Fascinating.
"Avalon added that conventional wine, particularly in the US, is “often high in alcohol, sugar, additives and pesticides,” which could impact the health elements.
Instead, Avalon cautioned that consumers should search for organic and biodynamic wines that “do not have these compounds”."
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| Somm and wine raconteur extraordinaire Chris Sawyer moderated several panels of vintners making Italian varieties in California |
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| I have to say the Nocciola (hazelnut) was my favorite. |
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| DaVero owner Ridgely Evers spoke about the value of matching Mediterranean varieties to our Mediterranean climate. |
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| Preston also makes a Barbera Reserve (only 50 cases) which is available at the winery. |
King Estate is getting bigger with 2022 the purchase of the 70 acre Pfeiffer vineyard, 30 miles north of the southern Willamette Valley estate.
(Although Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was a key person in the biodynamic movement, the name of the vineyard is purely coincidental.)
A press release from the winery states:
“Pfeiffer was our first contracted vineyard in 1992. Planted in Bellpine and Dupee soils rich in silty clay and silt loam, the vineyard’s 28 acres of pinot gris and 42 acres of pinot noir sit on a southward-facing slope and are privileged to enjoy long sun exposure during the summer months. Pfeiffer is considered a warm site for Oregon. The vineyard was planted by the Pfeiffer family in the early 1980s.”
The winery is going through the three year process of becoming biodynamic certified, which means adding tons and tons and tons of biodynamic compost, among other things. They could be certified as soon as the 2025 harvest.
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For more on the story visit our new substack newsletter on biodynamic vines and wines.
"Excited to announce that we’ve expanded our vineyard estate into a contiguous 27 acre vineyard from our friends at @calizawinery. Like our original estate, this vineyard is predominantly planted to Rhône varieties, including Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Viognier."“We know this site well, having shared a fenceline with it for so many years. We’re excited for that fence to come down and to bring this incredible vineyard into the Booker fold with the blessing from our friends at Caliza.”
The former Caliza vineyard has been farmed with organic methods for more than four years and @hilarysgraves now aims to raise the bar and achieve the same certifications for this expansion that Booker has already attained at our original estate: CCOF and Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™)
CONGRATS.
P.S. Look for an in-depth article on boxed wine coming in the October issue of Wine Business Monthly (the print magazine) and a shorter article online and in print at Grape and Wine in the August issue.
USA Today has published a list of the 10 Best Winery Tours, just in time for planning your next trip to wine country. While organic grapes are only maybe four percent of overall wine production in fine wine in the U.S., four of these wineries made the list.
1 Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery (Hammondsport, New York)
2 Davis Estates (Calistoga, California)
3 Eberle Winery (Paso Robles, California)
4 Robert Hall Winery (Paso Robles, California)
A Central Coast winery focused on regenerative wine grape growing (though it buys half of its grapes from local growers).
5 Ken Wright Cellars (Carlton, Oregon)
6 Inglenook (Rutherford, California)
One of the most historic wineries in Napa and a very upscale producer today, it was lovingly restored by Francis Ford Coppola (with a bit of personally expressive flair). Has a great museum. 100 percent estate grown.
7 Benziger Family Winery (Glen Ellen, California)
Created by a family and now owned by a corporation. Visitors can take a biodynamic estate tram tour through the vines. Seven percent of its wines (i.e. all of its estate wines) are from organic and biodynamic vines.
8 Buena Vista Winery (Sonoma, California)
9 Cline Family Cellars (Sonoma, California) (practicing organic)
10 Neal Family Vineyards (Angwin, California)
One of the original OG's of organics in Napa, owner Mark Neal has been a leader in Napa for decades for organic wine grapes and makes affordably priced (for Napa) wines from two estates–one in Rutherford on the valley floor and one on Howell Mountain. 100 percent estate grown.
Slow Wine Guide USA
For more details on these and other eco-friendly wineries, consider buying the Slow Wine Guide here. It lists 400 wineries in the U.S. that farm responsibly and make great wines.
It’s a sad day when you look at your Facebook page and see that the female founder of a prestigious biodynamic winery–and someone you’ve met and written about–has died.
Here’s what the winery’s Facebook page posted:
“It is with a heavy heart and a sense of peace that we say farewell to our beloved JoAnn after a 5 year battle with colorectal cancer. She was a beacon of joy, a creative force, an icon of style, devoted friend, mother, and partner. To know JoAnn was to know someone who always went out of their way to make you feel better. Though her loss has shaken our world, we are comforted by endless memories of her smile, her laughter, and her irreplaceable warmth.
A celebration of life honoring JoAnn will be held on August 24, 2024 from 10:00am-2:00pm at the MAHA Estate.
In lieu of flowers or other gifts, please consider a donation to MUST! Charities in JoAnn’s name.
To RSVP to the event or to make a donation, please see the links below. Kindly RSVP by August 17th.
JoAnn and her husband Cris were always among the “cool kids” in Paso, first with their restaurant Villa Creek, which every renowned wine critic who hit town raved about.
By 2001, they started their Villa Creek winery, originally buying grapes and making 300 cases of wine to serve as the house wine at their restaurant.
After their 2001 vintage won 93 points from the Wine Spectator, they decided to expand production and sell wine, building a winery in 2003. The couple purchased a 60 acre property where they planted 14 acres to vines—including the classic Rhone varieties (Grenache, Mourvedre, and Clairette Blanche) along with Carignane and Petite Sirah. The couple also planted 25 olive trees, which they made olive oil from, and 30 sheep, who mowed the vines in the spring
Biodynamic consultant Philippe Coderey initially helped the Cherry's adopt and integrate biodynamic practices.
Their biodynamic vineyard case production grew from 400 to 750 by 2024.
In recent years, rave wine reviews from top voices have lavished praise on the limited production wines, receiving some of the highest scores in the Paso region. While their first wines were pretty big and extracted, they became more nuanced and complex over time. Today, even at prices of $100 a bottle, they sell out.
They were also among the few to label wines organic and biodynamic on the bottle.
Certified
MAHA Estate
• Vineyard, organic, 2015-2018 (Stellar Certification Services), 2018-present (CCOF); biodynamic, 2015-present, Demeter USA
• Winery certified, organic and biodynamic, 2022
ESTATE WINES | MAHA ESTATE
Adelaida District AVA
WHITE
• Clairette Blanche-Before Anyone Else
RED
• Red Rhone Blend-Understory
• Red Rhone Blend–Backlit
MORE
The Wine Independent shared a 2023 piece about MAHA and Cris and Joann. Read it here.
MEMORIAL
The most beautiful farm and vineyard I have ever seen.
Catch the good vibes at this (never open to the public) farm and winery in beautiful Anderson Valley this summer. Includes a farm tour. It's sure to be a very memorable event.
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| Photo from Steve Edmunds Lifetime Achievement Award event From left to right: Patrick Comiskey, Randall Grahm* (second from the left), Bob Lindquist*, Bill Easton*, Steve Edmunds*, Adam Tolmach, John Buechsenstein, and Frederic Cline* * indicates Lifetime Achievement Award winner |
1. Three of the Rhone Rangers lifetime achievement award winning winemakers sold wine in retail shops before becoming winemakers. Who were they?
2. True or False: The “Estrella” clone brought to Paso Robles by Gary Eberle was from a French vineyard and was “imported” illegally by two U.C. Davis professors whose identities were not revealed until after their deaths.
3. Not one but two wine retailers in California helped the first Rhone winemakers from the US "discover" Rhones. Who were they?
4. How many years did it take to get the first Vaccarese vine imported into California?
5. How much Syrah is planted in Washington compared to California?
Answers - click here.
(Note: All of the winemakers featured use organically grown grapes or have certified organic vineyards.)
I've attended this fabulous conference sponsored by OIV and held in Avignon twice, and have been ecstatic about the information presented. So it's with great pleasure that I am here to inform you you can see videos of the presentations with ENGLISH SUBTITLES...
While you may enjoy all of the videos, if you are pressed for time, I would recommend two to start with:
1. Winegrowing landscapes - from before to after oil
2. Bio-indicator plants - wild flora revealing the health of the soil, the vine and biodiversity
The language barrier is overcome by the subtitles and the feeling that you are getting a free trip to the south of France. The French point of view on the topic of vineyards and biodiversity is one to watch.
ALSO
Here are some previous articles about the event.
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/285428
http://winecountrygeographic.blogspot.com/2022/12/french-conference-highlights-vineyards.html
Last Saturday on yet another super hot day, the Rhone Rangers tasting took place at Cline Family Cellars in Sonoma, with 31 wineries pouring... on the green, expansive lawn where big umbrellas shielded the throng of Rhone wine lovers from the 86 degree heat. Cooling fountains, large garden ponds and a low stone wall you could sit on in the shade helped attendees beat the heat. A few couches covered by shade structures made up the VIP lounge. (The choice of Saturday was a lucky one; now temperatures are forecast to be over 100.)
Only one of these wines was from Sonoma, but, as Phil Coturri likes to point out, Sonoma's Rhone presence is growing. (That is partly thanks to his efforts to promote Grenache.)
It was a lively gathering. The VIP/press preview hour was very busy, even before the doors opened for the rest of the wine lovers. As I walked from the parking lot to the event, I noticed this...(photo below) which somehow seemed emblematic of the Rhone peeps.
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| Best license plate in the parking lot |
Kermit Lynch was advocating for Rhones long ago–before the world began noticing climate change was real. Before that, it was obvious that Napa's climate was never like Bordeaux's. California's regions bore more of a resemblance to southern France than to the Medoc. as Lynch told Bob Lindquist, who was to become one of the Rhone Ranger's leading talisman.
Earlier, Darrell Corti had suggested to Gary Eberle to try drinking and planting Rhones, which later led to Eberle planting a "secret" clone from Chapoutier's Tain vineyard–in Paso, where Syrah had not been grown.
It was posh English wine writers and well organized French wine merchants who made Cabernet the thing it has become, and wineries gravitated to it because of the prices it could thenceforth command. (Think Mondavi, the Lodi Italian, upscaling Napa from heavy bearers like Zinfandel and Petite Sirah to Cabs and a joint winery with Bordeaux royalty in the form of Rothschild).
It goes without saying that Rhone wines rate today among some of the finest in the world today–based on quality. And California winemakers would not mind becoming a Chave or a Beaucastel, despite the geological and climatic differences. I know at least one steep, granitic site in Carmel Valley striving to become the next iteration of Condrieu, and I'm rooting for them.
Of course, Rhones find their own expressions in California, not imitating their French forbearers, but leading to something new. That movement codified itself in 1985 when the pioneers started the Rhone Rangers. More than 35 years later, they persist.
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| Steve Edmunds of Edmunds St. John (left) who received his lifetime achievement award from the Rhone Rangers Friday night, with Craig Camp (right), general manager of Troon Vineyard and president of the Rhone Rangers |
THE TASTING
Here are the wines I most enjoyed at the tasting. (All are from certified organic grapes.)
A friend told me about this wine beforehand, so I made a point to taste it first. This Mourvèdre was blended with 25 percent Grenache.
I love a well made Mourvedre. And this one was quite unique. I'll take it.
A trip to Bandol to Domaine de la Begude in 2022 opened my eyes to the variety (since so little is grown in California). Bandol is Mourvedre country. The grape is also famously the backbone of Bandol Rouge from Domaine Tempier, made famous by Kermit Lynch, the Berkeley importer, and Alice Waters.
Further north in Chateauneuf du Pape, the Perrin family, owners of Beaucastel (as well as part owners of Tablas Creek), base their red wines on it, instead of Grenache (the latter being what most of the other wineries in Chateauneuf du Pape focus on) as long as the Mourvedre harvest is good. It's not the easiest grape to ripen as it takes its time in the fall.
When Tablas Creek was looking for a site to buy in California, the Perrin family's requirement was a place that had a long enough growing season to produce high quality, ripened Mourvèdre.
There are so few people who make Mourvèdre here that to find an amphora aged one is really rare. This one did not disappoint. It displayed the lighter side of the grape, from the amphora, which also makes extraction unique.
"The lees stay on the sides of the amphora," explained Camp to me at the tasting. It should appeal to wine lovers who prefer a lighter style of the wine's characteristic "sauvage" but it is still complex.
Note: I don't think anyone is doing more to embody the biodynamic spirit and commitment here in the U.S. than Craig Camp and the team at Troon Vineyard in southern Oregon. With Tablas Creek, they are among the first to go Regenerative Organic Certified at the Gold level, which is a high achievement. Both wineries are also certified biodynamic. (Camp is also the president of the Rhone Rangers.)
2022 Syrah, Grenache, Mataro - Ridge Vineyards ($44) Dry Creek Valley AVA
Lytton Springs has three acres of Syrah which it makes it into a variety of wines, including this blend–64% Syrah, 26% Grenache, 8% Mataro and 2% Viognier in the 2022 vintage.
It's a bit of a departure from the previous vintage which was 74% Syrah. The Syrah here was planted in the mid 90's at Lytton Springs estate west.
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| David Gates Senior VP of Vineyard Operations, Ridge Vineyards |
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| Rhone Rangers extraordinaire Bob Lindquist |
Proudly wearing his LA fan gear in the heart of northern California. Letting nothing stop his love for the Dodgers from flowing.
2022 Tablas Creek Vaccarese ($40) Adelaida District AVA
If you want to play stump the wine expert, this is the wine to give them in a blind tasting. The variety is very rarely planted and is usually a blending grape.
There are only 2/3 of an acre in the U.S. and it took Tablas Creek 12 years to get a virus free vines through the inspection process. (Three tries).
It was a lovely, lighter variety I enjoyed. Sorry, no photo. More info here.
2022 Winery Sixteen 600 / A Deux Tetes - Grenache Oakville Ranch ($105) Oakville AVA
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A Final Comment: Our National Treasures
Without exception, these are among the finest U.S. wines on the market today. And look at the prices. Not that you should be influenced by prices, but compare this to what you find in Napa. Or at the wine shop in wines from the Rhone.
Becoming a wine club member at any of the wineries should classify as a national treasure. Consider the options.
It's every winemaker's dream to buy a vineyard of their own, and now Gina and Mikey Giugni have done it. And what a vineyard–Bassi is 30 acres of vines near Avila Beach that feels like nature. The whole property is 112 acres. (You can read more about it in the SF Chronicle.)
Owned previously by Mike Sinor, a renowned local vintner, it has been well cared for and last year, under his ownership, it was farmed according to organic and biodynamic practices 9but not yet certified0.
Gina Giugni grew up in a certified biodynamic family in the Sierra Foothills–her parents' winery is Narrow Gate in the El Dorado AVA–and until this year, she farmed a five acre property she leased in nearby Edna Valley (where climatic conditions are quite different from coastal Bassi). She launched her own label Lady of the Sunshine in 2017, making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Chene, sourcing only from certified organic or biodynamic vineyards.
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| Gina with biodynamic compost |
I visited with Gina last August for Slow Wine Guide, touring the Chene vineyard (certified biodynamic) and tasting with her at the winery where she and Mikey (his label is called Scar of the Sea) make their wines in an industrial park in San Luis Obispo. The winery is also certified biodynamic which enables her to label some of her wines "Biodynamic Wine," a very high standard.
A "Biodynamic Wine" means the grapes are biodynamic, the wine was made in a certified biodynamic winery, and that nothing, save up 100 ppm of sulfites, can be added to the wine.
Only a few producers in the biodynamic community meet this standard.
In California, that's AmByth Estate (natural wine) in Paso, and Frey Vineyard (no added sulfites) in Mendocino as well as Narrow Gate. Lindquist Family, while still sourcing from certified biodynamic vines (at Martian in Los Alamos and from Christy & Wise just west of the Santa Rita Hills AVA) is still making wines the way it did previously but has dropped winery certification over complications from its shared facilities.
In Oregon the list includes Brick House, Brooks, and Maysara in the Willamette Valley and Cowhorn and Troon in southern Oregon. Wilridge in Washington is another.
The new Bassi vineyard owners plan to certify it organic and biodynamic, I look forward to seeing those labels on more of their wines.
It's great to see people who know what these standards mean taking it to heart. May it continue.
PS Slow Wine also awarded Lady of the Sunshine with its highest accolade–a Snail.
Between June 1, 2023 and June 1, 2024, Napa vintners certified 265 acres of vines organic.
• Larkmead certified the largest number – 116 acres – in September of 2023 – in the Calistoga AVA.
• Kelham Vineyards certified 48.5 acres on June 10, 2023 in the Oakville AVA.
• White Rock Vineyards (off the Atlas Peak road) certified 36 acres March 4, 2024.
• Baldacci Vineyards certified 25.3 acres in April of 2024.
• Corison certified 19 acres on June 12, 2023 in Rutherford and St. Helena.
• Darms Lane, April 9, 2024, 13 acres in Oak Knoll District.
• Fantesca certified 8.65 acres on Oct 11, 2023 in the Spring Mountain District.
In addition, Markham announced on Earth Day that it is certifying its 15 acre Hopper House vineyard organic.
A Special Callout to Oakville: Becoming an Organic Cluster
Kelham Vineyards is part of a growing organic cluster in Oakville. As you can see in their map above, Kelham is one piece of a jigsaw puzzle of certified organic estates.
Many of the surrounding wineries are also certified organic.
For more on Oakville's growing number of organically grown vineyards, and other organic topics in Napa, visit our new substack newsletter (!) at organicwineuncorked.substack.com. Paid substack subscribers get special content on all of Napa's organically grown wines and the wineries farming with organic certification. AND FOUNDING MEMBERS GET AN HOUR OF FREE TRIP PLANNING ADVICE.
Some posts are free; others require a nominal monthly fee.
A few people have asked me to create a feed for all the articles I write for publications (i.e. not just the blog).
So at long last, here we go! Signup for free.
https://pamstrayer.substack.com/
P.S. I will be upgrading the way to subscribe to the blog with ANOTHER substack, FYI, just for the blog posts.
Oregon's always had more than its fair share of biodynamic wineries...and that's good news. Back in 2018, the numbers looked like this: California was the leader with 1,600 acres planted, but Oregon led in the percentage of vines with 4 percent – or 1,305 acres – of Oregon’s 30,435 acres that are certified biodynamic.
Today that Oregon acreage (as well as California's) has only increased. But now you can taste across the state's varied wine regions on Saturday June 8 as 14 different Oregon wineries participate in a grand tasting event for consumers. It's a great way to taste the different regions without having to drive everywhere. There's Pinot in the Willamette and Rhone wines in the south. And outstanding Spanish varietals, too, in The Gorge.
Participating wineries pouring at The Bindery in downtown McMinnville include:
WILLAMETTE VALLEY
• Art & Science Cider and Wine
• Brick House Vineyard
• Brooks Wine
• Cooper Mountain Vineyards (the state's first biodynamic winery)
• Domaine Willamette
• Johan Vineyards
• King Estate Winery
• Montinore Estate
• Soter Vineyards
• Winderlea Vineyard & Winery
THE GORGE
• Analemma Wines (extra points because they put the Slow Wine Snail logo on their wine bottle!)
SOUTHERN OREGON
• Cowhorn Vineyard and Garden
• Troon Vineyard & Farm
• Upper Five Vineyard
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The fee is $60.
Light bites from local caterers and restaurants will be included.
If you can't attend, don't worry. All of these wineries are featured in Slow Wine USA; you can learn more about them in the 2024 guide. Click here to view an excerpt and to purchase.
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| The 2023 masterclass on Moon Mountain District |
When I first started writing about wine in 2011, I began researching certified organic estate wineries and eventually then found this guy who was a legendary rock star organic viticulturist who happened to live on Moon Mountain–Phil Coturri.
If I drove to any of the many wineries he worked on in what was then "Sonoma Valley," my little 1991 vintage Miata (collectible now!) would barely navigate poorly paved, twisty, windy, narrow roads on steep mountain hillsides. It was pothole city–and hardly a valley.
Today Moon Mountain District has a distinctive identity. Some say it's Sonoma's answer to mountain grown Cab in Napa–although the prices might be less than what Napa is able to charge (although Moon Mountain Cab prices have been rising). But that would be an uneducated, outsider perspective. It is actually its own very unique place and terroir, as you will learn if you're able to be among the lucky to attend the June 1 masterclass the AVA has planned.
AN ORGANIC HEARTLAND
Due to Phil's handiwork and guidance, the Moon Mountain District has more certified organic vineyards (by percentage) than any other Sonoma appellation, and that is something to celebrate in a county that is a bit behind the times on that score. But mostly it's just about pleasure, pure pleasure, that you can enjoy and celebrate with others on June 1.
A WORTHY CELEBRATION
Saturday, June 1, the AVA will celebrate ten years of vintages (starting with 2013) with a masterclass with Antonio Galloni and a grand tasting with 25 wineries participating. Nine have certified organic estates, one is in transition to organic certification and two others buy grapes from certified organic estates.
Here are the wineries with certified organic vines:
1. Hanzell Vineyards
2. Kamen Estate Wines
3. Korbin Kameron
4. Lasseter Family Winery
5. Liquid Sky Wines
6. Moon Hollow Estate
7. Repris Wines
8. Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards & Winery
9. Winery Sixteen 600
These wineries buy grapes from Louis M. Martini's Monte Rosso which is in transition to organic certification:
1. Muscardini Cellars
2. Sojourn Cellars
BOOK
All of the certifieds are included in Slow Wine Guide 2024. Learn more, see a sample winery listing , or buy the book here on slowwineusa.com.
LISTEN UP
To hear more about the region and get psyched to buy tickets for this event, listen to The Wine Makers podcast, hosted by, among others, Sam Coturri.
TICKETS TO MOON MOUNTAIN EVENT SATURDAY JUNE 1
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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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
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.
I loved attending the Historic Vineyards Society's first tasting since the pandemic, and only its second big public tasting ever. (The first was in 2018 at the Press Club in SF.)
You can read my story about this epic event last weekend on WineBusiness.com today: Star Studded Historic Vines Tasting Showcases California's Treasures.
It's worth mentioning that some of these producers farm and certify their vineyards as organic. (Some on the HVS list still use Roundup, if you can believe it, though most are what is called "practicing organic.")
• Bedrock (Home Ranch only)
• Corison (as of 2023 - congrats!) Kronos Vineyard
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| Rory Williams from Frog's Leap |
• Ridge Vineyards (estate owned vineyards) (not Pagani in Sonoma Valley which still uses Roundup)
• Scythian (the grapes bought from the Galliano family, including Lopez Vineyard)
• Turley (various, owned vineyards; some are not owned)
• Under the Wire (wine sourced from Bedrock Vineyard)
IN TRANSITION
• Louis M. Martini, Monte Rosso Vineyard (owned by Gallo)
NOTE
I thought it was also noteworthy that there are two second-geners here on this list...Grace Corison (pictured with her mother Cathy) and Rory Williams (son of John Williams). One should also mention Morgan Twain Peterson of Bedrock and his dad Joel Peterson, too. May it continue.
