80 South Bay Accent CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: DAN SULLIVAN; COURTESY OF CLOS DE LA TECH; CHIP ALLEN PHOTOGRAPHY half a day to 20 minutes. Rodgers also invented a chip-controlled fermentation system with wireless monitoring. He built and donated a 152-tank, $3.5 million version of this system to UC Davis and also uses it in his own winery. As part of his ongoing efforts in tannin management, Rodgers has always insisted on foot-crushing the grapes—an arduous task that falls to wetsuit-clad Massey. Thus he is working on an ingenious device that can crush grapes via prosthetic feet. “It will be as close as we can get to human foot stomps,” he explains. Nothing is too esoteric for Rodgers to tackle, such as an aroma recovery project now underway aimed at capturing the droplets of bouquet that are blown out of the liquid during fermentation by carbon dioxide. Nevertheless, “I’m not interested in the commercial wine business,” Rodgers insists. “There’s no money to be made in winemaking equipment. I’d rather run an $800 million chip company.” With so much passion and investment in Clos de la Tech, the obvious questions involve whether it’s profitable and has reached its lofty goal of making pinot noir for the ages. The profitability question seems beside the point; as a consummate intellectual and challenge-seeker, Rodgers is clearly enjoying every minute of the quest and can afford what is spent along the way. However, Massey—who oversees a 20-person crew and recently hired a wine marketing firm—is sensitive about the topic. “I’d love to make a profit for T.J. because I know how hard he works for the money he brings in to help us lose some in the winery,” she says. “I guess we’re doing (Clos de la Tech) 100 percent out of love.” As for whether the wine has hit the bull’s-eye yet as measured against Planet Earth’s best, Rodgers demurs. “It’s difficult to measure, and it’s certainly arrogant for me to say anything and I won’t,” he comments, but adds, “We always show well (when tasted against) the best pinots in the world.” Massey—who knows her partner better than anyone—has a different take: “He never thinks we’re there because there’s always something more you can do. That’s a goal, and it’s always going to be a goal. He thinks that the moment you rest on your laurels, you’re done.” Clos de la Tech now produces just 2,000 cases annually but intends to increase that fivefold by expanding the main vineyard and continuing techniques to increase yield. The current release encompasses five pinot noirs from the 2009 vintage that cost from $42 to $102 each. They can be tasted and purchased at the Half Moon Bay Wine & Cheese Company (owned by Rodgers) and are also sold at the three Draeger’s Markets on the Peninsula, Robert’s Markets (Woodside and Portola Valley) and Vinocruz in Santa Cruz, as well as some restaurants. n Clockwise from left: The winery at Domaine du Docteur Rodgers, where the vines are planted with the same narrow spacing as those at Domaine Lois Louise—4,150 per acre; Dollar, the couple’s Parson Russell terrier, checks veraison; the fermentation cave is designed to support the 56 unique blocks at Domaine Lois Louise.
South Bay Accent - Aug/Sep 2014
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