So I was at Paul Vigna's Mid-Atlantic Wine Summit in Maryland last month, where I was lucky enough to sit next to David Breeden, the head winemaker of Sheldrake Point for more than two decades now. I was doubly lucky, because we tasted two of his wines - Sheldrake Point Dry Rose' 2024 and the Sheldrake Point Gammay Noir 2024. Both were spectacular.
David Breeden was born in Michigan. He spent his first fifteen years there. Then high school in California, college in Iowa, college in California, grad school in Illinois. He has bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and philosophy, and master’s in chemistry and philosophy. "[B]oth at Davis and, or University of California at Davis and at the University of Illinois where I was a grad student, I worked in agricultural areas. My area as a chemist was extraction of interesting chemicals from plant compounds. So, I worked in pomology, which is orchard crops at Davis, and then I worked... with corn at the University of Illinois. Crop sciences...." Breeden told the NY Heritage .com.
Breeden was extracting capsaicin from plants and trying to figure out what compounds in corn attracted certain species of moths to lay their eggs while at Cornell in 1998. While living and working in the Finger Lakes region, Breeden became enamored with wine. Breeden contacted Cornell enology professor Dr. Thomas Henick-Kling. That same year Breeden found himself working at King Ferry Winery (now Treleaven Wines) as a cellar rat. He became assistant winemaker. And by 2001 he had moved to Sheldrake Winery. And the rest, as they say....
“I read Randall Graham [the iconic owner/winemaker of Bonny Doon Vineyard in California]. He talked about the difference between wine of work and wine of place," he told the Finger Lakes Times. "To make wine, we add as little stuff as possible, just yeast and sulfur dioxide usually. We don’t take acid out. We don’t put acid in. We don’t put tannin in. We don’t take tannin out. What the grapes brought to the party is what you get.” I love this style and concept of winemaking. David is one of the most educated, erudite, and accomplished winemakers in the Finger Lakes. He possesses a keen understanding of chemistry and the ethos of a philosophy major. It is an exceptional and formidable combination.
In the intervening years, Sheldrake has produced numerous quality driven wines of exceptional taste, with balance and complexity. I have long been a fan of their Rose', Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, and other wines. Their Gamay Noir has always been among my favorite wines. I liked that wine so much, I included it in my book HOW TO DRINK WINE.
The Sheldrake Dry Rose' 2024 is made from 100% Cabernet Franc, Estate Vineyard Blocks CF1 and CF2. harvested between September 18-17. The grapes received a cold soak overnight. Fermentation lasted 21 days, with no malolactic. The wine received no oak, and was bottled in late January. The wine is vegan friendly. The nose is filled with fresh cut strawberries and raspberries and cherries. Some floral notes. On the palate their are note of soft cherry Jello, big notes of strawberry. And a lovely, creamy Ley Lime. Super soft and approachable. Super super easy drinking. My favorite rose' of the afternoon's tasting.
Sheldrake Point Gamay Noir 2023 is easily the darkest Gamay Noir the estate has ever produced in my memory. The nose is an odd but absolutely alluring mix of dried flowers, cranberries, dark cherry and bramble. There are also notes of blueberry and peach cobbler here. Hints of eucalyptus. The cherry flavor lingers for more than 60 seconds, truly a sign of an exceptional wine, in this case. Easily one of the best Gamay Noir wines I have tasted anywhere in the world. Truly a remarkable bottling. And it is overwhelmingly underpriced at $22 a bottle! Buy as much as you can. This will last in any good cellar a minimum of seven years no problem. It will only get better. An absolutely outstanding bottle of wine. Incredible.
There is no question these two bottlings represent some of the best wines of 2024 on the East Coast! And both are terribly affordable - buy 'em by the case!