Jim Cowan and Russell Bevan (Photo by Bruce Leiserowitz) Click to enlarge

(See March 8, 2010 update below)

In the fall of 2005, Russell Bevan gave me a call. Russell and I had been friends for almost a decade, wine buddies from the start. I had visited countless times and been a guest at his house on several occasions. But this call wasn’t about a party or a tour; this was a request to come out and help work the harvest for his new enterprise, Bevan Cellars. I am retired so I had the time. As it turned out, it was the beginning of my interest in starting my own label, Cowan Cellars.

For a couple of weeks in the fall of 2005 and 2006, I stayed with Russell and we went to the vineyard or winery everyday; him to make the next great California cabernet sauvignon and me to see what it was all about and act as go-fer. We worked long hours and very hard – harder than this ex-lawyer had worked in twenty years. And when we were finished, there were barrels of new wine to show for our efforts.

It was a steep learning curve for me; I met some of the best in the business and got to ask all the questions I wanted. It was better than being paid.  And one day, Russell and one of the other winemakers asked me to come and taste a vat of must and to tell them what I thought. I put my hand in the fermenting grapes, got as much juice as I could and tasted it. It was an electrifying experience. And when I said what I thought, they actually listened to what I had to say. I think that was the day the hook was set.

In 2007, Russell suggested that, since I was going to be there through harvest, I should make a barrel of wine for myself. After talking to my wife, Diane, I bought a half ton of syrah from a vineyard in Bennett Valley called Dry Stack, and each day, I did what everybody else did – except this time, it was for us. From sorting to fermenting to pressing and then barreling down, I did it all – making all the decisions as we went. We bottled that wine in 2008, after nine months in barrel and got a whole 23 cases. It is delicious.

In 2008, we did the same thing; this time with a ton and a half of the same syrah. Our label has been approved and we will bottle that on March 2, 2010, hoping to get about 75 cases. And then, in 2009, two tons of Dry Stack syrah (possibly 100 cases).

At the end of the 2009 harvest, I made arrangements to buy from a new vineyard in Bennett Valley and we will not only make syrah in 2010 but also pinot noir. To say the least, we are excited about the future of this project.

Along the way, we had generous and skilled people watching out for us and helping. We got great advice from growers, winemakers and winery owners. And lots of encouragement.  I’ve read more about farming and chemistry than I ever thought I would and I am going back to school to learn Spanish, as many of the workers in this industry are Hispanic. Not a traditional retirement, I guess, but I can’t play golf anyway.

One thing though; when I got into this I made an initial decision that I am still very content with – stay small and make wines that Diane and I like. We will grow a little bit each year until we get to about 500-600 cases. Most of our sales will be over the internet, to those who share a taste for wines that are lower in alcohol, without new barrel smells and flavors, and that are made to be consumed with food. That’s the way Diane and I drink wine; that’s the kind of wine we love. I really couldn’t be much happier about the way this has all come together.

And maybe one day, we will hand off Cowan Cellars to my daughter or grand-daughter.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

March 8, 2010

On the 2nd we bottled our 2008 wines; the syrah (73 cases) and the skin-fermented sauvignon blanc (23 cases).

It rained most of the day but the bottling truck set-up early and it was part-way into the winery so we could work in the dry. The machine that fills, corks, applies the label and spins on the capsule is one of those things both Diane and I were wondering – “who figured out how to engineer that?” An amazingly complex and choreographed process.

We were done in about two hours with our cases palletized and ready to be trucked off to storage. A very satisfying sight.

The syrah is entirely different than last year’s, despite coming from the same place and being the same variety. Much darker and more complex, it will require cellar time. We will taste it over the next several months to try to determine a release date.

The sauvignon blanc is completely unrecognizable as sauvignon. Everyone who tried it blind failed to identify the grape. Its bright with white fruit aromas and a touch of oxidation and has tannin and grip in the mouth. It sort of reminds me of rose, both in color and flavor, but there is too much going on in the mouth for rose. We will release it when we release the syrah.

More fun to come . . .

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