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1 Wine Dude

In Pursuit Of (And Catching) Balance With Raj Parr’s Sandhi Wines in NYC4 min read

Posted on May 3, 2012April 29, 2012 by 1WineDude

in elegant wines, on the road, wine review

With the In Pursuit Of Balance tasting (which recently hit NYC), co-creators Parr and Jasmine Hirsch (of Hirsch Vineyards) have brought together some of the most exciting – and highest quality – producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California (many of which hail from the West Sonoma Coast, where those wines are rapidly reaching world-class status).

For me, their invitation to attend the NYC event was a chance to catch-up with some of the wines and producers I’d first been introduced to last year at the inaugural West Of West festival in Occidental, catch-up with Raj, and maybe get introduced to some new wines.

I expected to find some really (really!) good Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at the IPOB tasting recently at City Winery in NYC.

I just didn’t expect some of best of those wines to be Raj’s.

But there you have it – the wacky world of wine, in which a sommelier can team up with a California native (Sashi Moorman) and make better wines than some people who have been at it for decades longer. And I’m merely calling it as I see (er, taste) it – the juice is the juice, and in this case the juice is pretty damn good; in fact, it was some of the best offered in a room full of wines where sub-par offerings were hard to come by…

It was roughly one year ago that Raj famously (in the wine geek sphere, anyway) had to publicly backtrack on his statement that he’d only purchase Pinots for his restaurant (RN74) that clocked in at 14% abv or under, when at World Of Pinot Noir Siduri’s Adam Lee deliberately swapped labels on the 13.7% and 15.2% Pinots he’d brought to the event, after Raj had asked Lee about purchasing what he thought was the 13.7% Pinot for RN74’s list.

So, Raj made quite a point about insisting that balance is not a function of alcohol levels when I interviewed him on video (you can watch that interview at the Wines.com video channel). On that point he and are in what one of my former bosses liked to call “violent agreement.”

I’ve found my tastes becoming more and more Catholic the deeper into the wine world geek forest that I get, so long as the entirety of the wine (its booze, structure, fruit, secondary aromas, etc.) are in line with one another; when one of more those dominate, then the balance of the wine, in my view, suffers. But it certainly allows for subtle, svelte lovelies along with big, powerful forceful wines – both can work, and work beautifully, if all the components are dialed up at the right volumes.

Raj clearly knows what he likes when it comes to wine, and he’s clearly been paying attention to those who are making those styles, because his Sandhi Wines (Sanskrit for “collaboration”) has damn nearly mastered those styles already. Sandhi practices what Raj refers to as “lazy winemaking – we crush, and press it, man,” he told me. Something tells me we’re oversimplifying the process just a bit.

I was shocked when I tasted Raj’s wines (a lineup of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – mostly from Santa Rita Hills and most of which, yes, clocks in at 14% abv or less), ranging in price from around $35 to around $90, and made in very small quantities. Not shocked that Raj and crew could make excellent wine, but shocked that a winemaking outfit that’s been around only since 2010 could offer wines this good this quickly. By and large they are mineral-driven, vibrant and expressive, and are clearly aimed towards playing nice at the dinner table.

Two of Sandhi’s upcoming releases (available in September) speak to what the Sandhi crew has already been able to achieve, and left me with the clear impression that they need to stay on my mental radar as a producer on whom I need to keep a close eye.

 

2010 Sandhi “Sanford & Benedict” Chardonnay (Santa Rita Hills)
Price: $45
Rating: B+

This isn’t Sandhi’s best 2010 Chardonnay (in my view, that honor falls to the more expensive “Bent Rock” Chardonnay, which is made in such small quantities that I’m not yet convinced Raj will even give up enough of it from his personal stash to eventually sell to the public). But it’s a stellar wine, even for the not-inexpensive price tag. It’s one of the most “pithy” and crisp Chardonnays I’ve yet encountered from California, and it’s ridiculously complex: apricots, hints of smoke and toast. It’s a Chardonnay super-hero for food, cape and all, because its liveliness will make it much more versatile at the dinner table than your typical Chard. And it’s a gorgeous super hero, too – like Super Woman on a modeling shoot.

 

2010 Sandhi “Evening Land Tempest” Pinot Noir (Santa Rita Hills)
Price: $90
Rating: A-

This wine is a baby right now and will take some time to fully come around.  Reserved, meaty and feminine, when it does come into its own it will be long on elegance, spiciness, and lovely red berry compote, all of which it’s just hinting – no, teasing, really – at now. I don’t have a crystal ball, so I cannot promise it will stay this good for the long haul, but I’d eschew the crystal ball for the chance to gaze into a very large glass of this in about six years.

Cheers!

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10 thoughts on “In Pursuit Of (And Catching) Balance With Raj Parr’s Sandhi Wines in NYC4 min read”

  1. gabe says:
    May 3, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    just curious…how much of the actual winemaking does raj do?

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 3, 2012 at 2:55 pm

      gabe – I don't know, we didn't get into the nitty-gritty on that. I'm sure if you ping him he'll tell you in detail. I've no doubt he is more than just peripherally involved, but no idea if he's doing punch-downs and the like.

      1. gabe says:
        May 3, 2012 at 3:09 pm

        saying he makes better wines than people who have been doing it for years is a pretty bold statement. I don't really know how involved he is either, but I've made wine for a handful of part-time winemakers in my life, and it's not as easy as they think it is.
        hope that didn't sound angry or bitter…just offering a bit of healthy skepticism

        1. 1WineDude says:
          May 3, 2012 at 3:15 pm

          gabe – not at all. It is bold ad I meant it to be. Raj has teamed up with a CA native who is the winemaker, as mentioned in my post. I am not meaning to imply that Raj makes the wines himself, he clearly does not. But his name is on the masthead, and he's partially responsible for bringing that stuff into existence, and it's really, really good juice.

          1. gabe says:
            May 3, 2012 at 5:21 pm

            Great, glad it didn't come across wrong. It's always nice to learn about new wines, and I will keep an eye out for them. It's just that my b.s. radar goes-off every time I hear about a celebrity, or chef, or sommelier who has started "making wine". There was nothing specifically directed at you or Raj, besides sincere curiosity

            1. 1WineDude says:
              May 3, 2012 at 6:49 pm

              Gabe – no worries, I have the same radar! :)

  2. Mark Cochard says:
    May 4, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    From what I have read Sashi make the wines with Raj's input and believe as far as hose dragging and punchdowns I'm sure Raj is not doing that. We think Sashi is a god when it comes to wine making and adore his wines whether from Stolpman or Piedrassi. Raj has another partner as well, winery owner (Jonata and Sceaming Eagle to name a couple), wine geek money guy Charles Banks

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 4, 2012 at 2:59 pm

      Thanks, Mark!

  3. gabe says:
    May 4, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    Listen, I'm not trying to start an internet comment war about winemaking. Nor am I criticizing Joe, who is an excellent wine writer, or Raj, who is a great som, and might be much more involved in the winemaking process than I realize..

    But I do hope that everyone realizes that there is a lot that goes into winemaking besides punchdowns and driving forklifts, There is also much more to winemaking than buying barrels and blending trials

    There are a lot of complex decisions and physically difficult actions that go into making a wine. The skill with which those tasks are executed have an enormous effect on the quality of a wine. While the average person doesn't really need to understand that fact, I think it is important for wine writers to make that distinction between owning a winery vs. actually making wine.

    ok, I'm gonna climb down from my soapbox. Apologies to anyone I may have offended, I just needed to get that off my chest

    1. 1WineDude says:
      May 4, 2012 at 11:41 pm

      Thanks Gabe – no worries I think folks visiting here do largely get that. Cheers!

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