Les Claypool visited California Wine Country yesterday, for a wide-ranging interview that touched on his life as a musician, a Sonoma County resident and a winemaker. Since he is best known as the bassist for Primus, we heard some about that, but we also heard a lot about his winery, Claypool Cellars. Cinnamon Eclipse Marquardt, head of sales and marketing for Claypool Cellars was also there, along with California Wine Country co-host Ben Pearson.
Steve began by asking Les how he got to Sonoma County and Les told how in the ‘90s he was looking for good investments after some success in the music business and bought a home in Sebastopol back “when things were cheap.”
Steve Jaxon interviews Les Claypool on The Drive.
Steve asked, “Before we get to wine… what’s happening with Primus?” and we learned that they just got back from a tour with the band Tool. Co-host Ben Pearson noted that they too make wine. (Later Steve notes that Maynard from Tool has been on the show.)
Les joked, “I’m a busy guy, why I started making wine is beyond me.” Steve thought that he was the winemaker but Les said, “I’m definitely not the winemaker… I used to get in there quite a bit more in the early days. Now we have an amazing winemaking team, which is Ross Cobb and Katy Wilson.”
As he often does, Steve asked the big question, “Why wine, and how did you pull it all together?” Les told about how he discovered wine by living in the Russian River Valley among friends who were in the wine business: “I just kind of fell into the wonderful groove of enjoying local Pinot Noir.” Steve asked how many kinds of wine they make and Les replied, “We make Pinot, because that’s pretty much what I drink.”
The first wine tasting of the day was a Rosé of Pinot, which made Ben Pearson comment, “The Rosé is lovely, it’s a 2013 which caught my attention, because it’s a couple years older than many. It’s showing beautifully, the texture is silky, the fruit is still there…very impressive.”
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Steve asked where one might purchase these wines and we learned from Cinnamon that “For the most part we are direct to consumer, or you can come to our tasting room which is in Sebastopol.”
Steve wanted to know when was their first vintage, which was 2007. “It started off as a labor of love and it becomes kind of love-hate thing every now and again, but it’s an amazing thing, because working especially with Ross and Katy, I’m spoiled, because the juice that they produce is just spectacular.”
Les Claypool, Steve Jaxon, Cathy Ratto, Cinnamon Eclipse Marquardt and Ben Pearson, on California Wine Country.
Ben asked Les if he saw a similar movement toward wine among his contemporaries and cohorts in music and Les explained how they have “reined in some of the frivolous elements” of their labeling and marketing, which was an early attempt to make the wine more attractive. Cinnamon offered that most of the band’s fan base drinks beer, so they are introducing people into the fine wine field and they keep coming back for it.
Ben noted that when singers and musicians come to Sonoma County to perform at the Wells Fargo Center, their contracts often specify some wines to be delivered to them backstage. He remembered how Tom Jones had ordered some specific bottles, and told the story of Allison Krause’s band who came to his store Bottle Barn for several wines. He was shocked that they actually mentioned that on stage.
Next they tasted two more bottles of 2013 Claypool Cellars Pachyderm Pinot Noir, which Ben noted is, “part of our triumvirate of great vintages, ’12, ’13 and ’14, after the challenging ’11 vintage and somewhat challenging ’09 and ’10, so we’re right in the middle of goodness right now. This is a great time to buy California wine, especially from around here. I like to use the word ‘authentic,’ this is very earthy, it just smell like, you know, this is Sonoma County.”
Ben went on, “…your winemakers have a really delicate touch. It’s got nuance, it’s got delicacy. It’s not just this extracted in-your-face style that’s become so popular. That being said, it’s also not thin and too light. It’s 13.7% alcohol, it’s young … and it’s only going to get better. This is a lovely wine. It’s going to age for at least five years. I don’t see any reason to hold it longer because it’s already tasting so good.”
After the break, Steve asked for the 10-second version of how Primus got started so Les told about the early years, with his friends, looking for drummers and selling vinyl albums to record stores. Steve mentioned his background as a professional drummer and expressed his appreciation of Les’ personal style of bass playing.
“This is a great time to buy California wine, especially from around here.” -Ben Pearson
They then took up the second bottle, another 2013 Pinot Noir. Les described it as their flagship, where they started, from Ben Hearst’s vineyard in the Sebastopol hills. “I’ve always been very partial toward this vineyard. The way it’s laid out, it’s sort of east-facing but the way that the hill runs, it curves to the north a little bit, the it curves to the east, then to the south a little bit, so you get all these different profiles within the vineyard and I’ve always really loved this vineyard and Ben’s always been a great guy. It reflects more of a Russian River flavor profile than our Sonoma Coast.”
Steve agreed it is silkier than the other one. “It’s darker fruit, it’s not as bright.” Ben thought there is plenty of dark fruit here. “Both wines are very impressive, a lot going on, very complex.”
Les remarked, “I’ve done tons of radio shows all over the world and I’ve never gotten to sit and drink wine in the studio!”
Steve asked Les to explain the wine’s name, “Pachyderm,” for those who aren’t familiar with Primus. Les’ friend Jai Wilson was the sommelier at Gardinière, and he liked the Primus song Southbound Pachyderm. Les combined that with the “Purple” notion, hence the name Purple Pachyderm. But he explained, “We’ve since dropped the ‘purple’ since we’re so much more sophisticated now.”
Steve asked Les about Primus’ plans and we learned that Primus is taking the year off, but he’s working with Sean Lennon on “The Claypool-Lennon Delirium” which is “…like an old psychedelic prog song.” Les is also a big fisherman and he’s organizing a benefit for the crab fishermen who can’t work this year, with the fishery closed due to toxic algae. Steve promised to promote the event when it happens.
Before closing the segment, Cinnamon mentioned an event coming up on March 12, their annual Sauerkraut party. “It’s actually one of my favorite events that we do. Just to be clear, it’s “Bigos,” which is a hot sauerkraut … which is smoky and is actually a perfect pairing with Pinot Noir.” Watch for the event to be promoted again on California Wine Country, before the date.
For more information about Claypool Cellars visit their website http://claypoolcellars.com/.