I just returned from a luncheon with winemaker Greg Stach of Landmark Vineyards at The Palm Midtown restaurant on West 50th Street, Manhattan. I have tasted Landmark wines before, but I knew little of the winery and nothing of the winemaker. We met at the table and he quickly opened a bottle of his 2020 Landmark Overlook Chardonnay. He watched me swirl, sniff and taste and looked at me expectantly. I told him, “Very nice. A clean, fresh, unmanipulated Chardonnay with piercing and present fruit, not unbalanced or overwhelmed by oak. An honest wine.” Delighted, Greg told me, “In this wine are grapes from 42 different winery plots from many top Sonoma County vineyards. We spend much time in the vineyards and let them know when the grapes are ready for harvest. We then ferment, vinify and oak-age each plot into a standalone Chardonnay. After 10 months in French oak, we pull together a small tasting team and assemble the finished wine from specific percentages of all the plots. It gives us very specific control on our final product.”
We then tasted his 2019 Landmark Overlook Pinot Noir. Again, the subtle use of oak added mouthfeel and a presence to the wine without dominating the fruit. The grapes were sourced from Sonoma, Monterey and Santa Barbara counties, all hand-harvested, destemmed, fermented, oak-aged for 10 months and then bottled. Fresh red cherry and strawberry flavors, with a pleasant acidic backbone, emerged. Then subtle hints of vanilla, red licorice and fine black pepper joined the fun. Another winning, honest wine.
As a young man, Greg Stach worked in restaurants and developed a love and a passion for wine. He decided to enter California State University, Fresno, which claimed to have the nation”™s first oenology program on a college campus, to pursue grape growing and winemaking. But the required sciences overwhelmed him and he migrated into the journalism program. He graduated with his journalism degree and became a journalist, supplementing his income and interests with restaurant sommelier jobs. But he just couldn”™t shake that winemaker dream, and a few years later he reenrolled in his alma mater. I asked him how he conquered the required science courses. “It”™s amazing how much more focus and drive you have to succeed when you”™re paying for the education. I finished the program in three more years of college in 2001 and quickly found job opportunities.”
Landmark Vineyards was founded in 1974 by Damaris Deere Ford, the great-great-granddaughter of John Deere of tractor fame. She and a team bought some land and planted Chardonnay. Slowly Ford bought out other principals until she was the sole proprietor. In 1989, she moved the operation to Sonoma County with stunning and expansive views of the Mayacamas Mountains. In 1993, Landmark convinced winemaker and consultant Helen Turley to help it hone its craft. Turley encouraged the vineyard to use native yeasts and French oak aging for the Chardonnay, among other things. In 1995, Landmark decided to venture into Pinot Noir with a wine called Grand Detour, its first red vintage, still made today. In 2016, Landmark purchased the Hop Kiln Estate in Sonoma County, which gave it an additional consumer contact area with another tasting facility, a restaurant, elegant rooms for overnight stays and inside and outside event spaces. Since 1997, Landmark”™s Overlook Chardonnay has been on Wine Spectator”™s Top 100 Wine List eight times.
Landmark”™s wine labels have a simple elegance that prepares you for the experience. The calligraphic script, written in gold against a deep purple background for the Pinot and a forest green one for the Chardonnay, are minimalist, clear and honest. Each of these Landmark Overlook wines we tasted can be found in a store or on the website, landmarkwine.com, for under $30. Landmark has a variety of other Chards and Pinots available ranging from $25 to $85. These wines will enhance any occasion and any food. Any guest will be impressed, honestly.
Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.
