“She Mighty Mighty”: the blending of the Basic Juice Crew Red
A rain-soaked Bryant street in San Francisco’s outer Mission district seems a fitting scene for an unassuming concrete warehouse. Its public entrance, no more than a recess in a broad wall abutting a sidewalk, appears to disrupt an only in the City incongruity of spray-paint graffiti and trellised vines. Vindu and I clamber down a short stairwell into the bowels of the building to behold what appears to be a basic, bare-bones winemaking operation.
Welcome to Crushpad!
As part of the Basic Juice Crew, we’re about to meet a few of our crew members and blend a batch of 2006 Basic Juice Red, a Rhone-style blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Petite Sirah grapes sourced from Eaglepoint Ranch in Mendocino County.
Very soon Vindu and I are joined by Robin Van Vliet, Aaron Olson, Alan Baker, Daniel & Corinne and, all the way from Puerto Rico, David Rodriguez. Strangers for the most part, we are aware that negotiating our blend could prove difficult. But ours is a lively bunch, and our sense of engagement during our session of sipping and voting is to become quite pleasing. Indeed, rather than pursue argument and gratify ego, we quickly settle into a high humor that allows us to revel in this process of education, this art of making wine.
Yes, some of us are swallowing our baby vino.
Over the course of the next two and a half hours, with the superb and patient guidance of winemaker and Crushpad ambassador Kian Tavakoli, the eight of us would experiment, negotiate, and agree on the proportions of our three Rhone varietals. What we came up with in the end were two distinct possibilities.
Before we could blend, however, we needed to taste each wine individually. We found the Grenache to be characterized at first by a brick-like color and a stemmy, cedary, aromatic nose. Deep but tight, with a taste of cola and nutmeg spiciness, we felt it would stand up well to the presumably more intense and structured Petite Sirah. The Syrah appealed to the group with an incredible depth of body, fruit, and length that belied its septic tank nose; Kian described it as a teenager with pimples. Having not yet tried the P. Sirah at this point, and not being quite the fan of the cola presence in the Grenache, I was fairly certain that the Syrah would be a major player in our final blend.
Ah, and then we tasted the Petite, it’s beautiful intense purple color and earthy cherry-berry notes grabbing many of us instantly. With an aroma that already seemed finished coupled with amazingly good acid and tannin, we found the Petite to be quite good on its own yet not so overpowering that it would distort the final blend if it should contain more than 5% Petite Sirah.
Having done a little advance reading, I understood that the trick to the blending process is to start from the extremes and oscillate toward the middle of the range until an optimal blend is achieved. While we were aware that the process can call for a fair sequence of tasting to hone in on the ultimate blend, we agreed to the premise of a blend ratio that would contain at least 50% Grenache.
And so to start, we shot for 70. Our first blend ratio was 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 10% Petite Sirah. And it was an instant “No”. Not enough body, too much cola, and too much backbone. So we backed off.
For our second blend, we nearly doubled the amount of Syrah to create a 60-35-5 spread, and found it much more likable. Body was now present, and the blend was softer and more concentrated with a nice liveliness of fruit. But we continued our momentum toward the middle.
Our third blend, a 50-40-10 proportion, examined the Syrah more fully. It enjoyed a great color, but with much less aromatic quality from the Grenache, we realized we had gone too far; Blend #2 was our apparent benchmark.
For our fourth blend, we examined a 60-30-10 ratio and realized we had backed too far on the Syrah. We definitely wanted more Syrah for its fruit and mouthfeel. And there was still too much cola presence for my taste. Again, Blend #2 was our benchmark, yet we knew we were getting close.
I suggested a 58-34-8 ratio. Kian picked up on that suggestion and, using his graduated cylinder, concocted a Mystery Blend that he asked us to comment on and identify. Nope! We had moved too far away from our benchmark. The aromatics had grown fainter and were being dominated by the power of the Syrah. We liked the backbone offered by the Petite Sirah, though, and determined that at 56-37-7, we were almost there. 60% had been good for the Grenache in Blend #2, and 7% seemed to work at the moment for the Petite.
Our sixth effort, a proportion of 60% Grenache, 33% Syrah, and 7% Petite Sirah, appeared to be the winning blend. Compared to Blend #2′s 60-35-5 spread, it offers more tightness without losing body and fruit. We discussed the tightness aspect and agreed that if we were to drink it today, Blend #2 would be our choice. Upon Kian’s suggestion, however, and with 12 or so months of oak barrel aging ahead prior to bottling, we agreed that Blend #6 will offer more depth of structure that will integrate better within the oak.
Kian agreed to bottle four samples each of Blend #2 and Blend #6, and Robin plans to ship a pair of them to Beau Jarvis, our Basic Juice Crew leader who, being a working sommelier in Salt Lake City, could not attend our blending party yesterday. I also suggested that, because he’s a winemaker, Jeff Stai of Twisted Oak Winery also receive a shipment. That leaves two pairs of samples for two other members of the Crew who could not be present. (Speak up now via CrushNet, team, if you want to obtain one of these two samples.)
Once all the votes are in (and if anyone’s listening, I vote for Blend #6), Kian will begin aging the blend in a Zebra-staved barrel that combines new and older American oak, with bottling slated for Spring 2008.
But in the meantime, our Crew had gotten along rather famously. Robin and David (a.k.a. Zensolo on CrushNet) had each brought some fine bottles to share with the Crew, and David suggested we dine at La Ciccia Restaurant on the southern edge of Noe Valley, a quite wonderful little place with excellent service and a fine presentation of rustic slow-cooked Sardinian-style foods. (La Ciccia’s wild boar and mushrooms, folks, is not to be outdone.)
While the wine flowed, we spoke of our blend. I floated the possibility that our blend may turn out to be more than just Basic Juice, and if so, what should we then call it? Superlative Juice? I’d earlier considered that whatever town in America which corresponded to our blend ratio as a zip code could perhaps make our label choice for us. But that notion had seemed too silly while I was sober at the blending table. It was only after an hour at La Ciccia gabbing away with the Crew that the idea seemed to take on some merit. Via wireless technology at the table, however, we discovered that there is no 60337 zip code in these United States.
That’s when the idea of “Basic Brick” began to form. After all, the blend’s dominant color, an aspect imparted by the Grenache, is quite brick-like. And, like the venerable 70′s dance tune says, this Brick House is mighty mighty. Imagine the other patrons in the restaurant as, with merry satiety, the Crew began to sing those words! Yes, I believe they loved us in that restaurant as we made our way out the door.
And so we have a mighty idea: the Crew must get together in six months at Crushpad for a sampling of our barrel. Daniel and Corinne have volunteered to later continue that party at their home, and the Crew will want to be there. By then, Crushpad will have moved to their new, larger facility on 3rd Street and the Basic Juice Crew, whether coming from Michigan, Kentucky, Utah, or Puerto Rico, should have plenty of time to plan a rendezvous. This Crew member will see you there.
For more about Crushpad, please see my follow-up post, Crushpad moves into new digs and new horizons. For more about the wine we’re making, please see my follow-up post, The Mighty Mighty Basic Juice Crew Red is “en barrique”.
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February 11th, 2007 16:07
She Mighty Mighty: the blending of the Basic Juice Crew Red…
An account of the Basic Juice Crew’s blending of a batch of 2006 Basic Juice Red, a Rhone-style blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Petite Sirah grapes sourced from Eaglepoint Ranch in Mendocino County. Damn, that was fun….
February 11th, 2007 17:21
Nice write-up dude.
Pleasure to meet you.
Hope to see you again soon.
February 11th, 2007 17:29
Thanks, Alan! El gusto es mio.
As it turns out, La Ciccia is Alan “The Cellar Rat” Baker’s fave rave when it comes to SF eateries. Alan is also a finalist in the inaugural American Wine Blog Awards‘ Best Wine Podcast or Video Blog category. You can still vote for Alan’s podcast to be this year’s winner until next Friday, February 16th.
February 11th, 2007 20:57
Wow. Jealousy inducing, to be sure. Sounds like such fun–not to mention all the learning that obviously took place, too.
February 12th, 2007 09:17
Thanks for a great job documenting this.
It was much fun and great to meet you and the rest of the SF BJC conviv.
Aaron
February 12th, 2007 12:19
I’ve been rockin’ out in my head to “mighty mighty” ever since. Great meeting all of you, that was lots of fun. And I made a great boar ragu with the leftovers!
What was really surprising how we really could all come up with what we thought was the best blend with just minor percentage point changes. Surprising how such a small change made such a big impact on the character. Go # 6!
February 12th, 2007 16:59
Great write-up, indeed!
A pleasure duking Petite Percentages with you & the rest of a mighty, mighty Crewwe!
Hey, let’s do coffee or lunch or tasting before i fly out Thursday evening!
February 12th, 2007 17:14
PS– Since we seem to be way beyond basic, except as a (basic) collective IDentity moniker, are we moving towards
‘Mighty Brick’ instead??
February 12th, 2007 18:52
Crew, this is really good fun. It was great meeting y’all, and I truly appreciate the dialog going on here.
To Alan and Aaron: Glad you appreciate my documentation! Once a technical writer, always a technical writer….
To Robin: Thanks again for your thoughtfulness in bringing the Trader Joe’s eats and the Eaglepoint finished wines for comparison. I don’t think we did enough to balance the equation. I agree with you about how amazing it is that a small change in blend can change everything. And, I woke up with “Brick House” in my fool haid both yesterday morning and today. How did you know?
To David a.k.a. Zensolo: Gee, I sure wish I could rap with you again before you jet back home to Puerto Rico, but I live 45 miles south of SF and, with an upcoming four-day road trip to Paso Robles Friday morning, I have my days packed this week. (Sounds mighty weak, I know…)
Y’know, the “mighty” descriptor really stemmed from the “Brick House” theme. Nothin’ like a wine’s color and dance tunes to influence the ladies around the table. And it’s that “Basic Brick” double alliterative that appeals to me. But heck, we have a whole year or so of oak aging ahead, a year that will modify our perception of the color, taste, mouthfeel, etc., and therefore I don’t think we need to decide on any particular label – alliteration, mightiness, or otherwise – ’til next Spring rolls around and we taste our beloved Juice again before bottling. I just wanted to throw out a possibility, work the Crew’s craniums, plant a seed.
To be fair, though, this is Beau’s gig, and I believe he deserves a say. While I would welcome Beau’s input here, I’m happy to see the post he wrote today.
February 12th, 2007 19:23
Wish I could have been there (like many weekends too many fun things to do at the same time.) And thanks for thinking of me for the samples!
While I hate to lose a good group-mind moment like you all clearly had together, it might be good to consider staying true to the original “Basic Juice” mantra and sticking with that name. Just making sure that point gets argued
As an aside, if any of the Crew plans to attend the SF Chronicle tasting on the 24th, I will be pouring for Twisted Oak – stop by and introduce yourself!
February 12th, 2007 19:47
Señor Jefe, I agree for the most part that “keeping the branding” is important. It’s why I wouldn’t wish to stray too far from the term “Basic.” To my mind, adding together the two terms “Basic” and “Brick” just pops. But I’m involved in communications, so go figure.
In his original oratory on the topic, Beau even alluded to a potential name change, stating that “Basic Juice Red isn’t going to cut it.” I guess you could say that Beau planted a seed hisself.
February 12th, 2007 20:25
Awesome post! Glad you had fun and I hope it was instructive. Feel free to stop by anytime (especially in early March where you’ll probably be drugged and forced into a one week slave endeavor to help us move to 3rd Street).
Michael Brill
Crushpad, Inc.
February 12th, 2007 21:48
Jealousy rears its ugly head. I want to get in on this next time!
February 12th, 2007 20:45
Hello Russ,
Great post indeed, very good description of what we experienced together on Saturday. It was indeed my pleasure to meet all of you and helping you make some tasty juice. I look forward to seeing how it all comes together and working with all of you in the months to come.
Cheers,
Kian Tavakoli
Winemaker
Crushpad Inc.
February 13th, 2007 12:07
Thanks, Michael and Kian! Y’all got a great thing going. I’m tempted to sell myself into slave labor considering the kind of (legal) drugs you’re pushing. But oh! I must conveniently be out winehiking in March…
Incidentally, Beau sent a note to the Basic Juice Crew this morning to let us know that there are still 4 cases of our Juice Crew Red/Basic Brick still available for adoption.
Please help find these cases a loving home! Only $216 each! Just contact Beau Jarvis to reserve yours before it’s too late.
February 13th, 2007 17:36
The blending was a fine experience. I only wish we didn’t have to wait another 12 months for the wine to age in the barrel before we can drink it.
February 14th, 2007 15:00
Hiking in Paso? –wish i cd postpone my return to PR–
–& i can understand th distance thing– my friend Adriano drove in from Palo Alto where he works (he actually lives in LA!) to join me for a further installment of Massimo’s boar stew last night, & th traffic coming into town around seven in th evening was grating, to say th least.
maybe you can mentor my developing a coffee/rum-hiker project on my ‘lovely island’?
…gotta fix up th old family beach house somewhat for distinguished guests, if there’s a groundswell of interest, it’ll help my brother contribute to th project…
–zen.djr
February 22nd, 2007 11:13
I’ll be attending the Wine comp this Saturday and will definetely stop by Twisted Oak to say “hey” and um… try some wine:).
Aaron
March 26th, 2007 16:45
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