LIOCO Wine Offer

I can see Matt Licklider in my mind. I know right where he is. He's standing in front of me. Well, maybe a little to the left, but he's right there, and he's got a glass of wine in his hand. And he's laughing. He's always laughing. That's Matt. 

From here on out, you're just going to have to go with me and take my word for it, because we're about to go on a journey through time and space. Stick with me gang, this'll be fun... There might be some David Bowie to listen to along the way. Put the needle to the record at the beep.

BEEP! Cue "Space Odyssey," David Bowie, 1969

It was aught eight, or aught nine, I was fresh to California from New York. The restaurant world in LA was going through an upheaval. It was a revolution. It was a really cool time to be in the resto scene. The Michelin Guide had thrown up its hands and said, LA cares more about movie stars than Michelin stars, we're outta' here. And with that, came a beautiful freedom—we'd all seemed collectively to do what we wanted, and we were going to have FUN with it. It was GO time. LA was our oyster. There were maybe a handful of Somms when I first got to LA in '08, but by the time I left in 2020, there were hundreds. It was the heyday of Sommhood; things were popping off. That place exploded. Food and Wine was what powered everyone's engines. The stage was set, the curtain raised. So there we were, a rag tag group of rebel Winemakers, Somms, and Chefs who somehow skipped the pomposity of "Haute Cuisine" and zeroed in on doing what we loved. And we shared it. If Michelin was going to snub us, then forget it, we were going to dance like no one was watching. And boy, did we dance... 

BEEP! Cue "Let's Dance," David Bowie, 1983

At the forefront, but in the backroom (why was the cool stuff always in the back room?) at Lucques, the coolest of cool restaurants, illuminated by legendary Chefs and Restauranteurs Caroline Styne and Suzanne Goin, was Matt Licklider. And he was drinking wine. Drinking wine and laughing.

BEEP! Cue "Rebel, Rebel," David Bowie, 1974

I don't know how, but somehow this is getting away from me, I'm going to try and reel it in. I'm getting dangerously close to gilding the lilly, so I'll just come right out and say it—LIOCO was a movement. LA broke up with Michelin and hit the single's scene. It was time. LIOCO was wine by Somms, for Somms—it's California for the Cognoscenti. This is what the cool kids sip.

Up here at Mayacama, when Matt came in to pour for the Men's Member-Guest, we got to talking about White Burgundy. I try not to use the B-word (Burgundian) when speaking of California wine because frankly, I think it’s rude to both parties. But, if you get a winemaker and a somm into a room, I can guarantee White Burgundy will be brought up in a sentence. So, for fun, I blind tasted Matt on a White Burgundy. A PYCM, also known as sommelier crack. And he nailed it; down to the vintage and producer, the whole nine yards! He dropped his wine key like a mic. The guy knows what he’s tasting. This leads us, of course, to the LIOCO Skycrest Chard. It’s phenomenal—mineral, bright, full of depth. But don’t blindly listen to Matt and me, if you want to try it, we've got it at the Clubhouse BTG (By The Glass). Mayacama is pretty cool like that...

2023 LIOCO, Skycrest Vineyard, Chardonnay, Anderson Valley $70

I did a vineyard walk up at Skycrest a few years back with a bunch of Sommeliers as a part of some sort of Anderson Valley Study. I don't remember exactly who put it on, but we drove all the way up to Skycrest, and it's pretty aptly named. I remember how steep it was, and how quickly the weather changed. Matt was there, talking about his love for Old Wente clone and what it was to farm all the way up at the edge of the sky. I can't reveal who may have said this, but SOMEONE has said they think 2023 may be their best vintage of Skycrest yet.

2023 LIOCO, “Casa Seca,” Chardonnay, Russian River Valley $70

"Casa Seca" is one of those cool secret vineyards hiding in plain sight. It's right smack between Dehlinger and Kistler on Vine Hill Rd. You've probably driven right by them at the cross of Guerneville Rd and Vine Hill Rd, and looked up at the old Octagon house on the Hill that Tom Dehlinger built in the early days of Dehlinger. That in-between section came to be known as Garbro Ranch, honoring the Garcia Brothers who farmed apples on the land for over a hundred years. Up on the old Garbro Ranch is an old drying house from the 1880's, or a "Casa Seca". They've got three distinct old Wente Clones of Chard planted there, and in '89, ten acres were grafted over with some cuttings of historic Swan clone Pinot directly from the Dehlinger Vineyard.

2023 LIOCO, “Sealift,” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast $70

"Sealift" is a "True Coast" vineyard. It's at 700ft. between the first and second ridge from the sea. There's been a big push over the last ten or twenty years for the "True Coast" to get its due, and separate from the lovely, but not always coastal, "Sonoma Coast". Unless, of course, you consider the Russian River Valley to be coastal. I, however, will stay out of the fray, and leave this argument to the cartographers and zealots. The "Sealift" vineyard holds it's own, looking south to Hirsch and north to Peay, two of the famed standouts of the area. Ideal for "high energy pinots"—LIOCO's kind of wine.

2023 LIOCO, Edmeades Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley $70

You'll think me a traitor, but there's something really pretty about Anderson Valley Pinot. I'm not saying it's better, I'm sure not going to fall into that trap. But there's an honesty, a forthrightness, a genuine love of the game and good sportsmanship that comes with some of the Anderson Valley Pinots. Edmeades is the oldest vineyard in Anderson Valley. First planted in 1963 to a variety of clones, the standouts today for Matt and Sarah are the three blocks they chose including (but of course) "some magic Swan clone they'd first tasted in Copain's cellar in 2019." With 25% whole cluster fermentation and 17 months in the barrel, this is my kind of Pinot. 

2022 LIOCO, Monte Rosso Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Moon Mountain $100

The legendary Monte Rosso Vineyard may have some of the oldest Cabernet in all of California, dating back to the 1880's. Up above the town of Sonoma, it takes its name from the red soils of the land. Unfined, unfiltered, and fermented with only native yeasts, the clone 8 is a low yielding dry farmed lot, the clone 4 is from a cooler, north facing aspect farther down the mountain. Says Matt, "This mountain Cabernet vineyard produces profound, long-lived wines with few equals in Sonoma County."

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of the Mayacama wine program. We’re incredibly excited to offer these exceptional wines to our Members, and I encourage you to reach out with any questions or requests—I’m always happy to chat wine.

Cheers!

Jared Hooper, Wine Director

WINES BEING OFFERED: (sold in 3-packs)

2023 Chardonnay, LIOCO, Skycrest Vineyard, Anderson Valley ($210/3-pack)

2023 Chardonnay, LIOCO, "Casa Seca," Russian River Valley ($210/3-pack)

2023 Pinot Noir, LIOCO, "Sealift", Sonoma Coast ($210/3-pack)

2023 Pinot Noir, LIOCO, Edmeades Vineyard, Anderson Valley ($210/3-pack)

2022 Cabernet Sauvignon, LIOCO, Monte Rosso Vineyard, Moon Mountain District ($300/3-pack)