Napa/Sonoma Tourist Traps



Darioush "Winery"
Image from darioush.com

 Yes, some of the wineries are more about capturing tourists (and their money) than wine and wine education.   I've been to tourist traps when visiting other places, too.   I remember the western shop in SW Utah where the Japanese tourists were trying on the cowboy hats and gun holsters.  Though I didn't see any assless chaps like they sell in San Francisco...

Anyway, not saying you shouldn't stop at any of these places.  It's just whether you're looking for "wine Disneyland" or people passionate about their product.   What makes a touristy winery?  They get a lot of out-of-state visitors often for some non-wine reason.  Some are on the list mostly because their location has turned them into tourist stops.  Some because their goal in life seems to be to extract the maximum dollars from each visitor.

Castello Di Amorosa
Napa's newest, and very successful, tourist destination.  It's a recreated medieval European castle and is very well done.  But what the hell is it doing in Napa Valley?  Well, it's part of the Disneyland theme so well-practiced there.   You can't get inside without paying and tours cost extra.   But yes, it's worth doing once as it's still cheaper than going to Europe to see the real thing.

Coppola Winery
I'm not quite sure what to make of his new venture in northern Somona.  It's just finishing construction and I haven't visited recently.   But they have a restaurant, a full bar, a movie gallery, a swimming pool, and a bandshell "inspired" by the one in The Godfather II.  They obviously want you to spend the entire day there.  I can't wait to be a tourist and check this place out myself.

Domaine Chandon
A beautiful setting, good sparklers, and buttload of tour buses.  What really got me was after a fairly high tasting fee they have glass tip jars everywhere planted with a few dollars and people whose goal seems to be sure you leave a few bucks.  You don't tip winery employees, but out-of-the-area visitors don't know that.

Darioush
Just look at some photos of this place and decide for yourself if this remotely resembles a winery.  That doesn't mean it's not worth visiting if you want to pretend you're in Syria.

Jacuzzi
Meant to look old.  It's not.   Doesn't pull it off nearly as well as the Castello, but then it was done with a lot less money.

Mondavi
One of the original wineries designed to bring in tourists though Robert Mondavi wanted it to be for the wine.  Tours during the busy season feel more like being part of a cattle drive.  They are a victim of their own success.

Sterling
You take a tram to a Moorish castle on a hill to taste wine.  You get up there and you're kinda trapped for awhile like in a tourist "trap."  Taste in their reserve room, skip the standard tourist wines.

V. Sattui
The original Napa  tourist trap.  Come on a bus, buy a deli sandwich and some wine, then sit outside and have a picnic.  This is the last place I'd want to have a "wine country picnic," but it's the most visited winery in the state.  Same owner as the Castello.

Viansa
Your first warning should be the "visitor info" sign out front. Yeah, right. Inside you'll find an "Italian village." You can tell places where the staff works on commission.  The winery is strategically placed to get you on your way into the wine country.


All of these wineries are doing something right as they all see lots of visitors so if you're going to show up on a summer weekend expect big crowds.

Always good to end on the positive:

• I have been through the Castello Di Amorosa a few times and find it amazing. 
• Domaine Chandon makes some excellent bubbles.
• Mondavi can put on a great tour and has excellent reserve wines.
• On a recent off-season visit to V. Sattui I found our hostess very pleasant and knowledgeable plus some of the wines quite good.
• Viansa's "Thalia" is one of the better Sangioveses around.
• Some other very busy wineries that still seem to thankfully be mostly about the wine:  Beaulieu, Benziger, Beringer, Cakebread, Domaine Carneros, Louis Martini, Mumm, and Sebastiani.

Siduri/Novy and Dehlinger Open Houses

Image from siduri.com

Saturday, December 4, 2010.

Well, that was a good day!   Both Siduri and Dehlinger are top-quality producers and are generally closed to the public, but they both had open house events on the same day (and are about ten minutes apart).

The wines are listed from my favorite to least.

Siduri Pinot Noir

2008 Sonatera Vyd, Sonoma Coast, $49
Great fruit and balance.  Rich, dark, dense.

2009 Gary's Vyd, Santa Lucia Highlands, $51
Very nice. Just a bit tart, complex.

2009 Keefer Ranch Vyd, Green Valley, $49
Rich and spicy with great balance for a young wine.  This one is going to be good!

2009 Cargasacchi Vyd, Santa Rita Hills, $54
Bit earthier, herbs, red fruit, tobacco. Tight.

2009 Sonoma Coast, $30
Rich and spicy.  A good price.

2008 Beran Vyd, Willamette Vly, $39
Similar to the other Willamette wine, but spicier

2009 Arbre Vert Vyd, Willamette Vly, $39
Lighter, lean, good acid. Still in its youth

2009 Pisoni Vyd, Santa Lucia Highlands, $55
In past years this has been my favorite from Siduri, but not this time. Predominate dirt and not enough fruit.  Maybe it's just shut down in its youth?

2009 Santa Lucia Highlands, $30
Deep, rich, a bit hot. Needs time. Just not sure about the alcohol taste.

2009 Hirsch Vyd, Sonoma Coast, $54
Red fruit, cola, much lighter, too soft, no finish.

2009 Sonoma County, $20
Murky, muddy, stemmy, oaky.

Notes on Siduri Pinots:
Really, any of the top five were all very good wines now, and some may be great wines in time. The Sonoma Coast Pinot at $30 is a heckuva bargain. 
If you like the leaner style and will age the wines for awhile the two Oregon Pinots are a good deal at $39 and should be outstanding food wines.
I've had the cheap-o $20 Sonoma County Pinot from Siduri before and was disappointed then, and still am.  Overall, though, some great wines. 
I'm still deciding on the '09s as they're just coming out.  They seem deep, dark, and structured -- so far.  I also believe I prefer the '07s and '08s -- so far.

Novy Syrah

2007 Santa Lucia Highlands, $27
Good structure, complexity, great food wine.

2007 Christensen Vyd, Russian River Vly, $27
Thick, rich, soft

2007 Rosella's Vyd, Santa Lucia Highlands, $29
A bit earthy and floral. Dark, black fruit.

2007 Russian River Vly, $27
Just okay.  You'd want to drink this one now.

2006 Judge Family Vyd, Bennett Vly, $20
Light, spicy, tannins, dry.

Notes:
Besides Syrah there are several other wines under the Novy label that I didn't try.  The top two on my list stood out from the rest.

Dehlinger Winery

Yep, I hadn't been here in years and it still looks the same.  Tom puts his time and money into the vineyard and winemaking, not the facility.  That is, letting the wines do the showing off, rather than the castle, chateau, or caves.

I didn't take notes at Dehlinger so I don't have the vintage years or prices, so all I can say is they were the current releases.  But if you're not on their mailing list you're not likely to find most of these wines.  Following is what I remember as the highlights.

Russian River Estate Pinot.  Very nice, but not great, didn't "wow" me. Firm, earthy, some tannins, ageable.  Good complexity.  

Goldridge Pinot.  Red lush fruit, velvety, somewhat soft, but good acidity.  DEE-licious!

Russian River Estate Syrah.  Deep, rich, bit spicy, firm, but smooth, balanced.  Excellent.

Russian River Estate Cabernet.  The most "not ready yet" wine of the day. Inky and complex. Significant, but not drying tannins.

Yes, the Goldridge Pinot Noir and the Syrah stood out.  Outstanding wines.

Trends in the Tasting Room

Things evolve, including how your visit goes when you check out your favorite California wineries.

In the "old days" it was, "Come in and try our wines to see if you like them"  (for free).  With the popularity of wine tasting, especially in Napa, that attitude and price is pretty much gone.

Perhaps some of this is a sign of the recessionary times, but here are trends I've noticed:

•  Consolidation and "corporatizing" is still happening, but most don't advertise the fact.  The real winery owners are often corporations like Constellation, Fosters, or Diageo.  Sometimes it's rich families like Gallo, Jackson, or Foley.  Does it matter?  I don't know.   But the winemaker's job can be drastically different whereas the common view is he/she spends time in the vineyards, is hands-on with the crush until the wine is bottled vs. sitting in front of a computer in an office bartering for grapes with other wineries in their portfolio.

Is this guy coming soon to a
tasting room near you?

• The mission of the tasting room has gone from hospitality and wine education to retail sales.  The tasting room has changed from a place to show off your wines to a profit center.  You see this in things like job titles (and objectives) changing from Hospitality Manager to Retail Sales Manager.  Will the focus go too far in the direction of the sales push?  Probably in some places.

• Keeping people on site rather than just moving them through quickly.  Wineries with large enough facilities are looking for ways to keep you there to give you more opportunity to spend money.  The best example of this is the Coppola Winery family theme park.

Are these trends bad?  They don't have to be.  Lots of businesses are corp-owned, lots are there to sell, and many like you to stick around rather than checking out the competition.   It's just that the low-key family farms are getting harder to find.  Or maybe it just becoming a mature business.

Social Media -- It's All the Craze

Wine is a trendy business.

It's no secret the retail and travel businesses are bad shape.  Most wineries are down significantly in sales though things seem to be picking up in the last half of 2010.

How can they get new customers?  With so many winery tasting rooms in the Napa/Sonoma area how do you get people to stop by yours?  Do you use traditional advertising, blogging, twitter, Facebook, etc?  Well, with the trendiness of the wine business you can guess where all the buzz is happening.

When I watch TV, read a magazine, or view most Internet sites there is advertising.  I pretty much choose to ignore all of it. (Thank God for the TV remote control).

So why would I want to go to a company's blog/twitter/Facebook page to pull in their ads? I have no idea. What I see many wineries doing is getting someone with a marketing background to do their blog/twitter/Facebook and try not to make it look too much like in-your-face advertising. This is a fine line to walk--keeping people interested while pushing your product.

I believe traditional advertising via social media is the wrong way. If I'm already interested enough to look you up on Facebook don't try to sell me. (Do you hear that Verizon and Dish TV)? Just feed stuff that's of interest to someone who already likes your wine. You are keeping me interested; maybe you are closing the deal.

The greatest blog or tweet would be from winemakers during harvest. Wouldn't that be cool to follow along with their daily activities? Do you think they really have the time even if they have the aptitude to do this?

It would be fun to hear what's going on in the vineyards with posts like, "Our first bud break on our hillside Cabernet!" or even "We're two weeks later pruning then we'd like to be." Customers are a lot more interested in what the vineyard or cellar folks have to say than some marketing hack.

I was just reading about one interesting thing that is popping up now.  You can pick up discount coupons just before entering the winery via your iPhone-type device. Slick idea! Only issue I had with the article was this type of advertising was being touted by a "social marketing consultant" so I wonder if there's really a pay off? As that's a really narrow section of customers.

I checked out a winery's blog that's been getting a bit of publicity. The first entry was about a meal pairing a BBQ'ed meat with their Cab Franc. So far so good except there was one sentence about the food and several paragraphs about why I should buy this great Cab Franc. It was such an obvious sell job I left the site and didn't read any more. Instead how about something like, "I had our '07 Cab Franc with braised ribs last night. What a great pairing with the strawberry flavors and spices of the wine with the BBQ sauce I made. Recipe follows:"    That is what I need to convince me to buy the wine, not a blatant sales pitch.

There are lots of new experts in the social media field telling wineries what to do.  I don't know how many of these "experts" really know anything.   If I was hiring for this job I think I'd want someone with an even split between wine growing/wine making knowledge, journalism, marketing, and graphics design. I don't know where you find someone like that.

Some thoughts:

• Blogging:  There are a number of winery websites with a blog link with no or maybe one entry then they've given up.  What the hell are you thinking?  Blog at least weekly or remove the link! If you're going have an active blog, and you should, you need a plan and someone with time to do this.
• Facebook:  Give me a reason to want to visit your winery or your website.  But don't try to sell me something with your FB entry.
• Twitter:  It's short and fast by nature.  Be careful what you say.  Think before you post!

Whatever you decide to do you must commit time to remain active.  Yes, social media is cheap advertising, except for the labor side.

Like I said, as a consumer I want interesting things about the vineyards and cellar, and maybe an occasional online coupon. You know, give me a reason to follow your site.

I have a couple wineries I follow on Facebook because I'm already a fan of their wines.   There is some maturing to be done in the social media biz.

If you can't beat 'em Tweet 'em.

Sonoma Valley Open House, Nov 27

The Heart of Sonoma Valley association sponsors a holiday open house after Thanksgiving. There were 22 participating wineries; I sampled at the following. They are ranked in order of my preference, favorite to least.

Audelssa - They have been a favorite since my first stop there about 1-1/2 years ago. Great blends 


Deerfield Ranch caves
Image from inside-sonoma.com

 and Cabs from mountain fruit. The Tephra $28 blend of four varietals is a good deal.

Enkidu - The Petite Sirah was soooo good I still have just a bit of enamel left on my teeth! :)

Deerfiled Ranch - More subtle, maybe more French style in their balance. Some good Cabs and Syrahs.

Landmark - A standard of Chard and Pinot.  They did the minimum to participate in this event. (It's supposed to be a food & wine event guys).

Loxton - Good Syrah and Zinfandel at reasonable prices.

Paradise Ridge - Rockpile and Russian River reds. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be interested in pouring the RRV wines while I was there--too busy talking amongst themselves.

VJB - Going for Italian style wines.

Eric Ross - Unusual varietals with sometimes good results.

Wellington - "Funky" is my best description. Not for me.

Happy 100th Mr. Foppiano

Lou Foppiano turned 100 years old November 25th.   Yeah, you could call him a fixture in Sonoma County farming as he spent about 80 years in the vineyards and cellar.

Foppiano Winery has been around a very long time as it was Lou's grandfather who started the winery after arriving from Italy.  The family is now in its fifth generation of managing the winery.

What does Lou attribute his long life to?  One glass of wine a day, no more.  Others would say it's his hard work up until just a few years ago.

Foppiano wines aren't at the forefront of trendy wines.   I mean, they specialize in Petite Sirah for crize sakes!   And it's not exactly an approachable wine when young.  I going to guess Robert Parker never gave a 95 to anything from Foppiano.

Lou's legacy though, may be in his helping to organize the first local winery association to help market their part of Sonoma County.

Read more about Lou Foppiano turning 100 in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Selling wine to China

Everybody wants a piece of the new consumer economy in China--can't let General Motors have all the fun.

Even though U.S. exports of wine overall have dropped with the tough economy exports to China (and Hong Kong) have increased substantially in the last few years.

Chinese investors recently bought Silenus Vintners and their vineyards in Napa Valley.   But it's not just California as Chinese have bought interests in Australian wineries and even French.   Foreign investments in California wines is nothing new, but in the past it's been primarily the French and Australians.

Does China have its own wineries?   They do but apparently the quality has a long way to go before the wines can be considered premium.   Maybe the Chinese hope to learn that from the French, Australians and Americans.   Bordeaux's Chateau Lafite is helping the Chinese develop a vineyard in the Shandong Province, already home to Cabernet, Merlot and Cab Franc vineyards.  Shandong has been called "China's Bordeaux."

The French have been importing wine into China for a long time and own nearly half of the import market.  The U.S. is only five percent.    China, of course, has a billion potential customers.  Many are very poor, some are part of the growing middle class, other are nouveau riche.  There is no wine culture in China, but that used to be said about the U.S.

What's going on at Foster's wine division?

Foster's renamed their wine division to Treasury Wine Estates a few months ago.   Previous to this there had been some reorganizations and realignment leading to speculation that maybe Foster's was setting up their wine brands for a sell-off.  At the time of the renaming Foster's said they would "spin off" the wine group so that group could have a dedicated focus on wine.  Yeah, it sounds like a lot of corporate mumbo-jumbo to me, too.

Locally Treasury owns Beringer, Stags Leap, Souverain, and Chateau St. Jean.  Also Penfolds and Rosemount plus some others.   It's quite a line-up.

They have a headquarters in Napa.   Why do I ask what the hell is going on?    Because they are hiring for every corporate-type position imaginable.  Looking at one of the wine job sites I see 17 current openings.  Here's a few examples:

Regional Chain Manager

Packaging Manager

Industrial Technology & Systems Specialist

Logistics Business Analyst

Studio Project Manager

Strategic Pricing Manager

 Huh?   I have no idea how the small guys do it without all this.   So what's going on?    I see two possibilities:

1. They are  being run by people with a manufacturing background who don't know a f**king thing about wine.
2. They are building up to sell out.   Maybe the more employees the more the business is worth?   That seems counter-intuitive to me.

This is a lot of overhead and is probably only the tip of the iceberg.  I guess their margins can support this.  It seems pretty wacky to me.   Maybe I'm missing something.

So what are the plans for Treasury Estates now?  Foster's has said a 2011 spin-off will happen though they've had at least one offer to sell, but was rejected because it wasn't enough money.  

Foster's said they are starting to see cost savings with the new division--must be because they're hiring all these middle-managers and analysts.   Also they want to increase profits by, um, raising prices at Beringer--probably to be able to pay all the new middle-managers and analysts.

November Sonoma Valley Photos

Autumn is in full swing in the vineyards.
November 15, 2010 in the north end of Sonoma Valley (Kenwood vicinity).

Click on any photo to enlarge

Chateau St Jean

From Kenwood Vyds looking south into Kunde property

Kunde Winery

Cave entrance at Kunde

Kunde

Kunde

St Francis Winery

Sonoma Wineries: A few old-timers

If you're looking for big, jammy, expensive fruit-bombs then this post isn't for you.  This is about some of the guys that have been around for decades and still making their wines the same way, for better or worse, depending on your tastes.

I sampled mostly red wines.


PEDRONCELLI since 1927

Image from pedroncelli.com

First thing that hit me were the prices with most wines in the $15-$18 range.  The Friends Red, a blend of Zinfandel, Sangiovese, and Merlot, is a steal at $10.   The Mother Clone Zinfandel is an old vine Zin with typical Dry Creek brambly characteristics, and another steal at $15.

These aren't big, lush wines, but they are excellent food wines and can stand a bit of ageing.


PRESTON since 1975

Exquisite balance. Not too tannic, good fruit, but not jammy or alcoholic.   Folks who like the Turley-esque fruit bomb wine should try Preston's Zinfandel.  You can have nice fruit without 16% alcohol (they don't go over 14.5% on their wines).

Higher-priced with most in the mid-$30s.  Besides the Zinfandel, the LPreston Rhone-style blend and Syrah-Sirah blend were excellent.   Some really great wines.


DRY CREEK VINEYARDS since 1972

Semi-nice, but not Preston nice though at Preston prices.  I tried their three available Zinfandels (you know you're in Dry Creek when you can taste three Zins at one stop) and preferred the Beeson Ranch at $34.   I have been a fan of Dry Creek for a long time, but a bit disappointing this time.


FOPPIANO since 1896

It's all about the Petite Sirah.  They have an Estate Petite (I tried) and a Reserve Petite (I didn't).  The Estate Petite Sirah had a nice spicy, peppery note to it that you don't often find though it also had some of the tannins you often do. This is what you'd call a manly wine--it ain't for sissies!  Don't drink this wine tonight; wait a few years.

Dry Creek Vly Vineyard Photos

Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California.  November 8, 2010.
Not quite at peak autumn color yet.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Mid-valley looking east near the Family Wineries

Mid-valley looking west



At Mauritson Vyds. Fruit cut and left to rot on the ground
because it had raisined



North valley from Yoakim Road looking west



Looking south towards Wilson Winery



From same location as previous photo but looking west



Sangiovese: Not popular in the US, never will be

Okay, if I'm wrong on this prediction in 50 years you can sue me!  

It's quite popular in Italy, of course, but Americans think it's yucky.   Why is that?

One, it's kind of hard to pronounce, but so are other varieties.  I tell folks if you "talk with your arms" Italian-style while saying "san-jee-oh-VAY-zee" it just rolls off the tongue.

The biggest problem is the acidity of the wine.   All wines have it, but many of the most popular are soft (low acid) wines.   That's why Chardonnay sells more than Sauvignon Blanc.   The high acid in Sangiovese can come across as "bright," "tart," or "bitter."   It depends on the wine and it depends on the individual.   Some people seem to be more sensitive to the acid.

Why do the Italians seem to love it then?    Because they eat a lot of high acid tomato-based foods.    Pastas, pizza, grilled meat with BBQ sauces, and the like are great matches for Sangiovese.   Of course, people will sample their first Sangiovese in a tasting room or at home without food first and will go, "Yuck, where's the Merlot?"

Sangi is one of those grapes that works well in blends as the Italians make it.   California has a hard time with blending, but that's a subject for another time.   If Sangiovese is to catch on in this country it'll be because it's blended.   Italian Chianti is mostly Sangi with a couple other obscure (to us) grapes blended in.   Super Tuscans are a fairly new idea of blending Sangiovese with Cabernet, Merlot or Syrah.   It seems Sangi might be a natural for blending with Zinfandel, but you never see it (at least I haven't).

In California, Sangiovese grows well in parts of Sonoma and Napa, but seems to do best in the Sierra Foothills such as in Amador County.    I believe CA is still trying to figure out where and how to grow Sangi.

Sangiovese also makes a nice dry rosé wine usually called Rosato di Sangiovese.

Ferrari-Carano's Siena and Viansa's Thalia, both blends, are a couple you might want to look for.  If you want a nice, cheap one try Pedroncelli. From Napa I love the Benessere Sangiovese. Remember to have it with a hearty meal!