Bohème pinot noirs are pretty. They’re soft and charming and would run away from other wines in a wine fight. I like them very much, and only partly because I relate to them. My lovely wife Cassandra loves them even more. I told her that they are very hard to find, which isn’t true, but is a necessary lie since they cost $50. Kurt Beitler, the owner of the small Sonoma winery, is a fifth-generation California vintner. He insists this is true, even though it doesn’t mathematically make sense. But he insists it’s true. And at some point in the genealogy, his grandfather, Charlie Wagner, founded Caymus, a wine that Dave Gibbs, the owner of the Augustine wine bar in L.A., once brought to my house to teach me how great old California Cabernet Sauvignon can be. His family also makes Belle Glos, a pinot noir that is the opposite of Bohème. It’s big and blunt and dipped in wax down the entire neck of the bottle, with a label written in a font last used for party invitations by the Marquis de Sade. It is the dominatrix of wine. This is the first image on Belle Glos’ website:
If you show up with that bottle for dinner and it doesn’t get opened, you have received a very clear sign that you are in the friend zone. Meanwhile, this is the first image on Bohème’s site:
Bohème might not get you laid. But it will make you happy. It feels like what I like most about how California feels: calm, beautiful, and not so serious. They’re wines made by this guy:
After five generations of proving itself, this guy wanted to create a wine that simply makes people happy. “Because of the sunshine in California, we can make wine that gives a very charming, bright, and fruity character that most places around the world can’t,” Kurt told me over the phone while walking on a road in Occidental, the small Sonoma town where Bohème is located. “If you go to Burgundy, those wines will have earth and minerals and depth and complexity. In the Willamette Valley in Oregon those wines can be dark and lack the youthful bright fruit we have here in Sonoma.” Kurt says that other Californians make pinot noirs that are too serious. “They’re trying to make wines that are stilted, tired old men. They’re cerebral but they don’t have the deliciousness. You feel like you’re trying to enjoy them instead of them being enjoyable,” he said. He talks about California wines the way the Beach Boys talked about California girls. He also makes a chardonnay which I also enjoyed.
And a Syrah, which he didn’t send me—so, to teach him a lesson, I’m going to say it sucks. But it’s the pinot noir that reminded me of why I moved here – and why I stay. I don’t know if I wish they all could be California wines, but I’m glad that California wines exist. Especially ones that are brave enough to be soft. Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy The Corrupt Wine Writer, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe.
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Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Corrupt Review: Bohème Wines
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