Nationality Australian Role Novelist | Name Ben Cane Occupation Winemaker | |
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Books Fields of Blood, The Forgotten Legion, A Day of Fire: A Novel of, The Silver Eagle, Eagles at War Similar People Simon Scarrow, Conn Iggulden, Hannibal, Harry Sidebottom, Bernard Cornwell | ||
Education University College Dublin | ||
Ben Cane is an Australian winemaker working in California. He is best known for his work with Twomey Cellars and Daniel Baron, and is an expert in Pinot noir production. Twomey Cellars is owned and operated by the Duncan Family of Silver Oak Cellars. In October 2013 he left Twomey and began working for Westwood Wines of Sonoma County in July 2014.
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Biography
Cane earned a B.S. in Organic Chemistry and Psychology at the University of Adelaide, and later received his post-graduate diploma in oenology in 1998. His love for Pinot noir began while working at Arcadian in Santa Barbara. While studying in university, he worked in several wine-industry jobs, including working in a vineyard and cellar and managing a bottle shop. He initially worked for Simon Gilbert Wine Services in the Hunter Region, and then became assistant winemaker for Arcadian Wines in Santa Barbara County. After working at Acadian, he travelled through South America, Africa, Asia and Europe, and returned to Australia where he became a vineyard manager in the Barossa Valley. Over the next five years he held numerous jobs, working at Languedoc, New South Wales, at Domaine Dujac in Morey-St.-Denis, France, De Bortoli Wines in the Yarra Valley, Poderi Colla in Piedmont, Italy, and Yalumba Wines in the Barossa Valley. These experiences gave him an insight into wine production in France and Italy.
Cane returned to America in 2006, and became a contract winemaker at Freestone Vineyards. In 2007, the Duncan Family of Twomey Cellars, a sister winery of Silver Oak Cellars, hired Cane as an assistant winemaker to Daniel Baron to produce Pinor noir for the company. The following year, he began oversight of Sauvignon Blanc production. Cane initially began producing wine from Twomey's Russian River Valley WestPin Vineyard, but has since been important for Twomey in expanding its vineyard program to include wines from the Anderson Valley and Sonoma Coast Appellations and the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley. His vision for Twomey has been cited as "to craft a wine that expresses the uniqueness and terroir of each vineyard site with finesse and balance by blending old world techniques with new world innovation and technology." As of 2013 he has produced four Pinot noir vintages for Twomey.
In 2010, the Duncan family purchased the 17-acre Monument Tree Vineyard, one of the most sought-after vineyards for Pinot noir production in the Anderson Valley. Cane describes the vineyard as "the kind of site you dream about when you love Pinot noir", adding that its proximity to the coast allows for a longer ripening period to develop more complexity in the fruit and that the plantings of a selection of Dijon clones on decomposed sandstone loam soils makes it the "ultimate low vigor slow-ripening vineyard." In May 2012, Cane and Daniel Baron were joined by noted winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet in the production of Twomey's Napa Valley Merlot.
In October 2013 Cane left Twomey. He has been working for Westwood Wines since July 2014, also within the Russian River Valley AVA of Sonoma County.
Winemaking
North Bay Biz says that in making appropriate vintages, "Cane adds whole clusters to the open-top fermentors and performs a cold soak lasting several days to extract the grapes' delicate flavors. During fermentation, the cap is gently pushed down every six hours to obtain color and aroma."
Reception
Cane and Baron's wines for Twomey have received considerable critical acclaim. The Napa Valley Register praised Cane's methods of winemaking and stated that the Twomey 2009 Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot noir contained fruit which "explodes in the mouth." They described the Twomey 2009 Russian River Pinot noir as the most full-bodied of the four wines being produced, "with aromas and flavors of red berries and brown sugar, just loads and loads of ripe fruit." The Napa Valley Register also said that the Twomey 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot noir was a "well-balanced wine, full-bodied and shows both ripe fruit and mineral notes on mid-palate. Layers of berry flavor, with a raspberry finish – even a hint of blueberry."
Sonoma Wine said Twomey's wines are a "marriage of classical French technique and an extraordinary California vineyard, [which] results in Twomey's distinctive, complex, and rich expression of luscious fruit." Twomey's 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot noir was awarded first place in the American Wine Society's National Tasting Project in 2012. It was also awarded Runner-up out of a group of 60 Pinots in the Pinot Cup competition at Chef Charlie Palmer's annual Pigs & Pinot event in Healdsburg, California. Eric Asimov of The New York Times cited Twomey's 2009 Anderson Valley Pinot noir as "one of our favorites, bigger and softer but with both finesse and intensity."