Winemaker dinners have become routine. One recent winemaker dinner at Kurt Grasing’s Carmel Chop House, however, was rather unusual—it could have been more accurately termed a vineyard dinner.

The March event featured wine and food pairings, but with a twist. Seven different winemakers who use grapes from one grower, Cedar Lane Vineyard in Arroyo Seco, presented their wines, and two of each varietal were served with each course.

Cedar Lane was born in 2001 when three families bought a 60-acre root stock vineyard. Bruce and Beth Sterten, Randy and Odette Pura, and Mark Chesebro and Caroline Mitchel cut off all the vines and grafted eight different clones of Pinot Noir and six different clones of Syrah to the five different root stocks, eschewing the conventional monocultures that make grape production efficient and economical.

The intention was to produce unique grapes for small winemakers. “This is a dream for a winemaker, but a nightmare for a farmer,” Bruce Sterten said during an informal appetizer course. Sterten explained that the diversity of the crop (fewer than three acres per varietal clone) results in varying schedules for just about every phase of growing: watering, leaf pulling (to expose fruit to sun), ripening, harvesting.

Certainly, terroir—the influence of soil, climate, and slope on the qualities of produce—is the common denominator. A vineyard can present diverse conditions within it, but in this case, the flat land is fairly consistent. Even so, wines of the same varietal are not differentiated by winemaking style alone. With a numbering system to track each specific varietal-root stock combination, and 20 to 25 permutations, this vineyard takes small batch production to an extreme.

Arroyo Seco is a warm region, but Cedar Lane is at the northern end near Greenfield, where coastal winds blow south down the Salinas Valley, burn fog off early, and act as a fan. The vineyard is a former riverbed, with rocky, sandy soil that provides good drainage. These conditions bring out intense flavor in the wines.

“[Cedar Lane] really cares about the quality of the fruit,” was the refrain of the winemakers. That was music to my ears; cool climate wine, uncommon under the hot California sun, is my heart’s longing. A good winemaker cannot achieve this effect by simply harvesting early before the flavor and aroma of the fruit has developed. A grape must be true to its climate, as it is to its soil.

Imagine 600 wine glasses twinkling in the evening light, plus another 75 glasses for the reception. I was grateful to have the night off from washing dishes. I was a little anxious, too. Wine tastings always bring out my inner 6-year-old; I try to keep up and want to do things right (see wine notes, next page).

In the run-up to the event, Kurt Grasing and his staff tasted the wines, then made the menu and choreographed each dish to present multiple facets, each corresponding to a facet in the wine. The result proved thoughtful and thorough. My taste buds were busy and delighted.

Grasing spoke about his process for each dish and the marinated sea bass (“a kind of Asian ceviche”) was a typical example. The fish was marinated in lime, lemon and orange juices; the paper-thin slices were accented with ginger, cilantro and Thai spices; the acid was then balanced with a topping of avocado and crab; finally, a sprinkling of daikon sprouts was added. Even the garnish was no afterthought; Grasing deferred to the wines, in this case Silver Stone Wines and Hug Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, for inspiration on each ingredient.

In so doing, Grasing revealed himself to be a chef’s chef. He and the staff knocked me out, with every dish so tender and moist. The sea bass, the cod, and the lamb were like butter. I basked in the details. For example, Grasing added imported French grape sugar to the strawberries in the dessert, not to sweeten but to bring out juices that would enhance the accompanying Syrah.

By the time the Syrah showed up, I had lost all but one adjective: Good. I remember thinking: this is good. Perhaps you, too, have heard someone bluster: “Wine? If you like it, it’s good!” Have a little respect, people. Believe in fine craftsmanship, develop sensitivity to nuances of taste, take notes and open up to the joy of learning. Exploring wines like these are a great way to do it.