Picayune’s New Tasting Room Opens
Calistoga’s newest downtown winery tasting room is more than just a place to sip wine. With a front and back patio, food offerings made in the new space's kitchen, an extensive retail shop with Native American art and hand-crafted wares from around the world, there's something for everyone.
The diversity of offerings and their quality reflect the owner, Claire Ducrocq Weinkauf, a woman of many talents who is best known for her winemaking. As the founder of Picayune Cellars, a wine brand named after the French term for "a little bit," Ducrocq Weinkauf's wine is more than just a label; it's a reflection of her approach to life. Seeking balance in all things, she feeds from her many travels and the eclectic input she receives.
Weinkauf's upbringing in rural France, near the village of Thiers, instilled in her a love of food and wine. Her father worked at the local Michelin tire plant and hunted, bringing home plenty of venison, wild duck, and partridge. One of her mother's passions was tending the family's large year-round garden, growing everything from green beans and fresh peas to potatoes and tomatoes. On weekends, Weinkauf would forage with her grandparents, searching for porcini mushrooms, chestnuts, myrtilles (wild blueberries), raspberries, or walnuts that would be eaten or milled into fresh oil.
“I’ve shelled a lot of walnuts and peas in my life,” she says, laughing. “After school, there were always plenty of chores to do around our home, and many of them centered around food and wine. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but now I realize just how big an influence each of those small moments were.”
After studying marketing and receiving a degree from the Toulouse School of Management in 2002, Weinkauf took an internship with the French Government Tourist Office in New York City. This experience gave her the chance to travel widely throughout the United States and to experience its cultural diversity.
Before making America her home, Weinkauf worked in Chile's importing and exporting department of a manufacturing plant. It was during this time that the idea of making wine—or at least being involved in selling it—began to intrigue her. “At that time, at least in France, if you didn’t come from a family who made wine or grew grapes, making wine was just not even considered a viable career option,” she says. “But in Chile and America, there were people who were starting their own wineries from scratch. It was eye-opening.”
Weinkauf's passion for wine led her to earn a diploma of marketing de los vinos (wine-marketing) while in Santiago, Chile. She spent harvests in France, interning in the Rhone at Domaine des Rosier and in St. Emilion at Château Haut Sarpe, a Grand Cru Classé winery.
Eventually, she found her way to Odfjell Vineyards, a winery known for pioneering organic and biodynamic agriculture. At the time, Weinkauf was still on the marketing side of the business, but a chance encounter with Paul Hobbs, a winemaker and international consultant based out of Sebastopol, began to change her focus from strict sales and marketing to considering creating wines herself.
“Claire admired how Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, saw the world: risk-taker, innovator, adventurer; playful at heart with a sweeping desire to do good,” Hobbs wrote in an email. “In retrospect, the handwriting was there at the time she would eventually become a winemaker.”
Picayune offers wine enthusiasts more than a dozen different types of wine, including an exquisite imported Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Champagne sourced from the villages of Ambonnay, Bouzy, Louvois and Aÿ. The founder and winemaker, Claire Ducrocq Weinkauf, is committed to producing wines that display a lively, fresh and balanced profile, perfect for savoring with loved ones.
Picayune's wines are ideal for pairing with food, and the following four wines showcase the range of Weinkauf's approach. The 2021 Hay Penny Rosé, priced at $22 a bottle, is a delightful blend of Syrah and Grenache. This light and bright wine exhibits aromas of peach, cantaloupe melon, citrus rind, and strawberry flowers, reminiscent of a sunset in the glass. It pairs perfectly with ceviche or oysters with mignonette sauce or with a squeeze of lemon.
For those seeking a more complex wine, the 2021 Albariño, priced at $34 a bottle, is a straw gold wine that erupts with aromas of golden apple, mango, honeycomb, and ripe apricot. This wine is sourced from Rusty Gate Farm in the Russian River Valley, and it pairs well with everything from a simple crisp salad with grilled summertime vegetables to a rich cheese plate that includes Saint-Nectaire, a cheese made in the Auvergne region of France, near where Weinkauf grew up.
The 2020 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, priced at $35 a bottle, is a medium-bodied wine with aromas of ripe cherry, Chambord, and Chanterelle mushrooms. This complex wine is perfect for pairing with roasted lamb loin marinated with garlic and fresh rosemary or braised osso buco served with risotto Milanese.
Another noteworthy wine is the 2019 Padlock, a blend of Bordeaux grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Priced at $55 a bottle, this dark and brooding wine is perfect for any barbecue and exhibits aromas of dry plum, blueberry jam, tilled earth, and dark chocolate. It also pairs well with wild mushroom Vol-au-Vent.
According to Weinkauf, "One of my greatest joys is hearing people enjoying themselves, laughing and talking around a table. My hope is that all the Picayune experiences provide opportunities for just such moments." Picayune's wines are not only delicious but also provide an avenue for creating meaningful memories.
Whether you're a wine enthusiast or looking to enjoy a glass of wine with friends, Picayune has something for everyone. With Weinkauf's commitment to producing wines that display a lively, fresh, and balanced profile, each bottle is sure to be a delightful experience.
