2018 - On The Wine Road

The Passion Expressed Within the Wine Industry

As we approach the end of another year, now my 6th On The Wine Road, I’d like to reach back to share a version of this previous post. It’s been an extreme pleasure to meet many fascinating personalities in the wine business. This recording highlights those who have expressed their passion about the wine industry. The winery owners, winemakers and growers I have chosen speak eloquently, philosophically, poetically, and often spiritually about wine and vineyards. I’m confident that if you listen it will make the wine you love taste even better. Cheers!

Guests include Greg LaFollette of Alquimista Cellars, Julie Johnson of Tres Sabores, Ulysses Van der Kamp of Van der Kamp Vineyards, Mark Topel of Topel Wines, Jean-Charles Boisset of Boisset Family Estates, the late George Macleod of MacLeod Family Vineyard (who we lost earlier this year), Delia & Janet Viader of Viader Vineyards and Winery, Gary Breen of Campovida, and Randy Ullom of Kendall-Jackson/Jackson Family Wines.

Click image for larger view

Wine Uncorked

The First Vineyards in Early America

In early America the indigenous grapes on the east coast didn’t make good wine. As a result, the early colonists imported European vitis vinifera vines, like Cabernet Sauvignon. They were so determined to make wine a 1619 Virginia law required every male in Jamestown to plant and tend at least 10 vines. However, the lack of experience, new vine diseases, and that troublesome Phylloxera pest led to the experiment ending in failure. Interest in winemaking faded and cider, beer and whiskey became a favorite.

But, alas, the first wine appeared in California less than a hundred years later. Roman Catholic priest, now a Saint, Junípero Serra and his padres brought wine and the vines to San Diego California in 1769. The grape brought is known to us as the Mission Grape. It is a varietal of the desired vitis vinifera that the colonists found to be a challenge to grow. Spanish Missionaries used the grapes for making sacramental, table, and fortified wines. It was the only grape grown in California until the 1830s when European settlers in Los Angeles added some classic European varietals to their vineyards.

Saint Junipero Serra

The Creator of Cult Wine, Michael Browne – CIRQ

On this podcast you’ll hear my intimate conversation with winemaker and iconic wine producer, Michael Browne.

He gained fame with the highly respected Kosta Browne over the last 20 years. He has since moved on to a his own project Cirq. In this interview you’ll really get to know Michael, what drives him, why he loves Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley, and hear about past experiences that inspire his winemaking and fearless pursuit of his passions.

And what’s up with those early 20th Century wine labels? He’ll explain…

Events, Home Image

Harvest Challenge Wine Competition interviews

In an effort to take you behind the scenes at a wine judging competition I recorded a couple of interviews with fellow judges. This is from the recent 2018 Harvest Challenge wine competition that took place on November 13 & 14th in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA. It was an international competition that featured about 900 wines. Click the play button to hear the interviews, click the Best Of Awards link to see the winners. It’s quite a list!

Congratulations to all who pick up awards!

Harvest Challenge Best Of Awards

Wine Uncorked

The History of Madeira Wine in the U.S.

Madeira Wine, which hails from a Portuguese island off the African coast, has a rich history here in the United States.

When it came time to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, this is the wine that filled the Founding Fathers’ glasses, and it is believed that George Washington celebrated the British leaving New York City with the fortified wine.

Workers at the Liberty Hall Museum in New Jersey recently discovered three cases of the stuff dating from 1796 — too young to be the wine that Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams raised for their toast, but old enough that they might have sipped it a few years later.

There was a time you could find it prominently displayed on the top shelf of any reputable drinks shop, it was that popular. That’s not the case anymore. Aside from the competition of Port and the growing dessert wine category, the other reason is there’s not a lot of Madeira wine produced. Vineyard land is not plentiful on Madeira, about 500 hectares in total cling to the steep mountainsides, astonishingly just enough to provide raw material to eight producers. To me, that makes it a very good reason to have some on hand to raise your guest’s eyebrows. But don’t let its reputation for sweetness steer you wrong. Drier Madeira, like a sherry, is pretty versatile and might surprise you.

Napa Valley, Wineries

A Wine Industry Icon: Warren Winiarski

Sometimes good things come in twos. It took over two years for me to nail down this interview with Warren Winiarski, I recorded over two hours of audio, and it took two visits to do so. Yet every minute I spent with him was a pleasure. You may be aware that Warren was the founder of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and it was his Cabernet Sauvignon that outscored the French Bordeaux wines in the famed Paris tasting of 1976. But that was early on. He has accomplished so much in his 90 years and, remarkably, continues to do so. He semi-retired in 2007 but is still involved with grape growing at his Napa Valley Arcadia Vineyard. He continues to learn yet his depth of knowledge is astounding, and the way he looks at life and winemaking is fascinating. Warren is engaging, charming, and kind of like a great uncle you rarely see but when you do you just want to give him a big hug…and drink his wine.

Author’s note: Here are the other California wines that made the final list based on an average of the judge’s scores in the Paris tasting, also known as The Judgement of Paris.

Red Category: Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello (5th), Heitz Wine Cellars Martha’s Vineyard (7th), Clos Du Val Winery (8th), Mayacamas Vineyards (9th), and Freemark Abby (10th).

White Category: Chateau Montelena (1st), Chalone Vineyard (3rd), Spring Mountain Vineyard (4th), Freemark Abby (6th), Veedercrest Vineyards (9th), David Bruce Winery (10th).

A exceptional accomplishment to those who were entered!

Warren’s Arcadia Vineyards was hit hard by the Atlas Fire a year ago October. He lost a barn, the tractor trailer with all of the equipment, and three homes.

The 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

The Arcadia Vineyard. You can still see the remnants of the Atlas Fire’s damage on the hillsides. The grass has grown back but a number of burned trees are evident.

Events

Wines for Halloween y Dia de los Muertos

Here are wines that will draw attention at any Halloween party.

Wines for Halloween that need to be ordered:

New to this year’s list is one of two that will also be well received at a Dia de los Muertos party. “Vinos de los Muertos”, or Wine of the Dead, is a red blend dessert wine (a perfect pairing for your haul of Halloween candy), and hails from St. Clair Vineyard in New Mexico.

Next to it is a wine from Bulgaria, which of course, features the region of Transylvania. It’s appropriately called “The Legend of Transylvania V Pinot Noir.” Although, I don’t know which is more scary, the title or the $3.99 price. Both of these wines can be purchased through Wine Searcher. Click on the bottles to be taken to the page. You may be able to have them shipped to receive by Halloween.

The more accessible Wines for Halloween:

Truett Hurst’s “Bewitched” comes in a nicely designed paper wrapped bottle. You can find it at some Safeway stores or from their tasting room in Dry Creek Valley, Healdsburg. Louis M. Martini’s “Ghost Pines” has Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot varietals and sells for Around $17. Bogle offers “Phantom” which sells for about $18. There’s Charles Smith’s “The Velvet Devil” Merlot, priced at about $11. The most unique is Concha y Toro’s “Casillero Del Diablo” (Cellar of the Devil). It offers a great list of varietals from Chile, yet sells as low as $11. Seven Deadly Zins is the easiest to find but not very special as it’s available anywhere wine is sold.

You’ll be the hit of the Halloween or Dia de los Muertos party with one of these in your hand.

Wine that has Vanished like a Phantom:

The bottle below is one of my favorite labels for this time of year, “Todos Santos,” meaning All Saints. It was a small production wine from Tank Garage Winery in Calistoga, Napa Valley. Sadly, this 2015 Barbera, Mourvedre blend is no longer available. Sorry for the tease but you have to admit, it’s a pretty cool looking label.

Wineries

Lisa Strid of Arizona’s Aridus Wine Company

Over the years I have featured wineries in the burgeoning regions of Arizona, primarily southern Arizona, my former stomping ground. On this podcast you’ll meet Lisa Strid of Aridus Wine Company of Willcox, east of Tucson. They also have a tasting room in Scottsdale in the Phoenix area.

Interestingly, Lisa presented a seminar at the Napa Valley Wine Institute before I met up with her in Arizona. That provided a great opportunity to try a few of their wines before our scheduled interview in Tucson. As you’ll hear, I think they’re a standout in the Arizona wine industry.

To see the winery and their unique variety of wines click here.

Lisa at the Napa Valley Wine Academy

The Aridus Wine Co. tasting room in Willcox

The Aridus Wine Co. tasting room in Scottsdale

Events

Top 100 Wines of the World

On this podcast I chat with principles from 5 wineries who have been chosen to attend Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Top 100 Tasting Event in San Francisco on October 9th.

I’ve had the extreme pleasure of tasting (some of) the top wines of the world the past 3 years. It’s a spectacular evening that includes some of San Francisco’s top restaurants.

The recordings you’ll hear are from past interviews with Jason Drew of Drew Family Wines, Jared Brandt of Donkey & Goat, Cathy Corison of Corison Winery, Eric Sussman of Radio-Coteau, and Jean-Charles Boisset of Raymond Vineyards. No doubt they are proud to have been chosen as the producer of one of the top 100 wines of the world.

Additionally, publisher and senior editor Joshua Green explains the lengthy process of the picking the top 100 wines. Astonishingly, approximately 15,000 wines are tasted!

Below the player you’ll see a teaser from Wine & Spirits about some of the attendees, including local restaurateurs Sondra Bernstein and chef John Toulze from The Girl and the Fig. It’ll be great to see them there this year.

If you can’t make it to the event, pick up Wine & Spirits special Winter issue being released next week, or peruse the Top 100 list online.

Taste with Napa luminaries Cathy Corison, Steve & Jill Matthiasson and Diamond Creek‘s Boots Brounstein.

Louis-Michel Liger-Belair will be pouring his new Willamette wines from Rose & Arrow. And Larry Stone, MS, will share his Lingua Franca Pinots.

Raúl Pérez is bringing his Bierzo and Galicia wines. And Valter Fissore is flying in with his Elvio Cogno Barolo.

Paris Sigalas will offer his single-vineyard assyrtikos from Santorini to match Island Creek Oysters.

And, for the first time, we’re featuring Sondra Bernstein and chef John Toulze from The Girl & The Fig at the Top 100!

Napa Valley, Wineries

ZD Wines Celebrates 50 Years

A couple of weeks ago I had the honor of being invited to attended a grand affair at the Culinary Institute of America at Copia in Napa. About 700 people were in attendance, culinary fare was being served, several musicians performed and all for the purpose of celebrating ZD Wines’ 50th Anniversary.

The Rutherford AVA Napa Valley winery has been building something special for quite some time. They also make one of the most unusual wine blends I’ve heard of in the U.S. Abacus is pricey but because of the decades it takes to craft that unique blend you could argue that it’s worth it.

Just a few days before the celebration I had the chance to sit down with winemaker Brandon deLeuze so you and I could hear more about ZD Wines. Click the player below for the interview.

Follow up: I felt this was noteworthy – since this post went out Brandon was promoted from Assistant Winemaker to Winemaker, and Winemaker Chris Pisani has been promoted to Senior Winemaker. Robert deLeuze, CEO and Director of Winemaking said, “Chris and Brandon are exceptionally dedicated to producing the highest caliber wines. We appreciate their effort in advancing our commitment to quality and are honored to have them on our team.”

Congratulations to both of them from On The Wine Road.

The sun set as the Bash continued.

This 1994 Merlot was one of many library wines offered that evening. What a nice gift for ZD to share.

It took a one-of-a-kind barrel rack to hold the one-of-a-kind Abacus wine.

Events

Zinfandel: Stories from Napa

This Saturday join me and other fans of Zinfandel for an exquisite afternoon takes place at the ultimate Napa Valley destination for experiencing the world of food, wine, art, and community – the CIA at Copia on Napa’s revitalized First Street. The seated seminar is sold out but you can still enjoy the walk-around tasting of over 20 wineries pouring Napa Valley Zinfandels with paired bites from the talented CIA chefs. Hope to see you there.

For details and tickets click the link below.

Wine Uncorked

America’s First Designated Wine Region

If you listen to my radio show or podcasts you’ve heard me mention wine regions as AVAs. American Viticultural Areas are federally designated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (the TTB).

Would you believe the first official wine region designated as an AVA was in Missouri? Yep, on June 20th, 1980. The Augusta AVA encompasses 15 square miles around the city of Augusta near the intersection of St. Charles County, Warren County and Franklin County. I find this of particular interest as I grew up outside of St. Louis, about 45 minutes from Augusta.

What prompted that decision?

In 1859, Georg and Friedrich Muench founded one of the earliest wineries in the area, M ount Pleasant Winery. Flooding in the Missouri River valley caused the river to change course in 1872, drying up the area’s riverboat landing leaving behind a distinct soil type between the town and the river. You guessed it, that made for ideal conditions to grow grapes for wine.

You may be surprised to hear that Missouri also had some of the earliest winemaking successes, dating back to 1837. By 1848 winemakers there produced 10,000 US gallons per year, expanding to 100,000 US gallons per year by 1856.

In case you’re wondering, Napa Valley received the second AVA distinction just eight months later.

Events

September is California Wine Month

On today’s podcast Nancy Light, the Vice President of Communications at the Wine Institute rings me up to discuss the fact that September is California Wine Month. There are over 70 events occurring throughout the state. We touch upon many in the Sonoma, Napa regions as well as a few in other appellations. You just might be inspired to plan a trip around one of the events. I’m parking the car and picking up the phone for this On The Wine Road Podcast.

For a list of events visit DiscoverCaliforniaWines.com

Nancy Light of the Wine Institute

Russian River Valley, Wineries

The Backyard Conversation About La Pitchoune Winery

In preparation for this year’s Taste of Sonoma event I spoke with Tracy Nielsen of La Pitchoune Winery. Part of the interview was about Taste, but the remainder concerned her winery and their unanticipated success.

As you’ll see below by the artistic photo from their blog post they picked up a Best of Class Award at the 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. 7000 wineries entered the contest! A six year old winery just isn’t expected to take the top prize in their category. Hear how Tracy struggled to get into the business, met her winemaker at a party, and at the behest of her husband (and chief strategist) decided to start their own winery. Their motto? Nothing is impossible.

Find their website here.

Peter Joachim Nielsen, Tracy Nielsen, Andrew Berge

Distilled Liquor, Russian River Valley

On The Road to Spirit Works Distillery

This week I’m traveling off the wine road and on to the spirit trail. Spirit Works Distillery has been on my radar for quite some time. I’ve heard nothing but good things about what they craft and witnessed them win an award one evening. It’s an interesting story how Timo and Ashby Marshall came together under extraordinary circumstances and ended up where they are today. That is, creating finely crafted variations of gin, vodka, whiskey, even sloe gin in a sustainably conscious manner with their grain to glass philosophy. I’m impressed with what doing…I even like their gin! (That hasn’t happened since that one night in high school). Learn so much more by clicking the play button.

Ashby and Timo

Lauren Patz, Head Distiller

The line up

The CARL distillery system

Events

Russian River Valley Winegrowers’ Paulée Event

This over-the-top Paulée event brings winemakers and collectors together to enjoy an elegant multi-course meal paired with wines from winemakers and guests’ personal cellars, including special, limited and rare vintages. The date is Friday, August 31st at Sonoma-Cutrer. This Annual Paulée features over 30 Premier Russian River Valley Wineries pouring world class Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc.

Click below for my conversation with Sonoma-Cutrer’s Director of Winemaking Mick Schroeter, and Winery Chef Kevin Markey. For tickets visit Russian River Valley Winegrowers. We hope to see you there. Cheers!

Kevin Markey

Mick Schroeder

Tables from last year’s event at Hop Kiln Winery

A happy crowd with plenty of well crafted wine and food

Wineries

Italy’s Largest Wine Producer, Zonin1821

You know, some of the world’s most respected wines are made right here in Northern California. However, I do like to branch out and learn about wineries across the country…and the world. I thought you might be interested as well. In this podcast I’m reaching across the globe to talk with Brand Marketing and Communications Manager, Jelena Meisel of Italy’s Zonin1821. They’re a nearly two centuries old vine growing and winemaking company, the largest private and family wine producer. Their web address in the states is ZoninUSA .com, and Zonin1821.it is the Italian website. The number “1821” signifies the year the company was formed. Jelena joined me on the phone to fill us in about the family and brands. Someday I hope to see a few of the properties in person. If you get a chance, visit the website to see them. Bellissima!

Jelena Meisel

Francesco Zonin, Domenico Zonin, Michele Zonin

Map of Zonin1821 properties – click to enlarge

Wine Uncorked

The Origin of the Name “Merlot”

Most of the world’s well-known wine varietals derive their name from the location where they were discovered or made famous. Not Merlot.

The name traces its meaning to a word of the dialect of Occitan called Gascon. This relatively obscure Romance language is closely related to Catalan and still spoken in a few regions of France. The Gascon word merlau refers to a ‘little blackbird.’ Whether this refers to the color of the Merlot grape or its popularity while on the vine with small birds is an open question. Be sure to bring that up the next time your sharing a bottle with friends.

Dry Creek Valley, Wineries

The Winemaker, the Grower and a 100 Point Score

I’ve known these guys at Kokomo Winery over five years now. Winemaker Erik Miller was on my first show back in October of 2013. Winegrape grower Randy Peters was kind enough to by my guest every other month a couple years ago when I presented a feature called From Bud to Bottle. And as you’ll hear, my wife and I belong to their wine club.

When I heard they achieved a perfect 100 point score in the North Coast Wine Challenge, I was thrilled for them. Like a friend would be. Sure, it’s not quite the same as receiving 100 points from some international wine critic but when you consider the wineries entering are from six of the most respected wine regions in California, well that’s sayin’ something.

By the way, I knew that wine was special the first time I tasted it, before the award. I remember the moment. It’s sublime. A true representation of the nectar of the gods. Here’s your chance to find out how they did it.

Randy Peters (left), Erik Miller (right)

The winning 2016 Pinot Noir

The Kokomo Winery Tasting Room at Timbercrest Farms, Dry Creek Valley, Healdsburg, CA

Wineries

The Story of Rombauer Vineyards

I’ll bet a bottle of wine you haven’t heard a story about a successful pilot deciding after retirement to move his family to a rural area to raise his family who, without expectation or a plan, became a wine baron. This podcast is the story of Rombauer Vineyards.

In 1972, Napa Valley was a quieter agricultural area but just a few years later the region was thrust upon the world stage…and it’s been growing ever since. And like many, the wine bug bite the former pilot, Koerner Rombauer. On today’s podcast I talk with his son, K.R., and winemaker Richie Allen about their great success. You’ll also learn of a surprising development that occurred just a week following the interview. I’ll leave it at that.

And if you have heard a story about a former pilot who became a wine baron, reach out to me for your bottle of wine.

For more details on the winery click here.

K.R. Rombauer, upper left – Richie Allen, upper right

K.R. Rombauer and daughter Sheana