WineInk: Fine wine at Snowmass Wine Festival

Last week, I wrote my annual column on the joys of the Snowmass Wine Festival.

Not surprisingly, I received some legitimate criticism that I had not spent enough ink on the wines that will be poured this year. Mea culpa, as they say in Latin.

Yes, the story from last week neglected to highlight many of the great wineries that will be in attendance at this year’s festival, which begins tonight (Friday, Sept. 12) with a sold-out Greek wine pairing dinner at the Viceroy Snowmass and goes glass full tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 13) at the Snowmass Town Park. I was motivated last week to use the space to highlight the contributions of the Snowmass Rotary, which works so hard on this fundraiser and distributes the proceeds to local non-profits in the Roaring Fork Valley. Silly me.

Nonetheless, this is a wine column, and there will be over 300 different wines available for tasting at the festival at 39 separate tables. The wines are from around the world and represent some of the finest producers and most talented winemakers on the planet. So, without further ado, as they say in France, let’s take a look at just a few of the wineries that will be pouring.

You may know of winemaker Benoit Touquette who, along with Juan Mercado and Scott Becker, created Realm Cellars, one of the classic California winery stories of this century. According to WineBusiness.com, “Realm has enjoyed 36 perfect 100 scores from major critics while at the same time production has increased 1,000%” under the tutelage of the Lyon, France-born, and University of Bordeaux-educated Touquette. Earlier this year, Touquette announced that he was leaving Realm to focus on two personal wine projects of his own, Teeter-Totter Wines and Fait-Main.

Also at Snowmass, you can ask to taste Touquette’s Fait-Main wines. These are single-vineyard wines sourced from vineyards like the Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard and the Tierra Roja Vineyard on the east side of Oakville, neighbored by Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, and Rudd. Fait-Main translates as “handmade,” and these wines share a common bond in Touquette’s pursuit for perfection. To be able to taste them at all is a pleasure, but to do so in the Snowmass sun is a privilege.

Another newbie to this year’s festival from Napa Valley will be a selection of special wines from a winery called Gemstone Vineyards that I first heard about from Barbara Bakios-Wickes, curator of the wines for the festival and the founder of Sundance Liquors and Gifts. Gemstone’s 16-acre estate vineyard, located not far from Yountville, was founded in the late 1990s. The estate has gone through many permutations, and the wines are now made by another talented French winemaker, Julien Fayard, who has followed in the steps of Philippe Melka and Thomas Rivers Brown as Gemstone winemakers.

Jason Rebrook, who owns Gemstone, also has an eponymous label, Rebrook, and they will be pouring a pinot noir wine from the cool climate Fort Ross Seaview appellation on the Pacific coast as well as a cabernet sauvignon from a vineyard atop Pritchard Hill. Both will be worthy of a stop.

If pinot noir and chardonnay from the central coast of California are your thing, then be sure to get a glass of each of the Alma Rosa wines made in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation by Bosnian-born and raised winemaker Samra Morris. The wines, from the historic El Jabali Vineyards, are exceptional examples of the wind-swept terroir of a region that is one of the best for the production of the popular California varieties. Aspen’s Rob Leventhal, who represents a number of quality wines including Alma Rosa, will be pouring Samra’s wines alongside wines from winemaker Kirk Venge’s Macauley Vineyard. It will be a happening table.

If you want a first-class trip around the world in a glass, seek out the Spire Collection table, which will be pouring wines from the most prestigious estates of Jackson Family Wines. Newly minted Master Sommelier David Reuss, a national wine educator for the brands, will be on hand to guide tasters through wines.

There will be an impressive selection, including California’s Stonestreet from Sonoma County and the Maggie Hawk pinot noirs and chardonnay from the Anderson Valley. For those who want to go to France, try the Right Bank wines of Bordeaux’s Château Lassègue. Italy will be represented by the Tuscan wines of Tenuta di Arceno made by the great Lawrence Cronin. And there is word the Spire Collection’s Washington project, JETT, based in Walla Walla, will be poured, as well. And those are just a few of the Spire Collection wines that will be available. One could hang out at the Spire Collection table all afternoon.

If you are so inclined, try to sip some of the South African wines from the legendary Ken Forrester, who is sending a selection, and track down the Portuguese wines of Symington Family Estates. And I would be remiss if I neglected to mention Old Snowmass winemaker Mark Harvey’s Open Range wines.

So many wines, so little time. Snowmass should be a multiday event. But all you’ve got is tomorrow.

Have a great festival.