Q&A with Doug Margerum by Food GPS' Joshua Lurie

OJAI VALLEY INN & SPA

Doug interviewed at the 2010 Grenache Symposium
by Jon Troutman of Cork'd

The Wine Cask Exclusive
Sunlight and Water Book Preview and Wine Tasting

Preview the book, Sunlight and Water: Celebrating the Winemakers of Santa Barbara County by photographer Mark Robert Halper
Saturday, July 31, 2010, 3pm to 6pm

Joining Mr. Halper will be the winemakers for MARGERUM, Happy Canyon, Cimarone, and others. This special preview event of the Sunlight and Water exhibition will include many images that have never been publicly presented. This event at The Wine Cask is free to anybody who would ike to attend. There are still a limited number of dinner reservations available for that evening.
813 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, 805-966-9463.

Doug Margerum

Roger & Cilla Higgins

Jodi Pitts

TJ Barrack

Read the article in The Tasting Panel on Doug Margeum and Happy Canyon here.

Where the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks did I hear about this vino? Yes, this is a G-Rated review, so respect. Wait. It’s for a wine. Shit! Oh well, why should this review have any more logic than any other? Read on, kittens. Live, Learn, Eat & Drink. And take Alka Seltzer if you overdid the previous 4. Plop Plop Fizz Fizz and all that. Daddy VdV taught me that remedy.
Anyhoo, this wine, the Margerum M5.  Mighta read about it in Food & Wine. It’s a must-read in the  VdV household. Way better than listening to those wind bags at Spectator or Parker, F&W does a pretty good job (not as good as us!) about being real.
I’d heard it’s a messed up concoction of 5 grapes from 12 vineyards. A Mutt wine! Love it.
So first this is a Santa Barbara area vino, Santa Ynez to be exact. It’s mainly Syrah (~50%) Grenache (~30%), Mouvedre (~12%), and a splash or two of Counoise and Cinsault. A little dab’ll do ya!
What? OK, a (little) education. Syrah = a key varietal in the Rhone area of Southern France. Then those leper-colony housing, criminal-laden Aussies stole the varietal, renamed it Shiraz, and made hay. Or was that Tasmania? Or Molokai? Whatever. And now there’s tons and tons planted in Cali. No not lepers, fool, Syrah!

Syrah has some balls. Sometimes a little Robitussin for me, sometimes not. Movin’ on. Grenache’s roots come from the Rhone area of France, where it is blended with almost all wines. Mouvedre? F Mouvedre.  This isn’t kindergarten. Counoise is also from the Rhone region of France, and adds a peppery character where it’s used. Cinsault (’san-so) is an ancient varietal from the Languedoc region of France and is always used in blends, and I think may add the anise hints. Class dismissed. Recess! Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
So I ordered up a few bottles of this bad boy to see if it could Bring It. Did it deliver?
Well, this wine is for real. I really enjoyed it. Sometimes over-ambitious-seeming blends can kinda wash out. Nothing stands out, feel me? But not for the M5, bitches. From beginning to end this is a quality product.
It’s consistent through and through. It tastes like it smells. No surprises, and that’s cool. Wait. ‘Kewl’ since we’re talking about a So Cal vino. It has a great nose, lots of dark, ripe fruit upfront. Might burn a few nose hairs. It exhibits dark berries and cherry hints, with some subtle anise tones. The flavor is really solid, I am a fan. Very brambly blackberry and ripe cooked cherry, some white pepper and a layer of blueberry (seriously) and that licorice again on the very end. Soft tannins, nice acidity, plus a solid, long finish that satisfies.
M5 goes for about $25 bones. Get it on their website or check out Wine Searcher.
VdV Rating: 4