News and Press Reviews
Have Some Madera, M'Dear
Story and Photos by John Blanchette
The Thomas Jefferson Hour "In Moderation" Interview
"In Moderation" 2010 Interview
Trelio Food and Wine - Is it Possible? Local still undefeated...
Sierra Star (August 6, 2009): A vineyard of dreams
Madera Tribune article (September 4, 2007): A winemaker's tribute to growers
Wine Enthusiast - September 2007 issue
Dear Ray,
The editors at Wine Enthusiast have rated and reviewed the following wines. All ratings and reviews of wines evaluated will appear live on our website as of September 1.
A selection of ratings and reviews will appear in the buying guide of the magazine in the September 2007 issue.
90 Points - Editors Choice - Westbrook Wine Farm - 2006 - Uber Rhenish - Dry Riesling - Madera - $17
From authors, Catherine Fallis, MS, and Robert M. Cohen
Great Boutique Wines You Can Buy Online.
Among the thousands of wines available on line from California wineries, Westbrook Wine Farm was selected to be one of the 250 (or so)recommended in this well researched guide. You may wish to order yours, soon?
http://www.greatboutiquewines.com/index.html
Reviews by Catherine Fallis, Master Sommelier 12/12/06
Fall 2006
Ponderosa "On The Wire" Newsletter - Download
October 18, 2005
O'Neals, California
For Ray Krause, Life is Fait Accompli
Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau
Ray is one of those guys whose winemaking passion drives his life. It has been so for over forty years. Calling what he does “a career” would be wrong. A career is what people do when they aren’t living their normal lives. Ray is wine; wine is Ray. It’s that simple.
That’s probably why Fait Accompli, the wine he and wife Tammy make, is 75% sold out before it’s even bottled.
In the brief span of time since discovering the O’Neals area was classified a solid Region 3 wine-growing climate, Westbrook Wine Farm has produced a wine with a cult following. The Bunch Selection Committee as they are called, are lovers of the Krause’s Fait Accompli, who willingly congregate each fall to lovingly pick and hand manicure each bunch. Even the caterer and musicians hired to play the harvest pick grapes.
From that harvest comes 100 cases of wine, most of which is spoken for in the way of Wine Futures and by Westbrook’s 500 repeat clients.
The Westbrook Wine Farm (WestbrookWineFarm.com) is one of nine wineries on the Madera Wine Trail. For more, turn to page ## or visit MaderaVintners.com And if you can get your hands on a bottle of Fait Accompli, by all means, enjoy!
December 3, 2003
O'Neals, California
Crack the Wax
At a time when several prominent wineries have endeavored to make their product more user friendly (and controversial?) through the partial or complete use of tin "screw-off" bottle lids, one small vintner in California's Sierra foothills just doesn't seem to get it. Or do they ?
Westbrook Wine Farm is located at 1800 feet of elevation in the central Sierra Nevada near the hamlet of O'Neals and the southern entrance of Yosemite national Park.
Proprietors, Ray and Tammy Krause have marked their fifth vintage this year by continuing their practice of making it somewhat difficult to open their wines. Each bottle of Fait Accompli, a co-fermented field blend of six red Bordeaux grape varieties, is hand dipped in 400 degree red sealing wax to preserve its valuable contents. "Not only does it look good", says Tammy Krause, "but the cork and bottle neck are thoroughly sterilized". For those wishing to cellar these wines, the wax and premium two inch natural corks provide an air tight seal for extended aging potential.
Westbrook Wine Farm wines, which sell in the "luxury" price range are mostly sold as "Futures" to a loyal list of enthusiastic consumers throughout California.
By the looks of things at Westbrook Wine Farm, you might say there are still a number of wine lovers out there whom would rather Crack the Wax! than "screw-off".
Trelio Food & Wine
Wesbrook vs. Bordeaux… The Results!
Posted in Restaurant, Wine by cshack21 on July 26, 2009
What an evening, and not nearly as close of a contest as I thought. Figuring that even though Westbrook had some advantages such as mostly “New World” palates as judges and the advantage of the possibility that the Fait Accomplis would be showing more maturity and weight than the Bodeaux.
I had picked some Bordeaux that I thought would be great examples of the vintage within the 5th through 2nd growth range. In addition, I threw in a good vintage of a non-growth along with a St. Emillion B classe to see if more of a Cabernet Franc/Merlot style Bordeaux would show better against the Fait.
So here is the results with a little commentary:
Round #1
Westbrook, Fait Accompli 2000 vs. Brane Cantenac 2000
Fait wins 15 to 9
I really didn’t think that Westbrook was going to have a chance on this one. One of the finest Brane Cantenac in 30 to 40 years. A lesser 2nd Growth in my opinion, but knew that this win was developing well. I believe that the Westbrook won this with the Judges due to the fact that it was still drinking very young in the fruit and structurally had much more grip than the Brane. The Fait Accompli 2000 will have an exceptional life and may actually give a 2000 First Growth Bordeaux a run for its money currently.
Round #2
Westbrook, Fait Accompli 2001 vs. Lynch Bages 2001
Fait wins 16 to 8
Another wine I thought the Fait Accompli would fail to keep up with. Even though this is not one of the greatest Lynch Bages vintages, I still never thought that a solid Lynch Bages would show so poorly against the Fait. Clearly the Fait was a much more solid wine and will easily out live any Bordeaux from the 2001 vintage.
Round #3
Westbrook, Fait Accompli 2002 vs. Leoville Barton 2002
Fait wins 16 to 8
This is understandable considering the Leoville Barton rewards with patience in the cellar, not immediately out of the bottle in any way. The aromatics of these two wines were rather close and both showed well, but the Fait had the fruit advantage on this round. I think if these two would be tasted wide by side in ten years, this would be a much different fight.
Round #4
Westbrook, Fait Accompli 2003 vs. Pontet Canet 2003
Fait wins 12 to 11/ one Tied
I pickd the 2003 Pontet Canet for this round as I remembered it as a more approachable wine upon release with very significant fruit quality. This was a very tight competition as the wines were structurally, and in many fruit characteristics, very similar. This was a very even match and could have gone either way.
Round #5
Westbrook, Fait Accompli 2004 vs. Petite Bocq 2005
Fait wins 17 to 7
To mix things up a little, due to knowing that the 2004 Bordeaux vintage would not really have a chance at showing at this point (and I don’t own any 2004), I substituted a decent unclassified from the 2005, that has more modern winemaking practices. Overall the Petite Bocq was very out classed in this round and a mistake for me to even put in
Round #5
Westbrook, Fait Accompli 2005 vs. Chateau Pipeau 2005
Tied Round 12 to 12
Overall I think this round was different game. I wanted to throw in a wine that was a totally different blend and a wine I knew would drink young and ready. For me this was a tie as well as both wines were a little closed and entirely too young to be consumed at this point.
Tagged with: Bordeaux, Bordeaux Blends, Local Wines, Tasting Results, westbrook wine farm, Wine Dinners
1 comment
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One Response
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Jarel Parker said, on August 1, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I am only surprised by the tied rounds. The Fait Accompli is just as it promises: accomplished and factual. Beautifully done. Congratulations.
(reprinted from American Vineyard, May, 1998)
He Planted With Wine in Mind
By Theresa Oliveira, Assistant Editor
Nestled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains above O'Neals, Calif. is a tiny vineyard with big promise. Owner Ray Krause planted the five main Bordeaux varieties, along with a little Syrah, in field blend so that they may be harvested together. A method commonly used in the Old World that Krause says will help him accomplish the goal of producing an assertive style red wine in the future.
Krause says that growth of the different varieties will be controlled with pruning and irrigation. "We want to ferment a field-blend," he said. "We are giving up the element of control in favor of more complexity."
The varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Carmenère, Merlot, Malbec and Petite Verdot were planted in proportion to which they are to contribute to the wine blend. Planted as two-year old dormant plants a year ago, the plants were cut back to two buds promoting larger root growth. A large root system is important to Krause who plans to eventually dry farm the vineyard.
Being involved in the wine industry since his days in the Enology program at California State University, Fresno in the 1960s, Krause has seen many changes and trends over the years. After completing his studies, he went to work for Roma Winery and eventually went on to become the owner and winemaker of Farview Winery in Templeton, Calif., producing gold medal Zinfandel and Chardonnay.
Wanting to explore new possibilities Krause sold the winery in 1989 and moved back to Fresno, bringing with him a plenitude of ideas and plans. "In 25 years in the industry you learn what not to do," says Krause. "If you learn the mistakes everything else is pretty positive."
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Wine grape grower Ray Krause, shown here in his O'Neal's, Calif. vineyard, has chosen complexity over control in combining six Bordeaux varieties. |
Krause began looking for land that was not winery specific with the hopes of finding the particular year-round climate best suited for the red Bordeaux varieties. In his search he was also hoping to find land with a sufficient water source eliminating the need to use well water. In 1995, his search ended when he purchased the property in O'Neals.
While the search for the optimum piece of land was over, the vineyard preparation was about to begin. Krause spent the next two years preparing the land before a single vine was planted. The land was kept tilled and fallow to aid in pest control, but the ground squirrel and gopher population was plentiful.
To combat the problem a rodent fence circling the entire vineyard was buried beneath the soil. An eight foot deer fence with a 24-inch rabbit fence hog-ringed to it was also put up. But Krause wanted to be certain that the wildlife population stayed beyond the boundaries of the vineyard so he installed solar-powered electric wire at the top and bottom of the fence.
One of the things that drew Krause to this mountain location was the scenery and the wildlife. So he wanted to keep much of it untouched and left oak trees growing in the midst of the vine for aesthetics, he says. He is planning to put up barn owl boxes in the future to accommodate the owl population.
All the preventative measures taken to keep wildlife out of the vineyard couldn't stop what Krause calls the most voracious pest--grasshoppers. Krause, who hopes to certify organic says that one of the reasons for putting up the fence was to eliminate the need for rodent traps and bait. He had no idea that the grasshopper population would be so abundant.
To control the grasshopper population Krause used an organic bait known as nolo bait which causes a sickness in grasshoppers and crickets. The sickness spreads through the generations until the area's population is significantly reduced. The bait is not harmful to other animals nor is the sickness spread to other species.
Along with the threat of pests, soil condition also needed to be considered before planting the vines. To give the decomposed granite soil a nutrient boost nitrogen and calcium substances were infiltrated in the soil through the drip systems.
After drilling holes for each vine the backfills around the vines were filled with cross linked polyacrylamide crystals. Krause explained the crystals hold up to 200 times their weight in water and have been successfully used on tomatoes and other crops. "We're using them as reservoirs," said Krause, "through capillary action water is released as the soil dries which doesn' t allow the roots to get soggy."
Looking across the one and half acres of vineyard it is evident that much time is spent in maintenance and up-keep. Krause doesn't mind the extra time he spends in the vineyard maintaining that it will pay off come harvest time. He says that it should produce 10 tons of grapes consistently.
Krause planted the vineyard so that it could be comfortably maintained by one person. With this in mind, approximately 1,600 vines were planted three and a half feet apart with the rows being eight feet wide. Krause developed his own vertical shoot trellising system, consisting of eight permanent wires. The vines are spur pruned, bi-lateral cordoned with no canopy. According to Krause this unique trellising system reflects the fact that he is growing grapes for wine not for grapes.
Krause is planning to build a gravity flow winery with the hopes of having the first crush around the year 2000. "We planted for wine, not for grapes," he said. "Everything we've done with the end in mind."