Podcast appearances and mentions of steve jaxon

Herlinda and Bex. Bex Pezzullo, founder and cider maker of Sincere Cider, is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Bex started Sincere Cider right at the time of the pandemic. The lockdown started six days after she canned her first batch of cider. She had a 20 year career in event promotion and marketing, and she had a lot of personal contacts whom she had hope would help her at her launch. Instead of that, she ended up employing some friends who were unemployed bartenders to deliver cider. After that, since business was slow enough, she bought a 1993 camper van, named it Farley after the Chris Farley “living in a camper by the river” and hit the road. In every new city up the road, she would look for the cool bottle shops, bars and restaurants and bring cider to offer them. Before starting the cider company she had a job at an event festival company that worked with clients like Bonaroo and Outside Lands. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Granny Smith Apples and Chablis Yeast Bex likes to joke that she is a recovering sommelier, having worked as an Italian wine specialist. She did a few harvest seasons in Italy. They are sipping the Dry Apple Cider, made mostly with Granny Smith apples. She also uses a Chablis yeast which brings the right crispness and tanginess. Their core line-up includes a Rosé cider, called Granada, that has California organic pomegranate and blueberry juice and a little bit of orange zest. The color is beautiful, everyone agrees. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Leah Scurto and Chris Puppione. Chris Puppione from Puppione Family Wines joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Leah Scurto from PizzaLeah is also here, and she brought several different pizzas. We will try some pizza and wine pairings. Chris Puppione starts telling the story of the family winery. He had worked in wine and thought of bottles of wine as time capsules. So when his first daughter was born, he made a wine for her to celebrate her birth. A neighbor in the Russian River area sold him one ton of Syrah grapes. He even told a tall tale to his wife to get her to come out and prune the first grapes for their wine. When the second daughter was born he made another wine and they kept on making wine that connects to their family history. This wine they are tasting today is a 2017. California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines. Dan Berger discovered Puppione Family Wines when he was a judge in a blended red category at a recent competition. Immediately he liked it so much he found out who made it. It was a really low alcohol wine, which Dan likes. About 10 days later, Dan found the winery and met Chris for the first time. Chris Puppione mentions his day job, he oversees US wineries for Coravin, a company that makes wine equipment. Pizza and Wine Pairings Festa Bianco + Sicilian We're going to do pizza and wine pairing today. Leah Scurto has brought four different pizzas, each one with very different flavors. We will pair them with four Puppione wines. The first pairing is a bottle of Festa Bianco, a white wine, with the Sicilian pizza. Festa was Chris' grandmother's maiden name. The Sicilian pizza has Castelvetrano olives, Italian salame, chili flakes, ricotta and a little red onion. The wine is a Friulano, which is a northern Italian white wine often mistaken for Sauvignon Blanc. It goes well with green vegetables and salads. It come from the Friuli region of Italy, which is the north-eastern part of the country, next to Slovenia. Festa Rosso + Nico The next pizza is the Nico, which is an award winner. It has confit garlic, fresh rosemary, black pepper and Italian sausage. This is paired with Festa Rossa, which is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet and Friulano. It is again, pretty low alcohol. PizzaLeah's Cold Fermentation Dough Dan calls PizzaLeah's pizza the most classic pizza in Sonoma County. A lot of factors make PizzaLeah's pizza special. Importantly, the dough is made by a slow, cold fermentation process. She uses local flour from Central Milling. She makes dough fresh daily. Only after two or three days of proofing in cold storage does it become pizza. Extended fermentation makes bread more digestible. It also gives the dough the right texture. Some deep dish pizzas are not really even pizza, they are more like cake. For comparison, it's almost more like a casserole. PizzaLeah does have two Detroit-style pan pizzas. The crust comes out looking like a brick but light as a feather when you eat it. Juventus + Spade Dan appreciates Chris Pappapietro's wine for the abundant fruit flavors. To make their Friulano, he had to go up into the hills near Tahoe, to a vineyard called Snow's Crossing. It's an alpine wilderness. They foot stomp all of their fruit, just like his grandfather did. His kids get into the bins and stomp fruit. There are pictures of that on their site. Especially, they left the Friulano on the skins in order to get more flavors from it. Next up is the Juventus wine, named after the goddess of youth and rejuvenation (not the soccer team). Instead, he wanted to make a red wine that would invigorate people instead of bringing heaviness. He made it in stainless steel which helps maintain the fruit flavors. An American Pizza, An Italian Award Syrah + Detroit Pepperoni The Spade pizza won an award in the American category in a competition in Napoli. The next wine is their Intero Syrah.

Harry Duke, Herlinda Heras and Trevor Zebulon. Trevor Zebulon, founder of Goat Rock Cider, is here on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon and with Herlinda Heras. Trevor Zebulon started Goat Rock Cider with his friend Paul Hawley, before the pandemic. It was a side hustle for both of them, but the pandemic wrecked his regular business, a transportation company. Then he decided to go “full bore” ever since in Petaluma. He used to have a jazz club called Zebulon's Jazz Lounge. He has a tasting room upstairs from where he makes the cider that has some of that old vibe. Goat Rock Cider is the only fully organic cider maker around. Some people use organic apples, but they follow organic practices throughout the process. He is only one person, by himself, so you have to make an appointment. He is there just on Saturdays for walk-up tastings. For a reservation, call or text (707) 409-0738 or go to Goat Rock Cider dot com. In addition to Goat Rock, which is fermented dry cider, he started a second organic cider brand called Nectar. They are named after gems, Sapphire and Emerald. It is sweetened with organic honey from Hawaii. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. He also started dabbling in the wine world. The unique thing about his wine is that they are all sourced from organic biodynamic vineyards. It is a pretty small production, very light and easy drinking. He calls it “natural wine adjacent” since he does use yeast and sulphur, but nothing else. Big West Wine Fest discount code VINE VIBE He will be pouring on Sunday at the June 14 and 15 in Guerneville at the Big West Wine Fest. VINE VIBE is the discount code. The venue is Solar Punk Farms in Gueneville.  He will not be at the Gravenstein Apple Fair this year, as a one-man show, it's too much to do, with the tasting room opening at the same time. Technically, any fermented fruit is a type of wine product. No grain allowed in a winery, and winemakers can use any fruit they like. Cider is taxed as wine. If it is lower than 8.4% ABV it is cider, otherwise it has to be called apple wine. (Sake is actually more like beer and Cider is more like wine.) Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Dan and Paul from Small Vines. Paul Sloan from Small Vines Wines joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Daedalus Howell also joins us today. Small Vines Wines makes “world class wines of distinction.” Paul grew up in Sonoma County on a 250-acre horse and cattle ranch, on the eastern side of Santa Rosa. He worked in restaurants and ended up at John Ash & Co., known as one of the original farm-to-table restaurants. His favorite wines were always from families that grew the fruit and also made the wine. When he fell in love with age-worthy, food-friendly wines, he continued to work for the Dutton family and studied viticulture at Santa Rosa JC. He planted some high-density vineyards over the years and his wines come from them. High-Density Vines Dan Berger says that the predictions of weather are less reliable than ever, as climate change is not uniform. Paul finds that high-density planting helps, in hot years by shading the vines. High density planting works but you have to take careful care of the vines. Paul was the first person to actually design a wine with good natural acidity by planting high density vines. California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines. Phylloxera is a root louse that is so small it is hard to see. It chews on certain roots and in particular, native roots. So you have to choose rootstock that is impervious to it. It appeared in the late 1980s. It was inevitable that all the vines affected had to be torn out and the vineyards replanted. The more leaf surface you have, the more dappled sunlight you have, instead of direct light. By planting a 4-foot tractor row instead of an 8-foot tractor row, you can get fifty percent less direct sunlight on the fruit. Daedalus asks about automation and the potential to use drones in the vineyard. Paul tells about advanced tractors that gather data. The high end producers will continue to do things by hand, but a lot of less expensive wines will have to use some automation. Dan Berger mentions that a lot of the automation is in the winery, rather than in the vineyard. There are tanks with built-in chemical analysis equipment. Also, sorting the fruit is still an important manual process. Ideally, you only harvest the ideally formed clusters of fruit. Their first tasting is a 2021 TBH Chardonnay, that demonstrates the fruit selection. They sort the fruit on the vine. You only take the ideal length of cluster and diameter of berries. Their 2021 Chardonnay is the current release. His goal is to make age-worthy, food-friendly wines, so he sees no reason not to hold his wines for a few years before releasing them.

Owner Michael Dunsford and Brewmaster Nick Bartlett from Napa Valley Brewing Co. join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on The Drive Brew Ha Ha. This is their first time on the program. The brewery was founded in 1987 and Michael's family bought the brewery in 1989. It is on the grounds of the historic Calistoga Inn. Steve Jaxon used to live there in those years. Many great memories. Herlinda introduces Nick Bartlett. After Mad Fritz, this is the second Napa Valley brewery featured on Brew Ha Ha lately. Nick has been at Napa Valley Brewing a little over a year. He moved to Calistoga with his wife from Oakland for the job. It is quiet in his neighborhood, nothing like Oakland. In Oakland he was a brewer at Buck Wild Brewing, which is a gluten-free brewery. The Calistoga Inn The Calistoga Inn is a busy operation with a 150-seat patio and a 100-seat beer garden with live events. They have live music every night in the summer. So the brewery is a bit in the background on the grounds. Now they are bringing the brewery more front and center. Over 37 years Calistoga has changed. It used to be “fun and funky” but it has become “a little bit more sophisticated” with lots of new businesses and expansions. Michael was on the city council and assisted with some of that process. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Erica, Judy & Doug. Doug Mryglod, Judy Phillips and Erica Stancliff from Deodora Wine are our guests with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Daedalus Howell is also in the studio today. This is the first time that Doug and Judy have been on the show for Deodora Estate Vineyards. Erica Stancliff has been on CWC before on this episode of June 24, 2020. Dan Berger introduces Deodora for winning a gold medal for a dry Riesling at the latest wine competition. The 2019 that won was up against some very stiff competition. The 2024 is maybe better, says Dan. Judy says they bottled it back in February and this is the first bottle they are opening. The grapes come from “an amazing site in the Petaluma Gap.” This is precisely what the American consumer wants, and doesn't know it. It is dry but not too much, with just enough personality in the aftertaste to suggest what kind of food it would go with. It should be served chilled but not ice cold. Dan describes plumeria, wild tropical fruit, and citrus flavors. The lime flavors will come out in about two years. Judy says Dan's commentary makes the perfect tasting notes for this wine. It is not gripping and so lemony. California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines. Daedalus Howell is also here today. He notices the minerality in this wine, “a quiet little whisper” of slate, underneath the fruit flavors. It was barreled in concrete, there was no malolactic fermentation, and there was one neutral French oak barrel, and stainless steel. Doug tells the Deodora story that starts with Judy. In 2012 they got a property that was an old goat farm. It took them months to clean it up and decide what to plant. There is a story behind the Riesling. He worked with Ford family in the Finger Lakes region, Heron Hill wine. Doug fell in love with Riesling after tasting theirs. Doug's Riesling made for himself Doug didn't want his Riesling to be too dry or too sweet, just in the middle, and for himself only. Dan says, “I did the same thing… just for me.” Dan says that Riesling makes itself if you have the right grapes. Judy says it was hard for them to believe they won that award for the Riesling. Erica Stancliff tells how she was born and raised in Forestville with parents who were home winemakers. They started Trombetta Winery where Erica is the winemaker. Her mentor was Paul Hobbs and she is now a winemaker for various local labels. She loves Petaluma Gap for the wind, climate, Sonoma coast influence and the fog. That makes it perfect, absolutely perfect for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and also Riesling. Daedalus asks Erica if their friend Chris Sawyer, the “sommelier to the stars” is really the originator of the term Petaluma Gap. He claimed it, says Daedalus. Erica has a precise technical description of the climate that makes for slow development of brix levels. In Petaluma Gap you only get a few hours of the peak heat, before the wind comes in every day. The name Deodora comes from an old tree that is on a property he owns on a golf course. The tree is beautiful and comes from the Himalayas.

Outside Lands 2025 lineup Dave MacLean is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, to talk about Hidden Splendor Beer and Outside Lands 2025. He has been on the show before, the last time was this episode a couple of years ago. Hidden Splendor Beer is Dave's new brewery that will be opening soon. Dave likes to create good beer and then places to enjoy it in. That is what he did in his previous endeavor, Magnolia Brewing. He will be brewing a lot of traditional beers, bitter, mild, light mild, porter, stout, pilsners and lagers. Dave is also here to tell us about Beer Lands for Outside Lands 2025 on Aug. 8, 9 & 10 in San Francisco. His discussion of that is on this other podcast episode. This separation allows each of today's subjects, Outside Lands and Hidden Splendor, to have their own audio track and search traffic. ;) Hidden Splendor will have a location in San Rafael that will open in the Fall. Dave wants it to be a ‘brewer's brewery' including using some rare brewing techniques like cask beer. In the meantime they will be delivering beer to the festivals like Beer Lands. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Herlinda Heras & Dave MacLean. Dave MacLean is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, to talk about curating the beer experience at Beer Lands. It is part of Outside Lands 2025, in Golden Gate Park, on August 8, 9 & 10th. He has been on BHH before, the last time was this episode a couple of years ago. Dave is also a co-founder of Admiral Maltings and is the former owner of Magnolia Brewing. Dave is also here to tell us about opening a new brewery called Hidden Splendor Beer. His discussion of the new brewery is on this other podcast episode. This allows each of today's subjects, Outside Lands and Hidden Splendor, to have their own audio track and search traffic. ;) This is the 12th year for Beer Lands. It will get a different look and feel this year. Dave describes this year's Beer Lands setup from having seen the plans, but it is yet to be built in the new way. It will still be on the Polo field but closer to the main stage. They have 22 breweries including a couple of Cider houses. Each brewery will feature two beers. Dave's job is to curate a well-rounded menu of all the different beer styles. It should show the variety of beer being produced in the San Francisco area and not be not just an IPA fest or a lager fest. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Outside Lands 2025 Music The music lineup for Outside Lands (pictured above) includes three days worth of rosters of artists, from up-and-comers to established top-line acts. There are seven stages that are located around Golden Gate Park. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Steve, Ben, Yolanda and Olli. Ben Papapietro and his wife Yolanda join Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country. Dan Berger is away today, visiting the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival, which we talked about on this episode two weeks ago. Ben is a co-founder of the Papapietr0-Perry winery. This is Ben and Yolanda's first time on CWC. Ben Papapietro started in his basement in San Francisco as a home winemaker. He had a friend, Bruce Perry, who worked with Ben in the delivery of the San Francisco Chronicle. They wanted to make Pinot but there was hardly any fruit at that time. Another friend, Burt Williams, also helped him get some Pinot fruit. But they made a lot of Cabernet Franc blends and Zinfandel. In 1990 he got a really good source of Pinot fruit. Then his partner talked him into opening a professional winery in 1997. Early in his winemaking career, Ben did some harvests with Burt Williams, the co-founder of Williams-Selyem, who was a mentor to Ben. He was one of the local winemakers who started producing Pinot Noir in Sonoma County. California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines. Goldridge Soil Again They are tasting a 2023 Pinot Noir, a vineyard designate from Peter's Vineyard. It is in the high southern hills with the famous Goldridge soil that makes the region famous. Melissa Galliani joins us in the studio today. Her t-shirt says “near perfect” and it has a story. Ben's partner made the t-shirt that reproduces the comments of wine reviewers who liked their wine. Bruce Perry was Ben's partner and very close friend. He passed away a couple of years ago. Papapietro-Perry is participating in the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience this weekend. But he and his wife are taking 80 people on a cruise up the Douro River in Portugal. They have organized several other cruises with as many as 140 people with them. They visit a lot of wineries and taste a lot of wine. Ben grew up in the Mission district of San Francisco and visited Italy several times to see relatives on both sides of his family. The Papapietro-Perry Light & Bright Club Papapietro-Perry has a “Light and Bright” club, which is for Rosé and Chardonnay. On June 14th there is an event called “Wine, Cheese and Chocolate.” Even during Covid they did a once-a-week live show that kept people involved. And in July there is the Papapietro-Perry Lobster and Chardonnay Festival. Next they taste a Chardonnay which is a lighter style, fruit forward with a nice spicy finish that lingers. Ben also brought a Pinot Noir, made from the 777 clone grown in four different vineyards with different growing conditions.

Ned Lawson from Ethic Ciders is here with Dana Glei from the Gravenstein Apple Fair on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. We featured Ned Lawson and Ethic Ciders on this episode back on August 1, 2024, before last year's Gravenstein Apple Fair. Herlinda calls the fair "the cutest little country fair" with old-fashioned attractions and lots of fun. The music lineup is on this page of the website. The Gravenstein Apple Fair takes place at Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol on August 9th & 10th. The craft cider tent started with just a few producers and this year there will be 18 different local producers there. The only rule at the fair is that the apples have to be grown locally, from within 100 miles. Ethic Ciders New Lawson started Ethic Ciders 10 years ago and opened the tasting room a year and a half ago. They are "orchard to glass" and they "do the whole thing right there." Ethic Ciders also makes a brandy (called a Pommeau in French) and a non-alcoholic product. They are also starting to produce a cider vinegar tonic. They make it not by de-alcoholizing cider. Instead, they start with apple cider vinegar and add lycee, lemon balm and hibiscus. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Ethic makes a cider called 1870. In the Gold Rush era, homesteaders planted a lot of apples in the area. As the Gold Rush waned, some of those orchards fell into disrepair. Then these apples were rediscovered later. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Bettina from Laurel Glen Vineyard is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Bettina's father Peter M. F. Sichel recently passed away at 102. He was an old friend of Dan Berger who credits him with great contributions to winemaking, in Germany and in the US. Dan wrote a review of Peter's book called “The Secrets of My Life: Vintner, Soldier, Prisoner, Spy.” He was instrumental in making Blue Nun wine popular, a dry white wine from Germany. Dan describes the story of Blue Nun as a story of the Atomic Age. There is a bottle of it on the cover of the Fleetwood Mac album Rumors and there is a Beastie Boys song called Blue Nun. Blue Nun was very popular in the 1970s. The brand ran radio advertisements nationally that were written and recorded by Stiller & Meara. Here is one of them: https://calwinecountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BLUE-NUN-1970-Stiller-Meara.mp3 Laurel Glen is on top of Sonoma Mountain. It is a remarkable property. The fact that people would plant Cabernet up there is “outrageous” says Dan. It makes a special kind of wine. Bettina says it's a great site for Cabernet. In the 1990s, Cabernet was a much more restrained, a low-alcohol wine with high acidity. That is still the Lauren Glen style. Sonoma Mountain AVA The vineyard was first planted to Cabernet in the 1960s. They are located on a plateau. The Sonoma Mountain AVA is on the east side of the mountain. The west side of the mountain is now the Petaluma Gap AVA. The mountain blocks the wind and fog. They don't achieve the degree of ripeness that Napa Cabernets do, which produces what Dan calls a richer, oaky, more concentrated and higher in alcohol. California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines. Next for tasting is a Riesling that comes from a vineyard on the central coast near Monterrey. They are the last grapes that come into the winery, after all the other grapes. That shows what a long maturation process these grapes require. Dan can think of only about 5 vineyards in California that produce high quality dry Riesling and this is one of them. They make three Cabernets, a Rosé and some Gruner Veltliner.

Dr. Ron is here with Docta-Ron beer, along with Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo on Brew Ha Ha with Herinda Heras and Steve Jaxon. Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company are in the studio with guests from New Zealand. Brent McGlashen is a fifth-generation New Zealand hop grower. He and Vinny spent today brewing the test batch of a special beer they will release later this year. Also in the studio is Dr. Ron Beatson who is the most famous New Zealand hops expert, and David Biondi, who represents New Zealand hops in the US. The beer Docta-Ron is named after Dr. Ron. Their special beer will use a new variety of hops called NZ-109. It has taken ten years in development. The special brew will use this new variety of hops that they nicknamed “Juicy.” The California Lake Cluster was imported to NZ in 1897. New Zealand wanted to produce hops that were different. They only produce about 1.5% of the world hops crop, so they need to be special and different. Vinny says they love NZ hops. He compares them to NZ Sauvignon Blancs which have their own intense flavors compared to the same grapes grown anywhere else in the world. These hops are so potent that a little goes a long way. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Herlinda tells about how her father, who was in the Navy, says that New Zealand was the most beautiful place he ever visited. New Zealanders have been growing hops for over 200 years. Zed versus Zee New Zealanders follow the British usage of calling the letter Z “zed” where in the US it's “zee.” So Dr. Ron calls it “N Zed one-oh-nine” where we would say NZ-109 with the Z as “zee.” Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Barbara Barrielle Barbara Barrielle calls in to California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger to talk about the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival 2025 coming May 16-18. She was a guest on CWC last January on this episode when the Anderson Valley Winegrowers were promoting the International White Wine Festival in February. The Pinot Noir Festival has been going on for 26 years. Anderson Valley is home to some picturesque small towns and to several vineyards. Its cool climate is ideal for Pinot Noir. The Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival runs from Friday May 16 through Sunday May 18. Get all the information at the Valley AV WINES website, and get tickets at the Eventbrite page for the 2025 Festival. Use the Promo Code MENDOCINO to get 30% off tickets to the Barbeque and the Grand Tasting.  On Friday May 16, there is a barbeque where the vintners bring special wines from their cellars. It's a show-off opportunity and everyone brings their best. Plus, the food is fantastic. Then on Saturday, May 17, the Grand Tasting is at Scharfenberger Cellars. It's one of the few wine festivals that takes place right in the vineyard. In the morning, VIPs spend a few hours "in the bubble lounge" with oysters, caviar etc. In the afternoon, 45 different wineries and great food. On Sunday, the local wineries open up for visits. California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines. One Hour Away From Santa Rosa To get there you drive north on highway 128 for about an hour, from Santa Rosa. It's springtime and everything is in bloom. There will be easily 60 different wines. Dan Berger says the sub-region of Comptche (pronounced "com-CHEE") is producing very good wine. Three years ago there was nothing coming from there. Today, they are world class. It's remarkable that they are still unknown even in a town as large and as close as Santa Rosa.

The floor at Admiral Maltings. Ron Silberstein, a co-founder of Admiral Maltings in Alameda, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. He used to run The Thirsty Bear Brewing Company for 27 years in downtown San Francisco. At Admiral Maltings they also have a pub called The Rake in the same building, overlooking the malting floor. It is located on a former Naval base. (Alameda Naval Air Station was one of the biggest Navy airports anywhere.) Admiral Maltings is reintroducing an old-fashioned way of making malt that makes a high quality product. Barley is the most commonly used grain for beer and whiskey. Grains have to be broken down before the yeast can do its job. So the grain is soaked which lets it start to germinate, then they stop the process and dry it. They grow all of their grain in California. Before WWII, barley was the largest California crop. Then, the floor is actually cooled, because germination itself produced heat. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Russian River just won a Gold at the World Beer Cup for their STS Pilsner, and a Silver for Damnation. They use Admiral Malt. Drake's also won a Gold in the Cream Ale category. Punching Above Their Weight in the World of Malt They were just at the California Craft Brewers Cup. Admiral Maltings produces one tenth of one percent of the available malt, but they won 8% of the medals from the recent CCB Cup. Of course, it's the brewers who win the medals, but they do use Admiral Maltings malt. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Joy Sterling from Iron Horse Vineyards is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Joy has been on California Wine Country before, on this episode of Sept. 27, 2017. Clark Wolf is sticking around from the previous segment to talk about the Northern California Public Media Awards that are coming back on May 10. This year's honorees are Joy Sterling and her whole family, who are getting the recognition they deserve for all the delicious wines they make and also for all of their other work outside of winemaking. Joy describes Iron Horse as a magical place, with stunning views across rolling hills of vines, with Mt. St. Helena in the distance. "The grapes know they are growing in a gorgeous place." Dan Berger says its magic is a result of its location. The old road has not changed in 100 years. As you cross the bridge, it feels like you are 100 miles from anywhere. While a lot of wineries try to "turn it up so much" as Clark says, Iron Horse is natural. There is wildness thriving around them, including deer, who ate Joy's roses. The turkey vultures that live all around northern California are thriving. Green Valley Creek bisects the property. The Coho Salmon use the river for spawning. Their farming is so careful that the water is clean. Iron Horse has been legendary for making some of the finest Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and sparkling wines in the world, not just in Sonoma County. These wines are "really pristine" such as the 2023 Audrey Chardonnay, named after Joy's mom. Ever since the beginning, they keep the malolactic fermentation to a minimum and they use steam-bent barrels, so there is no smoke on the wood and therefore none in the wine either. Joy describes this wine as gracious and elegant, just like her mom. Dan Berger describes it as having perfect acidity and all the components are subtle, not ostentatious. The aren't "blow your socks off" wines, more like "glide your socks off," says Joy. POP goes the cork! "Who doesn't like a big pop? It just says "party," says Joy. This is their 2021 Spring Rosé. It has a beautiful petal pink color and it really tastes like spring." Dan Berger, who has an extensive personal cellar, says that these wines will improve with age in the bottle. They already have three years on the yeast. It is a limited production wine, only available at their tasting room. The second wine they pour is the one they are best known for, Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée. Joy explains that their sparkling wines have become drier and drier, due to two factors, the increased quality of their craftsmanship and their vineyard practices. Dan Berger also gives credit to Iron Horse's customers, who demand their quality. "We have the best customers!" says Joy. Iron Horse wines have been served at the White House for the last six consecutive administrations, as well as State Department events and to foreign dignitaries and royalty including the Queen of England. The Intimate History of Iron Horse Joy's mother is a San Franciscan and her father was from Los Angeles and they lived in LA when Joy was a child. Then the family moved to France in 1967 and that is where they encountered wine. They would go on trips together to discover wine and their parents felt right at home. When they missed on a vineyard acquisition there, it may have been a blessing because by the mid-1970s they found a property in California. They have 3 generations living on the property in an 1876 house. Next year they will celebrate several big anniversaries. The USA turns 250, Iron Horse turns 50, winemaker David Munksgard celebrates 30 years making wine there. They had a second label for a while called Tin Pony which they don't make anymore. It was for wine made from grapes that did not make it into the Iron Horse blend. Joy said they preferred to focus on their top quality product. Dan thinks that with the market the way it is, Tin Pony could make a comeback, but Joy says she is busy enough.

Marin County Civic Center and Lagoon Park. Drew Patterson joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha to talk about the Marin Irish Festival. It is coming back to Lagoon Park, Marin County Fairgrounds on May 3 and 4, 2025. It's a celebration of Irish music, dance, and culture. They will have more than 40 artisan vendors and craft booths. Feast on traditional Irish food (corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips, shepherd's pie). To drink, there will be pints of Guinness, Harp, and local hard ciders and ales. The Marin Irish Festival is a production of Red Barn Productions. They are famous for The Great Dickens Christmas Fair and the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. The festival takes its inspiration from Beltane, the ancient Celtic holiday that celebrates the arrival of summer—with Maypoles, music, dancing, and revelry. They will have live Performances on Four Stages and, new for this year, an officially sanctioned Irish dance competition. The Ceili on the Lake Championships are a sanctioned feis (pronounced FESH) in partnership with the Jackie Flynn Irish Dance Academy. For information and registration, visit marinirishfestival.com/feis In addition to all that, there will also be Sheep Herding Demos with real Sheep Dogs, plus sheep shearing and wool spinning!  The San Francisco Gaelic Athletic Association will demo hurling, Gaelic football, and Camogie, featuring fast-paced 5-on-5 blitz matches.

Nolan Jones, winemaker at Lava Cap Winery, is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Lava Cap Winery is located in the Sierra Foothills, in Placerville. It is two hours due east of Napa and Sonoma. Dan Berger says that Sierra Foothills makes great wines but there are differences between the different regions. The Sierra Nevada Foothills is one of the biggest AVAs in the state. Their vineyards are at some of the highest elevations in California, at roughly 3000 feet. That is close to the snow line. They get snow and frost in the Spring. Nolan grew up in Placerville. His grandfather started the winery and brought his father into it. Now a retired as a Geology professor at Berkeley, he looked for a place where the climate and soil were what he wanted. They bought the property in 1979, planted in 1980 and their first vintage was the next year. Vermentino They begin by tasting a Vermentino which Dan Berger says is excellent. Vermentino mostly grows in Liguria and Tuscany, in north-western Italy. It is popular there and it is just starting to get recognition in California where more and more producers are making it. This Vermentino has a faint tropical note with a hint of pineapple. This is their second Vermentino vintage. It has fun, bright summer characteristics. It has been very popular since they started making it. Nolan thinks the intensity of being at high elevation produces the acidity and other flavors they want. It was fermented in stainless steel, aged on light lees for three months and then bottled. Dan attributes this wine to the fact that we now have the technology to make wine this way. It uses cold fermentation and good quality filters. This used to be unavailable to most producers. Thanks to new reasonably priced equipment, notably from Italy, local producers can make these world class wines that require special treatment. Nolan says this highlights the California character, which is aromatic, bright and intense. Their freshness comes from the Alpine region, while most other California wines come from coastal regions. To make a parallel, it's like a Sauvignon Blanc but with none of the green grass flavors. Vermentino has its own spice profile that is different than Sauv Blanc. His grandfather, being a geologist, named the winery after the soil, which the old miners named Lava Cap. Lava Cap dot com is their website, where you can buy their wines. They do 26 different SKUs, including Italian, Spanish and French grapes. El Dorado has not settled on a "signature grape" the way that other regions have. Their goal is to showcase their elevation and the volcanic soil. Dan explains that the higher you go in elevation, the cooler it gets, and that gives you the effect and benefits of cooler weather, at a time where other vineyards are experiencing warmer weather. They go on to taste a Chardonnay which is unique due to all the unique growing and winemaking conditions at Lava Cap Winery.

Original 420 flag, from the Waldo's official website. All five of the original 420 Waldos are in the studio today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Waldo Dave and Waldo Steve were on Brew Ha Ha once before, on this episode of April 18, 2019. This time, all five of them are here. Steve, Dave, Jeff, Larry and Mark are here, they are the original Waldos from San Rafael High School in the early 1970s. There is ample documentation of their invention of the expression 420 on their website. It is the first time all five of them have been together for a radio interview. They used to hang out on the wall, every day between classes and after school. “We were all about comedy and having fun.” They also listened to a lot of music, including the great bands from the Bay Area at the time. Lagunitas makes a special 420 Waldos beer and they have some of it in studio today. At the time, one of them had a brother who was in the Coast Guard who knew of a secret garden. One of them got the map. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Dan Barwick joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country this week to talk about his impending return to England. He has been on CWC several times in recent years, the last time was this episode last August. He is one of the founders and the winemaker for Trecini Winery. They made their first Sauvignon Blanc in 1999. Dan has brought a New Zealand wine, a 2022 Babich Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough. It cost $4.99 at Bottle Barn. It's not a great wine but for $4.99 it's fine. There's no such thing as a terrible wine, as long as it's reasonably priced enough. - Dan Berger. Dan was born in Dover, England and worked at Harrod's London in the food hall where he saw a lot of wine. He moved to Sonoma in 1991 and has been making wine for thirty years. But he is moving back to England. They have a Chardonnay to taste, which is Russian River, 2022, barrel fermented in 500 liter neutral oak. It's one of his favorite Chardonnays that he has ever made. Clean crisp and immensely complex. Dan Berger says it will still improve with age, or even time in decanter. England is on the horizon, in particular the county of Kent where The Wine Garden of England is getting warmer and warmer. It is champagne country, says Dan Berger. The English have started making some great sparkling wines and they have one today. It is a non-vintage brut from Chapel Down. Dan Barwick tells the story that the timing was right to move back to England, for a combination of reasons. Dan Berger says that it is an exciting moment for English wine and that it is a well-timed move. They are tasting the wine from Chapel Down. It is made to emulate the style of Champagne and is "gorgeous." 16:00 What Dan Barwick Will Bring Back to England In England, Dan Barwick will do some consulting and will be able to bring all of his experience from California. He has already begun networking. He found an old friend he hadn't seen for forty years who says he has vineyards and asked if Dan could help him. Prospects are good. 23:00 Dan Berger: US Wine Consumer wine knowledge essentially zero. You have to hear Dan Berger speak truth to the people about how the average American wine consumer has zero knowledge of wine and what goes with what. It starts with his deadpan hilarious observation of Chardonnay on every table in a famous Chinese restaurant, where he was having the Gewurtztraminer.

Dan Berger, Alan Baker. Cartograph Wines co-founder Alan Baker is back with us on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. His last time on the show was this episode in April of 2024, almost one year ago. Cartograph is a label known for small-lot elegant Pinot Noir, Rieslings and sparkling wines as well, from Russian River Valley and Mendocino Ridge. Dan Berger says that if you are a wine lover, you know that the best part of that is finding these small local producers that make excellent wine. These wines are under the radar, so Alan declares they need a better radar. Alan and his wife moved up from San Francisco in 2009 to launch the brand. Cartograph Wines has just purchased a new property in Dry Creek Valley which will become their new home and tasting room. It should be ready in about one year. There is Syrah on the property and they plan to install some art there too. For now they are in Healdsburg. From Radio to Wine Alan worked in radio in St. Paul, MN for sixteen years before he “caught the wine bug.” Before that he studied music and shifted into making recordings of music, which led him to NPR in the twin cities. When he tasted a certain bottle of wine, which was a 1998 Alscatian Riesling. “That silly $13 bottle of wine changed my entire life.” – Alan Baker Steve Jaxon has named Dan Berger “Mr. Riesling” and the nickname is well earned. Alan and Dan first interacted because they share a taste for dry Riesling. If you handle it right, it can be “bone dry” and still have a lot of fruit flavors. Cartograph has planted Riesling recently so next year they will have some to taste from their estate. Alan did bring a Rosé, a 2024, 100% Pinot Noir, light salmon color and completely dry. 90% was pressed directly from the grapes, and they also collect the juice that comes from the sorting table. Dan believes that the screw cap is one of the secrets to California Rosé. The screw cap makes a prefect seal with no oxygen transfer at all. This way, the wine stays in perfect condition for a lot longer. They are also tasting a 2023 Pinot Noir that Dan calls "dramatic." There is a hint of pomegranate. The majority of the fruit in this bottle comes from their estate vineyard in Russian River Valley near Cotati. Dan says it is so close to Petaluma Gap that it could be considered a Petaluma Gap style wine. It has low alcohol, 13.7%.  There is some oak, Dan calls it a "grace note" of aromatics. Dan suggests decanting it for an hour or so between opening it and tasting it.

James Pardieu and Richard McChinak, co-chairmen of the Battle of the Brews 2025 join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Richard was in the studio last year on this episode to promote the same event. Battle of the Brews 2025 will be Saturday April 12 from 1-5 PM at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. This year marks the 25th annual event. It is sponsored by the Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa, a charity organization for persons between age 20 and 39. Members age out at 40, so there are always new people on the scene. More than half of the event is about BBQ now. There is also cider, Kombucha and mead. Herlinda is judging the beer competition in the morning, for the 11th or 12th year. The first time she remembers being the only female judge, but that's not the case anymore. Admission is $95 which includes all you can eat and all you can drink, responsibly! All the money raised goes to serve underprivileged youth in Sonoma County. Last year they raised over $72,000 and they have totaled over 1.5 million dollars over the last several years. The club uses the funds they raise for many local charities targeting youth. The have contributed to the Children's Museum of Sonoma County. Each member also participates in shopping for school supplies, benefiting over 200 kids last time. There are constant needs. "If there's a need, we're here to fill it.” Each chapter has their own area that they support. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Dan Berger. California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today includes Dan's thoughts about tariffs and wine sales. This continues some of the subject matter he discussed on this episode of CWC three weeks ago. Dan Berger begins by describing an online newsletter and Substack called Fermentations, written by Tom Wark. Dan says it has the most interesting perspective on the business. For the rest of today Dan and Steve will talk about some tastings and also about tariffs and the changing retail and wholesale wine market. Dan sees that the impositions of tariffs is going to be devastating throughout the wine industry. It will negatively impact foreign wine, but it will also adversely affect the entire market. 37% of retail sales are imported. If a bottle of champagne has gone from $50 to $125, buyers won't buy. Wine prices are going to stay the same for California wine, and prices of European wine will go up. The United States Wine Trade Alliance, representing 5,000 businesses, is attempting to lobby against the tariffs, but with dim prospects. Dan suggests looking for wines that are already here and buying what you want, now. Layoffs, Disinvestment & Ownership Concentration There have been layoffs in the wholesale wine business. In the last year, wineries have been going out of business. Vintage Wine Merchants has closed and Constellation has announced their intention to sell their wine properties. Mr. Foley has been buying wineries in these distressed conditions and now owns something like thirty brands. Dan says that if the tariffs stay in place for over a year, look out for big trouble. Also, Canada has stopped buying American wine and spirits too. Canada has been an important source of revenue for some California wineries. Chardonnay, Albariño and Gamay 2023 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay from New Zealand that comes from a winemaker named Michael Brackovich that Dan knows. The winery is not far from Auckland, on a lovely bay. The wine is delicious. No tariffs have been threatened on New Zealand and Australia, at least yet. It is a great example of southern hemisphere Chardonnay. They also taste a Hendry 2023 Albariño, from the Napa Valley. It is a variety that grows in Portugal and Spain, and also some in California. Dan says it has the structure of Gewürztraminer but the aromatics of a Riesling only with additional orange peel flavors. Dan has selected wines today from California, Australia and New Zealand whose prices will not change. Finally they taste a Gamay, which is similar to Pinot Noir. This comes from a property called Mount Edward in New Zealand. It could have been made into a fruity Beaujolais style wine but this one has a little more substance. It has black pepper flavors that come from the colder climate. New Zealand makes a lot of Gamay, which usually becomes the young fruity Beaujolais style. This wine is made more like a Syrah, focussed on acidity, instead of that. Dan would pair it with a well-done hamburger with some char on it.

The Cuvers. Hendrik Cuver and his wife Amber Cuver, from CuVer Brewery in Windsor, join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. They are here to talk about their Windsor, California brewery where they specialize in Belgian beer. Hendrik was on this episode of Brew Ha Ha back on September 16, 2021, when they were just opening the brewery. He was also on this episode on May 5, 2022, a year and a half later. Also today, Harry Duke will be calling in live from Russian River Brewing Co. in Windsor. The Pliny the Younger public event is in full swing there. His portion of this live radio show will be on this separate podcast episode page, to allow each guest to have their own audio and podcast indexing. Cuver's Origin Hendrick and his father were used to drinking Belgian beers when they immigrated to California in 2012. A year later they started home brewing in order to have the beer that they wanted. They continued doing that while Hendrick was back in Belgium getting his Master's degrees in Biochemistry. Then when St. Florian's brewery came up for sale, they made the purchase. The history of Cuver Brewery and the two families that founded it are closely intertwined. Hendrick invited his fiancée Amber and her family to meet his family at Thanksgiving. Amber's father Reed Cushing became a partner in the brewery. When Hendrick and Amber got married, they changed their surnames to Cuver, derived from combining Cushing and Verspecht. Read the whole story on the Cuver website, on this page. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Harry Duke and Natalie Cilurzo Harry Duke is live at Russian River Brewing Co. in Windsor on this special edition of Brew Ha Ha to talk about Pliny the Younger 2025 from the floor of the Russian River Windsor pub. Also today on Brew Ha Ha, Hendrik Verspecht from CuVer Brewing is visiting Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras in the studio. That portion of today's show is on this other podcast page, to allow each guest to have their own audio and podcast indexing. Natalie Cilurzo is with Harry to talk about how it's all going. Pliny the Younger is a triple IPA which gets a recipe tweak most years. This year, the addition of Tangier hops brings some orange, grapefruit, tangerine and mango, in addition to other hints of pine resin. It's a little more bitter than last year, which counteracts the fruitiness and elevates the flavor profile. It is remarkably smooth, for 10.4% abv. Pliny the Younger 2025 Release Dates The annual release of Pliny the Younger 2025 this year runs from March 21 to April 3. It will be on tap and in bottles to go until April 3. The wait times today are about 2 hours downtown, and more than 3 hours in Windsor. Natalie and Vinny like to greet the visitors waiting in line and they make a lot of friends. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. There are visitors from all over the country and some international visitors too. Pliny the Younger's economic impact on Sonoma County is consistently strong. The Chamber of Commerce reports that it brings in several million dollars of extra business every year. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Dan Berger and Rick Davis. Rick Davis, winemaker and owner Cal Star Cellars, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. This is Rick's first time on CWC although we have taked about his wines before. Dan Berger says that Rick is not personally well-known because he does not promote himself. He is too busy in the winery. Rick tells his story of starting in the industry on the east coast in 1988 before coming to California in 1992. He became cellarmaster and assistant winemaker at Flower, then in 1997 he worked three vintages on the central coast. He started his own brand in 2001 with 160 cases of Zinfandel. Flowers began as a project under the auspices of Greg La Follette and it became one of the most important brands in Sonoma County history. Dan says that the Cal Star wines are some of the best wines that nobody has ever heard about. The Cal Star Lineup Cal Star makes a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chardonnay, a red and a rosé from Pinot Meunier, six different Pinot Noirs (three vineyard designates and three and three AVA blends) and two Zinfandels. He only does 1200 cases per year total volume, and he works with 11 different SKUs. Dan says its virtue is that this is how to keep track of all the different vineyards. The Sauvignon Blanc has a lot of varietal character, in Dan's opinion. He also gets varietal character from his Lodi Zinfandels. Rick is not interested in what he calls “cocktail wine” or what Dan calls a “sipping wine.” Rick got interested in wine because he likes to cook and wanted to make wine that would match the food he cooks. That sounds like the way to end up making wines that Dan Berger will like. Then they taste a 2023 Rosé of Pinot Meunier which Dan says is has strong cherry flavors. His account in Georgia called it a “porch pounder that will go with food.” This rosé is made direct to press, not by the bleeding-off process. Dan agrees that this method makes better Rosés. The red Pinot Meunier is next. It is rarely made as a red wine because it is already light in color. It's just darker than a Rosé, but it is a red. Rick describes it as Cru Beujolais without the funk factor.

Evan Damiano, Marchelle Wines winemaker, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. His last time on CWC was this episode on May 31, 2024. Evan Damiano, Marchelle Wines winemaker, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. His last time on CWC was this episode on May 31, 2024. Evan started in January 2021 volunteering with Greg La Follette and has risen all the way to the rank of winemaker now. Greg is one of the most famous winemakers around. He has worked in all the most famous wineries in Sonoma County and he even worked with André Tchelistscheff when he was a teen. They have some of Dan's 2024 Riesling in their glasses, which Greg made. It's a barrel sample of the wine that Dan will be putting in bottles this week. In 2022 Greg asked Evan to go into the cellar and make selections for blends. He said, “Go in there and listen to what the wines want to be. Go be with the barrels. Smell, taste and put these wines together for me.” A small amount of another wine blended in can make a huge difference in a final result. Greg La Follette is known as “The Vine Whisperer” but he also has a degree in Botany. Dan gets his Riesling fruit from a vineyard in Mendocino County. There are a few people making Riesling around there, but nobody is making it as dry as this. This is Dan Berger's personal quest to produce the wine he wants to taste. It's got some tropical fruit, but also citrus lemon peel and a bit of herbal flavors. They also have some other wines from Marchelle. 2021 Manchester Ridge Chardonnay This is the Chardonnay that Greg brought to Evan while he was in Wisconsin taking a break. Greg tries to induce shatter into the vines, which tricks the vines into making smaller berries. The Manchester Ridge vineyard is 2200 feet above sea level, on a flat mountain top. Evan made his first harvest in Oregon in 2010 and if 16 hours per day for 21 days straight didn't put him off the joy of winemaking, he was hooked. He did another harvest at Balletto Vineyard, with Anthony Beckman. He took a break from it but came back to it. Dan appreciates that these wines are always authentic to the grape variety.

Wade Johnson and Justin Bowman from Oliver's Markets and Erin Latham from Moonlight Brewing Co. join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Wade Johnson is the head of the gourmet cheese department at Oliver's Market. Justin Bowman is the beer and spirits manager at Oliver's Market in Cotati. Erin Latham is here from Moonlight Brewing Co. She has brought their We Love LA beer to taste and to describe the fund raising campaign. Erin was also on BHH last year on August 15, along with Brian Hunt, to promote the 32nd Anniversary party. Last week we talked to Andy Link of Common Space Brewery in Los Angeles. They are leading the We Love LA effort. Moonlight's We Love LA Beer Moonlight's We Love LA beer is an American style lager that will be released this Saturday at their taproom. They have a roster of bands and other performers plus food trucks. 3350 Coffee Lane. A portion of the proceeds from the beer sales goes to the United Way Los Angeles. They are also accepting direct donations. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Wade Johnson takes care of cheeses at all the Oliver's stores. He has brought three cheeses to taste today. They are a California-made Gouda, an Irish cheddar and Point Reyes Farmstead Bay Blue. He started at Oliver's in 2010 and “grew up behind the cheese counter.” Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Steve Jaxon talks about wine news with Dan Berger on California Wine Country today, since our expected guest was a last-minute scratch. Dan has brought a Tendu from Matthaisson in Napa Valley, made from Cortese grapes. It is a common wine in Piedmont, the province of north-western Italy, whose capital is Torino. American wine consumption is down in every category , except Sauvignon Blanc was the only one up in sales.  One reason is the influx of good Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand. This caused the category to expand. There is the Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé French styles, the California style and now the New Zealand style. From region to region the styles are all different. In the US, Sauvignon Blanc was up almost 4%, while everything else was down between 4 and 8 % in sales. Tasting rooms and wineries are closing. Discount pricing is rampant. Young people are drinking all kinds of other things, even hard seltzer or non-alcoholic products. Market Cycles in the Wine Industry Wine has been with us for thousands of years, so the industry has to wait for the cycle to turn, maybe a year or two. Sometimes wine news is old news. There was a downturn in 2009 and within 18 months the business was back. Dan says that the 2024 vintage is excellent. The 2024 white wines and Rosés are starting to show up in the stores now. Pedroncelli winery in Dry Creek Valley is a thriving winery. Montse Reese their winemaker has been on the show. Also Julie Pedroncelli was on this episode last January. They have owned their land for almost 100 years. Dan opens a Kerner which is Riesling crossed with Trollinger, a red grape. It is a white wine from the Alto-Adige region of north-eastern Italy. Wineries used to operate tasting rooms at a profit, but that has changed. A lot of wineries have closed that were all producing the same wines, Chardonnay and Cabernet. Julie Pedroncelli explained how a winery has to set itself apart somehow, which they have done. Michigan is producing great wine. Look for Chateau Grand Traverse, the old reliable.

Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo discuss the We Love LA wildfire relief collab beer, with Leah Scurto from PizzaLeah who is sitting in for Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon today. Andy Link will also join us on the phone from Common Space Brewery in Los Angeles. Herlinda Calling from England First, Herlinda Heras calls in from England where it is 1:00 in the morning. Herlinda was on this episode last year about the 2024 edition. She is there for her eleventh year judging the British Pie Awards in Melton Mowbray, about a four-hour train ride north of London. There are 26 categories of pies and all but one are savory pies like fish pie, steak and kidney pie, cold pork pie and many more. This year there 879 pies and 167 judges. Herlinda was the only American judge and she even got an interview on the BBC. They judge in an 800-year-old former church. The English tradition of savory pies extends even to football, rugby and cricket clubs, which have their own team pies. As we would get a hot dog and a beer at a baseball game, they will get a hand pie and a beer for their day at the stadium or grounds. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Herlinda judged the steak and ale category which alone had 67 pies. There is even a gluten-free pie and a vegan pie. Shepherd's pie is different, that has mashed potatoes on it. These pies have to have a full crust on top and bottom. Appearance is important so the pies are decorated on top. The first thing they look for is a soggy bottom, which is a quick DQ. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Tom Gendall, winemaker at Cline Family Cellars is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Cline Family Cellars has been featured on this show before, most recently when Fred Cline and his daughter Hillary Cline were on this episode on January 4, 2023. Tom Gendall from Cline Family Cellars is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. The Cline family has been on this show before, most recently when Fred Cline and his daughter Hillary Cline were on this episode on January 4, 2023. Tom was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand and has wine experience in both hemispheres. He also made wine in Germany. Some of the Cline family vineyards were planted as early as 1904. They survived Prohibition and Phylloxera. They started making wine under this label in 1984. Hold on to your hat! The first wine they will taste is the 2023 Chardonnay from Carneros, where you had better strap your hat on because the wind will carry it off. Tom describes the process that produced it, but he gives credit to the great fruit from that year. From year to year, they finished picking month later than before. In 2024 they finished picking on the 16th of October and in 2023 they finished on the 12th of November. It was a cooler year so the grapes could stay on the vine almost a month longer than the year before. Dan remembers the vintage of 2010 and 2011, which were both cool vintages. 2023 was like that but even better. It is great now but in 10 years will be even better. Tom Gendall is one of the two winemakers at Cline Family Cellars. The other is Katie Hoggins. She is also from New Zealand and has also worked around the world making wine. He compares their collaboration to building, as if he were the architect and she is the engineer. Dan describes the Cline Family Cellars history as having been through everything imaginable in more than a century of growing grapes. They survived Phylloxera because their vines grow in sand which does not bear phylloxera. The secret to their balance is the lees contact that they give to the wine, which imparts flavor. Tom describes how the root systems feed flavor into the vines and the grapes. Later in the show Melissa Galliani joins the group and Tom opens a Mourvèdre which is ra

Joevon Hatter from Rewind Beer Arcade and Bryan Donaldson from Lagunitas are here on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. This is the first time on Brew Ha Ha for each of them. Joevon is the Manager of Beverage and Events for Rewind Beer Arcade in Sebastopol, which features a great beer selection and many '80s an '90s arcade games. Bryan is the Brewing Innovation Manager at Lagunitas. He gets to make experimental beers for the brewery. Bryan Donaldson studied at UC Davis with Charlie Bamforth (who was on this show on this Feb. 28, 2018 episode) and then built a resumé with the biggest brands in the business including Sierra Nevada, Anheuser Busch and Heineken. He is also an open-water scuba instructor and a former university chemistry instructor at Santa Clara and UC Davis. Rewind Arcade features the arcade games but also 20 taps of all kinds of craft beers. They are measured and charged by the ounce, so it is easy to taste a lot of different brews in one visit. Joevan makes sure that the selection is always fresh and up-to-date, including the best flavors from the best local breweries. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Lagunitas Brewing Company does not do a lot of brewing collaborations but Old Caz is special. CAZUNITAS is a portmanteau of Old Caz and Lagunitas. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Dan and Dennis Dennis Hill, co-founder of Langhart & Hill Wines joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. The last time he was on California Wine Country was this episode in September of 2023. The first tasting is a 2023 Chardonnay. While a lot of California Chards are the heavy oaky buttery ML style, this is different. It is more in the European style, higher acidity and better for pairing with food. They use high quality grapes from Sonoma County so there are a lot of fruit flavors in it. Dennis Hill and his wife were both raised in Healdsburg. There was a Renaissance in the wine industry in the 1970s when he was starting in the business – right place, right time. Healdsburg is located at the confluence of the Dry Creek River and the Russian River. That puts it at the intersection of three main viticultural areas, Dry Creek, Anderson Valley and Russian River Valley. In the northern part of this region the afternoons are hotter and in the southern part, it is cooler and foggier. Where to find Langhart & Hill wines Langhart & Hill wines are available in restaurants and some retail locations. They do not have a tasting room. Their production is still rather small for that. After working for some very large wineries with complicated operations and relationships, Dennis enjoys being able to work by himself. Their vineyards are located in the different climate zones described, so there is a four-week window for them to harvest everything. Dennis describes their two brands. Landhart & Hill are classic Sonoma County varieties, a Chard, two Pinot Noirs, a Rosé and a Merlot. They also have another label, Rumplestiltskin, which is for the less common varieties. For instance, today there is a Dobricic, a Croation variety, and an Orange wine, made of Trouseau Gris grapes originally from the Jura region in France. Trousseau is a Gris variety, not purely a white grape. Wine grapes come in three colors, black, aka red, white and gris, meaning gray. There is also Trousseau Noir. It's a tricky grape to use. You have to harvest not too soon or too late. Then, if you want Orange wine, you have to leave it on the skins just long enough.

Adam Ray, founder of the Santa Rosa Beer City Festival, and Colin McDonald from HenHouse join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Also in the studio is Ryan Silva, winner of the golden growler. Colin was on Brew Ha Ha last June 13, 2024, when HenHouse was getting ready for the Freshtival. Adam Ray is the founder of Beer City Festival, Colin McDonald is here from HenHouse for the annual Big Chicken release, and Ryan Silva won the Golden Growler trophy, which he has broght. Beer City was born in Santa Rosa, THEE Beer City. There is a running event in the morning then a party in the afternoon. HenHouse is participating in Beer City and also in the Santa Rosa Beer Passport. They can't have Big Chicken on Saturday, it will only be at the brewery that day. Big Chicken is HenHouse's once-a-year special IPA. After Saturday it will be available in all their retail locations. Racing and Drinking Beer, or Just Drinking Beer There is a series of four of races at all the four different Beer City locations. There are races for 5K, 10K and half marathon. Runners can gain points by running more races for longer distance at better times. They announce the overall men's and women's winners at the end of the last day of races. Ryan won the giant growler as the overall men's winner last year. New this year is Race the Rex, a person in a dinosaur costume. You run a lap and take a drink. If the T Rex catches you, you're out. If you lose your cookies, you're out. It sounds very complicated, but they will have ushers and judges. Colin explains the mission of Big Chicken. Every year the recipe changes. Steve says it's delicious. Colin says they try to bring to every Big Chicken all that they learned about making hoppy beer during the last year. They are using special hops which are cryogenically extracted so that the beer is “oily” with hop flavor. Big Chicken The Big Chicken they are tasting was tapped off the main tank about 15 minutes ago. They are celebrating 13 years at HenHouse. Colin realizes that places him in the generation of distinguished elder craft brewers. 95% of their beer is sold in the bay area. Mark Carpenter, “a living legend” former BHH co-host and Anchor brewer, loves HenHouse. Take the Smart Train, it's sponsored and is there to help you get around while you enjoy Beer City Festival and while you fill out your Beer Passport. Visit Santa Rosa is a sponsor. Every Beer City attracts 60% visitors from out of county.

Dan Berger and Garry Brooks. Garry Brooks, owner of Brooks Note Wines, is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. This is his first time on CWC. Garry grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. As he grew up the family had wine on the table. He served in the US Navy and got sent to France and Spain where he had a chance to learn about wine all over the world. After the Navy he ended up in northern California and planted some vines in his sister-in-law's garden. He was working in middle management in the tech world and his wife convinced him to take the great leap and make a career change. He attended UC Davis then worked at Ravenswood, Acacia, Kosta Brown and Dutton Goldfield. Then he and his wife started Brooks Note in 2012. The first tasting is a Chardonnay. Garry likes Chardonnay to be “a little bit restrained.” It is made with grapes from three different vineyards. Dan finds that it has rich mid-palette and good acidity and subtle character. Dan would decant it for about two hours. Petaluma Gap Dan explains how Petaluma Gap wines get their special character. The wind makes the big difference. The acidity is going to be higher because of that. There is consistent wind every day in Petaluma Gap. The vines slow their sugar production down and it lets the grapes develop more flavor. The skins become thicker and the plants get a longer growing season. Garry has a lot of ways of describing it (about 9 minutes in). They can pick grapes as much as a month later than in other regions. They are also tasting a 2023 Pinot Noir. Of course it is very young. It comes from four different vineyards in Petaluma Gap. Taylor's Crown, with high elevation and volcanic soil, then Panther Ridge vineyard, rocky basalt and pumice, some from Paradise Vineyard which gets blasted by the wind and the last from Zyer Ranch.

Herlinda with Dan and Celeste Hanes. Dan and Celeste Hanes from Cooperage Brewing Co., join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. The last time Cooperage was featured on BHH was when Nicholas aka The Fridge was our guest on this episode of May 25, 2023. Cooperage's new location is at 575 Ross St. in downtown Santa Rosa. This place is much larger than their other original one at 981 Airway Court also in Santa Rosa. They have pool, darts, pinball and other kid and dog friendly attractions and there is trivia on Mondays. There are also rotating food trucks outside as well as great beer. First, Herlinda reminds us of the February 22 Beer City Fest. You can sign up to run in the half marathon, or just come to celebrate and drink beer later. Also, the Santa Rosa Beer Passport promotion is going on. Cooperage is a big part of both Beer City and the Santa Rosa Beer Passport promotions. Their new location means they have enough space to throw a big party in the parking lot. So on March 22, they will be throwing a block party in the empty parking lot next door. They will have BBQ, burgers, several bands and local vendors, all at the new downtown location. Their name for it is the Coop Rage party, at least for now. They have a great following and the local community has supported them, so they are glad to be able to do this in their new downtown location. “We want to be part of the re-creation of downtown.” Tyler, Cooperage's brewer, started by working the taps at Whole Foods while people knew he was already brewing great beer by himself. Joe Tucker of RateBeer fame loved Cooperage and said it would be the next great American brewery. They brought three beers today. One is a pale dry ale, called the Crispy Crusher. It is an “affordable, approachable beer.” They keep the price low, $4 or $5 a pint, depending on what time of day. Every Saturday the free beer shuttle is a popular attraction in Santa Rosa. Their hours at the new downtown location are Monday – Thursday from 3:00 to 10:00 PM, Fridays and Saturdays Noon to Midnight, Sundays Noon to 7:00 PM. Their IG will tell you what food trucks are coming and when. Stella says the highlight of her day is to meet all the dogs that come to their dog-friendly locations. The Mexican wrestling is a great show. Next time is Saturday, May 3. The wrestling is a tournament with judges and a champion. Once, Dan's little son panicked because he saw his dad get body slammed and he “lost his marbles” as Mom tells the story. How do you say, “KAYFABE” in Spanish?

Marty Nachel Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Steve Jaxon welcomes Marty Nachel, founder and President of the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame. Herlinda has judged beers with him in Mexico. First, Herlinda reminds us of the February 22 Beer City Fest. You can sign up to run in the half marathon, or just come to celebrate and drink beer later. Also, the Santa Rosa Beer Passport promotion is going on. “The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame has been established to honor, celebrate, and commit to history those people who are responsible for initiating, sustaining, and promoting the American craft beer industry. This Hall is to ensure that the memories of their contributions and achievements will not fade with time." – from the American Craft Beer HOF website Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Nominees and Inductees Herlinda Heras and Tara Nurin are on their advisory board. In that role, they each got to nominate ten people for induction. The first nominees have been published and the winners were announced on February 15. Some of them are familiar to us, including Fritz Maytag from Anchor and new Albion founders. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Steven Kent Steven Kent, owner of The Steven Kent Winery in Livermore Valley, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Dan Berger recently visited Livermore with his friend, winemaker Clark Smith, to investigate Cabernet Franc. Steven given Cabernet Franc a privileged position in his portfolio. For centuries, Cabernet Franc has been used as a blending grape, but Steven says it can do a whole lot more. He has brought four Cabernet Francs for tasting today, Steven Kent's son is the seventh generation of Kent family winemakers. In 1854 they started making wine in San José. The Livermore Valley was a wine producing region forty years before Sonoma County. Steven says that Cabernet Franc and the Livermore Valley both deserve more recognition. Dan attended a Cabernet Franc festival there recently and there were a lot of people there who are very enthusiastic about Cab Franc. Cab Franc: not just a blending grape. Cabernet Franc gets harvested about 2 weeks earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon. It has less tannin and more aromatics with some dried herb character. In some ways it is a finer variety. Dan calls Cab Franc the father and Cab Sauvignon, “the wild and wooly teenage son.” For people who are looking for a slightly different approach to red wine, Cab Franc is a good choice. It is graceful and doesn't have the same power as Cab Sauvignon. They have a 2022 Cab Franc from the Ghielmetti vineyard. Livermore is hot by day but gets cold at night. The nearby Altamont pass is a windy place, which extends the growing season. They would normally harvest this in early November. It gets no new oak. Dan Berger says, “This is red wine of a very serious nature but without any of the heavy tannins or the over-ripe components that sometimes creep into bigger, richer, oilier wines that are aged in barrels.” He also calls it “the Pinot Noir of Cabernet.” Dan would give it two to three more years, but it doesn't need much smoothing because it's already more than half way there. Located in Livermore They are located on Vasco Road in Livermore. Their tasting room is in a light industrial area, with seven other wineries nearby, known call the place “Vasco Row.” They buy 95% of their fruit from their local friends, and the remaining portion from the Santa Cruz area. They have a club lounge at the winery for their members. Dan calls it “uncontaminated by tourists.” The Kents are the oldest continuous winemaking family in the country. Lineage is another label that they produce. When he and his father Steven Kent Senior opened Steven Kent Winery, they wanted to produce high quality Bordeaux style wines. After working with a lot of Rhone varietals, he wanted to return to Bordeaux styles. In 2007 he started Lineage as a Bordeaux blend and so they could produce elegant age-worthy wines that would go well with food. The one they are tasting is the 2017. Dan says it is well-balanced. It's called Lineage because it represents the family history in winemaking.

Barbara Barrielle Barbara Barrielle, publicist, writer, actress and producer, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. She writes about travel, wine, food and entertainment and she also works for Anderson Valley Winegrowers, promoting the International White Wine Festival. Her documentary film about Anderson Valley wines features Dan Berger. The Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association is putting on the International White Wine Festival. The festival used to be called the Alsatian Wine Festival because it focused on Alsatian aromatic whites that grow in Anderson Valley. The valley is also known for Pinot Noir now. The new name of the festival opens the door to other whites that are also growing in Anderson Valley. Dan Berger will be in charge of the Rieslings. There will also be Pinot Gris, Gewürtztraminer and lots of others.   As an example, Dan has brought a dry Riesling from Ra Ra Wines. Ra Ra wines is run by winemaker Kara Groom who was on this episode of CWC last year on Feb. 16. 2024. Cole Ranch grows the best Riesling in California The fruit comes from Cole Ranch, which grows the best Riesling in Mendocino County. They have a total of 81 acres and only four and a half of Riesling. Riesling and Cabernet Franc are selling well, but all the other California varieties are down. This is in the context of a huge downturn in overall wine sales. Anderson Valley also produces fine sparkling wines. The best known brands are Sharffenberger and Roderer. In about 1980 the Roderer company in Champagne, France, decided to look for property in the US. Their agent hired the Foppiano family to take him around to different properties. They found a ridge where the influence of marine air flow was arriving. They decided to plant a couple of acres of vines as a test, which went well. To this day, Roderer is making the best sparkling wines in the US. They compare well to Iron Horse, the best American maker. Lichen Estate also makes excellent product. There are small producers like Pennyroyal Farms and Navarro that also have sparkling wine production.

Natalie with Pliny the Younger 2025. Natalie Cilurzo is back with the first taste of the 2025 Pliny the Younger, on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. This will be the 21st release of Pliny the Younger. They used to release in February but during covid they moved it to last march early April. That turned out to be better for a lot of reasons. So this year the dates are March 21 through April 3. They continue to do wholesale distribution to bars and restaurants in February. This helps them get an attraction during the slower winter months. Also, San Francisco Beer Week is coming. Today they are finishing the brewing and bottling and kegging, but the first people to taste it are on this show today. Dan Berger is here as a special guest, and so is Mackenzie Miller, who is the host of Mid-days on the Krush, KRSH. Brew Ha Ha will do a remote broadcast March 27, to be confirmed. The last time we did a remote was when Windsor opened in 2018. Russian River Brewing Co. Hop Water Since many people participate in Dry January, Russian River Brewing Co. produces a Hop Water, which is sparkling water flavored with Citra and Eldorado hops. It's very refreshing. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Every year at Valentine's Day they make a beer called Rejection, a dark beer made with Belgian yeast. It is toasty and has coffee flavors. It is 6.1% ABV. Dan Berger describes it as rich without being sweet, perfect for dry January because it finishes dry. It is available on tap only at the two pubs, or to-go in growlers. Then they taste another beer called Docta-Ron, named after a New Zealand hop breeder. It is available in cans and on tap. This is the 21st year of Pliny the Younger. Vinny Cilurzo tweaks the recipe every year and this year the long list of hops used includes a new one. It has an orange-y flavor and makes the 2025 Pliny the Younger, according to Dan Berger, the tastiest one ever. Russian River Brewing Co. is also making a wildfire relief beer called We "heart" LA. A brewery in LA called Common Space started a fund raising beer. Here is their website. The beer is set to be released all at once by all the collaborators on March 7. Now finally it is time to taste the Pliny the Younger 2025. Dan Berger declares it the most amazing beer ever produced. It is over 10% ABV and it is very dry and clear. Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic, Nectaron, Simcoe, Warrior and Tangier. Tangier is a new hop from Washington and they like it for its orange flavors. Dan says the beer has more floral qualities than last year. The Pine flavors definiteliy come from the Simcoe. Dan says this beer is like a great wine, full of complexities and unexpected flavors. They are kegging it tomorrow and it will start going out for distribution on Monday, Feb. 2. Look around at your usual bars and restaurants, look for your usual suspects... Happy hunting! Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around!

Henry Belmonte and Madisyn Goerlitz Henry Belmonte and Madisyn Goerlitz are here from VJB Cellars and Wellington Cellars, on a special podcast-only edition of California Wine Country, recorded last week on Jan. 20 on The Drive with Steve Jaxon, on Wine Country Radio. Henry Belmonte and Steve Jaxon go way back together. Steve used to say he lived at Portofino on 4th Street. VJB Cellars in Kenwood is a place with a family story behind it. They made a migration from the restaurant industry to the wine industry, as a family business. After his brother's passing, he named his winery after him by the initials VJB. They make wine but they are also still focused on hospitality and providing a great experience, environment and atmosphere. They apply the same philosophy to making wine. Henry's mother ran the kitchen at Portofino and also still directs the elaborate traditional Italian offerings at VJB Cellars. VJB Cellars makes 95% Italian varietals. Wellington Cellars, their other winery down the road, focusses on French varietals. VJB has about 20 different Italian varietals, all of the ones that are popular in Italy. Some of them are very small runs, 200-300 cases. You have to be in the wine club to access these wines. From Food to Wine Belmonte's Deli was their first venture into restaurants, in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. It was a springboard to open Portofino's in Santa Rosa on Columbus Day in 1987. VJB Cellars is like walking into a small town in Italy, with an expansive piazza with tables and chairs. There are storefronts, for the deli, tasting room, a Tommy Bahama boutique store and a chocolate and gelato shop. May 26, 2003 they opened their doors as a stand-alone tasting room. He knew he had to bring something they were really good at, into the shop to make it more attractive. It took about 7 or 8 years to build out the full operation, with all the feeling for hospitality, experience and entertainment along with the finest flavors. Wellington Cellars came about when they outgrew their production facilities for VJB. He and his father found the Wellington property down the road which came up for sale. They were really just looking for production, but it turned out to be a bonus that the whole operation was already there. Maria Gabriella Belmonte is Henry's mother was the guiding force at Portofino and has the same role now at La Cucina and the Red Rooster Kitchen in Petaluma. She has passed her knowledge and insight over to Henry. About That Italian Sausage Pizza You can see all of that knowledge at work in the pizza that Henry has brought for Steve to taste, and in the pride that Henry takes in making it. It is an Italian Sausage pizza from Red Rooster Kitchen. They make their own dough from scratch. They also make their own pork sausage and their own sauce from fresh tomatoes. Everything is as fresh as it can be. The accolades for this pizza have come from far and wide. Madisyn Goerlitz Madisyn Goerlitz also tells about her role as Social Media manager for VJB Cellars and Wellington Cellars. She was a student at Sonoma State University and had to finish her last terms online during Covid. So her goal, which she has achieved, was to make it back to Sonoma County after all that. She is developing her role in hospitality and marketing and is “...happy to be part of the story.”

Mike Schnebeck from Fort Point Beer Co. in San Francisco is our guest in the studio today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Mike was on Brew Ha Ha once before in 2023, on this episode. Herlinda happily reports that Fort Point Beer Co. is actually growing and doing very well. They also are producing cider. And also, today is the eleventh anniversary of the first episode of Brew Ha Ha, back when Herlinda did the show with Joe Tucker. It was four years after that, on Feb. 8, 2018, that this podcast started. Cheers!

Courtney DeGraff, Executive Director of Anderson Valley Winegrowers, is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. They are putting on the International White Wine Festival, for the fifteenth year, on February 15 and 16 at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds. It used to be called the Alsatian White Wine Festival. The name change opens the festival to feature a wider variety of wines, such as Grüner Veltliner and Chardonnay. Dan Berger will be in charge of the Rieslings. The in-person Grand Tasting is at the Fairgrounds in Booneville, on Saturday. Early access from 11 to 12 and general access from 12 to 3. Go to this page at the AV Wines website for more info about the International White Wine Festival and for links to purchase tickets. Use the discount code RADIO for 20% off. Anderson Valley is growing in Chardonnay production. Most of the fruit used to go to sparkling wines but they are also producing some very nice still Chardonnays now. Scharffenberger Sparkling Wine Barry Herbst has brought a Scharffenberger sparkling wine, which he considers to be a great value. They make six or seven different kinds of sparkling wine. It is also a beautiful property to visit, in Philo. Dan calls it more persistent in its flavor profile, with more structure. It's $21.99 at Bottle Barn. The winemaker Jeffery Jindra came over from Husch Vineyards. Dan Berger reports that there are several Napa valley growers who are also buying property in Anderson Valley. It is a more relaxed setting. It's definitely worth a visit. There are also other attractions like beer and cheese making. Bottle Barn is in the process of putting out the San Francisco Chronicle Competition winners. They will have about a hundred different awarded wines. After that, the Press Democrat limited competition (north of the Golden Gate) takes place. Barry's other wines today are the Maggy Hawk Chardonnay, a Gewurtztraminer from Husch and a Goldeneye Brut Rosé. They are all pictured in the top illustration and are also all available at Bottle Barn.

Cobb Wines tasted today. Ross Cobb from Cobb Wines and Ziggy the Wine Gal from The Krush join Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country. Dan Berger is away this week.  Ross Cobb first met Ziggy when he was at Williams Selyem in 1998 or 99, while he was working with Bob Cabral there. Cobb Wines is a winery inspired by creative freedom. A quote from Patti Smith provides context. Robb was always motivated by music and he lets “…Patti Smith explain the rest.” Ross has also been working with Les Claypool's Pachyderm Wines They start by tasting the Cobb Wines Riesling, from a 14-15 acre vineyard at a high elevation. It is officially the smallest appellation in America. The soil is limestone, at 1200 feet. It is the last of the Sonoma Coast vineyards that he picks every year. The fermentation is long and slow. He just tasted his 2024 vintage, which began last Fall, so even that step comes late with this wine. It is balanced between fruit and alcohol. How about some sushi? Fresh oysters? Fresh Dungeness crab? Ziggy says it is a dry Riesling that should go with “dry January” whatever that is. Ross Cobb's 25th Vintage Ross grew up in Valley Ford and his dad worked at Bodega Marine Lab. They were friends with other families that made wine in the area. The family moved away and later he went to UC Santa Cruz to study Soil Science and Environmental Engineering. They have lived at Coastlands Vineyard since 1989. He worked for a lot of different wineries in northern California. In 2001 He started Cobb Wines and this year will be his 25th vintage. He only started making the dry Riesling in 2016. He also makes Chardonnay in the traditional way, not the big buttery style that Ziggy calls “Chateau Two by Four” with too much oak. Cobb Wines dot com is the website with all of the wines they have today, available for sale. They are also at Bottle Barn and many local restaurants. They aren't a tasting room but they can receive guests.

Steve, Mark and Herlinda Our former co-host Mark Carpenter is back with us for a visit today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. His last visit was this episode in July of 2021. For a long time Mark Carpenter was the co-host of this show. He was the brew master at Anchor until he retired. Mark has news about the present status of Anchor Brewing. Sapporo decided to close it but an investor has bought the company and is slowly working on restoring the location and the company. Here is an article from AP news about that. The new owner, Hamdi Ulukaya, has plans to revitalize Anchor Brewing, which everyone agrees is good news. He is the very successful founder of Chobani Yogurt so he is certainly ready and qualified for the job. Mark says he is taking his time about it and has a good approach similar to that of Fritz Maytag, the previous owner who also bought Anchor and revitalized it in the early 1970s when Mark Carpenter started there.  Both Fritz Maytag and Hamdi Ulukaya are openly enthusiastic about the meaning and importance of a business like Anchor as a valuable cultural asset. A Brief History of Anchor Brewing Mark briefly tells the story of how he found Anchor. He had been working for the telephone company. He took a tour of Anchor and liked the place enough to ask for a job. It was a small place and had three employees. Mark considers himself lucky to have been hired and to have found Fritz to be such an enlightened owner who gave Mark a book about brewing and sent him to take brewing courses in Michigan. Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info. Mark has brought a bottle of Truman Royal Ale for Herlinda as a birthday present. It was brewed in England in 1982 to celebrate the birth of Prince William. Anchor Brewing's Liberty Ale was the first modern IPA brewed in the United States. They didn't call it IPA, but it had all of the characteristics. Herlinda's video interview with Mark Carpenter, Tony Magee and Don Barkley is also still on display at the Museum of Sonoma County. It's Herlinda's birthday! Happy Birthday Herlinda!

Dan and Mark. Mark McWilliams from Arista Winery is our guest on this edition of California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Dan's weekly cellar dweller bottle is a 2022 Chenin Blanc from Les Atlètes du Vin in France. $15 a bottle at Bottle Barn. Chenin Blanc is coming back. You can get 7-9 tons an acre of Chenin Blanc and it makes nice wine. Mike says it's refreshing. Mark's parents started as grape growers when he was young. They grew a lot of Cabernet. His mom lived in Burgundy after college and got to know Pinot Noir. They family felt a calling to make wine. In 2002 they started the Arista brand to make wine. They use their own grapes and grapes grown elsewhere. Their Chardonnays have been very highly rated. In December they did a 10-year retrospective tasting of their Chardonnay. In 2013 their new winemaker Matt McCourtney was on the job. Now those wines are aging very well and still have years to go. Arista's style has been to focus on the fruit, not on manipulating the wine to make something that the grapes don't want to do. Acidity is always front and center in their wines. They also have the 2021 Russian River Valley Chardonnay. The appellation wines are the top of their production. Wines like this which are not single-vineyard estate wines, are put together on purpose to combine elements ideally. This wine has so much complexity that it promises to age well. Arista is the shining star of California Chardonnays Steve Jaxon quotes Wine Spectator, which declared, "Arista Wines are the shining star of California Chardonnays." Mark says that's because they use the best fruit and they have the best staff. There is a hazelnut component in the flavors that Dan detects. It resembles Meursault which is a district in Burgundy. The wines have trace flavors of hazelnut. There is also a lemon peel component in the nose. But the wine is only 3 years old. "A great Chardonnay like this really deserves time in bottle," says Dan "Lay It Down" Berger. Mark declares that there is world-class Chardonnay coming from California and Oregon and that Burgundy no longer is the only place that makes the best wine from that varietal.

Herlinda and Stuart. Sake sommelier Stuart Morris is our guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, with Hachidori Sake. Stuart Morris is a sake sommelier trained in Japan and is a former partner with Kenichi Tominaga of Hana in a sake distribution company. He was a chef “in a previous life” and discovered sake while working in restaurants. He made lots of effort to get to Japan and he learned sake making there. They begin tasting some sake and noticing the flavors. One is light and clean with lemon, cucumber and melon rind flavors. He makes three types of sake, with different rices and yeasts. He became one of the first six non-Japanese people to get the Japanese sake certification. His own label is called Hachidori which means hummingbird in Japanese. Sake brewing is similar to brewing beer. Sake is brewed in a process that is close to beer brewing. It is made from rice, water and koji, a mould. He grows it in an 80-degree humid room, so the temperature needs to be just right. There is a sake museum, the only one in the US, in Berkeley, that shows the history of sake production. The milling of the rice has an effect on the flavor, the more milled, the more delicate the flavor. You have to taste it to understand it. The highest ABV sake is 20%. His mentor in Japan is a 10th generation sake maker. Visit Russian River Brewing Co. on 4th St. and at their Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for hours, menus and beers on tap. Stuart worked at Hana where he became friends with the Tominaga family. He later became a partner with Ken in a sake distribution company, before he took the job he has now. These bottles of Hachidori sake are the very first ones that Stuart has produced for sale. They will be rolling out into some retail and restaurants. They will range in price from about $30/35, then one at about $45, then one at about $100. Sake does not age like wine and usually fresher is better. Stuart stores it in a fridge or at a white wine temperature. Sake rice is very high in starch. The more glucose, the more starch, the more elegant style of sake you will get. When Stuart is helping restaurant customers choose sake, he starts by asking them what they like. Some people's wine preferences are a way to predict what sake one would also like. The key is to drink some sake to taste it and find out what you like.

hiveworks mead co. Sean Duckworth, COO and Alexander Mendoza, CEO of Hiveworks Mead Co. are back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. The last time they were on the show was this episode back on February 22, 2024. Steve Jaxon starts by asking Sean and Alex simply to tell about mead. It is an alcoholic fermented beverage made from honey. Mead is probably the oldest fermented beverage in human history, is gluten free and has tons of flavor, so what's not to love? It takes about six weeks from beginning the brewing process to when it is delivered. Mead is like honey in that it is not perishable. It might lose some of its flavor but it does not go “off.” Herlinda remembers finding great mead in Finland when she was there to judge a beer and Sahti competition. Braggot is a style of mead that can have stronger flavor and higher alcohol, but which also uses grain in its production. The term Honeymoon refers to drinking mead for a month after getting married. Silver Medal Winners in their First Competition They are based in Rohnert Park. One of their products just won a Silver medal in its category in the first competition they have been able to enter. Mead is actually the fastest growing sector of the alcoholic beverage industry today. The TV series Game of Thrones had a lot to do with raising awareness of mead and making it more popular. Since their style of mead is relatively light, that makes it easy for people to try it and get to know it. Their overall style is a Dry mead, with no residual sugar. Some other meads are sweeter and thicker. Another mead is hopped. Their hopped mead is not a braggot because there is no use of grain. Herlinda wants to mention President Carter who signed California Senator Alan Cranston's bill to allow home brewing in the US. That was the one legal change that let the home brewing movement begin. Alex and Sean have known each other since the second grade. They were home brewing in their early twenties. It didn't hurt that they also played a little D&D. So at one point they realized that there was no commercial product similar to their idea. They are expanding their distribution throughout the Bay Area into restaurants and shops. They will double their production capacity in the next year. Watch out for Hiveworks Mead Co.!

Julie Pedroncelli St. John is back as a guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Her last time on this show was this episode of April 26, 2023. The Pedroncelli family winery began when her grandparents bought some property in Dry Creek Valley that contained a vineyard, a home and a shuttered winery. This was seven years before the repeal of Prohibition. They sold grapes and then after Prohibition was repealed in December, 1933 they started producing wine. They have been family-owned and operated ever since then. The Dry Creek Valley has ideal conditions for certain grapes including Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. The Pedroncelli property is on the hillside. Different ends of the property have different microclimates and today they farm about 11 different varieties on all of their vineyards. By owning the property the wine production is not subject to the financial pressure of a mortgage. Winemaker Montse Reese Their winemaker in Montse Reese who just celebrated 18 years there. Everything they grow comes into the winery. They also buy from growers all around Dry Creek Valley. The Zinfandel they are tasting today is an example of their product that comes from their own vineyards and from other local growers. There is a tab on the Pedroncelli website called Vino in my Dino, which comes from the Flintstone's Dino the Dinosaur cup. When Julie was 5 years old her first taste of wine, watered down, of course, came from one of those. Julie has brought a 2023 Chardonnay that comes from F. Johnson vineyard in southern Dry Creek Valley. The winemaker Montse Reese put it in French oak barrels for 8 months, and it undergoes malolactic fermentation sur lies. This makes a wine with complex citrus and melon flavors. It is a candidate for at least a year of aging but is already tasty. It has a wild tropical fruit component which suggests that the wine will improve with aging or when decanted. “Time in bottle or time in the air,” giving aeration helps a lot, says Dan.

Phaedra Achor Flora Luna Apothecary founder Phaedra Achor is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today. Phaedra was also on Brew Ha Ha almost exactly two years ago on this episode on Dec. 22, 2022. There is big news in the beer world. Herlinda reports that RateBeer dot com is closing. Our friend and former co-host Joe Tucker sold it to a big brewing company several years ago. Buying a big beer ratings company, only to shut it down, looks like a corporate power play. There may be buyers who wish to purchase its assets. A lot of site users have postings there that date back many years. There are a lot of stakeholders who have questions. Herlinda will try to get Joe Tucker to come on the show soon to tell us more about it. Flora Luna Apothecary is Phaedra's company that produces botanical bitters, syrups and infusions, for creating uniquely flavorful cocktails and other beverages. Phaedra has a lot to say about holiday cocktails. The first one she is making in the studio today, named Festival of Lights, is a celebration of Hanukkah. It is a gin fizz made with olive oil which gives it a unique flavor and texture. Visit Russian River Brewing Co. on 4th St. and at their Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for hours, menus and beers on tap. What Bitters Are Bitters are botanical extracts, made from three components, a bark, a root and an aromatic botanical. Then, when you macerate them in an alcohol base, you extract the bitter compounds. Traditionally they were a medicinal, used to soothe the gut. Angostura bitters are the most famous example. Syrups are similar to bitters but they are more an infusion, with the ingredient cooked in the syrup. Phaedra formulates all the recipes and makes everything herself. Her website has all of her products. Her quarterly subscription box contains seasonal concoctions four times a year. The recipes that come with it can be made with or without alcohol. Flora Luna began in 2015 when Phaedra threw a cocktail party and made five different kinds of bitters for the occasion. They were a hit and some guests were really impressed. This encouraged Phaedra, then she realized that there was interest in cocktails and a lack of great bitters on the market. For the rest of the show they continue tasting and discussing some beautiful craft cocktails.

Herlinda Heras and Kevin McGee Kevin McGee from Anderson Valley Brewing Company joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. AVBC is the official brewery of the 2024 Great Dickens Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Kevin McGee has been on this show a few times, most recently this episode on May 2, 2024. Anderson Valley Brewing Company has been in business for 37 years. Their entire property is now licensed as a beer tasting room. There is a disc golf course on the site now. They like to offer an experience a little more memorable than just drinking a beer. His family bought the company in 2019 and they also relaunched the Healdsburg Beer Company. Visit Russian River Brewing Co. on 4th St. and at their Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for hours, menus and beers on tap. Kevin tried making wine at home but without success. His wife suggested he try beer, so he changed his business plan in 2007. At the time it was hard to sell the beer, but Guy Fieri's restaurant was one of the first customers. AVBC was the first brewery to use only solar energy. They also have a completely self-contained water system that draws water from wells on the property and returns all their used water to the ground on site. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair This year AVBC is the official brewery of the Great Dickens Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, from November 23 through December 22, from 10am-6pm.