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| Greg Baiocchi is Mr GST |
“In many ways, I am a “millennial”winemaker: I like to experiment. Baiocchi is a new winery so we can afford to be different, as there are no expectations imposed from the wine critics yet. I want to be authentic. I want to deliver an experience that emanates from the vineyard and finds its way to the glass. I like to co –ferment the fruit, and that’s a point of origin of our blend, GST. One wine lover has called me “Mr GST” because I believe in originality in my blends, and GST is a blend that is pretty, seductive, and complex.
Our winemaking philosophy, briefly, is that we co-ferment, use indigenous yeast, balance our use of new French oak, and believe in unfined and unfiltered wines. We want to bring the fruit to the glass with as much transparency as possible. The vineyard philosophy was to plant Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah & Tempranillo because of the excellence of our terroir for these varieties. From a strategic winemaking viewpoint, these varietals all work well together in any growing season. This vineyard mix allows me to make handcrafted wines no matter what Mother Nature throws our way each year.
Our site in the FairPlay AVA of El Dorado County, CA., is perfectly suited for these varietals. I manage the vineyard to the terroir, which allows me to produce wine of defined character. To me, creating a sense of place in our wines was critical to the winery business plan.
To enhance the sense of place, all our wines are fermented on indigenous yeast, with little or minimal intervention. This winemaking technique allows the purity and freshness of the fruit to come forward, thus further imparting a sense of place in our Baiocchi wines.
Gminor, our signature blend of Grenache-Syrah-Tempranillo, was our second experiment with co –fermenting.
Why GST?
I studied these varietals and where they originated and how they are blended throughout Spain and France. I believed this blend would be a complex hybrid of origin, our El Dorado terroir, and fresh taste.
And so I handcrafted a wine that was pretty, seductive yet complex.
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| G minor: a GST blend |
Our GST is accessible at an early age, and can be opened anytime to share but still delivers structure that stands up proudly to food pairings. We see it marching ahead on wine lists at a value price ($24.00) to consumers of all ages, but perhaps it will be particularly attractive to Millennials.
Grenache(44% of 2011 G minor) is so versatile and brings so much to the table. This is the pretty part of the GST blend, with great aromatics, nicely floral, and a strawberry essence -- it consumes the senses and is what captures you when first meeting the wine.
Syrah (32% of 2011 G minor) provides the weight, the curves, the seduction of the GST blend . Syrah holds the wine on the mid palate, melding blue fruit with all the red fruit of Grenache. It plays an important role in the blend, because holding the wine on the mid palate long enough allows the acidity to catch up and then… the Tempranillo!
Tempranillo’s earthy tannins bring the structure, complexity and length to the finish in the GST blend. Tempranillo constitutes 24% of 2011 G minor.
The compatibility of these three varietals is what makes Gminor great for food. Overall it is a medium-weight wine, earthy and ripe.
Where does GST go next? Well, Christian Miller tasted this and put it on Spago (Beverly Hills) wine list. We are confident at Baiocchi that GST, at a $24 retail price point, will find a welcome in the marketplace.”
Read more about this GST wine, and Baiocchi Wines and Vineyards, at http://baiocchiwines.com
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| Greg and Sharon Baiocchi in their brand-new tasting room on Main Street, Sutter Creek CA |
