2009 Bookwalter Protagonist

Sourced from Conner Lee, Dionysus and Ciel du Cheval, Bookwalter’s 2009 Protagonist – in keeping with his belief that this variety was unusually successful in this vintage – incorporates 25% Cabernet Franc with its Cabernet Sauvignon. Huckleberry, juniper berry, mint, black tea and pencil lead accent and offer counterpoint to cassis and black raspberry syrup that preserves a surprisingly well-integrated yet efficacious sense of primary juiciness, invigorating tartness, and sheer energy, all elements I missed in many of the Bookwalter offerings I tasted. Firm and abundantly yet finely tannic, this bittersweetly persistent performance ought to be worth following for at least 2-3 years. (Though, note my account of a much weaker 2007 tasted alongside). John Bookwalter carries on the cellar work of the winery that his father Jerry founded in 1983; while Bookwalter senior – who long managed (among others) Bacchus and Dionysus vineyards – still, in his seventies, co-manages Conner Lee Vineyard, on which his family winery heavily draws. The younger Bookwalter engaged Zelma Long as advisor when he returned home in the mid-1990s to take over the family winery; since 2008 that role has been assumed by Claude Gros (familiar to readers of my Languedoc reports, though he works now in numerous regions and countries). Bookwalter opines that, like his dad and many of his colleagues, he’s “been on a steep learning curve” recently, viticulturally speaking. “Ten years ago,” he notes, “we weren’t even discussing things like shoot length and positioning.” Among features of red wine vinification at this address are a long cold soak and extended lees contact with stirring, which Bookwalter is convinced enhance freshness, a virtue from which, I’m bound to note, some of his wines I recently tasted could further benefit. From an extensive line-up of wines I tasted recently, I am reviewing only the most prominent recent red releases plus two from a couple of vintages back. Tel. (877) 667-8300