Chalone Tasting Room Is a Rich Addition to Carmel Plaza

December 1, 2023 – We could not have had a better experience at the newly opened Chalone tasting room, helmed by Stacey Garrett, Manager of Chalone’s Hospitality Center. We had a large party and the table was set with cheeses from the Cheese Shop that are meant to pair with the Winemaker’s Selection Flight. Caviar was a wonderful touch as well. 

The seating is comfy, and the only thing they are awaiting is artwork, which will adorn the walls and help transport visitors to the unique desert environment that is Chalone. To see this storied brand, founded in 1966—please just pause to take that in—still existing and still sporting pretty much the same original and iconic label, is something of a miracle. It is worth buying a bottle of this history, just to partake of the unique communion that can take place only here.

Chalone is both a manmade place, as well as a piece of storied land. The fact that we were able to taste wines from vines that existed far before most of the people working the tasting room were even born is both a miracle and a privilege. 

The place has been through so many hands—some kind, some abusive—over the decades, but there has been one very consistent influence and that is Richard Boer, who has tended the vines for three decades. Attuned to this arid and desolate place, he makes the vines sing in this exceedingly dry and dramatic spot, where rain is a fleetingly rare blessing.  

Winemaker Greg Freeman, who started in 2021, has now made three vintages from this amazing, otherworldly place near the Pinnacles in Soledad. He met Garrett, who was working on Cannery Row, courtesy of a former girlfriend, and was impressed with her organization and overall management skills. 

“As soon as I came on board and heard we were going to look for an offsite tasting room in downtown Carmel, I told Foley they needed to hire her!” They have neighboring offices at the Chalone winery facility where there was an onsite tasting room until the end of January this year. Garrett says she learned a lot from Freeman, who is a natural presenter and explains the process of winemaking in very comprehensible terms. 

The current Winemakers’ Selection Flight ($40 tasting fee/waived with purchase of 3 bottles) includes wines that both Freeman and his predecessor, Gianni Abate, made. Abate was with Morgan prior to Chalone. To experience this depth of wines from such a unique, specific terroir, through the lens of different winemakers, is a rare privilege. It will be so fun to taste multiple vintages of the Grenache, GSM and Syrah.

Freeman calls the latter, “The unsung hero of Chalone. Too bad nobody wants it!”  

He was referring to the puzzlingly dichotomy of a grape that people love when they taste, but almost always don’t buy. It happens time and time again: the flavors tasters love are Rhone, but they buy Bordeaux. Well, that’s not a distraction here. You are tasting what grows well out in the desiccated extremes of climate, formed by volcanic deposits on top of granitic subsoils that originated 23 million years ago near Lancaster, Calif. nearly 200 miles to the south. Due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate, this wandering chunk of dirt moved northwards to its present location. This snippet of land that encompassing The Pinnacles and the Chalone AVA, came a long way, baby, and it’s become something completely special. 

To wit, the 2019 Syrah, made by Abate, is frankly a stunner of complexity. Super peppery, with dark plum, iron filings, a hint of camphor and cardamom. It’s like a mystery novel, intriguing with each sip and never giving up its secrets. Can’t wait to try Freeman’s version. We are setting up for some epic verticals in the next 10 years. 

In contrast to the gregarious strawberry jam-filled Grenache from the property, the 2021 GSM, which Freeman indicated is really an SMG, the Syrah is dark and brooding and even more effusive of white pepper, although coriander dominates. 

Freeman says the house winemaking menu included a Barrel Cuvee of Grenache and Syrah, but he really wanted to make a GSM, so he asked Boer if there was any Mourvèdre to be found on the 950-acre property.  

“Richard had some on his own property, so I asked Foley if we could do it!” So glad they did, because this wine is totally funtastic, and is the biggest seller out of the tasting room by far. Not to gloss over the 2019 Grenache, also made by Abate. This is straight up dried blackberry and strawberry with the silkiest, almost buttery, tannins beneath. It’s like fruit compote on top of buttery bundt cake. 

You may have got the theme here. The wines are rich and lengthy, well-endowed and dramatically punctuated by just right acid and framed up by optimal oak. 

Never too much, because that would be superfluous on top of inherent decadence. 

A striking voluptuousness embodies each of these wines, especially the whites. The 2021 Chardonnay Musqué, done in 100% stainless steel, is a remarkable glassful of richness and generosity, florally endowed and filled with stone fruit. Serve this to anyone who loves barrel-fermented Chardonnay and watch the reaction. It is tropical and peachy with the richness of a peach-nectarine and cream cheese tart baked with heavy cream, and never a hint of wood. Freeman told us that Richard Boer, the vineyard manager, noticed that there were a few rows of Chardonnay that looked different, so he made sure to isolate them. We are sure glad he did. 

My friend Ann Hougham, who used to own Mesa del Sol vineyard in Arroyo Seco, commented on the richness and suggested that this would make a good late harvest wine. Great idea!

The 2022 Pinot Blanc has to be the pinnacle of what this piece of dirt can produce in the white wine category. This has always been the most transparent way to drink in the unrelenting otherness of this wild dream. Too bad there are only nine rows. For 2022, the aromatics are pure pear and peach, and the mouthfeel is rich and creamy: and remember, this is 100% stainless steel fermented, with no oak at all. This is pure translation of the soil to the glass, and we have to thank Freeman for recognizing that this wine needs nothing in between. 

He’s rather excited about the 2023 version, having found a yeast that boosts the aromatics even more. Despite believing the 2022 is as good as Pinot Blanc gets, we are eagerly anticipating 2023. Because that’s what drives every ounce of every successful creative person like Freeman, forward, every day.