Dec

22

Renaissance Vineyard & Winery

Filed Under Reds, Whites 

Renaissance wines are best known for their uncompromising expression of terroir and distinctive style. After 30 years of extensive varietal experimentation, Renaissance focuses on limited production of the Bordeaux and Rhone families of varietals. Their Sierra Foothills vineyard is organically cultivated and elevations range from 1,700 to 2,300 feet.


Renaissance’s winemaker Gideon Beinstock handcrafts their estate-bottled wines in a traditional European style. Gideon first arrived at Renaissance in the 1970s and helped to plant the vineyard. During the 1980s he roamed the vineyards of France, exploring their wines and wineries. He built friendships with a number of winemakers in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley, and was particularly influenced by such wine experts as Steven Spurrier (Academie du Vin, Paris, 1980/81) and Maggie McNie, MW (Masters of Wine Program, London 1989). With his half-French heritage, Gideon’s first love was definitely French wines. He began to write articles about wines and conduct classes. He returned to Renaissance in the early 1990s where he gained hands-on experience as assistant winemaker under Diana Werner.

When he became head winemaker in January 1994, Gideon brought a radical change to their winemaking art: he “finished” the 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon, blending Renaissance’s traditionally pure varietal Cabernet Sauvignon with 4 percent Merlot and 1.5% Sauvignon Blanc. The result was a gold medal at the 1995 VINEXPO and a great deal of critical praise. Wine author and columnist, Matt Kramer, proclaimed this 1991 Renaissance Cabernet Sauvignon as “one of its best–intense, filled with a blackcurrant scent and superbly balanced” and further described it as “stunning and long-lived.” It was this wine that prompted him to call Renaissance “California’s best-kept Cabernet secret.”

Originally, the Renaissance winemaking style was highly extracted, thick, very tannic, designed for long aging in the bottle. Gideon’s “hands off” style of winemaking is based on minimal manipulation: gentle extraction, no inoculations, no fining or filtration doing everything in his power to highlight the expression of the terroir in the wine.

Since 1994 Gideon has conducted a series of experiments with additional grape varieties in their vineyards, searching for the best microclimate, soil, and varietal combination. This program opened new horizons for their use of blends as a winemaking tool (for example, Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc and Merlot), and lead to the creation of a whole range of exciting new wines, such as Syrah, Grenache, Viognier and Roussanne.

Compared to the single varietal approach, blending a few varietals to maximize the expression of the soil and “sense of place” is a key element in the French winemaking tradition. Gideon, who trained as an artist, describes his winemaking art: “Just as a painter mixes different colors to capture the essence of light, I work with a palette of different grapes to achieve compositions that capture the essence of our vineyard.”

Contact Jonathan Keller to acquire Renaissance wines.


"Jonathan, I am really excited about the wines you have chosen. You will make my Thanksgiving a much more thankful day. Thank you for you time."

~ Bill F. Chicago, IL



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