Bob on Sonoma

Wine Clubs--Should You Join?

2012-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Pretty much every winery has a wine club. A few will call theirs a mailing list meaning you don't get discounts. Some retail wine shops also offer wine clubs. Why does everybody do it? Because it's a great money maker, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't join. Let's look at some of the options.

Winery Wine Clubs

The typical wine club will ship you a certain number of bottles over the course of a year and will offer you wine discounts on your shipped wines and any others you buy. After this their club benefits can vary quite a bit.

The wine discount is typically between 15% and 30%. The amount of wine shipped to you during a year is typically from six bottles to a couple cases. With some clubs you can cancel the next day if you change your mind, but most require a time or bottle commitment. For instance, you must stay in the club for a year or buy at least 12 bottles of wine. Clubs letting you back out generally don't give you a discount on the day you sign up.

Most wineries have other benefits for members, but many are winery events so they are only good if you live nearby. Plus if you're fortunate to live near the winery you can pick up your wines instead of paying shipping.

So should you join a particular winery's club? Some things to ask yourself:

First, do you like most of their wines? This one seems obvious but don't go in just because it's a good deal, or you like the host/hostess, or the winery dog.
Are you getting more wine than you're likely to consume? If it's a few bottles a year that's not a problem for most, but if you're signing up for a couple cases a year is that more than you want of one particular winery's product?
Do you have somewhere to ship the wine where there is an adult available to sign for it? Federal law requires an adult signature for wine delivery. Maybe have it delivered to you workplace or your neighbor.
Do you understand how much the shipments will cost?
Are you getting wines you can't find at home? No use having wines shipped that you find in your local market.
Are you getting wines you want? Most clubs offer a white and red option or a red wine only option. A few actually let you pick your own wines. So, for instance, if you only drink whites and the club has no white wine only option what are you going to do with the reds?
What are the club benefits? Don't get talked into signing up because they throw great parties at their winery in California if you live in New Jersey. Do it for the discount on wines you can't find at home.

If you are visiting the wine country pay attention to how many clubs you join and how much it'll cost you over the course of a year. More than one person has got home and realized, "Oh my God, I've joined eight wine clubs!" You could wind up with a couple thousand dollars in commitments!

Winery Mailing Lists

For some wines the demand is much greater than the supply. These wineries will often have mailing lists and will only offer their wines to people on the list. What's the difference between a club and a mailing list? Generally, there is no discounting for mailing lists and you usually get to pick what you want and can even skip an offering or two from the winery. If you don't purchase after awhile you'll be dropped off the list. Some might even make you buy their mediocre Chardonnay to get their highly sought after Cabernet so ask about that.

Okay, maybe this one's not for real
Image from zazzle.com

Retail Store Wine Clubs

The biggest difference with a store's club is that you are getting wine from many different wineries, not just one. You want to look at what wineries are available and how much choice you have in the selection. Generally, they offer a number of smaller producers. Sometimes they are great finds, sometimes not, but this is a good way to try lots of different wines.

Carrying wine on an airplane--coming soon!?

2012-01-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

Recently a UK company announced they have a new scanner mechanism that will pick up explosives in liquids. The word is getting around that in the next few months you'll be able to carry wine and other liquids over 100ml in size on board the plane with you.

If this happens it would be great news for the wineries as ever since the ban on liquids post-9/11 many visitors who would consider carrying a few bottles home with them don't because they want to avoid checking them and get charged up to 50 bucks for the baggage fee.

News article. You can perform a Google News search for something like "Carry liquids on airplane" for the latest information.

There are still many things to work out: Does it work as well as the company claims? Can airports afford the scanner? How significantly would this slow down the security checkpoints as travelers unload their six bottle carrier of wines and pass them through the scanner one-by-one?

BTW, Horizon Air out of Santa Rosa CA currently allows you to check through a case of wine for free to any of their connecting cities!

Recent History of Merlot

2012-01-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

Merlot plays second fiddle to Cabernet, then Merlot is up, then Merlot is down.
That pretty well describes U.S. sales for the last forty years.

During the rise of California as a wine-growing region in the last quarter of the 20th century Cabernet Sauvignon was king (and Chardonnay queen). Merlot held a distant second place to Cab for red wine drinkers. It was easier to drink young, but usually less interesting.

Then two events happened having huge effects on Merlot sales in the U.S.

In 1991 The French Paradox segment on 60 Minutes concluded the French may have a lower rate of heart attacks because of their high consumption of red wine. American consumers jumped on board and Merlot was ready with its easy-to-drink nature. Demand outstripped supply so Merlot got planted everywhere including some places where it probably shouldn't. The result was a lot of bland wine with no real varietal character. Merlot got a bad reputation with the more "serious" wine drinkers.

Miles and Jack contemplating the
high price of Pinot
Image from thecia.com.au

In 2004 a somewhat minor movie Sideways made Merlot uncool as the main character declared he'd never drink any f%#$ing Merlot, but he loved Pinot Noir. The movie's inside joke was his prized bottle of French wine he was carrying around for a special occasion was Merlot-based. By the way, Merlot is the most widely planted red grape in France.

The damage was done to Merlot, but you know what, much of the Merlot on the market deserved it. Merlot had become a commodity wine, that is, you'd ask for "A glass of red wine" and would get a nondescript Merlot. It was the Toyota Camry of wines--boring, but reliable. A lot of Merlot vineyards have been recently ripped out and replanted with something else. That's also probably good.

Now Merlot seems to be making a bit of a comeback. There are folks who continue to make quality Merlot though these are going to be more than ten bucks a bottle, but are still cheaper than the higher priced Cabernets.

A "real" Merlot
Image from vinopedia.com

From Sonoma and Napa try Clos du Bois (the Alexander Valley Reserve bottling), Duckhorn, Gundlach Bundschu, Pride, Shafer, Twomey. The Clos du Bois sells for in the lower $20s, the Gundlach Bundschu in the upper $20s. The others, all from Napa, are 50 bucks and up. There are also a lot of good Merlots out of Washington State and, of course, France. How about a nice Chateau Petrus for about $3000? That's per bottle!

Gundlach Bundschu has been a long-time favorite. They make well-structured, tasty Merlots that will actually age well.

So what's in store for Merlot sales in the future? I think they will actually be helped by Pinot Noir's popularity because Pinot prices are very high and still rising. Merlot sales will perhaps be hurt a bit by the softer, fruitier Cabernets being produced these days as they compete directly with Merlot, I believe. What can help Merlot? How about some blends? In the "old days" a lot of Merlot had maybe 20% Cab in it for structure and heft. Merlot needs some Cab, Malbec, heck, some Syrah, to make it more interesting.

Simi, Sausal, White Oak & Soda Rock

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

An afternoon of tasting in Alexander Valley, Sonoma County (1/17/2012)

From White Oak Vineyards

Simi Winery

A very old, historic winery now owned by Constellation Brands.

2008 Alexander Vly Cabernet $26
Softer and fruitier than the ones coming after it, but still has the oak and tannins to be laid down for awhile. It's hard to go wrong with Cabs from AV especially at this price so I picked one up.

2008 Alexander Vly Landslide Cabernet $40
Not ready yet! Very drying but with some peppery spice. This one has been a favorite in the past but not sure the fruit is there to support it this year.

2006 Alexander Vly Reserve Cabernet $65
Good structure, still needs some time. The best of the three cabs and, it figures, the most expensive.

All three Cabs show good structure and ageability. Actually, all require some years in the bottle.

Sausal

Specializing in Alexander Valley old vine Zinfandel. In fact, their "everyday" Zin was from 50 year old estate fruit.

2008 Family Zinfandel, 50 year old vines $19
Good wine, great price.

2008 Private Reserve Zinfandel, 95 year old vines $24
Spicy, good depth. An excellent wine at a great price. I purchased this one.

2008 Century Zinfandel, 134 year old vines $40
Depth, strength. Some old vine Zins gets a bit pruney and tannic, but not this one. It's a Zin worth trying just because of the age of the vineyards. Consider it educational. :)

All were well-made, well-structured, balanced Zinfandels at reasonable prices. I hadn't been here in several years and have now added Sausal back on my list of favorite Zin producers.

White Oak

2008 Alexander Vly Old Vine Zinfandel $40
Okay, but not for $40

2005 Alexander Vly Reserve (Cabernet blend) $50
Too tannic

2005 Napa Vly Reserve (Cab blend) $50
Richer, spicy, but still tannic

It was an excellent idea for our host to pour each of the Reserve wines side-by-side, once through an aerator to smooth it out, and once straight from the bottle. This is a great opportunity to see how the wine might age or at least show you what it's like after decanting. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the aerator device as the wine smelled off. I thought maybe a corked wine may have been poured through it and contaminated the aerator. I let him know. He tried the wine via the aerator only (didn't try them side-by-side) and declared it just fine. That is, I didn't know what I was talking about. Two others in my group tried them and agreed that wines through the aerator weren't right.

Old vine Zinfandel at White Oak

Soda Rock

Owned by the Wilson Family along with Mazzocco, Matrix and a couple others. An old, historic property beautifully restored. I previously reviewed Soda Rock on May 11, 2011. I didn't care for the wines then so was anxious to try them again.

2009 Sonoma County Wentworth Zinfandel $29
Spicy, hot, rich, acidic

2009 Sonoma County Primitivo $34
Good fruit, "dirty" but not in a bad way. Nice balance and seems food-friendly. I took one of these home. I love Sonoma County Primitivo and am glad to see more available. Primitivo is a sibling of Zinfandel--not the same, but similar.

2009 Rockpile Zinfandel $60
Minerality, bit over-ripe, lower acid. Pretty decent wine at an out-of-sight price.

2007 Sonoma County Malbec $28
Inoffensive, no varietal characteristics (I couldn't tell it was Malbec).

2007 Sonoma County Cabernet Franc $32
2007 Sonoma County Reserve Cabernet Franc $45
2005 Sonoma County Mercantile Cabernet Sauvignon $40
2006 Alexander Vly The General Cabernet $50
2006 Alexander Vly Five Star General Cabernet $65
I listed these all together because they are similar--too dry and tannic.

I don't know what to make of Soda Rock wines as they are over-oaked (their Cabs all spend about 38 months in barrels). It's more puzzling as they're from the Wilson family that's more known for big, soft, and fruity wines. I suppose it's a style of wine for somebody--just not me!

By the way, other Alexander Valley wineries I've been to many times before and love are: Alexander Valley Vineyards, Field Stone, Hanna, and Stryker.

Another new marketing trend. Manly wine.

2012-01-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's based on statistics, logic, and market knowledge or maybe it's desperation in the recession. The fact that millennials are really into wine, more so than any previous generation of 20-somethings, means the wine marketing people have been looking at various ways to woo them.

Middle Sister girly wine
Image from
middlesisterwines.com

The latest is based on the belief that it's the male millennials that require some attention now. They need manly wines to get them away from their Bud.

Treasury Wine Estates, owners of Beringer, Stag's Leap, plus others, has a new label, Sledgehammer. "No sipping, no swirling. Man up!" "The wines are so big and bold they have a hard time fitting them in the bottle" they say. "Too big." Guys like that.

Big House (as in prison) Wines makes a "muscular" Syrah called Slammer. Their mascot seems to be some ugly guy called Bruno. I assume you need multiple tattoos to drink this stuff. Even better if you're an ex-felon.

There's a Canadian winery, Dirty Laundry, that makes Naughty Chardonnay, Bordello red blend, and Hoar Frost Icewine. They have a wine club called the Bordello Club. Sounds more like a place in Nevada.

If you require more help in figuring out what wines are more masculine look for descriptors like "big, bold, muscular, meaty, and tannic." By the way "tannic" is the only word there that actually describes a wine characteristic. "Fleshy, soft" wines are feminine. Any wine that starts sweet and ends acidic is going to remind you of your ex.

"The Bachelor" is Looking for Love in Sonoma

2012-01-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

For the 0.5% of the country that doesn't watch reality TV shows The Bachelorettes jilted winemaker is now appearing on The Bachelor. Sonoma's most eligible winemaker is showing the ladies around his home town. It's Sonoma, California in case you didn't hear him say it 90 times during the show.

All the women (on the show)
want to marry him
Image from smallscreenscoop.com

There's something known as The Sideways Effect that launched Pinot Noir and killed Merlot sales after the movie, Sideways, hit the screens in 2004. A lesser known effect was the increased travel to California's wine regions and an even lesser known "event" happened to someone I know while working in a local tasting room one weekend. A couple, let's say dorky, guys went through the room trying to pick up the women working there. If you remember the scene where the guys from the movie hit it off with Sandra Oh--that's what they were trying to recreate.

So Sonoma is hoping for a Bachelor Effect to bring in more visitors. Hopefully, it won't bring in hordes of young, single women trying to pick up guys in the wine business! Don't think that will happen because Sideways was actually a pretty good movie whereas The Bachelor TV show... Whoa, do people actually watch that crap? Fake, overdone dramatization and all? (And some fake boobs, too).

The scenery shots in and around the town of Sonoma were amazing. Yes, it's really that beautiful here. Sometimes I forget.

Image from sonomacounty.com

An afternoon in Dry Creek Valley (with photos)

2012-01-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

First stop was the Wurst Restaurant in Healdsburg (wurst as in sausages). When the owner moved from Detroit to open this restaurant it was a big deal locally as: 1) you don't get much in the way of good encased meats around here, and 2) it's inexpensive by Healdsburg standards. The owner is an ex-bassist for MC5 and Ted Nugent. And still has his hearing!
I skipped the sauerkraut so it wouldn't interfere with my tasting. lol

(You can click on any photo to enlarge)

Amista Winery
Nice unoaked estate Chard and estate Syrah. A pretty good, although very high alcohol, Saini Farm Zinfandel.

Pruning out front of the winery

Unpruned single cordon trellised vines out back

Armida
High alcohol Zins but they seem better balanced and more ageable than most of that style. Best known for their estate and Maple Vineyard Zinfandels.

Nice view across the valley

Ridge / Lytton Springs
Well-structured, balanced, and ageable Zinfandels--a rarity. They even had their legendary Monte Bello Cabernet open for tasting.
Only issue was the tasting room hospitality person could have been more hospitable.

Some really old vines outside the tasting room

Mauritson
They specialize in Rockpile appellation reds, as the Mauritsons are growers in that small region. And are these wines ever good across-the-board! Rockpile is a special place.

Everett Ridge
(from a stop here a few days earlier)
Good wines, but not what I'd call very good wines especially at their premium prices. A nice spot though and they've just hired a new winemaker with excellent credentials.

Hillside vineyards in the afternoon sun

A note for the hospitality staffs: On Jan 10th I was out with two males--one 25, the other 22. Only one place asked if the younger one was 21. Nobody checked ID's. Be careful! It's not worth getting busted for serving underage people.

Anything But Chardonnay

2012-01-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

CHARDONNAY is the most planted grape in Sonoma County with an estimated 16,000 acres. The next most popular white wine, Sauvignon Blanc, has just 2,700 acres planted. Over a quarter of all California wine is Chardonnay. It's the best selling wine in the U.S. and is still growing in popularity.

So what's with the "Anything But Chardonnay" folks (the so-called ABC Club)? Many people have gotten tired of the buttery, oaky flavored California Chards. Or at least profess to hating the big butterball Chardonnays. What do I mean by "profess to hating them?" I hear people say they don't like them but actually do when they taste one. The conflict is with consumers having been told by the "experts" they aren't supposed to like this style.

Nekked Chardonnay
No oak or malolactic fermentation

Chardonnay is a mass-market wine but has multiple styles and no one can seem to feel neutral about the wine--it's either love or hate. Chardonnay (and Merlot) became commodity wines. That is, when you ask for a glass of white wine you pretty much expect a nondescript Chardonnay.

Chardonnay, as opposed to Sauvignon Blanc, is a more neutral-tasting grape. Some of its flavors come from where it's grown but most from the winemaking. Chard grown in very cool areas can be crisp and minerally with warmer climate Chards having tropical fruit flavors. Chardonnay is also used to make sparkling wines.

About 15 years ago Chardonnay peaked in its butterball style in California. They all tasted the same. Few showed any hint of fruit or acid. But they were great with popcorn! (Gotta love that butter flavor).

Now there are various price ranges for Chardonnay and many styles. Low-end Chardonnay is usually a mass-produced, sweeter, almost soda pop-style wine. For example, the Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay is wildly popular, just not wildly true to the chardonnay grape. That doesn't mean you can't like it or it's seven dollar price.

The more expensive Chards, about $20-up, are more likely to have style plus show finesse and delicacy. They can be made in the California oaky/buttery/tropical way, be unoaked with all stainless steel fermentation and aging, or be somewhere in between these two extremes. I believe the in-betweeners will win out as the highly-oaked ones are losing customers and unoaked Chardonnay is often uninteresting.

Expensive and ageable
Image from vinopedia.com

To see a range of styles within quality California Chardonnay try some of these fairly easy-to-find Sonoma wines and decide for yourself:

Traditional California oaky/buttery:
Chateau St. Jean Robert Young or Belle Terre
Clos du Bois
Landmark Overlook
Sonoma-Cutrer

In-between:
Dutton-Goldfield
Rodney Strong

Unoaked:
Iron Horse
Toad Hollow (one of the first California unoaked Chards)
Valley of the Moon

It doesn't have to be Anything but Chardonnay. Maybe it's just finding the style you like.

2012 wine predictions

2012-01-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

What does the coming year hold for the local wine industry? These are trends that will continue to grow and evolve in the coming year(s).

Wine prices

Expect prices to creep up for both bargain and premium wines. It's supply-and-demand. Weather has decreased crop size in California for the past couple years. There is increasing demand for CA wine both domestically and overseas. The wine glut at the beginning of the recession has run its course as inventory is down. Over the last couple years bargain-hunters have found good, inexpensive American wines. They may have to go back to looking to the Southern Hemisphere for cheap wine.

Tracking wine

High-end wine auction--
so what's really in the bottle?
Image from insidelux.com

News stories seem to come out every few months about fraud in the high-end wine market. With top wines commanding over $1,000 a bottle it's a market ripe for unscrupulous behavior. That is, when you buy an older Bordeaux at auction for a few thousand dollars are you really getting the wine that's listed on the label and has it been stored properly?

Look for small computer chips to be embedded in the bottles of expensive wines. These will give you a history of the temperature of the bottle, if it's been opened and the wine removed, and maybe even a location history (GPS-tracking) of the bottle.

Sweet table wines

Sugar left in premium wines (except dessert wine) has been officially taboo since the invention of the wine critic. This doesn't mean there hasn't been a low level of sweetness in some wines to make them more appealing to many consumers. It's just that no one admits to this--until recently.

You can now find $10-ish Moscato-based sweet wines and reds actually labeled as sweet red wines. These wines appeal to the younger new-to-wine crowd and to the older, infrequent wine drinker. The majority of California's wine grape crop is actually planted in the hot Central Valley--an area that can produce this type of wine easily and cheaply.

A question I'm sure the marketing folks are asking, "Will this wine sell in China"?

The economy

The sale, closure and consolidation of wineries will continue as many can't pay their bills.

Wine by the glass

If you buy a glass of wine at a wine bar or restaurant you may find it coming out of a keg rather than a bottle. Actually, you may not know this as the host/hostess probably would just as soon not mention this as it lends of air of cheapness to the wine for some. But you get beer in a keg. Why not wine?

For the Pinot Gris lovers --
check out Chenin Blanc!
Image from boglewinery.com

Wine trends by varietal

Folks like to know what the newest trendy wine is. I hate to break this to the trendy-types but Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot are still at the top of the pile. In the recent past grapes like Viognier and Syrah were thought to be the next big thing in California. This hasn't quite worked out. I expect these varieties will do best as blending grapes. Some are jumping on the Pinot Gris bandwagon. Pinot Noir continues to grow in quantity available and in price. We'll see when this comes crashing down as I'm not sure how many more $50 Pinots the market will absorb.

The problem with having a "new wine of the year" is you can't just shut down a production line and retool. It's a time-consuming and expensive undertaking to ramp up some unproven new wine grape. So maybe Malbec will finally catch on in California? Or Temprinillo?

I think I might put my money (if I had any) into Primitivo, for Sonoma County anyway. Why? Much of Sonoma County is the home of Zinfandel. Zin is king in Dry Creek Valley. Primitivo is a close relative of Zinfindel but is supposed to be easier to grow and Zin has had a couple rough years in the vineyards due to weather-related issues.

Wine country travel

My unscientific visitor count says the number of folks visiting is up at the end of 2011 compared to the past couple of years. Hotels, restaurants and wineries may be filling up again. Overall California saw growth in visitor travel and spending in 2011 compared to 2010.

2011 Wine News and Trends

2012-01-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

Following are the biggest stories of 2011 in the wine industry from a Sonoma County perspective.

California wine exports

California wine had its best year for exports. Traditionally most goes to Europe, but now China, too. The weak dollar and booming Chinese middle class are behind this trend.

These poor guys seem to change
owners about every year.
Image from finewinehouse.com

Wineries changing hands

Foster's split off their winery holdings into Treasury Wine Estates (Beringer, Chateau St. Jean, Penfolds, and others). They've since been going on a corporate hiring binge in Napa even with rumors they are up for sale.

Buena Vista, Gary Farrell, Landmark, Michel-Schlumberger, Laurel Glen, Seghesio all changed hands. Kunde and Sbragia have gone from family-owned to needing outside investors.

There will be more next year. It's the economy. I've heard "through the grape vine" of others who are seeking buyers or would like to sell if approached.

Wine Spectator's top wines of the year

A local wine was selected as their wine of the year, a Pinot Noir from Kosta Browne Winery
Another Pinot, from Dehlinger Winery, was ranked fifth.

Biggest guzzlers

The U.S. passed France as the largest consuming nation. The French still drink more wine per person but Americans are consuming the most overall. This trend in U.S. consumption owes it's existence to The Judgement in Paris, Robert Mondavi, and The French Paradox. The U.S. has been on this upward trend for a long time as the French have been decreasing consumption while increasing their intake of, um, Starbucks, Coke, etc. Our apologies.

Wine for the young'uns

In past years there was much made of social media and other ways of reaching out to the Millenials (those under 35). Now there's more of a move on to actually make wine they want to drink as not many 25 year olds are buying $100 Napa Cabernet. This is seen with the rise of Muscat-based wine and even sweet red wines selling for around ten bucks. And you can see it in the "hip" labeling.

Pennsylvania's wine kiosks

All alcohol sales in PA are controlled by state bureaucrats. One of their stupidest ideas was vending machines for wine. After wasting millions of tax dollars the project failed.

Another tough vintage for grape growers

2010 and 2011 weren't kind to the local wine grape growers as the weather conspired to lower the grape tonnage in both years. 2010 was cool and damp followed by a damaging heat spike. 2011 was wet at the beginning and end. I don't know how much this will affect the quality in premium wines, but it will quantity as there won't be as much available.

Italy had their smallest harvest in 60 years. French growers were calling 2011 a difficult year. Oregon had a cool, wet summer, but had a decent October and was able to salvage the harvest after fears that nothing would get ripe.

Wine packaging

Kegs, one liter boxes, refillable stainless bottles, paper wine bottles are all trying to make headway into the standard 750 ml glass bottle packaging.

China loves (inexpensive) Bordeaux

The Chinese became the biggest importer of Bordeaux wine by volume but not by value. Mostly it's the smaller, less expensive Bordeaux makers that have broken into this market.

Biggest marketing screw-up

Yes, they really did it.
Image from cbsnews.com

NY's Lieb Cellars produced a 9/11 Memorial Commemorative Chardonnay and Merlot. The grapes were "harvested just days after the 9/11 disaster anniversary" and the "grapes are grown just 90 miles from the site of the Twin Towers." What the hell were you people thinking?

Second biggest marketing screw-up

Central California's Sea Smoke winery anointed themselves Grand Cru status on their label. That should easily be worth an extra ten bucks a bottle, right? Or maybe they were just looking for free publicity from this stunt.

Passings

Jess Jackson who built the Kendall-Jackson wine empire.
Mike Lee, a founder and the first winemaker for Kenwood Vineyards.

Good-bye Mike
Image from winebusiness.com

Visiting Sonoma County for the beer

2012-01-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Is someone dragging you to wine country but don't like wine? No problem! Sonoma County just happens to have some of the best microbreweries in the country. For the population we probably have more great beers than most anywhere this side of Germany. If you think I'm wrong then submit all of your beers and I'll get back to you.

Just have the winos in your group drop you off at one of these pubs on their way out wine tasting. With any luck they'll forget to pick you up later.

Life is full of choices

3rd Street Ale Works

In downtown Santa Rosa where Tuesdays is the best deal with cheap pints and eats. Start with the Annadel Pale Ale. Food is mostly good--it's best to stick with the burgers or tacos. The crowd is a bit of everything from the 20-somethings to families.

Bear Republic Brewery

In Healdsburg with good food, nice outdoor seating, and outstanding beer. They are best known for the Racer 5 IPA and Red Rocket Amber. If you want an easy-drinking beer on a hot day their take on a Mexican lager, the El Oso, is great. In cooler weather check out the Hop Rod Rye. You get the picture--maybe you'll want to start with a sampler platter. The crowd is a mix of locals and tourists. There might be a better way to spend a warm afternoon than on their outside deck with a Red Rocket and a burger, but I can't think of any right now.

Hopmonk

In Sebastopol with a nice outdoor patio. They have a few of their own beers plus other local microbrews on tap. Their brews are often a take on European beers. The people are "West County types" meaning "hippy-ish." Good food and they often have live music.

Lagunitas

In Petaluma where where they now offer food to go along with beer and tours. Their flagship is the IPA. If you like India Pales you owe it to yourself to try this one. Their beers have in-your-face flavor--nothing subtle. It's a funky working brewery and the crowd is the same, but what would you expect from a place that taunts The Man by putting out an Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale (apparently someone was smoking dope on the job).

Russian River Brewery

In downtown Santa Rosa where Vinnie wins lots of awards, the place is always crowded, and besides traditional ales there are a number of Belgian-style brews. Their brews are highly sought after by "beer-ophiles." There are usually 15-20 beers to choose from with happy hour all day Sunday. Start with one of the lighter Belgians and go from there. Salads and pizzas are good if you're hungry. The hot spot for sitting is one of the tables out front where you can sip and watch for babes especially on Wednesday evenings when the farmers' market is happening. The crowd is blue collar and tattooed but they don't bite. It's worth fighting the crowds as RRB is ranked as one of the top breweries in the world.

Ruth McGowan's

In Cloverdale and it's fairly new, clean, and the crowd is fairly clean, too. Start with the Cloverdale Ale.

There's also Stumptown Brewery in Guerneville and Dempsey's Brewery in Petaluma--neither of which I'm familiar with.

In Napa visit the Silverado Brewing Company between St. Helena and Calistoga. Sit outside and watch the traffic go by on Highway 29 while sipping an amber ale and munching on sweet potato fries.

In Mendocino County check out Anderson Valley or Mendocino breweries. On the Mendocino Coast there is North Coast Brewing.

Yeah, I know it's supposed to be a wine blog. WhatEVER!

This post originally published 6/6/2010

How to be a wine snob

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

Do you feel the need to:

-- Impress people with your knowledge?

-- Spend a lot of money?

-- Be serious about getting drunk?

If you do then you are a candidate for becoming a wine snob!

Following is a short list of things you should know. Read it, study it, and practice it. Many are lifestyle changes so this will take some work.

Warning: Don't practice on people you want to impress in case of a faux pas. Instead practice on family or other people that don't matter, maybe in-laws. Don't currently have any in-laws? Ex-in-laws are even better!

1. Where to get drunk

After work instead of stopping at the local watering hole for a cold one go into a trendy wine bar for a glass of Chardonnay (if you're female) or Pinot Noir (unisex). If you are a conservation gay I'd suggest a Spanish wine--a trendy gay then Pinot Grigio. See yourself as a masculine man's man? Then Cabernet only. No blends, no %#&king Merlot!

2. How to get drunk

You can't just pour a glass and guzzle it down like a beer! You've got to smell it. (Do you have a cold? Drink scotch instead). You have to swish it around in your mouth because the mouth has different areas for acid, bitter, sweet, and some other stuff I can't remember. So apparently it's important to know all this before swallowing.
Actually, wine is the only beverage where you spend a ton of money for it then spit it out! You may want to invest in a spittoon.

Luckily, after everybody has had a couple glasses and eases up you can guzzle all you want.

3. When you get hungry while getting drunk

Food pairing with wine is a difficult science and art. Few people understand it well. But once you're a wine snob whatever you say amongst your friends and guests will be right! Isn't this getting easier?

4. Disneyland for adults

You must visit Napa Valley. It's like Mecca for intoxicated snobs. When you go don't visit the hundreds of wineries open to the public where you'll find all sorts of riffraff (even Canadians)! The only wineries worth visiting are those that require an appointment at THEIR convenience. You know, folks who believe they make God's gift to wine.

5. Glassware

There are dozens of varieties of wines: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet, Pinot Noir, etc. (These four are the best ones). You need a different kind of glass for each. Don't be caught drinking Zinfandel from a Sauvignon Blanc glass. Jeezuss. If you're going to be that pitiful you may as well use a Mason jar like the Italians. What do they know? They've only been drinking wine for a couple thousand years.

6. Impressive wines

Note that the best ones have labels in unpronounceable French or German. Others may have artwork for a label. The label is most important.
Look for high alcohol levels--more bang for your buck.
Screw caps? Ugh. Screw caps = Gallo = drunken bums on the sidewalk.
Any wine worth touching your lips should have gotten at least 93 points from Robert Parker. Don't know who Robert Parker is? Doesn't matter, just be sure he gave the wine a good score.

7. Getting blotto'ed while eating out

When ordering wine at a restaurant:

The wine should be from Burgundy, Bordeaux or Napa.
It should be from the top 15% most expensive wines on the list.
Don't order a screw cap wine! It'll just lead to jokes about the screwing fee.
When the waiter brings the bottle and shows you the label just nod approvingly even though you can't read it from six feet away in bad light.
Once he removes the cork he'll set it in front of you sometimes partially wrapped in the foil from the bottle (meaning he really knows what he's doing). Pick up the cork and smell it. The end with the wine stain on it, that is. It'll smell like vinegar, but that's OK. (The other end actually smells better). Look at the waiter and smile showing that you know what you are doing.
He'll pour just a bit in your glass. This is for your approval. Note that you are NEVER supposed to disapprove and say you don't want it.
Still, you must pick up the glass looking at the edges of the wine against the glass in the dark restaurant. Then swirl the wine vigorously to wash off any soap left inside from their glass washer.
Take a little sip, swish it around in your mouth and, this is important, with your teeth clenched draw air into your mouth so you can hear the wine gurgle. If you're still up to it you can now swallow the wine and nod again to the waiter so he can pour some for everyone else.
A good waiter will come around a second time and pour the remaining wine in about half the available glasses. Someone will be left short so you'll want to order another bottle.

8. Impressive words

Key phrases worth memorizing:

"Oh boy, another over-malo'ed Chardonnay."
"Lots of terroir in this. You can really taste the dirt."
"I'm picking up a little sulfur/Mercaptans/Brett." (Your choice).
"My friend Cal, the Sommelier (pronounced kinda like "smellier"), doesn't care for California Syrah."

9. Cults

In the wine world cults are actually good. In fact you should be on a few cult mailing lists. Better yet seek out the "pre-cults" to get a leg up on the less trendy. How do you recognize a cult wine? In California it will be a very small, very expensive Napa operation. The wines are not necessarily great. They are made to impress without having to actually drink the stuff.
Look for cult winemakers. These folks are rock stars and you can be their groupie!
To help you understand how cults work check out the web page for Screaming Eagle Winery where you're made to feel small for even thinking about visiting to buy a $350 bottle.

10. Getting drunk at home

Your wine collection (remember, this is a hobby--it's going to cost you) should only contain wines that meet certain criteria:

You must have wine stored at home in a "cellar." The temperature in your "cellar" MUST be 55 degrees. No other temperature will work! A cellar is required because the best wines require at least 20 years of ageing before they are drinkable.
Each wine should get 90-some points from someone who knows what they're talking about because they know what you should like.
Most wines should be either from obscure and expensive French wine houses or California wines that sell only by mailing lists. Don't bother with stuff you can find in a local store.
Nothing imported or from Napa should be less than $75 a bottle. Note that there are some areas of California where you can't find a wine costing $75 so it's best to limit yourself to Napa Valley.
You can, of course, have a couple bottles of crap laying around for guests who show up knowing you're a wine snob, but don't actually know anything about wine themselves, such as your in-laws.

(And if you already see yourself in some of this don't get too excited. It's all in fun. I see myself too. How do you think I know about this stuff?)

This post originally published 2/26/2010

Wine judging and buying gold medal winners

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

First, I have never been a wine judge. I have taken a wine judging class at the local college, talked to judges, attended or worked at wine events that are judged. So I'm not an insider, but then I don't have anything to defend either.

Looking at a wine's medals is one way to decide to buy, but what does a medal actually mean?

First, a winery has to actually enter their wine in a judging. Sometimes the wine is picked by the event rather than the winery volunteering the wines, but most likely it's the winery deciding what wines to enter in what events. So a wine may get entered into lots of events, a few, or none. A wine that's available only at the winery and not sold retail or a wine that easily sells out every year is unlikely to be entered as the purpose of the judgings is to win medals and sell wine!

If you have the time and desire there are some things to investigate about individual medals giving at a competition.

1. How many wines were entered and how many received medals. If 80% of the wines got something then what's the point? Actually, the point is marketing. A winery is more likely to enter if they are likely to get a medal.

2. How many gold vs. silver vs. bronze medals were given out? If there were 20 wines in a particular category, 18 got medals, and 12 of those were gold then what's the point? However, if there were 200 wines in a category and two got gold then that could mean something.

How do judges do it? They taste a lot of wine over a few days. Palate fatigue is an issue. Sometime a wine may just stand out (not necessarily in a good way). Even the order the wines are tasted makes a difference. The first and the last wines get noticed. If there's a particularly "strong" or nasty wine whatever unfortunate wine to follow it may be in trouble.

One interesting thing coming out of the wine judging class I took was you got "attaboys" for agreeing with the majority of the other folks and your judgement was suspect if you picked wines others didn't. So to be a good judge your opinion has to go along with the majority. I guess that makes sense. Maybe.

So should you care about medal-winning wines? Sure, it's a place to start. I would look for wineries winning in different competitions over multiple years. Of course, that's if you want to do the research on this. Why do this? Because a wine can easily get a gold in one competition and fail to get a medal of any kind in the next.

Use medals won as one data point to help you choose a wine.

Like you probably have done I sometimes pick a wine on a retailer's shelf because there's a little card under it saying "Orange County Gold Medal Winner!"

This post originally published 12/22/2009

Alcohol levels in wine

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

From the label of a 1988 Dry Creek Vyds Zinfandel.
Note the alcohol level.

Out to dinner last night at a popular restaurant in Healdsburg. A nice, local wine list, but a $20 corkage fee--a little high.

They offered one Zinfandel by the glass and I figured that would go well with the Pork Chili Verde with Polenta.

By now I should know to check the alcohol level of any Zinfandel I'm not familiar with before purchasing. This was not the kind of wine to have with a meal unless you like having shot of tequila with your food. The overriding characteristics of the wine was alcohol in the nose and taste. I thought the waitress may have noticed I left my wine glass full when she handed us the check, but she didn't say anything so I didn't either.

I've been to a wine bar in Santa Rosa a couple of times trying their Zinfandel flights of three small producers--always wines I've never had before. It's great to try new stuff, but I've found most of what they pour unpleasant because of the high alcohol levels. There was one Zin from Alexander Valley that I couldn't even drink.

Why do the winemakers / marketers feel we need alcohol levels of 15.5% plus? I can't figure this trend. I've had a few of these high alcohol monsters that have enough fruit to mask the alcohol, at least while the wines are young, but these are few and far between, and usually very expensive. A few of these wines can be outstanding but the majority are stinkers.

I think/hope most consumers are looking for fruit, spices and other complexities in their wines and a balanced product that you can enjoy by itself or with a meal. That shouldn't be too much to ask.

It's not just Zinfandel; I've had a few hot Pinot Noirs, too. Pinot should never push 15%. It's no longer Pinot when it does. Heck, even microbreweries are putting out beers typically 7 to 8% and are now pushing over 10%!

I've talked with Europeans and others who drink European wines and when they sample California, especially zinfandel, they call it "strong" meaning they are tasting alcohol.

In the vineyards we go through trellising trends. You can pretty much tell when a vineyard was planted by the trellising system used. Currently we seem to be using a Burgundy style, I guess it is, where the fruit is fully exposed to sunlight. That's great for even ripening, it's great for cloudy areas, I'm not sure why we need to cook 'em on the vine here in sunny California. I realize the old head pruned Zinfandels must be a royal pain as Zin is notorious for uneven ripening (and sometimes pruney tasting wines). OK, I'm no vineyard manager so maybe someone can explain this to me.

If I want a glass of alcohol I'll buy Patron Tequila. If I want a dinner wine I'm expecting the alcohol to be buried under the other characteristics of the product.

I do love my Zinfandel and Pinots. Just keep them under control!

The post originally published 4/30/2009

Blending wines. Meritage, etc.

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Europe's mostly archaic wine laws remove a lot of the creativity and potential for their wines. In the U.S. we do a bit of this, too. One key problem (it's not just legal, it's marketing too) is to call a wine a Cabernet, for instance, means 75% of the juice in the bottle must be Cab.

I'm not saying this is a bad law, but it seems to be stifling blends in this country. In general, I love blends. They are so much more interesting. After many, many years of CA Cabernet I'm bored. Give me some Merlot, some Malbec, hell even some Cabernet Franc in there! Cab and Syrah seem to be made for each other.

And not just with Cabernet. How about Zinfandel with Barbera and/or Sangiovese? I've had some odd-ball blends. How about Pinot and Syrah or Barbera and Pinot?

There's the guy that makes a 50/50 Zinfandel and Barbera blend he calls Zinberra because he said, "Barfandel didn't sell."

Rhone blends... yum! These are starting to show up more in the Sierra foothills wineries (Amador, El Dorado) and they are good. Easy to drink and interesting at the same time--a combination that can be hard to find.

There was a plan to help the popularity of blends in the U.S. Twenty years ago a group came up with "Meritage" for blends because otherwise you are stuck with White or Red Table Wine which means cheap in the U.S. Meritage sounds expensive. It also didn't take off. First, a lot of people can't pronounce it (rhymes with heritage). Second, the group charges to use "their" name, Meritage. So lots of wineries make up their own names to signify a blend. Third, it sets rules around Bordeaux-style blends only (it's limiting).

There's actually a White Meritage, also, made up of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and some other obscure grape. If you've never had a Sauv Blanc/Semillon blend give it a try (if you can ever find one). They're not as austere as typical Sauv Blancs.

This post originally published 2/12/2009

December 27th. Third Anniversary

2011-12-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

That's three years of doing this blog. What the hell was I thinking? LOL

I was sure I'd run out of things to write about after a few months. Personally, I've probably learned more things in the three years than I had in the previous three decades of being an avid consumer and working on-and-off in the winery hospitality biz. Somehow I've even managed over 250 posts in those three years.

I've discovered new wines and wineries as most consumers have, but also become aware of so many wine trends. Whether it's in varieties (such as Pinot Gris) or in marketing to the younger crowd with sweeter wines.

In the coming days I'll re-post a few of my favorite blog entries from the past. Consider this the holiday reruns!

Merry Christmas from the Wine Country

2011-12-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from California wine country!

Image from guardian.co.uk

Foppiano Family Feud

2011-12-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

Several months ago Sonoma County's second oldest family winery, Seghesio, sold. While the sale was big news the family infighting that went on over the sale remained mostly private. No so with Sonoma County's oldest family winery. The Foppiano family feud is going to court.

Foppiano Winery was founded in 1896 by Giovanni Foppiano. His son, Louis J. Foppiano, is 101 years old now. He passed control to his son, Louis M., several years ago. The wine style has pretty much been "stuck in the '70s" so the younger Louis M. (64 years old actually) started to modernize just as the economy went south. They got into debt, his sister accused her brother of skimming money for himself, the sister got fired. Nice. Wouldn't you have loved to have been at their Thanksgiving family dinner table this year?

Louis Jr.
being sued by his sis

Now a county judge will hear the case and decide how to divide things or more likely the brother, Louis M., may have to buy his sister out. That may be what she wants. Nothing like a business to turn families against each other. This won't be as important to the California wine industry as the Peter and Robert Mondavi breakup in the 1960s, but it could be the end of another long-time family winery.

The trial should be wrapped up before the end of the year.

Press Democrat article

Update 12/14/11:
The feuding Foppiano factions have agreed on hiring someone to oversee the family trust, that is to control the money. We'll see where this leaves the winery in the coming years.

Wines that appeal to the ladies

2011-12-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

How can you tell if a wine label is supposed to appeal to younger females? Apparently, look for "bitch" in the name.

Image from examiner.com

Image from vinquire.com

Image from winamwines.com

This label is not so ill-mannered

Image from corktale.com

Be careful about giving this to her ...

Top 100 from Wine Enthusiast Magazine

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Everyone does the "top" lists when it gets near the end of the year. I mentioned Wine Spectator's list a few days ago. Wine Enthusiast takes a different tact in that they call it "special occasion wines they wish they could drink more often." It's not even their top-scoring wines exactly. They look at rating, price, drinkability (is that like Bud Lite?) and availability.

Joseph Swan's Trenton Est.vineyard
Image from swanwinery.com

Anyway, coming in at #2 and 97 points is the 2007 Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from the Trenton Estate Vineyard at $52. Joseph Swan was making Russian River Pinots since long before they became fashionable. I don't know where you can still find this wine, but their more readily available and less expensive Cvuée de Trois is one of the better deals in Pinot. Their wines are in what you'd call the classic style. They are structured, complex, and ageable. If you like 'em fruity and soft these wines aren't for you.

Some of the other familiar local names on the list are Shafer, Stonestreet, Roederer, Navarro, Fort Ross, Dry Creek Vyd, Merry Edwards, Gloria Ferrer, Marimar, and Franciscan.

Check out the results at winemag.com including their list of Top 100 Best Buys.

Buying wine as a holiday gift

2011-12-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

What should you buy? Specifically, I can't say as the choices are way too varied and what's available to you is different than what I can find. But I can give some general guidelines.

Price
How much do you want to spend is the obvious first question. Some gift-givers mistakenly believe you have to spend a lot on a bottle to get something good. Finding a very nice wine to give to a wine geek for under $50 is easy. For the occasional drinker finding something under $20 isn't too difficult. Even for the snobbier wine folks you can still find a nice enough wine in the under $20 range as it's the thought that counts, right?

What kind of wine
White, red or pink? Dry or sweet? Start there. If you don't know then think about when they are likely to drink wine. Sipping on a glass on a summer day? White. They eat a lot of seafood? White. Beef eaters? Red. Some of the wine geeky types might only drink red, some folks prefer white, some even say reds give them headaches. If they stick to Chardonnay and Merlot do you feel comfortable branching out to something like Pinot Gris or Zinfandel? Or maybe a sparkling wine they could use for the holidays.

Go to a good wine shop
Yes, you may pay more than the bargain store but you need knowledgeable assistance. Give the sales clerk in the store all the information you can about what you know of the person's wine drinking habits. Let them make at least two or three suggestions then you choose from there.

Etched bottles
are more expensive
but are made for
gift-giving
Image from goosecross.com

If all else fails
And you know nothing of their drinking habits and don't have a good wine store available what do you do? Buy 'em socks! Just kidding. Stick with a lighter white, such as an off-dry Riesling, Gewurztraminer or maybe a Viogner, or a softer red, such as a Pinot Noir or Merlot. Without trying to sound age or sex discriminatory think of who you are giving the wine to because a 21 year old female, your grandmother, and a 50 year old male are all likely to have different tastes in wine. Go to the store and write down what's available in your price range then come home and do some Internet searching on these wines and see what others think of them.

Happy Holidays!

Top 100 Wines

2011-12-10T09:18:00.001-08:00

It's just one more opinion on some of the great wines out there, but in Wine Spectator's list of their top 100 Kosta Browne's 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($52) came in at #1. Quite an accomplishment and congratulations! Fifth on the list was Dehlinger's 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir ($50).

Both are highly respected Pinot producers. Dan Kosta and Michael Browne are a bit newer on the scene as they've been around just ten years or so. Tom Dehlinger has been at it for a few decades. Most of Dehlinger's wines are sold via a mailing list. If Tom was able to do this in 2008, what's generally considered a difficult year, then his '09 could be spectacular as that year is producing some great Pinots.

One of the "secrets" behind Dehlinger's long-time success
is the vineyard manager, Marty.
Image from dehlingerwinery.com

Also high on the list at #12 is Seghesio 2009 Alexander Valley Home Ranch Zinfandel ($38), at #19 Carlisle 2008 Russian River Papera Ranch Zinfandel ($43), and at #28 Merry Edwards 2009 Russian River Sauvignon Blanc ($30) that's usually considered one of the best Sauv Blancs every year.

Over in neighboring Napa Valley the Hall 2008 Napa Valley Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon ($90) is in second place.

The best bargains on the list? A $15 French Beaujolais at #21 and a $15 Spanish Tempranillo at #23. There's no bargain California wine on the list until you get to Buehler's 2009 Napa Valley Zinfandel ($18) at #68. Buehler is little-known, but makes solid wines at almost unheard of low prices for Napa.

Top 100

Sonoma County. One of the world's top travel destinations

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

"If you’ve visited only the county’s wineries, come back to sample the astounding diversity that makes Sonoma one of America’s travel treasures."

So says National Geographic's Traveler magazine in their Best of the World 2012 article. Okay, it's a bit of an eclectic list. The only other American location is Pittsburgh, PA. Nothing against Pittsburgh but I'm not sure what it has in common with Sonoma.

Still, it's something the locals know and many are quite happy our neighbors in Napa get most of the publicity and traffic.

It's not everywhere you get views like this ...

or can see and touch 1,500 year old living things like this ...

or get to taste world-class wines while enjoying a world-class view ...

Great wines, restaurants, brewpubs, weather, roads, views, etc. is what Sonoma County is all about.

But we don't want things to get too crowded so let's keep it our secret. :)

You've never tasted wine

2011-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

You've only smelled it (mostly).

Foods and drinks are tasted only at a very basic level as your taste buds only understand sweet, salty, sour, and acidic.

Your olfactory senses, however, are very sophisticated and have a great memory. You sense of smell will combine things into new smells and try to relate them to something in your past. Of all your senses smell is the one with the best memory. You can remember smells from your childhood better than visuals, sounds or touch.

Your sense of smell will block out things after a certain length of time so you can smell new things. This is a sort of ancient defense mechanism so you won't be continually overwhelmed by one smell and can pick up other things. You may have noticed this when, for instance, you're using a strong smelling cleaner or paint. After awhile you don't notice the smell so much.

The same wine can seem quite different to two people as their interpretation from the nose, mouth, and brain will not be the same. But it's primarily what you get via your sense of smell that determines if you like of dislike what's in your mouth. When you're sipping wine or eating food it's the smells that get up into your nose while you're swallowing, swishing, or chewing that give you the flavors along with the very basic items your taste buds pick up.

I've seen different reactions to a wine such as Sauvignon Blanc known for it's higher acidity. Some say it's refreshing, some tart, some even say it tastes sour. There's no right or wrong answer--it's however you interpret the flavors.

And the fact that your sense of smell will block out things after a time means a wine won't smell the same after a time of sampling it with your nose. That doesn't mean the wine has changed--it's just what your brain is now sensing.

Now go out there and find some good smelling wine!

Siduri / Novy open house

2011-12-03T15:23:00.001-08:00

Dec 3, 2011 open house at Siduri Winery in Santa Rosa. It's a chance to try most of the wines they make--and they make a lot! I counted eleven Pinots, seven Syrahs, plus a few other miscellaneous wines. I tasted all of the available Pinot Noirs and a few of the Syrahs. I ranked the Pinots from favorite to least. On about my second Syrah I got "over-tannined" and wasn't able to judge them very well.

Really in the holiday spirit!

Siduri Pinots from my favorite to least:

2010 Garys' Vyd (Santa Lucia) $50
Great fruit, spices, finish. Almost perfect balance. Excellent now; this should be a great wine in time.

2009 Clos Pepe Vyd (Sta. Rita Hills) $54
Good fruits, not overdone, spicy, lots going on/complex. Needs time.

2009 Cargasacchi Vyd (Sta. Rita Hills) $50
Earthy, tobacco, less fruit compared to many CA Pinots. Dark cherries, tart. Needs time.

2009 Sonatera Vyd (Sonoma Coast) $49
Nice complexity and spices. Bit earthy with black fruit. A very good wine.

2009 Santa Rita Hills (two vyd blend) $30
Body, spices and acid all nicely balanced. Dark fruit. Great value.

2009 Ewald Vyd (RRV) $45
Softer, rich, lower acid but still enough backbone.

2010 Sierra Mar Vyd (Santa Lucia) $49
Good fruit but just not ready yet. Would like to try this again in a couple years.

2009 Arbre Vert Vyd (Willamette Vly) $39
Medium body, black fruit, lots of acid.

2009 Chehalem Mts. (Oregon) $25
Some sweet red fruit, lots of acid. Lacks body and complexity. Young vines?

Most of these seemed really young yet and I would love to try a number of them a few months from now.

Novy Syrahs:

As I said I didn't rank these because of being hit by big tannins mostly from the 2009 Gary's Vyd ($29). But I did like the 2009 Susan's Hill Vyd best ($34). The 2008 Simpson Vyd at $25 was a good deal.

I purchased the Garys' Vyd and Sta. Rita Hills Pinots plus the Simpson Syrah.

December in Russian River Valley (photos)

2011-12-01T13:58:00.001-08:00

December 1, 2011
Click on photos to enlarge

Winter 2011-12 events in Sonoma County

2011-11-27T09:03:00.000-08:00

This is the off-season in the wine country. If you don't like crowds this is the best time to visit. It could be 70 degrees and sunny or it could be 50 and raining but who cares if there's Cabernet to warm you up!

January in the Russian River Valley

December 2011

Many wineries have their own holiday open house events on the weekends leading up to Christmas. Check with your favorites and see if they have anything going on. I've seen listings for December holiday-related affairs at Alderbrook, Arrowood, Gloria Ferrer, Gundlach-Bundschu, Korbel, Matanzas Creek, Seghesio, and Sonoma-Cutrer.

Wineries are closed on Christmas Day; some will close early on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

January 2012

Almost all wineries are closed on New Years Day.

14-15 Winter Wineland. It's the 20th years for this open house of wine, food, and art at many wineries in northern Sonoma County. Info

February

For Valentine's Day several wineries put on chocolate and wine pairings or even host a lunch or dinner. Check with your favorites to see if they have anything going on.

17-20 Cloverdale Citrus Fair includes a wine competition. Info

March

2-4 and 9-11 Barrel Tasting. This event has gotten so big it takes two weekends and is still crowded. An open house of northern Sonoma County wineries. Some smaller wineries that aren't normally open to the public show off their wines; other wineries just use this as an excuse to throw a big party. There's nothing like a barrel sample of a five month old Dry Creek Petite Sirah! Info

17-18 Savor Sonoma Valley. Not to be outdone by the northern Sonoma County Barrel Tasting event Sonoma Valley has its own the weekend after. Just when you thought it was safe to dry out! Info

Barrel tasting
Image from sfgate.com

Happy Turkey Day!

2011-11-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

Recharging in Sonoma and Napa

2011-11-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

So you've got the electric vehicle now but have "range anxiety" meaning you must plan your travel for places with recharging stations. You may as well have some fun while recharging! These places say you can plug in while you're visiting.

Sonoma

Case Ranch Inn B&B

This is the way to wait while
you're recharging.
Image from hallwines.com

Inman Family Winery - A solar-powered charging station! Totally "free" fuel!

Napa

Clif Family Winery

Hall Winery

November in Dry Creek Valley (photos)

2011-11-16T11:34:00.001-08:00

Nov 16, 2011 in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
(Click on a photo to enlarge)

Along Dry Creek Road

From Yoakim Bridge Road

Along Westside Road

Westside Road at Raymond Burr Vyds

Dumb Wine Names

2011-11-15T08:41:00.001-08:00

Cruising through the latest Wine Spectator reviews of sparkling wine I found a couple that really stand out, not necessarily in a good way.

"The cute marketing works for Goats Do Roam from South Africa"

Flying Goat Blanc de Blanc Goat Bubbles
I don't know about you but I'm not putting anything called goat bubbles in my mouth. Besides Wine Spectator only gave it 87 points and probably ten of those are for the name.

"From the school of redundant marketing school"

Barefoot Bubbly Brut Cuvée Sparkling California Champagne

Gallo must feel they have to hit their customers over the head with every term known to man. Any one of those words would be enough for most people. I hope.

OK! I get it!

Why wine is the best drink

2011-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

There's plenty of information the the health benefits of red wine

Aids digestion
Wine stimulates stomach acids and red wine counters some of the fats in red meats.

Antioxidants
This may increase your good cholesterol so is good for a healthy heart. You can, of course, get antioxidants from things like cranberries and kidney beans but what fun is that?

Resveratrol
Even though no one can pronounce this compound it is thought to reduce bad cholesterol.

Alcohol
Moderate levels of alcohol may help raise the good cholesterol and lower the bad.

Good wine
The right glass of wine will make any meal taste better.
A good glass of wine will make anyone a happier person!

Wine is better than:

Booze
The high alcohol levels can sneak up on you. Everyone has embarrassing tequila stories, right?

Beer
Bloats you up. Gives you a beer belly. However, hops have been shown to have some nutritional value so that's another reason to drink a quality IPA instead of Bud. Once again, choose quality over quantity.

Soda
Too sugary. No nutrition. Just makes you fat (regular soda) or give you cancer (diet soda).

Water
Yes, water. The ancients used wine to purify water to make it drinkable. The alcohol from a little wine in some water collected from a stream would kill off the bad bacteria. From the Bible,
"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake."

November in Sonoma Valley (photos)

2011-11-10T14:04:00.001-08:00

Some fall color starting to show.
First three photos are from behind St. Francis Winery.
(Click on any photo to view larger images)

From Benziger Winery

Thanksgiving dinner wine

2011-11-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Come November every year people want to know what kind of wine they should serve with the Thanksgiving feast.

Of course, the food is what matters when selecting wine so I'm assuming the traditional turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. All of that falls into a similar savoy flavor. It gets a bit more difficult when you add things like sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.

The other thing to keep in mind is what will Uncle John and Aunt Mary like?

Image from whatscookingamerica.net

Often the recommendations are for everything from Gewurztraminer to Zinfandel.

I like an off-dry, a Brut style, sparkling wine. Bubbly goes well with lots of foods from salty to spicy to acidic.

Other options are Chardonnay as they tend to be a bit soft (lower acids) and maybe a bit buttery just like the stuffing and potatoes. These Chardonnays will match with everything mentioned except the cranberry sauce.

Another is a drier Rosé as these have pleasant fruit flavors and nice acidity (the good ones do anyway) plus the bright fruits and festive color will please your auntie.

Some recommend Pinot Noir but I haven't had a lot of luck finding one that's a good match. I think you'd want something softer and lower alcohol than most California Pinots such as a Beaujolais. Zinfandel? I just can't see this as a match to a turkey dinner.

Some Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris may work pretty well. Most have a crisp acidity helps cut through some of the buttery, fatty flavors of the meal.

I'd recommend an off-dry sparkling wine or a dry to off-dry Rosé.

Now what about the pumpkin pie? I'd go for a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc ( as a Sauterne) or a Muscat-based dessert wine.

Oh yeah, remember to sit up straight at the dinner table so you can eat more!

Climate change and California wine grapes

2011-11-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

Scientific studies have suggested we're in the beginning stages of a global warming. With all the concern over rising sea levels with potential coastal flooding, food shortages, and so on there are some people getting paid to worry about California's wine grape crops.

A study by Stanford University says up to half of the land now used for premium wine grapes could be lost as soon a 2040 if the predicted two degree temperature increase happens.

California's premium grapes are grown in coastal areas of the state. Not necessarily on the coast, but close enough to get a cooling influence from the Pacific. Climate, along with soils, are the two key elements to growing great wine. So the thinking goes if we heat up it'll be too warm for grapes where they're grown currently. Such as, Chardonnay and Pinot will no longer grow well in places like Carneros and the Russian River Valley. And Cabernet in places like the middle of Napa Valley and in Alexander Valley.

Morning fog in the vineyards

Well, I ain't no scientist, but I'm not convinced these areas under a cool coastal influence will actually get warmer.

The global weather is driven by the difference in temperatures in different regions of the land and on the water. The coastal areas of California have a climate dependent on hot weather in the central part of the state. As the Central Valley heats up in the summer with temperatures often hovering around 100 degrees this hot air naturally rises. Cooler, denser air from the ocean is pulled in to replace it. Or what's known locally as our morning fog.

Fog hugging the California coastline in summer
Image from ucsb.edu

This cooler air coming in off the Pacific is the defining characteristic of the growing season climate in California's premium grape region.

So the question is, will the coastal areas heat up equally with the interior or will this rising hot air / cool ocean air engine actually be stronger? These global warming studies seem to take a macro view in that everywhere will heat up more-or-less equally. Wouldn't it be interesting if the coastal areas get cooler as more ocean air is being drawn in because the central part of the state is heating up?

Wine for the Millenials

2011-11-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Now that the Millennials are mostly in their 20's (drinking age) you see marketing directed towards them and wine is no exception. The problem with California premium wine ($20+) is it's too expensive for most people in that age group.

Also, a culture brought up on Pepsi doesn't easily move to dry wines with acids and tannins. This is why we've seen the popularity of White Zinfandel, oaky, buttery Chardonnays, and more recently the soft, fruity Zinfandel (and Pinots and Cabs). Most of these are still out of the price range of a 25 year old except for the White Zin but that is way past being trendy. Somewhat sweet Pinot Gris is fashionable right now but it's a girly wine apparently.

Owned by Gallo
Image from barefootwine.com

One wine that's shot up in popularity among the younger and new-to-wine crowd is Muscat in various new forms (see earlier blog post on Muscat).

Those who are big into wine (aka wine geeks) are always on the lookout for The Next Big Thing. This may be some new, trendy and expensive Napa Cabernet (the next cult wine) or maybe trying to decide if Tempranillo or Viognier will ever really catch on in the U.S. But The Next Big Thing will make the wine snobs gasp, shriek and choke on their cigar smoke because it'll be cheap, somewhat sweet red wines.

If the 20-somethings can find an $8 bottle of wine with a youthful looking label and the sweetness to appeal to their cola-drinking history then it'll take off. I don't mean really sweet dessert wines; these will be sipping wines--something for the trendy wine bars to sell even. It's not Boone's Farm or Thunderbird and it's not Dow's Port--it's in between in quality and price. That will be the trick--making a decent quality and affordable slightly sweet wine. I expect there's enough worthy red wine grapes in the Central Valley of California to make this work.

It won't be just the 20-somethings either as I can't count the number of times in a tasting room when I've been asked by a middle-aged Midwesterner if we have any sweet red wines. And the answer has always been "no." Non-dessert style sweet reds have always been looked down upon as cheap and crappy bulk wines--just as rosé had the same reputation until recently.

The wine biz admits to White Zin being sweet and probably will too with Pinot Gris. They never fessed up to sweet Chardonnays like the one that made Kendall-Jackson rich. When these sweeter reds come they will have to admit to leaving sugar in the wine to attract the right consumers. Or maybe they'll call them "off dry" or "fruity."

Wine marketers in Sonoma County and other premium wine areas have been going after this age group for awhile with social media and in other ways. The issue has been it's still consumers in their 40s and 50s that buy $20-up wine. New wine drinkers don't generally understand dry beverages. That's not new as buttery Chardonnay and White Zinfandel often have been "starter" wines for many. But if you want the 20-somethings to become steady buyers you need a line of cheaper, softer, sweeter wines. Or you can wait for Gallo to take over that market, too.

This one's got the name B LOVELY
the label FLOWERS and BEES
the price UNDER $10
Image from preceptwinebrands.com

How to learn about wine--wine tasting parties!

2011-10-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Wine is confusing and intimidating--just listen to some of the language and technical data being spewed out. And some of that stuff is even in foreign languages!

Tasting different wines and listening to others talk about them is a great way to learn. Maybe you have a local wine shop that puts on tastings. This is cheaper and easier to learn than just buying random bottles when you want something for dinner that night.

But the best way is to have your own wine tastings. Gather up friends and/or coworkers once every month or two and have a wine tasting party. This can be as simple as everybody brings a bottle and you all try the different wines. Or it can be as difficult as the host puts on a dinner party with wines made to go with each course.

I'd suggest something in between.

Figure out a theme for the tasting and there are plenty to choose from, such as "Unoaked Chardonnays," "Willamette Valley 2009 Pinot Noirs," or "2008 Burgundies under $40."
Let one person be in charge of collecting the wines for the tasting. When you let everyone bring a bottle you may wind up with something really expensive next to a bottle someone just picked up at the grocery store and one bottle maybe too cold or too warm to show well. Usually about five to eight different wines is good for one tasting. You can squeeze 20 tastes out of one bottle so try to keep the attendance there or below.
It's good to at least have water and neutral-tasting crackers available (nothing with too much salt) or bread. Be careful with cheese as it can change the taste of a wine significantly.
Once the bottles are assembled just before the tasting begins have someone remove the corks and put the bottles in bags and number (1,2,3...) or letter (A, B, C...) them. Each taster should have a placemat with corresponding numbers or letters for each glass. Preparing the wine bottles this way is tasting them blind meaning you don't know what you've got and you won't be prejudiced.
Pour the wines then taste and rank them. You can use a point system or just make "1" your favorite, "2" your second favorite, etc. At the end gather the scores and average them between the group then unveil the wines.

After you've done this a few times you'll start to see your preferences in wine. It will make buying wines easier. This is a fairly inexpensive way to taste a broad range of wines.

Some variations on the theme:

Guess the varietal - Do a blind tasting of different varietals and see who can best guess which is Merlot, which Zinfandel, etc.
Throw in one "ringer." That is if you're tasting "Russian River Pinots" put in one from Burgundy. Or if you're tasting "$50-up Bordeaux" put in a $20 one. If it's "$10 Chardonnays" put in a $40 one.
Put in the same wine twice and see if both rank next to each other or not.

This is a great way to learn about wines.

Healdsburg CA -- Drink City

2011-10-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

A number of small towns in the northern California wine country have become tourist destinations. Yountville in Napa was probably first. In Sonoma County the towns of Sonoma, Healdsburg, Graton, and Occidental have moved away from little farm communities to places catering to the tourist dollars.

Healdsburg has seen quick and large changes in the past couple decades. The Hotel Healdsburg with a Charlie Palmer restaurant right on the town square was the game-changer.

Healdsburg, population 11,000, sits between the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Valleys, all well-known areas with the wine crowd. There's a cute town square with the downtown going out about a block or two in every direction from the square.

Pounding 'em down in downtown
Image from latimes.com

The town is in the local news again because the city planners just approved a new downtown wine bar. What's the big deal? The small downtown area has about a dozen wine tasting rooms, a half-dozen wine bars, almost two dozen restaurants (most of these serve alcohol), and a brewpub. All of these establishments are within easy walking distance of each other. Another dozen tasting rooms are within a few blocks. A wine and food paradise, no?

That's a lot of juice in a concentrated area. So the questions are: Is this bad? How many is too many? The total number of customers is down with the recession and the number per establishment dwindles as more tasting rooms and wine bars come into town. Several businesses have left in the past few years but more keep coming to take their place thinking they can somehow do better. And more licenses are pending now.

The city government has said "let the market decide how many is too many." I think that's already obvious but the city wants the revenue.

On one side you can say, well, I can get a room in town, park my car, and never have to drive. On the other hand you can come into town and spend six hours tasting your way through town, hit a wine bar afterwards, then dinner (with wine), then drive home. Considering most tasting rooms are open somewhere between about 11 am and 6 pm drinking until you can't legally drive is pretty easy if you don't watch yourself.

Healdsburg is a town saturated in alcohol.

Vineyard Designated Wines

2011-10-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

American wine is labeled with the location, or appellation, of the grapes. It breaks down like this, from largest area to smallest (with examples):

State (California), county (Sonoma), gov't recognized appellation (Sonoma Valley), then finally vineyard (Monte Rosso).

Vineyard designated, or single vineyard wines, are in the premium range and are all the rage. This is probably because terroir got to be such a trendy topic in the wine world. Terroir = characteristics of the land, soil, geography, and climate, that give a wine it's distinctiveness.

Are wines from a specific vineyard better? No

Are vineyard designated wine more expensive? Yes

Now that some readers will think I'm full of it, let's first address the fallacy of single vineyard wines being better than others. By saying "No, they are not (necessarily) better" I mean there is nothing about a single vineyard wine in itself that inherently makes it a better wine. It may be more interesting because it's from a specific location. The vineyard manager and winemaker may have taken better care of the vines because they're going for a top notch wine. Often only vineyards that can produce the best are used for single vineyard wines. That may all be true. Or it may not. It's about as risky as buying a more expensive wine because it says "Reserve" on the label.

One problem with single vineyard wines is year-to-year variability that you don't see if you're blending from a larger region.

Some vineyards get a reputation for producing great wines just as some wineries, winemakers, or certain vintage years do.

Which is better? The one that's from a
single vineyard or the one that just says Sonoma County?
But the Sonoma County one is Old Vines. Hmm.

And about the price. You can pretty much expect to pay more for single vineyard wines. Why is that? If it truly is a better wine because more care went into the vines and grapes then I can see why. But just because it's from one vineyard instead of two or three or more isn't logical, but consumers believe it to be true.

You will usually pay less for a wine labeled with a very large area, such as California, vs. one labeled with a very small area where all the wine comes from one vineyard. It's just the way it is probably because this works with Old World wines.

Estate wines mean a winery controls the whole process from vine to bottle. These also tend to cost more but I think it's easier to believe an estate wine could actually be better if the winery has high standards.

Zinfandel, "California's Own"

2011-10-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

History

Zinfandel is often called "California's own grape." That's sorta true in that CA is pretty much the only place you see it today. The history is a bit more convoluted as DNA testing by UC Davis has traced it back to Croatia. Zinfandel showed up on the East Coast in the 1830s and the West Coast in the 1850s. It's the same as Primitivo or, more specifically, Primitivo is now thought to be an earlier ripening clone of Zinfandel. Zinfandel was almost wiped out in Croatia by the Phylloxera epidemic over a hundred years ago.

Old Hill Ranch Zinfandel
Thought to be Sonoma's oldest vineyard
Image from buckzin.com

Zinfandel was planted in Sonoma by Italian immigrants in the 19th century. It was pretty much always blended as a jug-type wine. Much of the old Zinfandel vineyards are actually field-blended meaning the Zin vineyard actually contains some other grapes planted along with Zinfandel--things like Petite Sirah, Carignane, and Aliconte Bouschet.

Zinfandel fell out of favor in the late 20th century in California with the boom in varietal labeling rather than jug wine blends. Chardonnay and Cabernet were the kings of California wine. If it hadn't been for the "invention" of the wildly popular White Zinfandel we'd have lost a lot of Zin vineyards as they would have been uprooted and planted with something else.

A Side Note

Finding Primitivo as an earlier ripening clone of Zinfandel and less prone to bunch rot is an interesting discovery. The 2010 and 2011 harvests in Sonoma County have been tough on Zinfandel. Maybe some growers will be looking more at Primitivo.

Today

Zinfandel comes in three distinct forms. First White Zinfandel as mentioned. As a red wine there are the traditional and ripe styles.

A restrained, food-friendly Zin
Image from nallewinery.com

I call it traditional because this is the way all Zin was made up until about a dozen years ago. Traditional Zinfandel is picked less ripe and therefore has less alcohol compared to the Ripe style. A couple notes on the alcohol: (1) Zin is usually higher than other reds even when it's made in more of the restrained style. (2) The ripe Zins can have the alcohol level manipulated to bring it down.

The traditional Zins are heavier, but more restrained, more structured, will age, and are better as an accompaniment to food. These Zins can have black and red fruit flavors with usually a peppery spice and something I call "brambleberry" that I can't actually describe well but I know it when I sense it. Some typical Zinfandels in this style are those from Dry Creek Vineyards, Kenwood, and Ridge/Lytton Springs. Otherwise, you can guess at a Zin being more restrained if the alcohol is below 14.5%. If you see them listed at 15% or higher then you are definitely into the ripe version.

A big boy
Image from hartfordwines.com

The ripe Zins are softer and easier to drink with pronounced red fruit flavors. These are pleasant wines, but often simple wines. Sometimes they are hot on the back of the throat from the high alcohol level. In my experience these Zins don't age. They will accompany some foods such as anything done in a sweet BBQ sauce. Some Zins in this style are Rosenblum and Wilson. For less expensive ones look for Zinfandel from Lodi.

Is one style better than the other? That's up to whatever you like. I prefer the restrained, traditional style because I usually age red wines and I expect my Zinfandel to go with a nice tomato-based, maybe slightly spicy, pasta dish or grilled meat.

If you've maybe sampled a couple of Zinfandels and have been turned off don't give up! Look for different styles. And look for Zin from "Zinfandel-Central," Dry Creek Valley.

October in Dry Creek Valley (photos)

2011-10-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Morning of Oct 14, 2011

Click on any photo to enlarge

Morning sun at Lytton Springs

Along Westside Road

Morning sun along Westside Rd

Some not doing so well. This may be Zinfandel, not sure.

Next vine over even worse

Some autumn color showing

Geyser Peak "peaking" over the trees

Mid-October 2011 Harvest Update

2011-10-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

We're right in the middle of harvest. We've had a couple early season rain storms. Rain slows the ripening process as the grapes take up lots of water. This puts a harvest that was already running at least a couple weeks late even farther behind. The later it goes the larger the chance of more rain.

Most of California is at least three weeks behind schedule because of cooler, wet spring weather and now the autumn rains. The October rains give a potential for rot. Most of the whites and earlier ripening reds (Pinot Noir) seem to be in. The remaining thin-skinned grapes may or may not be in good shape when brought in. Many brought in their Zinfandel just before the last rain at sugars that may be a bit lower than some years, but that's probably a good thing, in my opinion. Any Zin still out there, however, is susceptible to rot.

In the Russian River Valley
Photo from pressdemocrat.com. Article

Later ripening varieties, as Cabernet, aren't as likely to get rot, but as the ripening process keeps being delayed it becomes as issue to whether the proper sugar levels will be reached while the weather is still warm. The current long-range weather forecast for Sonoma County is for sunny and warm days--that's good news!

Many are reporting a much smaller, but high quality crop, this year. At this point it appears Chardonnay and Zinfandel crops may be down significantly. It's unfortunate because a lot of Zin was lost last year, also. It's too early to tell about the Cabernet.

To the south along the Central Coast of California they are pulling in Chardonnay now before it rots.

Oregon reports potentially their worst harvest ever as the spring and autumn cool, wet weather is not allowing the grapes to ripen. In Washington a below zero period of cold weather last winter has caused damage to the vines resulting in a much smaller crop this year.

Farming: Not for the faint-hearted!

The Rockpile Appellation in Sonoma County

2011-10-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Appellation
(An appellation is a government-recognized wine growing region)

In northwest Sonoma County Rockpile is one of the newest grape-growing areas. Rockpile is in the hills north of Dry Creek Valley and west of Lake Sonoma about 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean. It's a rugged and remote area of Sonoma Conty with 160 acres planted to grapes. It's best known for Cabernet and Zinfandel, but there are several other red varieties grown. Rockpile's vineyards sit at elevations off the valley floor up to two thousand feet making the area is several degrees cooler than Dry Creek Valley. It's the combination of rocky soil, proximity to the cool Pacific, and the elevation that makes Rockpile unique. It's an area where the proverbial "stress the vines to make good wine" happens. Intense flavors is what Rockpile wines are all about.

Ancient History

Volcanicexplosions over two million years ago covered the area in volcanicrock. Most of the topsoil washed awayinto the lower valleys a few thousand years ago leaving very poor, but well-drainedsoil.

19th Century

In the 1850s the first American settler was an interesting character named Tennessee Bishop. When he decided to run for Sonoma County sheriff he first kicked his brother off the property who was hiding out there because he was wanted for murder while riding with Jesse James as part of the Quantrill Raiders. Apparently he realized that wouldn't be popular with the voters. While sheriff he used the county's prisoners to build the Rockpile Road up to his ranch.

Grapes have been known to grow there as far back as the 1870s on Tennessee's ranch.

20th Century

As with much of California the combination of phylloxera (destroys the roots of grape vines) and Prohibition (failed social engineering) killed off grape growing in this area. Rockpile consisted of remote cattle and sheep ranches until the Park family planted Cabernet in 1992. Soon others were planting Cab and Zinfandel.

Currently

Rockpile became an appellation in 2002. There are about ten grape growers in Rockpile farming anywhere from a couple acres up to about 35 acres anywhere between 800 feet and 2,000 feet elevation. There are no tasting rooms.

There are about 15 wineries making Rockpile wines including Carol Shelton, Mauritson, Paradise Ridge, Robert Baile, Rosenblum, Seghesio, St. Francis, and Stryker.

Image from sonomawinegrape.org

More info on Rockpile

2011 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Summary

2011-10-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Image from sonomacounty.com

The Sonoma County Harvest Fair is a big event for the local growers, wineries, and residents. I attend every year and taste through lots of wines over two or three days. I've been attending or pouring at this event for over 30 years. It's a great place to find new wineries and to get a general overview of what's going on with Sonoma County wines. This is the venue where I first discovered the likes of Matanzas Creek, Laurel Glen and Gary Farrell wines.

The three previous blog posts contain tasting notes from my three days at the fair. I'm a red wine drinker so if you're looking for info on Chardonnay... well, sorry.

Some observations:

Medals awarded

The stats: 1,000 wines entered, 874 medals given, 39 Best of Class, 10 Double Gold, 138 Gold. Just over 20% of the medals were gold or better which is a reasonable percentage, but the vast majority of wines got something. Does this mean pretty much everything entered was really good or do the judges feel if you enter you should get a medal? It sort of cheapens the bronze winners as it almost doesn't mean anything.

The big winners

The Harvest Fair gives a Sweepstakes Award to the best wine. Actually, it's gone from one to three Sweepstakes Awards now. One white, one red, and one specialty wine. I guess the specialty category is for sparklers, rosés, and dessert wines. I'd also guess it's a bit political deciding what variety in each of those broad categories will get the sweeps. How do you really compare the best Pinot, the best Cab, and the best Zins? In years past it seems the fair may have been making a "statement" with Sweepstakes Awards going to Sauv Blanc, for instance (Chardonnay's poor cousin). Anyway, this year's big winners:

Kenwood Vyds $16 Pinot Gris 2010
Wilson $36 Sawyer Zinfandel 2009
Gloria Ferrer $42 Brut Rosé 2007

I sampled the Zin and the Brut Rosé. Both were excellent.

Best new winery finds

J Rickards. I've seen the label but never tried the wines before. Their Alexander Valley old vines Zin was excellent and ageable.

Mounts Family. I first ran across them at a Grenache tasting a couple weeks ago (see blog past dated Sept 24) and enjoyed their wine. Their old vine Zin is also excellent and at a decent price, $30.

Other new names I'll keep any eye on: Lost Canyon and Munselle

Favorite wines

Hauck Zinfandels. The Dry Creek Zin was excellent. The Dry Creek Reserve was really excellent.

J Rickards old vine Zin

Sebastiani Dry Creek Zin

Trione Block 21 Cabernet is elegant ... and $64.

Wilson's Sawyer Zinfandel, the red wine Sweepstakes winner.

Best bang-for-the-buck wines

I didn't try a lot of really cheap wines because each tasting ticket was $2 whether you were sampling a $10 wine or an $80 wine.

J Rickards Alexander Valley Ancestor Selections Zinfandel at $22. If you like not so fruit forward Zins that you can age a bit this is a good one --if you can find it.

Sebastiani Dry Creek Zinfandel at $24. Okay, not terribly cheap but better than most of the Zins costing ten bucks more and I'd guess you could find it on the store shelf for $20 or less.

Wines I'd like to lay down and try again in a couple years

Chalk Hill Red (Bordeaux blend)
Graton Ridge and Watkins Family Pinot Noirs

Current state of Sonoma County wines

Pinot Noir can be a bad deal because you can easily spend a lot to get a mediocre wine. There are good Pinots out there at fair price but they're in the minority. Too many showed heat on the finish from too much alcohol. Come on folks, pick them earlier and give us more complexity, not just soft, red fruit. Pinot is not Zinfandel!

Speaking of Zin ... Zinfandel is what Sonoma County is all about. The majority of the ones I tried were really good wines. Many of the top medal winners were the big, (red) fruit forward style that is so popular. A few of these I find really nice, but after tasting several they get boring in that they are simple and all seem about the same. Besides the Hauck, J Rickards, Mounts, Sebastiani, and Wilson Zins already mentioned there were ones from Hawley, Mazzocco, McClain, Meadowcroft, and Munselle that were also excellent.

We don't seem to quite have Syrah figured out as some are just too drying. I was hoping for more Rhone blends but there weren't many available. Maybe in the coming years.

Sonoma County has made amazing strides in the past couple decades with the new wines available and their overall quality. It gets better every year!

Harvest Fair's web site

2011 Sonoma County Harvest Fair, Day 3

2011-10-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

My third and final day of tasting at Sonoma County's big wine event, the Harvest Fair.

Part of the Sunday afternoon crowd

Sonoma County's Pasta King, Art Ibleto, spent his 85th birthday dishing out spaghetti and polenta for folks at the Harvest Fair as he does every year. Thanks Art!

Following are the wines I tasted on Oct 2nd. Two previous posts list the wines I tasted other days. Note that there are multiple categories for some varietals such as Pinot Noir under $25, $25 to $35, and over $35. I didn't distinguish these breakdowns below. As before I rated the wines as follows:
EX = excellent, VG = very good, G = good, OK = just okay

Kids' grape stomp. Start 'em young!

Bordeaux Blends

Chalk Hill 2008 Chalk Hill Estate Red, $70. Gold
Dusty, tannins, needs time. VG

de Lorimier 2005 Alexander Vly Est Artisan, $40. Best of class
Soft, rich, good body. VG

Deerfield 2006 Sonoma Vly Rancho Salinas Meritage, $75. Gold
Peppery. VG

Cabernet

Rodney Strong 2007 Alexander Vly Brothers Ridge, $75. Best of class.
Ripe, medium body, good tannins, lingering somewhat rough finish. OK

Rodney Strong 2007 Alexander Vly Rockaway, $75. Gold
Ripe, fruity, spicy, tannic finish, needs time. VG

Owl Ridge 2007 Sonoma County, Sonoma Summit Vyd, $48. Double gold
Nice fruit. VG

Pinot Noir

Armida 2009 Sonoma Vly Durell Vyd, $45. Gold
Bright fruit but in balance, softer, good finish. Pleasing but a bit simple. VG

Graton Ridge 2009 Russian River Vly Paul Family Vyd, $50. Gold
Lots of flavors, could age a bit, good structure. VG

Lost Canyon 2009 Russian River Vly Saralee's Vyd, $45. gold
Medium fruit, some tannin, seems well made. VG

Sandole 2009 Russian River Vly Oehlman Ranch, $34. Gold
Bit thin, lighter, but nice and easy drinking. G

TR Elliot 2008 Russian River Vly Burgonet, $42. Best of class
Medium fruit, medium body, other flavors. VG

Watkins 2009 Russian River Vly Crinella Vyd, $34. Best of class
Structured, not fruit forward, dry, bit astringent, needs time. G

Syrah

Alexander Vly Vyds 2007 Alexander Vly Big Barrel, $45. Silver
Nice fruit and spice. VG

Hughes 2007 Sonoma County Savannah Vyd, $40. Gold
Some red fruit, pepper, tannins, dry, needs time. G

Jus Soli 2008 Sonoma Vly Romano Vyd, $24. Best of class
Softer, lighter body, nice pepper finish. VG

Zinfandel

Christopher Creek 2009 Dry Creek Vly, $27. Gold
OK

McClain 2007 Alexander Vly, $28. Gold
Nice fruit. VG

Meadowcroft 2009 Sonoma County, $28. Gold
Medium body and fruit. VG

Italian varietals

Armida 2009 Dry Creek Vly Estate Il Campo Field Blend, $39. Best of class
Zinfandel & Petite Sirah. Red fruit, nice spicy, can't taste the PS. VG
No, I'm not sure how this wine fits into an Italian varietals category.

Other reds

De La Montanya 2009 Russian River Vly Calandrelli Vyd Tempranillo, $38. Gold
Red fruit and tannins. G

Apple display. Sonoma grows something other than grapes!

2011 Sonoma County Harvest Fair, Day 2 of 3

2011-10-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last year's "World Championship"
Grape Stomp winners
Who'll it be this year?
Image from harvestfair.org

October 1st and 2nd are the fair's big days for tasting the top award-winners from this year's Harvest Fair. Think of a huge Quonset hut type of building, with a thousand people choosing between hundreds of wines. These are all Sonoma County grapes. With so many wines available you have to go in with some kind of tasting "theme" as trying only double gold winners, trying reds from wineries you've never heard of, Pinot Noirs only, etc. Not all wineries enter so some big (and small) names are missing.

I fell into Zinfandels quickly as Sonoma County is all about Zin.

Here's what I tasted on Saturday. Tasting notes are sparse as it's not easy trying to write anything down in this environment.

I rated the wines as follows:

EX = excellent, VG = very good, G = good, OK = just okay

Sparkling Wine

Gloria Ferrer NV Carneros Blanc de Noirs, $20. Gold
Clean, refreshing. Good for the price. VG

Gloria Ferrer 2004 Carneros Royal Cuvee, $32. Silver
Nice, fine bubbles. G

Pinot Noir

Clean Coast 2008 Sonoma County $15. Best of class
A second label from Susie Selby. Part of the profits go to Gulf Coast clean up efforts.
Rough finish. Didn't care for it good cause or not.

Cabernet

Trione 2007 Alexander Vly Bock 21, $64. Gold
Rich, soft, elegant. EX

Zinfandel

Hawley 2009 Russian River Vly Ponzo Vyd, $28. Gold
Fruit, pepper, needs another year at least, needs ravioli! VG

Hauck 2009 Dry Creek Vly, $28. Gold
Nice spice. EX

Hauck 2009 Dry Creek Vly Reserve, $38. Gold
Starts soft then spices, full of flavors, balanced. EX

J Keverson 2008 Sonoma Co Buck Hill Vyd, $29. Best of class
Lighter, easy drinking, would be a good food wine. G

J Rickards 2008 Alexander Vly Ancestor Selections, $22. Silver
An old time Sonoma style Zin with tannins, depth and fruit underneath. Needs five years. VG

J Rickards 2008 Alexander Vly Brignole Vyds Old Vines, $28. Gold
Fruit and tannins in balance, will age. EX

Keating 2009 Dry Creek Vly Buchignani Vyd, $28. Gold
Didn't like it.

Moshin 2008 Dry Creek Vly Carreras Vyd, $35
Nice structure but tight. Finished hot. Needs to age but will it with the alcohol showing? OK

Munselle 2008 Alexander Vly Osborn Ranch, $28. Double gold
Black and red fruits, some spices, balanced. VG

Ramazzotti 2007 Dry Creek Vly Ricondo, $30. Gold
Heavier, fuller-bodied. Maybe a good steak wine. G

Veritas Ridge 2009 Dry Creek Vly, $28. Gold
Nothing. No fruit, no spice. Bad bottle?

Watkins 2008 Sonoma County, $28. Gold
Heavier, bit drying (a Petite Sirah blend). Dark fruit. OK

Wine of the day

Hauck 2009 Dry Creek Reserve Zinfandel

There were many more outstanding Zinfandels: The other Hauck "regular" zin, Hawley, and both J Rickards zins. The Trione Cab was excellent, also.

2011 Sonoma County Harvest Fair, Day 1

2011-09-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Sonoma County Harvest Fair is The Big Event for local wine growers and producers. Monday, Sept 26, 2011, was a trade/media tasting day. The main tasting is the weekend of Oct 1-2.

Image from harvestfair.org

Following are wines I tasted listed by varietal. Note that there are multiple categories for many, such as Zinfandel Under $25 and Cabernet $25 to $35. I don't distinguish these categories but you can look up the full results at the fair's website.

Notes are sparse but I did rate them as follows:

EX = excellent, VG = very good, G = good, OK = just okay

Sparkling

Gloria Ferrer 2007 Carneros Brut Rosé,$42. Sweepstakes winner and Best of Class

Clean, good sugar/acid, burst ofbubbles VG

Gloria always does a great job with their bubblies. This one's a bit more expensive than most.

Pinot Noir

Balletto 2009 Russian River Vly BCD Vyd, $34. Double Gold.

Not especially distinctive, bit hot onthe finish. G

Gracianna 2009 Russian River VlyBacigalupi Vyd, $48. Gold

Soft and lush. G

They do a great job with Zinfandel. This PN seems to be a similar style to their Zin.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Wilson 2005 Sonoma County VinemanCabernet, $40. Silver

Undistinguished, drying. OK

Not a good deal for the price.

Bordeaux Blend

Wilson 2008 Dry Creek Vly Roger's Fault, $32. Gold

Very nice for the price.

Primitivo

Trione 2009 Alexander Vly Home Ranch, $28. Best of Class

Rich, ripe, spicy, shows a bit of heat. VG

Yes, Primitivo has its own category this year.

Zinfandel

Mazzocco 2009 Dry Creek Vly Thurow, $32. Gold

Soft, fruity, finishes with a littlespice and heat. G

Mazzocco 2009 Dry Creek Vly WarmSprings Ranch, $34

Ripe, soft, short finish. G

Mazzocco 2009 Dry Creek Vly WarmSprings Ranch Resv, $52

Lots of spice, some tannin. VG

Nice, but very expensive.

Mounts 2009 Dry Creek Vly Estate, $20.Gold.

Nice fruit with decent acid balance. G

Good food wine for the price.

Mounts 2009 Dry Creek Vly Estate OldVines, $30. Silver

More of everything compared to the“regular” estate zin. VG

Very good for the price.

Sebastiani 2008 Dry Creek Vly, $24. Best of Class.

Big, brambly, correct acid. An oldstyle Sonoma County Zin at its best. EX

The best bang-for-the-buck wine I tasted. I've found this true with several Sebastiani wines.

VC 2009 Dry Creek Vly, $28.Gold

Soft, peppery. G

Wilson 2009 Dry Creek Vly,$27. Bronze

Bit drying, tannins OK

Wilson 2009 Dry Creek Vly Sawyer, $36. Sweepstakes and Best of Class

Starts with soft red fruit then anexplosion of spices. EX

Really amazing wine. I'm still trying to figure how I'd pair this with food.

Wilson 2009 Dry Creek Vly Sydney, $36. Gold

Bit dry, spice, needs time. G

Wilson 2009 Dry Creek Vly Molly's, $48

Soft, fruity, rich, easy drinking. VG

Yes, I tasted a lot of Mazzocco's and Wilson's wines (same owner). With all the medals they won their table will be very busy next weekend so this seemed like the best chance. Lots more on the Harvest Fair coming next weekend!

Warning! Petite Sirah will make your glass
look like this!

Grenache Tasting

2011-09-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Actually it was Grenache and Grenache blends as you often see it blended with other Rhone grapes such as Syrah. In California Grenache has been grown in the hot Central Valley to make jug wines.With the help of the Rhone Rangers grapes like Grenache, Mouvedre, Carignane, and Syrah are becoming more popular as premium wines in the U.S. Grenache is usually characterized as berry fruit-flavored, spicy and soft (low acids).

On September 23rd William Allen hosted a Grenache tasting at his farm. The tasters rated their top wines and he'll post the overall results on his blog, Simple Hedonisms.

Evening sun at the tasting venue

These were mostly local producers, but not all. The production of the wines is small ranging from less than 1,000 cases down to about 50. A couple of the guys pouring even said the grapes were crushed by foot. I was trying not to picture this being done by their feet but by some 18 year old Italian maidens.

Following are my personal results listed from my favorites to least:

Mounts Family 2008 Dry Creek Estate Grenache (Grenache/Syrah). Good fruit, just a bit of spice and tannins. $30

Sheldon 2005 Santa Ynez Vly Vinolocity (Grenache/Syrah). Very good fruit and spices with a near perfect balance on this aged wine. $30

Mounts Family 2008 Dry Creek Estate "The Terraces" Grenache (Grenache/Mourvedre). Amazing black fruit, not ready yet, but should be a great wine. $40

Baiocchi 2009 Fairplay, El Dorado Entre Nous (Grenache/Syrah). Great peppery spicy up front. Full-bodied and heavy--must be the Syrah in the blend. $39

R2 2009 Santa Ynez Vly Rhapsody (Grenache/Carignane/Syrah/Mourvedre). Great red fruit but still young and tannic. This will be a very good wine. And I forgot to ask if they made a D2 wine (get it -- R2 D2). A bargain at $24.

Thumbprint 2008 Ramazzotti Vyds, Dry Creek Vly Grenache (100%). Good structure, oak, spicy finish, a bit of heat. Needs to age. $36

Mounts Family 2009 Dry Creek Vly Estate Grenache (Grenache/Syrah). Cool blue fruit, mouth drying, not ready yet. $30

Sheldon 2007 Santa Ynez Vly Grenache (100%) Very good fruit, big finish, bit drying. A great deal at $25.

Quivira 2008 Dry Creek Vly Elusive (Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre/Petite Sirah). Big, tart, spicy. $28

Sheldon 2003 Santa Ynez Vly Vinolocity (Grenach//Syrah). Bit drying, good acid. $30

Ridge 2005 Dry Creek Vly Lytton Estate Grenache (Grenache/Petite Sirah/Zinfandel), Big, drying, more like a Petite Sirah. $28

Ridge 2007 Dry Creek Vly Lytton Estate Syrah / Grenache. Medium spices and tannins. Needs time. $30

Quivira 2009 Dry Creek Vly Grenache (Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah). Tart. $26

Stage Left Cellars 2006 Santa Maria Vly Grenache (Grenache/Mourvedre). $48

Wind Gap 2008 California Rana (Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah). $45

Wind Gap 2009 North Coast Orra (Grenache/Mourvedre/Counoise). $28

It was a lot of fun trying these as I'm not too familiar with Grenache-based wines and not too familiar with many of these wineries. The first two, the Mounts Family and Sheldon stood above the rest, the R2 stood out as the best bargain.

Just to prove you should never rely on one person's opinion on wine my wife was along and her three favorites were the Thumbprint, the '05 Sheldon, then the R2.

Four Russian River Valley Tasting Rooms

2011-09-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

On a warm top-down day I made four stops at some favorite wineries in the Russian River Valley appellation. Listed are the wines I purchased from each. All of these wineries are small operations--the best kind! The wineries in this area tend to specialize in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Zinfandel.

Harvest in underway at Pellegrini
80 tons of Pinot Noir in 48 hours!

Harvest Moon

2006 Russian River Valley Zinfandel ($34). Soft, fruity, acidic, lighter bodied. Will definitely stand up to food. I would generalize their wines as somewhat elegant with an acid backbone not usually found in CA wines.

Pellegrini

2007 Russian River Valley, Olivet Lane Estate Reserve Pinot Noir ($45). The $20 Russian River Pinot was good for the price. This one was exceptional. They also had a nice Cabernet and Cab blend.

Dutton-Goldfield

2009 Russian River Valley, Dutton Ranch / Stoetz Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel ($30). Young and chock full of flavors, complexity and potential.

Red Car

2007 Sonoma County, Cuvee 22 Syrah ($55). The best of the three Syrahs I tried though all were good. Rich, complex and easy drinking. They make many small lot wines under several labels.

Pennsylvania's Wine Kiosks are Outta Here!

2011-09-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

In PA alcohol sales are completely controlled by the state--everything from purchase from the winery, distillery, or brewery to sale to the consumer. Too much power in the hands of a few bureaucrats?

These government liquor barons spent millions on retail wine kiosks. It's sort of a vending machine except you have to blow in a breathalyzer to complete the sale. Really. It's funny that they don't do that if you want to buy a gun in PA.

Image from consumerist.com

These bureaucrats believe they are immune to criticism so through all the complaints over the past year from consumers and retailers they kept installing the wine kiosks.

So they have sort of seen the light but are blaming it on the vendor of the machine. Why? Because they want the vendor to cover their million dollars in expenses occurred during this fiasco. Meanwhile the vendor is suing PA for breach of contract. Your tax dollars at work.

Time for the good people of Pennsylvania to put the Liquor Control Board out of business.

Story from Forbes.com

Alcohol labeling on wine

2011-09-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

With all the noise being made about rising alcohol levels on California and other New World wines (and some Old World wines) "buying by alcohol percent" may be happening with some consumers. I know I've started looking and will sometimes form opinions on a wine before even trying it. This is something most wineries and retail sales folks would prefer you didn't do.

A 15% alcohol Pinot.
Or is it closer to 16%?

So what can you tell by reading the percent alcohol number on a wine label?   Does it really give you an idea of what kind of wine you're getting?    Well, maybe a little bit.

A wine labeled 14.5% alcohol doesn't necessarily have 14.5%.   There's a fudge factor allowed by the government mostly to cover variances in what actually shows up in the bottle as labels have to be ordered well before bottling.

But this fudge factor is huge.   A wine labeled 14.5% could actually be 15.4%. The law is a little convoluted as the rules and taxes are different for wines below and above 14%.   This law is old and from a time when table wines were pretty much always below 14%. In fact, wines under 14% don't have to state the alcohol content though most do.

So not only does this mean you may really be getting a much higher (or lower) alcohol wine, but if you're comparing two, say one labeled as 14.5% and another at 15% you can't really assume the latter is higher in alcohol.   The numbers are reported by the wineries to the gov't so they're trusting the producers to be accurate.   Is there any cheating going on? I don't know, but I would guess any gov't checking would be for wines labeled at 14% and just under to see if they really belong in the lower tax bracket because the gov't mostly cares about their money.

Wine vs. Cars

2011-09-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

There are wine enthusiasts (sometimes called geeks) and there are auto enthusiasts (not usually called geeks). There are those who see their vehicle as just an appliance rather than something they enjoy or even lust after. Think Camry owner vs. Porsche driver. With wine some just ask for a glass of white wine and don't worry any more about it. Others want to know the vintage year, country and appellation, vineyard, what sugars the grapes were picked at, etc.

Wine enthusiasts can worry about the most seemingly minute detail of a bottle. They worry that Syrah was added to the Pinot Noir. They worry that the Sauvignon Blanc wasn't fermented completely dry. They spend time trying to figure out if they should drink a particular Cabernet in 2015-2017 or if it'll go past 2020. Oh yeah, they worry if their wine cellar isn't exactly 55 degrees.

Camry. The generic Chardonnay
(or maybe White Zinfandel?) of cars
Image from toyoland.com

Gear heads pour over tire tests before buying a new set. As they do with brake pads. I can't quite see the Toyota Corolla owner going to the aftermarket for the best fade-free track pads even though they put out dust and squeal when cold. They would think there's something wrong with their brakes.

Some folks taste a youthful wine with tannins and say, "Eww, that's too dry" without realizing aging potential, but then they don't care. Fewer and fewer wines are now made for long-term aging. The style has gone for mass market appeal as wine has gotten more popular. Just as most cars can't even be had with a manual transmission any more.

Wines can be very trendy like Pinot Grigio. Cars can be too like the Mini Cooper. Pinot Grigio is slightly sweet and fruity, not very distinctive and not too expensive. The Mini is small, not especially cheap, and has a reputation for high maintenance costs. But people love 'em!

Let's establish some links between wine and cars:

Camry = (cheap) Chardonnay. Both are as generic as they come
Mazda3 = Sauvignon Blanc. Zippier and cheaper than a Chard. One-tenth the sales.
Mini = Pinot Gris. Trendy for unknown reasons.
VW Beetle = White Zinfandel. Girly car/girly wine
Accord = Merlot. Boring unless you go top-of-the-line.
Mustang = Zinfandel. Youthful, high alcohol.
Subaru = Syrah. Never quite mainstream no matter how hard it tries.
BMW = Pinot Noir. Sophisticated, a bit stuffy, expensive and not always worth it.
Mercedes = (high-end) Cabernet. Really stuffy, for old folks. You can brag to friends.

You know you are a wine geek when ...

2011-09-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

You spit out your mom's Chardonnay in her kitchen sink declaring, "It's too heavy on the French oak."

The typical wine snob
Be aware!

You swirl your Starbucks before drinking.

Your monthly wine purchases equal your rent. (You can't quite save up enough money for a down payment on your own home).

On your weekly trip to the local wine retailer you notice he's posted the wrong score for a particular wine.

While visiting Omaha on business you are aghast at the choices offered by the hotel bar and vow to never do business in Omaha again.

You have a "Turley for President" or "Turley is an Idiot" t-shirt.

You spend 30 minutes telling your friends about the Turley / Parker connection until they glaze over and finally run away.

You tell your friends to drink dry rosés during the summer even though you won't.

You complain about spending $75 to put 20 gallons of gas in your SUV, but will gladly spend that much for 750 ml of Napa Cabernet.

You can't believe Obama poured that Sauvignon Blanc at a White House dinner.

You've walked into a roadside diner in central Ohio (or Wyoming or Mississippi) and asked to see the wine list. When given a blank stare you say, "Okay, what do you have in a Santa Rita Hills Pinot?"

You drink wine at baseball and football games.

You own more corkscrews than you do shoes.

You've paid more for a corkscrew than you did for any of your shoes.

When friends invite you to their wedding you ask what the wine choices will be so you know whether or not to bring your own.

When out to dinner you order a bottle of wine before looking at the wine list then pick the meal to go with it.

You are about to order a glass of wine at a small Italian restaurant until you find out they serve it in a tumbler not a wine glass.

You have your own set of Riedel stemware (one for Bordeaux, one for Burgundy, one for Zinfandel, etc.) and don't think it's weird bringing your set of wine glasses out to dinner.

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams . If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered.
Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
Jack Handey, American humorist

Consolidation in the California wine industry

2011-09-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

The number of actual family-owned wineries seems to drop by the day as many are gobbled up by other companies. The good news in this is that more small owner/winemaker operations are always springing up.

The bigger takeovers make the news and people hear about changes with Constellation and Treasury and the other big guys. But there are smaller, private companies and individuals that are buying up wineries.

The Boisset family of France acquired Deloach when it was in financial trouble then more recently a long-held family winery in Napa, Raymond (they make great Cabs, by the way), and the historic Buena Vista Winery.

Three guys with years of experience in the business end of the wine industry started Vincraft and have acquired Kosta Browne and Gary Farrell. Poor Gary Farrell Winery seems to have changed owners once a year in the last decade. I hope things settle down for them. Vincraft is also part owners of Kistler.

Hawley Winery of Sonoma Co.
Where John and sons do most of the work
Image from hawleywine.com

Vintage Wine Estates, started by the owners of the high-end Dean and DeLuca stores, own Girard, Windsor Vyds, and recently got Cosentino from bankruptcy. Cosentino has had a number of hard years of mismanagement, but Vintage Wine has brought back the founder, Mitch Cosentino, so maybe things will turn around. They own several other small brands, also.

Bill Foley has an impressive collection of medium to high-end wineries including Chalk Hill, Firestone, Kuleto, Sebastiani, plus some others. Chalk Hill is an amazing estate started by Fred Furth, an anti-trust lawyer in the AT&T breakup.

Hartford Winery
Part of the Jackson über family
Image from northbaybiz.com

The Astencia Wine Group has been in financial difficulty because they bought at peak prices. So they are the sellers of Buena Vista and Gary Farrell. They still own Geyser Peak plus a few smaller labels.

Recently the private holding company Roll Global bought a small winery in Napa then Sonoma's Landmark Vineyards.

Illinois wine distributors, Terlato, owns Alderbrook, Chimney Rock, Rutherford Hill, and Sanford plus others.

Heck Estates, owned by Gary Heck of Korbel
Kenwood, Lake Sonoma, Valley of the Moon
Where he's turning brands into labels (same production facilities, same winemakers)

Trinchero, the Sutter Home family
Folie a Deux, Montevina, Napa Cellars

Not a consolidation but the latest sale I'm aware of is Limerick Lane, a small winery that's been around quite a while and known for their Zinfandels. Their equipment and property sold to a local person. The sale didn't include the liquor license so it sounds like the Limerick Lane name is gone.

Some of these companies are based locally and run by people familiar with the local wine business; others are not. It's hard times in the wine industry as with many other businesses and the sell-offs won't end anytime soon.

Following is a list of the big guys and some of their major holdings (not a full list). With all the changes it'll probably be out-of-date by the time you read this.

Spirits maker Brown Forman
Fetzer and Sonoma Cutrer though these are reportedly for sale.

World's largest wine company, headquarted in NY, Constellation Brands
Blackstone, Clos du Bois, Franciscan, Mt Veeder, Ravenswood, Robert Mondavi, Simi

Headquartered in London Diageo at one time owned Burger King
Beaulieu, Chalone, Sterling

Gallo owns lots of labels for wines made at their Modesto plant, plus Gallo Sonoma
They bought Napa's iconic Louis Martini Winery a few years ago

Jackson Wine Estates, the Kendall-Jackson family
Arrowood, Cardinale, Freemark Abbey, Hartford, La Crema, Matanzas Creek, Murphy-Goode
Hartford and La Crema were started by Jess Jackson, the others were purchased

Treasury Wine Estates was formed when Foster's spun off their wine brands. Treasury is reportedly for sale (plus Foster's is in the middle of a hostile takeover)
Beringer, Chateau St. Jean, Meridian, St. Clement, Souverain, Stags Leap

2011: Vintage of the decade?

2011-09-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Is 2011 going to be a vintage year in California? Of course, just ask anyone in the local wine biz!

In the past wine experts (mostly wine writers actually) have proclaimed various years as great vintages--1997, 2001, and 2007 come immediately to mind. In fact, some jumped right on the bandwagon calling 2001 the vintage of the century!

So what about '11? Winemakers will probably get a fuzzy idea as the look at the grapes coming in during the harvest but will have a better idea a few months later when everything is crushed, fermented and settled in. What everyone seems to be saying now is the season was delayed by at least a couple weeks because of the cool, wet spring plus the crop size will be smaller because of the wet weather. None of that is bad for quality. In fact, a reduced crop size is good for quality if not for the grape growers pocketbook.

The weather seemed to be pretty much "standard Sonoma County" once the late spring rains ended. Summer was warm, but not hot, during the day with cool nights and mornings. Seems pretty near perfect.

Of course, the other issue is not all of California is the same and not all varieties will act the same in a given year. For instance one particular vintage might be great for Central Coast Pinot and not so great for North Coast Cabernet. In 2010 Chardonnay and Zinfandel seemed to get hit particularly hard by the weather in Sonoma County. But even then it doesn't mean 2010 will be a bad year for Chard and Zin as long as the winemakers aren't using the substandard fruit (I saw lots of Zinfandel cut off the vines and left to rot in the autumn of 2010).

So is the 2011 vintage going to be great? Absolutely.

A bin of nice looking grapes at Field Stone Winery in '09

Sept 1st in the Russian River Valley (photos)

2011-09-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

September 1, 2011. Almost harvest time! A few grapes are in, mostly for sparkling wines, but it looks like things will start cranking up next week after Labor Day.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Pinot Noir at Deloach Vineyards

Long rows of vines at Hook & Ladder Winery

Syrah at Russian Hill Winery

From Russian Hill towards Mt. St. Helena

From Russian Hill looking south towards Sonoma Cutrer Winery

An old hop kiln from Russian Hill Winery
Before grapes Sonoma was known for hops

Chardonnay at Rodney Strong Vineyards

Syrah at Rodney Strong

and finally

Lunch at the Bear Republic Brewery
in Healdsburg

Fastest growing wine in the U.S.

2011-08-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Moscato.
Huh?

Muscat, that cheap Central Valley blending grape, is hot. Gallo, Woodbridge (Mondavi), Sutter Home, and Beringer all report big sales. Moscato is inexpensive and sweet and apparently trendy with younger urbanites. Sales have more than tripled over the last three years.

Some makers are trying to move consumers "upscale." Beringer adds a bit of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah to make Red Moscato. Gallo has one under their Mirassou label with a suggested retail price of (gasp) $12! Interestingly, nowhere on the Mirassou website is Gallo mentioned. Mirassou Winery is called "America's oldest winemaking family" even though the winemaking is now done by Gallo. I guess withholding the truth is okay in marketing.

Muscat has been popular for generations as Asti Spumante and Muscat Canelli. Now the U.S. marketing-types are trying to link Rap music and Moscato to key in on the millenials. A couple Rap songs have referenced Moscato.

So if White Zinfandel is the official drink of middle-aged women and Pinot Grigio solidly with the 30-somethings then Muscat must be the drink for the young'uns in their 20s. Just so you know where you belong--marketing-wise.

Cool-looking bottle, huh?
Seller's website says it's from a cult-Napa winemaker!
Image from vineyardgate.com

The worst taste in wine

2011-08-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

This wine is flawed. Not because of the winemaking but because of a business decision.

This wine leaves a bad taste in the mouth
Image from latimes.com

Lieb Cellars of NY state, whose tag line is "North Fork not Napa Valley," has stepped in it deep with their 9/11 commemorative wine. Yeah, WTF? A Chardonnay and a Merlot labelled "9/11 Memorial" selling for $19.11. The bottles note that the grapes "were grown 90 miles from the site of the World Trade Center attack."

The winery plans to give a small percentage of the sales to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Yeah, that's great but you could do that without trying to cash in on the tenth anniversary of a disaster that killed thousands. Why not a 70th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor wine while you're at it? Maybe you can export it to Japan (and send some to Hawaii).

To borrow a phrase from comedian Kathy Griffin, "You guys can suck it."

2011 Harvest Begins!

2011-08-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

The wine grape harvest in Sonoma County officially kicked off on August 22nd. A small batch of Pinot Noir was picked for use in J Winery's sparkling wine. Grapes for sparklers are picked less ripe so they come in first.

This is just about the same time as last year with both years being later than average. 2010 saw a cool and damp summer causing the delay in ripening and a fairly heavy loss of some varieties in some locations. 2010 was also a tough economic climate for growers to sell their grapes even though the crop size was down.

The 2011 season was delayed by a wet spring but since that time conditions have been good. Crop size is down from a couple years ago but quality should be high -- assuming Mother Nature continues to cooperate. Also, it appears growers are having a much easier time selling their grapes this year.

The trickle of grapes that started yesterday should turn into an avalanche in a month.

Press Democrat article

Sonoma Pinot Noir Tasting

2011-08-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

On August 18th blogger William Allen put on a Pinot tasting with about a dozen producers pouring their wines. We all tasted and picked our top three. He will publish the overall results in his blog Simple Hedonisms. Following are my picks.

My top Pinots: (listed alphabetically)

Baxter 2007 Oppenlander Vyd Mendocino, $60. Nice fruit with softer finish but well structured. Yes, it's expensive, but it's a great wine.

My wine of the night
Image from
krutzfamilycellars.com

Inman 2007 Olivet Grange Russian River Valley, $56. Fruit-forward without being overdone or alcoholic. Nicely balanced. Sometimes you try a wine and say, "This is really well made."

Krutz 2007 Anderson Valley, $45. A bit tight but fuller-bodied with great structure and complexity. Classic Anderson Valley.

Joseph Swan 2007 Saralee's Vyd Russian River Valley, $35. Depth, structure, bit soft, earthy, minerally. If you like fruit-forward wine you probably won't like this one, but if you like Burgundian style this one works and at a reasonable price.

Londer 2009 Corby Vyd Anderson Valley, $40. Lighter "classic" style, blueberries, bit of tobacco.

Other excellent Pinots:

Baxter 2007 Toulouse Vyd Anderson Valley, $45. Lighter body, bit tart, short finish.

Bjornstad 2008 Hellenthal Vyd Sonoma Coast, $40. Blueberry coolness with a spicy finish.

Freestone 2007 Sonoma Coast, $55. Structured but somewhat lacking fruit and finish. Probably should age this one for a few more years.

Sojurn 2009 Gap's Crown Vyd Sonoma Coast, $48. Bit bitter up front, fruity, bit of heat on the finish.

Sojurn 2009 Roger's Creek Vyd Sonoma Coast, $48. Fuller bodied, rich, spicy, just a bit of heat on the finish.

The rest:

Londer Vineyards
A new find for me.
Image from londervineyards.com

Bjornstad 2008 van der Kamp Vyd Sonoma Mountain, $40. Not showing well. Maybe it will later?

Deux Punx 2009 Elk Prairie Vyd Humboldt County, $27. Gotta love the name, two punks from Humboldt. They claim the vineyard is on original European root stock (no phylloxera up that way--yet).

Foppiano 2009 Estate Russian River Valley, $25. Medium body with lots of fruit, but nothing special except the price.

Gloria Ferrer 2007 Carneros, $22. Bit of a medicinal nose, big fruit, soft finish. Least expensive Pinot here and my least favorite.

Inman 2008 Olivet Grange Russian River Valley, $56. Tight, nose is a bit "off." Will this develop like the 2007?

Joseph Swan 2009 Cuvee de Trois Russian River Valley, $29. Murky. Maybe too young?

Londer 2009 Ferrington Anderson Valley, $50. Spicy, earthy, tannic. Probably needs time to develop.

Windsor Sonoma 2009 Russian River Valley, $30. Fruity, rich, simple. A good deal if you like fruit-forward Pinots.

The best news is out of the approximately 18 Pinots tasted I found no dogs. All were definitely drinkable; some were of a style I didn't particularly like (I'm not so fond of simple, big fruit wines). For my money I'd be buying the Londer Corby Vineyard at $40 and the Krutz at $45.

New member of the Napa County Farm Bureau

2011-08-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Napa County Farm Bureau contains numerous winery owners and winemakers, as you'd expect, along with a few ranchers and olive producers. Their mission is "to ensure the proper political, social, and economic climate for the continuation of a strong, viable, and sustainable agricultural economy."

Image from
marijuanabookbomb.com

The Farm Bureau has a new member, a St. Helena resident growing medical marijuana in his backyard. Crane Carter wants to use his membership as a springboard to legitimize pot as a taxable crop. In the meantime he's wasting no time in designing a t-shirt to sell to the tourists.

Carter's goal? "Why should Humboldt County be the Napa Valley of pot growing. It should be Napa!"

I suppose when the farm bureau finishes up its business meetings someone breaks out their Cabernet, maybe a rancher supplies some steaks, and now ...

By the way, if you're in town on August 28th per the farm bureau's calendar, it's their annual barn tour!

Napa Valley - Disneyland for Adults

2011-08-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Napa Valley is sometimes described by locals as a "Disneyland for Adults." It's a magical place grownups dream about visiting someday. You can hang out and chat with other adults from all over the world. And maybe even hang with local rock stars (winemakers).

The Napa Valley Wine Train
Image from thetraveleditor.com

You can get a buzz on and maybe do something you wouldn't ordinarily do back home around the relatives. It's not Vegas (thank God), but many visitors think it's a place to let loose. Yes, I've seen a few things going on that are at least R-rated plus seen people drinking on the streets or even drinking and driving--things they wouldn't do back home for sure.

So by calling it "Disneyland for Adults" isn't meant in a derogatory fashion although some places and some events may cross the line into a bit of Vegas or Hollywood. Is this wrong? Well, these places and events sure are popular just like the real Disneyland. Obviously, many people are looking for a bit of a fantasy vacation--that's why Vegas is popular, right?

Castello di Amarosa Winery
It's a well-done recreation of a Italian castle using materials brought over from real European castles. There's a fee just to get inside. Some people are put off by this, but then the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA doesn't let you in for free either. The Castello is very popular with the out-of-state and foreign tourists. It's a fantasy in the true Disneyland model.

Chateau Montelena Winery

Darioush
Image from about.com

The wine geek's Disneyland because of the "Judgement of Paris." If you don't know what that is you're not a real wine geek. If you are then it kind of like visiting Mecca.

Darioush Winery
The ultimate Disneyland in Napa. Or is it Persia in Napa? Or a Hollywood set? You can certainly call it spectacular. It's just tough to call it a winery.

Napa Valley Wine Auction
Everybody dresses up and looks for stars. Maybe Michael Jordan will be back to add to his collection? Those nerdy-looking kids over there must be Google execs. Lets hope Robin Williams won't swear at all the rich people bidding at the auction this year. Looking for a sugar daddy (or momma)? This is the place!

Pride Mtn Winery
Pride Mountain got cult status a few years ago. With any trend they come and go but these guys know how to cash in with a top-of-the-line $75 tour/tasting. Someone will pay it. But if you think that's bad you can make an appointment at one of Kendall-Jackson's Napa holdings, Cardinale, to taste their current release wine (that's singular) for fifty bucks.

Opus One. Sure it's overrated,
but you know you wanna go.

Silverado Vineyards
No, it's not a Disneyland-style winery, but it actually has a Disney connection as it's owned by members of the Disney family. It's a nice winery, with nice wines, and Mickey is not to be seen anywhere.

Sterling Vineyards
There's an entry fee to get here as you must ride a tram up to a Moorish castle. You might wonder what a Moorish-style castle is doing in Napa and what it has to do with wine, but after looking at Darioush it's really pretty tame.

V. Sattui Winery
If you're there on a rainy Wednesday in January you won't get the Disneyland connection. But if you're there any other day with the buses, screaming kids, pushy tourists, and the frazzled employees you'll see a spectacularly successful winery in full tourism mode.

Yountville
All I can say is, "It's a fake town" in that the locals don't have anywhere to shop. It's small and cute and loaded with expensive lodging and food. But then I just got back from Mendocino on the Pacific coast so I understand the allure of those picturesque places that exist only to cater to tourists.

Foppiano Winery in Sonoma County
No Disneyland effect or prices here!
Image from winecountrythisweek.com

So just like every kid wants to go to Disneyland every adult who drinks wine even occasionally wants to visit Napa Valley. Go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you! You can visit and stay away from the Disneyland effect by visiting some of the smaller and more out of the way places. Or, of course, you can come over the hill to Sonoma County.

August morning in Sonoma Valley

2011-08-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

August 15, 2011
Click on a photo to enlarge

Madrone Road near Valley of the Moon Winery

From Madrone Rd looking towards Mount Veeder

Color change (veraison) a couple weeks late this year

Lots of choices!

Kunde vineyards

From Kenwood Vineyards

Veraison at Kenwood

What wineries should you visit?

2011-08-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

An oft asked question of people planning a trip to the California wine country is, "What wineries should I visit?" It's a great question, but there's no answer. That's like asking, "I need a new car. What should I buy?" I dunno, a Kia or maybe a Ferrari. See the problem?

Between just Sonoma and Napa Counties there are hundreds of choices so you have to come up with a criteria to narrow the selection.

Here's one way to get around
on your first visit.
Image from limo4winetour.com

Have you ever been to the wine country before?
If not you may want to start with a tour at one of the big boys like Mondavi or Beringer. If you've made a trip to Napa already it's time to branch out to Sonoma or somewhere else. If you're already been to Sonoma, Santa Barabara, and the Sierra Foothills maybe it's time for Mendocino or Santa Cruz.

Do you know much about wine?
If you consider yourself a novice you may want to stick mostly to names you've heard before such as Mondavi and Beringer, but don't be afraid of some places you've never heard of because you'll find that 99% of the winery names are new to you.

What time of year are you visiting?
Napa Valley and anywhere close to a large city can be very crowded in peak season. This can detract from the overall experience. Choose somewhere less famous and you'll get better service.

Artesa Winery

Are you interested in anything besides the wine such as architecture, art, great views, the vineyards?
Do some Googling before you go.

Do you prefer certain varieties?
Certain wineries and certain growing areas are better for certain types of wines. That is, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grow in cooler areas with a coastal influence and Cabernet does best in warmer areas. With California's micro-climates you can still find most varieties within an easy drive of each other, but if you love Zinfandel you want to visit Dry Creek Valley, for instance.

Looking for new wines or things you can buy back home?
Some folks want to sample so they have a better idea what to buy at home. Others are looking for only wines they can't find on their local store shelf. You see Beringer, Mondavi, Kenwood, and Chateau St. Jean wines everywhere, but even these big boys make a few wines you probably won't find at home. There are many small operations that you've never heard of and these are where your new wine discoveries can be made.

What price range of wines are you interested in?
You probably shouldn't be stopping at Sterling if you are looking for high-end Napa Cabs. Likewise, you probably don't want to make appointments on Diamond Mountain (where you find expensive Cabs) if you are looking for cheap Chardonnay.

Or are you not buying this trip?
You can stop in tasting rooms that are open daily or you can make appointments at smaller wineries where you sit down with the owner and/or winemaker. If you're just sampling to see what you like with the intent to buy back home then stick to the open-to-the-public tasting rooms.

Once you can answer these sorts of questions it becomes easier to make recommendations and for you to do Internet searches to find potential stops.

Autumn 2011 Sonoma County Events

2011-08-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

Fall is a great time to visit the wine country. The harvest is happening, the weather is great, and there are fall colors in the vineyards.

Here are some things happening in Sonoma County during September, October, and November of 2011.

Sept

2-4 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend - Wine tasting at the beautiful MacMurray Ranch, an auction at Cline Cellars, various winemaker dinners and winery BBQs. Get discount tix with a Visa Signature Card. Info

2 Santa Rosa Railroad Square First Fridays - Street festival with food, wine, and music. Info

4 Rodney Strong Winery Concert Series - Jazz musician Chris Botti.

10 Healdsburg Beer in the Plaza. About 30 local microbreweries. Info

10 Wine Country BBQ. Kansas City Barbecue Society nationally sanctioned competition. Lots of meat, wine, beer and music. Info

14-18 Sonoma Valley Crush Weekend. Harvest events. Info

23-25 Sonoma Valley Vintage Festival - Held on the town square in Sonoma with a grape stomp, parade, music and, of course, wine tasting. Info

23-25 BR Cohn Winery Charity Auction and Music Festival - A Friday night dinner with Guy Fieri then the Doobie Brothers, Leon Russell, Sammy Hagar, and others play in the vineyards on the weekend. Info

Oct

1-2  Sonoma County Harvest Fair - There's an overpriced Friday night event on Sept 30th followed by the Sat-Sun afternoon wine tasting. Food, award-winning wines, beer, music, big crowds, and more wine.  Info

21-23 Pinot on the River - Three days of Pinot Noir in Healdsburg. Info

Nov

5-6 Wine and Food Affair - A very popular Northern Sonoma County food and wine event weekend. Info

19-20  Holiday in Carneros - Winery open house in southern Napa and Sonoma Counties. Info

25-26  Heart of Sonoma Valley Open House - Holiday food and wine tasting. Info

Harvest Events - Many wineries have their own harvest parties. Check with your favorites to see if they have anything going on.

Thanksgiving Weekend - The wineries are closed on Thanksgiving Day. The rest of the weekend is usually very busy and many put on special holiday open houses. Check with your favorites to see if they have anything special going on.

Wells Fargo Center - The auditorium has various shows and concerts. During Sept, Oct, and Nov. Willie Nelson, Ron White, Lisa Lampanelli, Dana Carvey, and others perform.

November in Dry Creek Valley

Another reason to drink wine in the summer

2011-08-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

You've seen all the studies showing moderate consumption of red wine can prevent everything from heart disease to osteoporosis. The latest study published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry says a compound in grapes may protect from UV radiation.

Wine could keep you from
becoming a redneck!

So maybe a glass of Cabernet instead of rubbing on that smelly, greasy Coppertone.

The study says you may get the same benefit from eating table grapes, but what fun is that?

Russian River Valley morning

2011-08-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

Morning fog clearing over the Russian River Valley.
8/4/11 looking west towards the coast
Click on photo to enlarge

Another Sonoma family winery goes corporate

2011-08-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago the second oldest family run winery in Sonoma County, Seghesio, sold to a Napa-based wine group owned by a larger company.

Image from landmarkwine.com

Now Landmark Vineyards, founded in 1974, has sold to the owners of Fiji Water. The company, Roll Global, is U.S. based and has about 4,000 employees mostly in agriculture-related businesses.

Landmark is primarily known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and has a facility in the northern end of Sonoma Valley.

Press release

Tasting with a View

2011-08-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Following are some Sonoma County winery tasting rooms that have great views for you while you sample their products. No sense looking at a boring wall!

These are all open daily. There are others where you can see some vines or you can step outside and have a nice view but these all have a Bar With a View. I'm sure there's something I've missed. Let me know if you can think of any others.

Armida
Known for their Zins and some legendary parties during the March barrel tasting weekends, but go on a quieter day and enjoy the view over Dry Creek Valley.

Gary Farrell
In the hills of the Russian River Valley down a road where you'll swear you're lost and will never see civilization again. Gary no longer owns his namesake winery but he sure did put some money into this place before he sold. You can look out over the oak forests--see it's not all vineyards! They are known for their Pinot Noir.

Gary Farrell

Gloria Ferrer
Sitting part way up a hillside off the valley floor outside of Sonoma with a nice view of the vineyards. You can sip on some excellent sparkling wines at an outdoor table.

Iron Horse
It's high-end sparkling wine and Pinot served from an old, rustic building. The cool part is the tasting is outdoors where you can look over the vineyards on the rolling hillsides with mountains in the distance.

Iron Horse

Paradise Ridge
You would never guess what a great view you'd have based on their location in Santa Rosa with nearby commercial and residential areas. They have a spot on a hillside overlooking some of their vineyards and points farther west across the entire Russian River Valley. There are indoor and outdoor tasting areas. Highlights are the estate Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel.

Stryker Sonoma
From the tasting bar you look through huge windows out onto Alexander Valley. Known for their Cabs and Zins.

Stryker

Twomey
This is the old Roshambo Winery in the Russian River Valley. Actually it's right on the "border" with Dry Creek Valley. The tasting room is on a hill looking over the valley and to the mountains beyond. Great Pinot Noir.

Disclaimer: I get a paycheck from one of the above

2011 wine grape growing season--late July update

2011-07-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Every year it seems Mother Nature has a few surprises. The good news is, in relation to other wine grape regions, California's surprises usually aren't drastic.

OK, last year was tough with mostly cool and damp weather during the growing season with a couple blasts of heat towards the end. A lot of grapes were lost in 2010 to sunburn.

This year started with a big, "Oh, oh, here we go again," but has settled into a nice growing season--so far. It rained into early June--the seasonal rains usually end about a month earlier. This did a couple things:

1. Grape clusters were lost during bloom because of the rain. Some fruit was lost, but the thinning of the fruit can actually be a good thing for quality as the premium vineyards are manually thinned anyway.

2. Canopy management is probably the most important thing being done now. All the rain in the spring followed by heat led to vigorous growth in the canes and leaves. This has to be controlled to allow the right amount of sun and air into the developing clusters.

Veraison
Image from examiner.com

Currently the vines are in the grape growth stage. Next is the beginning of ripening, or veraison. This happens around the end of July. The grapes start to turn color and during the ripening phase physically increase in size, weight, and sugar content.

The countdown to harvest is about to begin!

Is Treasury Wine Estates on the market?

2011-07-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago Foster's of Australia spun off its wine division, Treasury Wine Estates. They are the second biggest "wine corporation" behind Constellation Brands. Treasury owns Beringer, Chateau St. Jean, Stag's Leap, and dozens of other wineries around the world.

According to financial analysts their stock is currently undervalued and potential buyers are looking including the Chinese. Even before the spin-off there was an attempt to buy Treasury, but Foster's turned down the offer saying it wasn't enough money.

Parducci--The world's greenest winery?

2011-07-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Image from
parducci.com

Parducci Wine Cellars of Mendocino County in California recently received another award, the "2011 International Award of Excellence in Sustainable Winegrowing."

This was based on their sustainable grape growing, operating completely on renewable energy, recycling all their waste water, and being carbon neutral.

Water and power usage by grape growers and wine makers is high and is a local issue as other vie for the same resources. But even packaging with glass, the ink used on the labels, and cardboard have to be taken into consideration. Ink? Yes, the petroleum-based inks used by many actually contain heavy metals. And then there's Styrofoam packaging.

Parducci has set the bar high for others to follow.

What wine to drink in the heat of summer

2011-07-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

Downing a big, heavy Cabernet when the outside temp. is hovering around 90 degrees is not all that enjoyable (believe me, I've tried). So what to consume in the heat? (Besides a nice cold beer).

Sauvignon Blanc

SB is more acidic than Chardonnay and isn't as heavy. This means it's clean, crisp and refreshing. I tell beer folks, "It's like the IPA of wine." (You'll get that if you're a beer geek).

Chenin Blanc
Many folks don't know what this is. It's usually a little sweet, but has decent acid to balance that out (and make it refreshing). And it's cheap!

Gewurztraminer
Dry Gewurz is spicy and refreshing. A couple weeks ago on a hot night I enjoyed a Navarro Gewurztraminer with grilled chicken. It hit the spot. Riesling works well, too.

Rosé
People are surprised by the quality and drinkability of California rosés today as the better ones aren't syrupy sweet and are made from quality grapes. People along the Mediterranean in France and Italy have long-known about dry rosés in the summer.

Pinot Noir
The lightest and softest of the reds, but watch the alcohol level as some can be heavy and hot-tasting.

Image from hawleywine.com

Rhones (red and white)
Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, and Syrah blends are easy-drinking summer wines. Among the whites Viognier is easiest to find. For reds, Syrahs can be heavy so look for blends and look for lower-alcohol wines.

Of course, when it's really hot there's nothing better than a nice, cold beer...

Image from sierranevada.com

The Bennett Valley Appellation

2011-07-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

You may have never heard of Bennett Valley or seen it on wine labels. The appellation is less than ten years old and was a product of Jess Jackson wanting to distinguish his Matanzas Creek Winery products from other Sonoma Valley wines.

Morning fog over the vineyards

Bennett Valley has a higher elevation than the Sonoma Valley floor, but it's different mostly because of a cooler weather pattern during the grape growing season. The valley has an ancient volcanic origin plus has a couple fault lines running through the area. There are three long-dormant volcanic peaks circling the valley--Taylor Mtn, Sonoma Mtn, and Bennett Ridge.

Bennett Valley was named after a pioneer who arrived with his family during the 1849 gold rush. There is still a strong sense of community among the residents. The Bennett Valley Grange is the oldest continuously operating grange in the country. Granges were farming community organizations that started in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Dry Stack Vineyards (and it's for sale)!

The valley is about three by five miles in size with 700 acres of grapes planted--mostly Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Syrah, but also Sauvignon Blanc, other Rhone varieties and even a bit of Cab and Cab Franc. The only winery open to the public in Bennett Valley is Matanzas Creek. There still seems to be more horse and cattle ranches than vineyards. I've had wines from some of the smaller producers including Bennett Valley Cellars that makes a great under thirty dollar Pinot.

There are over 30 growers in Bennett Valley and over 30 wineries buying grapes from there including Carlisle, Deloach, Ferrari-Carano, Gloria Ferrer, Kunde, Landmark, Quintessa, Rodney Strong, Sonoma-Cutrer, and Williams Selyem.

More info: Bennett Valley Grape Growers

What wineries should you visit while in Sonoma/Napa?

2011-07-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Beats me! But this question gets asked a lot and there's no easy answer as there are hundreds of choices.

Some things to consider:

Have you visited before?
If you're new to the area and maybe fairly new to wine (not a wine geek) the choices are different than for the person who makes a yearly excursion to the area to buy wines to age at home.
If you are new to California wine tasting you may want to check out a couple of the more famous places such as Mondavi, Beringer, Chateau St. Jean or Sebastiani.
Typically visitors do something like this: First trip to the wine county means visiting the big names in Napa Valley. Second trip they go to Sonoma for somewhat lesser known stops. About the third trip they are looking for the out-of-the-way places.

Too many choices!

When are you visiting?
If you'll be in the area, especially Napa Valley, in peak tourist season there will be big crowds and lots of traffic. If you're not willing to deal with that stick with more out-of-the-way places. That is, don't go to Mondavi, Beringer, Chateau St. Jean, or Sebastiani.

Where will you be staying?
Plan your driving distances. For instance, the travel time between Bella Winery in Dry Creek Valley and Viansa Winery in Carneros (both are in Sonoma County) is about an hour and a quarter. Plan your lodging central to the areas you want to visit.

What do you like to drink?
Chardonnay, Cabernet, anything red, ABC (anything but Chardonnay)?
Certain areas specialize in certain varietals. Maybe you are looking to discover something new like sampling a lot of Zinfandels or sparkling wines. Maybe you have a favorite wine at home, say Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay, and you want to get an appointment to see where it's made.
Wine tasting at many different wineries is a great way to break down any personal prejudices such as, "I only drink sweet wines" or "I only drink reds" or "Anything under $15 isn't drinkable" or "California Pinot Noir is crap."
Use this opportunity to discover something new about wine!

How much are you willing to spend on a bottle?
If your limit is 25 bucks then a private appointment at Diamond Creek where the least expensive wine is $150 is a waste of your time and theirs. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try more expensive wine than you buy at home. If you've never had a $75 Cab you might as well sample a couple to see if there really is a difference with the $20 ones you normally drink.

What's your tasting budget?
While we're talking about money you can easily spend $25 per tasting fee in Napa. If you do that for you and your Significant Other and plan five stops a day for three days, well, that is getting into real money. Sonoma County is cheaper and most Sonoma wineries will not charge you to taste if you buy something. There are a number of wineries in Sonoma that don't charge for tasting, there are fewer in Napa that don't.

Any other special things you are looking for?
Views, picnicking, wines you can't find at home, wines you can find at home, small family wineries, large wineries, tours, art? Would you like to have a wine tasting in a cave or tasting from barrels? Tours can be broken down into production (how wine is made), caves, or vineyard tours.

There are lots of smaller wineries you'll never see on the store shelved back in Des Moines, but even most of the larger wineries make wines that you don't see at home. Places like Beringer and Chateau St. Jean have reserve rooms that charge a bit more for tasting, but offer higher quality wines that you probably won't find at home.

Are you looking for "the Disneyland effect" -- places like castles and palaces? You can find several.

You never know what you'll
find in the wine caves!
Image from winespectator.com

So how do you find these places that have what you're looking for?
Google is your friend. Just be aware there are sites that wineries pay to advertise with and will list ones paying the most at the top under a title something like, "Featured Wineries." Some less commercial web sites are:

So what if you are really new to this and don't have an idea of what or where you want to visit?
First, pick a central area to the wine regions of interest for your lodging. Next, plan on visiting a couple well-known wineries that look interesting plus pick one nearby that is small and family-owned to get a contrast. Then you can plan on-the-fly from there.
If you have several days plan on a day in Napa, a day in Sonoma then leave the rest of the time open to go back to the area you'd like to see more of.

Enjoy your visit!

A day in the Russian River Valley

2011-07-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

We made several stops in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley on July 10th, an area known mostly for the cool-climate grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It was another picture perfect day with brilliant sun and temps in the 70s. With stopping at several wineries I limited myself to only a few of the wines available at each location.

Image from russianhillestate.com

Korbel
Interesting history, folklore, redwood trees and beautiful gardens make this a popular stop for everyone from locals and international travelers. The Heck family bought the winery from the Korbel's in the 1950s and still run it today (along with Kenwood Vyds, Valley of the Moon Winery, and Lake Sonoma Winery).
We started with a sandwich from their deli on the deck in the redwoods.
If you stick with the drier bubblies they are pretty good, especially for the price. The Natural, the organic Brut (a different wine from the Korbel Brut found everywhere), and the Reserve Blanc de Noir (Sangiovese-based) were the best.

Moshin
Along a scenic section of the Russian River the family has been making wine for over 20 years here focusing on Pinot Noir.
Good quality across the board. The Bacigalupi Vineyards Pinot Noir was my favorite. The Bordeaux-style red blend was very good also--at $75.

Gary Farrell
Gary started making his own wines 30 years ago after working for some of the biggest names in the county. A bit over 10 years ago he built a beautiful facility on a hilltop overlooking the river to focus on Pinot. The business side went downhill and the winery has had many owners in the last few years. The wines have pretty much held steady during the turmoil.
A leaner style of Pinot with the Bien Nacido/Central Coast and Hallberg/Russian River Valley ones my favorites with the Hallberg being quite spicy. The Starr Ridge/RRV I wasn't so impressed with.

Russian Hill
Another hilltop facility overlooking area vineyards. They started up about 15 years ago and are family-owned focusing on Pinot and Syrah.
Richer style of wines compared to Gary Farrell, but not overripe. The Leras Vineyard Pinot and the Estate Syrah were the best. The Syrah was somewhat of a bargain at $28 retail.

Martinelli
The Martinelli family has been growing grapes in Sonoma County since the 19th century, but became well-known with their connection with winemaker Helen Turley. No, this is not the same family that makes the Martinelli Sparkling Cider, in case you were wondering.
Most wines were very ripe and several showed heat from high alcohol levels. Most wines were very expensive. I preferred the Pinot vineyard blend, Bella Vigna, that was relatively low in alcohol and price.

Hook & Ladder
The Deloach Family sold their namesake winery and started up Hook & Ladder. Yes, the owner is a retired San Francisco fireman. There's even an old firetruck on the property and a collection of t-shirts from fire districts around the world.
The Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel were quite nice, the Tillerman red blend wasn't (I'm always looking a good, cheap red).

Sunce
A family-run winery making everything from Barbera to Bordeaux styles. A friendly, unpretentious place hosting great barbecues during special events.
Unfortunately, I never really liked their style and still don't. I purchased wine at each stop except here.

Entrance to Hook and Ladder Winery
Image from wineroad.com

A great way to spend a Sunday. And we only scratched the surface of what's available in the Russian River Valley.

Red wine is exercise in a bottle!

2011-07-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Much has been made of resveratrol, an antioxidant in red wine, that has done everything from lengthen the lifespan of worms to prevent cancer in mice.

Lifting the glass is all the work
you should have to do!
Image from avalonwine.com

The latest research has to do with how to keep astronauts fit while spending a long time in weightless conditions. It appears a hearty dose of Cabernet every day may be just what they need. I'm just not sure how it'll match with "dinner in a tube."

Article:
"Red Wine is Exercise in a Bottle," from CBS News.

Avoiding the crowds in Napa and Sonoma

2011-07-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

If you don't like pushing-and-shoving, stop-and-go traffic, loud people, and lousy service it's important to know when and where to visit. Wine tasting can be a not-so-nice experience when you have to leave a tasting room without getting served because the crowd is three-deep at the bar and then find you have to wait 15 minutes to make a left turn onto the road. I've just described Highway 29 in Napa Valley on any weekend during six months of the year.

Welcome to Napa Valley!

Geography
Napa is much more crowded because it's famous and because the winery tasting rooms are densely packed along the main road.   Sonoma is more spread out and generally has fewer visitors.
Highway 29 in Napa Valley is much more crowded than the Silverado Trail that parallels it to the east. 29 is lined with tasting rooms.
Places to the south tend to be more crowded as they are a closer drive from San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area.   In Napa go north of Calistoga, in Sonoma north of Healdsburg, to find fewer people.

Time of year
The busy season is roughly May through October with a couple exceptions.   June is actually relatively light in traffic. Most holiday weekends, whatever time of year, are more crowded. This is especially true of Thanksgiving weekend as people like to take their visiting relatives out wine tasting Friday and Saturday.   Labor Day weekend? Stay the heck outta Napa!
Autumn is quite busy, especially on weekends, as there are many people that like to come out during the harvest. The harvest is roughly Sept through Oct.

Time of week
Obviously, the weekends are much busier and mid-week the lightest traffic.   This is especially true in the off-season as there are fewer people on vacation. In high-season you'll find many popular Napa wineries pretty crowded every day. In the off-season almost every Saturday will still bring out the crowds.

Time of day
The peak times are in the afternoons beginning about 1:30 pm.   There is a bit of a lull as people have lunch between about noon and 1:30.   Friday and Saturday are especially busy in the afternoons.   The Sunday traffic tends to die off mid-afternoon as the Bay Area people head home.

Location
Certain places will draw more people, such as Mondavi and Beringer. So, for instance, stopping at Mondavi on a Saturday afternoon in August is a good idea only if you like crowds and noise.   Going to Mondavi on a Wednesday in winter is a whole different experience.
Towards the end of the day people are working their way south back towards San Francisco meaning the wineries in southern Napa and Sonoma will be busier at 5 pm.

Welcome to "downtown" Geyserville in Sonoma County
Image from winecountrygetaways.com

Avoiding the crowds
Plan your trip in the off-season.
Plan your wine tasting during the week rather than weekends.
If you can't make either of these work then go to Sonoma County rather than Napa.
During peak times go for the smaller, less known wineries in northern Napa or Sonoma county.

Russian River Valley in July (photos)

2011-07-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2011 in the Russian River Valley near Healdsburg.
(click on any photo to enlarge)

Foppiano old vines

Rodney Strong

Sonoma Valley in July (photos)

2011-07-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

July 1st in northern Sonoma Valley
(click on any photo to enlarge)

Chateau St. Jean

St Francis

Roussanne grapes

Vinoteca - Micro-wineries in Santa Rosa

2011-06-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

There are now three tasting rooms in Santa Rosa operated as co-ops of several micro-wineries. First, there was Cellars of Sonoma, then the Urban Winery Village, and now Vinoteca. First, I have to comment on the name--it's bad. It sounds sort of "high teca" rather than wine-friendly. I didn't know where "teca" came from until I looked it up. Vinoteca means "a collection of wines." Fine. But sex always works in marketing--how about "Vinosex?" LOL

Image from pressdemocrat.com

There was a soft grand opening on June 27th mostly for social media types (I stay away from the unsocial media types) and others in the local wine industry.

What I sampled:

Argot Wines  Known primarily for their unfiltered Pinot Noir
2009 Sonoma County white blend (70% Roussanne/30 Chard)
Interesting wine, bit of heat on the finish
2007 Bennett Valley Syrah
   A touch green, nice structure, bit spicy, big

Bjornstad Cellars Single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

2007 Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay

Lean, toasty

2008 van der Kamp Vineyard Pinot Noir
Lean

Calluna Mostly about Bordeaux varietals
2009 Cuvee (Merlot and Cabernet Franc)
Thin, tight, not much showing. How will it age?

Frostwatch From the cool Bennett Valley appellation
2010 Kismet (Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon)
Soft, fruity, good acid

2009 Bennett Valley Pinot Noir

Soft, fruity up front then earthy, lower acid.

Would like to try this one after a few more months in the bottle

Olson Ogden Wines Mostly about Rhone varietals

2008 Stagecoach Vineyard Marsanne

Oily, spicy, decent acid. Inoffensive, but not particularly interesting

2007 Unti Vineyard Syrah
Nice spicy, good balance, good fruit. Outstanding.
My favorite wine of the night.

Super Sonoman Specializing in Cabernet from the hills separating Sonoma and Napa Valleys
2005 Redwood Hill Vyds Cabernet Sauvignon
Complex, fruity, spicy, still tasting youthful. Excellent.
Only concern is the 15.2% alcohol, but it's not showing now
2006 Redwood Hill Vyds Cabernet Sauvignon
Bit thinner and more tannic than the '05. 15.2% alc also

Visiting these shared tasting rooms consisting of multiple small wineries you've probably never heard of is a great way to sample many different styles. And it's convenient. What you're missing, of course, is the view out over the vineyards afforded by the larger ones out in the wine-producing areas.

A list of the urban co-op tasting rooms in Santa Rosa, CA and the wineries represented:

Cellars of Sonoma, 133 Fourth Str
Amorosa Bella, Bonneau, Dunah, Gann Family, James Family, Joseph Jewell, Krutz, La Sirena, and TR Elliot

Urban Winery Village, 1301 Cleveland Ave
D'Argenzio, Krutz, MJ Lords, and Sheldon

Vinoteca, 3358 Coffee Lane
Argot, Bjornstad, Calluna, Frostwatch, Olson Ogden, and Super Sonoman

Also, within the city limits you'll find Carol Shelton, Inspiration (both near Vinoteca), and the not-to-be-missed wines of Siduri.

All that's missing now is bus service between the local hotels and these urban tasting rooms. Think of it as a pub crawl!

NASCAR and Chardonnay

2011-06-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

No, they just don't seem to go together do they? But that's what we've got this weekend as the good ol' boys invade Sonoma County. A cold Bud, no thanks. How 'bout a nice single-vineyard old vine Zinfandel instead.

NASCAR is about four left turns around an oval at close to 200 mpg. Then four more left turns. Then four more. Repeat for four hours. The wine country has to be different (see also Watkins Glen in the NY state wine country). Infineon Raceway is a damn narrow windy up-and-down hill chaotic race track.

And the fans? Yeah, Bud drinkers next to the Chardonnay crowd. I mean the nearest winery is about a mile away! In the past they've set up an outdoor register on the road so folks can come by and get a case of wine and head back to the track. I'm guessing there ain't much of that in North Carolina.

Yep, this is gonna be trouble
Image from bleacherreport.com

It's a race of attrition as drivers "trade paint" and knock each other out of the race and get into shouting matches later.

Also, probably not seen in North Carolina, but spotted at Infineon, was Queers4Gears, an organization hoping to bring NASCAR to some decidedly not redneck types.

Anyway, this is the weekend you avoid the roads south of the town of Sonoma--it's a damn mess!