Had any decent Cabernet Pfeffer lately?
It is a varietal and three vineyards in San Benito County claim they are growing the grape. Evidently, Wiliam Pheffer crossed a cab and trousseau grape in the mid to late 1860s in the Los Altos Hills area in California. Kind of obscure/rare, Kenneth Volk of Kenneth Volk Vineyards, Santa Maria, CA--formerly of Wildhorse fame has done just that. Very interesting, spicey, delicious cab. More later. Gary
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Larry Chandler on -
It sounds definitely worth trying. I see it's on Ken Volk's website. I'll order a few and see what it's like. I've heard Trousseau also referred to as Cabernet Gros or Bastardo. One reference said it was really Petite Sirah, but who knows.
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Permalink Reply by Gary Miller on -
Over a year ago I tried to research this puppy and could only come up with this Cabernet and Trousseau cross. I told Ken about this and asked him what he knew. He said not much but he'd look into it. He came up with about zilch so he got some clippings from two of the three vineyards up in San Benito County who sell the grapes.
Ken did a DNA test on them and found out the cuttings were actually Gros Verdot and he told me ATF does not recognize Gros Verdot but they do recognize Cabernet Pfeffer. So, as of now the grapes are Cab Pfeffer. Which came about when a court in San Jose (I believe) listened to a dispute between William Pfeffer and "someone else" and declared, under California Law, that Cabernet Pfeffer was a varital
About three months a David Wright, about late 20s, came into the winery and introduced himself as William Pfeffer's great grandson who lives in Santa Ynez and is growing grapes as "sort of" a hobby. He gave me a couple of pages of family history that plugged some holes in my research notes. Very interesting. On top of it all, Ken made a great wine of the grapes that tastes like a somewhat spicey cabernet. More later, Gary
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Permalink Reply by Mitch Bakich on -
DeRose Winery in the Cienega Valley AVA in San Benito County produces a wine from their "Auto" series called Continental Cabernet. Its a blend of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, and Cab Pfeffer. The Cab Pfeffer really lives up to its name and adds a distinctive pepper note to the wine. Good stuff
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Permalink Reply by Larry on -
Guess I'm a little late on the game here, but the Cabernet Pfeffer definitely sounds intriguing...
Just checked the Kenneth Volk website, and alas, the Volk cupboard is now bare (of Cab Pfeffer)
Will check out DeRose Winery alsol...
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Permalink Reply by Philip Brown on -
This post may be a little tardy as I have just discovered wine 2.0, however, I was interested in a thread about Cab Pfeffer as our humble little winery here in Page Springs Arizona is growing some beautiful Cab Pfeffer on our Estate property. We have received our love of Cab Pfeffer from Eric Glomski who is our founder and Head Winemaker, he was first introduced to Cab Pfeffer at David Bruce Winery. It is a Very Deliciously light bodied yet tanic dream of a grape. We do bottle it in blends "Vino Del Barrio", "El Serrano", and as a single verital. We have done so since '03. All of our stock came from the Wirz vineyards and have been a delicious addition to our wine libraries. If you are ever in the neighborhood join us for some cab pfeffer tastings.
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Permalink Reply by KJVM on -
I tried the Vino Del Barrio & El Serrano when I was there in August. Very pleased with both. I had bought a bottle of the La Serrana and brought it to Florida, when I visited my brother. We had gone fishing in the Gulf and had the wine with some fresh grouper. Very nice pairing.
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