A lot to catch up on...

Wow, looks like I haven't posted in almost a month! Some of you were getting a bit restless out there....in my defense, in addition to attending class and a big ol' test on the wines of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and Germany (yikes!) I have been very busy with THREE term projects, all due this week or next, and I have to admit that I procrastinated in getting started on them!

First project was a term paper, "The Story of Veuve Cliquot Champagne" - it's actually the story of the woman who built the famous French champage house, and is credited with perfecting the technique called remuage (riddling), which forever changed the way champagne was made - in short, it is the process of turning bottles to collect sediment on the cork, which can then be removed (degorgement) before the bottle is topped off and resealed with a new cork. I decided on this as my topic after reading the book "The Widow Cliquot", a gift from my friend Joyce.

My second project was a "lab report" done by making observations in a specific vineyard over a period of months, from veraison (when grapes are softening and turning in color) through ripening and harvest. My subject vineyard was an old vine Zinfandel vineyard belonging to Battaglini Estate Winery, and thanks go to vigneron Joe Battaglini for his permission to traipse around in his vineyard, as well as the background information he supplied.

My last project is still in the works, and I left it for last because it was the one I dreaded most doing - a budget for a hypothetical vineyard operation. I chose to use as my "fantasy" vineyard one based on the Burgundian concept of "small vines" - high density planting of low vigor rootstock of a Pinot Noir cultivar. I am getting some assistance from a local small vine vineyard, and boy do I need the help! Even the simple idea of creating a budget just to establish such a vineyard, and maybe take it through the first year of growth, has turned out to be so much more complicated that I imagined. Oh well, it's a learning process, that's really the whole point of it.

Other than the above, we did have an interesting field trip to the Clos du Bois winery in Geyserville, which I'll post some notes on with pictures I took. And two "weekend" classes on pruning grapevines, which I really liked. Have some pictures of that too, so I'll get those up shortly.

Two more weeks until the semester ends and then I have a month off before Spring classes begin in January.

Wine Alert!

Okay, everyone, here's my wine recommendation for
your Thanksgiving turkey dinner....

Just had a bottle (with friends!) of 2007 Picket Fence Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley) which I purchased at Trader Joe's for $8.99 - I am VERY happy with it....first time I've tried anything from Picket Fence, and I'm so pleased because their vineyard is near Shone Farm's, and I know that their vineyard manager, Peter Opatz, was Sonoma County's 2010 Viticulturist of the Year. I guess I just assumed his wine would be too pricey for me, so I never looked for any. Just came across this Pinot at TJ's yesterday when I went shopping for some things for my guests this afternoon. I couldn't believe it was just $8.99,and thought, how good could it be? I'm pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend this for your turkey celebration this year. It's smooth, with 'mouthwatering' flavors of bing cherry and spice, a touch of oak, and a velvety finish. Yummy.

Fall Comes to Shone Farm

Rochioli Vineyards & Winery

Wine tasted at Rochioli on Thursday with classmate Erin (also went to Gary Farrell, pics below)....both have beautiful & scenic settings, though we preferred the overal feeling at Rochioli - a little more casual. A beautiful Maine Coon kitty makes its home at Rochioli, seen lounging around on one of the patio tables! Lucky cat.

Rochioli is a three-generation, family
owned and operated winery, and one of Sonoma County's best known and respected. Started in 1938 by one of the original "westside story pioneers" - Joe Rochioli Sr., they produce "silky-smooth, fruit forward Pinots, rich, opulent Chardonnays and tangy, food-friendly Sauvignon Blancs." Great visit, and our tasting room host Sam was super nice and friendly.

The Lynn Pedone Wine Tour Continues

What's the best use of an extra hour and a half between classes? Wine tasting of course!! On Thursday, my classmate Erin and I visited Gary Farrell Winery and Rochioli Winery on Westside Road. At Gary Farrell we tasted two Chardonnays, two Pinots and one Zinfandel, and each left with a bottle of our favorite, the 2008 Westside Farms Chardonnay: aromas and flavors of banana, pineapple, lime, and honey-baked apple leading to baking spices, vanilla, marzipan and chalk dust (?)...can't say I detected all of those, but it was rich and delicious, and I don't spend $40 lightly on a bottle of wine! The tasting room had an exquisite view of the valley, and was elegant and trendy (loved the "local" artwork on the walls for sale).

At Rochioli, there were only two offerings, a Chardonnay and a red blend. The latter was bright and tasty and I bought a bottle: the 2008 Ranch Red - 60% Syrah, 20% Petite Sirah, and 20% Zinfandel. It is a rich and full bodied wine with hints of cedar, spice and red plums. For hearty meals and festive occasions :-)

Sensory Evaluation of Wine

The highlight of last week was my introduction to sensory evaluation (aromas/flavors) of wine. Appraising a wine's aroma is the most important part of sensory evaluation - I can't (yet!) but an experienced winemaker or judge can tell a lot about wine just by smelling it. Apparently, it's not all fun and games for the winemakers - a lot of mistakes can happen during handling and fermentation that can result in some pretty bad 'defects' or 'undesirable' (putting it mildly!) attributes. I really had no idea how many aromas, both pleasant and unpleasant, exist in wine, and we experienced both, in actual wine samples and with the aid of aroma "kits" - tiny bottles of sample smells. On the upleasant side, "cork", "sulphur" (rotten eggs) and "brett" (a barnyard character like horse sweat) were the worst; others were garlic, cabbage, mold, tar, and nail polish remover! These are caused by a variety of bacteria and spoilage yeasts. Luckily for winemakers, there are lots of additives and chemicals that can correct or mask these problems, but the key to avoiding them in the first place is to begin with good, ripe fruit, treated well and fermented in a clean environment. The good smells included fruit like apple, pear, pineapple, prune, melon, lemon, orange, cherry, peach, blackberry and strawberry, honey, toast, butter, caramel, hazelnut, coffee, cinammon and chocolate. There are many more. Our teacher said the only way to learn and develop the ability to "describe" wine (balanced, cloying, crisp, earthy, herbaceous, oaky, spicy, jammy, woody) is to taste, taste, taste.....fortunately, that's not an arduous task!!

California/Sonoma County - Part 2

So last week, we finished up here in Sonoma County - with an in-depth look at each of its 13 AVA's (American Viticultural Areas), or regions. Climates, soils, and varietals were covered. What I found most interesting was learning about the history of the most famous wineries and who started them - family dynasties and dynamics, etc. It's fun to now know something about the names I've been familiar with for years - Cline Cellars, Ferrari-Carano, Pedroncelli, Clos du Bois, Rodney Strong, Coppola and Beringer (which was Italian Swiss Colony back in the 50's-60's, remember them?!). I also never knew about Raymond Burr (old Ironside himself) Vineyards, which apparently produces great Cabs. Amazing how many vineyards and wineries have been handed down through generations, with enough wealth to go to multiple children and grandchildren, no matter how many there were! The Kendall-Jackson empire is one that comes to mind - I never knew members of the KJ family also own La Crema and Murphy-Goode. Benziger Family Wines was started by father Bruno, but when their Chardonnay label was sold for many millions, they were still able to keep their vineyards and sons Mike and Joe and one or two other siblings each got a piece of the pie which they used to start Glen Ellen Winery ("here's two million, go buy yourself a winery")....and there are many stories like this!

Then there are the "pioneers" who made their mark without family ties - one such person was Justin Meyer, who started Silver Oak Cellars. I've had the great pleasure of drinking Silver Oak Cabernet (very high end - obviously I didn't buy it myself!) but I had no idea who was behind the label. Apparently Justin Meyer (who died in 2002 at just 63) was a real "cult" figure on the Napa wine scene. He was a Spanish teacher and member of the Christian Brothers order, where he learned to make wine. Later he got his enology degree from UC Davis and founded Silver Oak Cellars with partner Ray Duncan, a Colorado oilman. He was President for many years of the American Vineyard Foundation, raising tax-deductible contributions for research in viticulture and enology, one of many contributions he made to the wine industry. Back in the 70's you had to get on a waiting list to buy his wine, now it's readily available, costing $80 for the Alexander Valley Cabernet and $100 a bottle for the Napa Silver Oak Cabernet.

Did you know that the author Jack London had a residence in Sonoma? In fact, his cottage, where he wrote his books, still stands in Jack London State Historic Park. Something he wrote in the late 1800's , talking about his ranch in Sonoma County, would easily be true today:

"I ride out over my beautiful ranch. Between my legs is a beautiful horse. The
air is wine. The grapes on a score of rolling hills are red with autumn flame.
Across Sonoma Mountain, wisps of sea fog are stealing. The afternoon sun
smolders in the drowsy sky. I have everything to make me glad I'm alive."