Podcasts about carignane

PJ Awe, Director of Marketing and Sales at Amorim Cork America, joins us to dive into cork's fascinating journey from bark to bottle. As one of the most sustainable products on the planet, cork plays a bigger role than many wine drinkers might realize. We discuss why storing wine bottles on their sides might not be necessary and why cork taint (TCA) is about to be a thing of the past. Geek out with us as we uncork one of Lodi's oldest-vine Carignane's and take you down one of the most unexpected rabbit holes of your life. Watch this episode in full on YouTube Wine Featured On This Episode: 2021 Markus Wine Co Carignane Nicolini Ranch Ancient Blocks Recycle your corks https://recork.com https://corkcollective.org/ Join the Unfiltered Podcast Wine Club 4 bottles per shipment hand selected by Amanda Delivered every 2 months (1 wine/episode) / 6x per year $120 + tax Shipping Included Cancel anytime 10% off all Wine Access purchases More Info on the Salud! Oregon Pinot Noir Auction Follow us on social! IG: @wineaccessunfiltered Twitter:  @wineaccesspod Host: Amanda McCrossin Shop all the wines at Wine Access

Winemaker Carol Shelton is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. CWC co-host Dan Berger is away this week. Carol is one of our most distinguished winemakers and a regular on this show. Her last time here was last January, in this episode with Dan Berger and with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Carol Shelton graduated from UC Davis in 1978. This year will be her 48th harvest, and her 25th harvest for her own brand. There were a few years where she worked on two harvests in a year, in the northern and southern hemisphere. Carol Shelton worked for Mondavi, in Australia, in the Central Valley, for Rodney Strong for 20 years, for the Windsor Wines label. Zinfandel is her favorite varietal. It makes up about 70% of her production now. She wanted to show the world that Zin could be as noble a grape as Pinot and Cab. Old vines of Zin have a unique concentration of flavor. Wild Thing Carol Shelton Wines is located in a business park on Coffey Lane. This weekend she will be bottling a port that has been in the barrels since 2015. She calls it Tawny Sonoma. You can't use the name Port anymore. That is the same as other geographical names that are protected like Sherry and Burgundy. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Rodney Strong for info on the 2024 Summer Concert series. The name Wild Thing for her Zinfandel made with naturally occurring yeast, happened almost accidentally. There was one barrel that was not inoculated with yeast, and they put the words “wild thing” on the barrel. When they put it on a bottle, it sold like hotcakes. So that is how the brand was born. It was in the Top 100 Wines in the Wine Spectator, along with two other of her wines. There is also a 2023 Wild Thing Chardonnay which they are tasting. There is a little Viogner blended in, to give it some tropical notes. It is unusual, in that it is neither the steely type nor the buttery type. There are actually about 8 yeasts, each one brings some different flavors and she blends them all together before bottling. They even source some fruit from Southern California, from Cucamonga. Their vines are over 100 years old. They are old vines that are knee high with roots running 50 feet down. Coquille Blanc They also taste a Coquille Blanc, which is named for shellfish, and reflects her family coat of arms which has shells on it, for the name Shelton. The fruit all comes from Paso Robles. Click the logo to visit Davis Bynum Wines. Carol describes a game that her mother played with her. She set up blind tastings of different herbs and she had to describe the flavors and identify them. She liked the combination of art and science in winemaking. Then they taste the Rendez-Vous 2023 Rosé. "My Rosé is not one of those wimpy pale ones." All the flavor is in the skin and this one spends 2 days on the skins. It is a rather dark red, for a Rosé and goes well with any kind of food.  Modeled after a French Tavel Rosé, it is made of Carignane grapes.

Carol Shelton Today's episode of California Wine Country features Carol Shelton with Harry Duke and Dan Berger. Steve Jaxon has the day off. Carol Shelton has been on California Wine Country several times, the last was this May 31, 2023 episode about her wines other than Zinfandel. Carol Shelton Wines is on its 24th harvest and Carol has been in the business for 47 harvests. She was one of the first women to graduate in winemaking at UC Davis. She specializes in Zinfandel (she makes 7 or 8) and also in Rhone wines. Those include red and white blends and varietals like Viognier and Carignane. Their location is in a business park, not a bucolic rural vineyard. Dan Berger tells how she was making wines for Windsor Vineyards which was under the radar but the wines were really distinctive. The varietal characteristics were so precisely defined and Dan noticed that the Windsor wines won a lot of awards. He investigated and discovered Carol was making all those wines. It took about two years of “slogging hard” to start her own brand but about the third year it took off like a rocket ship. Carol Shelton wines continue to collect awards and she is known as one of the most distinguished winemakers in the business. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. They taste the Coquille Blanc 2022 is a white blend, mostly from one vineyard in Paso Robles, which is one of the best spots in the US for Rhone grapes. Grenache Blanc is the basis, steely and minerally and green apple-y, and she adds Roussane which is “round” and “oily” adds “big beautiful soft delicious fruit. Then Viognier brings flowers and delicacy then Marssane, a little more almond and peach flavors. They barrel ferment it all in old French oak, which give more delicate flavors. It is almost Chardonnay-like in structure but the aromatics are more like a northern Rhone wine with all those Rhone varietals. Paso Robles Paso Robles produces some great white wines, in addition to the Zins and Cabs that it is known for. The white wines deserve more notice. The main issue right now is heat, they have to be careful to pick as soon as they can. Carol finds it is 5 to 10 degrees warmer at night. White grapes like a chance to rest at night, so Russian River delivers that. Carol Shelton Wines' Coquille Blanc is available at Bottle Barn, and also at Oliver's. Her tasting room is open every day 11-4, in the far back of the Pine Creek business park, the same one where Moonlight Brewing is. Wild Thing Rendez-Vous Rosé The next tasting is Wild Thing Rendez-Vous Rosé. The grapes are from Mendocino County. It's primarily Carignane with a little Zin and Petit Syrah. The name Wild Thing is because the Zinfandel is the wild yeast fermentation. This is a darker Rosé. She does a delayed Sagnier, which is bleeding juice. Since all the flavor is in the skins, some Rosés are too pale and lack flavor. They wait three days to bleed off the juice for the Rosé and the rest goes into the Zin. Dan says this is really more like a very light red wine, but the overwhelming aromatics are white and pink in character. The same wine could go with either steak or seafood. Next they taste Wild Thing Zinfandel, the new 2021 release. The 2020s are probably still in the stores. It is organically grown and uses the wild yeasts that live on the skins of the grapes. It has to be organic because fungicides would kill the natural yeast. These yeasts leave a little bit of glycerol, unfermented sugar, which adds roundness and creaminess to the flavor. It also has about 14 % Carignane and 9% Petit Syrah, and the rest is all Zinfandel. Dan Berger says it has, “blackberries up one side and down the other.”

Dan and Nick. Nick Goldschmidt winemaker and owner of Goldschmidt Vineyards, returns to California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Nick has been on CWC a few times. The first in this series was this episode recorded on May 19, 2018. His most recent appearance was here on October 19. 2022. Nick was born in New Zealand but left the country as a young adult. “At the age of 20, I saw my destiny as somewhere other than New Zealand,” he explains. Dan Berger usually brings a cellar wine for tasting, but since Nick has brought something better, they will taste that instead. It is his Boulder Bank Sauvignon Blanc. They are tasting it at room temperature, so it is not cold. It has grapefruit and lime flavors. It would go well with seafood and salads. Three decades a winemaker. Nick has been a winemaker for more than three decades. He was a winemaker at Simi for 14 years. They are owned by Louis Vuitton and later by Constellation, who gave him the job of supervising still wine produced around the world. That is how Nick got to work with many iconic brands in many countries.   In 2008 he started his own winery. He also consults for 16 vineyards in 6 countries. He describes his passion as preserving small family-owned business. He likes helping them with a route to market and a sustainable business model. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. He lived in Chile during the dark times of the Pinochet dictatorship, and sometimes the government would cut off all the electrical power. So they learned how to make wine with no electricity, “unplugged.” He makes wine with his daughters and it was cool to have a project to work on together during her teen years. They taste a Merlot, which Nick and Dan describe. They also will taste a Cabernet. Nick says that about 50% of what they produce is Cabernet, and another quarter is Sauvignon Blanc. Then they do some others, such as Merlot. In his own vineyard he has planted Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot and Malbec. He has also planted Zinfandel and Petit Syrah. They also make a Carignane and a Mourvedre, available only at the tasting room. Dan appreciates that Nick's wines always have good structure and balance. International Winemaker of the Year Nick is very modest about having been named International Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast.

Dan and Greg. Davis Bynum winemaker Greg Morthole is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Harry Duke, who is sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Katie Lalonde, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for Davis Bynum, is also in today. Greg has been on CWC a few times, most recently on this episode of December 1, 2021. Today Dan Berger has brought another wine from his vast collection, only this time it is not a cellar wine. Instead, it is a 2022 Chardonnay from Jesse's Grove Winery in Lodi, made with no oak at all. Dan calls it a drink-it-now wine. They make Carignane, Sinsault, Zinfandel, Petit Syrah, a lot of red wine. The winemaker is Greg Burns and he is also the owner of the property. They sell grapes to winemakers all over California and are gaining a reputation for their own wines too. Davis Bynum, wine pioneer First, Greg Morthole tells the story of Davis Bynum Winery, one of Sonoma County's historic labels. Davis Bynum started making wine commercially in Albany, California, in 1965. Later he purchased a vineyard in Napa Valley and got to know all the original winemakers there. In late 1972 he tasted a bottle of. Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that reminded him of Burgundy. It made such an impression on him that he began making it. He purchased the River Bend property and made the first single vintage Pinot Noir from grapes grown by Joe Rocchioli. Dan says it is rare to have moved from Napa to Sonoma. Davis Bynum was the first to care about Pinot Noir from Russian River, which put him ahead of almost everyone else. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Greg tells his story and background as a winemaker. He grew up in different places including Wyoming, where he attended college and took a degree in sciences. Art was also important to him. He got a job in a wine lab in Sonoma County. Then he got an opportunity to work for Rodney Strong in 2005, which was interesting because of the many varieties they produce. He got to know Davis Bynum when he was in his 80s. As Greg remembers him, Davis Bynum was inquisitive about both the art and the science in wine. He too likes leaning into both of those aspects of winemaking. Katie Lalonde We also get to meet Katie Lalonde. She is the Marketing and Communication Coordinator for Davis Bynum . They have finished their 2023 program of events so they are planning the 2024 schedule now. The most recent event was a wine blending session with winemaker Greg Morthole. That was a lot of fun and they plan to do another one next year. Greg also remembers how Davis Bynum loved balance in his wines and he strives for that too. The rest of this episode is a tasting and discussion of Greg's two Chardonnays and two Pinot Noirs.

Dan and Carol. California Wine Country welcomes Carol Shelton, famous for Wild Thing wines with wild yeast, and for much more. CWC has the day off today so for today's podcast edition, this is a replay of the May 31, 2023 episode.  Carol Shelton makes varietals beside Zin, although she is known as the Queen of Zinfandel, and she is back on California Wine Country today, with Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke. She has been on California Wine Country several times, most recently on this episode of February 15, 2023. Dan Berger introduces Carol Shelton by saying that every time she enters a competition she wins gold medals. She just entered the North of the Gate competition and won 6 double golds and best of classes, best of show red and Carol was named winemaker of the competition. Every grape entered has to have been grown north of the Golden Gate. Dan likes the competition because it's a smaller more local competition and the judges all know each other. What is Wild Thing? They are tasting Carol's 2022 Wild Thing Chardonnay. Wild Thing was originally the name of her Zinfandel, because she adds no yeast to what is there naturally. Dan says that it has good structure due to its acidity. It has tropical fruit in the aroma, but it is tart and will go with food. Carol says that the fruit profile comes from some Viognier and some Roussanne which she blended in. Next tasting is another gold medal, her signature wine called Wild Thing Zinfandel. Mendocino has some of the oldest Zinfandel in California. In the Ukiah area, it is warm but not too hot. This wine has explosive blackberry fruit. It is blended with some Carignane and Petit Syrah that is also grown on the property. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Carol came to California in high school and attended UC Davis. Her mother encouraged her to follow her interest in sciences and to look into food sciences. She took the Introduction to Wine class and found the connections to history, culture, food, sensory data, chemistry, microbiology were everything she loved. Eventually she got her degree in Fermentation Science in 1978. (The degree is called Enology today.) Their tasting room is at 3354 Coffee Lane, they are in the back behind a few others, in the same business park with Moonlight Brewing. They are open daily from 11 am to 4 pm. Mention California Wine Country on The Drive to get a free tasting in Santa Rosa. Barbera d'Oakley They make Barbera d'Alba or Barbera d'Asti, different blends made in different towns in Piedmont. Barbera is a dry red wine popular in northern Italy. The vineyard is in Oakley, California, it is at the edge of the delta, at the San Joaquin River. The vines are over 100 years old. 75% Barbera, 10% Zin, 10% Merlot, and 5% Carignanne. It won a slew of medals. It has a dark color and vibrant aroma. The next tasting is Coquille Rouge, which is all red Rhone varieties, grown at Oakley. Mourvedre, Grenache Noir and Petit Syrah, Carignane and Alicante Bouchet.

Certified sommelier Grant Wood joins Robert Tas in this episode of Cork Rules where they review the wine list of Casa Lever on Park Avenue, New York City.  Casa Lever is an icon in NYC, and, as they say themselves, this restaurant is where Manhattan sophistication meets Italian classics. If you visit Casa Lever be prepared for an elegant dining experience and a carefully curated wine.  Wines reviewed include:  Krug's brut “Grande Reserve” multi-vintage Champagne, France 2000 Barolo by Roberto Voerzio, Brunate, northwestern Italy 2017 Lytton Springs, Zinfandel, Syrah, and Carignane field blend, Ridge, Sonoma's Dry Creek AVA For more information on today's episode and the wines you love to love, visit www.corkrules.com.

Certified sommelier Michaela Quinlan, and Robert Tas review the wine list at The Red Fox, a restaurant renowned for locally sourced, four-course dining with local wine pairings. They also offer Pub fare and an exceptional wine list. Michaela reviews the best wines on the list, including a Viognier that is a perfect companion to herb-roasted chicken and salmon, a Cabernet Franc that is an excellent pairing with herbed and savory dishes, and a remarkable blend of zinfandel, petit syrah, and Carignane. Wines reviewed include: 2020 Pollak Vineyards Viognier, Greenwood, VA 2021 Argiolas, Costamolino Vermentino, Southern Italy 2017 Gimenez Mendez, Alta Reserva Tennat, Uruguay   For more information on today's episode, and the wines you love to love, visit www.corkrules.com.  

Indie Wine Podcast episode 19 - Sebastian Erggelet - Erggelet Brothers. Sebastian Erggelet along with his brother Julian, make up Erggelet Brothers.  They recently built a new winery in Brentwood, in the heart of Contra Costa County and are making really balanced, classically styled, lower intervention wines from Mataro, Carignane, Zinfandel and Malvasia.  Everything coming from within a few minutes of the winery.  They have also been planting a new vineyard at the farm the winery sits on, concentrating on grapes they feel will work well in the Contra Costa conditions.  As Sebastian mentions, there isn't a historical precedent for certain white varieties in the area.  We discuss growing up in Germany, ending up in California and making wine in Contra Costa amongst other topics.  You'll hear a little tour of their new vineyard before we go inside to sit down and a little bit more at the very end.  You can find their wines at erggeletwine.com and on instagram https://www.instagram.com/erggeletbrotherswine. Follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/indiewinepodcast or email indiewinepodcast@gmail.com with questions, comments or feedback. If you'd like to support the podcast further, please tell your wine friends about it and rate the podcast wherever you're listening if you like what you hear or donate on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/IndieWinePodcast or Spotify at - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-wood4/support to allow more episodes, more travel and to help defray other costs. Thanks. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indie-wine-podcast/id1673557547 https://open.spotify.com/show/06FsKGiM9mYhhCHEFDOwjb. https://linktr.ee/indiewinepodcast --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-wood4/support

Dan Berger and Barry Herbst With The Drive on Summer vacation, here is an episode for this week's podcast, from last August where Barry Herbst describes Rosé wines available at Bottle Barn. For all of this year's Rosé offerings and more, visit the Bottle Barn website, bottlebarn.com.  Bottle Barn Rosé wines are the subject of this episode of California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. It's Rosé all day with Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Bottle Barn has more Rosés than anyone in Sonoma County and may stock more than any store in the whole country. They have at least 90 different ones, which is not quite as much as last year. These Rosé wines come from many regions of the world. The first to be opened comes from Basque country in Spain. Another feature of Ros´ is that there is a spectrum of colors of all of these wines. The Evolving Reputation of Rosé Dan Berger tells how it took an entire generation of people disparaging pink wine before a new generation decided to try it before deriding it. When the weather is awfully hot as it is now in late August, there are few wines more pleasant to drink. Now, Rosé is an “unstoppable train,” says Barry Herbst. The quality is so high and the flexibility with food makes it available to pair with many flavors of food. It is also easier and less expensive to produce than wines that require barrel aging. The first is called Kara Marie, the Ra Ra Rosé, a local production of winemaker Daryl Groom, named after his daughter. It is made from Grenache grapes grown in Dry Creek Valley. Its strong floral flavors have a trace of the taste of the red wine that it comes from. “Perfectly dry,” says Steve Jaxon. Dan suggests it would go with Steak Tartare. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. All of the wines today are from 2021. Some of these wines improve after a year or two and they are made to be enjoyed young. But if you accidentally lose a bottle in your cellar, don't toss it before you try it! Don't buy anything three years old, as that can be too late. Next is Husch Vineyards 2021 Mendocino Blaze Rosé. It is the pale pink or copper shade that is second in line in the featured illustration above. This is made from Zinfandel, Carignane and Petit Syrah. A Possible Comeback for White Zin? There was a stigma about White Zinfandel at one time, but some producers are actually bringing it back right now. Also, they harvest grapes for Rosé early, even right now in late August. Next is a 2020 dry Rosé from Von Winning. It should be well chilled and served in a decanter. It is made from Pinot Noir and is very flavorful. There are a lot of nice German pink wines coming in now. Next is a Txomin Etxaniz Rosé from Basque country. These grapes grow 7 feet high off the ground. The soil there is white, and it captures so much sunlight that it radiates heat off the ground, so the grapes have to be away from the heat of the soil. Until they had cold fermentation in steel tanks, these wines were not very good, but when they could invest in stainless steel tanks, the wine production improved a lot. “Zomin Zaniz” is the pronunciation according to Harry Duke. The last Rosé tasted today is a 2021 Les Rocailles from Savoie (aka Savoy, southeastern France). It is a cool growing area, light body, heavy acid, a good level of fruit, built on its tannins. It is like a red wine variant.

Herlinda & Suzanne While The Drive is on summer vacation and no new BHH show this week, here is a show from last April featuring Suzanne Hagins from Horse and Plow Cider in Graton to talk about the cider they make from apples grown locally in and around Sebastopol, California. Cheers! Suzanne Hagins from Horse and Plow Cider in Graton is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. Horse and Plow makes cider and also wine. All of their cider comes from Sebastopol-grown apples. They are dry and naturally carbonated and they show the quality of the Sonoma County fruit. They are based on the famous Gravenstein apples that are mostly grown in Sebastopol. It is a blend of 12 different apple varieties and is very dry. Horse and Plow started as a winery. The tasting room is off Hwy 116 between Graton and Sebastopol. Cider and Mead are both good alternatives to wine and beer, for festive occasions and meals. They are tasting the Horse and Plow Farmhouse Cider. It is mostly Gravenstein apples and very dry. Visit Horse and Plow Horse and Plow ciders are at Bottle Barn and Whole Foods, Willibees, Pacific Market and Andy's. Hwy 116, Gravenstein Hwy, close to Andy's, open 12-5 Thursday through Monday. They accept reservations online or by phone. There are art shows and music performances. They do tasting flights of wines, ciders, and mixed flights. It is family and dog friendly. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info. Horse and Plow uses many unusual varieties of apples in their ciders, more than 30 varieties. Cider is made like wine, which made it easy for them to add cider to their operation which was already licensed for wine. Fully half of their business at the tasting room is cider. Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. They also taste their Rosé made from 100-year-old dry-farmed Carignane vines located in Mendocino County. They pick the fruit early to preserve the acidity. There are strawberry flavors in the wine. They have one-liter refillable growlers that can be refilled with red or white wine or cider. Finally they taste their Pinot Noir, known for being fruit forward with a silky texture.

Indie Wine Podcast episode 15 - David Teixeira - Lusu Cellars. David brings his Portuguese heritage to the way he thinks about and makes wines. He makes California versions of traditional Portuguese styles like Vinho Verde or a Sercial like "Mad-Era" as well as California heritage styled Zins, Mouvedre and Carignane. Lusu Cellars is located on Camelia St. In Berkeley California, this winery location has been home to many important wineries over the years from Fretter Wine Cellars to Edmunds St. John to Ladd to Broc. David works mostly with fruit from El Dorado and Lodi making wines that go wonderful with food. You can find David's wines at www.lusucellars.com and follow his instagram https://www.instagram.com/lusucellars and follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/indiewinepodcast or email indiewinepodcast@gmail.com with questions, comments or feedback. If you'd like to support the podcast further, please tell your wine friends about it and rate the podcast wherever you're listening if you like what you hear or donate on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/IndieWinePodcast or Spotify at - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-wood4/support https://linktr.ee/indiewinepodcast --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-wood4/support

Dan Berger and Carol Shelton. Carol Shelton makes varietals beside Zin, although she is known as the Queen of Zinfandel, and she is back on California Wine Country today, with Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke. She has been on California Wine Country several times, most recently on this episode of February 15, 2023. Dan Berger introduces Carol Shelton by saying that every time she enters a competition she wins gold medals. She just entered the North of the Gate competition and won 6 double golds and best of classes, best of show red and Carol was named winemaker of the competition. Every grape entered has to have been grown north of the Golden Gate. Dan likes the competition because it's a smaller more local competition and the judges all know each other. What is Wild Thing? They are tasting Carol's 2022 Wild Thing Chardonnay. Wild Thing was originally the name of her Zinfandel, because she adds no yeast to what is there naturally. Dan says that it has good structure due to its acidity. It has tropical fruit in the aroma, but it is tart and will go with food. Carol says that the fruit profile comes from some Viognier and some Roussanne which she blended in. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Rodney Strong for the latest on the 2022 Summer Concert series. Next tasting is another gold medal, her signature wine called Wild Thing Zinfandel. Mendocino has some of the oldest Zinfandel in California. In the Ukiah area, it is warm but not too hot. This wine has explosive blackberry fruit. It is blended with some Carignane and Petit Syrah that is also grown on the property. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Carol came to California in high school and attended UC Davis. Her mother encouraged her to follow her interest in sciences and to look into food sciences. She took the Introduction to Wine class and found the connections to history, culture, food, sensory data, chemistry, microbiology were everything she loved. Eventually she got her degree in Fermentation Science in 1978. (The degree is called Enology today.) Their tasting room is at 3354 Coffee Lane, they are in the back behind a few others, in the same business park with Moonlight Brewing. They are open daily from 11 am to 4 pm. Mention California Wine Country on The Drive to get a free tasting in Santa Rosa. Barbera d'Oakley They make Barbera d'Alba or Barbera d'Asti, different blends made in different towns in Piedmont. Barbera is a dry red wine popular in northern Italy. The vineyard is in Oakley, California, it is at the edge of the delta, at the San Joaquin River. The vines are over 100 years old. 75% Barbera, 10% Zin, 10% Merlot, and 5% Carignanne. It won a slew of medals. It has a dark color and vibrant aroma. The next tasting is Coquille Rouge, which is all red Rhone varieties, grown at Oakley. Mourvedre, Grenache Noir and Petit Syrah, Carignane and Alicante Bouchet.

Indie Wine Podcast episode 10 - Randy Caparoso - Wine Journalist, Photographer, Sommelier etc etc etc. Part 1. Randy has had a long and distinguished career in the wine industry and has touched many aspects of it from starting as a Sommelier to now writing about wine full time in The Somm Journal and for the Lodi Wine Commission. We discuss how he found his way to Lodi, terroir, old vines, changes in the wine industry, consumer preferences and Zinfandel, Carignane, Cinsault and the Lodi Native project. This is Part 1 of a 2 part episode. You can learn more about Randy or purchase his book at https://www.lodiwine.com/Blog or https://kitchencincopress.com and follow him https://www.instagram.com/randycaparoso.wineauthor and the podcast https://www.instagram.com/indiewinepodcast or indiewinepodcast@gmail.com https://linktr.ee/indiewinepodcast --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-wood4/support

Herlinda & Suzanne Suzanne Hagins from Horse and Plow Cider in Graton is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. Horse and Plow makes cider and also wine. All of their cider comes from Sebastopol-grown apples. They are dry and naturally carbonated and they show the quality of the Sonoma County fruit. They are based on the famous Gravenstein apples that are mostly grown in Sebastopol. It is a blend of 12 different apple varieties and is very dry. Horse and Plow started as a winery. The tasting room is off Hwy 116 between Graton and Sebastopol. Cider and Mead are both good alternatives to wine and beer, for festive occasions and meals. They are tasting the Horse and Plow Farmhouse Cider. It is mostly Gravenstein apples and very dry. Visit Horse and Plow Horse and Plow ciders are at Bottle Barn and Whole Foods, Willibees, Pacific Market and Andy's. Hwy 116, Gravenstein Hwy, close to Andy's, open 12-5 Thursday through Monday. They accept reservations online or by phone. There are art shows and music performances. They do tasting flights of wines, ciders, and mixed flights. It is family and dog friendly. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info. Horse and Plow uses many unusual varieties of apples in their ciders, more than 30 varieties. Cider is made like wine, which made it easy for them to add cider to their operation which was already licensed for wine. Fully half of their business at the tasting room is cider. Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. They also taste their Rosé made from 100-year-old dry-farmed Carignane vines located in Mendocino County. They pick the fruit early to preserve the acidity. There are strawberry flavors in the wine. They have one-liter refillable growlers that can be refilled with red or white wine or cider. Finally they taste their Pinot Noir, known for being fruit forward with a silky texture.

Barry Herbst, Bottle Barn's wine buyer. We feature low alcohol wines with Barry Herbst of Bottle Barn and Steve Jaxon, Harry Duke and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Barry has brought some interesting wines that are not like the usual ones we discuss on this show, as these are low-alcohol and non-alcoholic wines. The first is a Tyler Chardonnay from Lompoc in Santa Barbara County. It reminds Dan Berger of a Chablis, but with interesting aromatics. Low alcohol wines can be made by picking the grapes early, before too much sugar develops. Barry Herbst describes the process of pruning the canopy to allow plenty of light onto the grapes, which also help keep the sugars from getting too high but allow for phenolic ripeness. This wine retails for $27 at Bottle Barn. They have also tasted a non-alcoholic wine, the best-selling one in the store. It comes from Leitz, a German producer who also produces regular wines as well as a de-alcohol-ed sparkling Rose, Riesling and Pinot Noir. It's an odd wine in that it doesn't smell like the usual sparkling wine, but the texture and flavors are very good. It is amazingly dry for a non-alcoholic beverage. Usually, in order to give these body and sweetness, they add sugar, but not in this case. For anyone who does not want to drink alcohol or who cannot, for any reason, this is a very nice choice. This retails for $18.50. The problem with some non-alcoholic wines, is they make the wine then remove the alcohol, which removes the flavor. This is done in a way that simply reduces the alcohol as it is made. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Bottle Barn has a new app, which makes it even easier to place orders from their vast stock. They have an enormous task, due to their huge inventory, but their goal is to have their whole stock available online. Bottle Barn also does 3 emails per week, with special offers. After that, they taste an Aligoté, which is only 11.2 percent alcohol. Read about Aligoté here. It is a Burgundian white variety that is known for adding acidity and structure in blended whites and sparkling wines. Dan Berger would call it soft, instead of sweet. It is very uncommon. This Earnest Aligoté wine sells for $25.99. Next up is a Pinot Noir with a ripe cherry and black cherry component, but also has a little trace of the herb component that you see in Burgundy. The alcohol is so low that it gives you a finish that is perfect to accompany a meal. The wine is Anthill Farms 2020 Mendocino County Pinot Noir, 13.2% alcohol. That's low for today but Dan points out that years ago, wines used to average about that. It sells for $47.99 but would sell for about $60 anywhere else, says Dan. The winemakers used to work for Williams-Selyem so they know their Pinot Noir. Next there is Porter Creek 2018 Carignane, 12.3% alcohol. Even with a hamburger or a pizza, this would go very well. It sells for $30.99 at Bottle Barn. Carignane is a “workhorse variety” that gives plushness and rich fruit when the vines are old, such as this wine. Again, the lower alcohol makes it perfect for combining with food. Barry Herbst reports that there is rising demand for lower-alcohol wines and wines produced with some kind of organic and/or biodynamic technique.

Oded Shakked, owner and winemaker at Longboard Vineyards, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He was last on the show in 2020 on this episode during the pandemic, when all the guests were calling in on the phone. Previously he was also on the show in 2018 on this episode.  Oded is a surfer so that explains the name Longboard Vineyards.  He has lived, worked and surfed on four continents, says his website. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Longboard Vineyards was founded in 1998, while Oded was a winemaker for J Vineyards. He started Longboard Vineyards as a hobby and he has been doing it solo since 2005. He speaks Hebrew, French, Spanish and English. Dan Berger likes Longboard's Pinot Noir and Oded credits his growers, including Rochioli. Dan Berger brought another of his cellar wines today, a Silvaner, which is in a bottle shaped like the old Mateus bottles. It is very dry. Join the Rodney Strong mailing list to receive special offers, information on new releases, and more. Albariño Oded has brought an Albariño. There is also a Portuguese cousin that in that language is written Alvarinho. This is the wine he would drink while on surf trips to northern Spain and Portugal. The grapes are grown in Russian River Valley. Dan says that this wine has strong acidity. Oded wanted it to be strong like that but not too strong. It was fermented in neutral barrels. Chicken apple sausage is Dan's food pairing idea. Longboard Vineyards still makes sparkling wines, Brut, Brut Rosé and Brut Z with no sugar. Sauvignon Blanc is the one most found in distribution. He also makes a Rochioli Chardonnay and this Albarinño. The Albarinño is a semi-floral variety but it is a lot more serious than a Pinot Grigio. It also has some white peach flavors. Oded sums it up with one term: yummy! Carignane and Syrah He has also brought a Carignane. At one time this was one of the most popular varietals. It is from Vincenzo Vineyard in Mendocino County. He only sells it from the barrel into a growler. "Exotic, rustic, tasty,... pizza wine," declares Dan. It is a single vineyard. Oded descsribes cherry flavors in the bouquet. The next wine to taste is a Longboard Syrah. Dan says to give it five or six more years. Oded suggests it would go with fish. The winery is located in Healdsburg at 5 Fitch Street, open 11 am to 6 pm daily. They welcome walk-ins, but groups of 6 or 8 or more can make reservations.

Nova Perrill Nova Perrill, winemaker for Foppiano Vineyards, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He was on the show back in 2018 on this episode, and again this time in 2019. His last appearance was here, in 2021. Giovanni Foppiano founded Foppiano Vineyards in 1896. It is one of the oldest family-owned wineries in California. Try to imagine, as they do here, how Healdsburg in the 1890s was pure potential. The winery survived Prohibition by shipping dried grapes as a home winemaking kit. To ship to dry states, they had to add a flyer with a warning not to add water and sugar or else it would ferment. Nova tells about how he got started in the wine business. He studied at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in Ecology. He liked marine biology, having grown up on the coast. Then he took a Master's in Crop Science. At the time the school was a dry campus and they learned about winemaking but did not make any. He got a job at Mount Eden where he laid the foundation of his knowledge, from start to finish. “Talk about grape to bottle, that was the experience I needed... Everything after that is creativity. Foppiano Vineyards Tastings They taste the first Foppiano wine, a Carignane. Foppiano Vineyards' location is south of Healdsburg, at the northern tip of the valley. It gets sunshine, but also cooling influences from the river. They grow all the usual French varietals that are grown here. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for up-to-the-minute bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Harry Duke asks Nova Perrill about how he made that transition from studying marine biology to winemaking. Many winemakers have told about a similar turn in their early career path. Nova tells about how he was never really committed to the first path and he also knew he had great interest in all things natural. He moved to the Santa Clara Valley after college and he simply sent his resumé to every winery in commuting distance. With agriculture, you have to enjoy working on nature's demands and timetable, no weekends, etc. “Grape growing is not this extravagant lifestyle… You've got to be able to appreciate that if you're going to make it.” Join the Rodney Strong mailing list to receive special offers, information on new releases, and more. Nova has brought some wines (pictured above). He brought a 2016 Chardonnay from Foppiano Estate. The acidity is keeping it lively and fresh. It has some creamy lemon curd flavor. Foppiano Vineyards does estate and reserve tastings and also large-party tastings. You can make reservations but drop-ins are also welcome. Nova Perrill explains that they strive to be casual and low-key. Being a historic winery and vineyard they try to capture that feeling for their guests. It is located right off Old Redwood Highway. It is only about five minutes from Healdsburg. Their wines are also available at Bottle Barn.

Dan Berger and Barry Herbst Bottle Barn Rosé wines are the subject of this episode of California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. It's Rosé all day with Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Bottle Barn has more Rosés than anyone in Sonoma County and may stock more than any store in the whole country. They have at least 90 different ones, which is not quite as much as last year. They come from many regions of the world. They open one that comes from Basque country in Spain. Another feature is that there is a spectrum of colors of all of these wines. Dan Berger tells how it took an entire generation of people disparaging pink wine before a new generation decided to try it before deriding it. When the weather is awfully hot as it is now in late August, there are few wines more pleasant to drink. Now, Rosé is an “unstoppable train,” says Barry Herbst. The quality is so high and the flexibility with food makes it available to pair with many flavors of food. It is also easier and less expensive to produce than wines that require barrel aging. The first is called Kara Marie, the Ra Ra Rosé, a local production of winemaker Daryl Groom, named after his daughter. It is made from Grenache grapes grown in Dry Creek Valley. It has strong floral flavors and a trace of the taste of the red wine that it comes from. It is “perfectly dry” says Steve Jaxon. Dan suggests it would go with Steak Tartare. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. All of the wines today are from 2021. Some of these wines improve after a year or two and they are made to be enjoyed young. But if you accidentally lose a bottle in your cellar, don't toss it before you try it! Don't buy anything three years old, as that can be too late. Next is Husch Vineyards 2021 Mendocino Blaze Rosé. It is the pale pink or copper shade that is second in line in the featured illustration above. This is made from Zinfandel, Carignane and Petit Syrah. There was a stigma about White Zinfandel at one time, but some producers are actually bringing it back right now. Also, they harvest grapes for Rosé early, even right now in late August. Next is a 2020 dry Rosé from Von Winning. It should be well chilled and served in a decanter. It is made from Pinot Noir and is very flavorful. There are a lot of nice German pink wines coming in now. Next is a Txomin Etxaniz Rosé from Basque country. These grapes grow 7 feet high off the ground. The soil there is white, and it captures so much sunlight that it radiates heat off the ground, so the grapes have to be away from the heat of the soil. Until they had cold fermentation in steel tanks, these wines were not very good, but when they could invest in stainless steel tanks, the wine production improved a lot. “Zomin Zaniz” is the pronunciation according to Harry Duke. The last Rosé tasted today is a 2021 Les Rocailles from Savoie (aka Savoy, southeastern France). It is a cool growing area, light body, heavy acid, a good level of fruit, built on its tannins. It is like a red wine variant.

It's Monday, Let's raise a glass to the beginning of another week. It's time to unscrew, uncork or saber a bottle and let's begin Exploring the Wine Glass! Today, we return to Winephabet Street where the letter of the day is C and it stands for Carignane.   We had the pleasure of having special guests Tana Cole and Greg Burns of Jessie's Grove Winery in Lodi, California. Greg's family has owned the vineyards for Jessie's Grove since 1862! They are the owners of the Bechtold vineyard - ancient vines Cinsault and their Carignane vineyard has vines that are 120 years old. I'd like to give a shoutout to Michael Kelly for the introduction. So sit back and enjoy the conversation. It is a great one!  While you are listening, please take a moment to rate and review Exploring the Wine Glass. Ratings are now available, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Audible! Taking one minute of your time is the only way the algorithms will suggest Exploring the Wine Glass to others.  Slainte! Music: WINE by Kēvens Official Video Follow me on Instagram!   Follow me on Twitter! SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES STITCHER | iTUNES | GOOGLE PLAY | SPOTIFY | PODBEAN l AUDIBLE Even ask your smart speaker to play Exploring the Wine Glass GIVE US A RATING AND REVIEW STAY IN THE KNOW - GET SPECIAL OFFERS Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at exploringthewineglass@gmail.com. Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/exploringthewineglass Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, and Snapchat (@dracaenawines) Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.  Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.  Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.  Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION! Sláinte!  Please support our sponsor Dracaena Wines - Our Wines + Your Moments + Great Memories Use code 'Explore' at checkout to receive 10% off your first order

Certified sommelier Grant Wood joins Robert Tas in this episode of CorkRules where they review the wine list of Casa Lever on Park Avenue, New York City.  Casa Lever is an icon in NYC, and, as they say themselves, this restaurant is where Manhattan sophistication meets Italian classics. If you visit Casa Lever be prepared for an elegant dining experience and a carefully curated wine. Wines reviewed include: Prosecco di Valdobbiadene “Cartizze” by Villa Sandi, Veneto near Venice 2017 Pinot Bianco “Volberg” by Terlano 2017 Lytton Springs, Zinfandel, Syrah, and Carignane field blend by Ridge For more information on today's episode and the wines you love to love, visit www.corkrules.com.

The boys welcome their friend and mentor Amanda aka shitty wine memes to discuss the works of Adam Sandler and wines with the word "Sand" in their names. Please buy stickers from @shittywinememes////list////McDonald's Coke, NVSandhi, Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir, 2019//Sandlands Vineyards, Contra Costa County, 'Carignane,' 2019////Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Disgorgeous)

You can't talk about wines from the Priorat region of Spain without recognizing the impact the Perez Family has made in the last four decades. Sara Perez is the wine maker and owner along with her family of Mas Martinet, one of the five founding wineries in the Priorat. Sara farms organically, is a magician with the Garnacha and Carignane grape and produces some of the most sought after and interesting wines in the world.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.   

We're devouring more than just good food this week. Paul Kan joins us to chat about the release of his new book, Hawaii Beer, A History of Brewing in Paradise. The Foreword is written by Tim Golden, highly respected cicerone and owner of Village Bottle Shop and Tasting Room . Sheldon Simeon's gorgeous Cook Real Hawaii is now in print - you can find it here -  and it's full of beautiful photos, recipes and stories of Hawaii. And Chris Ramelb of Southern Glazer's Wines and Spirits waxes lyrical about two reds - Carignane- the controversial high yield grape  that Birichino winemakers Alex Krause and John Locke have curated to create Scylla. "It's   an old vine and super juicy, pretty, crunchy red fruit," says Chris, "  and probably one of the best red wine values in the world right now."  The other  wine we urge you to try and get your hands on is the fabulously named Car Car Domo Komo . " It's a one-off  wine and we likely won't see again," says Chris. "  Grab it while you can. At  Birichino - Alex Krause and John Locke have been making outstanding, somewhat quirky wines, since 2008 . These newest to the islands are not to be missed! Enjoy! Jo

Today: Bash, Erica, & Jeff with Megan Bernard - Bartender at 2nd City Distilling Company, Located in Augusta Ga.    This Drink: 750mL (14.5% ABV) Ridge Three Valley Red Blend, Consisting of: 73% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Sirah, 10% Carignane, 2% Grenache. This comes to us from California by means of Jeff.   What is Cheers Ya'll? During each episode, we'll be sampling and rating a drink of choice on 3 levels and leaving you with our official rating! This show is a fun experience to help you get away from the every day.   Recorded at Augusta Podcasts Studio

Today: Bash, Erica, & Jeff with Megan Bernard - Bartender at 2nd City Distilling Company, Located in Augusta Ga.  This Drink: 750mL (14.5% ABV) Ridge Three Valley Red Blend, Consisting of: 73% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Sirah, 10% Carignane, 2% Grenache. This comes to us from California by means of Jeff. What is Cheers Ya'll? During each episode, we'll be sampling and rating a drink of choice on 3 levels and leaving you with our official rating! This show is a fun experience to help you get away from the every day. Recorded at Augusta Podcasts Studio

The Farmhouse California Red 2019 is a blend of Zinfandel, Mourvèdre, Carignane, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Grenache sourced from vineyards in California. Farmhouse California is one of Cline Family Cellars' line of wine.Cline is a family-owned winery founded in 1981 that specializes in sustainably farmed vineyards and wine. One of the things I admire about Cline Family Cellars is that they produce single-vineyard wines that sell for fifty, sixty, or seventy dollars but they also make excellent value-priced wines.The Farmhouse in the brand name refers to an old schoolhouse at Green String Farm where natural, sustainable farming practices are researched and taught. It is a world-class destination for sustainable practices.I choose the Farmhouse California Red 2019 because a was looking for an inexpensive (I found it on sale for $8.99), honest Red wine. I was not looking for fancy production techniques and stats, just a glass of good tasting wine.The Farmhouse California Red 2019 gave me a little something extra for my money. The grape blend is an interesting array of varietals that originate in southern France, along with good old USA Zinfandel (it is actually from the Mediterranean). This Red blend will not taste like the same old same old.The blend was aged with French oak (40% new oak) for 8 months, which is a pretty lengthy aging process for a 2019 vintage. The technical notes never say the word "barrel", just French oak. You see that a lot with value-priced wine and I am never sure exactly what that means. Were no barrels used, there are different ways to get oak conditioning?With an inexpensive wine if oak barrels were used or not isn't particularly important. If whatever they do work and tastes natural and right is all that I am concerned with. So, the Farmhouse California Red 2019 is an interesting blend of sustainably farmed grapes and is vegan friendly, too. The alcohol content is 13.5%.Farmhouse California Red 2019 Tasting NotesThe color is a see-thru, but just barely purple. The nose is ripe fruit, with some dark chocolate notes, black pepper, spice, plum, raspberry, and blueberry.This is a medium-bodied bright, fruit-forward wine. It tastes of blueberry, Snickers chocolate, plum, a brush of dusty spice, and black pepper. The mid-palate adds tart cherry, orange zest, and cranberry.The tannins are soft and smooth and the acidity gives a shine to all the flavors. This is a tasty wine.The SummaryThe Farmhouse California Red 2019 is a solid, honest, tasty, value-priced red blend.Expensive wine is not good and inexpensive wine is somehow bad. Value-priced wine is made in a different style than the expensive stuff.Value wines can be bright, alive, and juicy, with fresh flavors, it is a very appealing style.The Farmhouse California Red 2019 is an excellent example of value wine.

Ed and Adam Sbragia, founder and winemaker of Sbragia Family Vineyards, are guests of Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. They have an estate winery in Geyserville and a tasting lounge in downtown Sonoma. Ed Sbragia was the winemaster at Beringer. They allowed him to start his brand while still working there, so he started in 2001. Adam joined him in 2003. Adam learned winemaking from his father and the family all works together. Dry Creek Valley His neighbors in the Dry Creek Valley are making extraordinary wine, says Dan Berger. The Sbragia family acquired their property in 2006. It is the old Lake Sonoma Winery which was owned by Gary Heck. It is the last winery at the end of the road, in the higher, hotter part of Dry Creek Valley. They are growing Zinfandel, Carignane, Petit Syrah, also some Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Ed liked, and adopted, the Italian way of making white, without a lot of racking, making clean wine and keeping the barrels full. They remember Myron Nightingale, who graduated in 1941 from the Viticulture and Enology program of University of California, which at the time was located at Berkeley, before Davis was founded. Louis Martini and Charlie Crawford, head of Gallo, were also in that class. Myron was as influential as André Tchelistcheff. He took over as winemaker at Beringer in 1971 and took it to great success. Adam Sbragia's Path to Winemaking Adam Sbragia was in the wine business even before the family winery began. Growing up in Healdsburg and with his family in wine, it is easy to get exposure to all aspects of the art, science and business. His grandfather was a grower who came from Italy in the 1920s and bought the land in Dry Creek Valley that the family still owns. Growing up he was either in the winery with his dad or in the vineyard with his grandfather. He was never forced to work at it. He got admitted to UC Davis and to UCLA and chose to go to LA to pursue acting too. But he came back and started working in wine in the early 2000s. This was a dream of the family since when his grandfather started a winery in the 1930s that failed in the Depression. They grow 100% Zinfandel growing on their own estate but they produce about 30% Chardonnay, 30% Cabernet,  20% Zinfandel plus bits of Carignane, Petit Syrah, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé and a Port. Bottle Barn has plenty of Sbragia wines. Visit Bottle Barn dot com for details on how they are operating now. The Sbragia family came from the town of Lucca in western Tuscany, 13 miles from the coast. They tasted the 2019 Redwood Ranch Sauvignon Blanc, which has always been part of their repertoire. It's stainless steel fermented, very cold, very tropical, easy drinking, nice acid. They also taste two Chardonnays, The Home Ranch and the Gamble Ranch. He explains about the balancing act with malolactic fermentation

Ed and Adam Sbragia are guests of Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. The father and son are founder and winemaker of Sbragia Family Vineyards. They have an estate winery in Geyserville and a tasting lounge in downtown Sonoma. Ed Sbragia was the winemaster at Beringer. They allowed him to start his brand while still working there, so he started in 2001. Adam joined him in 2003. Adam learned winemaking from his father and the family all works together. His neighbors in the Dry Creek Valley are making extraordinary wine, says Dan Berger. The Sbragia family acquired their property in 2006. It is the old Lake Sonoma Winery which was owned by Gary Heck. It is the last winery at the end of the road, in the higher, hotter part of Dry Creek Valley. They are growing Zinfandel, Carignane, Petit Syrah, also some Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Ed liked, and adopted, the Italian way of making white, without a lot of racking, making clean wine and keeping the barrels full. They remember Myron Nightingale, who graduated in 19441 from the Viticulture and Enology program of University of California, which at the time was located at Berkeley, before Davis was founded. Louis Martini and Charlie Crawford, head of Gallo, were also in that class. Myron was as influential as André Tchelistcheff. He took over as winemaker at Beringer in 1971 and took it to great success. Adam Sbragia was in the wine business even before the family winery began. Growing up in Healdsburg and with his family in wine, it is easy to get exposure to all aspects of the art, science and business. His grandfather was a grower who came from Italy in the 1920s and bought the land in Dry Creek Valley that the family still owns. Growing up he was either in the winery with his dad or in the vineyard with his grandfather. He was never forced to work at it. He got admitted to UC Davis and to UCLA and chose to go to LA to pursue acting too. But he came back and started working in wine in the early 2000s. This was a dream of the family since when his grandfather started a winery in the 1930s that failed in the Depression. They grow 100% Zinfandel growing on their own estate but they produce about 30% Chardonnay, 30% Cabernet,  20% Zinfandel plus bits of Carignane, Petit Syrah, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé and a Port. Bottle Barn has plenty of Sbragia wines. Visit Bottle Barn dot com for details on how they are operating now. The Sbragia family came from the town of Lucca in western Tuscany, 13 miles from the coast. They tasted the 2019 Redwood Ranch Sauvignon Blanc, which has always been part of their repertoire. It's stainless steel fermented, very cold, very tropical, easy drinking, nice acid. They also taste two Chardonnays, The Home Ranch and the Gamble Ranch. He explains about the balancing act with malolactic fermentation

In this episode, Jill hosts a live wine tasting with General Manager Tommaso Vinturi and Cline Sister's VP of National Sales Keith Morris Cline Family Cellars is a family-owned and operated winery in Sonoma, California, built on a passion for winemaking and rooted in respect for the land. Fred Cline started Cline Family Cellars in 1982 in Oakley, California, making his first vintages from original plantings of Mourvedre, Zinfandel, and Carignane, some of which dated back to the 1880's. In 1989, Fred purchased a 350-acre horse farm in Carneros and moved the winery to Sonoma County. As one of the original Rhone Rangers, he began planting varietals that included a number of vineyards dedicated to Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne. Since those first plantings, Fred and his wife Nancy have continued to plant vineyards throughout Sonoma County, expanding to include more classic varieties like Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Chardonnay. If you want to try any of the wines Jill tasted on the show you can ORDER ONLINE or from the BIG RED LIQUORS APP for Curbside Pickup Service. It's as easy as 1,2,3! Start Your Order -  bigredliquors.com Simply select your store, browse and search for Cline Family Cellars products and start a CURBSIDE order. Your store will notify you when it is ready for pickup. Best of all, our NO TOUCH curbside will leave you with peace of mind and the great products you want ASAP.

We continue our series of podcast episodes featuring women in the wine business this week, since there is no new show today due to Coronavirus coverage on home station KSRO in Santa Rosa. This episode with Barbara Lindblom remembering Mary Ann Graf was originally recorded and broadcast  on April 17, 2019.  Mary Ann Graf Barbara Lindblom visits with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today, to remember Mary Ann Graf, a pioneering, iconic local winemaker who passed away recently. She also worked at Simi Winery (as laboratory director) then as a winemaker in some other places. She is now retired. Mary Ann Graf studied at UC Davis and was the first woman in the US to graduate with a degree in Oenology. She was the winemaker at Simi Winery, the first in a series of notable women winemakers there. Then, she ran a successful laboratory testing company called Vinquiry, which performed testing services for wineries. She was the first woman on the board of directors of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. Here is a page about Mary Ann Graf at the Santa Clara University Women in Wine website. Mary Ann Graf worked with André Tchelistcheff. They will taste a non-vintage Simi North Coast Burgundy, which Dan can see is from 1973, from the code printed at the bottom of the bottle. This was Mary Ann's first year at Simi. Dan bought these wines at Trader Joe's for $1.99 per bottleMost of the major wineries in those days made a generic so-called Burgundy and most of them were blends. Mary Ann Graf started Vinquiry at about that time. Dan knows it as one of the most professional wine analysis laboratories at the time. She had a lot of clients in Alexander Valley. Barbara Lindblom started working at a harvest at Mondavi with Zelma Long. When Zelma got the job as Simi, she asked Barbara to join her, and she worked there for 10 years. Dan Berger says that Zelma Long and André Tchelistcheff were a strong team, since André was more inclinded to understanding wine from its sensory perception and Zelma understood it more from the technical standpoint. Barbara remembers Mary Ann was so generous with her time and her thoughts, and a steadfast friend. Her consulting business grew and grew because she and her partner were so smart and patient with their clients. Dan remembers when he and Mary Ann were judges in a competition in the midwest where the wine was really bad. Dan remembers she was so kind and quiet. A winemaker from Illinois asked her, “Did you like my wine?” She replied kindly, “We can talk about this, you've got potential.” She could not say anything negative about it. As a consultant, she would tell her clients what's there and what can make it better. She was always looking out for the best long-term solution, not a quick fix. They taste a 2000 Old Vine Zinfandel from Fanucci vineyards and a 2016 Stonestreet Estate Chardonnay that is a good example of Alexander Valley fruit having enough acidity to age well. Barbara Lindblom spent some time in France and Spain as well as working as a winemaker in California. Dan brought in a Simi North Coast Burgundy from 1973. This was Mary Ann Graf's first year at Simi. It is only 12% alcohol, mostly Carignane and a bit of Zinfandel. Dan says that wineries had their blends with all kinds of different varietals that they all called Burgundy. They were the varietals that were in their high end portfolios, but the leftover wines were also good. Dan Berger tasted wine with Joe Coulombe at Trader Joes in the 1970s and remembers tasting these wines. Giuseppe and Pietro Simi selected their location, five years before Italian Swiss Colony was founded. They used to call a generic red wine “Mountain Burgundy” often based on Carignane which was a workhorse variety that was never intended to be aged. Dan discovered some old bottles of it in the back of his cellar and they were fine. There was a little oxidation. There was some fruit flavor, but dried fruit,

We continue our series of podcast episodes featuring women in the wine business this week, since there is no new show today due to Coronavirus coverage on home station KSRO in Santa Rosa. This episode with Barbara Lindblom remembering Mary Ann Graf was originally recorded and broadcast  on April 17, 2019.  Barbara Lindblom visits with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today, to remember Mary Ann Graf, a pioneering, iconic local winemaker who passed away recently. She also worked at Simi Winery (as laboratory director) then as a winemaker in some other places. She is now retired. Mary Ann Graf studied at UC Davis and was the first woman in the US to graduate with a degree in Oenology. She was the winemaker at Simi Winery, the first in a series of notable women winemakers there. Then, she ran a successful laboratory testing company called Vinquiry, which performed testing services for wineries. She was the first woman on the board of directors of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. Here is a page about Mary Ann Graf at the Santa Clara University Women in Wine website. Mary Ann Graf worked with André Tchelistcheff. They will taste a non-vintage Simi North Coast Burgundy, which Dan can see is from 1973, from the code printed at the bottom of the bottle. This was Mary Ann’s first year at Simi. Dan bought these wines at Trader Joe’s for $1.99 per bottleMost of the major wineries in those days made a generic so-called Burgundy and most of them were blends. Mary Ann Graf started Vinquiry at about that time. Dan knows it as one of the most professional wine analysis laboratories at the time. She had a lot of clients in Alexander Valley. Barbara Lindblom started working at a harvest at Mondavi with Zelma Long. When Zelma got the job as Simi, she asked Barbara to join her, and she worked there for 10 years. Dan Berger says that Zelma Long and André Tchelistcheff were a strong team, since André was more inclinded to understanding wine from its sensory perception and Zelma understood it more from the technical standpoint. Barbara remembers Mary Ann was so generous with her time and her thoughts, and a steadfast friend. Her consulting business grew and grew because she and her partner were so smart and patient with their clients. Dan remembers when he and Mary Ann were judges in a competition in the midwest where the wine was really bad. Dan remembers she was so kind and quiet. A winemaker from Illinois asked her, “Did you like my wine?” She replied kindly, “We can talk about this, you’ve got potential.” She could not say anything negative about it. As a consultant, she would tell her clients what’s there and what can make it better. She was always looking out for the best long-term solution, not a quick fix. They taste a 2000 Old Vine Zinfandel from Fanucci vineyards and a 2016 Stonestreet Estate Chardonnay that is a good example of Alexander Valley fruit having enough acidity to age well. Barbara Lindblom spent some time in France and Spain as well as working as a winemaker in California. Dan brought in a Simi North Coast Burgundy from 1973. This was Mary Ann Graf’s first year at Simi. It is only 12% alcohol, mostly Carignane and a bit of Zinfandel. Dan says that wineries had their blends with all kinds of different varietals that they all called Burgundy. They were the varietals that were in their high end portfolios, but the leftover wines were also good. Dan Berger tasted wine with Joe Coulombe at Trader Joes in the 1970s and remembers tasting these wines. Giuseppe and Pietro Simi selected their location, five years before Italian Swiss Colony was founded. They used to call a generic red wine “Mountain Burgundy” often based on Carignane which was a workhorse variety that was never intended to be aged. Dan discovered some old bottles of it in the back of his cellar and they were fine. There was a little oxidation. There was some fruit flavor, but dried fruit,

Again this week during Covid-19 confinement, the California Wine Country podcast continues our series on women in the wine business, since we do not have a new show, due to special Coronavirus coverage. This podcast replay episode with Carol Shelton was originally recorded and aired on Feb. 6, 2019.  Carol Shelton, winemaker of her very own Carol Shelton Wines is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, after a 14 month absence. Carol Shelton is known as the Queen of Zinfandel. Dan tells about her great success with finding its character without having to be very high in percentage of alcohol. She also makes Petit Syrah and a white wine from Rhone grapes called Coquille Blanc (French for “White Scallop Shell”). Carol Shelton is very well known locally but doesn't have national distribution for her relatively small output. She has made a brand called “Wild Thing” and another called Monga, which is Zinfandel from Cucamonga, where there are some of the oldest Zin vines in America. (The Jack Benny Show used to feature a call of local railway stations that ended in “CUC-a-MON-ga!” which used to get a laugh on the radio in the mid 20th century.) The Italian Wine Company used to own 2000 acres of grapes east of Los Angeles.  Her 2017 Rosé was on the cover of Wine Spectator, so was Jon Bon Jovi, who also makes Rosé. She has been in the wine business for 42 years. She was one of the first ten women to go to UC Davis in Enology. She worked for various wineries in California and Australia. Later she worked at Buena Vista for André Tchelistcheff and for Windsor. She credits him with lifting up the California production to meet and exceed the European standards. She moved to California with her family as a teen in the early 1970s. The family would go looking for wine in Santa Cruz and Livermore. Her parents encouraged her to take food science classes instead of poetry. She found wine to be, “the most creative science and the most scientific art.” Dan Berger gives Carol credit for making gold medal winning wines with grapes that nobody cared about, like Carignane. Her favorite wine is her Coquille Blanc. It's a blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne. It's all barrel fermented. All the grapes come from Paso Robles. Among white wines, this wine is complex. “It wants to be a Chardonnay and wants to go beyond.” Wine Spectator just gave it 93 points and it has won a couple of double golds already. Dan thinks it is the best white wine she has made to date. Some of her wines are now coming from mature vines. Dan says it is extremely complex and imagines it after another two years in the bottle. Carol says the 2008 is phenomenal. The Grenache Blanc tives it a steely background and the Roussanne gives it flesh on the bones, honey, peach, almonds. Dan says the Viognier adds tropical fruit. Wild Thing is named for the Zinfandel. She likes to experiment with yeast strains. Once she experimented with wild yeast. Dan explains that the grapes grow with a little natural yeast on them. Being organically grown grapes really helps. Pesticides target fungi like mildew and mold, and would harm the yeast. She started making Rosé in 2002, “before it was popular.” This 2018 Rosé is 60% Carignone, 30% Zin and 20% Petit Syrah. Dan says it has strong bright strawberry flavors, table strawberries and wild strawberries. Nice snd tangy, says Carol. Dan says in 6 to 8 more months the fruit flavors will be even more apparent. Carol says they picked it very green. Normally they pick at 241/2 to 26 or 26 brix (sugar content). This was picked at 21½ brix so it's very much less ripe. Instead of pressing juice quickly, which can make it too pale, they kept the skins in for two days. Dan says it tastes lighter. Rosé made in this manner is darker. Carol says it is modelled after a Tavel, a southern Rhone style, such as Chateau Trinquevedel Tavel Rosé, which is usually this dark.

Again this week during Covid-19 confinement, the California Wine Country podcast continues our series on women in the wine business, since we do not have a new show, due to special Coronavirus coverage. This podcast replay episode with Carol Shelton was originally recorded and aired on Feb. 6, 2019.  Carol Shelton, winemaker of her very own Carol Shelton Wines is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, after a 14 month absence. Carol Shelton is known as the Queen of Zinfandel. Dan tells about her great success with finding its character without having to be very high in percentage of alcohol. She also makes Petit Syrah and a white wine from Rhone grapes called Coquille Blanc (French for “White Scallop Shell”). Carol Shelton is very well known locally but doesn’t have national distribution for her relatively small output. She has made a brand called “Wild Thing” and another called Monga, which is Zinfandel from Cucamonga, where there are some of the oldest Zin vines in America. (The Jack Benny Show used to feature a call of local railway stations that ended in “CUC-a-MON-ga!” which used to get a laugh on the radio in the mid 20th century.) The Italian Wine Company used to own 2000 acres of grapes east of Los Angeles.  Her 2017 Rosé was on the cover of Wine Spectator, so was Jon Bon Jovi, who also makes Rosé. She has been in the wine business for 42 years. She was one of the first ten women to go to UC Davis in Enology. She worked for various wineries in California and Australia. Later she worked at Buena Vista for André Tchelistcheff and for Windsor. She credits him with lifting up the California production to meet and exceed the European standards. She moved to California with her family as a teen in the early 1970s. The family would go looking for wine in Santa Cruz and Livermore. Her parents encouraged her to take food science classes instead of poetry. She found wine to be, “the most creative science and the most scientific art.” Dan Berger gives Carol credit for making gold medal winning wines with grapes that nobody cared about, like Carignane. Her favorite wine is her Coquille Blanc. It’s a blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne. It’s all barrel fermented. All the grapes come from Paso Robles. Among white wines, this wine is complex. “It wants to be a Chardonnay and wants to go beyond.” Wine Spectator just gave it 93 points and it has won a couple of double golds already. Dan thinks it is the best white wine she has made to date. Some of her wines are now coming from mature vines. Dan says it is extremely complex and imagines it after another two years in the bottle. Carol says the 2008 is phenomenal. The Grenache Blanc tives it a steely background and the Roussanne gives it flesh on the bones, honey, peach, almonds. Dan says the Viognier adds tropical fruit. Wild Thing is named for the Zinfandel. She likes to experiment with yeast strains. Once she experimented with wild yeast. Dan explains that the grapes grow with a little natural yeast on them. Being organically grown grapes really helps. Pesticides target fungi like mildew and mold, and would harm the yeast. She started making Rosé in 2002, “before it was popular.” This 2018 Rosé is 60% Carignone, 30% Zin and 20% Petit Syrah. Dan says it has strong bright strawberry flavors, table strawberries and wild strawberries. Nice snd tangy, says Carol. Dan says in 6 to 8 more months the fruit flavors will be even more apparent. Carol says they picked it very green. Normally they pick at 241/2 to 26 or 26 brix (sugar content). This was picked at 21½ brix so it’s very much less ripe. Instead of pressing juice quickly, which can make it too pale, they kept the skins in for two days. Dan says it tastes lighter. Rosé made in this manner is darker. Carol says it is modelled after a Tavel, a southern Rhone style, such as Chateau Trinquevedel Tavel Rosé, which is usually this dark.

Carignan or Mazuelo, as it's known in its native Spain, is a complicated grape that gets a terrible rap. But the truth is, in the right hands and growing in the right conditions, this grape can fashion powerful wines that are pure hedonistic pleasure!      Carignan has a long history. The grape is likely from Aragon in northeast Spain, but it spread around the Iberian Peninsula. It’s current Spanish name, Mazuelo comes from Mazuelo de Muñó, a town in Castilla y Leon in northwest Spain. Carignan may have originated in its namesake town of Cariñena, which is a Denomiacíon de Origen (DO) that grows mainly Garnacha Tinta. From these parts of Spain, Mazuelo spread to Catalunya in northeast Spain and then during the reign of the Crown of Aragon to the area it ruled. The grape: Was introduced to Sardinia, the Italian island, sometime between 1323-1720 Moved to Algeria where it became a high yielding grape that was exported to France to bolster French blends in the color, acidity, and tannin department   The grape became commonplace in France after three incidents: phylloxera in the late 1800s, a frost destroyed the other “workhorse” grape,  Aramon in 1956 and 1963, and the independence of Algeria of 1962 brought French-Algerian winemakers into the Languedoc-Roussillon region who brought their trusty workhorse grape. The over vigorous nature of the grape made it produce rustic, flavorless wines with rough tannin and high acid. It contributed majorly to the wine lake of the EU (low quality wine that was subsidized by the EU and then needed to be dealt with because there was no demand for it). Nearly half the Carignan in the Languedoc was grubbed up in the 1990s and today no one is planting it, as the only value in it is in grapes that are more than 50 years old.   When the vines are old, the soil is poor, and the climate is hot, Carignan makes wines that are full of dark cherry fruit, blueberries, violet and other floral notes. It’s full-bodied with (sometimes dusty-feeling) tannins and great acidity, and moderate alcohol. Winemakers have to be careful to ensure the fermentation gets enough oxygen or the wines can take on a burnt match/reductive note.   Where does the grape grow??  Old World:  France: 80% of the Carignan plantings are in the Languedoc-Roussillon – and make ordinary Vins de Pays (countryside) wine. Some appellations: Minervois, Corbières, Faugères, Fitou, Languedoc, and St-Chinian each have a certain amount of Carignan specified in their AOCs and use carbonic maceration to soften the tannin and produce fruitier notes in their Carignan. The best wines come from old vines, as is the case in all areas. Really the two best places for Carignano/Mazuelo are Italy and Spain... Italy: The grape here is called Carignano and 97% is planted on the island of Sardegna, where it has been called Bovale Grande or Bovale di Spagna. Because of the name difference,  it was only recently discovered that this grape is Carignan. The grape grows well in the hot, dry south-western corner of Sardinia. The best co-op is Santadi, which makes soft, supple, fruity, and rich wine from the Carignano del Sulcis DOC.  Rocco Rubine and Terre Brune are great wines from the co-op. Spain: Mazuelo is found as a dwindling part of the Rioja blend (although Marquis de Murrieta makes a varietal Mazuelo). The place the grape shines is Catalunya, especially Priorat. Here the vineyard recipe for this grape is perfect: 100+ year old vines, schist slopes (llicorella), poor soils, and a hot, dry climate. The wines it yields are silky, rich, powerful and luscious, especially when blended with Garnacha.   In the old world you can also find the grape in Croatia, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia and Israel.   New World In the New World, the grape is found in Uruguay, Australia (South Australia),  Argentina, Mexico, and South Africa. In the US, in California, the grape is spelled Carignane and has historically been used as  a major component in jug and box wines, and was a popular grape home winemaking in the 1970s and 1980s. Like all Carignan, the best in California is found where there is old bush vines – places like Mendocino, Sonoma, Contra Costa County and other areas. Chile has great promise for the wine as well – especially with the ancient, dry farmed Carignan in Maule Valley.   There seems to be hope for Carignan as younger producers have taken an interest in giving it the attention it needs to make good wine. The grape has great potential!   Thanks to our sponsors this week: Thanks to 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 And to sign up for classes, please go to www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes!  Get your copy Wine For Normal People Book today!    Wine Access  Visit: www.wineaccess.com/normal and for a limited time get $20 off your first order of $50 or more!  I’m so excited to introduce Wine Access to you. 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!  Check it out today! www.wineaccess.com/normal 

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Californians. Bill and I can add evacuee to our resumes as residents of Sebastopol and many other areas of Sonoma County were evacuated due to the Kincade wildfire. Firefighters made their stand at the edge of the foothills as the fires moved downhill towards the densely populated town of Windsor. Many lessons have been learned since the Tubbs fire in the fall of 2017 and in the end the town was saved. Restaurateurs in Sonoma County are struggling with business interruptions from planned power shutoffs and the recent fires. Many are absorbing the losses while other restaurant owners have elected to close. Heather Irwin of Sonoma Magazine writes a piece that explores how business owner are facing the realities of the PG& E public safety power shutdowns. E.J. Gallo has just purchased Pahlmeyer, a high end Napa Valley Wine Brand. W. Blake Gray gives us some details about the buyout. West coast grape growers are in the middle of a grape glut. The glut is putting a lot of pressure on wineries and growers and is forcing many to make some tough decisions. The pain that those businesses are experiencing is translating into some very good bargains for wine consumers. Bill and I discuss these items and more in this week's addition of VinoWeek. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers! photo courtesy of tenuta di bibbiano We have four holiday wine recommendations this week. First up is a 2016 Chianti Classico from Tenuta di Bibbiano from the commune of Castellina in Chianti. Bibbiano is managed by Tommaso and Federico Marrocchesi Marzi, the fifth generation of a family that has owned the property since 1865. 100% Sangiovese the organically farmed grapes are hand harvested and fermented in stainless steel for about two weeks. After the wine is racked and pressed it spends one year in traditional concrete vats. This is a wonderfully enjoyable, fruity Chianti. The nose show loads of rich red cherry, earth, spice and garrique. On the palate more of that very distinctive savory-sweet, red fruit with delightful balance and it’s strikingly drinkable. I tasted the bottle over four nights using no nitrogen to preserve it. All I did was pour a glass each night cork the bottle and put it back in the fridge. It wasn’t until the third night that it started showing signs of getting a bit tired. This Chianti would easily compliment a variety of dishes on your holiday dinner table. 5,800 cs, 14.5 abv $18 Buy it here. photo courtesy of tenuta di bibbiano Trentadue’s Old Patch Red is a perennial favorite of mine. Trentadue is the Italian word for thiry-two. Leo Trentadue moved his family from a Santa Clara ranch where they farmed cherries and apricots in 1959, to Geyserville in the heart of Alexander Valley. He bought a 208 acre ranch that was planted mostly with plum trees, but there were also 60 acres of grape vines. Leo never pulled those vines up, he just planted more grapes. A decade later Leo sold 20 acres of his ranch to Pillsbury, a food company looking to get into the wine business. Through many boom and bust cycles that Pillsbury winery (formerly Chateau Souverain) is now in the capable of hands of Francis Ford Coppola. A wide variety of wines are made at Trentadue and the Old Patch Red (OPR) as the newly redesigned label signifies is their entry level red. The 2016 version of OPR wine has a newer fresher style to it. It doesn’t have the same grit and rough around the edges profile of past years. The winemaker Miro Tcholakov loves working with Zinfandel and Petite Sirah and the OPR shows he knows what he’s doing. 67% Zinfandel, 25% Petite Sirah, 5% Carignane, 3% Syrah the wine spends 9 months in 15% new oak. It has a deep ruby color, with a black cherry-cola nose, with loads of vanilla, oak and spice. On the palate it exhibits juicy black and red fruit. It’s sappy and slightly sweet and polished and finishes long with some nice spice as well. It’s sealed with a screw cap so it’s meant to drink now, but you don’t need to worry if you lose a few bottle in your wine stash because this one has some staying power. 5,972 cs, 14.5 abv $14 Buy it here. Cellar Cal Pla 2016 Black Slate is a wine from the village of Porrera in the winemaking area of Priorat and is situated roughly an hour and 45 minutes southwest of Barcelona in north-eastern Spain. The importer is Eric Solomon who imports wine predominantly from France and the Iberian Peninsula. If you’ve listened to any of our podcasts you’ve probably heard me talking about the importance of finding an importer whose wines align with your taste and trying other wines that they import. I’ve learned that Eric Solomon Selections is an importer you can count on to bring in uncommon wines from unique places. Bush vines in MAs-d’en -compte Priorat - photo courtesy of Eric Soloman Selections Priorat is a wine region that was rediscovered in the early 1990s and one could make an argument that Eric helped bring the region its new acclaim. The regions stony soils are covered with black slate, called llicorella locally. Its steep terraced hillsides make it nearly impossible to farm mechanically. So here’s the formula. Organic farming, old vines 15 to 80 years of age, meager yields, steeply terraced vineyards that are hand farmed and harvested. Add to that a wine that is comprised of 50% Garnacha (Grenache), 40% Carinena (Carignan) and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented in steel and concrete using natural yeast and matured for a year in 3 to 7 year old French and Hungarian oak barrels and you have a stunning example of a wine that exemplifies place over technique. The nose shows beautiful black and blue fruit, crushed rocks, spice and tar. On the palate black fruit, smoke and an earthy minerality. It’s full bodied and the acids and tannins are in perfect focus. The finish is deep and savory. It drinks really well as soon as you pop the cork but do yourself a favor and set aside a glass when you open a bottle and come back to it a few hours later. You’ll be glad you did. A remarkable value at $18 a bottle. 2916cs, 15% abv Buy it here. photo courtesy of Eric soloman selections wines to please you guests for the holidays The 2015 By Clinet Pomerol is a special bottling by the Clinet Wine Group. This wine was created for near term drinking while you’re waiting for your $125 bottles of Chateau Clinet to mature. I try not to recommend wines that are difficult to find. By Clinet Pomerol will be hard to find in the U. S. although it can be found in European markets. About 10 to 30 percent of the Gran Vin Chateau Clinet goes into this wine and the rest of the blend is sourced from neighboring Pomerol properties. The average age of the vines is 42 years and the blend is 88% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. Black cherries, plums and licorice on the nose, in the mouth silky lush red fruit. The tannins are refined and the acidity gives the wine a nice lift all the while the fruit is ripe and sweet. Once I tried this wine I was immediately disappointed that I had only purchased four bottles. An incredible value at $45 almost a third of the price of Chateau Clinet.

This episode of California Wine Country was originally recorded and published on Dec. 20, 2017. Carol Shelton was last on this show in February of this year.  There is no new episode recorded today, Nov. 6, 2019, as we recover from the aftermath of this year's fires in Sonoma County. Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross, which has done so much for Sonoma County again this year to help the community in its time of greatest need. Carol Shelton joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. For more information visit her website  https://www.carolshelton.com/ Dan Berger met Carol Shelton when she was making wines for Windsor Vineyards. They were winning gold medals in a lot of competitions but they were not widely known because they were not readily available at retail. So Dan wrote about how she was taking good fruit and making great wine. She explains how she spent 20 great years at Windsor after graduating with her degree in enology, until 2000 when she founded her own winery. Her Wild Thing wine is one of Steve Jaxon’s favorite wines. She and her husband lost their house in Larkfield in the October 2017 fires but they are rebuilding. Their homeowner’s association has been proactive to bring in four of five contractors to allow them to get better prices. $220 a square foot instead of $350-500. So the group of builders will do it for a lot closer to the lower figure. Carol Shelton was one of the first dozen women to go through the wine program at UC Davis, graduating in 1978. They taught winemaking but they didn’t teach viticulture so she learned that at Santa Rosa Junior College under Rich Thomas, who has been on the show many times. Steve asks Carol Shelton what made her want to get into the wine business. Her mother taught her to cook from a very young age, and to identify herbs by the smell even before she could read. Her parents offered to pay for her education if she took something scientific that could lead to a good job, but they would not pay for her to study poetry. So she visited a winery and smelled oak saturated with red wine and she decided she wanted to smell that every day at work. Dan says that Carol Shelton joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today is a great discoverer and he gives the example that she was making Carignane in the early 80s when nobody else was. They taste her Wild Thing 2016 Chardonnay from a vineyard that they own. It’s all barrel fermented, no malolactic fermentation. Steve says it is adorable, Dan says it is a very succulent wine and is ready to drink now. It has a little tropical fruit flavor and has a rich mid-palette without any oak character. Carol says they stir the barrels every Wednesday for eight months. Dan says it’s so delicious and is ready to drink now, which is suggested by its screw cap. The next wine tasted is called Coquille Blanc and is a blend of four varieties, mostly Grenache Blanc, and also Roussane, Viognier and Marsanne. Dan admires the complexity and subtlety of this wine and the different characteristics that come from the different grape varieties. Viognier gives you floral components. Grenache Blanc gives some chalky minerality, the Roussanne gives you peach and pear components, but Dan can’t figure out what is Marsanne’s best quality so he asks Carol. It has more peach flavors where the Roussanne has more almond. As this wine ages, they both will give a sweet honey flavor. Steve is surprised that he was thinking almonds just as she mentioned it. The Coquille is Carol’s favorite out of all the wines she makes. Dan says she is lucky because it is hard to get a good vineyard to grow all these grapes and she agrees that even if it is far away, it is worth it. She bottles about 15 or 16 wines right now. She is no longer going to make Pinot Noir but her Zinfandel is so famous that she is concentrating on that now. She tells about how during the fires they fled to thei...

It's time for us to recommended so amazing wines we recently tasted. Cheers!!!   Hunky Dory Tangle 2016 - priced around $15.  This wine is a white blend of 58% Pinot Gris, 38% Gewurztraminer and 4% Riesling Aromas of peaches and apricots, white flowers and a hint of lychee It’s dry with medium acidity, light body and flavors similar to aromas - stonefruit, white flowers and lychee Dry aromatic, light white wine for summer with enough acidity to pair with dishes like Pad Thai, curries or seafood dishes.   Unculin Bierzo Tinto 2017 - priced around $19.  This deep red wine has aromas of candied cherries, raspberries and strawberries almost like red licorice and dusty earth It’s dry with medium plus acidity, light to medium tannins, full bodied with flavors of red fruits, black pepper, mushroom and earth Very sweet smelling wine but it’s a dry, rich and more savory tasting wine   Famille Perrin Gigondas La Gille 2016 - priced around $24.  We received this wine as a press sample From Gigondas which is one of the nine Crus in Southern Rhone area of France Reds from this area are sometimes referred to as a cheaper alternative to Châteauneuf-du-Pape Famille Perrin is one of the leading organic wine growers of the Southern Rhône Valley Blend of Grenache and Syrah This wine has aromas of dark fruits like black plum and blackberries as well as earth and baking spices It’s a dry, full bodied wine with medium acidity and tannins with flavors of black fruits, vanilla, earth and dark coco If we would have found this at a wine tasting, we would have totally purchase this. Very complex, well made and great balance and harmony between those velvety tannins and acidity Pair with dishes like meaty stews, braised dishes and lamb shanks, as well as burgers and sausages   Coturri Carignane 2016 - priced around $29.  It’s technically a blend of mostly Carignane with Syrah and  Petite Sirah Aromas black cherries, black plum and baking spices It’s a dry, full bodied wine with medium plus acidity and tannins with flavors of black cherries, black plum, blueberries and  vanilla Loved the depth of fresh fruit flavors with great balance and complexity that keeps you coming back for another sip Recommended Food pairings: Roasted meats. Miso glazed tofu steaks.

Barbara Lindblom visits with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today, to remember Mary Ann Graf, a pioneering, iconic local winemaker who passed away recently. Barbara Lindblom also worked at Simi Winery (as laboratory director) then as a winemaker in some other places. She is now retired. Mary Ann Graf studied at UC Davis and was the first woman in the US to graduate with a degree in Oenology. She was the winemaker at Simi Winery, the first in a series of notable women winemakers there. Then, she ran a successful laboratory testing company called Vinquiry, which performed testing services for wineries. She was the first woman on the board of directors of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture Mary Ann Graf worked with André Tchelistcheff. They will taste a non-vintage Simi North Coast Burgundy, which Dan can see is from 1973, from the code printed at the bottom of the bottle. This was Mary Ann’s first year at Simi. Dan bought these wines at Trader Joe’s for $1.99 per bottleMost of the major wineries in those days made a generic so-called Burgundy and most of them were blends. Mary Ann Graf started Vinquiry at about that time. Dan knows it as one of the most professional wine analysis laboratories at the time. She had a lot of clients in Alexander Valley. Barbara Lindblom started working at a harvest at Mondavi with Zelma Long. When Zelma got the job as Simi, she asked Barbara to join her, and she worked there for 10 years. Dan Berger says that Zelma Long and André Tchelistcheff were a strong team, since André was more inclinded to understanding wine from its sensory perception and Zelma understood it more from the technical standpoint. Barbara remembers Mary Ann was so generous with her time and her thoughts, and a steadfast friend. Her consulting business grew and grew because she and her partner were so smart and patient with their clients. Dan remembers when he and Mary Ann were judges in a competition in the midwest where the wine was really bad. Dan remembers she was so kind and quiet. A winemaker from Illinois asked her, “Did you like my wine?” She replied kindly, “We can talk about this, you’ve got potential.” She could not say anything negative about it. As a consultant, she would tell her clients what’s there and what can make it better. She was always looking out for the best long-term solution, not a quick fix. They taste a 2000 Old Vine Zinfandel from Fanucci vineyards and a 2016 Stonestreet Estate Chardonnay that is a good example of Alexander Valley fruit having enough acidity to age well. Barbara Lindblom spent some time in France and Spain as well as working as a winemaker in California. Dan brought in a Simi North Coast Burgundy from 1973. This was Mary Ann Graf’s first year at Simi. It is only 12% alcohol, mostly Carignane and a bit of Zinfandel. Dan says that wineries had their blends with all kinds of different varietals that they all called Burgundy. They were the varietals that were in their high end portfolios, but the leftover wines were also good. Dan Berger tasted wine with Joe Coulombe at Trader Joes in the 1970s and remembers tasting these wines. Giuseppe and Pietro Simi selected their location, five years before Italian Swiss Colony was founded. They used to call a generic red wine “Mountain Burgundy” often based on Carignane which was a workhorse variety that was never intended to be aged. Dan discovered some old bottles of it in the back of his cellar and they were fine. There was a little oxidation. There was some fruit flavor, but dried fruit, being 40 years old. Zinfandel doesn’t age as well as Carignane, but it does live long. Dan says the smell this 1973 wine has is a precursor of oxidation. Dan and his wife were in Madrid at the Sporting restaurant in Madrid. They said they had a 1971 Baron Delay Rioja, which cost him $11 US. The waiter said the Spanish don’t like aged wine, since they age the wine in the barrels.

Carol Shelton, winemaker of her very own Carol Shelton Wines is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Carol Shelton is back on California Wine Country this week after a 14 month absence. She is called the Queen of Zinfandel. Dan tells about her great success with finding its character without having to be very high in percentage of alcohol. She also makes Petit Syrah and a white wine from Rhone grapes called Coquille Blanc (French for “White Scallop Shell”). Carol Shelton is very well known locally but doesn’t have national distribution for her relatively small output. She has made a brand called “Wild Thing” and another called Monga, which is Zinfandel from Cucamonga, where there are some of the oldest Zin vines in America. (The Jack Benny Show used to feature a call of local railway stations that ended in “CUC-a-MON-ga!” which used to get a laugh on the radio in the mid 20th century.) The Italian Wine Company used to own 2000 acres of grapes east of Los Angeles.  Her 2017 Rosé was on the cover of Wine Spectator, so was Jon Bon Jovi, who also makes Rosé. She has been in the wine business for 42 years. She was one of the first ten women to go to UC Davis in Enology. She worked for various wineries in California and Australia. Later she worked at Buena Vista for André Tchelistcheff and for Windsor. She credits him with lifting up the California production to meet and exceed the European standards. She moved to California with her family as a teen in the early 1970s. The family would go looking for wine in Santa Cruz and Livermore. Her parents encouraged her to take food science classes instead of poetry. She found wine to be, “the most creative science and the most scientific art.” Dan Berger gives Carol credit for making gold medal winning wines with grapes that nobody cared about, like Carignane. Her favorite wine is her Coquille Blanc. It’s a blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne. It’s all barrel fermented. All the grapes come from Paso Robles. Among white wines, this wine is complex. “It wants to be a Chardonnay and wants to go beyond.” Wine Spectator just gave it 93 points and it has won a couple of double golds already. Dan thinks it is the best white wine she has made to date. Some of her wines are now coming from mature vines. Dan says it is extremely complex and imagines it after another two years in the bottle. Carol says the 2008 is phenomenal. The Grenache Blanc tives it a steely background and the Roussanne gives it flesh on the bones, honey, peach, almonds. Dan says the Viognier adds tropical fruit. Wild Thing is named for the Zinfandel. She likes to experiment with yeast strains. Once she experimented with wild yeast. Dan explains that the grapes grow with a little natural yeast on them. Being organically grown grapes really helps. Pesticides target fungi like mildew and mold, and would harm the yeast. She started making Rosé in 2002, “before it was popular.” This 2018 Rosé is 60% Carignone, 30% Zin and 20% Petit Syrah. Dan says it has strong bright strawberry flavors, table strawberries and wild strawberries. Nice snd tangy, says Carol. Dan says in 6 to 8 more months the fruit flavors will be even more apparent. Carol says they picked it very green. Normally they pick at 241/2 to 26 or 26 brix (sugar content). This was picked at 21½ brix so it’s very much less ripe. Instead of pressing juice quickly, which can make it too pale, they kept the skins in for two days. Dan says it tastes lighter. Rosé made in this manner is darker. Carol says it is modelled after a Tavel, a southern Rhone style, such as Chateau Trinquevedel Tavel Rosé, which is usually this dark. They usually have Carignane and Mourvedre. DAN BERGER:  “A lot of what we do in Sonoma County is under the radar. There is a lot of exposition about wines from around the world that gain recognition because they’re expensive or because they have fancy packaging or they have huge publi...

This week we're featuring our interview with Markus Niggli of Markus Wines out of Lodi, CA as well as some of his amazing wines. We met Markus back in 2016 when the Wine Bloggers Conference was in Lodi, California, where he was involved with the the pre-conference excursion we went on which was titled “ Old Vines and experimental wines”. Markus was indeed sharing fresh wines with higher acidity, made with grapes you wouldn't expect in a place many people believe is too hot to do so - wines like his Gewurztraminer, which we reached about back in episode 25, which you can listen to here.   You can learn more about Markus Wine Co here   Wine Recommendations - all of these wine were sent to us as press samples. Joey Insieme 2017 - priced around $22 White wine blend of Silvaspoons Vineyards: 95% Torrontes and Cain Vineyards, North Carolina: 5% Traminette Nose: Pineapple, orange blossom and wet rock Dry, medium acidity and fruity with flavors of pineapple, white peach, and flowers Great balance with fruit and floral flavors, great warm weather wine   Zeal Rose 2017 - priced around $22.  Bright pink wine. A Blend of Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch: 75% Syrah and Spenker Ranch: 25% Carignane Nose: minerality, dusty rose and strawberries Dry, medium plus acidity Flavors: strawberry, watermelon, pink grapefruit, and a hint of rose Very light tannins - it has the texture of running your hands along soapstone It’s crisp, fruity and complex   Blue 2015 - priced around $39. Red Blend of Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch: 80% Zinfandel and Spenker Ranch:10% Zinfandel, 5% Petite Verdot Nose: violets, blueberries, blackberries, dust and sweet baking spice like cloves Dry, full body, medium plus acidity, medium plus, smooth but grippy tannins Flavors: violets, dusty earth, blackberries, dried plums and cedar Fruity and floral, lush wine This wine needs bold, earthy foods like red meats, mushroom and lentil dishes   Sol 2015- priced around $39. Red Blend of Borra Vineyards Church Block: 42% Petite Sirah, Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch: 37% Syrah, Silvaspoons Vineyards: 21% Mourvèdre Nose - pepper, strewed dark fruits - blackberries, vanilla Full bodied, dry wine with medium acidity, medium velvet tannins with flavors of blackberries, back plum, cedar and a hint of bitter tobacco This wine is juicy, ripe, bursting with dark fruit flavors and the texture is rich and creamy   Domo 2015 - priced around $39. Red blend of Borra Vineyards Church Block: 75% Carignane, Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch: 15% Petite Sirah, 10% Syrah Nose: dusty, dried herbs, blackberry, black plum and black cherries - all the black fruits Dry, medium plus acidity, medium tannins, full body with flavors of sour cherries, plum, meaty with leather on the finish Fruity but not a fruit bomb - lots of complex flavors, this is definitely a food wine and a real crowd pleaser so it’s great for a dinner party.   Zeitlos 2015 - priced around $39. Red Blend of Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch: 76% Syrah, 4% Viognier, Borra Vineyards Church Block: 12% Carignane, 8% Petite Sirah Nose: cherries with hints of violets and dirt Dry and full bodied with medium plus acidity, medium velvety tannins Flavors: plum, sour cherries, dirt and mushrooms    

Wine Road Episode 51- Explore Rhône’s Along the Wine Road. In this episode we have special guest Fred Peterson of Peterson Winery to talk all things Sonoma County Rhône. He and the ladies drink Peterson GSM and an ’08 Syrah while discussing the tasting tip of the day and why Rhône’s grow well in our neck of the woods. Don’t miss Esprit du Rhône as well as the Peterson Blending session in May and the Dry Creek Winegrowers cruise in the fall. We look forward to seeing you in Sonoma County with a glass of Rhône in your hand.   Wine Road 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 Rhônes with Fred Peterson    4:00 Tasting Tip of the Day - Revisit Wineries to see what’s new   4:20 Wine of the Day - Peterson Winery GSM   8:30 Rhône Growing Regions 15:25 2008 Syrah 17:35 Rhône Blending Seminar at Peterson Winery May 12, 2018 18:20 Rhône Cruise with Grape Growers of Dry Creek 20:00 Esprit du Rhône   Fred, Jamie, & Emily Peterson    Links: Peterson Winery Peterson GSM Rhône Growing regions - Along the Wine Road Rhône Blending Session - Winemaker for the Day at Peterson Winery Dry Creek Passport Cruise   Esprit du Rhône   Credits: The Wine Road podcast is recorded, mixed, and mastered at Threshold Studios Sebastopol, CA

I recorded this podcast at the Peterson Winery tasting room while I was visiting Sonoma in support of the Sonoma Underground event I co-founded (www.undergroundwineevents.com).  This is a fascinating conversation with the force and Dry Creek Valley icon that is Fred Peterson, his son and Peterson's winemaker Jamie, and his daughter and head of sales and marketing, Emily. As Fred discusses, following time in the military, he studied viticulture and winemaking and graduated with honors from UC Davis. After working in and around Santa Cruz for prestigious wineries as a vineyard manager, Fred came to Dry Creek Valley in 1983 to find and develop world-class vineyard properties. Fred developed vineyards all over the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County, including on Bradford Mountain, where most of the fruit for Peterson's top wine hails. In 1987, Fred, launched Peterson Winery.    Peterson Winery now makes an average of 8000 cases annually, all in many small lots from estate vineyards and from like-minded growers and friends.   Peterson produces many wines...   - 3V White Blend- Vermentino, Verdelho, Vernaccia - Agraria — a proprietary Bordeaux/Cabernet Franc varietal blend   - Barbera   - Cabernet Sauvignon   - Cabernet Sauvignon Port- dessert wine - Carignane   - Grenache   - Merlot - Mendo Blendo – Petite Sirah based blend   - Muscat Blanc — Dessert Wine   - Petite Sirah   - Petit Verdot   - Rosé   - Sauvignon Blanc   - Sangiovese — Dry Creek Valley and Il Granaio   - Syrah   - Vignobles- Red Rhone Style Blend   - Zinfandels — Dry Creek Valley, Tradizionale, Bradford Mountain, Bernier Zinyard, Warren Ranch, & Old School   - Zero Manipulation — an old-fashioned red blend     Please support our sponsor this week, who helps make the podcast possible:    Thanks to this week's sponsor who makes the podcast possible! The Great Courses Plus -- who makes you smarter and more well rounded! With thousands of outstanding video lectures that you can watch or listen to any time and anywhere, The Great Courses Plus is an easy way to stimulate your brain and make you smarter! For a free month trial, go to thegreatcoursesplus.com/wine

Morgan Twain-Peterson is the owner and winemaker of Bedrock Wine Co. in California. Also in this episode, Erin Scala discusses Zinfandel.