Two-tier Tasting is Steele of a Deal

By Kathy Ward

Tasting Card • Horizontal-Vertical Tasting • Reprising the Mountaineers

“I take a hedonistic approach to winemaking,” Jed Steele tells Quarterly Review of Wines. It should taste good, explains this man who regards making wine as a service industry. “Wine is first of all to give pleasure.”

We’ve already “met” Jed Steele. At the April program we tasted his ’98 Northstar Merlot, a collaboration with Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Gordy Hill, from the Wahluke Slope in the Columbia Valley. Though his Northwest ties go back much farther, Jed is truly a California guy whose 32 years of winemaking expertise established mega reputations for fledgling wineries as well as for himself.

An often noted measure of Jed’s success was his 1983-91 tenure as winemaker at Kendall-Jackson, taking them from 35,000 to more than a million cases a year. He’s been a consultant for Fess Parker, Villa Mt. Eden and several other wineries, and was selected Winemaker of the Year by The Wine News and Wine and Spirits Buying Guide.

Having overseen thousands of tons of grapes, millions of gallons of wine, some men would simply retire on those laurels. But Jed instead started his own Steele Wines in 1991. He sources his 35 different wines from 57 vineyards, and is particularly well known for his seven single-vineyard Chardonnays. Wine Spectator zeros in on the reason: As a winemaker he “clearly understands his craft.”

Jed uses the expression “beyond the terroir” to explain his philosophical view of blending wines. The best expression comes from combining several regions, he notes, adding, “Winemakers can act like a chef in combining flavor blends of different regions [such as] maybe an apricot flavor from one site balanced with citrus flavor from another site.”

The Shooting Star label comes from a translation of Jed’s middle name, Tecumseh, shared with the famous Indian chief who was born the night of a meteor shower. Under this stellar label is Aligoté, little known though the fourth most widely planted grape in the world. Satisfying his fascination for good but underappreciated grapes, Jed sources this cold-tolerant grape from here in Washington. (One more Northwest tie-in: Dave Crippen, formerly with Covey Run and Zillah Oakes, is now Steele Wines general manager.)

The Steele Wines program will be a technical tasting. In this ambitious sampling of a dozen wines, we don’t want sauces and seasonings of our usual food bites to compromise the flavors as you examine the nuances of each. Only palate-cleansing crackers and bread will be served, not prepared food pairings.

And here’s the sweet story on the dessert finale. That famous fog of San Francisco Bay also bathes the cool Sangiacomo vineyard — ideal for producing the coveted “noble rot” Botrytis. The ’97 Late Harvest Chardonnay was picked at nearly 50 percent sugar! And it was treated like the classic Sauternes and Barsac of France, a real treat for us!

Come share the pleasure Jed Steele puts into his wines. He’ll mingle with the arriving crowd enjoying his Aligoté entrance wine. You can’t miss our 6-foot-4-inch star; he’ll be the one with a wineglass.

Admission to the Steele Wines program is only $15 for members (please show membership cards) and $20 for guests. Doors open at 6:30, with immediate entry upon ticket purchase. Jed’s presentation begins at 7:30.

New members who join the Enological Society for the first time the night of the program get a free wineglass. We advise bringing five glasses to enjoy this unique lineup of Steele wines. Plastic cups will be provided, and Society logo glasses will be for sale.

We’ll e-mail updates on this and future program events. To get in our address book, sign up on the Home page of this site or send a message to EnoSocMsg@aol.com.

Click here to see a list of past Seattle Programs