A rare variety that has found refuge over a hundred years ago in one of our local growing regions, San Benito County. The locals call it Cabernet Pfeffer. It is suspected that the budwood was imported from France in the late 1800s. A local German nurseryman named William Pfeffer may have inspired the name, although the history is not well known. The variety is distinguished by a white pepper flavor profile, which may provide another clue to the origin of the name since Pfeffer means pepper in German. It was proposed that the variety may have been a cross between Cab Sauvignon and Trousseau. Early genetic testing pointed towards an old Bourdeaux variety Gros Verdot, and recent definitive genetic testing now points toward Mourteau. Personally, I have little trust in the proposed history and prefer the local name “Cab Pfeffer”. Due to the confused and unauthenticated history of this variety, I named the wine ‘Monsieur Mystérieux’, ‘Mister Mysterious’. I am excited to work with these grapes and adopt this oddly Californian variety.”