Slamdance Kooperatieve Wines
480 Marquita Ave Suite A, Paso Robles, CA
Region: Paso Robles
Owner: Daniel Callan
Winemaker: Daniel Callan
About: A native of Virginia, Daniel Callan started his winemaking career in the Commonwealth. After working his first harvest under the guidance of Nate Walsh in 2012, Callan began traveling abroad to seek out winemaking apprenticeships around the New World, working in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Paso Robles, and Chile. Working a furious schedule of 2 or 3 harvests a year, he would rack up 20 vintages in half as many years, learning from Chris Alheit, Pedro Parra, and Raj Parr. The Covid years brought his travels to an abrupt end and Callan, settling in Paso Robles, California, would turn his attention to his own project. Inspired by the “California Burgundy” wines of Pre-Prohibition (a tradition continued up through the 1970s by legendary producers like BV), Callan sought to resurrect a forgotten style that hearkens back to California’s earliest winemaking traditions. The wine is built around the old workhorse grapes of premodern California, often misidentified and sometimes now existing only in California: Napa Gamay (aka Valdiguie), Cabernet Pfeffer (Mourtaou), Pinot St George (Negrette), Black Malvoisie (Cinsault), Crabb’s Black Burgundy (Mondeuse Noir), Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and others. All the genetic material has been in California since before Prohibition began, in 1920. The winemaking is similarly old-fashioned: whole bunches are thrown into wooden vats, trodden underfoot to release juice, fermented with wild yeast, and no additions to the must. Punchdowns are done by hand and the only machinery used is a basket press. The wine is racked by gravity and respectfully sulfured before bottling.
What is your favorite forgotten grape? The Mission Vine (aka Listan Prieto)
What was your first experience with a forgotten grape? While working harvest in South Africa, where I got to see and work with old bushvine Steen (Chenin Blanc), Groendruif (Semillon), and Hermityk (Cinsault).
What do you love most about the forgotten grapes? The historical and cultural baggage that comes with them.
