By Mike Dunne
Sacramento Bee Staff Writer
(Published Sept. 16, 1998)

From cave to cave, the Viognier traveled well. At least, Jim Kopp appeared delighted with it, and he's a big fan of the wines of France's Rhone Valley. This Viognier, however, was from California's Shenandoah Valley.

We were in Kopp's restaurant, Rumpus, a bright cave at the end of Tillman Place in San Francisco's Union Square neighborhood, where the food and wine draws much of its inspiration and substance from the South of France.

Ordinarily, it would be impolite to bring your own wine to an establishment with such an idiosyncratic but carefully composed wine list, but we were hoping the staff was unfamiliar with this particular Viognier and would enjoy being introduced to it.

Besides, we were eager to pair this exceptionally hefty and spicy Viognier with the restaurant's highly acclaimed crab ravioli in lobster sauce. Not only didn't Kopp have it on the list, he hadn't even heard of it, though he hurriedly jotted down the name of the winery and indicated he'd be getting in touch.

That would be Dobra Zemlja, a tiny cave of a winery in the Sierra foothills of Amador County about 40 miles east of Sacramento. The winemaker, compact and silver-maned Milan Matulich, whose parents made wine in his native Croatia -- Dobra Zemlja is Croatian for "good earth" -- often can be found in the cave, behind the plank that serves as the winery's tasting counter.

For anyone touring the wineries of the Sierra foothills, Dobra Zemlja offers a welcome retreat on a hot day, the cave being shadowy and cool, Matulich being a convivial host.

His production is small and isn't distributed much beyond Amador County. He and his artist wife, Victoria Matulich, tend just 15 acres of Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Viognier, Grenache and Syrah.

Wines currently available include the unusually plump but lively 1997 Viognier ($16.50, with a two-bottle limit per customer), a veritable trellis dense with honeysuckle, apricot and peach; the intensely fruity and surprisingly complex anise-accented 1996 Syrah ($16.50); the beefy yet elegant 1996 Zinfandel ($14.50); and the lusher and longer 1995 Zinfandel ($16.50).

"When I was a home winemaker I thought it barbaric to drink anything less than 4 years old," said Matulich recently. "But now I'm thinking of bottling my next Sangiovese at 10 months."

Such is the reality of commercial winemaking, as well as the allure of his wines.

Dobra Zemlja, 12505 Steiner Road, Plymouth, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. With the harvest about to commence it's best to call beforehand to make sure someone will be around (209) 245-3183.

Back to Wines Page