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Dornfelder, Mencia, and Picpoul Blanc are not the usual wines produced by a California winery. PRIE Winery & Vineyards expresses their wine geek through their boutique wines, made from unique varietals, with single vineyard and small production bottlings. Taking pride in what Mother Nature gives each year, PRIE doesn’t have a style, rather they make what is found in the winegrapes that year. That leads to the wines often having a different expression from year to year, since PRIE doesn’t manipulate the grapes to achieve a consistent flavor profile.
John Gash at the "Lodi in Los Angeles: Lodi Wines Rule" event Feb 2018
Courtesy of PRIE Winery & Vineyards
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Courtesy of PRIE Winery & Vineyards
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PRIE Winery & Vineyards is a dream incarnate, a passion project of John and Lisa Gash. The couple, living and working in Livermore Valley, became enamored with wine. Lisa started making wine for friends and family in 2005, a hobby that took on a life of its own. As praise started rolling in, John took notice, and the couple developed into self-taught home winemakers. In 2010, they turned more serious, buying fruit from Lodi’s Soucie Vineyard, and jumping into commercial production. By this time, they were all in, purchasing the Cliff Mettler house and vineyard in Lodi in 2012, building a winery the following year. and opening a tasting room in 2015.
(L-R) Forest, Lisa, Paige, and John Gash/Courtesy of PRIE Winery
Today their operation has grown, producing eighteen different wines, the majority of which are red. Their current selection includes three whites, one Carignane rosé, ten reds, and one late harvest Zinfandel, that meets PRIE’s goal of producing wines that best express the grape and the region. It’s a family winery, the word “Prie”, Old Middle English for the number 3, encapsulates three generations working together. John and Lisa work alongside their two children, Forest and Paige, and Lisa’s father, Gordy, who also pitches in for a salary of cookies.
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Phil Silver in Lodi September 2017
PRIE Winery & Vineyards was featured at an LA Wine Writers lunch this past February. Phil Silver, PRIE’s marketing and distribution representative, poured five of their wines, paired with Napa Valley Grille’s excellent food. As Silver pointed out, “There is no Prie style, that’s one of the goals we have, there is a surprise in every bottle you uncork. Our wines are very vintage driven, you won’t taste the same thing year after year. That’s the difference between the winemaker manipulating the wine into what they want it to be, versus what the wine actually tastes like.”
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First course
The 2017 PRIE Grenache Clair PRIE Vineyard Lodi (SRP $23) is fascinating in that it is not a Grenache Blanc, but the actual red varietal Grenache that is processed as a white wine. The fruit pulp is almost colorless, so the secret to making a white wine from red grapes is to destem and crush the fruit, then immediately press it, draining the juice off the skins right away, not allowing the juice to rest on the skins, where it could absorb color. What this technique actually accomplishes is the mouthfeel, texture and subtle structure of a red wine swirling inside the body of a white wine. A perfumed nose of pear, melon, and white flowers (honeysuckle and jasmine) opens up to a dry, higher acid wine, with flavors of stone fruit, dried herbs, and mineral notes, making for a refreshing wine. Chef Kenny Spost crafted a home run pairing, a B & B Salad made of butter lettuce, fresh berries, Nueske bacon, and buttermilk dressing, This wine would also work well with sushi and shellfish.
The 2017 PRIE Grenache Clair PRIE Vineyard Lodi (SRP $23) is fascinating in that it is not a Grenache Blanc, but the actual red varietal Grenache that is processed as a white wine. The fruit pulp is almost colorless, so the secret to making a white wine from red grapes is to destem and crush the fruit, then immediately press it, draining the juice off the skins right away, not allowing the juice to rest on the skins, where it could absorb color. What this technique actually accomplishes is the mouthfeel, texture and subtle structure of a red wine swirling inside the body of a white wine. A perfumed nose of pear, melon, and white flowers (honeysuckle and jasmine) opens up to a dry, higher acid wine, with flavors of stone fruit, dried herbs, and mineral notes, making for a refreshing wine. Chef Kenny Spost crafted a home run pairing, a B & B Salad made of butter lettuce, fresh berries, Nueske bacon, and buttermilk dressing, This wine would also work well with sushi and shellfish.
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Second Course
The 2017 PRIE Vermentino Delu Vineyard Lodi (SRP $21) is fragrant, a medium bodied, mineral wine with citrus peel and floral (violet and lavender) aromas. Lighter in alcohol, it’s refreshing with lemony citrus, pear and dried herb flavors, a perfect pair for seafood pastas and vegetables such as asparagus, peas, fennel, fava beans, and artichokes. Our dish was a Linguini Vongole, made with littleneck clams, tossed with white wine, red chili flakes, and chopped parsley, perfect with the Vermentino.
The 2017 PRIE Vermentino Delu Vineyard Lodi (SRP $21) is fragrant, a medium bodied, mineral wine with citrus peel and floral (violet and lavender) aromas. Lighter in alcohol, it’s refreshing with lemony citrus, pear and dried herb flavors, a perfect pair for seafood pastas and vegetables such as asparagus, peas, fennel, fava beans, and artichokes. Our dish was a Linguini Vongole, made with littleneck clams, tossed with white wine, red chili flakes, and chopped parsley, perfect with the Vermentino.
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Third Course
The 2017 PRIE Mencia Silvaspoons Vineyard Lodi (SRP $33) is the first vintage of the first California harvest for this grape. A Spanish varietal, it has a meaty, fruity nose with herbal accents, a juicy, savory wine, well-balanced and exhibiting black tea and currant flavors, very delicious!
The 2016 PRIE Incorrigible PRIE/Phelps Vineyards Lodi (SRP $29), an unusual blend of Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel, brings out the best of both varietals. Definitely considered a “wine geek” wine, the estate Cabernet Franc portion presents green pepper, anise, cassis, and spice notes within the Zinfandel blackberry, herbal and white pepper character, as well as a smoky, briary personality. Served with Braised Pork Tacos, with a ginger cilantro sauce, queso fresco, and pickled red onion, it would also pair well with roast chicken, pork chops, sausages and lamb.
The 2017 PRIE Mencia Silvaspoons Vineyard Lodi (SRP $33) is the first vintage of the first California harvest for this grape. A Spanish varietal, it has a meaty, fruity nose with herbal accents, a juicy, savory wine, well-balanced and exhibiting black tea and currant flavors, very delicious!
The 2016 PRIE Incorrigible PRIE/Phelps Vineyards Lodi (SRP $29), an unusual blend of Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel, brings out the best of both varietals. Definitely considered a “wine geek” wine, the estate Cabernet Franc portion presents green pepper, anise, cassis, and spice notes within the Zinfandel blackberry, herbal and white pepper character, as well as a smoky, briary personality. Served with Braised Pork Tacos, with a ginger cilantro sauce, queso fresco, and pickled red onion, it would also pair well with roast chicken, pork chops, sausages and lamb.
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Fourth Course
The 2016 PRIE Old Vine Zinfandel Soucie Vineyard Lodi (SRP $35) is smooth and robust, with blackberry and blueberry fruit, briary and smoky with herbal and spice notes, an elegant, well-balanced wine, made from the fruit of 100-year-old vines. Paired with Lamb Two Ways, a braised lamb shoulder and rack, with baby kale, San Andreas goat cheese and a mint-pomegranate reduction, it was perfect, but could also work with BBQ and pulled pork.
The 2016 PRIE Old Vine Zinfandel Soucie Vineyard Lodi (SRP $35) is smooth and robust, with blackberry and blueberry fruit, briary and smoky with herbal and spice notes, an elegant, well-balanced wine, made from the fruit of 100-year-old vines. Paired with Lamb Two Ways, a braised lamb shoulder and rack, with baby kale, San Andreas goat cheese and a mint-pomegranate reduction, it was perfect, but could also work with BBQ and pulled pork.
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PRIE wines are elegant and balanced, alive and vibrant in the glass, great on their own or even better with food. So affordably-priced, every bottle testifies to the incredible terroir that the Lodi region encompasses. PRIE colors outside the lines, crafting amazing wines that are vintage-driven, and which truly embrace the wine geek inside of us all.