You might think that Sacramento Bee's veteran wine journalist and feature writer Mike Dunne's new book is about wines. But, as with every wine, that is only half the story. What makes the new volume so invaluable is that wine is only where the stories start. And they're greeeeaaaaaat stories.
Dunne has traveled over hill and dale for decades covering the Sierra Foothills, the Lodi region, and the Delta. This is his love letter to the myriad of Zinfandel producers, Barbera geeks, and people crazy enough to make unknown Portuguese varieties like Arinto who found their destiny in the Sierra Foothills. (And some in Lodi).
It was often cheaper land prices that made it possible for many to take up wine growing along the highways and byways of everywhere from Amador to a vineyard called Zinstar. While production grape growing reigns in Lodi, artisanal wineries also have a foothold. In the Sierra Foothills, more boutique wineries have flourished and quality has gone up. New growers are now moving up–Matt and Audra Naumann of Newfound wines have a vineyard up here and legends like Tegan Passalaqua (Turley, Sandlands) just bought land in Volcano (at 1,000 feet higher than Anne Kraemer's renowned Shake Ridge Ranch).
To prepare for the Slow Wine masterclasses happening this upcoming weekend (May 18-19), I suggested that we at Slow Wine focus on the heroes and heroines of these regions, as our event takes place in Sacramento. (To be clear, we focus only on wines grown without synthetic herbicides, including Roundup, which do not promote soil health).
I first visited Plymouth and then Sutter Creek for the Behind the Cellar Door event in Amador County and was amazed. (I had been to the region before but years had passed). Here was a place where wine tasting was still FUN again...tasting fees were $15 and you didn't need a reservation. You were plied with delicious snacks. And there were even wines under $30. (Not many, but...) And a lot of the wines were really, really good.
Imagine that.
I loved some of the wines. I mean, Turley's Buck Cobb, Terre Rouge's Garrigue, and Easton's Campo Granito (a beautiful red made from warmer climate friendly Touriga Nacional and Souzão) and $30 Zinfandels.
I like, so many, had overlooked this region. Partly because of geography- it's a two hour drive. But partly it was because I was in search of the organic folks–as in certified–and there weren't many here.
Sure there were a few who came in and out of that tent–Terre Rouge (which keeps farming organically but is no longer certified) and Sobon Cellars (no longer farming organically), for instance–but lo and behold, there were SOME who stayed certified organic–which means I can write about them on this blog.
(I have been burned too many times by people who told me they were organic but whose pesticide use report told a different story. Alas. But writing for Slow Wine Guide has allowed me to taste and get to know hundreds of people who are farming organically but who are not certified. I write about many of those wines in Slow Wine Guide, not here.)
Though the certified organic folks are few and far between in these parts, they are there. And all have a place in Dunne's book. Which is yet another reason to recommend the book.
Here are certified organic vineyards in the region:
SIERRA FOOTHILLS
---Calaveras County
• Lavender Ridge Vineyard's Sierra Foothills Grenache (page 189)
Lavender Ridge Vineyard in Murphys in Calaveras County has been an organic stalwart since 2005. (They also have, smartly, a delicious cheese shop in town.)
"Has firmly established...[itself] as one of the emissaries of wines inspired by the grapes and traditions of the Rhone Valley..." writes Dunne, who says owner Rich Gilpin of Lavender Ridge calls Grenache "the Pinot Noir of the foothills."
---Amador County
Turley Wine Cellars has its estate owned vineyards in the region and has been a leader in organic farming of old vines, certified since, wait for it, 1994. (Were you even born then?) But those are in other regions, not in Sierra Foothills.
LODI
In Lodi land, Bokisch has been the major star, though Vino Farms leader Craig Ledbetter–his company farms 17,000 acres of wine grapes in California–is getting bullish on the growing market he's finding for certified organic grapes. (See my two part interview with him on WineBusiness.com here.) He's on the verge of certifying 600+ acres organic.)
Ledbetter said, “We're doing organic because I see an opportunity, and the writing on the wall is there… I've started working with enough wineries now where I see there is opportunity there."
Currently he's selling grapes to Avivo, a new regenerative ag wine brand (currently certified biodynamic by Demeter, but shifting to a new regenerative certification under A Greener World) and organic stalwart Bonterra. (You can't buy Avivo in California at a store yet, but you can buy it on wine.com)
Bokisch Vineyards, and now Avivo, thanks to Craig Ledbetter, are the biggest volume organic producers in these parts. Both make more than 5,000 cases from certified organic vines.
• Bokisch Vineyards Lodi Clement Hills Terra Alta Garnacha (page 241)
"In 2020, the Bokisch 2017 Garnacha won a gold medal in the International Grenaches du Monde Competition, which attracted a record 869 entries from 832 wineries in six countries," writes Dunne of Markus and Liz Bokisch's signature grape. (They were also the first to bottle the blending grape Graciano as I wrote about while back here.) You will want to know the rest of their story.
• The Lucas Winery's Lodi Zinstar Zinfandel (page 263)
We read in Dunne's book how Davis Lucas' skill as a surfer made him the man to keep these 1933 (the year Prohibition ended) vines in the ground and into wine. (Surfers will appreciate the surfboards on display in their Lodi tasting room). Heather Pyle-Lucas is the winemaker. The two met working at Robert Mondavi winery in Napa. They farm the old vines meticulously.
"So confident are they of ZinStar's ability to age gracefully, they conduct 40-year retrospective tastings of the wine," Dunne writes.
The Lucas Winery has been preserving its precious three acres of certified organic, old vine Zinfandel, lanted in 1930s, for decades. Its Zinstar Zinfandel wine comes from its Zinstar vineyard, which is listed on the Historic Vineyard Society's registry.
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Of course, you don't have to love organically grown wines to enjoy Mike's superlative book, but ALL OF THE WINERIES I JUST MENTIONED ARE IN IT.
REDISCOVERING THE JOYS OF WINE TASTING IN WINE COUNTRY
More broadly, the book and Mike's knowledge and experience is an invitation to rediscover the forgotten joys of aimlessly driving around the countryside and popping in without a reservation and being able to afford an affordable tasting fee and being able to actually BUY wine or find a winery whose club you WANT to belong to...(no high pressure in these parts). The book makes a great present, too.
PLUS you will learn about the other great uncertified organic growers and vintners in the region, like Terre Rouge (a Wine and Spirits Top 100 producer three times!) and Steve Edmunds of Edmunds St. John, the Berkeley guy who the makers of the famed Kermit Lynch loved Domaine Tempier said made wine that speaks of the earth. (Steve Edmunds will be given the Rhone Rangers' Lifetime Achievement award in June). And many more. It's easy to read, too, and you won't feel like it's "Educational." It's just fun to read...packed with digestible info and stories.
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And on to...TERRA MADRE OF THE AMERICAS - THE GRAND TASTING
There is a connection between Mike's book and the upcoming Terra Madre of the Americas in Sacramento, which will feature a Grand Tasting ($75) on Sunday from noon to 5 pm with more than 40 wineries including U.S. and Latin American producers.
A number of the wineries at the Grand Tasting are from the Lodi and the Sierra Foothills and are mentioned in Dunne's book.
International wineries: Bodega Cerro Chapeu (Uruguay), NAKKAL WINES (Uruguay), Jardín Oculto (Bolivia), Descendientes de Viticultores de Montaña (Argentina), Finca las Glicinas (Argentina), Antropo Wines (Argentina), Ritmo Lunar (Argentina), Vinos 1750 (Bolivia), Bodegas Krontiras (Argentina), Bodega Santos Brujos (Mexico), Viña la reserva de Caliboro (Chile), Pepe Moquillaza Wines (Peru)
California wineries (bolded wineries are local or buy local grapes; italics are wineries in Mike's book): Andis Wines, Casino Mine Ranch, Cary Q Wines, Cormorant Cellars, LLC, Cruess Wine, Donum Estate, Donkey & Goat Winery, The End of Nowhere, Ettore Wines, Frey Vineyards, La Clarine Farm, Madroña Vineyards, Matthiasson Family Vineyards, Ram's Gate Winery, Terah Wine Co.
Oregon wineries: Upper Five Vineyard
[Monday there will also be a special tasting for trade, too.]
SIERRA FOOTHILLS AND LODI SLOW WINE MASTERCLASSES
My research trips fueled the pipeline for three masterclasses that Slow Wine Co-Editor Deborah Parker Wong and I (the other co-editor) will offer May 18-19 in Sacramento at Terra Madre of the Americas. Each masterclass is $50.
We will be featuring some very special beauties, including a few wines where we'll be pouring the final vintages.
Saturday May 18, 1-2 pm
Affordable Wines (under $30)
Featured wineries: Andis, Avivo, Cary Q, Donkey and Goat, Terah Wine Co., and Yorba
Sunday, May 19, 1-2 pm
Slow Wine Goes Local - The Wines of Superior California
Sunday, May 19, 3-4 pm | Growing Great Grapes: The Wines of Shake Ridge Ranch with Anne Kraemer and a special panel of winemakers
This is a one of a kind tasting featuring wines made from a renowned site and viticulturalist.
Confirmed panelists: Anne Kraemer (Yorba Wines and Shake Ridge Ranch), Angela Osborne (A Tribute to Grace), Helen Keplinger (Keplinger Wines), Matt and Audra Naumann (Newfound Wines), Cary Quintana (Cary Q), and Gustavo Sotelo (Orixe Sotelo).
THE BOOK: GET SLOW WINE GUIDE USA 2024 ON SALE
You might also want to get a copy of Slow Wine Guide USA which features 15 estate wineries and 26 wineries that make wines appellated to the region. Get your copy here and support Slow Wine's values of "good, clean, fair." And go local.
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