Fiddlestix Vineyard

In each of the wine growing appellations of California that are pinocentric, there are a few notable vineyards that define the region. Fiddlestix Vineyard, located in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation of Santa Barbara County, is a vineyard of such renown that along with special vineyards like Sanford & Benedict, La Rinconada, La Encantada, Cargassachi, and Clos Pepe, the Fiddlestix name on a label has become a guarantee of excellence in Pinot Noir from the area.

The story behind Fiddlestix Vineyard is of interest. Kathy Joseph, the current effusive owner and winemaker at Fiddlehead Cellars, started out as a premed major in college (this is a familiar refrain quite unique to many winemakers). She eventually majored in biochemistry and attended University of California Davis graduate school. After working in the Napa Valley, she founded her own label, Fiddlehead Cellars, in 1988. Kathy searched for a strange or catchy name for her winery by exploring many books, but the name, Fiddlehead, came to her after one day in her garden nurturing some ferns that were just unfurling - Fiddlehead ferns to be specific. She loved the name and the visual connection with it. There was also a curly association - the fern curled up ready to emerge, and Kathy with her curly hair. The “fiddle’ theme became the source for the name of her vineyard (Fiddlestix), her own nom de plume, the “Head Fiddle,” and her annual event celebrating the wines from her vineyard, “Fiddlefest” (more about this later).

In the mid 1990s, Kathy began searching for her own vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills region. She found a 133- acre flower farm across Santa Rosa Road from the famed Sanford & Benedict Vineyard. The land shared the same well-drained soils and the cooling ocean coastal breezes that Sanford & Benedict Vineyard enjoyed. As fortune would have it, Kathy had established a close friendship with veteran viticulturalist, Robert “Taz” Steinhauer. “Taz,” is short for Tasmanian devil, a nickname Steinhauer acquired because he was a “whirling dervish” with boundless energy in the vineyards. Steinhauer joined Beringer Blass Wine Estates in 1979 and was a veteran of many harvests when he linked up with Joseph. The two formed a partnership with Beringer Blass Wine Estates, bought the ex-flower farm in 1996, and oversaw the planting of 100 acres of Pinot Noir beginning in 1998.

Located at mile marker 7.28 on Santa Rosa Road, Fiddlestix Vineyard is 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean at the western end of the Santa Ynez Valley. The Santa Rosa Hills are to the South and the Santa Rita Hills are to the North. The valley is unique for California in that it has an east-west orientation, drawing ocean breezes in and creating a very long growing season. Fog in the mornings and daytime temperatures barely rising above 75º make the Sta. Rita Hills appellation one of the coolest growing regions in California. The appellation (established in 2001) is a subdivision of the much larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation and is about 100 square miles in size, extending from Buellton in the West to Lompoc in the East and has about 700 planted hillside acres. It is one of three AVAs in Santa Barbara County, the other two being Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley. The Santa Rita Hills appellation is officially named Sta. Rita Hills, since Vina Santa Rita, a 123-year-old winery in Santiago, Chile, filed suit in 2001 to stop California vintners from using the Santa Rita Hills name. Sta. Rita Hills is pronounced the same, but reads a little awkwardly. Photos below of Fiddlestix Vineyard are looking north, showing the east-west orientation of the northerly Santa Rita Hills.

The Fiddlestix Vineyard is planted to thirty-five individual blocks, three rootstocks, and seven clones (Pommard 4 & 5, Dijon 113, 115, 667, 777, and Swan selection) of Pinot Noir. Tight spacing (1,556 vines per acre), VSP trellising, and primarily north-south facing rows throughout. The vineyard is under the management of Jeff Newton and Larry Finkle of Coastal Vineyard Care. Shoot thinning, leaf pulling and crop thinning is employed several times each season to limit yields.

Kathy Joseph retains about 15% of the vineyard’s output for her own label, and sells the rest on contract to several prestigious wineries including Ampelos Cellars, Ancien Wines, Anglim Winery, Ampelos, Arcadian Winery, Bonaccorsi Wine Company, Dragonette Cellars, Jonata, Ken Brown, Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Wines, Gainey, Ortman Family Vineyards, Pali Wine Company, Paul Lato, Prodigal Wines, RN Estate, Rusack, Summerland, Tyler, Vogelzang, Wedell Cellars and TAZ. She lives on the vineyard property with her husband, Tom Doyle, a medical malpractice attorney practicing in Northern California (they have a second home in Davis, California, where she spends much of the off season and which is used as the Fiddlehead Business Office). Along with a handful of full-time helpers, Kathy directs all the site-specific and sustainable farming on the vineyard. She has a very loyal crew including the vineyard supervisor, Rafa Medina, who has been at Fiddlestix since the beginning. Kathy recently took a class in Spanish so she could communicate more closely with her vineyard crew. The quality of the grapes from this vineyard are held in such high esteem that those who source grapes rarely request any changing in farming practices.

Beginning in 2006, Kathy Joseph has annually hosted Fiddlefest at Fiddlestix, a tribute to the vineyard that recognizes the winemakers who purchase grapes and craft wines from Fiddlestix Vineyard. It is staged in a refurbished barn on the vineyard property and this year (June 22, 2008), sixteen producers offered their Pinot Noirs. Despite searing heat, a hundred Pinot geeks converged at Fiddlestix to enjoy the luscious Pinots, feast on food from the Hitching Post II Restaurant in Buellton and rollick to the fiddling from The Southside Bluegrass Band. This is one of my favorite Pinot events of the year and is open to the public. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Fiddlehead and the 10th vintage anniversary of Fiddlestix so a special event is planned (stay tuned at www.fiddleheadcellars.com). Below are some photos that capture the spirit of the event.

The wines that stood out for me at Fiddlefest were: 2006 Anglim Winery Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2006 Dragonette Cellars Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir, 2002-2005 Fiddlehead Cellars Lollapalooza Pinot Noirs, 2006 Harley-Ostini Hitching Post Wines Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2005 La Cancion de Jonata Pinot Noir, 2006 and 2007 Paul Lato Sine Cera Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noirs (both barrel samples), 2005 and 2006 RN Estate Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir, and 2006 Wedell Cellars Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir.

There are a number of recent vintage Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noirs from various producers reviewed in past issues of the PinotFile (search wine reviews by Fiddlestix Vineyard). In addition, I tasted several Pinot Noirs sourced from Fiddlestix Vineyard recently and the reviews follow. The wines from this vineyard tend to be very flavorful with bright acidity and structured tannins that give them good age ability. The 2002 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noirs from Arcadian and Fiddlehead are drinking beautifully now.

Dragonette Cellars is a partnership between brothers John and Steve Dragonette and close friend Brandon Sparks-Gillis. The three spent a number of years learning the wine business through tasting, wine sales and winemaking under the tutelage of respected winemakers. To pursue their dream of making wine in the Santa Ynez Valley, they moved their families (a combined three spouses, three children, three dogs, and a cat) to the Valley, to be close to the land and its bounty. 2005 was the first commercial vintage for Dragonette Cellars which is a hands-on operation. The wines (there is a Rosé and Syrah available as well) are sold through a mailing list at www.dragonettecellars.com with limited retail distribution.

RN Estate is a winery in Paso Robles that specializes in Pinot Noir, red Rhone and Bordeaux varietals. Owner and winemaker, Roger Nicolas, is a Frenchman who grew up on a farm in Brittany, France, and came to the United States at the age of 20. During his years of working at and owning prestigious restaurants, he dreamed of crafting his own wines. The 2005 vintage marked his inaugural releases. I was also quite taken by the 2005 RN Estate Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir which also shows a French sensibility. The small production is sold primarily through the winery. Contact Roger by e-mailing him at rnicolas@rnestate.com or phoning 805-610-9802. The website is www.rnestate.com. Private tastings are available by appointment. Roger participated in a panel of new Pinot Noir producers at this year’s PinotSummit that I moderated. Listen to the recording.

Summerland Winery is a boutique producer that sources grapes from multiple vineyards in the Central Coast from Santa Barbara County north to Monterey County. This negociant winery has burst onto the Central Coast wine landscape since its founding by Nebil “Bilo” Zarif in 2001. Zarif was previously the owner of Barnwood Vineyards which he started in 1994. He initially bought 30 acres of land in the Cuyama Valley in Santa Barbara County and expanded the property to 800 acres of vineyards. He also acquired the Maison Deutz Winery as a silent partner which became Laetitia. In 2001, he sold his interest in both Barnwood and Laetitia and founded Summerland Winery. As a resident of Summerland, a hillside community overlooking the Santa Barbara Channel just south of Santa Barbara, it was natural to name his new venture after his beloved home community. He opened a quaint tasting room in Summerland at 2330 Lillie Ave which is open to the public Tuesday thru Sunday from 11-6. Zarif brought talented winemaker Etienne Terlinden with him from Barnwood and Laetitia. Terlinden acquired an appreciation for wine at an early age, playing hide-and-seek in his grandfather’s wine cellar at his home outside of Brussels, Belgium. He also makes wine for his own label, Cordon, a boutique Rhone wine label, and The Santa Maria Winery. All winemaking is done at Central Coast Wine Services in Santa Maria, California. Despite contrasting lifestyles, (Zarif is an avid polo player and Terlinden is a surfer) they have formed a highly successful partnership.

Summerland is an ambitious operation producing 10,000-15,000 cases annually of multiple varieties. The wines are sold on the website and through fine retailers. Both the 2004 and 2005 Summerland Pinot Noir from Fiddlestix Vineyard were very good wines. The website is www.summerlandwine.com and the phone is 805-565-WINE (9463).

Fiddlehead Cellars is a trusted source of Pinot Noir. There has been a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir in the lineup of wines, but I am not sure Kathy will retain her source for this wine. She crafts two higher-end wines, Lollapolloza and Doyle which I have reviewed in previous issues of the PinotFile. Don't forget her Sauvignon Blancs if you are a fan of this varietal as well as her excellent lateharvest wine, Sweetie (Sauvignon Blanc with a hint of Muscat Blanc). Current releases and library wines may be ordered online at www.fiddleheadcellars.com or by phoning 800-251-1225. The tasting room is located in the Lompoc “Wine Ghetto,” (call for directions as signage is poor in the warehouse complex) and is open from Thursday through Saturday from 11-4. If you get the opportunity to taste with Kathy, the head Fiddlechick, you are in for a treat. (Photo of Kathy and her husband Tom at this year's Fiddlefest is shown earlier in this feature).

Arcadian Winery winegrower Joe Davis is a believer in Old World (Burgundy) methods of crafting fine Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A classicist, his wines often need a few years to really offer their charms. As writer Dennis Schaefer has said, “Almost every winemaker who makes Pinot Noir professes to follow the Burgundian model. And, more or less that's true. But with some winemakers, the 'less' part is apparent, and plenty of shortcuts may be employed. With winemaker Joe Davis, everything is always 'more' Burgundian.” Founded in 1996, Arcadian owns no vineyards, but Joe spends considerable time in the 60 acres he controls or leases, making him as much a farmer as a winemaker. Production is 8,000 cases annually. The winery is at 4457 Santa Rosa Road, Lompoc. Tasting is by appointment. 805-688-8799. The wines are available on the website at www.arcadianwinery.com and through retail distribution. The 2002 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir I have sampled in the past was much better and more typical of Joe's wines than the 2004 vintage reviewed here. Unfortunately, a bottle of the 2001 vintage I sampled was flawed by TCA.

Jonata (“Ho-notta”) may just be the most high-profile new cult producer in Santa Barbara County. The winery is under the joint ownership of Charles Banks, a money manager for athletes, and Stanley Kroenke, a Denver real estate developer, who also jointly own Screaming Eagle (purchased for $90 million). The Jonata estate is in the Buellton Ballard Canyon area of the Santa Ynez Valley appellation and consists of 586 acres with 83 acres planted to warm-weather red varieties and Sauvignon Blanc. Pinot Noir is sourced from Fiddlestix Vineyard with plans to develop an estate vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills in the future. The young winemaker is Matthew Dees, an East Coast transplant who learned his winemaking at Staglin Family Vineyard and Craggy Range in New Zealand. He joined Jonata in 2004. The consulting enologist is famed Michel Rolland. There was a second Pinot Noir released in 2005, La Cancion de Jonata, which I assume is a reserve that is priced in the $125 range on the secondary market. I tasted it at Fiddlefest and its flavor profile was similar to the La Poesia, but an even richer and more brooding style. Jonata wines are sold bundled through a mailing list at www.jonata.com. with very limited retail distribution. 805-564-8591.

For more information on the Sta. Rita Hills appellation including an extensive map showing vineyard and winery locations, visit the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance website at www.staritahills.com.

---

Buena Tierra Vineyard

The first plantings of Pinot Noir ( or vines closely allied to Pinot Noir) in the Russian River Valley were reportedly farmed by the Fountaingrove Winery north of Santa Rosa in the 1930s. The modern age of Pinot Noir viticulture in the Valley began when the Bacigalupi family planted Pinot Noir on Westside Road in 1964. Several other venerable vineyard names followed including Rochioli Vineyard in 1968 and Joseph Swan’s Trenton Estate Vineyard in 1969. By 1973, Davis Bynum had released the first vineyard-designate wine from the Russian River Valley, a Rochioli Vineyard Pinot Noir, crafted by Gary Farrell. Tom Dehlinger followed two years later and released his first Pinot Noir in 1977.

The Buena Tierra Vineyard was planted in 1978, making it one of the oldest vineyards in the Russian River Valley. Owned and farmed by Joseph R. Miller, this venerable vineyard is located 1.5 miles southeast of Rochioli Vineyard in the low hills of the Laguna Ridge where the Russian River turns to head west to the Pacific Ocean. The site is ideal for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with well-drained sandy clay loam soil, cooling morning and evening fog from the ocean and bright sunshine during the day. Selectively irrigated, the vineyard is planted to several clones.

Through the years the vineyard has been the source of grapes for many notable bottlings including those of Williams Selyem and the now defunct Seven Lions Winery (owned by deceased Fred Williams). With the sale of Williams Selyem in 1997, former Williams Selyem alumni Margi Wierenga (Brogan Cellars) and Nikolai Stez have been major recipients of Pinot Noir grapes from Buena Tierra and both produce a vineyard-designate using grapes from the original plantings. Buena Tierra vineyard-designate Pinot Noirs have also been bottled in recent years by Renteria (no longer), Irony, Reynolds and White Oak. The Chardonnays from this vineyard have been impressive as well from producers such as Turjanis, Alban, Keegan Cellars and Shibumi Knoll. Brogan Cellars will bottle a 2008 Chardonnay from the Buena Tierra Vineyard as well.

From my recent tasting of several vintages of Buena Tierra Vineyard Pinot Noir from both Brogan Cellars and Woodenhead, I can highly recommend the bottlings from these two producers. They are quintessential Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs with bright flavors of cherries, spice and cola.

Brogan Cellars

Margi Wierenga is the daughter of Burt Williams and shares his hearty laugh and passion for Pinot Noir. Photo above shows Margi (right) pouring her wines at the 2007 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival. She was a teenager in the 1970s when Burt began to make his first wines in the family’s garage. She later worked as a volunteer at the original Williams Selyem winery in a rented garage on River Road in Fulton and became a paid employee at the subsequent winery location on the Allen Vineyard property on Westside Road.

With the sale of Williams Selyem in 1997, she started her own label, Brogan Cellars, named after her paternal grandmother. She released her first wine, a 1998 Russian River Pinot Noir, working out of a cramped converted garage, using the same dairy vats for fermentation made famous by her father. Her contacts at Williams Selyem allowed her to source top vineyard sources for her wines including the Buena Tierra Vineyard.

The Buena Tierra Vineyard Pinot Noir is the favorite of many of Brogan’s customers and some have called in “Sex in a Glass.” The Buena Tierra Pinot Noirs come from the vineyard’s oldest “Helio Doro Block”.The Helio Doro Block is 2.5 acres and was named by Fred Williams when he discovered the vineyard in 1999. The name refers to one of the employees who has worked the vineyard for many years. In recent years, Margi has produced several Pinot Noirs from her father’s Morning Dew Ranch in Anderson Valley. Production remains small (less than 2,000 cases) and includes other varieties as well. Most of the wine is sold through a mailing list at www.brogancellars.com. 707-473-0211.

Woodenhead

Nikolai Stez has been fermenting one thing or another since he was a boy growing up in the Russian River Valley.His Russian immigrant parents taught him to make kvas, a drink from fermented bread or fruit. He made wines for his biology and botany classes in college, and began crafting serious home wines in 1986. Although he graduated from the Horticulture/Viticulture program at Santa Rosa Junior College and took a few classes at University of California Davis, he attributes his winemaking skills to common sense and tuition. He was an assistant winemaker at Williams Selyem for 17 years before founding Woodenhead in 1999 with partner Zina Bower, who handles marketing and sales. The name, “Woodenhead,” is derived from a nickname given to him by an old girlfriend who thought he was very stubborn (he is).

Nikolai is a no-nonsense guy who refers to his winemaking as “Burgundian in the California style.” His initial release was from Elk Prairie Vineyard in Humboldt County. He produces both Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, with the both wines sourced from excellent vineyards. Besides Buena Tierra, he crafts vineyard-designate wines from Wiley Vineyard and Morning Dew Ranch Vineyard, both in the Anderson Valley, and Fruitland Ranch Vineyard in Humboldt County. His Russian River Valley blend is an outstanding wine as well. Production is 3,500 cases per year.

Woodenhead wines are sold through a mailing list, on the website, and through retail channels. The winery tasting room is located at 5700 River Road in Santa Rosa and is open Thursday through Sunday, 10:30 to 4:30. The phone is 707-887-2703.

---

Brewer-Clifton Recent Retrospective

The Brewer-Clifton label represents the partnership of two outstanding winemakers, Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton. Clifton developed a passion for winemaking while working as a buyer for a restaurant in San Diego in the late 1980s. He moved to Santa Barbara in 1991, staying with a family friend and working as a cellar rat in a number of Santa Barbara County wineries. He moved up the winemaking chain quickly, first becoming assistant winemaker at Rancho Sisquoc Winery, followed by a stint as winemaker at Beckmen Vineyards. He hooked up with another young winemaker, Greg Brewer, who became the winemaker at Melville Vineyards and Winery when it was formed in 1997. Brewer’s originally came into wine from an academic background, working as a French literature professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The pair decided to dedicate their new label to single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at a time (1996) when many Santa Barbara wineries were concentrating on varieties blended from multiple sources. They started with their combined meager savings, without assistance from family or investors, and began producing their wines in the unglamorous Lompoc “Wine Ghetto.”

They hit pay dirt in 2002 when Robert Parker, Jr., reviewed their wines from the 2001 vintage, and proclaimed the Brewer-Clifton wines to be “the single greatest revelation of my 2001 tastings.” The wines have always been crafted in a full-throttle, neuvo California style that Parker espouses, driven by very ripe prodigious fruit, high alcohol, and healthy tannins. Vineyard sites in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation have always been carefully chosen and emphasis has been placed on the vineyard as the ultimate determination of wine quality. A vineyard management team has been assembled under the direction of Francisco Ramirez and is currently farming Mount Carmel and Huber vineyards as well as 3-D Vineyard which they planted and developed.

The winemaking regimen is aimed at extracting the maximum amount of flavor. 100% whole cluster fermentation is extended, consisting of a 7 day cold soak, followed by a 2 week fermentation, and at least 10 days of extended maceration. Barrels are sourced from the Sirugue cooperage in Nuits-St.-George. All racking is by gravity and timed with the beginning of the waning moon following Summer Solstice when the wine is most settled. The bottles are capped with an attractive red wax seal. The owners recommend driving the corkscrew through the wax into the cork, but I found cutting the wax on top with a serrated corkscrew knife much easier. The wines are sold in standard-sized Burgundy bottles which are easy to rack and handle and I applaud them for this.

Brewer-Clifton has continued to evolve. With the 2007 vintage, they are offering an “appellation” blended Pinot Noir and Chardonnay which are handled in the winery identically to the other bottlings. These two wines will be bottled with Diam cork with the goal of converting all the vineyard-designate wines to Diam cork closure within a few years (Diam corks are produced with a high pressure carbon dioxide cleansing process which eliminates the risk of cork taint). Brewer-Clifton has also moved into a new winery production facility in Lompoc.

As a lark, I combined the Cargassachi, Rio Vista and Ashley’s in equal parts to produce a blend. The resultant wine was as least as good as any of the single-vineyard bottlings. Alluring aromas of red fruits, spice and sandalwood with delicious rich red fruits and an appealing soft texture. I do this frequently, but the jury is still out, as blends may or may not trump the single-vineyard bottlings.

The high alcohols are generally quite well integrated in the wines. Balance is decent, but with acidity lacking in some instances. The wines are ripe fruit-driven and concentrated, but can be linear and lacking in nuances of taste. There definitely is a consumer base for this style of Pinot Noir and Greg Brewer likes to point out that the alcohols listed on his wine labels are accurate, unlike some producers, whose wines are significantly above 14.1%, but fudge in portraying a true listing of the alcohol percentage (a 1% margin of error is allowed).

Brewer-Clifton wines are sold primarily through a mailing list. There is a spring and fall release. The wines used to be highly allocated, but with more production now (between 4,000 and 6,500 cases), availability has increased and buyers may choose among the offerings on a first come, first serve basis. The website is www.brewerclifton.com and the winery’s address is 329 North F Street in Lompoc. 803-735-9184. Greg Brewer is also the winemaker for his own label, diatom, and Melville Winery and Vineyards. Steve Clifton produces highly regarded Italian varieties under his label Palmina and is the winemaker for Tritono, an Argentine producer of Malbec.

---

Anthill Farms

Founded in 2004, this new producer with the quirky name and unique label has burst on the scene with startling good Pinot Noirs made from purchased grapes. This project is one of many that has ties with the Williams Selyem winery. Three young Pinot amigos, who had worked together as cellar hands at the distinguished winery on Westside Road launched their own winery with three Pinot Noir releases in 2004. Anthony Filiberti grew up in Sonoma County and was lured to wine at an early age. He learned winemaking at Bergstrom Winery in Newberg, Oregon, Hafner Vineyards in the Alexander Valley, and Williams Selyem. David Low grew up in Kansas but got hooked on wine while attending University of California Berkeley. A short stint as a computer programmer was followed by a change of heart and he later worked at both Williams Selyem and Papapietro Perry. Webster Marquez grew up on the East Coast and attended college in Virginia. Here he began working as an assistant winemaker at Jefferson Vineyards. He then moved to Sonoma County where he joined Williams Selyem. Currently he is the assistant winemaker at Belvedere Winery in Healdsburg. The trio’s goal is to craft Pinot Noirs which “express the growing site and the characteristics of the vintage, and above all else, taste good.” Their emphasis is on the vineyards and have named their winery Anthill Farms to emphasize the many tiny individual vineyards that form “the link between place and product.” Their grape sources are North Coast vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Anthill Farms Winery is located at 4791 Dry Creek Road, #3-4, Healdsburg, CA 95448. The phone is 707-490-5191. The wines are available on the website at www.anthillfarms.com and through retail channels. As good as these wines are, I was surprised recently to find the 2006 vintage Pinot Noirs still available on the website. I sampled the 2005 and 2006 lineup of Anthill Farms Pinot Noirs and my reviews follow.

Anthill Farms Pinot Noirs have made quite an impression with me. These are food-friendly wines that are elegantly styled with complex aromas and flavors and respectable balance. The Demuth bottlings are clearly the stars of the lineup but you can’t go wrong with any of the Pinot Noirs. I would grab some while the getting is good.

---

Sommelier Winemaker Debuts LIOCO Winery

Sommeliers know wine and understand how the components of wine can act in unison to compliment and enhance the experience of dining. They sense exactly the kind of wine that makes food sing. It is no surprise, then, that sommeliers have begun to launch their own labels, crafting wines that reflect their food sensitivities and their vast background in tasting fine wines. Many have establish close relationships with growers and winemakers through the years, making it comfortable for them to gain access to established expertise in the wine business. Some of the most notable sommeliers who have become winemakers include Rajat Parr of the Michael Mina Restaurant Group, John Lancaster of Boulevard Restaurant in San Francisco, and Kevin O’Connor of Spago Restaurant in Los Angeles.

Kevin O’Connor predates the current surge in sommelier winemakers, having made wine for years under the O’Connor label. Beginning with the 2005 vintage, he teamed with former North Berkeley Imports wine importer Matt Licklider to found the LIOCO label to produce vineyard-designate Pinot Noir along with stainless steel fermented vineyard-designate Chardonnay and a Carignan/Petite Sirah blend. LIOCO is a combination of the partner’s last names. O’Connor works closely with University of California Davis trained winemaker Kevin Kelley (Salinia) to produce non manipulated site-driven wines. The two Pinot Noirs reviewed below definitely reflect their unique terroirs. Winemaking features careful sorting in the vineyard and the winery, wild yeast and partial whole cluster fermentations of mixed clones, and aging for 10 months in 1,2 and 3 year-old oak barrels. LIOCO is a “virtual” winery making wines at a facility in Santa Rosa.

Lioco Wines are available on the website at www.lioco.com, at select restaurants, and fine retail wine stores. In the 2006 vintage, there is a third Pinot Noir from Michaud Vineyard near Chalone. The winery business office is located at 11151 Missouri Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90025 and the phone is 310-717-1892.

---

Small Sips of California Pinot Noir: Just Drink It

In recent weeks I tasted through a large number of primarily new releases from California producers. The tasting confirmed my general impression that there were more superb wines produced in the 2005 vintage than in the 2006 vintage. That said, I found many, many 2006 Pinot Noirs that warrant your attention. The buzz among the wineries and confirmed by my barrel tastings to date, indicate that the Pinot Noirs from 2007 in California will be among the best ever made. The 2008 growing season has been very difficult, complicated by frosts, heat waves, inopportune periods of rain, uneven weather patterns, and even smoke. Yields will be noticeably reduced in 2008 but like any uneven vintage, the top producers will be up to the challenges.

Seeking out the best vintners regardless of vintage is my goal. When you, the reader find some of my recommendations to your liking, ignore the vintage hype. I say forget the year, pull the cork and enjoy. If the wine in front of you gives you pleasure, then it is a good wine.

Trinity County

Anderson Valley - Mendocino County

Sonoma

Marin County

Napa Valley

Santa Cruz Mountains

Monterey County

Santa Rita Hills

---

Pinot Briefs

Celebration of Harvest Festival The Santa Barbara County Vintner’s Association sponsors this annual Celebration of Harvest to be held October 11 from 1:00 - 4:00 PM at the Rancho Sisquoc Winery in Santa Maria. 100+ vintner members will be pouring their wines and a silent auction of special bottlings will be held. There is also a four day Vintner’s Visa program (October 10-13 from 1:00 - 4:00 PM) in which selected wineries are open for tastings. For details and to purchase tickets, visit the Vintner’s Association website at www.sbcountywine.com.

2009 World of Pinot Noir Registration Now Open The Ninth Annual World of Pinot Noir will be held in Shell Beach, California, March 6 & 7, 2009. Two days of in-depth Tasting Seminars, Focus Tastings, two Gala Pinot Noir Dinners (one featuring Napa Rose chef Andrew Sutton at The Cliffs Resort and one featuring Lido chef Evan Treadwell), a Paulee Dinner at Au Bon Climat Winery, and the Saturday Featured Burgundy Tasting with the wines of Domaine Henri Gouges moderated by Allen Meadows. Tickets may be purchased for individual events. At this time there is no lodging available at the host Cliffs Resort, but there are many other hotels available close by and shuttles are provided. Always a grand event and highly recommended for pinot geeks.

A Winemaker’s Take on Harvest and Ripening Guy Davis crafts superb Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs from his estate vineyard under the Davis Family Vineyards label. He is a very cerebral winemaker and I look forward to reading his newsletters (sign up at www.daviswines.com). His most recent mailing had a very clear description of grape ripening and how he views the “balance bulls-eye” point at which grapes should be picked. He said the following. “There are two types of ripening going on within the vine and grapes: (1) the grapes are getting sweeter and less tart and (2) flavor production is occurring. The sugar is made by photosynthesis of the vine and the acidity is decreasing respiration due to heat/sunlight. The flavor molecules (anthocyanins and flavonols) are being manufactured at the same time, but not always at the same rate. The key relationship is flavor to sugar - encouraging flavor to develop as quick or quicker than sugar, so you have mature flavors and layers of several flavors. That is, complexity without too much sugar since sugar means alcohol. If the vine has all the water it wants, it will keep growing and the flavor progression will be slow, although sugar is being made daily. If the vine has too little water, it will reserve energy and not start the flavor incline. The goal is to find that fine line of what the vine needs but not all that it would like. I find that point once the grapes change color and hold it throughout the season. How? - obsessive detail to the leaf moisture, soil moisture and upcoming weather, walking the fine line and encouraging flavor. Then in the fall, making the most important decision of the year - the day to harvest - the day when the sugar, acidity and flavor are all in that optimum place - individually and to one another. I focus my sights every vintage on that “balance bullseye.”

2009 Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration Since its inception in 2000, this has become one of New Zealand’s premier wine events. Held in Queenstown on January 30-31, 2009, the seventh Celebration will focus on a comprehensive study of the Burgundian Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée with a special tasting of Grand Cru Burgundies. Additional events include a master class focusing on sub-regional characteristics of Central Otago Pinot Noir and a Grand Tasting of 42 Central Otago wineries. For registration information, visit www.pinotcelebration.co.nz.

Winery Picnics with Wine Now Permitted in California Legislation was recently signed by Governor Arnold Scwarznegger allowing wine to be consumed in winery picnic areas. People have been doing this for years in ignorance of the law and now this sensible legislation will make it will be perfectly legal.

New Movie Documentary ‘Merlove’ The premier and New York release of this documentary film was on September 18, 2008 at Wine 2.0 New York. The movie addressees the “unwarranted” attack on Merlot featured in the 2004 movie ‘Sideways.’ “Merlove” was filmed by Napa Valley filmmaker Rudy McClain and includes pro-Merlot interviews with noted winemakers such as Jean Claude Berrouet of Chateau Petrus, Peter Mondavi Jr. of Charles Krug Winery and Larry Stone of Rubicon Estate. To view the trailer and check the schedule of the ‘Merlove’ screening tour, visit www.merlove.com.

Happenings in Anderson Valley Phillips Hill Estates is opening a tasting room in Boonville and Londer Vineyards is still searching for an appropriate tasting room site (Larry Londer still receives people in his kitchen). Three new wineries are going up at Goldeneye (12,000 cases), Jim Ball Vineyard (including a cave) and Foursight Wines. Don and Rhonda Carano bought the Lazy Creek vineyard from Josh and Mary Beth Chandler, who plan to move to Healdsburg. Christy Griffith, a winemaker at Ferrari-Carano will become the winemaker at Lazy Creek. The Lazy Creek name and operations will remain the same. According to Wines & Vines (9/16/2008), Navarro Vineyards is planning another vineyard and winery near Boonville.

Clos LeChance Manages Vanity Vineyards Clos Le Chance Winery, under its CK division, assists wealthy homeowners in the San Jose area plant and maintain small vineyards in their back or front yards. According to Wine Enthusiast (October 2008), they now manage 41 vineyards ranging in size from ¼ to 10 acres. CK management purchases and harvest the grapes which are then used in Clos Le Chance wines. Clos LaChance Winery produces premium wines including very good Pinot Noir from their facility in San Martin, California.

---

Wine & Heart Health Summit

The 5th International Wine & Heart Health Summit will be held in Walla Walla, Washington April 1-4, 2009 at the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel in Walla Walla. (Note, the dates on the poster are incorrect).

There are daily scientific presentations by an international faculty of experts and active researchers in the science disciplines affected by wine, as well as local winemakers and wine celebrities. Gary Figgins, owner of Leonetti Cellar, will be the Honorary Co-Chair of the program. Featured presenters include R. Curtis Ellison, M.D., Roger Corder, M.D., and Arthur Klasky, M.D.

There will be bus tours to Walla Walla wineries, a wine turtorial for spouses, and a hosted Gala Dinner & Benefit Auction.

Tuition is $795 ($695 for Renaud Society members). Marcus Whitman Hotel rates are $140 per night. Continuing Medical Education credits are available.

You don’t have to be a doctor to attend or to enjoy this program!

---

Managing Alcohol

Everyone is debating hang times, sugar levels and alcohol percentages in wines from California. The current issue of the PinotFile lists several Pinot Noirs with alcohol percentages approaching or exceeding 15%. Vintners want to push flavor profiles and obtain maximum flavor development. To accomplish this task, grapes are left to hang long into the growing season with the result that sugar accumulation in the grapes increases markedly. High sugar, of course, translates into high alcohol in the finished wines.

California has become a leader in higher alcohol wines, primarily due to the warm climate, and the high scores that many of these wines garner from wine critics. The higher alcohol does produce mouth filling taste experiences at the expense of “hotness” which is most evident when the wines warm in the glass.

There are various technologies for reducing alcohol in wine. Vinovation, located in Sebastopol, championed the process of reverse osmosis for alcohol reduction beginning in 1992. ConeTech, with offices throughout the world, including Santa Rosa, California, introduced the Spinning Cone Column(SCC) first into California in 1991. ConeTech claims SCC technology enables precise adjustment of a wine’s alcohol level, aimed at achieving the “sweet spot” (between 12 and 14% for most wines) of harmony and balance and without changing the wine’s natural flavor. Cost is only a few cents per bottle.

Other options for reducing alcohol include filtering, blending with other wines, and diluting the wine with water. Many winemakers are convinced that all of these procedures sacrifice flavor and mouth feel and significantly change the structure of a wine.

Half of all California is said to undergo some type of technological alcohol reduction. Vinovation claims to have the largest consumer base with over a thousand clients, but neither Vinovation or ConeTech will disclose names of their winery customers. Alcohol adjustment is one of those things that is frequently done, but no one willingly talks about it, for fear the consumer will be judgmental about the quality of the wine. There are few winemakers who openly admit to their little secret.