McGrail Vineyards and Winery - Mark Clarin

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Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alison Levine and today I am with Mark Claren, the wine miggerant mcgrail vineyards in the Livermore Valley. Mark, Welcome to Wine Soundtrack and tell us a little bit about mcgrail vineyards and where we are.

Well.

Thank you, Hi, Allison, very nice to meet you. Mcrail vineyards were on Greenville Road in Livermore Valley, sort of up on a hill overlooking the Livermore Valley and the many vineyards. We can see all the vineyards and see Mount Diablo in the distance, and.

So we're just.

Been here since nineteen ninety nine the vineyard was planted. Jim and Ginger mcgrail bought the property in nineteen ninety seven planted it to Caberny Sauvignon.

In ninety nine.

Harvested started harvesting grapes and selling them to the many wineries here in Livermore Valley, and eventually in two thousand and five there was sort of a bumper crop year in California, and so they had some extra fruit and yeah.

And that's what we're a winery now, Yeah, exactly, which is kind of classic, right.

And then, but Jim mcgrail was a very competitive soul too, and many of the early plant or early production of bottles were doing very well as far as in the marketplace and gaining popularity, and Jim was a fairly competitive soul, and he figured that if somebody else could do it, that he could do it too. And so they started making wine and officially in two thousand and five Vintage. And then I met Ginger mcrail in two thousand and six and started consulting and you know, just sort of

You never left.

I never left. Well, it was funny.

I ran into Ginger at a in a grocery store a couple of years later, and she said, you know, we're going to hire a wine maker, and I said, well, I kind of want to be that winemaker. And so we had an interview process of me coming to the house with Jim Ginger and Heather mcgrail, their daughter, and the interview kind of went like this. It was like Ginger said, well, do you know how to make chardonnay?

And that was it.

That was it.

So today, how many acres do you have? And are you all one hundred percent of state fruit? Are you purchasing fruit?

We are at this point one hundred percent of state fruit. We own all our vineyards. The original planting here on the estate property where the winery is is was sixteen acres of gray of cabernet savignon, and then in two thousand and fifteen, I think it was, we purchased another thirty acre parcel with I can see it. I'm sitting here in the winery and I can see the vineyard

Vines, and not just cabernet. Now you also do we do a.

Lot of things.

We planted Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet franc, and more Cabernet sauvignon.

And then the existing.

Vineyard already had Marlow Milbeck, tigan nacionl Souzao, and then we grafted some of the vines over to petiverdeo, so we have, you know, all five of the classic Bordeaux red grape varieties at this point. And then a couple of years ago I talked Heather into letting me graft two rows to Grenache blanc, so we have we have a little Grenache bloc, which is the outlier.

Chardon Ay, of course, is not a Bordeaux variety.

But and then those Portuguese groups just found their way in.

Here well, and you know the funny part about the Portuguese. First of all, the too regan asci now just got approved in Bordeaux.

So we were like, oh, well, just wait till they do, this is out.

But but the reality is that that venuard, that particular vineyard was planted in ninety eight and we are in the midst of thinking of our redevelopment plan, and part of me is like, I really like those two varieties. We don't have very much of it, and we make us a very small blend called slancha, which is Gaelic for cheers, yes, thank you, and which is completely not Portuguese.

Right.

But the funny part about that, or the little funny story.

About that, is that.

Kind of all along, you know, Jim Irish, you know mcrail Irish, you know, family, and I used to tell Heather, you know, we should have like some kind of Irish name for one of our wines, you know, and and then we have these odd great varieties and it was like they were.

Kind of outliers.

And then and she said, well, the problem with you know, the Irish and the Gaelic languages, it's all you know, you know hagis, you know, or.

Things like that, you know, and so you know, it's like, you know, like here trying my head.

But then she she came up with Slatchat and it was like I was like, oh my god, she's brilliant, you know.

And she'd have to write it phonetically for most people to know how to say it.

Well, yeah, a lot of people don't. They don't get that for sure. They don't when they see it, they don't understand it, right.

And what's your total case production?

We're about I think we're somewhere between seventy five and eight thousand cases, seventy five hundred in.

There, Okay, I was gonna say, and a seventy.

Seventy five cases and eight thousand, yeah.

And are your wines available across the country or in certain markets or mostly direct consumer?

Here at the winery, we are definitely direct to consumer. We do have club members that are in other states, so we do ship out, you know, ship out and then we get visitors from out of state, and if it's legal to ship you know, we will.

But a DTC winery. So I'm curious you grew up, you were raised in Seattle. I was born in Seattle, and you were raised.

Where I was raised in Livermore, So.

You kind of among these nascent finds back then. And I'm curious what is your first memory relevant to wine?

Uh?

You know, it's interesting because when I was a kid growing up, you know, there were vineyards in town, you know, because you know town was.

Livermore was very rural, very very rural town.

And on the police car there was a rodeo rid the atom and then a grape cluster and those were sort of represented the three things that Livermore was known for. The the Livermore Radiation Laboratory at the time l r L, which is now like Livermore Labs. And then and then the rodeo, which we still have, you know, the fastest rodeo, and and then the grape was representing the wine. So I knew about I knew what that was. And then my parents always drank wenty Gray Reasling, which was a white,

I love it. I'm curious. Once you were kind of a little older and you know drinking wine. Was there a wine that was one of those aha moments for you? Was it while you were working at weenty or was it another occasion, but one of those wines that kind of stock stood out with you that either because it set you on a path or a mindset or just you know, opened up your eyes to something.

You know, it's interesting.

But at the time, I was in my twenties, you know, because when you first when you're in your twenties, you drink beer, you know, or whatever.

And I mean I had.

My experiences, you know, you know, as a youngster with wine in a negative way and.

Mainly not wine but fortified wine.

So the MD twenty twenty, you know, so the old mad dog as that were, But so I had some bad experiences with that. But you know, once I you know, was working for wenty and we were making primarily white wine, Gray Reasoning and Lebloc de blanc, which was a sweet Shinnon Bloc type, you know, I mean Shinnon Block was one of the great varieties, but sort of a sweet

Was like, wow, you know, maybe I do like wine, you know.

And so I just you know, kind of transferred over and started drinking wine. And then from there, you know, you at the time went he was changing over to from becoming a from being a white wine primarily producer of wines to you know, mari low Cabernet, sauvignon and chardonnay, and so you know then of course, and then I started traveling the world, you know, and then you know, all of a sudden, you know, it's like wow.

So so if we came to your home today and went to your wine cellar or into your wine refrigerator, or into the box in the closet, whatever whatever you have, what would we find in there? Is it a lot of wines you've made? Is it wines for around the world? Is it wins from Livermore? Are there particular great varieties that you tend to purchase? Like what would we find?

Well, I definitely have my share of mcgrail vineyards at home, and I do have I have two wine fridges at home and I have one here at the winery. It's obscene how much wine I have. But my latest thing, so, and I go in phases, right, So my latest kind of thing is I'm really discovering Italian wines and and you know, even though I'm a Cabernet sauvignon producer, and I love Cabernet sauvignon, I mean, and I think we're very very good at it, and I think this vineyard

The in the you know, the wine fridge.

And then the other thing is, for years I was a sort of kind of not really much of a Peanu the wi drinker, and so I have some some nice pianos now. And then granache is the one that I mean, a good grenache is an amazing wine to me. And the funny part about grenache is whether it's French, you know, or Spanish or whatever, is it's a very prolific grape. And so it's it's actually fairly cheap to grow compared to Cabernese, sevignon and things like that. So,

Variety of the things in your wine fridge and what you have at home. Is there something you opened up recently or this week at dinner last night, or something that drank really well?

My grenache bloc?

Yeah, you're a grenache block what vintage twenty twenty three? Nice and fresh? Yeah, So I'm curious. You know, you were talking about how you love grenache and that you've been introduced to these white grapes from Italy, and you know, you make world class cabernet, and you're talking about all these different grapes. Do you think there's a such thing as a perfect variety?

You know? That's that's a great question. You know.

I've heard it stated in a slightly different ways, like if you were stranded on a desert island, what would be the one great variety that you would want to drink the rest.

Of your life?

And I just don't know that I could ever answer that question only because I think time of the year, you know, like I'm talking about these white grape varieties right now, because it's summer and it's hot, you know, and it's like, but in the winter time, you know, I prefer the you know, the the boulder reds and things like that, you know, And and it also depends on what are you eating, you know.

So I don't know that there's a perfect wine.

There are many perfect wines, but I don't think there's one specific perfect wine.

Well, speaking of many perfect wines, sometimes that's determined by your palette. Sometimes that's determined by a wine critic who has declared it. So what is your opinion on wine critics and scores.

I I love it when they score.

My wine, well.

Say about it.

Yeah, well, I mean so, I mean, at the end of the day, we are all different, and you know, and everybody has moods.

For me, wine is it's a very mood, you know.

It's it's if you're in a good mood, you know, maybe wine tastes better. If you're in a bad mood,

Got a gold or a double gold.

And then another wine, same vintage, got a silver. And I'm reasonably confident that the silver metal had some kind of cork related problem and they didn't necessarily pick up on it. And I may not have either, because you know, TCA cork taint is when it's obvious, it's obvious, but when it's at a super micro level, it just sort of robs.

The fruit out of the wine.

But you don't you don't go, oh, this is corked, you know, Yeah, it's just this wine doesn't have any fruit.

Or on a panel. Like you said, it's subjective. Maybe one wine went to one panel and one went to another and they had different palettes.

Yeah, that's true too. Well yeah panels. Yeah, that's you're right about that. But anyway, at the end of the day, I'm fortunate enough to well, I have this wine making philosophy. It's very simple. I make wine I want to drink, and then I hope you like it too. And it's working out because we're getting pretty good scores.

Good so wine you like to drink, red, white or rose? Yes, still are sparkling.

Yes, we do make a We do make a sparkling wine now. So we have a Chardonnay vineyard we plan in twenty sixteen, I mentioned earlier, and so I wanted to make a little sparkling wine. And so now we have two vintages now of this Chardonnay. You know, we pick it a little early like you're supposed to do, and ferment it and then referment it and all that, and we're just getting ready to release our very first vintage.

That's exciting. So you mentioned just a few minutes ago, you know, food and wine pairing. You know, when I first asked you about the critics and scores, you kind of alluded there's a lot more. There's about perfect variety, about how there's a time and a place in what you're eating. So when it comes to pairing food and wine, do you follow rules? Do you think there are certain rules to follow? Are there guidelines you follow that you can share or do you not take it as seriously?

I'm no expert. Okay, I'm not an expert at it, but I am I'm very appreciative of those who are

And you know, petita or whatever, yeah, but.

That might actually work.

Yeah, I kind of think it does.

But but but you know, but I mean, just in all seriousness, I do think.

That I do.

I do think about it, like if I'm having a chicken dish at home, what wine I should be drinking with that? And you know, rather than you know, if I'm eating a steak, you.

Know, like I don't.

I don't drink you know, I don't eat a steak with my sobnim blanc, you know, and I don't, you know, and I don't drink a cab with my chicken necessarily, although that one can be but fish, let's say a white fish, right, a light white fish, or oysters or something like that, oysters and subnium blanc, you know. And then in general I really like my subnium blanc in my grenaches blanc in my rose with spicier foods like you can go the Asian spice or the Mexican spice

Right, absolutely so.

For somebody who hasn't had the pleasure to taste mcgrail Vineyards wines yet what do you think they're missing out on?

Well, I think that they're missing out on a delicious bottle of wine, no matter which one you pick.

Okay, well I'm gonna make you pick a wine now, because the question is this space aliens land on your property. They come knocking at the door, which wine of yours are you going to welcome them with? And say, this is mcgrail Vineyards.

Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. For sure, hands down. It's the genesis of the brand. It's what we're best at, is what we're most known for, and it's why people come back.

I love it. So you've been in the Livermore Valley most of your life. Obviously you have worked elsewhere when you were with Bonnie Dune, but you spent a lot of time here in your experience. And what do you see vintage telling you here in the Livermore Valley? Do you see a lot of consistency? Do you see variation from year to year? And you know, do you see more consistency or more variation especially of late.

Great great question, I see. I mean, I personally think there's a lot of consistency. Although weather has been.

A little crazier in the last ten years, let's say. But interesting, we do a lot of vertical tastings of our cabernets. We have James Vincent Cabernety Savignon, which is aged in one hundred percent French joke, and then we have our reserve Cabernety savignon that's aged in you know must you know, Hungarian, French and American, et cetera. I mean and experienced open all that, but completely from this vineyard.

Know, harbust is over and now you're sitting around you gotta do something.

So just based on that you can taste vintage variation, of course, and some of it is just you know, a twenty twelve cab doesn't taste like a twenty twenty cab, you.

Know, I mean, you know, period.

But I do feel like the consistency, at least here at mcgrail is very good and I'm pretty sure that most of the people that attend would.

Say the same.

But that being said, I've been watching the weather for forty something years now because of the business I'm in, and and I feel like in general our winters are a little warmer, and then our summers are wackier.

And what I mean as time has gone on.

Yeah, and what I mean by whack here is like this year we just got through like a heat spell of about a week and a half, give or take. Last summer we had basically no serious heat spells ever through the whole summer. And I would say normal in Livermore. We usually get a couple of really hot days into May, early June kind of thing.

July is usually hot, but not necessarily in the hundreds.

But we'll get We'll get a couple of days in July, we'll get a couple of days in August, and then.

We'll get a couple of days in September.

That's that's what I call a normal Livermore summer. But this year is clearly different than that. Last year was clearly different than that in a different way. Right, And so now the older, of course, the older, I get them more. I think there's no such thing as normal, which is thankful. I'm thankful because that means I'm normal.

So are there any sort of signs or predictors that you look for that'll tell you what a harvest is going to be?

Like, Well, at this point, we are hanging a beautiful crop. I think it's well balanced, and we'll never know until, of course, we harvest it. Like last year was very unusual because it was so cool all year.

And it was a pretty big crop.

So it's it's harder to ripe on a big crop, and so we harvested the latest I've ever harvested here.

But and you're pretty happy with what you're seeing.

I'm very happy with the end result. So you know, of course people talk about hang time of course, right, So my favorite thing about the wine business is every vintage is stellar. I just know how to spin it.

Well, I guess you know. You can look for signs, but you just don't know until you know.

Right, Yeah, I mean, right now we're looking. It's a little later than last than normal, if there's such a thing, but that heat spike that comes in September could speed everything up, and we still don't know what August is going to be.

Like my suspicion is and.

This is just based on forty years of experience exactly, is that we're going to continue to have some warm, warm summer and we're going to continue to progress, and harvest is going to come in pretty much on time.

You know, think about Labor Day weekend as being sort of the beginning of serious crush and in Halloween being the end of it. And so I feel like we're going to be right there. And you know, the good news is, like I said, in our case, and I think California in general, but in our case, we have a very balanced crop and it's a little less than last year. So I think, you know, I'm bullish. I think it's going to be good.

Any good luck rituals you have at the start of harvest.

I usually like to go swimming.

Okay where just in any body of water.

Well for sure, but in my I have a swimming pool in my backyard, and so we usually like to have a little pool party or something.

Like that after the first day. Yeah, okay, I'm curious. You have these vines here that we're surrounded by, that it's the original estate. You've been here a long time, you know, these vines you were saying that they're you know, behaving. They're they're they're pretty they're pretty good. Right now, I'm curious how much time you spend in the vineyards and what kind of communication you have with the vines.

Yes, I well, I've actually named all the vines.

One by one.

No, but I do. I do talk to them.

But I spend It depends on the time of the year, of course, but like this time of the year, I spend a lot more time in the vineyard because you know, you're watching the ripening of the fruit and all that stuff. But but I'm popping in and out of the vineyard pretty much a couple of times a week, and this time of the year more so, you know. Just and then I have so I have here, I have an assistant why maker, c. J. Molski, and then I have a viticulturist.

Rolando Medina. And so Rolando and I talk because he's really my eyes.

And he's the one who talks to the vines.

Yeah, no, for sure, he actually probably didn't name him, but he knows the vineyard better than I do, for sure by far. But he and I, you know, we get together and we look at different things and we talk about you know, pruning and different sections, and you know, each variety you want to handle differently, and how are we gonna you know, the challenges of grape growing is really the most important thing with wine making, no matter what anybody else says. And I know it's cliche to say,

And that's a discussion among two people. You don't have to tell the vines that, right, that's true. They have to just behave no they tell.

They actually tell us. Ah, they talk to you, well they do.

Because they you know, you go out there and they're like, I need more water.

The soil took it all. So when you were a little boy, what did you want to be when you grew up? I mean you said you've done you did a few jobs before you ended up working in one. But I mean, did you have aspirations for something else?

You know?

It's funny. I never really knew for sure what I wanted to be when I grew up, nor do I now, But there was a time in my life when I was, like I would say, between twelve and fifteen years old, that I wanted to be a deep sea diver. I wanted to be like an an underwater welder guy or something like that, because I heard they made good money.

But instead you became a winemaker and a musician. I'm curious. I know you're into music. Do you have a favorite singer group?

No, I mean I like a lot of you know, I just went to New Orleans and saw Cyril Neville, so I mean, I love and I just recently saw John Cleary, who's also from New Orleans here in Livermore.

Uh.

But I like a lot of different styles of music. But I would say it's got to be kind of funky, bluesy, you know, classic rock.

Is you know what I grew up with.

So you know, I grew up my father played the banjo, the five string banjo, so I grew up with bluegrass and then in high school, I played in uh, you know, classic rock cover bands, and we played the Eagles and the Doobie Brothers and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and I kind of still do that.

You know.

That's awesome. Yeah, So, if you were planning a romantic evening for yourself, what sort of wines get opened for a romantic evening? What sets a different tone than just a regular night.

Well, you start with bubbles, Okay, you gotta.

Start with bubbles, and soon it'll be your own bubbles.

Yes for sure.

Well yeah, actually we've done that, but because I mean I get the pre release.

Stuff right early access.

Yeah, it's I call it quality control. But definitely starts with that, and then you know, and then you move on to a white or a rose type thing, you know, appetizers, and then finish out, Well, the lady I'm seeing loves peen and noar, so you know, maybe a grenage, maybe a pean and noir.

So you got to keep her happy.

We if you want it to be truly romantic, you got to keep her happy.

So you've worked in the line industry for forty years and you've worked with a lot of different people and met people along the way. Is there a piece of advice and maybe it came from your parents, and maybe it came from one of these people along the way, that someone gave you that you try to live or work by.

Yeah, well that's an easy one. Is My father told me, whatever you do, be good at it, you know whatever. He said, I don't care if you're a garbage man or if you're you know, you know whatever in life as a as a career, be good at it. Be the best garbage man you could be, Be the best you know, guitar player, be the best wine maker whatever. So that that I mean, I still take that. And

You know.

It's like you can buy that chair and take it home and somebody could steal it, you know, but knowledge, you know, And I really really appreciated that.

So when you know you have a hopefully and most likely mastered being a winemaker and being the best you can be, I'm curious when you look back at your career, what would you say is one of your proudest achievements to date?

Last vintage.

And next sure it'll be the last vintage.

That's a great question. Well, I think actually being a part of mcgrail, you know, I was I've done a lot. I mean I've worked in a few different places, not a lot. And you know, I know there are people that bounce around a lot. I don't bounce around a lot. But but I think I the timing of my meeting the mcgrail family and what they were trying to do and where I was with my career really matched up perfectly. And and so I'm super happy to be a part of this project, is what I call it, you know.

They really want to make great wine.

And we don't shortcut the important and I mean I know that you can see the case goods behind us, but you know, even just the property itself. You know, it's a beautiful place, and they've done a great job of establishing this whole thing.

So complete this sentence. For me, a table without wine is like.

A day without sunshine.

A lyricist, you are another question for you. We're sitting at a long table. There are a lot of chairs on the table. We've got some bottles of your wine on the table. You've made them. Who from any walk of life, living or deceased, would you wish you could share a bottle of wine you made of mcgrel vineyards, wine made by your hand?

Oh? Man?

Uh wow, Well I always think of you know, you said living or deceased, So I always go to deceased for some reason.

But well, because that would be more of a fantasy, right right right?

John Lennon, Yeah, but or George Harrison, either one of those two gether only because they're dead beatles. But uh but I mean, seriously, oh, you know, I would really appreciate it if Robert Parker would taste my one.

Coming back to the critics.

Well why not? I mean, you know, I mean, I'm in the biz. I've been in the biz for all these years, and he's I'm sure he's never tasted my wine, probably doesn't even want to, and I totally respect that.

But yeah, Robert.

Parker, Okay, okay, So you mentioned at the beginning when I asked you one of those aha moment wines, you said, oh, you know that question when they ask you, what is that wine? You'd the grape you'd want to have on a deserted island. I'm gonna make it a little different. What three wines would you want to take if you were sent off to a deserted island?

Any three wines, Any three wines, well, Caebernie Savignon would definitely be top of.

The list, particularly what you've made or from somewhere else.

Something in the quality level of my Cab, But you know, it could be. I mean, I don't want to say, you know, there's some great Sonoma, some great Napa wines, but I tend to like my my Cab. But I know that that's a house palette.

So that's one.

Definitely Champagne and like true Champagne from Champagne and then man I am in love with Fiano Dave Lena, so that would.

Be the other one.

I think that's a good trio. Yeah, there you go. Well, I have a question for you now, because you know we talk about wine puts us in moods, and you know you've talked a little bit about how you know working with different grapes and how you love these wines, and I want you to put them to music. And I know that you have a musical background, as you said, your dad played the five string banjo. You have been

Okay, Savignon blanc. This this wine, I would I would pair this with.

I think, you know, I think of Joni Mitchell. There's a couple of songs like one is uh is called help Me Uh, and then the other one is in France.

They Kiss on Main Street.

Both those songs they're kind of very similar, but there's just something kind of cool.

It is kind of rock.

But it's kind of jazzy kind of and so and I think Sognon blanc is kind.

Of jazzy, you know, like.

When you first ran into Missus mcgrail and she asked you at your interview if you could make shardonay, and you make shardonay, So tell me what would you pair with your shortenay and what style of shardinay did you end up making?

Okay, shardonnay, we barrow ferment or shardenay, and we we put it through malalactic fermentation. So she likes the oaky, buttery style of shardonnay, which, by the way, I mean I have a lot of experience with and I do happen to like that, which is good because as I mentioned, I like I make wines. I want to drink absolutely,

That's okay, we don't part and conjures up an image in a sound, Yeah, okay, And then the last one you're Cabernet sauvignon, the one that you would give to the space Aliens, the one that is growing right outside the door here.

Home at Last by Steely Dan.

Very definitive on that one. I like it. That's fantastic. Well Mark, we've come to the end. You've made it through. It's been lovely chatting with you. And I have a two part question to end it with. You said, you're really into Italian wines right now, and I am curious. Maybe it's Italy, but is there one wine region in the world that's at the top of your bucket list to explore that you have yet to explore?

Well?

There, I mean, I've been to France, I've been to Portugal, I've been to Italy, but I really want to explore Spain.

Okay, okay. And the second part is for people who would like to come out explore the Livermore Valley. How can they find mcgrill Vineyards And when they get here, what will they find? What can they experience here? What does this property offer?

Well, we are we're on Greenville Road, which is an exit off the I five eighty feet freeway.

So and the good news is if you if you take it.

And you go the wrong way, you'll know right away. But so we're I don't know, a mile and a half off the freeway and then we're near Poppy Ridge golf Course. If you're a golfer, you know by the way. And then I think, if you know, once you get here and it's it's like I said, it's pretty easy to get here. You will find some great views. I think the wines are excellent, and over and above that, the hospitality.

Is really good here.

We have a great staff and you will be welcomed and you will be you know, I think, enjoy yourself. We do a lot of different things. If you come on a Friday night, we have Friday night music, we have you know, you know, the other day we had yoga on the lawn.

We had pilates on the lawn.

We have all kinds of things going on because it's really important to you know, exercise.

But it's even more important to enjoy wine while you do that.

Absolutely absolutely, So that's fantastic. So come on out to mcgrail Vineyards. The views are pretty spectacular. You can sit out on the deck and look out across the valley with these rolling hills spotted with vineyards. It's it's pretty beautiful. It looks like a postcard, I have to say, so, come check out this postcard for yourself. Come taste the lines and I'm ready to come go taste a little more wine. And Mark, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you, Alison, it's a pleasure to meet you.

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