Stan Hilbert knows the power of a magnum to turn heads. Twice as capacious as a standard bottle, the larger format never fails to impress as a server brings it to the table. But it’s the custom blend inside — and the winegrower who makes it — that the restaurateur wants to talk about.
“We’re so blessed to have Tony Coturri make this blend for us,’’ says the owner and general manager of Forage, a farm-to-table bistro in Cambridge. “Someone has got to pinch me! He’s the ‘OG’ natural winemaker.’’
That “original gangster’’ reference is, of course, a compliment. It’s a nod to the winemaker as a pioneer in the American arena of natural wine, a category of pours characterized by organically or biodynamically grown grapes, indigenous yeasts, and minimal intervention in the cellar. This has been Coturri’s approach since 1979, the year he founded the family winery on Sonoma Mountain with his father and brother.
“Obviously, wine was made this way longer than how conventional wines are made today,’’ says Coturri, referring to his dedication to properly grown fruit, natural composting, and what he calls “zero inputs.’’ He eschews the use of sulfur dioxide (a common antiseptic and antioxidant) at any point in the winemaking process. “When I started, what I was doing was radical,’’ he says.
Coturri’s bottles graced the wine list of Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain during Hilbert’s eight-year stint there as manager and beverage director. That led to making a house pour. Hilbert flew to California with his wife and daughter to taste and blend at Coturri’s home. When Forage opened last year, the restaurateur and winemaker moved ahead on a second-round collaboration.
The 1.5-liter format makes sense for a by-the-glass offering. The latest cuvée, called simply Forage Blend, showcases four main grapes: cabernet sauvignon, carignan, merlot, and syrah. Each varietal batch represents a different vintage year, spanning 2010 to 2014. Coturri explains that he also adds zinfandel “for that California-ripe nose,’’ and as a reminder that the grape is an inextricable part of Golden State wine history.
The multi-grape, multi-vintage red is entirely appealing. Deep in color and almost inky in hue, the blend offers plenty of plum and umami, with a wisp of mintiness on the nose. The full, juicy palate is generous when it comes to dark fruit, and suggests a note of fennel that blooms as the wine sits in the glass. Food-friendly acidity gives it buoyant lift.
Coturri explains that using older barrel-aged wines results in an integrated, smoother drinking pour. Varietal characteristics, exuberant in their youth, have matured with time. He crafted it knowing that Forage’s patrons would sip a glass while waiting for a table, then continue drinking it alongside chef Eric Cooper’s eclectic fare, which on one evening ranges from housed-baked bread with onion jam and schmaltz, to steak frites, to an Indian-inspired vegetarian platter.
Nowadays, wine enthusiasts embrace Coturri’s wines as delicious rather than radical. “It only took 38 years to get there,’’ he quips.
Coturri Winery ‘s Forage Blend ($15 a glass) is pouring at Forage, 5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge, 617-576-5444, www.foragecambridge.com.
Ellen Bhang can be reached at bytheglass@globe.com.
