One of the "worst" mistakes any wine lover can make involves the wine drinking equivalent of getting stuck in a rut. Lots of people know what they like, and choose to stick with it, always opting for the Merlot, or the Pinot Noir, or the buttery Chardonnay because they want something they'll enjoy and they don't want to have to think too much about it. There's nothing wrong with this inherently, but those who always drink the same thing and never explore anything else are robbing themselves of an immense amount of pleasure. Variety being the spice of life, the wine world offers more of that particular seasoning than just about any other arena of enjoyment.
In part, that's the impetus behind one of the most interesting wine tasting events held each year in San Francisco and Healdsburg. According to the organizers of the 7% Solution Tasting, 93% of the vineyards in the North Coast appellation (which includes all of Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino Counties) are planted to just 8 grapes. The hundreds of other grape varieties grown in California make up the other seven percent.
The tasting was conceived by Kevin Wardell and Sarah Johnson, the co-proprietors of a little wine bar and store named Bergamot Alley in Healdsburg, California. Their immensely popular little bar has the distinction of not stocking or serving any domestic wines. This fact, of course makes it immensely popular with everyone in the wine industry locally, who have a known predilection for spending their off hours drinking things as different as possible from those they spend their working hours making.
However, this focus on all things European means that other than slaking the thirst of locals, Wardell and Johnson weren't having much impact on their local wine industry. So in an effort to give a little more back, they dreamed up the idea of focusing on the California grapes that no one else focuses on, and the Seven Percent Solution tasting was born.
The tasting has been held for the past three years, and seems perfectly timed to match the explosion in diversity that we see not only on wine lists in this country, but also in the drinking habits of many wine consumers.
In short, the wines on offer at this tasting are some of the most exciting being made in California at the moment, so it was with great anticipation (if somewhat less time than I wanted) that I attended this year's tasting. I wish I had the opportunity to taste every wine on offer, but sadly I got to only about half of them. What follows are my highlights from what I did taste.
Enjoy!