Boise Coop Wine Shop

California’s Steele Wines

• June 16, 2010

The year 2010 marks Jed Steele’s forty-second year of being involved in making wine in California. From his start as a cellar worker at Stony Hill in Napa Valley in 1968, to UC Davis for a Master’s Degree in Enology, to starting Edmeades in the Anderson Valley and being there for ten years, to then starting Kendall-Jackson and working there for the first nine vintages of that wildly successful winery (he left the year they broke the million cases per year production mark), to the start of his own STEELE Wines in 1991, it has been a remarkable career.

During that time Steele has been able to produce wines from just about every top quality wine region in the state, from Santa Barbara to Mendocino. The line-up of vineyards which the winery either owns or from which they purchases grapes has evolved slowly over the years to where they consistently draw on some of the finest vineyards in California. In addition to Steele, the family of wines includes both the Shooting Star and Writer’s Block labels.

2007 Shooting Star Aligote, $12.99
Aligoté is a variety, which is little known but widely planted. It is in fact the fourth most planted wine grape variety in the world, with huge plantings dominating Eastern Europe. It has never been planted in any commercial quantity in California, but in Washington State, where cold winters are a fact of life, Aligoté has found a happy home. The wine is crisp and clean with a nice balance of fruit and acidity. Flinty, mineral elements mix with a light floral hint on the nose, followed with the suggestion of tart/sweet apple on the palette, making it a wonderful, versatile food wine.

2007 Shooting Star Blue Franc Lemburger, $12.99
Jed Steele first came across this grape back in 1975 when he visited Austria and was impressed. There, it is often refered to by the name Blau Frankisch, literally “blue grape from France.” Some liken Steele’s Blue Franc, depending on vintage, to Pinot Noir in lighter years and Zinfandel in the riper vintages. Sometimes it is totally akin to a top-flight Gamay from Beaujolais. The wine is clean, crisp, and unpretentious with tons of fruit, including warm berry pie, complementing the traces of pepper, almond, cherry and cinnamon. The Shooting Star Blue Franc has soft tannins, medium body, great color and is the perfect red wine to enjoy over the summer with any festive occasion.

2008 Steele Cuvee Chardonnay 2008 $19.49
their flagship white wine, California Cuvee Chardonnay, really shows off Jed Steele’s wizardry in blending. As with all great wines, the process begins with the selection of the right vineyards. Steele has worked with most of the great Chardonnay vineyards in California and chosee seven prestigious properties to obtain the grapes for this wine. The result is a complex and appealing mix of flavors and aromas with tropical mango, pineapple and papaya playing against bright citrus along with touches of baked apple and spice.

2007 Steele Cabernet Franc, $15.49
When the winery started buying grapes from the vineyard of Floyd Silva they found that he was growing some of the best Cabernet Franc around. Floyd has since retired and Steele purchased the vineyard in 2005. Now known as Stymie Bench Vineyard, it is on a gravelly bench which overlooks the Big Valley area of Lake County. The vines grow well at this higher elevation and show a great balance of flavors, structure and tannins. This wine is a mouthful of pleasure: lots of fruit, medium tannins and a long lingering finish. Cellar time is recommended for this wine if only to allow all of the great aromas and flavors properly meld.

2006 2007 Writers Block Grenache, $14.99
This Lake County Grenache is grown by the Fiora family just north of Clear Lake. Near High Valley, the vineyard gets hot dry days and cool winds in the evening similar to the Rhone region of France, the historic home the Grenache varietal. The wine has a distinct strawberry and cherry aroma with a light spice on the finish and balanced acidity. This combination of flavors and aromas would match perfectly with a grilled pork chop drizzled with a fruit compote and a salad of fresh greens. It is such a multifaceted wine that it would pair with just about anything, but mostly a little sunshine, some good friends and literary dialogue.