By Laurence Civil

Jayson Pahlmeyer was a Californian lawyer with a passion for wine. Everything about the man was big, the car he drove was a Cadillac, and he knew that good wine needs good grapes, good terroir and someone good to make it. When he founded Pahlmeyer Winery in 1980 he developed vineyards in the Coombsville and Atlas Peak areas of Napa and on Sonoma’s Lost Coast. The brief he gave to his winemaking team was to make wines that were something big and bold -something people will notice but he was wise enough to add qualities of elegance and grace by using the talented services of two of California’s most important female winemakers, Helen Turley and Erin Green to craft his wines.

The grapes for Pahlmeyer Red Wine are sourced from steep hillside plantings, most notably the Olive Hill acreage of Rancho Chimiles in Wooden Valley, and York Creek Vineyard on Spring Mountain. The fruit for their Merlot comes from three separate and distinct sources: the Moon Vineyard in the Carneros, the Thorvilos Vineyard at the base of Howell Mountain, and David Abreu’s Madrona Ranch above St. Helena. Finally, their Chardonnay grapes come primarily from the Berlenbach Vineyard, located in the Coombsville region, which possesses a Burgundy style soil composition.

They use only fruit from well-tended vines, approaches winemaking is traditional and cutting edge at the same time. The grapes are picked at a high Brix, and once de-stemmed and crushed. Being a cult small production wine company it wouldn’t be commercially viable for them to have their own wine making facili­ties, instead their wine makers pay to use those at the Napa Wine Company’s.

Interestingly, the red grape regime includes whole-berry fermentation in small lots, which softens tan­nins and magnifies fruit flavours. The Chardonnay meanwhile undergoes barrel fermentation in 100% new French oak barrels. It is then aged on the lees for almost one year and in most vintages bottled neither fined nor filtered. The red wines are aged in a combination of new (80%) and one-year-old barrels for approxi­mately two years and then bottled unfined and unfiltered. The result is that they are making the finest Bor­deaux-style red wine, Merlot and Chardonnay anywhere outside of France. Pahlmeyer is making a significant contribution to the continual advancement of winemaking and viticulture in Napa Valley.

I recently had the opportunity to taste their wines at a wine dinner at Madison, Four Seasons Bangkok. We started with Jayson Chardonnay Napa Valley 2005 paired with marinated scallops and virgin apple dress­ing and sherbet. Jayson is, in a sense, a second label, Pahlmeyer adheres strictly to the house style while Jay-son gives the winemaker greater freedom of expression. The best wines are selected for Pahlmeyer and what’s left over is used to make Jayson with the same vigilant care and process but at a more affordable price.

The Jayson Chardonnay, Napa Valley 2005 with a nose of creamy, toasty oak that leads to a palate of tropical fruit, Meyer lemon, and spice was a perfect light paring to go with marinated scallops with virgin apple dressing and sherbet.

Then as direct compassion of the same vintage Pahlmeyer Chardonnay, Napa Valley 2005 revealed a light gold/green colour in the glass with aromas of scents of nectarines, quince, orange marmalade and brioche on the nose with terrific acidity in the mouth proving a good partner for John Dory and seafood in vanilla court bouillon.

Winemaker Erin Green describes her Jayson Pinot Noir, Sonoma County 2005 as having a nose of Bing cherries and rich earth, with black­berry and elegant tannins on the palate; the wine has a long complex finish with touches of plum and spice, with a long elegant finish. “The fruit and acid balance in this wine make it a quintessential Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, lively in the mouth with lots of stuffing and complexity at the same time,” she says. It had all the qualities necessary to pair with duck Chaland, tortellini of cepes, confit leg and spice crusted duck liver.

According to Robert Parker Pahlmeyer has consistently pro­duced one of the finest, most age able Merlots in California. Their Merlot Napa Valley 2004 (a blend of 87.5% Merlot and 12.5% Caber-net Sauvignon) exhibits a soft, fleshy, up-front, charming bouquet of chocolate, berry fruit, and roasted herbs. Round, front-end loaded, and seductive. Clearly this is a merlot of substance so Madison’s chef, Anchalee Patoungasit, chose Abinao braided beef cheeks truffle sweet bread and bitter chocolate jus as its partner, and did they dance well together.

The climax of the meal was the Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red, Napa Valley 2003 an outstanding wine that is a blend of 79% Caber-net Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, Petit Ver­dot, and Malbec. In the glass the wine has a deep ruby/purple colour in addition to notes of vanilla, espresso roast, black currants, plums, and liquorice.

Pahlmeyer wines gained international acclaim when a bottle of 1991 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay landed a feature role in the Hollywood block-buster Disclosure. The bottle was literally a player in Demi Moore’s courtship of Michael Douglas and its sought-after status in the film enhanced Pahlmeyer’s reputation for superb, stylish and lim­ited-production wines.