Dead End

Since we started this blog last April, Kathy and I have made a few interesting discoveries about the grapes and growers around Oakley, and we’ve drunk some delicious wines made from our local fruit from these century-plus aged old vines. We’ve had some revealing interviews with some of the growers, and it’s been fun to track down some bottles made by the winemakers to whom these growers sell. “Drinking our way through the neighborhood” is our term for this little endeavor.

But we’re starting to get to a point several months into this thing wherein the leads start to dry up and the investigation, as it were, slams into the proverbial brick wall. We have several bottles in our cellar containing wine made from CoCo grapes, but in a couple of instances, I’m having a heck of a time getting someone from the particular wineries to return my calls or e-mails.

Such is the case with Trinitas Cellars, a label I’ve written about a few months back. Trinitas was started by Matt and Erin Cline, in partnership with Tim and Steph Busch and Ray and Bette Rodeno, when Matt left the family biz, Cline Cellars, to go out on his own as winemaker. As noted in past posts, Matt and Erin sold out their interest in Trinitas to current owners the Busches, and went on almost immediately to found 3 wine company, which Erin and Matt run today.

We have at least four bottles of Trinitas varietal wines made from Oakley grapes, and I can’t get anyone on the phone to talk to me about them. Trinitas even has a national sales manager, my messages haven’t been returned. Ah well, c’est la vino!

Our Trinitas bottlings are from the 2006, 2005 and 2004 vintages, with the ’04 bearing Matt’s winemaker signature on the label. The later two vintages bear those of Tim and Steph, as the then-new proprietors. But based on the timeline of the buyout — Christmas 2006 —, with the ‘05s in the barrel and the ‘06s in the tank, it’s pretty clear that Matt made all these wines before transferring his stake.

I’d love to hear from someone at Trinitas about any changes post-sale. Matt, of course, is so passionate about Oakley fruit that I wonder if the new regime still sources from growers around here.

In the meantime, it’ll have to suffice for us to blow the dust off a bottle of Trinitas Cellars wine made from old-vine grapes by the old guard.

The Trinitas 2004 Old Vine Mataro is an Oakley love-fest blended with single-digit percentages of Black Malvoisie (an old-skool synonym for Cinsault), Petite Sirah and Alicante Bouschet. In the Riedel, it’s all deep, though translucent, cranberry. The Ocean Spray vibe continues on the nose, joined by whiffs of blueberry and spicy cocoa. The mouthfeel echoes the nose, with lots of tart, superbright small-berry fruit. There’s nice balanced acidity with a touch of earthiness on a subtle medium-length finish.