2011: The next wine vintage from hell?

2010 was a tough year for the local grape growers.   Most of the summer was cool and damp meaning the grapes didn't ripen and were subject to mold as the clusters formed and the grapes grew.  Many growers did a little canopy management and cut away the leaves covering the bunches to give them lots of sun.   Then a couple blistering heat waves over-ripened and raisined many vineyards. Some growers lost their entire crop.

2009 was no picnic either as I recall one winery owner / grower saying it was a year for "better winemaking through chemistry."

2008 had lightning strikes setting fires in Mendocino County that created a smoke blanket lasting a month and actually put a smoke-tainted smell and flavor into some wines.

So how is 2011 shaping up?  It's been a wet, cool spring just like last year.  Actually, it's been wetter and cooler than last year.  For late May and early June the temperatures are ten degrees or more below the average in the Sonoma and Napa area.  It's cooler because of cloud cover and rain.  The good news is rain is off the long-range forecast and temps are supposed to run near normal.

This is expected in January,
but isn't so good in June

So what's the grape crop damage?  This is the time of year for the grape bloom.   You don't see actual pretty flowers as grapes are self-pollinating and don't have to attract insects.   Rain at the time of bloom causes "shatter" damaging potential grape clusters so they won't form properly.  It's sort of nature's way of thinning the crop.   But there is a potential for a much smaller crop than average--this will depend on where certain varieties and vineyards are in the bloom cycle.

Mildew is another issue, but the growers can control this.

The cooler weather has pushed the entire growing cycle back so assuming normal or less than normal summer temps the harvest will be late.  In California growers like an earlier harvest to avoid potential autumn rains that can really hurt a mature crop.

What are the growers hoping for now?  Sunny warm days with some wind to dry things out.  Then an average summer would be nice.   It will be about mid-summer before they know the extent of the loss.

It appears many growers are making changes in the vineyards based on last year's Vintage From Hell.  Some are now early believers in climate change--a change that could cause coastal areas to be cooler than normal as interior lands heat up.  Or it may just be our usual El Nino / La Nina cycles (a warming or cooling of the Pacific).

It's too early to say if this will be a good year or bad, of course, but for farmers it's never to early to starting worrying.   The important thing is that only the quantity of grapes is affected so far, not the quality.

Current California Wine Trends

Where has the  the California wine industry been and where is it headed?  Here's a look at some of the trends in this trendy business.


Alcohol Levels

  This has been discussed a lot.  California has picked grapes super-ripe for over a decade now and has recently learned how to process the wines to take away the burning heat of too much alcohol.  This hasn't returned varietal character to wines however, as a big blast of fruit-juiciness still wins out with many winemakers over delicacy, subtlety, varietal character, and balance.  There are now wineries making a big deal out of their lower alcohol levels.  You don't see anyone advertising their high alcohol.  Is a backlash underway?  I don't know about you but I often look at the alcohol level on a bottle before deciding to buy.

Terroir

Yes, I suppose the blonde's
shoulder tastes different than the
brunette's back. That's terroir!
Image from grapesandgrainsnyc.com

  It's a French term meaning the wine has specific characteristics from the specific plot of land it grew on.  That's nice to know but I don't know why it's better.  This has led to ...

Single Vineyard Designated Wines

  Many conclude that a single variety from a single plot of land makes a better (and more expensive) wine than does blending from multiple vineyards.   I don't know why this is supposed to be true.  This theory is also used with appellation-specific wines.  Saying, for example, that a Chardonnay from Russian River or Santa Lucia is always better than one blended from the two.

Smaller Sub-Appellations

  This is another offshoot of Terroir-mania.  Grape growing areas, appellations, are getting subdivided into smaller appellations.  In Sonoma County the coastal growing areas of Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast may get further parceled.  The argument being that there are areas of different soil, temperatures, topography and winds making for differences in the wines.   I agree.   Anyone who knows anything about Sonoma County will know you can drive ten minutes to get different weather during the summer and you can usually walk to a different soil profile from most vineyards.   You may as well argue for a thousand appellations in the county.  All this really accomplishes is confusing most consumers--when once you know you liked Pinot from the Sonoma Coast area you may one day find wines with Ft. Ross or Petaluma Gap on the labels and don't know where these come from.

Single Varieties, Rather Than Blending

  American wine laws require 75% of a single variety to be in a wine for it to be labeled that way otherwise you have to call it something else.   A label saying Cabernet Sauvignon has always sold better than one saying Red Wine.  This rule has pushed a lot of people away from blending wines.   So rather than getting a Syrah, Mourvedre, Viognier blend, for instance, you get mostly 100% Syrahs.  Most grape varieties have there strengths and weaknesses so complementing varieties usually make a better wine.   Luckily for us we are seeing more of the Rhone-style blends.  What we aren't seeing is more Cabernet with Merlot and more Merlot with Cabernet blended in.  Most Merlots needs some Cabernet!

"In" Varieties

  Pinot Noir is in, Merlot is out--that's old news.  Syrah is sorta in; maybe Malbec is.  Some bet on Pinot Gris a few years ago and that isn't paying off as yet.  Chardonnay has always been the in white wine with Sauvignon Blanc playing a distant second fiddle.   Pity the poor grape farmer who has to guess years ahead of time and dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into what may be The Next Big Thing or not.  Lots of people talk about what the Next Big Varietal will be in California.  Meanwhile Chardonnay and Cabernet keep plugging along.

"In" Styles

  Consumers have been told by the "experts" that they aren't supposed to like big, buttery, oaky Chardonnays, but they still (but may not admit to it).  Or they aren't supposed to drink Merlot anymore.   It's great to experiment with something new like unoaked stainless steel fermented Chardonnay, but you don't have to like it.   Now many believe they are supposed to prefer the fruit-forward, high alcohol wines because Robert Parker does.  Hopefully, all this will settle out to a nice middle ground rather than one extreme or the other.

The Opinions of Amateurs

So many wines, so little time!
Image from harvestmoonwinery.com

  Trying to decide what wine to buy from the hundreds available used to be based on the "experts" from Wine Spectator and the other wine magazines plus a few wine competitions.  Since the Internet spawned wine forums, blogs and twitter everybody and their brother can give a wine 92 points just like Robert Parker.   Also, rather than hundreds there are now thousands of wines available from hundreds of boutique wineries.  How can you keep up?  You may want to use the local wine retailer as your trusted expert.

Eco/Green

  Being green is good for you and the land.  There's a bit of free PR with being able to say you are a green winery but that's okay because you're doing the right thing.  However, being Biodynamic is just weird, but it is the in thing with many wineries.  Sustainability is the next big thing and it's not just land stewardship because water use is getting to be a big deal.  Water isn't just for irrigation, but also frost protection in the vineyards and cleaning in the cellar, etc. Making wine uses a lot of water.

Sign of the times. Another family winery sells out.

The second oldest family winery in Sonoma County, after Foppiano, has sold to a conglomerate.   Seghesio Family Vineyards got through Prohibition but didn't want to chance the current economy and I guess the money just looked too good.   The new owners are Crimson Wine Group that's part of a larger NY-based holding company which invests in everything from mining to real estate.

What does this mean for the Seghesio wine fan?  Nothing right now, but five years from now who knows.

In May Buena Vista, Gary Farrell, and Fetzer changed hands, but these were no longer family run wineries. 


Read all about it.

Celebrate National Wine Day, May 25th?

Okay, we had National Drink Wine Day on February 18th.   Now we have National Wine Day on May 25th.   What's next?

I propose National Guzzle Box Wine Day.  I'm thinking maybe this Sunday, May 28th, because it's right in the middle of Memorial Day Weekend.  What better time to down a box of wine?

Your next chance is June 2nd, National Leave the Office Early Day (really).   Knock off around 2 pm and hit up your favorite wine bar.  Personally, I'm looking forward to early July because the 5th is Bikini Day followed closely by Chocolate Day on the 7th.

BTW, May 25th is also the anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars movie in 1977.  Maybe you want to get yourself one of these wine accessories ...

Image from etsy.com

35th Anniversary of "The Judgement"

On May 24, 1976 the trigger was pulled on the California wine explosion.   That's the day Chateau Montelena beat the French Chardonnays and Stag's Leap beat the French Cabernets at their own game.

The Judgement in Paris was a wine competition to put the upstart Californians against the people who owned fine wine sales, the French.   California won.   There's a fun movie about this event called Bottle Shock.

The judges were French wine experts.  On hearing the results one of the judges demanded her ballot back so she could change it.   The French were not happy and have been making excuses ever since.  The tasting was repeated with the same wines for the 30th anniversary of the tasting and while the same wines didn't win California wines did--again.

The winners on display
in the Smithsonian

The best deals in California wine today

I'm not talking about look for this Chardonnay or this particular Cabernet because it's soooo good.   There are a couple types of wines that are easily available and maybe even undervalued in the market.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauv Blanc grows easily in many places around the world and puts out a lot of fruit per vine without degrading the quality.  That is, if you can get eight tons per acre instead of two then the wine should be cheaper to produce. Plus not having to use expensive oak barrels as most wines do saves, too. Styles range from grassy to tropical but they're almost always crisp and fresh--meaning higher acid.  Relatively high acid means Sauv Blanc compared to say, Chardonnay, is a refreshing drink on a warm day and is a good food match where Chard can seem a little heavy or flabby.  Higher acid wines generally go best with food but can sometimes taste a little tart on their own, though a good Sauvignon Blanc pulls off both roles well.

So Sauvignon Blanc is sort of a poor cousin to Chardonnay.   And that's good for the consumer because there are amazingly good SBs for under $20.  

Just a few examples from Sonoma and Napa:

Geyser Peak - They make one labeled California selling for about $10 in the tropical fruit style plus a big award winner called River Ranches that goes for about $20 and is a bit more tart and a lot more complex.

Kenwood - A "drink and don't have to think" about it wine.  Usually $10 or less.

Image from vinopedia.com

Hanna - An award winner every year.  This is Hanna's flagship wine, they make a lot of it, and it sells out easily every year.  It retails for about $20.

Mondavi - The benchmark for popularizing SB under the Fume Blanc name.  Fruity, dry, good acidity.  Goes for about $15.

St Supery - Good balance and refreshing. Sells for less than $20.

Sparkling Wine

AKA Champagne.  Many of these wines have really maintained low prices even with all the extra work that goes into making a sparkling wine.   Part of the issue is supply-and-demand in that Americans only drink bubbles on New Years and at weddings.  But most of these are great food wines, too.   Any evening can be special if you surprise your Significant Other by popping the cork on a bottle of sparkling wine.

There are many great sparkling wines going for around $20.   Just be aware many of the really cheap ones are bulk processed and can be cloyingly sweet as they are made with cheap grapes. Look for methode champenoise on the label.

Image from
gloriaferrer.com

Gloria Ferrer - These are superb wines for the price.  The Brut goes for about $18; my favorite the Royal Cuvee in the low $20s.  The Blanc de Noirs is good, also.

Roederer Estate - Their Brut at $20 is first-rate.

Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse, Mumm Napa, and Schramsberg all produce great sparklers though some going for "real" money ($40-up).


Oh, you're looking for a red wine?   Inexpensive red blends, often just labeled "Red Wine" are your best bet, but do your homework first.  Some come from excellent sources of grapes; others do not.  You can find good, inexpensive varietal wines (even Pinot!) if you look.  A couple examples of good red blends are Pedroncelli Friends Red and Trentadue Old Patch Red.

Sexy Wine Terms

Sex sells.

There are some unusual and amazing ways people describe wine. You can't just say good or bad.  Frankly, I don't know how some of these wine writers do it.  They must have been poets in a previous life.

Some of the following terms may be less obvious than others, but at least they're subliminally about sex.  By matching wine descriptors to famous people you can make purchasing decisions based on something visual rather than some nonsensical point system!

Fleshy - Kirstie Alley or Queen Latifah--your choice. Or not.

Foxy - The Megan Fox of wines I suppose--youthful and seductive and you wonder what she'll turn out to be when she reaches her prime.  Could be flabby, could be hot.

Full-bodied - Marilyn Monroe obviously.

Hot - Angelina Jolie obviously.

Lush - Especially when used in conjunction with "round" as in "a lush and round wine."  I'm guessing this would be the Jane Mansfield of wine.  Or maybe in more modern terms it could be Lindsey Lohan because she qualifies as a "lush."

Muscular - A descriptor to attract the women.  This would be the Hugh Jackman or Mathew McConaughey of wine.

Musty - Another one to attract women.  This would be a sweaty Hugh Jackman or Mathew McConaughey.

Sexy - People use this descriptor for wine a lot because it'll attract attention, but it could mean anything as sexy is a very broad term and strictly in the eye of the beholder. It could be anyone from Nicole Kidman to Halle Berry to Lady Gaga.   See the problem?  You probably don't like all three.

Sultry - More of a term for the actresses of the '40s and '50s like Jane Russell or Lana Turner. The old blues singers would work here, too, as would Amy Winehouse (and she's even got "wine" in her name).  But what does "sultry" have to do with wine?   I'm not sure, but I want to try it--in a dark, smoky room.

While we're on the subject you'll want to check out the Naked Winery for gift ideas.   Or maybe Thumbprint Cellars for one of their red blends, Three Some or Four Play.  Even better is the Climax they describe this way, "A provocative potion ... creates visual stimulation. Arousing aromas ... flirtatious flavors: Soaking wet ... sensual oak penetrate in and out of the tasting experience."   Oh yes, YES!

Summer 2011 Sonoma County Events (for June, July, August)

Summer is vacation time and if you're coming to the Northern California wine country maybe you want to plan your trip around a special event.   Many of these are about wine, but there are some other fun events listed, too.

Peggy Sue car cruise in downtown Santa Rosa

June

3-12  Healdsburg Jazz Festival.  Musicians play in wineries and other sites.

4  Beerfest at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts.  Okay, it's not wine but it's close.

4  Single Vineyard Night at Thomas George Estates in Healdsburg.  Hosted by grape growers and winemakers.

4-5  Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma.  Old race cars, food and wine.  Sounds perfect!

11  Peggy Sue Car Cruise in Santa Rosa. If you like old cars you can watch them cruise by in the downtown area.

18-19  Sonoma Hot Air Balloon Classic.  Leaving from Windsor.  Good news: It's a kid-friendly event. Bad news:  It starts at 5 a.m.

22-26  Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma.  A summer fair with the highlights being the Ugly Dog Contest and Destruction Derby.  This year's musical entertainment:  Blue Oyster Cult, Rick Springfield, The Charlie Daniels Band, and Foghat (are all those guys still alive)?

24-26  NASCAR at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma where they have to turn left and right!  Note: The racetrack is about eight miles south of the town of Sonoma.  Traffic is very heavy this weekend and can back up for several miles along Highways 121 and 37 on Sunday.

July

Fourth of July - There are several towns offering fireworks and other events over the weekend including Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Sonoma.

10  Pinot Family Reunion at the Vintners Inn in Santa Rosa.  A Pinot Noir tasting and dinner at John Ash restaurant.

16-17  Civil War Reenactment Days in Duncan Mills.

27-Aug 14  Sonoma County Fair.  Lots of food, stuff for the kids, and thoroughbred horse racing.

29-31  NHRA drag racing at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma.

August

5-7  West of West Wine Festival in Occidental.  Tastings of Sonoma Coast wines but the highlight is the Whole Hog Feast at the Union Hotel restaurant.

6  Eighth Street Wineries Open House in Sonoma.  Micro-wineries open for tasting.

13-14 Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol.  Most of the apple orchards have been replaced by vineyards -- that's why you can get a glass of wine with your apple pie.

19-21  Grape to Glass Weekend in the Russian River Valley.  Wine, food, music, art, tours.

20-21  Wings Over Wine Country.  Airshow at the Sonoma County Airport.

26-28  Indy Cars at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma.

27-28  Bodega Seafood, Art, and Wine Festival. Buy arts and crafts, eat, dance, drink some wine and beer.   Bring a jacket.

Thoroughbred racing at the Sonoma County Fair
Image from calfairs.com

Numerous wineries have their own special open house events.  I've listed only the ones of a broader scope.   Some wineries have movies, concerts, pizza parties, etc. in their outdoor picnic areas.  Check with your favorites to see what's going on.

Soda Rock Winery

The old Soda Rock Winery site in Alexander Valley has a history going back over a hundred years.  The original old stone building and the wood structures had fallen into disrepair.   A few years ago the Wilsons (Wilson, Matrix, and Mazzocco, and other wineries) bought the property then restored and extended the size of the original buildings.   It's a beautiful restoration.

Part of the old stone building
Now housing the tasting room

They recently opened for tasting so I stopped by to try the wines.  It appears the wines are made by the Wilson Winery from some of their existing vineyard holdings.  I didn't get the appellation for all of the wines I was tasting.  They are so new even their website isn't up and running so I can't get the missing info there. Retail prices ran from $19 to $65.

2009 Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc
Definite tangerine.  A bit thin.

2009 Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Grassy nose, grapefruit flavors.  My favorite of the two.

2009 Alexander Valley Chardonnay
Tropical nose, apples, weak finish.

2010 Rosé (from Merlot)
Too dry and astringent

2008 Zinfandel
Red and black fruit, bit of pepper, soft and fruit-forward.

2005 Merlot
Green nose, no fruit.

2006 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
Soft tannins, no finish.  A chocolate Cab rather than a steak Cab.

2004 Sonoma County Mercantile Cabernet
A bit earthy, mostly ripe.

2006 Alexander Valley The General Cabernet
Plush, tight, ripe, tannin finish.

2006 Alexander Valley 5-star General Cabernet
Grainy tannins

The tasting room

Summary on the Wines
The Alexander Vly Sauv Blanc and the Zin weren't bad.  The Cabs don't have the structure, balance, varietal character, and integration I look for in a wine.   They are fruit-forward and soft, but with lots of tannins.   I'm a bit underwhelmed.

Random good news

Because we need some!    It may or may not have to do with wine.


The Wine Road, wineroad.com, donated $30,000 to the Redwood Empire Food Bank today.  This is proceeds from the Russian River Valley Barrel Tasting event ticket sales.   So to all of you who attended, thanks!


Willy Mays, the greatest ever, turns 80 today.


Red wine helps keep your bones strong.  According to an Australian study men 50-80 years old who drank red wine had a stronger bone density than those who didn't.   New slogan, "Fight osteoporosis, have a glass of Cab."


The Royal Family is planting grapes on the Windsor Estate to make an English sparkling wine.  


The California Wine Bar at the SF Giants stadium is a hit with fans.  The people selling the various wines will help you match a wine your food.  "You got a hot dog?  Is that with mustard and onions?  I think I'd go with a hearty red ..."


Another study on red wine and chocolate suggests consuming the two together increases the blood flow to the brain.  The volunteers in the test were better at arithmetic after the wine and chocolate than before.   So next time you have to balance your checkbook you now know what to do.


Forrest Lundsway just married Rose Pollard after being together for 30 years.  What's the big deal?  It was on Forrest's 100th birthday, she's 90.   His secret to longevity besides staying active is whiskey and Seven-Up and fried food.


It's May 6th and the Cleveland Indians are still in first place!

Mike Lee, founder of Kenwood Vineyards

Image from kenwood.com

Winemaker Mike Lee passed away this week.   Mike, along with his brother and brother-in-law, bought an old jug winery in northern Sonoma Valley over 40 years ago.   By jug winery I mean you'd bring in your own container and get it filled with either white or red.   Much of the Sonoma County wine business was like this at the time.   Many were convinced a new premium winery in Sonoma Valley in 1970 was a weird idea and doomed to failure.

Success came at a reasonable pace during the '70s then Kenwood Vineyards rode the wave of the popularity of California wines in the '80s and became a large player to where even the founders would sometimes shake their heads in amazement.

Their first big break was when deciding to not just make a reserve Cabernet, but to make it as a yearly Artist Series using a different artwork for the label every vintage.  The first was a painting of a nude on a hillside.  The government regulators, the BATF, said no and the controversy started.   The best publicity is free publicity and Mike and family were off and running.

Their other big breaks were in getting a long-term contract for the Jack London Vineyard and making a distinctive wine with distinctive bottling from those grapes.  Another was putting out a great Sauvignon Blanc in large quantities just when Sauv Blanc got popular in the mid-80s.   Case production soared.   John, the brother-in-law responsible for the financial side of the business, called the Sauv Blanc "Chateau Cash Cow" when he would stop by after work for a glass.

After I moved to Sonoma County in 1980 Kenwood Vineyards became my first favorite winery.  Mike, Marty, and John were great guys to work for.  I know because while I had another "real" job during the '90s and early in the '00s I worked part-time in the Kenwood tasting room for about a dozen years.   In a business that can attract the rich and snobby these were regular guys with a regular work ethic.

Mike could make Zinfandel--really good Zinfandel.   Not like the high alcohol fruity stuff you see now.  This was Zin you wanted to age for awhile.  This was Zin you wanted to have with a meal.   Mike made Zinfandel the way God meant Zinfandel to taste.

Mike left us too soon.

Story from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Twomey Winery Open House

  On April 30th Twomey had a release party for their four 2009 Pinot Noirs.   I had previously tasted these wines and others from Twomey and Silver Oak (same owners).  This was at a Silver Oak "blogger lunch" a couple weeks ago and I reported on it in a April 17th post.

From Twomey

  I though it may be interesting to try these wines again in a different setting and a different format.  The Silver Oak setup was a sit down tasting with the entire flight of wines in front of you. This time  it was a single taste at a time at a tasting bar setting.   I've done informal wine judgings with friends plus taken a wine judging class and have seen how difficult it can be to be consistent in your preferences.   There's been more times than not I've tasted through a flight then wait about 15 minutes and taste through again and come up with very different rankings.   Sometimes it's the wines, sometimes it's the order it which you taste them, sometimes it's just human subjectivity.

  Here are the four '09 Twomey Pinots listed in my preference from favorite to least with my ranking from last time in parentheses.

Sonoma Coast (1)
  Black fruit, well integrated and structured for what should be a good long life. A dryish herbal, spicy, peppery finish.  An excellent young Pinot and I hope it continues to develop well as I bought several.

Bien Nacido, Santa Maria (3)
  Smooth and round up from but finishing with good acid.  Also has good structure to age well, but not as well integrated as the Sonoma Coast.
  After tasting at Twomey we went to Gary Farrell Winery who has an '08 Bien Nacido Pinot.  Not nearly as good as Twomey's.

Anderson Valley, Mendocino County (2)
  Tight, dry, and herbal (fennel), but it shows the complexity and balance that makes me think it'll open up nicely in time.  This one didn't show as well as last time as it was closed-in right now.

Russian River Valley (4)
  Bright red fruit and a bit spicy/peppery but doesn't finish as well and is a bit simple compared to the others.  This is more of a sipping wine rather than a food wine.

Sauvignon Blanc
  I also tasted the new release 2010 Sauvignon Blanc again.  I wasn't quite as thrilled with it this time though it definitely goes better with food.  It was soft and round in the start but finished very tart.  Fruit flavors were just a bit of grapefruit and a little tart lemon.  By "just a bit" I mean not enough fruit to carry it through.
  This wine will change over time as it's very young.  In fact, I had gotten the end of a bottle for my pour and my wife got the start of a new bottle and there was a difference in the two as hers tasted brighter, cleaner and fruitier.    See, every mouthful is different. That's what makes wine fun.

Picking Favorites
  My picks this time were only slightly different.   At the Silver Oak tasting another blogger, Ray Johnson, who writes very good wine tasting notes and is the current head of the wine business school at a local university (so I assume he knows what he's doing) had remarkably different choices on his favorites on both the Twomey Pinots and the Silver Oak Cabernets.   So what does that mean?   I'm thinking he doesn't know what he's talking about!   (Just kidding).   It really means no one can really pick which wine you're going to like except you.
  I've had times out wine tasting where I bought presumably my favorite wine only to get home and open it awhile later and ask myself, "Why the heck did I buy this?"   Usually these turn out to be the big, fruit-forward, higher alcohol wines that I chose from a group of wines but then didn't like later.   I'm guessing these show well in wine judgings, too.   Interesting.