Mother Nature has not been kind to the Sonoma County grape growers in 2010. It was a cool, wet spring followed by a much cooler than average summer with a few blasts of record heat. The crop loss will be significant.
As of October 19th the weather forecast is for the possibility of rain showers beginning Friday that will last for several days. Rain and mature grapes don't get along well. So this week will be the last major push to get the rest of the wine grapes in.
If you're thinking about visiting the North Bay wine country to see the harvest in action then this may be your last chance this year.
Santa Rosa Press Democrat article.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Winter Season Wine Events in Sonoma County
 |
| Image from california-vineyards.com |
Following are some wine-related events for Nov. 2010 through March 2011 in Sonoma County.
November
A Wine and Food Affair along the Wine Road.
Holiday in Carneros Open House.
Heart of Sonoma Valley Holiday Open House.
December
Notes: Wineries are closed on Christmas, some on Christmas Eve. Many wineries that have event space, such as a cave, will host a New Year's Eve party.
January
Note: Wineries are closed on New Years Day.
Winter Wineland along the Russian River Wine Road. Website
February
Eighth Street Wineries Open House in Sonoma for a bunch of small wineries you've probably never heard of. And it's on my birthday! Website
March
The Barrel Tasting party (yes, it's a party!) along the Russian River Wine Road. Bring a designated driver for this one. Website
Savor Sonoma Valley. Their version of a barrel tasting. Just when you thought it was safe to sober up. Website
Friday, October 15, 2010
Sneaking Over into Napa Valley
 |
| Image from travelpod.com |
Note that I'm somewhat of a cheap bastard so maybe you rich folks won't want to hobnob with the same people I do.
From north to south in Napa Valley
Calistoga area:
This is the area closest to me so it's where I like to slip in over the border most often.
My favorite winery in Napa Vly is Schramsberg. They make some of the best bubbly and have a great tour / sit-down tasting--reservations required. Lots of history in their old lichen-covered caves. Chateau Montelena is in a beautiful setting and also has lots of history (plus a $20 tasting fee and expensive wine). You can see "The Bottle" from the 1976 Paris tasting that put Napa on the map.
For eats you'll find me at Buster's BBQ (with a real wood-fired grill). Check out the photo of Buster on their web page and tell me your mouth isn't watering! Yes, it's Napa, so you can have a glass of wine with your ribs, but I don't know why you'd choose that over a cold beer or lemonade.
St. Helena:
You don't hear about much about St. Clement winery, but they put out some nice cabs at reasonable prices, have a $10 tasting fee (cheap by Napa standards), and a nice view from their porch and picnic area. Benessere makes a great Sangiovese and some other interesting wines you aren't likely to find elsewhere. Heitz is well past being trendy so is usually overlooked--a mistake (and they have free tasting)! Raymond Vineyards is probably on nobody's list of places to stop for Cabernet -- except mine. I've been buying reasonably priced Cabs from them for a long time. Don't miss Prager Port Works as it's easy to drive right by without seeing their sign.
At the Silverado Brewing Company you can sit outside with a cold one and watch the traffic go by on Highway 29. Be sure to get the sweet potato fries. Taylors Refresher or Gott's or whatever they call it now is a local institution. Many can't understand the reason to stand in line for a $10 burger (it ain't the ambiance), but it's something you must try at least once. Tra Vigne was over being trendy many years ago, but is still a favorite of mine. They have a wood-fired oven. Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen is, um, on a back street in St. Helena so many don't know to look for this gem.
My only word of warning is avoid driving through the downtown area of St. Helena on weekends as you can have a 20 minute wait in traffic--welcome to Napa!
Rutherford:
Mumm has a great setting for enjoying a couple glasses of bubbly. St. Supery is known for their Sauvignon Blanc and their Rutherford Cabernet, but also makes Semillon and a bunch of other Cabs plus have a nice setting.
The Rutherford Grill makes the best rotisserie chicken! And has a damn fine wine list. And a damn fine bar.
Yountville:
This town is just a bit too touristy for me although I've had some good meals at Mustards and Brix, but I can't afford to eat here very often as "cuteness" has its price.
Town of Napa:
Artesa Winery is a favorite stop for cool architecture and wines.
I don't get to the town of Napa often, but when I did I was most often at the Red Hen Cantina (I told you I was cheap). Hey, they have their own tequila list! You get tired of wine lists after awhile. Napa is full of new restaurants that I've never visited--the place is booming! Check out the downtown and the riverfront area.
Now that I've offered ideas of things to do in Napa Valley I realize it's all about eating or drinking (duh). Are there other things to do? I dunno. I used to work over there, but even that involved drinking.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Tasting Room Etiquette
Tasting Room 101
A tasting room is a place to sample various wines from a particular winery or sometimes several wine producers share one tasting facility. You'll get to sample several approximately one-ounce pours of wines.
Each tasting room has a different menu of the wines offered and the cost to taste, if any. The menu, or list of wines, should be in the tasting order, include the prices, and maybe a description of the wines. It's OK to skip wines on the menu you don't wish to sample. Maybe they'll have something else to substitute.
If you don't want to finish a wine you've been poured there should be a "dump bucket" available. If you're dumping wine it can either be because you don't like it or you are trying to be responsible and not overindulge. Either will be fine with your tasting room host/hostess.
If you don't like the wine menu for some reason or the price of the tasting fee it's OK to leave without tasting. A good way to keep the price down is to share a tasting with someone.
Once your tasting is finished you can purchase or you can say, "Thank you" and leave.
How to Act
And not be intimidated or come across like a dufus.
It's OK:
A few don'ts:
A few things to know:
Whether you're new to wine or think you know a lot there's more to learn every time to taste wine. That's what makes it fun. Do you only drink Chardonnay at home? This is your big chance to try lots of other wines.
Bad Wine
Eventually you will run across a bad wine being poured if you do enough tastings. Some wines are flawed when they're opened; sometimes a wine is left open too long in the tasting room. Cork taint is a specific flaw and is the most common cause of bad wine. The wine can be musty, moldy, or smell of wet cardboard if it's really bad or the fruit won't be as prominent if it's slightly corked. If a wine is left open too long, and that can happen during the slow times, it will become oxidized. It'll smell and taste like a bad Sherry and have a nutty smell.
Do you think you notice something wrong with a wine you taste? Let the person know there may be a problem with a wine. Why aren't all wines checked before they're poured for you? Could be a sloppy host/hostess, a too busy host/hostess, or a bad management decision (not allowing the staff to sample the wines).
Wine Clubs
A wine club is where a winery will ship you a set number of wines at a set frequency (as two bottles every three months). You'll get enticed with special discounts and events for club members. Wine clubs are very profitable for wineries. That's why most of them will push their club.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't join any wine clubs--just be selective. The best ones give you wines you won't find back home on the store shelf.
Questions to ask before joining any wine club:
Closing times will vary by their policy and by what's on their permit. Some can sell you a glass of wine, some can sell you a bottle to consume on the property, but for many wineries this is illegal. It's not legal to bring in outside alcohol for your picnic.
Winery personnel can ask anyone for ID before serving. The ID is to contain a photo, a description, and not be expired. Note that passports do not meet this criteria as they do not contain a description.
If for any reason a server thinks you've had too much fun and won't serve you that is their right. If they serve someone who may be over the legal limit or may be under 21 years of age the winery will be held responsible and so will the individual. Think about what you would do if you were in their situation.
Getting Wine Home
A winery will ship the wine to you if it's legal in your state. Or you can collect bottles from various wineries and have it shipped by another shipping company. Federal law says there must be an adult at home to accept the wine. If no one is home during the day have it shipped to your work or a neighbor.
If you take wine along in your car remember that sunlight and heat will destroy your wine.
What You Should Do
Enjoy, ask questions, learn, have fun!
Answer to the question in the first photo above:
They want you to drive slowly if you are driving next to grape vines so as not to coat the grapes with dust.
 |
| Do you know why they ask you to drive slowly? |
What to Expect
A tasting room is a place to sample various wines from a particular winery or sometimes several wine producers share one tasting facility. You'll get to sample several approximately one-ounce pours of wines.
Each tasting room has a different menu of the wines offered and the cost to taste, if any. The menu, or list of wines, should be in the tasting order, include the prices, and maybe a description of the wines. It's OK to skip wines on the menu you don't wish to sample. Maybe they'll have something else to substitute.
If you don't want to finish a wine you've been poured there should be a "dump bucket" available. If you're dumping wine it can either be because you don't like it or you are trying to be responsible and not overindulge. Either will be fine with your tasting room host/hostess.
If you don't like the wine menu for some reason or the price of the tasting fee it's OK to leave without tasting. A good way to keep the price down is to share a tasting with someone.
Once your tasting is finished you can purchase or you can say, "Thank you" and leave.
 |
| From the movie Sideways Image from huffingtonpost.com |
And not be intimidated or come across like a dufus.
It's OK:
- if you don't know much about wine.
- if you can't pronounce the names of some wines
- don't know a varietal from an appellation
- if you don't like what someone else likes even if they're the "expert"
A few don'ts:
- Rather than walking in and saying, "I want your sweetest wine" try something like, "I usually drink white zinfandel at home. What do you think I'd like"?
- If you don't like the small size of the pour don't ask them to "fill'er up" as that's against the law.
- It's not self-serve. You cannot pick up a bottle from the bar and pour your own.
- If you skip out on paying a tasting fee you are stealing.
A few things to know:
- Most of what you get is via your sense of smell, not taste. If you have a cold, just had a spicy meal, or are chewing gum you won't be able to make an accurate judgment about what you are tasting.
- What you like is ultimately up to you. What tastes good to you is what you like, not what someone says you should like.
- The wine may taste different back home depending on the setting. Some wine tastes better in hot weather vs. cold, some are better with food.
- You might want to leave and go elsewhere as the service may be slow and impersonal.
- When you get a spot at the bar let one person stand there and the rest in your party behind them. This way your group doesn't hog the tasting bar.
- Speaking of "hog" the staff behind the bar will have lots of people to serve. Don't take up too much of their time telling them the story of your great uncle during Prohibition and what he used to make at home.
Whether you're new to wine or think you know a lot there's more to learn every time to taste wine. That's what makes it fun. Do you only drink Chardonnay at home? This is your big chance to try lots of other wines.
Bad Wine
Eventually you will run across a bad wine being poured if you do enough tastings. Some wines are flawed when they're opened; sometimes a wine is left open too long in the tasting room. Cork taint is a specific flaw and is the most common cause of bad wine. The wine can be musty, moldy, or smell of wet cardboard if it's really bad or the fruit won't be as prominent if it's slightly corked. If a wine is left open too long, and that can happen during the slow times, it will become oxidized. It'll smell and taste like a bad Sherry and have a nutty smell.
Do you think you notice something wrong with a wine you taste? Let the person know there may be a problem with a wine. Why aren't all wines checked before they're poured for you? Could be a sloppy host/hostess, a too busy host/hostess, or a bad management decision (not allowing the staff to sample the wines).
Wine Clubs
A wine club is where a winery will ship you a set number of wines at a set frequency (as two bottles every three months). You'll get enticed with special discounts and events for club members. Wine clubs are very profitable for wineries. That's why most of them will push their club.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't join any wine clubs--just be selective. The best ones give you wines you won't find back home on the store shelf.
Questions to ask before joining any wine club:
- I live in [state]. Can I join your wine club? It's not legal to ship wine to many states.
- What clubs do you have (only one, a red and white, red wine only, library wine club)?
- How many bottles am I getting and how often?
- What wines are scheduled to be shipped this year?
- How much am I charged? For the wine and for shipping.
- Is there a fee to join? If there is run!
- What's the cancellation policy? Some let you cancel the next day. Some make you take a certain number of shipments before you can drop.
- Do you ship over the summer? If they do run! You don't need hot wine delivered to your doorstep.
- What discounts do club members receive? Any other special offerings? Many offer special events for club members but if you live 2,000 miles away this won't mean much to you.
The Law
Wineries operate off permits. There are different classifications. The one thing that is common is the tasting pour size. It's supposed to be one to 1-1/2 ounces.
Wineries operate off permits. There are different classifications. The one thing that is common is the tasting pour size. It's supposed to be one to 1-1/2 ounces.
Closing times will vary by their policy and by what's on their permit. Some can sell you a glass of wine, some can sell you a bottle to consume on the property, but for many wineries this is illegal. It's not legal to bring in outside alcohol for your picnic.
Winery personnel can ask anyone for ID before serving. The ID is to contain a photo, a description, and not be expired. Note that passports do not meet this criteria as they do not contain a description.
If for any reason a server thinks you've had too much fun and won't serve you that is their right. If they serve someone who may be over the legal limit or may be under 21 years of age the winery will be held responsible and so will the individual. Think about what you would do if you were in their situation.
Getting Wine Home
A winery will ship the wine to you if it's legal in your state. Or you can collect bottles from various wineries and have it shipped by another shipping company. Federal law says there must be an adult at home to accept the wine. If no one is home during the day have it shipped to your work or a neighbor.
If you take wine along in your car remember that sunlight and heat will destroy your wine.
What You Should Do
Enjoy, ask questions, learn, have fun!
Answer to the question in the first photo above:
They want you to drive slowly if you are driving next to grape vines so as not to coat the grapes with dust.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
2010 harvest -- vineyard photos
From October 5th in Sonoma Valley. Lots of sun damange. In this vineyard only the bunches shaded by leaves looked OK.
(Click on any photo to enlarge)
(Click on any photo to enlarge)
 |
| Raisins! So sad. |
 |
| More raisins. Most of the fruit in the vineyard looked like this. |
 |
| Picker looking for the good bunches |
 |
| Photo from the same vineyard taken mid-August The grapes were ripening late, but at least the fruit was still good |
Read the latest on the woes of the local grape growers.
Monday, October 4, 2010
2010 Sonoma County Harvest Fair
 |
| Image from sonomacounty.com |
This is a wine judging for any grapes grown in Sonoma County. This was my 30th anniversary at the Harvest Fair with 1981 being the first though I'm sure I missed a couple in there somewhere.
Pardon some of my very short wine notes as this event isn't a great place to try to write anything down.
My Favorites
Gloria Ferrer 2002 Royal Cuvee sparkling wine, Carneros, $32. Perfectly balanced. Probably the best California sparkler I've ever had. Though I may want to go back and re-taste a couple Schramsbergs before I make that statement.
Davis Family 2008 Soul Patch Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, $42, and Davis Family 2008 Horseshoe Bend Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, $42. They are a bit different as the Soul Patch is the Burgundy-lovers Pinot and the Horseshoe Bend is a bit more fruit-forward, but still well-balanced. If more people could make Pinot like the Soul Patch I might actually spend $42 on a Pinot and not complain.
Gracianna 2008 Bacigalupi Vyd Russian River Valley Zinfandel, $42. This is the way God meant for Zinfandel to taste—complex fruit and spices with the backbone to age.
Wilson 2008 Diane's Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, $60. This is the opposite end of the Zinfandel spectrum from Gracianna. It's fruit-forward, but not too much and finishes without the heat from too much alcohol. I don't usually go for the “fruit juicy” style of Zin, but occasionally I find one that works for me. In the past Hartford Court and Armida have made ones that I've loved. They were expensive, too.
Maier 2007 Roy J Maier Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, $60. A great balance between good drinking now plus age-ability.
Watkins Family 2006 Nuns Cliff Vyd Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $38. It can be difficult to call $38 a great deal, but it is for this wine.
Best Bang for the Buck
Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs Carneros, $20. This is probably the best California bubbles for the buck.
Taft Street 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, $24. Real Pinot characteristics, not just cherries.
Blackstone 2007 Rubric (Bordeaux-style blend) Sonoma County, $23. Deep, complex, with enough tannins to age a bit.
Other Very Good Wines
Mayo 2007 Meritage Los Chamizal Vyd Sonoma Valley. Nice fruit and spices, lighter tannins.
Katarina 2004 Field Vyds Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon . Good structure, ageable.
Bennett Valley Cellars Bin 6410 2008 Bennett Valley Pinot Noir. Nice spices, balanced, soft, peppery finish. A good value at $28.
25 Brix 2008 Alta Ridge Bennett Valley Syrah. Earthy.
Novy 2007 Russian River Valley Syrah. Rich.
Armida 2008 Flora Ranch Chalk Hill Syrah. Soft, nice fruit, balanced.
de Lormier 2008 Stone Ranch Alexander Valley Zinfandel. Fruity and soft without the alcohol showing through.
Wilson 2008 Carl's Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. Noticeable tannin and acid. In time this should be excellent.
St Francis 2007 Old Vine Rowe Vyd Sonoma Valley Zinfandel. It's a big boy.
Robert Rue 2007 Wood Road Russian River Valley Zinfandel. Rich and full-bodied.
The Current State of Sonoma County Wines
(based on what I tasted at this event)
Pinot Noir
Pinot prices have stabilized with the premium ones being in the $40s. There doesn't seem to be much in the over $50 range, but there seems to be more good ones under $35 now.
Also, Pinot quality has stabilized. At past Harvest Fairs I seemed to find many really bad Pinots going for $40. Now most are pretty good though when I compare all the Pinots vs. the Cabs I sampled I liked pretty much every Cabernet I tried. I can't say that about the Pinots.
Zinfandel
Prices continue to go up (note the prices on my favorite Zins were $42 and $60). It seems that Zinfandel prices have surged more than any other varietal. Zin is supposed to be a pasta wine or a BBQ wine, but paying $50 for a wine to have with spaghetti and meatballs doesn't make much sense.
There are still the two camps for Zinfandel styles—the older brambly, peppery, ageable Zin and the mouthful of red fruits style. At least the heat from the high alcohols has disappeared from most. The vast majority falling the fruity, simple style. They got real boring after a few because they were all the same.
Who's Hot
Almost every year there seems to be a winery that's really popular. This year it was Mayo. They won a lot of medals and had a very crowded table all Saturday. Wilson Winery drew big crowds also.
What's Hot
The Friday tasting is hosted by the fair itself, rather than the individual wineries, and the wines are grouped by varietal. This makes it easy to see what wine types are hot and what's not. It used to be Chardonnay then Sauvignon Blanc then Merlot then Zinfandel then Pinot Noir. This year I didn't notice any one type of wine winning the popularity contest. Interest seemed to be pretty evenly spread out.
More Info
Check the Harvest Fair's web site for complete results
My web page of my complete tasting results from 2010 and previous years.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The Rush to the Crush
 |
| Image from hobokenrealestatenews.com |
Several days of hot weather in Sonoma County, including some record-setting temperatures, has some growers smiling and others frowning.
Grape growers have been asking for heat to help ripen this year's crop that is well behind schedule. They got it this week. But some also got dehydrated grapes and crop loss. The hardest hit seems to be the Pinot Noir. In fact, pretty much everybody wants to bring in their Pinot for processing NOW! Look for traffic jams in Carneros and the Russian River Valley from all the grape trucks. Also, look for people picking the grapes in the pre-dawn cooler weather.
It's estimated only about 10% of the crop is in so far this year when on average about 40% is already picked. The heat is speeding things up as sugars rise rapidly, but you also need the correct acids.
I don't know if we will see a lot of great Pinot Noir from the 2010 crop. It's certainly too early to tell, but if I want to guess I'd say Pinot and Zinfandel may not have one of their best years, though Cabernet could still do well. I haven't heard much about the Chardonnay crop except that it got hit hard with sunburn in an August heat spike and a lot of the Chard turned into raisins. On the other hand, some say a late-ripening crop leads to better flavors and better wines overall. We'll see.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Pride Mountain tasting
Pride Mountain Winery has gotten a lot of "Internet buzz" and other word-of-mouth acclaim amongst winos to where they are sort of a cult winery in that their wines are highly praised and somewhat expensive. Where they might fall down on the "cult-o-meter" is in that you can actually buy the wines rather than wait on a mailing list for years to get that privilege.
 |
| Image from pridewines.com |
2008 Napa Valley CHARDONNAY, $45
Zesty and more acid than many Chards which is usually good for my tastes, but this wine seemed a bit disjointed. As there was a front of the mouth roundness and fruitiness then the tartness in the back. Two separate parts that just didn't fit together. There are a number of Chards at half the price I'd rather drink.
2009 Sonoma County VIOGNIER, $49
Luscious with honey and just a bit of acidity to where you can drink this by itself or with a meal. I think seafoods, cream-based pastas, some slightly spicy dishes and even some deserts would work well. So it's a very versatile wine.
2008 Sonoma County SYRAH, $69
Big, complex, dense, packed with flavor, and not ready yet, but this should be quite the wine in a few years. Serve with a big, beefy dish in about 2015. Or maybe 2020.
2006 Napa/Sonoma MERLOT, $65
Until now I was sure the best Merlot I'd ever had was a Shafer at a Merlot tasting in Napa a few years ago. I believe Shafer has met its match. Spicy, complex, deep, and a very serious Merlot with the tannins to age. Bad news: The winery is out of the 2006. Maybe the Wine Spectrum still has a few bottles (I don't think I bought the last ones).
2007 Napa/Sonoma CABERNET SAUVIGNON, $79
A multi-layered Cab of great structure and balance. Lots of red, black and blue fruits. You should lay this one down for a decade though it's fairly approachable now if you like 'em big.
I honestly find the prices a bit steep on many of their wines (my perceived quality for the price), but you can't fight success and Pride Mountains has definitely had lots. Though the reason I was lucky enough to be able to taste their wines at a local wine bar may be because the over $50 wine market is as flat as a pancake right now.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Backlash against over-processed wine
Wine is grape juice with the sugar turned to alcohol by yeast. That's about it, right?
Modern winemaking can have lots of intervention in the process with different sorts of filtering, commercially grown yeast strains, enzymes, specialized bacteria, tannins, acids, oak, oxygenation, reverse-osmosis, and adding water. Not to mention what all can go on in the vineyards with chemicals, water and pruning shears.
This is done sometimes to help prevent a loss such as using sulfur in the vineyard, but often it's done to improve the wine or reduce the cost. The current style of highly processed "improved" wine has roots in a Helen Turley / Robert Parker connection. So you can blame them or thank them depending on your preferences.
Recently there has been a growing trend towards less manipulation amongst a few people.
The organic wine movement first gained popularity about 20 years ago. This is mostly in the growing of the grapes and not so much in the precessing of the wine.
The more recent Biodynamic farming practices gaining popularity and press in the last five years. This is similar to organic farming, but with what I call a spiritual side.
More recently the natural wine movement. This is unorganized at this time, but in general wants to more away from what they consider over-manipulation of the grapes. Exactly what chemicals and processes are OK and what aren't is being debated.
The latest is the Natural Process Alliance and minimal intervention with the grapes. This means sustainably farmed, unfiltered, but of most interest it also means the grapes are fermented with only the natural, wild yeast that are present in the air. So not only no commercially grown yeast is added, but no yeast at all is added. This is winemaking from many generations ago. In fact, this is pretty close to winemaking as it first began. And it's pretty risky to rely only on yeasts in the air.
Wines from the NPA are made to be drunk locally and soon. In Sonoma County at least, they are using refillable stainless-steel containers, like water bottles, rather than glass and a cork. So it's like milk delivery in the old days--you get fresh wine delivered, you drink it, they pick up, clean and refill the bottles.
So, should you care what's been done to your wine? Perhaps chemically it's easier to see why you should care. When it comes to processes in winemaking it may be less obvious. For instance, does it matter that a wine had a fancy tannin added or alcohol removed? Or does it only matter that you like the finished product?
I can't answer that for you.
Modern winemaking can have lots of intervention in the process with different sorts of filtering, commercially grown yeast strains, enzymes, specialized bacteria, tannins, acids, oak, oxygenation, reverse-osmosis, and adding water. Not to mention what all can go on in the vineyards with chemicals, water and pruning shears.
This is done sometimes to help prevent a loss such as using sulfur in the vineyard, but often it's done to improve the wine or reduce the cost. The current style of highly processed "improved" wine has roots in a Helen Turley / Robert Parker connection. So you can blame them or thank them depending on your preferences.
 |
| The old-fashioned way Image from stonehillwinery.com |
The organic wine movement first gained popularity about 20 years ago. This is mostly in the growing of the grapes and not so much in the precessing of the wine.
The more recent Biodynamic farming practices gaining popularity and press in the last five years. This is similar to organic farming, but with what I call a spiritual side.
More recently the natural wine movement. This is unorganized at this time, but in general wants to more away from what they consider over-manipulation of the grapes. Exactly what chemicals and processes are OK and what aren't is being debated.
The latest is the Natural Process Alliance and minimal intervention with the grapes. This means sustainably farmed, unfiltered, but of most interest it also means the grapes are fermented with only the natural, wild yeast that are present in the air. So not only no commercially grown yeast is added, but no yeast at all is added. This is winemaking from many generations ago. In fact, this is pretty close to winemaking as it first began. And it's pretty risky to rely only on yeasts in the air.
Wines from the NPA are made to be drunk locally and soon. In Sonoma County at least, they are using refillable stainless-steel containers, like water bottles, rather than glass and a cork. So it's like milk delivery in the old days--you get fresh wine delivered, you drink it, they pick up, clean and refill the bottles.
So, should you care what's been done to your wine? Perhaps chemically it's easier to see why you should care. When it comes to processes in winemaking it may be less obvious. For instance, does it matter that a wine had a fancy tannin added or alcohol removed? Or does it only matter that you like the finished product?
I can't answer that for you.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
News, rumors, and trends
What has been happening
Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson got shot down on his bid to build a big operation in Knight's Valley. Never heard of Knight's Valley? The locals want to keep it that way.
Jess Jackson again, is trying to get Black Mountain overlooking Alexander Valley renamed to Alexander Mountain. Why? Because he has Cabernet there and Alexander Mountain would look better on the label than Black Mtn. apparently.
And one more time, Kendell-Jackson has consolidated wine production of Arrowood Winery to a facility in Napa. Dick Arrowood left his namesake winery a few months ago. KJ moved Matanzas Creek production to another larger site awhile ago. This is a cost-cutting measure. A few jobs were lost in each move. Arrowood ownership has changed several times in the past decade.
Rosenblum's founder sold to Diego a couple years ago and the result has been job loss. Their Healdsburg tasting room closed and now they are moving the wine production from Alemeda to a Diego site in Napa to consolidate.
Francis Ford Coppola's winery and "theme park" or whatever it is had a job fair for 130 positions. Not many people would have the guts (or is it a vision?) to do this in the current economy.
Earlier this year a local outfit called Vintage Wine Estates purchased a minority stake in the Kunde family's winery. This is a long-established family in the local grape business that apparently got caught off guard by the economic slowdown and ran short of cash.
Geyser Peak, Buena Vista and Gary Farrell wineries have bounced around with different ownership over the past several years. A local company, Ascentia, bought them just as the industry started to tank and now this company appears to be in trouble.
What might happen
These are rumors so I won't mention names in some of these just in case I'm wrong.
Layoffs at a big family-owned winery conglomerate? They went through this last year and may do it again, but then they're heavy in administrative-type positions anyway.
Fosters has been reorganizing and creating outside alliances in its beer and wine empires that split the wine and beer sides cleanly. Is their wine business going up for sale?
Emerging Trends
Some things that are just catching on with growers and wine makers, much of it related to the economy. Will this stuff be around long-term?
Higher-end wineries and wine makers making cheaper wine. There once was a business case for making $30 wine rather than $15 wine. That seems to have flip-flopped.
Natural wines. This is a trend towards organic growing and away from too much oak and alcohol. Some people are once again picking grapes for balance rather than max fruit so you don't have to add water, tannins, acids, etc. to turn it back into wine.
Social media is catching on big with many wineries without any evidence of increased sales. How much of this just grasping for anything to prop-up wine sales?
Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson got shot down on his bid to build a big operation in Knight's Valley. Never heard of Knight's Valley? The locals want to keep it that way.
Jess Jackson again, is trying to get Black Mountain overlooking Alexander Valley renamed to Alexander Mountain. Why? Because he has Cabernet there and Alexander Mountain would look better on the label than Black Mtn. apparently.
And one more time, Kendell-Jackson has consolidated wine production of Arrowood Winery to a facility in Napa. Dick Arrowood left his namesake winery a few months ago. KJ moved Matanzas Creek production to another larger site awhile ago. This is a cost-cutting measure. A few jobs were lost in each move. Arrowood ownership has changed several times in the past decade.
Rosenblum's founder sold to Diego a couple years ago and the result has been job loss. Their Healdsburg tasting room closed and now they are moving the wine production from Alemeda to a Diego site in Napa to consolidate.
Francis Ford Coppola's winery and "theme park" or whatever it is had a job fair for 130 positions. Not many people would have the guts (or is it a vision?) to do this in the current economy.
Earlier this year a local outfit called Vintage Wine Estates purchased a minority stake in the Kunde family's winery. This is a long-established family in the local grape business that apparently got caught off guard by the economic slowdown and ran short of cash.
Geyser Peak, Buena Vista and Gary Farrell wineries have bounced around with different ownership over the past several years. A local company, Ascentia, bought them just as the industry started to tank and now this company appears to be in trouble.
What might happen
These are rumors so I won't mention names in some of these just in case I'm wrong.
Layoffs at a big family-owned winery conglomerate? They went through this last year and may do it again, but then they're heavy in administrative-type positions anyway.
Fosters has been reorganizing and creating outside alliances in its beer and wine empires that split the wine and beer sides cleanly. Is their wine business going up for sale?
Emerging Trends
Some things that are just catching on with growers and wine makers, much of it related to the economy. Will this stuff be around long-term?
Higher-end wineries and wine makers making cheaper wine. There once was a business case for making $30 wine rather than $15 wine. That seems to have flip-flopped.
Natural wines. This is a trend towards organic growing and away from too much oak and alcohol. Some people are once again picking grapes for balance rather than max fruit so you don't have to add water, tannins, acids, etc. to turn it back into wine.
Social media is catching on big with many wineries without any evidence of increased sales. How much of this just grasping for anything to prop-up wine sales?
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
2010 grape harvest -- mid-September update
California's coastal areas have dealt with cool, damp weather much of the summer. In Sonoma County and nearby areas after a short, but dramatic, heat wave the weather has turned ideal for the past couple weeks.
Due to the cool summer many vineyard people did some canopy management, that is they removed leaves from the vines to help expose the grape clusters to the sun to help prevent rot. When the heat came many grapes raisined from the exposure and are now useless. It's estimated 10% of the crop was lost.
The weird weather isn't that weird though. I've lived in Sonoma County for thirty harvests. The one constant is the growers, like any farmer, will sound pessimistic until the grapes are in. Once the juice is made you'll then hear the folks whose livelihood rests on selling wine say what a great vintage it was. Or at least by the time the wines get to market in a couple years they'll hope you forget their troubles.
Even in the much talked about bad years like '88, '89, '98, '99, '00 you can't make blanket statements about quality (good or bad). Sometimes a certain variety gets affected. For instance rain can really damage Chardonnay and Pinot but not Cabernet so much. But Cab gets picked much later than Chard or Pinot so if anything bad happens in October those earlier ripening grapes may already be in, but the Cab is still hanging on the vines.
This year the cool damp weather seems to mostly affect the cooler growing areas such as Russian River Valley.
Oh yeah, there's a chance of rain in the forecast for this coming weekend.
The cool summer delayed the start of harvest by about three weeks. Some wineries are underway now, but most in the cooler growing areas are not. As of Sept 10th only about 1% of the grapes have been picked! Many are expecting a compressed harvest. That is, rather than having two or more months for all the grapes to come in they could be bringing in the bulk of the grapes in less than a month's time.
Some wineries appear to be hiring addition crush help for the expected rush. It's tough on the crew as it can mean working for weeks without a day off. You work when mother nature says she's ready!
Due to the cool summer many vineyard people did some canopy management, that is they removed leaves from the vines to help expose the grape clusters to the sun to help prevent rot. When the heat came many grapes raisined from the exposure and are now useless. It's estimated 10% of the crop was lost.
The weird weather isn't that weird though. I've lived in Sonoma County for thirty harvests. The one constant is the growers, like any farmer, will sound pessimistic until the grapes are in. Once the juice is made you'll then hear the folks whose livelihood rests on selling wine say what a great vintage it was. Or at least by the time the wines get to market in a couple years they'll hope you forget their troubles.
Even in the much talked about bad years like '88, '89, '98, '99, '00 you can't make blanket statements about quality (good or bad). Sometimes a certain variety gets affected. For instance rain can really damage Chardonnay and Pinot but not Cabernet so much. But Cab gets picked much later than Chard or Pinot so if anything bad happens in October those earlier ripening grapes may already be in, but the Cab is still hanging on the vines.
This year the cool damp weather seems to mostly affect the cooler growing areas such as Russian River Valley.
Oh yeah, there's a chance of rain in the forecast for this coming weekend.
The cool summer delayed the start of harvest by about three weeks. Some wineries are underway now, but most in the cooler growing areas are not. As of Sept 10th only about 1% of the grapes have been picked! Many are expecting a compressed harvest. That is, rather than having two or more months for all the grapes to come in they could be bringing in the bulk of the grapes in less than a month's time.
Some wineries appear to be hiring addition crush help for the expected rush. It's tough on the crew as it can mean working for weeks without a day off. You work when mother nature says she's ready!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Sonoma County -- Beer Country
Wine? Okay there's some of that, too.
According to the Beer Advocate magazine Russian River Brewery, of Santa Rosa, makes the top two American brews. They placed seven of their beers in the top 100 beers of the world. Also on the list are two beers from the Bear Republic in Healdsburg and one from the North Coast Brewery in Fort Bragg (just to the north in Mendocino County).
The Russian River Brewery is considered one of the best in the country. Ratebeer.com lists it as the sixth best brewery in the world.
Most lists of top breweries in the country also contain Lagunitas. Their IPA is the top-selling IPA in California. They offer tours and tastings daily if you're in the neighborhood.
 |
| from Russian River Brewery |
According to the Beer Advocate magazine Russian River Brewery, of Santa Rosa, makes the top two American brews. They placed seven of their beers in the top 100 beers of the world. Also on the list are two beers from the Bear Republic in Healdsburg and one from the North Coast Brewery in Fort Bragg (just to the north in Mendocino County).
The Russian River Brewery is considered one of the best in the country. Ratebeer.com lists it as the sixth best brewery in the world.
Most lists of top breweries in the country also contain Lagunitas. Their IPA is the top-selling IPA in California. They offer tours and tastings daily if you're in the neighborhood.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)