| |
A to Z Wineworks
A to Z Wineworks is a partnership of two winemaking families. William
Hatcher developed and managed Domaine Drouhin Oregon from its conception
in 1987 until the Spring of 2001. His wife Debra was active in the venture
as well. Many years ago, she also worked with David Lett at The Eyrie Vineyards.
Sam Tannahill was the winemaker at Archery
Summit from 1995 until Spring 2002. Before that he worked at Domaine
l’Arlot in Nuits St. Georges.
Sam’s wife, Cheryl Francis was Chehalem’s winemaker from 1996
through 2003 after stints in Burgundy and New Zealand. Camas Goble joined
the company in May, 2004 and, in light of her accomplishments, became a
minority partner in 2005.
The partnership blends unique skills. Bill
brings an extensive background in strategy and finance to the company
while Deb has successfully spearheaded their design, marketing and promotion.
Sam and Cheryl have combined surpassing creativity and technical experience,
allowing A to Z to maintain the same quality at 40,000 cases as with
the first release of 2,500 that earned A to Z Food & Wine Magazine’s
award for the best American Pinot Noir under $20. Meanwhile Camas’ organizational
skills have made day-to-day operations smooth, allowing the other partners
to focus on their areas of expertise.
Founded three years ago, the company
has quickly became Oregon’s fastest growing winery. The business
model is simple: to produce and market Oregon’s best wine values
by eliminating unproductive fixed investment and unnecessary overhead.
Originally, A to Z sourced
and blended excess wines from other Oregon producers. Although the company
continues to purchase wine, they have gradually decreased their dependence
on the variability of those supplies in favor of long-term grape agreements
from Hood River through the Willamette Valley and south to Medford. While
the contracts themselves ensure continuous sources of fruit, the 350
mile geographic dispersion serves as a hedge against a weather calamity
in any particular region.
The idea behind A to Z is that these
four friends can seek out individual lots of good quality finished
wines, blend them skillfully to meld their individual characters, and
then offer consumers a new wine at a value price that is—in essence—greater
than the sum of its parts.
“ We’re offering a delicious low-priced product that will
help everybody,” says Deb. “The wineries are going to win
because they can sell us what doesn’t make their cut so they can
focus on their brand quality; the consumer is going to win because we
can raise the quality of ‘what’s left over’ and give
them higher quality wine at a good value; Oregon wins because eventually
everybody moves up the price ladder because the wine is so seductive;
and we win because this is our home, this is our life, this is what we
do!”
“ The pendulum has really swung in Oregon toward single-vineyard
wines,” says Cheryl. “We’re not competing with that.
We’re not trying to be the ‘Two Buck Chuck’ of Oregon
Pinot either. We do want people to use A to Z as an entré to Oregon
Pinot noir, and other varietals as well. What we’re trying to do
is get everybody to know that Oregon wine is great!”
The Power of the Blend
The quality of the blend is all important to the success of A to Z Wineworks,
so finding the right qualities in component wines is critical.
Most Oregon Pinot noir producers focus on making either single-vineyard
designated wines or top-flight reserve blends that meet a certain stylistic
form, both of which usually command premium prices.
But in order to sustain the quality of their brands, wineries have to
adhere to very strict standards in the character of the different wine
lots that go into their bottles.
Sometimes, some lots don’t measure up. Perhaps one lot has weaker
color, another more grainy tannins; perhaps one has heavier black fruit,
another may overemphasize strawberry notes. From the “home” winemaker’s
point of view, lots like these have weaknesses that make them unsuitable
for their label, even though the wine is otherwise perfectly good—it
just doesn’t meet the profile they’re trying to achieve.
Enter A to Z. From the négociant’s point of view, each of
these lots represents a potential value-added component of the blend
they will create and bring to market.
“ What we try to do is start with a large block that’s representative
of the quality we want and of the vintage,” explains Bill. “Then
we start working in a kind of inverted pyramid to add lots that elevate
the whole.”
This can be a difficult and exacting process—there is no formula
for doing it right.
“ We once tasted all the lots from one winery,” recalls Deb, “and
it was clear that one lot was the best, so intuitively you’d think
putting that lot in the mix was the right thing to do. But when we did
our sample blends, it was another lot that worked best when added to
our base wine.”
Luckily, A to Z can rely
on the combined experience of the partners to parse the character of
the wines available to buy. Sam Tannahill has experience in Burgundy
and was winemaker at Archery Summit; Cheryl Francis was co-winemaker
at Chehalem; Bill Hatcher spent 13 years as managing director of Domaine
Drouhin Oregon; Deb Hatcher has been involved in the Oregon wine world
for 18 years. Together, these veterans create the blends for A to Z.
Refining those blends with needed components is a constant process
right up until bottling, as Bill explains. “Cheryl might say ‘we
need a little more sweetness,’ or Sam might want a bit more tannic
structure—so we go out and look around to see who is making that
kind of wine and see if we can buy some to add to our blend.”
And even though the process of achieving the best blend may sometimes
seem casual—some sample blending is literally done at the kitchen
sink—the reality is that tasting and testing is rigorous and meticulous.
Quality and Consistency Are Critical
Once the taste and texture—the organoleptic character—of
the blend is determined, “running the numbers” to determine
each lot’s composition is vital. “These lots are made in
all different places in all different conditions by all different people,” says
Deb. “Even though they are finished wines, they are finished with
different yeasts and different balances; the potential for disaster is
huge.”
“ We have to make sure the wines are stable,” agrees Cheryl, “and
that together they will make a stable product. We don’t want customers
saying five years from now ‘I didn’t remember A to Z made
sparkling wine!’”
And they don’t want customers to experience variations in bottle
quality. “The taste of A to Z from the first pallet shipped will
not be different from the taste of the last pallet,” says Cheryl.
To help maintain their quality and consistency, they do not continue
to add new lots to a previous base just because new lots become available.
When they are out of the 2002 A to Z Pinot gris, for instance, they will
not go back and blend some more just so they can release more A to Z
bottles.
“ People say to us ‘If you’re going to run out of Pinot
gris, why don’t you go out and source some more?’ The answer
is: ‘Because we’ve made our Pinot gris for this vintage!’” explains
Bill.
|
|
