2017 Cave Dog, Godello, Sonoma Valley.
The surprisingly exotic and lush Godello from Cave Dog fills the palate with peach stone fruit, kumquat, white currant and apple butter along with a creamy texture, impressive for a wine without malo, this is fun stuff that would enjoy a pairing with swordfish, fatty halibut as well as roast poultry dishes or decedent triple cream cheeses. Cave Dog is the latest from Michael Havens, creator of Havens Wine Cellars, which was the first winery in California to do Albarino, which he founded and ran from 1984 to 2008, is known as a champion of Merlot and Cabernet Franc in the Napa Valley. A desire to return to this tradition has led him back to a vineyard he knows well and a wine style, that is more Bordeaux in feel, he reveres as well as returning to Spanish whites, like this unique Godello. Much has changed in the Napa Valley and in Michael’s life, but Cave Dog continues his focus on graceful, elegant expressions of these varieties, and it is good to have him back on the scene after a few years in obscurity, where he pretty much checked out, though he did help Morgan Twain-Peterson at Bedrock with his Abrente white made from Albarino. In fact, Morgan Twain-Peterson and Michael Havens produced the first U.S. Godello in 2012, under the Abrente label. After teaching English at UC Davis in the 1980’s, and early in his winemaking career, Havens decided to take advantage of southern Napa’s cooler climate regions like Combsville and Carneros to showcase their restraint and balance, as he notes was a maverick move, in those days of bigger is better, that lead him to produce one of the valley’s earliest single-varietal Merlots and the first Carneros Syrah. A few years later, he would also pioneer, as mentioned, the first Albariño grown and bottled in the United States, sparking interest that has led to the cultivation of over 300 acres of the grape in California today. As the winery also notes, Michael has also served as a head winemaker and consultant to many different producers, from family wineries like Truchard Vineyards in Carneos, to industry titans such as Foster’s Wine Group. His experience has allowed him to work with nearly every grape varietal grown in California, giving him plenty of opportunities to experiment and too focus his attention on certain grapes that appeal to him, such as Godello, which is almost unknown outside its native Galicia in the cool northwest of Spain on the Atlantic coast, close to Portugal.
The Cave Dog label, the re-booting of Micheal Havens as a vintner, got kicked off with the 2014 vintage without much fanfare, but it looks like an intriguing set of wines, and having now registered both Albariño, first and now with Godello with TTB, Haven’s is as he puts it the premier Galician white wine guy in California. Haven adds, that In 2008, he worked the vintage with Ricardo Perez at Descendientes de J. Palacios, in Bierzo, northwestern Spain and through that experience he discovered some fascinating white wines, made from the Godello grape in nearby Valdeorras, Galicia, which inspired his future efforts. Haunted by Godello, he visited Rafael Palacios, Ricardo’s uncle, who makes what many think is the best white wine in Spain, As Sortes made from Godello, and got Rafael o supply him with pedigreed budwood from his famous Godello vineyards. The Godello grapes tends to make a little richer wine than the Albariño, but still with a lively mouthfeel that keeps it fresh. For Havens’ Cave Dog version its cool fermentation and aging on the lees in neutral white barrels has added complexity, texture and subtle aromatics, while blocking malo-lactic keeps the primary fruit front and center making wine that feels great and smooth on the palate, but retains vibrant acidity. Haven’s Godello, a grape that is often compared to white Burgundy and has considerable density is more Chablis like with mineral tones and loads of energy. While this ripe 2017 is as light or fresh as I am used to from versions from Spain, this is well worth checking out. I am a fan of Michael Havens and even visited his old winery on Hoffman Road in Napa, it’s where I fell in love with Albarino and I got to know his Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend, which I adored, it was one of my secret favorite wines as it was classy and beautiful, plus it was a lot less expressive than Cheval Blanc! I’m glad he is back making wine, though I am sad it took me this long to find his stuff, though this project is under the radar.
($25 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive