Podcasts about acorn winery

Bill Nachbaur Acorn Winery co-owner Bill Nachbaur is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. First, Bill tells about buying the vineyard that had been planted decades ago as a field blend. This means different varietals are planted side by side in the same vineyard, unlike most vineyards today. As a teenager in the 1890s Bill's grandfather worked in vineyards in the area. The whole story is on their website. Field-blended wines are made of different grape varieties grown together then pressed and vinted together too. The result can be tasted in the flavors that are uniquely reflective of the land and the blend. Today they have planted some grapes that reflect their personal heritage. There is Zinfandel and also some Alvarinho, a Portuguese varietal, to honor his wife's grandmother. Gruner Veltliner is an Austrian grape that he planted to honor his grandfather.   Click the logo to visit our sponsor Rodney Strong for the latest on the 2022 Summer Concert series. Dan Berger describes Acorn Winery as a fascinating project because it is not varietal-based. They have decided to focus on their field blends, so they are by definition vineyard-based. They are often a year behind their neighbors in their releases, because they hold them a longer time, which they need to express their character. The Gruner Veltliner is very dry. Dan tastes a “preserved lemon” character. The sharpness of the acid would make it great to go with seafood. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Acorn Winery is located across the street from Rodney Strong and they can partially hear their concerts. Besides the whites and the rosato, they make Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Dolcetto, Syrah and Cabernet Franc as well as blends of those. Acorn Winery wines use oak in a very careful way so the wine speaks to the fruit. Dan Berger says his Dolcetto is really an Italian style, which means it is delicate. It is a grape from Piedmont, northwest Italy. Dolcetto and Barbera are the everyday wines. Barbaresco and Barolo, made from the Nebbiolo grape, are the heavies. They taste the Rosato, which is simply the Italian word for pink, or Rosé wine. It is a bit darker than the usual Rosés. All Rosés are on a color spectrum, though. It is hard to tell a Rosé from a red if you taste it from a black glass. Your vision influences your expectations and what you taste.

When we purchased Alegría Vineyards In 1990, Bill was able to pursue his childhood dream of being a farmer, trading in his law books for books on viticulture, pruning shears, and a tractor. “Alegría”, our vineyard name, means “Happiness” in Spanish. Bill is much happier working in the vineyard and making wine than he was working as a lawyer. He likes working with his hands and being outdoors. He knows every vine on our 32 acres and takes pleasure in making a physical product that people can enjoy and appreciate. As he often says, he never got such positive feedback for well-crafted legislation or a contract. “Alegría” is also an apt description of how you will feel when you discover our wines. Betsy makes visiting ACORN Winery is a memorable experience. Betsy enjoys welcoming visitors and sharing our wines and our story. We are passionate about preserving the tradition of field-blending and co-fermenting. The oldest part of our vineyard, which dates back to 1890, is a field blend of Zinfandel inter-planted with Alicante Bouschet, Petite Sirah, and many other grape varieties. That mixed planting inspired us to plant about 100 different varieties as we planted new vineyards adjacent to the old. As far as we know, ACORN is the only winery where every wine is a co-fermented field blend. At first, we sold all of our grapes to Ridge Vineyards and other local wineries, but in 1994, we decided to make wine ourselves and established ACORN Winery. An acorn is a popular symbol of prosperity, good fortune, and potential. (“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”) We are tiny like an acorn; Our wines have a lot of potential; our historic vineyard is lined with tall oak trees; and our wine is aged in oak barrels, so ACORN was the perfect name! Our first release was our 1994 Sangiovese, co-fermented with Canaiolo and Mammolo. We are dedicated to creating co-fermented field blends from our certified sustainable grapes that truly reflect this special place. We have always been committed to farming and living sustainably. We enjoy the biodiversity of the creatures, great and small, who share this land with us. Today, after more than 30 years, we continue to find alegría living in the middle of our vineyards, enjoying the Russian River climate, growing grapes and sharing our ACORN wines.

Grüner Veltliner (GROOH-ner felt-LEEN-ah) is the main white grape of Austria. In this show we discuss its surprisingly recent rise to fame, its unusual origin, and its important place in wine.   Here are the show notes: History and Parents of Grüner We discuss this beautiful white grape whose name means  'green grape from the village of Veltlin in the Tyrol (Italy)," despite that fact that the grape likely comes from Niederösterreich, Austria M.C. Ice becomes baffled by Savagnin v Sauvignon. We settle on calling Savagnin it's other name, Traminer. The story of Grüner's other parent, St. Georgener is a marvel.In short, it was discovered as a 100+ year old lone vine growing on a cattle farm in 2000 after a local vintner followed a hunch that it was there. After six years of study, it became clear it was the parent of Grüner. In 2011, vandals chopped this old, lone vine into smithereens -- the ancient trunk and all shoots were hacked to pieces, devastating the Austrian wine industry. The thieves were never caught (although M.C. Ice swears he's on the job) but grapes are hard to keep down -- new shoots from this old vine grew from the ground and now the new growth is a national monument.   We discuss how Grüner Veltliner was not much of a revered grape in Austria until the proper trellising system came along and changed the game. In the 1950s, producer Lenz Moser created a new vine training system that changed the way the grape is grown."High culture" or Hochkultur calls for growing the vine trunk to (1.3 m/ 4.3 ft) and reducing vine density by wide row spacing.  These changes revolutionized Grüner. By 2002 it gained great critical acclaim and it grew in popularity from there. Here is a link to the Wall Street Journal article written by Leattie Teague, who I referred to as the  "bizarro" me (as Seinfeld reference -- it means it is you, only the exact opposite!). In this case, I don't think Grüner has ever been "out of fashion" but I also don't believe in wines being fashionable, so there's that.    Grüner in the Vineyard To get the best wines from this grape, restricting yields is essential This mid-ripening grape has very green, yellow toned berries and does well on Loess soils, does not like dry soils   The rest of the show is a quick tour of the regions...  Austria  Weinviertel DAC : Austria’s largest wine-growing region, this northeast area is home to more than half of all Austrian Grüner Veltliner. The wines from the west are lighter and more minerally. Those in the northeast are spicy. In the southeast the wines are soft, round, and can be at higher levels of ripeness (on the Prädikat scale  -- Auslese, Beerenauslause -- fully ripe to botrytized unctuous wines).  Weinviertel Grüner is known for  “Pfefferl” - white, black, and green pepper notes with fruit and acidity.   Traisental DAC: Along the Traisen -- a tributary of the Danube -- this is a small area with very long lived Reserve wines and fruity, spicy, acidic, minerally Grüner Veltliner. The single vineyard wines are prized, albeit hard to find outside of Austria.   Leithaberg DAC : Creates varietally labeled or blended Grüner  (often with Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Neuberger)   Wagram DAC: Known for easy drinking spicy wines but the region does make rich reserve wines as well.   Austrian Grüner's "Big Three" along the Danube: Kamptal, Kremstal, Wachau Kamptal DAC: Named for the river Kamp that runs through it, Kamptal is known for mid-weight to very robust, dry wines with tropical, mineral, and peppery notes. In cooler years the wines are lighter and refreshing, in warmer ones it is full bodied and silky with fruit and pepper flavors and aromas.   Kremstal DAC: Named for the Krems river, Kremstal has three zones that produce different styles. The best generally come from the loess (wind-blown silt soils) terraces along the Danube, which create round, full-bodied, fruity wines with ample acidity for balance. Kremstal is slightly warmer than Kamptal, so especially in cooler vintages, Kremstal will show noticeably silkier textures, more body, and more fruit than the wines of Kamptal   Wachau DAC (as of spring 2020): The most famed area for Grüner Velliner in the world, this narrow valley runs from the city of Melk to Krems. Vineyards are on steep, terraced hills, which face south and must be harvested by hand. The climate here represents the meeting of the cooler Atlantic air from the west and the warmer Pannonian air from the east -- the blend is ideal for growing Grüner. Wachau makes some of the best Grüner in the world. When it is made from ideal sites and aged, many compare it to the finest Burgundies, for a fraction of the price. Wachau has its own ripeness classification: Steinfeder is for lighter wines with up to 11.5% alcohol Federspiel is the classic Wachau wines with good ripeness and flavor, and alcohols ranging from 11.5%-12.5% ABV Smargd is for full ripe grapes with ABV of more than 12.5% (smargd is a green lizard that runs around the vineyards of Wachau) (more information on all these spots at the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, from which much of the above info is sourced)   Other spots in Europe that grow Grüner:  Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Trentino Alto-Adige (Italy),  Wurttemberg (Germany), France   Grüner in the New World In the US: The Finger Lakes and Long Island in New York Various other east coast states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia California – various places, including ACORN Winery in Sonoma, which will soon have a white field blend featuring Grüner Oregon: Both in  Willamette Valley and Umpqua Valley Washington State Other spots around the New world... Canada:  British Columbia is experimenting with Grüner Australia: South Australia, specifically Adelaide Hills as well as Canberra New Zealand: Gisbourne on the North Island, Marlborough and Central Otago on the South Island (I didn't mention this in the podcast but there is a good amount of loess soil in New Zealand, which is ideal for Grüner. This is especially true in Central Otago, where the climate is similar to that of Wachau).   A final note on Grüner Veltliner styles... There is a tremendous amount of variety -- some wines are fresh and young wine, some are sparkling, some are very age worthy. Boiling it down to basics, we could put flavors into two buckets: Light, fresh, minerally with arugula, pepper, lemon, grapefruit and other citrus character. Some have spritz (small bubbles) to show off the minerality and fruit. The acidity may seem more pronounced in these styles because the fruit is not as ripe and lush Heavy, complex, with white pepper spice, tropical fruit or ripe apple notes, can be silky but with balancing acidity. These are the versions you find from warmer sites like Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal regions. Look for "Reserve" on the bottle if you plan to age these wines. And wait a few years before you have them -- many aren't ready for five or more years. Other style notes: Grüner is generally made without oak aging in small or new barriques, as it hides the beautiful natural flavors of the grape. The sweet wines of Grüner are full and ripe -- like peaches, pineapple, and nutmeg but their richness is balanced by strong acidic.   Grüner Veltliner Food Pairing Ideas Charcuterie, schnitzel, smoked fish Salads, asparagus, other green veggies Vietnamese or Thai food. Lemongrass or spicy curries, and spring rolls are great pairings   If you haven't had Grüner get some today (I promise it's not a has-been. And if it is, let's snatch up what all the trendy people don't want -- their loss!).   __________________________________________________ Thanks to our sponsors:   Wine Access      Visit: www.wineaccess.com/normal and for a limited time get $20 off your first order of $50 or more!  Wine Access is a web site that has exclusive wines that overdeliver for the price (of which they have a range). They offer top quality wines by selecting diverse, interesting, quality bottles you may not have access to at local shops. Wine Access provides extensive tasting notes, stories about the wine and a really cool bottle hanger with pairings, flavor profile, and serving temps. Wines are warehoused in perfect conditions and shipped in temperature safe packs. Satisfaction is guaranteed! 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Wine Road Episode 98 | Year End Wrap Up!  As we head into 2020, Marcy and Beth reflect 2019. Take a listen as the ladies review all of Wine Road's recent accomplishments and share all the excitement about the new year to come!     Wine, When and Where of Northern Sonoma County with news on events, wineries, wines, dining options, activities, and places to stay. Show Notes 2:30 New Additions to Wineroad.com  4:30 Beth’s Favorite Things  7:43 Marcy’s Favorite Things  10:30 Wine Road podcast is up for the Taste Awards!  11:30 Book of the Day: Pasta, Pane, and Pinot  13:15 Trip Advisor Review  14:30 Sonoma County - Wine Region of the year!  15:00 A tip from Beth  16:00 Save the Date - Wine Road Golf Classic on May 29th Links A Perfect Day  Richard - Threshold Studios Parish Cafe  Baci Papa’s Pizza   Dry Creek General Store  Willowood  Bowman Cellars  Kokomo Wines  Acorn Winery  Hook & Ladder Winery Harvest Moon Winery  Alexander Valley Vineyards  Raggle Ranch  Doren Park  Bodega Head  Charles Schultz Museum  Chile Pies Baking Co.  Jaspers  Wine region of the year by Trip Enthusiast   Wine Road Golf Classic on May 29th   Please leave us a review on TripAdvisor HERE   Credits: The Wine Road podcast is mixed and mastered at Threshold Studios Sebastopol, CA. 

We are tiny like an acorn. Our winery is framed by tall oak trees. Our wine is aged in oak barrels. So ACORN seemed the perfect name for our winery. Bill traded in his law books for books on viticulture, pruning shears, and a tractor when we purchased Alegría Vineyards in 1990. In the early years, he was in the vineyards every day, and Betsy helped out on weekends, but within a few years she too was ready for a change and joined Bill full time. At first, we sold all of our grapes to other wineries, and they produced highly prized Alegría Vineyard-designated wines. Then in 1994, we decided to make some wine ourselves and established ACORN Winery. Our first release, in 1996, was our 1994 Sangiovese. Gradually, we kept more grapes for ACORN and added other wines. Now we make seven different wines—Russian River Valley Heritage Vines™ Zinfandel from the original 1890s vineyard, Russian River Valley Axiom® Syrah, Russian River Valley Cabernet Franc, Russian River Valley Sangiovese, Russian River Valley Dolcetto, two proprietary blends—Medley® and Acorn Hill, and a flavorful Rosato (a dry Rosé). We still sell half our grapes to other wineries. Several of them vineyard-designate the wines. Our production remains small, at about 3,000 cases each year. All our wines are made from grapes we grow ourselves at Alegría. Every wine is a field blend, following the ancient tradition represented in the mixed planting that is our original 120-year old vineyard. Every wine is made by co-fermenting multiple varieties. We like to say that our wines are blended from the day they are picked. This is what sets ACORN wines apart. Today, after 25 years, we continue to find alegría living in the middle of our vineyards, enjoying the cool Russian River Valley climate, and continuing a long tradition by sustainably growing premium quality grapes and producing acclaimed award-winning wines.

Grapes: Cabernet Franc 2014 Acorn Winery, Russian River Valley Grass: Classic Old Amsterdam, Abatin Farms Welcome to Season 4! In this episode, your trusty Grapes & Grass buddies start the year off with a classic Amsterdam strain while sipping on a nice Cabernet Franc from the Russian River Valley. Topics: Neem oil toxicity with cannabis plants, and how to manage pests naturally when cultivating your own; crop sharing; imminent on-site consumption; vegan wines; kid jokes; and a cool new spot in San Francisco.

Bill Nachbaur from Acorn Winery is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Their first tasting is a 2014 Sangiovese, whose label suggests several Italian food pairings. Dan Berger explains that Sangiovese is a variety that very few Californians want to make, because we get so much sun that we can't avoid having a plump wine. Californians like that the acids will drop out of the wines, but "...this one is a beautiful example of splitting the difference between California ripeness and Chianti's acid-based" flavors. Dan suggests pairing it with wild boar stew or anything with strong flavors.  Bill says that the Russian River Valley climate is ideal for this. It's a cooler climate than other Sangiovese growing regions in the US so they can control the acidity to get it super ripe before picking it. Bill says it's the most widely planted grape in Italy. Bill and his wife bought the vineyard in 1990 after working in law, and took viticulture classes at Santa Rosa JC under Rich Thomas. He was first focussed on growing grapes and his first wine was a 1994 Sangiovese. He makes a wine called "Alégria" (happiness in Spanish, close to the Italian Allegria). They have about 26 acres of grapes and they just finished their 29th harvest. Then they taste a 2014 Zinfandel that Steve says is delicious. Bill credits the Russian River Valley cool climate and extra complexity from the "field blend." It is from the oldest part of the vineyard 78% Zinfandel, 10% Petit Syrah and 10% Alicante Bouchet, with the remaining 2% from a mix of other grapes. All their wines are "field blends" which means they grow the grapes together then they pick them together and press and ferment them together. Dan says some Zinfandels get "over-ripe and plummy" but that he likes the black raspberry component in this wine, which works with the other peppery aromatics in the blend. Bill thinks the pepper flavor comes from the Petit Syrah. Next they taste a Dolcetto, another Italian grape that is quite rare in California. It is grown in Piedmont (Piemonte) in north-west Italy.  Despite the name of the grape, it makes a dry wine. Dan says to decant it to give it lots of air. Bill says that most Dolcetto in Italy is not oaked or aged, as he does to it. He gives it 18 months in oak. Bill Nachbaur tells about visiting Piedmont and asking winemakers there if they used oak and they replied, "well, our grandfathers didn't do it," so they don't. (That is a prevailing attitude in Italy about a lot of food and wine practices. -cd).  Dan Berger tells that very little Dolcetto is grown in California because growers make so much from the familiar varieties that planting a less-well-known grape is too much of a risk. Dan says that Dolcetto has good acid and it works well in blends. It responds well to decanting, to highlight its dry character. Then they taste Medley, which is a combination of 60 varieties that they grow. There is a chart that lists all the varieties. It is a vineyard blend of 20% Zinfandel, 18% Cinsaut, 18% Syrah, 18% Muscats, 10% Dolcetto, 2% Petite Sirah, 2% Alicante Bouschet, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Sangiovese, and 10% other varieties. This is the 15th year of Medley, which they started making in 2000. Dan Berger believes that it should not rest for more than 3 or 4 years because its great complex fruit flavors will still be evident. Dan says that Medley could not be made this way in many other regions. For example, in Alexander Valley, the wine would be different. Trying to mix these varieties in the Alexander Valley do not yield such subtle flavors as do the Russian River Valley's cold temperatures, fog and marine influence. They are about a mile from the river and will have fog all morning for many days in the Summer, so they might pick a month later than they would in nearby Dry Creek. It's an example of how great reds can grow in Russian River Valley as well as the white varieties grow there.

Wine Road Episode 70 - Field Blending with Bill - In this episode Beth and Marcy have Bill Nachbaur in the studio talking about field blends and the history of ACORN Winery/Alegría Vineyards while sipping on the Wine of the Day an ACORN 2014 Russian River Valley Heritage Vine Zinfandel. Bill gives us the Word of the Day - Ampelography. Marcy and Bill discuss the Book of the Day Godforsaken Grapes by Jason Wilson and with the Item of the Day the discussion turns to Argon. Don’t forget to get your Winter WINEland tickets and visit Bill and Betsy at ACORN! Wine Road provides the Wine, When and Where of Northern Sonoma County with news on events, wineries, wines, dining options, activities, and places to stay. Show Notes:   0:25  Special Guest - Bill Nachbaur of ACORN Winery/Alegría Vineyards   0:45 Wine the Day - ACORN 2014 Russian River Valley Heritage Vine Zinfandel   2:25 ACORN Winery History   3:48 Word of the Day - Ampelography   6:01 Field Blend 11:47 Career Path into the vines 16:20 Open by appointment only explained 19:17 Book of the Day - Godforsaken Grapes - A Slightly Tipsy Journey Through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Under appreciated Wine - by Jason Wilson 20:42 Item of the Day - ArT Wine Preserver with Argon 22:50 Winter WINEland TICKETS!!!  A field blend of grapes from Alegría Vineyards that will eventually become ACORN Winery’s Medley, one of their signature field-blend wines. Photo courtesy of ACORN Winery / Alegría Vineyards   Links: Bill Nachbaur  ACORN Winery/Alegría Vineyards  Wine of the Day - 2014 RRV Heritage Vines Zinfandel  Word of the Day - Ampelography Book of the Day - Godforsaken Grapes - A Slightly Tipsy Journey Through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Under appreciated Wine - by Jason Wilson Item of the Day - ArT Wine Preserver with Argon Winter WINEland Tickets  Barrel Tasting Tickets    Ryan Frederickson - Founder of ArT Wine Preserver   Credits: The Wine Road podcast is mixed and mastered at Threshold Studios Sebastopol, CA. 

Blends are growing in popularity and this week we have the master of blends that are made in the vineyard: Bill Nachbur of ACORN Winery in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma, CA. If you are curious about old-school viticulture, this is a must-listen. Here are some of the topics we address: Bill tells us about field blends and the difference between a field blend and a blended wine We discuss the costs and benefits of field blends?  We talk about why ACORN does field blends, even though monoculture is the modern way and how he has sustained the practice through the years ACORN farms sustainably. We talk about the environmental/vineyard benefits of field blends We chat about the effect of field blends on flavor of finished wine and how it affects winemaking decisions?  I ask Bill if it's possible to NOT be a farmer (just a winemaker) and still make a successful field blend... And we tackle some exciting news: ACORN will soon have a white wine!! We talk about the genesis of field of blended grapes and how challenging it can be!  Visit: https://acornwinery.com/vineyard-map for the stuff we address on the podcast and to order Bill's outstanding wines!  _____________________________________________________ Thank you to our sponsors this week: YOU! The podcast supporters on Patreon, who are helping us to make the podcast possible and who we give goodies in return for their help!Check it out today: https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople   Last Bottle Last Bottle Wines finds great wines and offers them at a one time discount. Last Bottle Wines: Is a fun way to discover the best wines at the lowest prices Maintains relationships with producers in the most prestigious wine regions around the world and traveling to Europe several times each year to eat with, stay with, drink with, walk the vineyards with the people who make the wines. Offer a range of prices from low end to high end $9 to $99 and the wines range from the lesser known kinds like Albariño and Bläufrankish to Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay. Visit: http://lastbottlewines.com/normal and join to get a $10 instant credit to use toward your first order. Invite your wine drinking pals and they’ll get $10 instantly and you get $30 when they make their first buy.     HelloFresh! A meal kit delivery service that shops, plans and delivers your favorite step-by-step recipes and pre-measured ingredients so you can just cook, eat and enjoy! Delivered right to your door, with a variety of chef-curated recipes that change weekly, this is a new way to eat and cook! We love it!  For $30 off your first week of HelloFresh, visit www.hellofresh.com/wine30 and enter WINE30. You won't regret it!     

If you want to taste depth of variety the wines made from Acorn Winery's Alegria Vineyards dates back to 1890 and includes over 70 different grape varieties. Sixty different varieties are included in the Medley blend! Not many winemakers are bottling field blends like this anymore. Has he gone bonkers or is he crazy like a vineyard fox? In this podcast you'll meet Bill Nachbaur of Sonoma County's Acorn Winery. For other interviews visit OnTheWineRoad.com.

I had the honor of talking with Bill and Betsy Nachbaur of ACORN Winery in Sonoma. From Sonoma history, to grape leaf shape, canopy management, barrel toast, and their specialty -- field blends -- you will learn so much from this podcast. I know I did!   A few more details on the winery we forgot to hit...the significance of the winery and vineyard names...   Vineyard Name Our Vineyard name, “Alegría”, means happiness and joy in Spanish. Bill chose the name, because he was much happier as a farmer than he’d been as a lawyer (and folks like his products) .  He chose a Spanish word to honor California’s Mexican heritage, and to recognize that our ranch was  part of the Rancho Sotoyome land grant.  Spanish was spoken here before English, and our workers are mostly Mexican. We also use it as a toast. Alegría!   We wanted the winery name to be different than the vineyard name, because we wanted out grape buyers (we sell about a third of our grapes to other wineries), to vineyard-designate the wines they made from our  Alegría Vineyard grapes. We felt they’d be more likely to do so, if the vineyard name was not also the name of a winery.  Also, because Betsy’s Dad (and others) kept mispronouncing Alegría (saying Algeria), we wanted a name that was easily pronounceable and memorable.   Winery Name    We chose “ACORN” because we are tiny like an acorn; there are oak trees in our vineyards, our wine is aged in oak barrels; and an acorn is a symbol of potential, prosperity, and good fortune. It is also easy to pronounce. A writer once headlined an article about us: “Mighty Wines From Little Acorn Flow.”