Wild Wild Yeast

At the Eat! Vancouver event today, I ran into a most interesting winemaker. The guy has been making wine for sale for decades, one of the oldest around here, but few have heard of his wines. He makes just about everything, Pinot Noir, Marechal Fock, Rougeon, Verdelet, Interlaken, cherry, plum, pear, etc. The wines are not great but good. What is remarkable is the way he makes his wine—by natural fermentation. Because of the wild yeast, the wines are anything but typical. They all have this yeastiness to them even though they are not made sur lie. The Pinot Noir tasted like a dry vintage port, not at all what I expected. If I were to rate these wines, I would not give them a very high mark; but I would buy them, drink them and serve them to trusted friends. They are the kind of things that reminds me even in this epoch of mechanical reproduction difference is still possible, and monotony does not have to be the norm. So, I must tip my hat to the Ritlop family and the St. Laszlo Estate Winery and Vinyards. Even though they do not sell your wines at the big stores and fancy restaurants, I will always remember your wines, along with those of Venturi Schultz, as things that make the world interesting.