EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS PHOTO BY NEESA SONOQUIE
15 MINUTES
WTHE GOODS
Following his nose
Oroville’s wine scene thrives
Sommelier and chef David McCluskey isn’t afraid to take risks. He spends his days at a local startup company and his free hours on his passion project, Spare Barrel. For the virtual winery, McCluskey buys wine that he falls in love with from wineries selling excess bulk product, which he then finesses to his liking and bottles for sale online. This particular angle of the wine business has its roots in France, where merchantvintners such as McCluskey are known as wine négociants, and it is an affordable way to get started in an expensive and competitive wine market. Spare Barrel has been in business in Chico for about two years, with two releases available—a cabernet sauvignon that won a silver medal in the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition and a petit verdot. Visit the Spare Barrel website at sparebarrelwines.com for a peek at what McCluskey is up to and to get on an email list for future releases.
so boring and repetitious.
How do you choose your wines? Primarily it’s what I can find that’s really good and perhaps a little unusual. … [M]y cab ... is from Pine Mountain, which has some of the highest vineyards in the Sonoma area. It is super rocky there and kind of cool, so the wines have a different profile. They’ve got higher acid and a little bit more green in them because it’s harder to reach full ripeness. For me, it’s about where uniqueness and flavor intersect; that’s what I am looking for.
How did the idea for Spare Barrel come about? I started this with the idea that instead of just drinking the same wine all the time I wanted to do something different. I would go find micro-lots of awesome stuff and bottle it myself—maybe it needs a little refining, a little filtering, a little blending or a few tweaks, but then maybe it’s not
What are some of the challenges of running a virtual winery? The way to get people to buy wine is to let them taste it, so that is my big challenge right now. I cannot physically show up at the farmers’ market and
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pour samples—for me, that’s illegal. The only real avenues for people in Chico to taste my wine prior to purchasing it are through a wine bar or restaurant that has bought my wine to sell or at a nonprofit event where I have donated the wine.
What makes Spare Barrel special? I put wines in bottle that are good on many levels. They’re not going to have flaws, they’ll be good now but they’ll be good in 15 years, they’re going to be interesting and they’re going to be a good value. My reputation as a person, as a nose, and as a tongue is what you have to trust. I’m not going to sell you anything I wouldn’t drink myself, and I’ve got pretty high standards. —NEESA SONOQUIE ne ss as @new srev i ew. c o m
by
Meredith J. Cooper meredithc@newsreview.com
With Butte County Wine Week starting tomorrow (June 7), it seemed a fitting time to check in on what our local wineries are up to. We highlighted a handful of them in our cover package (see page 18), and as I was sniffing around for other winerelated bits of news, I discovered a new offering from the folks at Live Vine Vineyard & Winery: cider. It seemed like a perfect reason to visit the estate, which overlooks the Lake Oroville Afterbay, and sit down with owners Shawn and Susan Smith. As a fun bonus, Shawn gave me a tour of the vineyard, which includes a variety of grapes, from syrah and zinfandel to viognier and grenache. One of the more unique offerings I found in their tasting room was a viogniersyrah blend, which Susan characterized perfectly as being a bit “peppery.” They also have a few rosés—a syrah and a grenache. My favorite of those that I tasted was also their best-seller: the Euphoria blend of syrah, barbera and zinfandel. Fruity and perfectly smooth. The couple recently launched Smith House Cider, which I also got a chance to try. It’s crisp and fresh—not at all sweet. Shawn told me they also make a Hopped Up Viking mead. Both are a way to keep busy during the off-season. The Smiths also are hard at work setting up a new winery/tasting room, as their current spot— which they opened in 2017—is at their home. It’s just around the corner from them, so they can go back and forth on a golf cart. I wish them luck!
OTHER O-TOWN NEWS While I was in Oroville, I figured I’d check in on a few other places I hadn’t been to in a while. First up, Butte County Wine Co., which happens to serve Live Vine wines and Smith House Cider (along with a ton of other local beverages). The place was hopping, which is always a good sign, and I learned they’re now serving champagne brunch on weekends and hope to launch an appetizer menu soon. From there, I moseyed around the corner to Miner’s Alley Brewing Co., which also has an impressive local wine list (in fact, they serve only local wines). I chatted briefly with the bartender, who informed me that the place had just been sold— to Brian Wong, owner of Tong Fong Low. We should expect a few changes there in the coming months. RUMOR HAS IT I’ve seen some hubbub on social media lamenting the closure of the Winchester Goose. At first, I dismissed the rumor, as I knew the bar was planning to move across the street. Upon further investigation, however, it appears the Goose may, in fact, be a thing of the past. Do not fear, however: A little birdie tells me the old Goose won’t be empty long—I hear there are plans to reopen that space as The Bank Club, an ode to a business that resided there years ago. Stay tuned for details as I get them.
A Menu From Around the World • 10 New Menu Items • Breakfast & Lunch • Authentic Flavors - Exceptional Service!
Real CideR Made FroM
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Farm to Cidery Dinner with TurkeyTail Farm Sunday, June 16 • Tickets at brownpapertickets.com 2175 Baldwin Ave Oroville 95966 (530) 533-7720
Breakfast Grill
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Lassen TRADITIONAL CIDERY
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26 Bellarmine Ct., Chico • 530.593.0555 JUNE 6, 2019
CN&R
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