Sparkling Wines, Mendo Style: Hopland Tasting to Feature 5+ Organically Grown Sparklers

I'm grateful to the sparkling wine Rack and Riddle facility for locating for a time in Mendocino County. This single incident gave rise to a new generation of organically grown sparkling wines. 

When French Champagne house Louis Roederer came to Califorina, it didn't mess around with the Carneros or Sonoma. It went right to the cool climate Mendocino region, which it deemed perfect for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the varietals Champagne is made from. And many critics, including the New York Times Eric Asimov, have applauded Roederer's wines.

While Roederer is partially growing organically (about 100+ out of 580 acres are organically farmed but not certified, according to the winery), other producers in the county, located in the warmer interior in the Sanel Valley or in coolish Potter Valley, have 7+ sparkling releases.

Now Mendocino's sparkling winemakers are putting on a joint tasting featuring a total of ten sparkling wines on Sat. April 5 from 12-4 in Hopland at Terra Savia. The tasting will include 5 wines from certified organic vines.

You can buy tickets online here.

The wines will be paired with smoked salmon, local oysters, pate, canapés, fresh strawberries and a lavender infused sponge cake.

The organically grown wines to be featured include:

POTTER VALLEY

MCFADDEN VINEYARDS

Both of these wines scored highly at the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle's Wine Competition, placing second only to Domaine Carneros' 2009 Brut ($32) and, somewhat shockingly, above Domaine Carneros' 2007 Le Reve ($100).

Nonvintage Cuvee Brut ($25)

• Made from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir

• Double Gold Medal, SF Chronicle Wine Competition

Special Reserve Brut ($40)

• Higher end version of the Cuvee, this wine spends an extra 18 months on the lees

• Double Gold Medal, SF Chronicle Wine Competition

SANEL VALLEY

PAUL DOLAN VINEYARDS

Nonvintage Brut ($27)

• Made from Chardonnay

TERRA SAVIA

Blanc de Blancs ($30)

• 100% Chardonnay

• Aged for 36 months

Brut Rouge ($25)

• An unusual sparkler - made from 100% Merlot

• Gold Medal, SF Chronicle Wine Competition (2012)

Tickets are $55 and available online here. For more information, contact Terra Savia at 707-744-1114 or emailinfo@terrasavia.com.

Moms for Sustainability - New Napa Chapter to Meet With Government Officials

A new Napa chapter of MOMS Advocating Sustainability, led by Napa County school board trustee Lisa Lindsey, will meet March 12 with elected officials and agency leaders to talk about the effects on pesticides on children’s health.

The workshop will feature Dr. Myrto Ashe, M.D., and Kristin S. Schafer, policy director for Pesticide Action Network and author of articles on pesticides and health.

The event will be 9:45 - 11 a.m. at Yountville Community Hall.

MOMS Advocating Sustainability (MOMAS) is a Bay Area based organization committed to creating healthy communities for children by reducing their exposure to household and environmental toxins. For more information, visit www.momsadvocatingsustainability.org.

If you're interested in background, see this report.

Update: Feb. 27, 2014

The Napa Valley Register did a followup on the organizer. You can read it here.

Looking for a Good Time This Weekend? Napa Valley CabFestNV Kicks Off in Yountville

This weekend the first CabFest NV kicks off, a three day event devoted to Napa's favorite grape. A benefit for the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center at Lincoln Theater in Yountville, the three day event promises to be both educational and entertaining.

On the education front, Karen MacNeil, one of America's favorite wine experts, will present two workshops including What Makes Great Cabernet Great on Saturday and a session called Cab on the Couch on Sunday featuring MacNeil in conversation with noted Cabernet makers.

Philippe Bascaules of Inglenook

Saturday's also the day of a session on the 1976 Paris Tasting, which put Napa Cabernet on the world stage, when French wine judges in a blind tasting rated Napa's wines higher than the best French Bordeaux.

Among the four panelists scheduled to speak at this session are two noted winemakers whose estate vineyards are certified organic - Chappellet (unnamed attendee) and Philippe Bascaules, winemaker for Inglenook.

On Sunday, prominent Napa wine makers (many of them women) will discuss blending. Participants include Heidi Peterson Barrett, Celia Welch, and others.

Grand tastings take place on both days. Organically grown wines include estate grown Cabernets from Chappellet and Spottswoode.

The entertainment and festivities include Jeff Bridges band, gourmet food, and much more. See the CabFestNV site for details.

VIDEO: Premiere Napa Valley 2014

I put together a little sizzle reel from Premiere Napa Valley featuring the wineries in the forthcoming Organically Napa apps (and site).

Featured are the 15 vintners with wine from organic vines at this prestigious auction.

The first half of the video shows vintners during the barrel tasting in the morning. The second half shows the auction.

Paddle #107 is a Chinese wine buyer I met over lunch. Paddle #169 is Sasha Vaynerchuk of the Wine Library, a NJ wine merchant, who just happened to sit near me in the front row. (Neither buyer is associated with the featured wines). Wine Library was famous for Gary Vaynerchuk's YouTube channel on wine tasting.

For info on the wines and the overall prices paid for them, see the post lower on this page.

 

PREMIERE NAPA VALLEY: Or How The Best Wine Marketers in America Sell The Most Exclusive and Expensive Futures in California

Premiere Napa Valley features the poshest of the posh - one of a kind wines in a category that can only be described as "super, super, super premium"  - in a triumph of wine marketing in America, commanding prices that soar above rival regions.

Cult wines like Continuum and Scarecrow and established brands from To Kalon fruit - including Mondavi and more - all sold here for generally north of $8,000 a case. In fact, the Scarecrow, sourced from a vineyard on what was once the Inglenook estate, took the lead at $260,000 for 5 cases (or $4,333 a bottle), bought by an LA buyer (in a bidding contest with a Japanese gentleman) who wanted to "keep the wine in America."

At this year's event sales were double last year's prices with $6.9 million in sales. Does that tell you something about the market for luxury goods? Premiere Napa Valley should be one of the economic indicators tracked by the Davos attendees at the World Economic Forum.

There were more than 225 lots ranging from 60 bottles to 240 bottles (5-20 cases) from many of Napa's finest producers. As interesting as the wines were, I was personally captivated by the vastly more diverse community of buyers - from the  big boys of Texas oil and the frackers of Oklahoma (the auctioneer got into fracking jokes) to Korean wine powerhouse NaraCellars (owned by Napa vintner Hi Sang Lee, proprietor at Napa's DANA) and an independent Chinese buyer I met at lunch (Paddle #107).

Premiere Napa Valley takes place over several days and includes opportunities for buyers to peruse the wares widely one day and to do a comprehensive, intense but complete sampling of the wines for sale on the following morning before the afternoon auction. Here's what the schedule looks like:

DAY ONE (FRIDAY)

20+ wines were available to taste
with 2009, 2010, and 2011 vintages side by side

• MORNING

Tastings that focus on the quality of past vintages

--A recent vintages tasting focuses on the last 3 years (i.e. retrospective of 2009, 2010 and 2011)

--A more historic tasting focuses on vintages in 10 and 20 year intervals, showcasing the ageability of these wines

This demonstrates to buyers that there is stylistic continuity over time from 2009-2011 wines and depth and complexity (let's hope) achieved by the older wines.

My personal favorite (as well as the favorite of several other wine writers) was the 1984 vintage Brut from Schramsberg. (Yes, I am prejudiced for personal reasons - but it was hard for the Cabs to compete with the singular sparkler in the house and such an old, beautifully complex one at that).




• AFTERNOON

Tastings by AVA

--The AVAs, scattered throughout the valley, put on group tastings, usually with a beguiling assortment of wine bites, from prosciutto to triple creme cheese from Burgundy.

Tasters would be hard pressed to get to all of these geographically disperse gatherings, so some AVAs put on their tastings in rented halls in downtown St. Helena to consolidate the rounds.

With my posse of new friends from the Wine Writers Symposium, I visited the Pritchard Hill tasting (with gorgeous views of Napa Valley) and back in town hit the Spring Mountain and Oak Knoll tastings. The more prepared would be bidders hit the Oakville and Rutherford tastings held in their own districts.

DAY TWO (SATURDAY)

• MORNING

Tasting of all the wines for sale


-- 225 wines are available to try, all from individual vintner stands.

Can you drink 225 wines in 2 hours? Probably not. I heard of people who made it through 75 - that would be around 1.5 minutes per wine?

The best part of Saturday's tasting is that vintners and winemakers man (or woman) the booths so you can get the info - and the wine - straight from the horse's mouth. I dare say most of the serious buyers already know which wines they're going for, well before the barrel tasting morning, so this is last call for many.

The tasting is held at Greystone, the CIA, and features a buffet lunch from their gourmet team - foie gras, and all the Continuum-Shafer-Cakebread-Keever et al you can drink. The vintners have got to get these paddle holders ready for The Big Buy.

• AFTERNOON

The auction

With rousing hard rock music cranked up, the games begin. A screaming Premiere Napa Valley committee chairman (this year it was Hugh Davies of Schramsberg) incites the crowd. I feel as if I am in ancient Rome.

The auctioneers appear - two rotate. A short, leaning-toward-stout guy is up first, followed by a classy lady who's almost a dead ringer for Grace Kelly in a form fitting black dress that is unmistakeably classic Kelly, worn with petite diamond earrings. The pair present an amusing contrast in appearance, but perform equally when it comes to brass tacks - the bidding is fair, spirited and one of the greatest shows in town.

It seems they might know these buyers…from the fracking versus petroleum jokes (two bidders, one from Oklahoma and one from Texas) or the references to various towns or countries. Perhaps this is an annual migration for all of these players.

I sat dead center in the front row, just in front of my new friend Paul Franson (a prolific Napa wine writer) and his friend James Conaway (author of the definitive nonfiction narrative of Napa called Napa: An American Eden.)

To my left was a dashingly handsome fellow who bore a striking resemblance to George Clooney. He was a salesman from Massachusetts, who was madly texting through the first 70 or so lots until the lot his buyer wanted came up for sale. He didn't even get a bid in as his limit was below the first price. Later he bid on another wine - and at least got a first bid in, although that was quickly the end of that as the bidding escalated to heights beyond his buyer's reach.

Sasha Vaynerchuk of Wine Library 

To my right was a threesome from Wine Library, New Jersey's most famous wine seller, thanks in part to the YouTube and social media marketing moxie of founder Sasha Vaynerchuk's son - Gary - who had the biggest YouTube following in recorded history for his wine tasting show, featuring his trusted football team helmet (the Jets, baby) and all star guest lineup.

It was good to be reminded that the family's real business is wine, not YouTube videos.

I watched Sasha (paddle #169) throughout the proceedings as he defeated rivals in the early bidding for Lot #13,  20 cases of Robert Mondavi's To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon (2012). Vaynerchuk dropped out on a few other lots, bidding $40,000 for lots that eventually went for $90,000. He rebounded to get one of the finest lots for sale - Lot #150, the Bevan Cellars & Chateau Boswell Cab blend, from two mountain vineyards, paying twice as much for it as he had for the Mondavi - $85,000 for 10 cases. (That works out to $708 a bottle versus $354 for the To Kalon).

The guy on my left leaned across me to congratulate him, saying he thought that was one of the best wines on offer.

At the end, I had a quick word - very quick - with Sasha. He said it had been his first year at the event. "No bargains here," he said.

Maybe last year - but that was all from the 2011 vintage, an admittedly difficult year, which no one was particularly enthusiastic about.

The 2012s have put The Valley - Cab City - back on track.

The Tasting Notes Were Flowing - Napa Wine Writers Symposium - 2014

No one knows how to seduce the press like the Napa Valley Vintners, who hosted 60 or so wine writers (including yours truly) for the past week at the luxurious Meadowood of Napa resort.

Robert Parker keynoted, Eric Asimov of the New York Times spoke, Jay McInerny offered up novel metaphors and similes, and Columbia University Journalism School professor Michael Shapiro inspired with advice from the heart and road tested techniques. Also appearing: Karen MacNeil of CIA, Jon Bonné of SF Chronicle, Sara Schneider of Sunset, and more.

I'll be posting my photos from the week here soon; in the meantime, enjoy this video…which strangely enough features my hands in the shot below taking a photo of the man of the bon mot - Msr. La McInerny.

 

If you want to catch up with what happened at the conference, consult the symposium's Twitter stream; the hashtag is #wws14.

Premiere Napa Valley: Quick Peek - How Organic Vintners Fared

I'll be posting more coverage of Premiere Napa Valley here soon. In the meantime here's how Napa's organically grown wines fared at the 2014 luxury auction.

They're listed in order of price within each varietal.

CABERNET FRANC

1. Caspar Estate, 2012 Cabernet Franc, Rutherford, 60 bottles, $12,000

Julien Fayard, winemaker

Uniquely: the only Cab Franc from Caspar

2. Long Meadow Ranch, 2012 Cabernet Franc, 60 bottles, $10,000

Ashley Helsey, winemaker

Uniquely: the only Cab Franc from Long Meadow Ranch

3. Oakville Ranch Vineyard, 2012 Cabernet Franc, 60 bottles, $10,000

Ann Vawter, winemaker

Uniquely: best blocks

4. Lateral, 2012 Cabernet Franc, 60 bottles, $6,000

Chris Condos, winemaker

Uniquely: the only Cabernet Franc Lateral makes

CABERNET SAUVIGNON

$50-60,000

1. Ovid Napa Valley, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, 60 bottles, $60,000

Austin Peterson, winemaker

Uniquely: barrel fermented

2. Spottswoode Estate, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, 60 bottles, $55,000

Aron Weinkauf, winemaker

Uniquely: barrel selection

$20-50,000

1. Gallica, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, 60 bottles, $28,000

Rosemary Cakebread, winemaker

Uniquely: Gallica's only single vineyard designate (sourced from Oakville Ranch Vineyard)

2. Chappellet Vineyard, 2012 Red Wine, 120 bottles, $26,000 ($216/bottle)

Phillip Corallo-Titus, winemaker

Uniquely: barrel selection

$10-20,000

1. Ehlers Estate, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, 60 bottles, $16,000

Kevin Morrisey, winemaker

Uniquely: best block

2. Inglenook, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, 60 bottles, $16,000

Philippe Bascaules, winemaker

Uniquely: barrel selection

3. Pavi Wines, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon ($16,000)

Rob Lawson, winemaker

Uniquely: Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (92%) and Montepulciano (8%)

4. Rocca Family Vineyards, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, Row 57 Old Vines, 60 bottles, $16,000
Paul Colantuoni, winemaker
Uniquely: a best block bottling from vines planted in 1989

5. Volker Eisele Family Estate, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, 60 bottles, $12,000

Jordan McKay, winemaker 

Uniquely: best block

CHARDONNAY

1. Grgich Hills Estate, 2012 Miljenko's Old Vine, Carneros, 120 bottles ($12,000)

Miljenko Grgich, winemaker

Uniquely: Old Wente clones

*Neal Family Vineyards, 2013 Chardonnay, Rutherford, 120 bottles (price pending)

Winemaker: Gove Celio 

Uniquely: Neal Family's only Chardonnay

PINOT NOIR

1. Madonna Estate, 2013 Pinot Noir, 120 bottles, $8,000

Andrea, Brette and Taylor Bartolucci, partners

Uniquely: best block

COMING SOON: Photos and videos from the event.

In Memoriam: Vintners Mourn Death of Biodynamic Consultant Alan York

Alan York
(photo courtesy of Benziger)

Biodynamic vintners around the world are mourning the passing  of a renowned consultant and beloved friend, Alan York, 62, who died last week of pancreatic and liver cancer.

The Louisiana native was the Biodynamic consultant who helped the first wave of vintners in America adopt Biodynamic practices in the 1990s and aided subsequent waves of Biodynamic farmers and vineyardists around the world. His most famous client was the English rock star Sting who brought York in to establish his winery in Tuscany.

Alan Chadwick at Covelo

Originally an apprentice to horticultural legend Alan Chadwick at his renowned Round Valley Institute for the Study of Man and Nature in Covelo, York worked as a garden manager in the Mendocino County project,  then the country's largest Biodynamic center.

Later, contact with this community inspired both the Freys and the Fetzers to grow organically and then to certify the first Biodynamic vineyards in America in 1996. Both engaged him as their Biodynamic consultant.

After his apprenticeship under Chadwick in the 1970s, York taught horticulture at Mercy College in Michigan and then moved to Missouri where he managed a 1,000 acre farm. When the Missouri farm's owner established an apple farm in Boonesville in Mendocino County, Chadwick returned to California to work there.

He became president of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association of North America in the late 1990s.

After successfully converting hundreds of acres of vineyards in Mendocino to Demeter certification for the Freys and Jim Fetzer at Ceago, in 1997, the Benzigers hired him to help them adopt biodynamic practices in their estate vineyards in Sonoma. Their first Biodynamic vineyard was certified in 2000.

Other U.S. clients certified throughout the decade of the 2000's include (among others):

• Bonterra, the largest Biodynamic vineyard owner in Mendocino

• Cowhorn, boutique, southern Oregon Rhone wine producers

• Montemaggiore, a premium Syrah producer in Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley

• Quivira, a noted Rhone producer in Dry Creek Valley

• Robert Sinskey Vineyard in Napa's Carneros region

York also worked with vintners in Chile and Israel. Here's a 2012 video in which he explains the principles of biodynamics at Altos Las Hormigas in Chile.

A memorial service will be held in March for friends and clients to honor his memory.

Biodynamic and Organic Winners at SF Chronicle Wine Competition

The most decorated sparkling
wine nobody knows…
McFadden's NV Brut

Heading to the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Tasting this weekend at Fort Mason? Here's a list at all of the winning wines from certified biodynamic or organic vineyards.

Congratulations to all of the winners.

Among them are a few upstarts, including one of my perennial favorites - the McFadden sparkling wines ($25-40) which surprisingly scored higher than Domaine Carneros' top of the line Le Reve ($99).  (McFadden wine club members can score the $25 NV Brut for about $15 during the winery's 40% off sales.)

It was nice to see 8 of the wines from my new biodynamic wine apps taking home awards. There were 7 wines from certified organic vineyards who scored medals, as well, including two from Napa - the Domaine Carneros Estate Pinot Noir and the Rocca Family Cabernet (from Coombsville).

The event is the largest competition of American wines in the world, with more than 5,800 entries from 25 states.

The public tasting takes place Saturday, Feb. 15, from 1:30-5 pm at Fort Mason. Get tickets and details at www.winejudging.com.

Biodynamically Grown Wines

Bordeaux Blends
Gold Medal
• Imagery Estate Winery, Pallas Estate (2011), $65

Cabernet Sauvignon ($40-49.99)
Gold Medal
• Hawk and Horse, Block 3 (2009), $45

Cabernet Sauvignon ($60 and Over)
Double Gold Me
• Benziger Family Winery, Signaterra, Sunny Slope (2011), $66
Gold Medal
• Benziger Family Winery, Signaterra, Three Blocks (2010), $60

Grenache 
Best of Class
• Campovida, Dark Horse (2012), $36

Merlot ($40 and Over)
Best of Class
• Imagery Estate Winery, Pallas (2011), $65

Pinot Noir ($50 and Over)
Double Gold
• Benziger Family Winery, de Coelo, Quintus (2011), $75
Gold
• Benziger Family Winery, Signaterra, Bella Luna (2011), $50

Organically Grown Wines

Cabernet Sauvignon ($60 and Over)
Double Gold Medal
• Rocca Family Vineyards, Collinetta Vineyard (2010), $85

Dessert (RS>4.0)
Gold Medal
• McFadden Late Harvest Riesling (2011), $18

Merlot ($15-19.99)
Gold Medal
• Bonterra (2011), $15.99

Pinot Noir
Gold Medal
• Domaine Carneros, Estate, 2011 - $35

Sauvignon Blanc ($20 and Over)
Gold Medal
• Medlock Ames (2012), $27

Sparkling Wine
Double Gold Medal
• McFaddenVineyard, Brut NV, $25
• McFadden Vineyard, Reserve Brut, $40

Note: In comparison, Napa's Domaine Carneros, scored both above and below Mendocino's McFadden, winning Best of Class for its 2009 Brut, but scoring below McFadden with its most expensive sparkling wine, the 2007 Le Reve, winning a gold medal. (These particular Domaine Carneros vintages were not organically sourced, but future vintages will be).

Zinfandel ($35-40)
Gold Medal
• Lucas Winery (2010), $39.99

Organic Wines and Vines: Gains in the New Farm Bill - Regaining Lost Ground and Not Much More

California farmers overall got a lot of bennies from the new farm bill passed several days ago but while it might seem like ground is being gained, in most respects, it was more a matter of lost ground being regained for organic farmers.

The subsidy to offset the costs of organic certification is back, after having been taken away in recent years. This enables farmers to get a rebate of 75% of the costs of certification up to $750 per producer. This makes the number of these subsidies available increase tenfold to $11.5 million. But that's small potatoes for the organic food industry, which generates $35 billion in sales. 

Meanwhile most of the crop subsidies continue to go to commodity crop producers and not fruit and vegetable producers.

On the good news front, there is continued $20 million in funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, a competitive grantmaking program that funds organic research - not exactly a win since it's already in operation with $18-19 million a year budgets.

The bill also allots $5 million for the Organic Data Initiative that gathers statistical data on organic production. 

According to the Wine Institute, the wine industry in California alone has a $34 billion economic impact. 

With organic vineyards being 3% of the state's vineyards - or 3% of the $34 billion - organic vineyard owners and vintners contribute $1 billion in economic impact - at a minimum, as most of their wines are in the higher echelon wines. 

Why aren't they being better looked after in our farm bill?

This Looks Like Fun: American Wine Movie - The Trailer

I was tipped off by the Brooks wine web site about the promising new documentary American Wine which is coming soon (2014). It takes a new angle on the age old story of falling in love with wine and becoming a winemaker. "Would you have the courage?" is one of the hooks. The film looks very appealing.

Brooks Wine is featured (you see long shots of Janie Brooks Heuck and her nephew Pascal Brooks in their vineyard)…because it has one of the most dramatic wine stories around.

Jimi Brooks, an Orgeon vineyard manager (Maysara was his biggest client) and Biodynamic evangelist (from his time in Burgundy) started his own winery more than a decade ago. During harvest, he had a heart attack in 2004 and died at the age of only 38, leaving behind his young son Pascal, age 9, to whom he also bequeathed his winery. Jimi's sister Janie stepped in to become general manager of the winery until Pascal comes of age.

The documentary has had some pre-release screenings in Oregon.

Janie reports on the Brooks web site that the heart of the film, about 30 minutes, tells the story of Brooks.

Can't wait to see it!

Here's the trailer. Enjoy:

 

Kudos to Qupé! Syrah Ranked Tops in New York Times

I've always been a huge fan of Qupé - who wouldn't be? Bob Lindquist is the all American guy - AND Biodynamic. In the pursuit of great flavor in wine, he bought into the whole Biodynamic approach and makes his wine in the purest possible way - it's certified Biodynamic® Wine, which means nothing (except a sulfites) is added - the wine is fermented on native yeasts only.

So it's very nice to see him getting recognized by Eric Asimov and his New York Times tasting panel in an article this week on California Syrahs.

"Our top wine, the 2010 Qupé, was from Bob Lindquist, one of California’s syrah pioneers. The wine, from the Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard in Edna Valley, was beautifully balanced and already complex with gorgeous flavors of flowers, olives, smoked meat and minerals…"

Nice!

In honor of this recognition, Qupé's put this Syrah on sale - 10% off for the month of February.

Decanter's 90+ Pt. California Cab Picks - Rocca, Spottswoode and Oavkille Ranch

Decanter's just released its panel tasting scores on Top California Cabernets. Three winners came from certified organic vineyards. Kudos to them! All are featured in my forthcoming app Organically Napa: The Wine Finder.

1. Rocca Family, Grigsby Vineyard, Yountville, 91 pts. ($85)

"Dense black cherry nose with a hint of iron filings and some eucalyptus. Velvety fruit yet has grip and intensity too. This is balanced, sumptuous and rich." 

2. Spottswoode, St. Helena, 91 pts. ($145)

"Sweet, intense blackcurrant nose of great purity and charm. The palate has bright forest fruits and a lively minty edge, with rounded tannins. A sensuous style and a powerful finish."

3. Oakville Ranch, Napa Valley, 90 pts. ($82)

"Smoky blackcurrant nose, which is quite stylish. Glamorous, opulent, sweet fruit with supporting tannins and a pure blackcurrant finish. An elegant wine that is finely tuned with lots of charm."

Slow Wine (ITALY) Kicks Off US Tour

Slow Wine kicked off its 2014 American tour today with a trade tasting this afternoon that was like a quick trip to Italy. Producers from Italy's lesser known regions - like Abruzzo and Puglia - lined up with well known top producers from Piedmonte and Tuscany - to pour Italian goodness for a packed crowd.

The Slow Wine tour (which I believe should be renamed Slow Wine Italy, but is a little presumptuously, simply called Slow Wine) touches down in three U.S. cities, including Chicago and New York in the coming week and was off to a roaring start in SF.

Slow Wine Editors Fabio Giavedoni and Giancarlo Gariglio

In an interview with Piedmont-based editor Giancarlo Giavedoni I was able to glean more of the rationale behind the guide which has seemed to me in the past to be, like so many things Italian, a mysterious and idiosyncratic collection.

The guide includes about 2,000 Italian wines chosen from 20,000 in Italy on the basis of farming practices (organic and Biodynamic practices boost winery ratings up to the highest level of Snail), affordability (no $400 wines, please) and taste profile - i.e. preserving traditional Italian wine flavors (and not Super Tuscans or Cab/Sangio blends, for instance). 

The guide includes both wines made with pesticides and herbicides as well as organically or Biodynamically grown wines.

Not every organically or Biodynamically grown wine makes the cut. Some organically grown wines are left out along with about 3-5 Biodynamic producers (the latter mostly out of a personal choice by a few vintners who choose not to be included in the guide).

The guide's selection process is curated by some 200 participants and is funded solely by the publisher. In Italy, Giavedoni said, 35-40,000 copies have been sold and about 10,000 in the U.S.

Wineries pay, however, to participate in the costs of the traveling tasting tour which brought about 50 of the 2,000 to the U.S. Some are distributed here; others were seeking distributors.

The trade tasting was very crowded so it was virtually impossible to find the organic and Biodynamic producers without the aid of the book itself. When I got one, I was able to zero in on a few producers - including one from the Abruzzo, one from Basilicata, one from Emilio Romagna and one from Piedmont (see photos below). The Abruzzo folks were amazed I had vacationed at Vasto and that I had spent a week on Tremiti Island (where I had sampled a number of their wines thanks to the wonderful hospitality and wine list at Hotel Gabbiano.)

There is also a public tasting this evening...from 6 to 8:30 at the same venue. 

Though it was not publicized at the event, the Slow Wine 2014 guide is also available as an app in the Apple App store...highly recommended. I found the app to be infinitely more useful than the book for ease of use. Paging through region upon region is tedious in the book. There is no listing by varietal. And alas, it is in Italian only, but it does allow you to drill down into wines and find wines of interest, even if the filters are somewhat limited.

It's great to see the first ever guide to wine that takes the way wine is grown into account as well as wine quality. It's at least a start toward eco wine connoisseurship, even if a lot of harmful substances are allowed, which I still personally find confusing and troubling. Am I just not Italian enough?

The other aspect that quickly surfaced as I began to taste around the exhibition area was that some wineries did in fact offer international variety blends (along with more traditional ones), so it was unclear to me how stringent that guideline was.

The other quibble is that the guide doesn't display certification at the wine level, only the winery. Since some organically grown wine comes from wineries that have both estate vineyards (usually these are certified) and purchase grapes from growers (who may or may not be certified or organic), I was unsure what was what. The guides I am publishing will show certifications at the individual wine level, which, as far as I can tell, is the only reliable way to do it.

Vajra Barberesco (which I just happened to have had at a dinner last week)

Francesca Vajra of G. D. Vajra

More details and pix to follow in a future post.

IN PICTURES: ZAP Trade Tasting (A Preview of Coming Attractions)

Thousands of Zinfandel fans and winemakers will gather this weekend for the annual ZAP gathering in San Francisco. Wednesday ZAP held a trade tasting in Alameda, of all places, at the funky industrial setting of the former Naval Air Station there now inhabited by Rock Wall Winery and other assorted enterprises. 

From 1-2 there was a panel of three Zin experts, moderated by Wine Spectator editor Tim Fish, followed by a large tasting with more than 100 participating wineries.

Here's the event in pictures, featuring the organic and Biodynamic growers and vintners among the crowd:

There was no cheese or snacks but one could order
takeout from a little place next to the dome and
tasting room.  Here a worker tries to explain to a customer what the fried pickles taste like.

The place has a rare vantage point with amazing views - where else can you
take  in both the Oakland cranes (that inspired their lookalikes in Star Wars)
and the cityscape from the water...

The tasting and panel discussion took place in the outdoor dome space at Rock Wall. (Did the winery bring this in for the event? Or is it a permanent fixture?)

Panelists from left to right: Tegan Passalacqua of Turley Wine Cellars, Mike Officer of Carlisle Winery, and Mark Twain-Peterson of Bedrock Wine Co. spoke with Tim Fish from Wine Spectator moderating







Carol Shelton with her Wild Thing zin from the certified organic Cox Vineyard in Mendocino



Chinese buyers on a Wine Institute sponsored visit tasting Shelton's Monga Zin



Quivira Vineyards was pouring not one but TWO Zinfandels made from certified Biodynamic® grapes...(a third of their production is Demeter-certfied and with 6,500 cases of BD wines a year, they're just behind the other big Sonoma County Biodynamic producer, Benziger, which makes 7,000 cases of Demeter certified wines).



Tres Sabores proprietor Julie Johnson served her perennially
fine Zin, made from old, head-trained vines in one of
Napa's finest locations - Rutherford - just north of Inglenook.



Turley, one of the state's most enthusiastic and esteemed
producers of Zinfandel was well represented with
sales manager Christina Turley and winemaker/vineyardist
Tegan Passalacqua pouring. Approximately 70 percent
of their wines are organically grown. All of the
estate vineyards are certified.



Ken Morris of Grgich Hills poured Grgich Hills' Zin, which not many
people know is both Biodynamically grown and Demeter certified wine,
meaning, among other things, it's made with absolutely no additives (except sulfite)
and fermented on native yeasts (as are the two Quivira Zins, too)



Ready for their closeup: Ridge's sales team appeared in full force. Ridge's Zin
vineyards are in the process of converting to organic certification.

Featured Video: Coppola on Inglenook

A lovely video I came across in the course of doing research for the Organically Napa apps...

Enjoy a look at Inglenook - 235 acres organically farmed since 1994, thanks to Eleanor Coppola (who's reportedly friends with Alice Waters, organic food movement activist and gourmet restauranteur).

   

New York Times Weighs In on Protecting France's Organic Growers

Don't miss this piece from the New York Times op-ed page on protecting organic wine grape growers in France. I am sure a lot of Napa's organic growers are breathing a sigh of relief for the attention. Now if we could just get the New York Times to take a look at organic grape growers in the U.S....

Napa's 2013 Grower of the Year: Frank Leeds

Throughout the year, we give thanks to those who grow our grapes - organically.

One of these often unsung heroes - Frank Leeds, vineyard manager at Frog's Leap, got to take a bow this year, when he was voted Napa's Grower of the Year for 2013. Leeds manages Frog's Leap 130 acres of estate vineyards - and he's all for dry farming, a tradition Napa has so far forgotten to bring into the 21st century.

(All of Napa's wines from the 1860s to the 1970, including all the international award-winners that established its world class reputation, were grown without irrigation.)

At the time, I didn't know about this lovely tribute video to Leeds, which is a pleasure to share with you here.

Enjoy.

 

As a side note, in 2012, the Napa Grower of the Year award went to Pat Garvey, vineyard manager and proprietor at Flora Springs, where he converted 360 of the estate 650 acres of vineyards in Napa to organic certification.

The 2009 winner, Andy Hoxsey of the Pelissa family, is Napa's largest organic grower with 635 acres of certified vineyards in Oakville and Yountville.

So in the last 5 years, 3 out of the 5 Growers of the Year (voted on by fellow Napa grape growers only) have been among the valley's largest organic growers. May it continue.

Bonterra's New Video on Biodynamic Winemaking

Have a look.

A Holiday Gift for You

As 2013 wraps up, you may find yourself with some spare winter evenings to spend with family and friends.

If you're looking for some quality entertainment on the tube, I've got a holiday gift for you.

Assuming you have a way to stream PBS offerings on your tube, have a look at What Plants Talk About, PBS Nature's program on fascinating plant research - guaranteed to delight viewers of all ages and (indirectly) cause to reflect on the magic of grape vines.

You can watch the whole show online here.

Dossier Zinfandel: A Great New Wine Movie

It's not going to be part of the crush of Christmas season movies - and that's a shame - because the as yet unreleased Dossier Zinfandel (made by Croatian television) was really one of the most satisfying and compelling movies I've seen this year.

It screened in Napa as part of the Napa Valley Film Festival a few weeks ago, with a wonderful expert panel on stage after the screening - Carole Meredith, the U.C. Davis researcher who helped make the connections and verify the final discovery of the origins of Zinfandel, and David Gates, vineyard manager for Ridge Vineyards, who oversees the care of some of Sonoma's most treasured old vine Zin vineyards.

The film's subject? The search for the origins of the grape that Americans call Zinfandel. It's a detective story like no other and it takes about 20 years of ups and downs before the treasure is found. 

The filmmakers travel everywhere to get their story straight - they see Joel Petersen, of Ravenswood, travel to the Oriental Library in Vienna to learn about Zinfandel's travels to the New World as a table grape, and get the history of what was then called Black St. Peter's from California wine historian (and Zin fanatic) Charles Sullivan. Sullivan recounts how Capt. McCordray brought the grape west to California where it was planted in Napa on the Osborne Estate (before Harasthy may have brought it to Sonoma, a myth perpetuated by his son Arpad Harasthy, who mastered the art of making Zin into a sparkling wine years later).

Zinfandel is still the most widely planted grape in California - mainly due to its success during Prohibition as a shipping grape that could be sent East by the trainload to home winemakers there. Zin was the most versatile of grapes - made into table wine, brandy, sweet wine, sparkling wine or just into raisins. 

After Prohibition when 75-80% of wine was sweet wine, Zin lingered.

For most Americans, the film recounts, their introductory wine was white Zinfandel. 

One clue to the mystery of Zinfandel's origins emerged in Bari in the Puglia region of Italy in 1967 with the Primitivo clone. From Primitivo, the hunt continued to Croatia and the Plavic Mali grape that Mike Grgich grew up with. When Grgich arrived in America and worked for Lee Stewart at Souverain Cellars on Howell Mountain (today Burgess Cellars), he thought that what Americans called Zinfandel looked an awful lot like Plavac Mali. In the end, he was right.

David Gates, vineyard manager for Ridge, and Carole Meredith, retired
genetics professor from U.C. Davis, who released her first vintage of
Tribigdrag this year

In the hunt for Zin's origins, there were some unbelievable synchronicities. Carol Meredith, a key player in the unfolding story, told the audience afterwards how she had been yearning to find someone in Croatia who was a genetics researcher when an email popped into her inbox from a Croatian genetic researcher who wanted to know more about Zinfandel's origins. She traveled to Croatia with her U.C. Davis research assistant - who just happened to be Croatian and could, of course, translate for her.

I won't go into all the details here, but the film does a fine job of twisting and turning this way and that just like the best detective movies. 

In the end, it turns out that as a varietal Zinfandel has a more ancient known history than Cabernet Sauvignon, dating back to at least the 13th century. It's thought that Zinfandel was in fact the noble grape of the Dalmatian coast, treasured by the Hapsburgs.

I loved this movie most of all for the Croatians in it - a big, fat, sweaty peasant turns out to harbor a few remaining vines of Tribidrag (Zin by any other name) in his vineyard (the researchers checked hundreds of individual vines) that lead to the key discoveries. A wonderful old lady sings a hilarious little song about how all the women smile and laugh when they drink the new batch of Tribidrag. 

After the film, there was a reception at Grgich Hills Estate to celebrate with Zinfandel and Plavac Mali wines (the latter from Grgich's vineyards in Croatia). 

Croatian Television's last California film followed the adventures of Mike Grgich, winemaker and world famous celebrity. It was never officially released here, although some kind of deal was struck that allowed Grgich Hills to provide copies to the press and its wine club members. 

This new film was every bit as good and a great followup. Let's hope someone finds a way to release it here. However long that takes, it will be worth the wait. After all, how many great wine stories like this can there be?

PS Blue Danube Wines, which imports wine from Croatia, also blogged about this film (and attended the same screening, as I can see the back of my head in their photograph of the event) and wrote a good post about the chronology of the discovery.

If you want to raise a glass to Zin, Grgich Hills' Zinfandel is widely available and a very suitable toast.

POSTSCRIPT, JUNE 13, 2014

Happily Grgich Hills has begun distributing this DVD in the U.S. It's for sale at the winery for $15. It's also for sale at Ridge Vineyards tasting room.

Top 100 Wine Picks from the Chronicle's List: The 7 Biodynamic or Organic Among Them

I read today's Chronicle and almost missed the Top 100 Wines article in the magazine, what with all the shopping season fillers. But I did see the headline on the front page of the paper saying it was inside, so dug around deep into the shopping inserts' innards and finally found it.

I was happy to see a few Biodynamic® or organic vineyards and vintners in the winning spots. Here they are (below).

All of these are in my forthcoming apps on Biodynamic or organically grown wines (coming soon - really and truly).

Chardonnay 

• Ceritas - Porter Bass ($55, unobtainium - mailing list only - only 150 cases made)

Made by the guy (John Raytek) who's married to one of the family members (Phoebe Bass) whose vineyard this is. It's been farmed organically for several decades and a certified Biodynamic® vineyard since 2009. Every critic goes goo goo ga ga over this. I wish I could try it. The couple got married in this vineyard even - so what a love story it is that the wine is so special, too.

Other Whites

• Cowhorn® Spiral 36 ($28) - 650 cases made

A highly lauded wine, this white Rhone blend was also rated by the Wine Advocate extremely highly recently and has become a perennial favorite with critics (and wine drinkers). (The Wine Advocate even called Cowhorn's prices "alarmingly low" - oh no!)

One minor correction to Bonne's article - the Steeles were beer drinkers when they bought their land, intending to grow vegetables and fruits. They quickly discovered they had two types of soils - one good for produce and one that was a perfect match for growing Rhone varietals. That is when they brought in Alan York, a Biodynamic viticulturist, to help them plan their vineyard which was certified Biodynamic in 2008.

Rose

• Heitz Cellar-Grignolino ($19)

This historic Napa producer has begun converting more and more vineyards to organic certification, with the help of their very able vineyard management company Jack Neal & Sons, run by Mark Neal. It's nice to see this trend.

This particular wine was the only one I could afford to buy when I first visited the winery about 30 years ago (and I have been enjoying it ever since). It's a grape rarely grown in California - there are only 50 acres at most; Heitz has eight of them.

Pinot Noir

• Brick House-Les Dijonnais ($52) - 620 cases made

Brick House is one of those wonderful boutique Willamette Valley wineries - and it makes Pinot Noir from a number of different clonal combinations. I visited in Sept. and this one was my favorite, so I am happy to see that Bonne also likes it.

Brick House has bene organic for 23 years and Biodynamic for 8. It is also dry farmed.

• Longoria La Encantada ($50)

It was a sad day when Richard Sanford first lost his Sanford winery (from a bad business deal) and later when his second winery had to declare bankruptcy, but his legacy lives on in his vineyards (and his Alma Rosa winery will recover - we hope). At least he was inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame.

This wine is made from his organically farmed vineyard by the Longorias. Sanford was a pioneer in organic viticulture in Santa Barbara County - and was of course, the first guy to figure out how right a place it was to grow Pinot Noir.

Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot (nice to see the M word mentioned)

• Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - 2010 ($145) - 2,596 cases made

A perennial Napa standard bearer. It's been called the Grace Kelly of wines. And the Spotteswoode estate vineyard (where this is grown) has, of course, been an organic pioneer, certified back in 1992 and this past year hosting the Organic Napa Grape Growers conference. Keep up the good work!

• Robert Sinskey POV ($38) - 8,000+ cases made

This wine is a Carneros grown Merlot-Cab Franc blend with some Cabernet in it (the percentages are "proprietary") from Biodynamic vineyards (certified from 2006-2012). While Napa's Rutherford- and Yountville- and Oavkille-ites strut their stuff about their sunshine and warm temps, Bordeaux wine grapes in the Carneros have not gotten their due.

I must say I was very happy and surprised by this wine making it to the Top 100. It's about time Sinskey got more rave reviews like this one - he does not submit his wines to points-rating critics and has relied on word of mouth among the wine and food cognoscenti (leading chefs, etc.) to make his wines' reputations. That's a hard row to hoe. I am very delighted to see this wine getting this kind of attention - especially as he makes beaucoup cases of it! (About 8,000 cases, according to his web site - almost a third of his production.) And because it's in the realm of affordability for people who are not one percenters.

As he says on his web site, "From our point of view, certain parts of the “upper” Carneros region will one day be known as the “Right Bank” of Napa and recognized for how Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon respond to cooler climate and marine influence for bright and distinct expressions that, when blended together, make for a particularly supple and elegant, cuisine oriented wine."

And, as Sinskey pointed out to me in a recent interview (to be published in 2014), the Carneros is still not as cool - temperature wise - as Bordeaux. So there. One needn't pay a king's ransom for decent red wine from Napa. Bravo.

Goodbye to the Old Terroir and Hello to the New Microbial Terroir?

I don't know if you read that fascinating article by Michael Pollan in the New York Times magazine earlier this year (Some of My Best Friends are Germs, May 15, 2013) but it made a big impact on me and a lot of other people. Subtitled, "Say Hello to the 100 Trillion Bacteria That Make Up Your Biome," the article details the revolution in scientific thinking about what plays a much bigger role in human health than we have known - bacteria.

As the former editor of DNA.com (a startup created by Netscape founder Jim Clark, with James Watson on the board) when genetics was health's new poster child, I am vastly relieved to see more and more emphasis on our current activities rather than on genetic destiny (of which there is very little, in terms of known diseases, a fact that the much touted 23andme.com ignored at its peril as it discovered this week when the FDA shut it down for unsubstantiated interpretations).

In his article, Pollan writes:

Justin Sonnenburg, a microbiologist at Stanford, suggests that we would do well to begin regarding the human body as “an elaborate vessel optimized for the growth and spread of our microbial inhabitants.” This humbling new way of thinking about the self has large implications for human and microbial health, which turn out to be inextricably linked.

One of the stranger immediate applications of the new "Our Biome R Us" thinking is fecal transplants that may help the obese, who have a hard time losing weight, by introducing bacteria into their biomes from skinny humans. (Read the New York Times article Gut Bacteria From Thin Humans Can Slim Mice Down to learn the details; I won't repeat them all here).

Not that anyone's forgetting about genetic manipulations - just look at those engaged in the brave new world effort of bringing back extinct species. But it's good to see bacteria getting more of their just desserts - they haven't gotten enough respect. The amount of time needed to conduct research studies on fast acting bacteria is much more attractive than the amount of time needed to establish genetic linkages, establish tests and apply preventive measures.

When it comes to bacterial interventions, as go the humans, so goes the wine world. New thinking is coming forward about the implications of the role of microbes in wine taste and how it might be used as a new tool in the winemaker's arsenal.

New research published this week from U.C. Davis says wine terroir is partly a function of the microbial life of grapes who share similarities and differences in bacteria regionally or even from vine to vine in the same vineyards.

As any good Biodynamic® winemaker can tell you, native yeasts ain't all the same. They act differently and give different qualities to wine. (Most wine is made with commercial yeast which introduces a whole other factor to the winemaking equation.)

The U.C. study has tremendous implications.

“The study results represent a real paradigm shift in our understanding of grape and wine production, as well as other food and agricultural systems in which microbial communities impact the qualities of the fresh or processed products,” said Professor David Mills, a microbiologist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology and Department of Food Science and Technology.

One big question is: will wineries attempt to do the equivalent of a fecal transplant on vineyards - i.e. importing microbes from the world's best known vineyards? 

Other questions that arise - at least for me - are what is the impact of organic and Biodynamic practices on microbial life in wine grapes? We know that organic matter stimulates microbial life. Biodynamic practices do, too. The study was conducted with the help of Constellation Brands. I don't know if they have any organic or Biodynamic vineyards or if they were part of the study's considerations.

I'll be interviewing one of the intrepid U.C. Davis researchers this coming week and will let you know what they say about these and other topics.

New Wine Doc: A Year in Burgundy

If you can't make it to the Napa Valley Film Festival, you might want to indulge your film longings with this enchanting documentary about life in France's Pinot Noir and Chardonnay heartland - Burgundy. 

The film is called A Year in Burgundy. Here's the trailer.

Don't miss the wonderful quote from Lalou Bize-Leroy, the noted Burgundian grande dame, whose family owns Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. She established her own Domaine Leroy with all biodynamic vines, which prospered while her neighbors withered with mildew in the wet 2007 and 2008 seasons.

"You have to be a part of the life of the vine and the life of the soil, too," she says (in French).

Enjoy the trailer:

 

The film is made by David Kennard (with whom I used to work when I made PBS documentaries for a living.)

The film is available on iTunes, Amazon and on DVD.

Napa Valley Film Festival's Two Wine Documentaries Screen Next Week - On Vina and Zin

The rather posh looking Napa Valley Film Festival, a 5 day affair, launches Wednesday with two films on wine screening. (The catalog's ads are much more upscale than the Mill Valley Film Festival's).

Dossier Zinfandel 

From the Croatian TV, and the folks who made the film Like the Old Vine about Mike Grgich last year, comes a second film - on the history of Zinfandel. It screens twice:

Thursday, Nov. 14 at 1:30 pm in Yountville - followed by a receiption at Grgich Hills
Sunday Nov. 17, 8:30 pm in Calistoga

The Monks of Vina

John Beck's new documentary on the historic Vina winery will show. Having just purchased one of the few remaining new copies of the one and only book on Vina ($125!) this month and having visited Vina for the first time in Sept., I am very much looking forward to seeing this film on a piece of wine history people don't really remember.

Here's the movie trailer.


The Monks of Vina from Beck Media Productions on Vimeo.

It also screens twice:

Thursday, Nov. 14 at 2 pm in Calistoga
Sunday, Nov. 17 at 10 am in Napa

For more info, see the NapaValleyFilmFest.org web site.