A few weeks ago while many of us were out in the sun celebrating 4^th of July, Etienne Terlinden was holed up in his barrel-filled warehouse blending wine.  Other than harvest, this is the busiest time of the year for the winemaker from Summerland Winery.  For some, growing good grapes and making enjoyable wine is enough.  Those like Summerland’s owner Bilo Zarif strive for the complexity only achieved through blending.  Over the past 14 years, Zarif has had a secret weapon in Michele Pignarre Le Danois, a worldclass oenologist from Bordeaux.  First with Barnwood Winery and now with Summerland, Zarif flies in the wine blending expert with her golden palate to help each vintage be the best it can be.  Over the course of five days, Terlinden and Le Danois taste 400 different barrel samples, placing them together like pieces of a puzzle.

             Oenology, a scientific approach to winemaking and tasting, requires up to five years of schooling to earn a master’s degree in the 18^th Century specialty.  Le Danois has been at it for 35 years.  “I learn something new everyday,” she says.  The spry 60 year old teaches oenology back in Bordeaux to groups of wine producers.  She used to come to the U.S. several times a year while working with Zarif at Barnwood, but now everything is squeezed into one visit.  Her connection with Terlinden, 36, is the embodiment of a well-balanced collaboration.  “Etienne and I are the same creature.  We’re both European and we’re both here to make a good American wine for the American customer.”  He adds, “We have almost the same palate.  Our goal is to make a very nice, round wine that’s non-linear; not dominated by one aspect of tannin or fruit or acid.”  

             The winemaking process at Summerland Winery is extremely progressive.  Terlinden collects fruit from a wide range of vineyards across the county in order to apply the nuances from the varying terroir to his wine.  While many wines are best left alone, the Belgian Terlinden comes from the school of thought committed to experimentation.  In only his second year working with Le Danois, the two have already achieved remarkable chemistry.  Using guidelines established by Zarif based on his aspirations for each vintage, they merge their knowledge into the crafting of superlative wines.  “These are like paints on an artist’s palette,” suggests Terlinden.  “Most people don’t do this.  Rarely will winemakers taste every barrel.” 

            Shortly after Le Danois arrives, she begins tasting the barrel samples which have been transferred to small, labeled bottles.  Once the wine hits her tongue, it triggers a unique reaction combining intuition and intellect.  Every wine evokes the memory of something she’s had before, enabling a frame of reference to be constructed.  Taking meticulous notes, she isolates the wines with the best potential for cuvees.  2005 produced a heavy crop, especially with Summerland’s primary varietal, pinot noir.  The shear quantity has gifted this vintage with an elegance typical of traditional pinot.  Terlinden attests that blending is more important than ever this year in order to achieve complexity. 

            Summerland’s facility has taken on the look of a laboratory.  Tables and floors are clustered with tiny bottles representing completed concoctions.  The cross-generational wine experts sit face to face at a table with big spit buckets to their side.  “You should have seen my tongue before lunch,” chuckles Le Danois.  “Black like a Chow Chow.”  Their attention has turned towards Rhone varietals with the future of two of Summerland’s signature labels, Duet and Trio, hanging in the balance.  Seven bottles have made the elite cut from the highly-regarded Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley.  Pouring precise amounts of grenache and mourvedre into an enlarged test tube, Terlinden transfers the new blend to a beaker.  After tasting the wine, they stare at each other intently as if communicating through E.S.P.  The silence is broken with thoughts thrown back and forth in French.   It is soon apparent they’ve achieved a velvety masterpiece with the Duet. 

            The minutes are ticking until Le Danois’s departure and it seems the pressure is on to deliver a blockbuster blend for the Trio.  You wouldn’t know it though looking at the unphased oenologist with her anxious smile like a student who knows the answers to the test.  “I’ve been doing this for a long, long time,” she reminds me.  Complimenting mourvedre and grenache with syrah, two separate blends are produced for comparison.  They are both delicious with one clearly heavier on the tannins.  In a moment like this I realize the weight of a judgment call which will affect Summerland’s reputation for years to come.  Calculating a certain percentage of one barrel versus another can be the difference between a high score from Robert Parker or just another satisfactory vintage.  That’s why it pays to bring in the best.

            “Do you ever get tired of wine?” I ask Le Danois.  Looking at me like I’m a little crazy she exclaims, “Noooo.  I think I’d die without wine.”