Do you ever get a feeling you are going to like someone before you have met them? Well, that's the feeling I had when I finally caught up with Gary Cornick, co-owner of the new Six Strings Winery in San Juan Bautista. Gary and I had been conversing via e-mail for the past year, waiting patiently for the first wines at Six Strings to mature and be released.
Lucky for me, that day arrived just a few days ago. We met for dinner and were joined by his lovely wife, Antje.
Cornick became enchanted with wine during the time he spent as a professional songwriter and musician, living and working in Europe. When he returned to the United States in 1994, he hung up his six-string as a professional and started cutting his teeth by growing grapes and making wine at home. His passion for wine and music led him into contact with Iain Crabb, a long-time guitar player and winemaker from Sonoma, who is now Gary's business partner and winemaker at Six Strings.
Both Gary and Iain believe there is a strong synergy between wine and music - and it is that fusion that they artistically want to convey in their wines.
The first wine I tried from Six Strings was a barrel sample of their 2006 chardonnay, the fruit coming from the famed Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey. Even from the barrel, this wine was soft and floral, with good fruit and a note of grassiness. "Very Burgundian," we exclaimed simultaneously as we raised our glasses to toast for the first, but not the last, time. The September release of this wine will certainly please many wine lovers out there.
"There are parallel experiences in being a songwriter/musician to that of being involved in the wine making business. First and foremost, you have to be a bit crazy. Second, for me, I always approached music as a labor of love, the same way we are approaching the making of wine at Six Strings.
"I do not want to feel this work is a pain in the butt," Gary said. "I also know, much like some of the music I wrote, that not everyone is going to like the wine we are making.
"Musicians and winery owners need to have thick skin. Your wines will not please everyone. Making wine and making music are creative processes."
The next wine I tried was the 2005 Monterey County pinot noir. Like the chardonnay before it, the young wine needed a bit of time and oxygen to really open up the aromas. As the main course of our meal progressed, the pinot's pepper, smoke and cherry fruit started to come forward, but with harmonious subtlety.
Six Strings will also be releasing a 100 percent cabernet sauvignon in the fall, this fruit coming from a single vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley area of Sonoma.
The vineyard is using bio-dynamic farming techniques, a method that is becoming more popular in the wine industry.
The fruit does not fall far from the vine when it comes to music. The Cornicks' daughters are talented too! Shannon, 13, is a multi-instrumentalist who plays clarinet, saxophone, flute and piano.
Alisha, 15, is also an instrumentalist and volleyball player on the San Benito High School team.
Seeing first hand the struggles that many public school music programs are facing, Iain and Gary are developing a unique program called Six Strings ABC's or "Artists Benefiting Children."
The goal is to establish some relationships with selected, well known artists who share a love for wine and music education.
Each artist in the program will have a special release of one of the Six Strings wines, complete with a custom label and special words that brings the artist's message about music to life.
Each of the wine releases under this program will have a percentage of revenues that will be dedicated to supporting local and national music education for children.
"We know how beneficial music education can be in the development of young minds. As we involve more people, ask them to contribute some time - and with a little bit of luck - we can make a huge difference," Gary said.
The annual production at Six Strings will be about 1,000 cases. Some of Six String's wines have already been purchased directly to mailing list subscribers and will soon be carried at the Tres Pinos Inn.
"Our long term goal is to pace ourselves. We want to continue creating high quality wine that is inspired by great music," Gary said with pride.
That, coupled with their compassion for giving back to the community, is a melody I could listen to over and over.
Cheers!
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