A Lady’s Dispatch from the New World

From her perch in some tasting room Lady Whistledrunk tells the tale of New World Wines in Jamestown…

Gentle drinkers, names like Gianelli and Hovey are not strangers to those of us who drink vin local here or in Calaveras County. A name that you may not know yet is Cody LaPertche, winemaker for Gianelli Vineyards, Hurst Ranch and his own New World wines. His New World tasting room and wine bar is at 18204 Main Street, Jamestown. Please allow me the introduction, my dear gentle drinkers:

Worthy of high praise indeed…

Cody LaPertche is one of this drinker's favorite wine people to talk with; full of knowledge, hands-on experience, opinions and enthusiasm for the oft messy business of winemaking from dirt to glass. This week I gathered my skirts onto a stool and we chatted over a glass of one of his favorites, the 2019 Hurst Cabernet Franc and one of mine, a 2019 Hurst Ranch Petite Syrah. The tasting room showcases a melange of Cody’s passions: “coffee, art and wine”, a coffee shop in the back and his own gallery showcasing the art of Leslie Hurst and Patrick Carnahan out front. Of course, there is always a generous selection of the wines he makes. As we talk he waters his plants and discusses lighting choices–as you do.

Cody is a local Jamestown fellow through and through with an obvious love for, and sense of, “this place”. His journey into winemaking is all serendipity. It started with meeting the Gianelli’s while working at Willow Street Saloon during high school (their tasting room was next door), pestering them to work on the bottle line, harvest, then into the cellar and a winemaking apprenticeship with his mentor, the legendary Chuck Hovey (Stevenot, Gianelli, Hovey). All while still in his early 20s my dears! Chuck Hovey unfortunately had a stroke in 2015, passing away in 2019. Cody lost his mentor and friend after just four years of working together at Gianelli’s. Despite his young age, Cody was able to take over the reins at Gianelli and their seven different labels at the time, walking successfully in Chuck Hovey’s large boots with a little help from his friends.

The Dirt on Tuolumne County Winegrowing

Our Tuolumne County can be a beastly place to grow vines but also holds many ingredients for success if managed properly. It is a mysterious business indeed, gentle drinkers. The soils are full of decomposed granite–forcing the vine roots to dive deep for water and nutrients–but also clay which helps retain a necessary smidgeon of water–thoroughtly unique to California. This is important because, at this low altitude, managing water without local natural sources is a daily artform. We know by living here that this area around Jamestown can be wretchedly hot during the growing season. So many decisions must be made, and sometimes some mistakes, to get to the grapes successfully to harvest and beyond. This is where good farming practices can really start to shine, gentle drinkers!

Gianelli’s has long been a staple in Tuolumne County for Italian wines. The soil here is very similar to that of the lovely Tuscan countryside and our long growing season makes it a natural match for a broad range of Italian varieties. This includes some pretty interesting, even arcane ones. Not wanting to book passage to the old world, this is what brought me to New World for the first time and hopefully will be for you as well, gentle drinkers! At Gianelli, Cody makes not just their own branded wines but those for a number of clients including Hurst Ranch. Not one to blow his own horn, Cody considers his New World Wine as just another “client”. 

Cody’s focus remains on listening to the grapes, keeping the wines fresh and fruit forward with good acidity, manageable alcohol levels and signature refined and soft tannins. If you are new to some of the varietals like Montepulciano, Aglianico, Nebbiolo or Vermentino then these wines can provide a very gracious introduction in his hands. Successful business here rides on choosing a diversity of grape varieties to match our unique growing conditions, proper vine management, small, manageable plots, and strong winemaking technique that lets the wines tell the story of the land–all as it should be.

Beyond the infernally modern winemaking processes on hand, Cody values the lessons he learned from Chuck and other local winemakers about this challenging business: it is all about the farming, the passion, the chemistry, the paperwork, the business, the winemaking clients, learning from your mistakes, keeping the whole operation running and being proud and passionate about your product. In the end, regardless of the effects of climate change, a changing audience and changing tastes, Cody believes in survival of–and a future for–the *successful good wine* in Tuolumne County.

Pouring at New World Wine Co. at the moment, you can taste a capital selection of Gianelli Italian wines like Nebbiolo, Aglianico, and Montepulciano and some of the French varieties including Cabernet Franc and Petit Syrah from Hurst Ranch. The selection changes fairly regularly and there is always an amusing wine or two from smaller producers like those of his friends and winegrowing partners at LaFolia–from “the other side of the river" oh my!.

If you miss sitting in repose at the Hurst Ranch or Gianelli tasting rooms exploring Tuolumne wines (and you know I relish the dignity of such things), then I urge you, gentle drinkers, to come to Jamestown and drink their wines again in a convivial space with such a welcoming winemaker. I usually find Cody there from 1pm onwards,Thursday through Sunday.  I urge you, my gentle drinkers, to pick your own favorites and tell Cody that Lady Whistledrunk sent you! You never know, I might be the nosy old woman sitting next to you…

Cheers my dears!

Lady Whistledrunk

For more of Cody’s story and Tuolumne winemaking, B.J. Hansen featured Cody and his New World Wine Co. last year on his Sierra Wine Trails Podcast. Give it a listen: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-wpyc8-1965019