To a high-wire walker in a circus, balance equals life.
To a winemaker, or a wine drinker, balance is almost as important. It is a fine line that sets excellent wine apart from ordinary, and it is present in many areas when one thinks about the pleasure of wine. The balance between alcohol and acidity is a major point. When right, the wine’s flavor and fruitiness are matched perfectly with citric acid from the grapes, and the alcohol and tannin are present, but not dominant.
Of course, balance is important in many aspects of life, and Jan Shrem, who has spent much of his life searching for the perfect equation, smiles happily over the thought that his ambition, to blend a happy and successful life of fine wine and classic art at his Clos Pegase estate, is visible in the galleries, cellars and tasting rooms of the winery near Calistoga in the Napa Valley. The winery is named for Pegasus, the mythological Grecian winged horse, in whose earthly footprints the first grapevines took root. Shrem’s latest art acquision, a bronze, 17th-century Florence fountain, has been installed in a picnic area, and Shrem beams while he discusses its beauty. Typical of the Italian Renaissance, it features 18 figures of nymphs and satyrs, gods and goddesses, all bathed and glowing from the glistening water that cascades over them.
As if he were a St. Louisan, Shrem’s collection also includes works by Richard Serra and Henry Moore.
Shrem, slight and dark-haired, his eyes bright and his enthusiasm high, was in St. Louis recently for a couple of wine dinners and some sales work on his new releases, but he stopped for a tasting at the Wine Merchant one morning. I toured his remarkable winery about a decade ago, a pleasant visit to an architectural gem designed by the renowned Michael Graves, who won a competition sponsored by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for the commission. At that time, I thought the art was far more impressive than the wine, which was satisfactory but not equal to Napa’s top producers.
Things have changed, however.
Shrem had six of his new releases open for tasting; five will retail under $40 while the sixth, a 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon with the proprietary name of Hommage will be twice as expensive. All were quite worthy.
The 75-year-old Shrem earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Utah in 1952, then enrolled at UCLA for graduate study in international law. A vacation in Japan, however, yanked him off the scholastic track. Intrigued by Japanese culture and art, Shrem established a book publishing business, first importing American technical books, later translating and publishing them in Japanese. In 1960, he opened an art gallery and hired a young Japanese woman and artist, Mitsuko, whom he later married.
Expanding his universe, Shrem sold the company in 1968, moved to Italy, returned to the publishing business but also began adding to his art collection. Two years later, they moved to France, forming a partnership with the publishing house of Glorier and continuing to expand their art collection.
But through these years in France and Italy, Shrem’s interest in wine grew along with everything else, and in 1980 he stopped publishing and enrolled at the University of Bordeaux to study enology"I talked to everyone I met about wine," he recalled, "and all the advice indicated that California was the place to grow the grapes. And they also told me about Andre Tchelistcheff as the man to help me make wine.
"I went to Northern California, I met Andre, I bought the first property that has become Clos Pegase and we began."
The French-born Tchelistcheff can easily be called the father of the second phase of the California wine industry, turning it from post-Prohibition adequacy to the higher standards held by European winemakers. Tchelistcheff worked for many California wineries, consulted with many others, gave free advice to still more. His stamp remains, more than 75 years after his 1938 Georges de la Tour Cabernet Sauvignon for Beaulieu Vineyards was Callifornia’s first great wine and a dozen years since his death in 1994 at the age of 92.
Tchelistcheff made the first Clos Pegase wines in 1985. Shrem expanded the winery with the nearby Palisades Vineyard, planted with cabernet sauvignon grapes, and in 1989 purchased 365 acres in the Carneros region, adjacent to San Pablo Bay on the southern edge of the Napa Valley. Most of the Pegase grapes – more cab, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, merlot and others – come from the land named Mitsuko’s Vineyard, after Mrs. Shrem, and an adjoining area known as Graveyard Hill.
Clos Pegase produces about 40,000 cases a year, and Shrem notes that he sells just about all of it. He is not interested in expansion, however, with excess grapes being sold to other Napa wineries.
The 2004 Chardonnay and the ‘03 Hommage, a proprietary wine which also is 100 percent from Carneros chardonnay grapes, are excellent, with the latter showing more depth from its extra time in French oak. Unlike many California wineries, Winemaker Shaun Richardson uses only oak for fermentation and aging, resulting in a style much like that of the French white Burgundies. The wood softens the wine a little, keeping it from the sharp, acidic edginess of many California Chardonnays. At the same time, Richardson keeps the wine under good control, avoiding big, buttery softness.
The Merlot, from 2004, is outstanding, the classic Bordeaux variety comprising 95 percent of the wine, the rest split between petit verdot and cabernet franc grapes, adding a touch of hardness and some darker color. The wine is soft, flavorful and nicely rounded, with excellent balance.
The ‘04 Pinot Noir, also from Carneros, is good, but lacks the spark of the other Clos Pegase red wines.
Any shortage here is more than covered by the two Cabernet Sauvignons. Both are from 2002 and are 100 percent cabernet grape, but the blend comes from the vineyards where the grapes are grown. The ‘02 Napa Cab is 76 percent from Calistoga, in the northern part of the valley (71 from the Palisades vineyard, 5 from the home vineyard) and 24 percent from Mitsuko’s Vineyard in the Carneros region. The ‘01 Hommage, or reserve, is 85 percent from Palisades, 15 percent from Mitsuko. While both wines have superior flavor and color, with depth and balance, they are not quite ready for drinking. More aging will improve both, a year or so for the ‘02, maybe twice that long for the ‘01, whose flavor remains tight and concentrated, though with hints of greatness down the road.
–Joe