Masút… the name comes from a native American language and means dark rich earth. I had a chance to visit this winery which is located in a newly AVA registered appellation called Eagle Peak, in the northern part of Mendocino County. Young Jake Fetzer, owner, grape farmer and vintner gave generously of his time as he showed us around the rolling hills of his expansive private ranch.
ジェイクにとってブドウ栽培は愛情の注げる仕事であり、ワイン醸造の経験を積んでいきながら、より繊細で豊かな、そしてバランスの良いワインを生み出しています。ジェイクのアプローチは職人的で、ほとんどの作業を手作業で丁寧にこなしています。
Jake, a third generation winemaker from the Fetzer wine family, grows Pino Noir in this newly AVA registered area. He is a grandson of Barney Fetzer, the original founder of Fetzer Wines and Vineyards. Although Jake is only 33 years of age, he and his family have been cultivating grapes and making fine wines for a very long time. For him farming is a labor of love and as he refines his winemaking process year on year, he continues to develop a deep, rich, subtle wine, one with just the right balance of flavors and characteristics. His is an artisan's approach, where many of the steps are done by hand.
山の頂上に建てられた真新しい醸造所の敷地と設備を簡単に説明してくれた後、ジェイクは無造作にワイングラスと彼の2013年のピノノワールを手にとり、ウッドベンチのある見晴台へと案内してくれました。眼下に広がるのは360度のパノラマビュー。彼の作ったワインを試飲しながら、静かに話し始める彼の敷地はなんと1,200エーカー!(約4,855,200㎡)。つまりこの見渡す限りの景色は全て彼の所有する土地ということになります。ジェイクはこの広い敷地の80%はそのまま残し、あとほんの少しだけブドウ畑を開墾する予定です。彼は自分の子供、そしてその子供にもこの素晴らしい景色を自分のように味わってもらいたいと言います。
Located atop a ridge line that commands a few of the entire area, is a moderate sized, state of the art facility that includes a lab, wine production and storage equipment. After giving a brief tour of the winery, we picked out a few crystal glasses and a bottle of his Masút 2013 then went out to do our tasting at the top of a hill with a 360 degree panoramic view. As we sat on a wooden picnic table he explained that the winery covers roughly 1200 acres and that he plans to preserve nearly 80% of it in its natural state, converting only small, ideally suited sections for his vines. He wants his children, and his children's children to be able to enjoy the beauty of the landscape and to be able to appreciate it as much as he does.
Fetzer Wines, one of the most successful family owned wineries in the area, played a big role in the prosperity of California wine. The family legacy started when grandfather Barney Fetzer bought 720 acres of land at Ukiah Mendocino in 1945.
11人の子供たちとぶどう農家から始め、近所のワイナリーを手伝ううちにワイナリーを設立を決意。ファーストリリースは2500ケース。
Barney Fetzer started as a grape farmer with his wife and 11 children and decided to set up his own winery after providing fruit to surrounding vintners for several years. The family's first release was 2,500 cases.
バーニー死去後、1992年にウイスキーのジェックダニエルのオーナーであるブラウンフォーマン社にフエッツァーヴィンヤードを売却する頃には年間300万ケースを生産するまでになっていました。家族の殆どがワインビジネスに携わっていたにも関わらず、売却時のノンコンピート協定があったため、8年間はワインに関わることが法で規制されてしまいます。
By the time Fetzer Vineyards was acquired by Brown-Forman in 1992, owners of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, the family's annual wine production had grown to 3,000,000 cases per year. As part of the sale of the winery, Barney's sons and daughters were forbidden by a non-compete agreement to be involved in the wine industry for 8 years.
またブドウ作りができるようになるとすぐ、ジェイクのお父さんのボビーは1996年に、海からの風と冷涼で水はけと日当たりのよいこの土地で、最高品質のピノノワールを作るべく、ブドウ栽培を二人の息子、ジェイクとベンと共に再開します。しかし残念ながら、フェッツアー家の新たなワイン伝説を築こうとしていた矢先、2006年にボブは急逝してしまいますが、ジェイク兄弟は父の遺志と情熱を継いで、ワイン造りを続けています。
As soon as the period of non-compete had passed, Jake's father Bobby bought new land in Mendocino, at a hillside site with fast draining soil, desirable sun exposure and marine influenced winds. Bobby chose to plant Pinot Noir in this special location, a varietal that thrives in this slightly cooler region of California. With the help of his sons Jake and Ben, Bobby started a new legacy. Unfortunately, Bobby passed away unexpectedly in 2006, but his sons inherited his passion for winemaking and his desire to grow the finest fruit in the region.
Taking the utmost advantage of his Fetzer family connections, and their extensive knowhow and experience, Jake works the area he grew up in. "Things haven't change too much around here. It's all pretty much the way it was when I was a kid." he says.
よく計算され、時間をかけて丁寧に仕立てられた畑はどこから見ても美しく、敷地内には灌漑や新芽をフロストバイトから守る為などに使用するこのような人工池があり、鹿や大型の動物や小動物の水飲み場としても利用しています。このツアー中に鹿にも遭遇しました。普段は敷地内を自由に行き来できるようにしているそうですが、新芽の時期だけは、食べないようにフェンスのゲートを封鎖するのだそうです。
The Masút vineyards are beautifully trained and manicured, and Jake clearly spends a lot of time and energy to make it this way. He has built earthen ponds to provide water for irrigation and to control frost during some of the cooler nights of Spring. These features beautifully complement the landscape while providing habitat for wild birds and animals. We saw deer, and other wild animals on the estate. Control gates remain closed, but only while the buds are shooting. After this critical phase has passed, the grounds are open again to allow the deer to roam freely.
現在の最新式の除草機を使用する以前は、羊を飼育して雑草除草しようと試みたこともあったようですが、コヨーテに食べられてしまったといいます。鶏も三日持たなかったと苦笑いしながら話してくれました。
Jake personally maintains much of his land, proudly stating that he is an expert with grass cutting equipment. He once tried introducing sheep to maintain the weeds in the vineyards, but coyotes destroyed them after only a few days.
Jake currently produces 5000 cases of Masút Pino Nior per year. A modest amount of wine when you consider his grandfather's legacy. But Jake's goal is to produce a superior Pino Nior, one that leaves a lasting impression in the mind and on the tongue. He puts his best effort into what he is making. He is not interested in pushing his wine aggressively into the market, rather he wants his wine to be pulled by those who can truly appreciate it.
夜涼しいうちに手積みを行い、機械をなるべく使わない。収穫したらドライアイスを使って酸化予防しながら作業し、ピジャージュ(タンク内の発酵中のブドウをかき混ぜる作業)も自身で汗だくになって行う。樽熟成は15ヶ月。なので、ぶどうの栽培サイクル12カ月と合わず、そのため余分に空の樽が5000ケース分が倉庫にありました。一見無駄なように思えますが、ワインにおける樽の役割はとても重要で、樽にもいろいろ個性があるため、自分の目指しているワインにピタリとあう樽を毎年模索しているのだそうです。
The fruit is harvested at night when temperatures are cooler. The grapes are hand sorted and most of the process is hand crafted. Dry ice is used during some of the process to avoid oxidation. Pigeage techniques are used (mixing and punching down the cap manually using oar shaped long sticks) rather than remontage (automatic mixing with machines). The traditional techniques are very physical and require a lot of heavy lifting work. Barrel maturation is 15 months at Masút which doesn't match with 12 month grape growing cycle. This extra 3 months of maturation requires extra barrels for storage, but Jake says it is worth the additional cost in barrel inventory. He told me that barrels play a very important roll in how they affect the flavor of a wine and that he is still searching for the ideal oak for his Pino Noir.
Jake was born into a family of pioneering organic and biodynamic viticultural growers, but his way of grape growing may not fit perfectly into that category. His approach is aimed more at sustainable viticulture, one that is earth friendly, a coexist-with-nature-method of wine making. Spend anytime on this land and you'll immediately understand this sense of harmony. It took 9 years to register Eagle Peak as a AVA appellation, but Jake was patient with the process. Jake is one who appreciates his life and the ability he has to wake up every morning to new possibilities.
ここは彼の桃源郷で、ジェイクと彼の家族はここでこれからもずっと生き続けていく様子が容易に想像できました。
In Masút he has created a sort of heaven on earth and is living there with his family.
WWW.masut.com
This Pino Noir reflects the spectacular land on which the fruit is grown and Jake's Fetzer's passion for farming and wine making. Please check out their website at www.masut.com.