’m not talking about the once-a-year harvest ‘staches that so many of us adorn during that magical, terrible time duringlatesummerandearlyfallknownas“harvestandcrush.” I’mreferringtotheyearround
‘staches that grace the upper lips of the industry. First runner up for epic under-nose hair is The Wine Monk Cody Burkett. seriously, if he lost a little weight and shaved the beard he’d look just like salvador Dali. The most majestic nose-beard belongs to a fellow named Dan Pierce down on the willcox Bench. Before we go any further, let us address the question in your head. You’re thinking, “O’ Captain, my captain! what’s up with you talking about the wine scene? You write the beer article.” To that I say, “Happy April Fools. we’re switching things up this month.” now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let us carry on.
For those of you who have never been to the Bench, or even to willcox, follow me if you will on wings of imagination to a little town a bit over an hour east of Tucson, just off I-10. And by “little town,” I mean the “blink and you’ll miss it” amalgamation of pecans, pistachios and grapevines. From there, journey south for about a half an hour and you’ll arrive at a geologic formation known as “the Bench.” And this, my dear readers, is where 75% of the fruit that makes our lovely Arizona wines comes from. Among the patchwork of vineyards on the Bench lies Bodega Pierce, home of Dan and Barbara Pierce and Dan’s epic moustache. some of the fruit Dan and his ‘stache grow is sold and goes into wines made by many of the best producers in the state, but the majority goes to their house label, Bodega Pierce, and their son Michael’s Saeculum Cellars label. Both of these are made by Michael at Four eight Wineworks in Camp Verde. As much as I love saeculum’s wines, today we’re going to talk about Bodega Pierce. specifically, their 2014 Sauvignon Blanc. Fun fact about sauvignon blanc — it was crossed with cabernet franc to produce cabernet sauvignon. The red grape most equate to California’s biggest, boldest wines has a white grape as a parent. But I digress. Back to Arizona.
In the glass, the Sauvignon Blanc is a pale straw yellow. The same yellow, in fact, as the strong blonde god that is Dan’s handlebar moustache. On the nose there’s no doubt this is Arizona grown Sauvignon Blanc — lemons, melons and apples abound. These same flavors carry through on the palate, along with a refreshing creaminess and characteristic minerality that comes with white wines made from grapes grown in willcox. The acidity is refreshing and not at all overbearing. Decanting did nothing to help or harm the wine, so do so at your leisure. Yes, I decant my white wines, and you should too — sometimes they need it. To steal a page from The wine Monk’s playbook, this wine’s personification would be a relatively young, single, male banker. He dresses well, is clean-shaven, and talks without tripping over his words, but is nothing extravagant. He’s less wolf of wall street or American Psycho and more TV dinners and game shows. He drives a perfectly sensible Honda Accord with few options other than an automatic gearbox. The car is probably the same shade of yellow as Dan’s moustache.
while many of the saeculum and Bodega Pierce wines can be purchased at the Four eight Tasting Room in Clarkdale, do yourself a favor and make a trip down to willcox to see these fine folks. As much crap as I’ve given Dan about his ‘stache, you’d be hard pressed to find better people than he and Barb. They’re just about as awesome as it gets, and their tasting room is just about the closest to southern hospitality that I’ve found outside of the Deep south. Dan is one of the hardest working guys I know, and the quality of his fruit and the wines made from it is testament to his dedication. Barb mainly runs the tasting room, and has never met a stranger. everyone who enters her domain leaves as family. so get yourself down there and tell ‘em I sent you.
| we now resume our regularly scheduled program, already in progress.
38 • APRIL 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
gary@thenoise.us