In Europe, the wine makers have had a good thousand years or so to figure out which grapes grow best in which locations. In America, we’re still figuring that out. There’s been some noteworthy progress on this front, especially given our relatively late start. There’s Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa, there’s Pinot Noir in Willamette, and, there’s Zinfandel in Dry Creek.

Zinfandel is grown all over the state of California, however, it seems the best Zin comes from the Dry Creek Valley. Dry Creek Valley is an American Viticulture Area (AVA), located just west of the northern end of Napa Valley, in Sonoma County, California.

What makes this valley the chosen site for Zinfandel? The short answer is climate and geography.

All the vines in the AVA are clustered around the creek and the hillside slopes that slope down to the creek. The gentle slopes help to maximize the sunlight to the vines. The soil allows rapid drainage—the soil even has a name: Dry Creek Conglomerate—because it’s composed of loose gravel.

When the Italian immigrants moved here in the 1870’s they selected the valley’s hillsides for the Zinfandel grape. The grapes tight bunches and thin skins lend to rot if the moisture it too high. That was great for Dry Creek because the area received little rain and the rain that did come moved through the loose soils quickly. Zinfandel is a very vigorous vine and will produce excess fruit and foliage if there is significant rainfall. Dry Creek was a great fit for this because of its low rainfall.

Finally, Zinfandel ripens relatively early than other grapes. This is key in Dry Creek because the fall storms come from the Pacific every year. Zin ripens early enough that the grapes have time to be picked before the storms come through.

It seems Dry Creek was made for the Zinfandel grape. And the proof is in the bottle. Dry Creek Zinfandels from producers like Rafanelli, Lytton Springs and Dry Creek Vineyard are complex, lean, powerful and rich on the nose and palette. A well-made Dry Creek Zin will banish any thoughts and conceptions you may have about the grapes capacity to produce quality wine.

California Wine, Zinfandel california, Dry Creek, Sonoma, Zinfandel

Carneros exists in its own little world. It’s the first American Viticultural Area (AVA) to be defined by climate—instead of political lines in the sand. It straddles the two most famous AVAs in the United States—Napa and Sonoma—with a portion of the appellation lying in each, and the ability to name it’s wines as Carneros or Napa/Sonoma, depending where the grapes are from. It’s the only area in the U.S. that is recognized internationally as a powerhouse of sparkling wine production. Carneros, or Los Carneros if you want, is a very special corner of the wine world, and it lies just across the bay from San Francisco.

The dominant climatic force in Carneros is the San Pablo Bay, an offshoot of the larger San Francisco Bay. This oceanic influence brings down temperatures and brings in strong winds, which consistently hit the vineyards of Carneros. The area was chosen by the great Louis M. Martini in the 1940’s because of the relative coolness of the climate—this is California after all, not Wisconsin, so the coolness is relative. Still the area showed promise for growing grapes that fare well in cool weather, namely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

After some success in the 70’s with varietal, still versions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the world began to form an idea. The idea went like this: cool climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay make some pretty good sparkling wine in Champagne…so, let’s make a sparkling wine in the style of Champagne in Carneros! And so began the veritable gold rush of the 80’s for good land in Carneros by the big Champagne (and Cava) producers.

The wines of Carneros are marked by a certain touch of old-world charm, mixed in with the fruit forward flavor profiles—they’re California wines after all. The Chardonnays tend to have significantly more acid and less of the creamy, roundness of most California Chardonnay. This style can be excellent on its own, but often finds its way into a blend of Chardonnays from either Napa or Sonoma. The clean acidity and brightness help to balance the fattier style of Chardonnay from warmer parts of the appellations. Carneros Pinot is noted for having a lighter body with more earthy aromas than most California examples of the grape.

The sparkling wine from Carneros is considered some of the best of the new world. The wines display excellent structure and acidity, with intense aroma and bright, clear flavors. Some of the best sparkling producers in the area are: Domaine Chandon, Domaine Carneros, Gloria Ferrer and Codorníu Napa. Sparkling wine from Carneros has the potential to age well, though most bottles follow the Champagne example and are blends of several years, so there won’t be a vintage year on the label.

California Wine, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sparkling Wine california, carneros, Chardonnay, Napa, Pinot Noir, Sonoma, Sparkling Wine, valley

The great wine making history of the Russian River Valley all started with immigrants in the 19^th century planting “home gardens” to produce wine for personal consumption. The valley has certainly come a long way since then. Today the region accounts for about 15% of all Sonoma Country acreage. Russian River Valley is a subregion of the Sonoma Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area). It sits on the current and former valley floor of the Russian River (the river changed course at some point, for unknown reasons) close to the Napa Valley. Russian River was granted it’s own AVA in 1983

The Russian River as it lies today spills into the Pacific Ocean after taking a hard dogleg west at around the area of the Russian River AVA. The rivers direct access to the sea brings in a daily deluge of cool night air and morning fog that blanket the vineyards of the Russian River Valley. This cool air acts as a conditioning to the warm daytime temperatures to ensure that the grapes don’t get too hot—which can result in “baked” flavors in the wines. The cool ocean air also means there exists a large diurnal temperature fluctuation in the vineyards. This large fluctuation of temperatures from day to night is thought to give grapes and wines made from them more acid and structure.

Russian River is known for two grapes: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It shouldn’t be too surprising that these grapes were chosen for the area—the cool climate is much like the grapes homeland of Burgundy. Chardonnay accounts for almost half of the acreage in Russian River and Pinot Noir more than a quarter of the acreage. Chardonnay made in the region tends to be lean, high in acid and more balanced than the oaky, buttery style of Chardonnay from other areas of California. The Pinot Noir from Russian River is also noted for its bright acidity, also for its strong berry and cherry flavors. Some producers emphasize a restrained structure in an old world style while others favor bigger sugar and alcohol levels and more significant oak aging.

Russian River appellation has two sub areas within its boundaries, the Chalk Hill AVA and the Green Valley of Russian River AVA. The Chalk Hill region is located in the northeast of Russian River and gets its name from the chalky soils of the area. Chalk Hill is relatively warmer than the rest of Russian River and has success with warmer-climate grapes Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Green Valley AVA is in the southwest corner of Russian River and is even cooler than the rest of Russian River. This decidedly cool climate AVA grows Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well as some Gewürztraminer.

There are many excellent wineries in the Russian River producing exceptional bottles. In the Russian River AVA look for Williams Selyem, Rochioli, Foppiano, and Gary Farrell. In the Green Valley Kistler and Dutton Ranch make excellent Chardonnay. Mega producer Kendall Jackson has a stake in Russian River with its La Crema label as does E&J Gallo with their Laguna Ranch vineyard.

California Wine, Chardonnay California Wine, russian river, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

Petite Sirah is not Petite Syrah.

Durif is Petite Sirah and Syrah is Petite Syrah. Confused? Well let’s clear up what the heck are Petite Sirah and Petite Syrah.

Let’s start with the old world. Petite Syrah was the name given to some Syrah plants in the Rhone that produced smaller berries. Pretty simple there, petite = small.

Now, the first immigrants to bring Syrah to California in the 1870’s noticed that the grapes were smaller than they were used to—probably owing to differences in climate, exposure and soils—so they called these Syrah grapes Petite Syrah. Petite = small. Then, no one thought about it much for 100 years.

Okay, so petite means small, that’s fine. Does Sirah = Syrah? Nope. Petite Sirah is actually Durif. (Aren’t French words supposed to be lyrical and pretty?) Anyways, Durif is an accidental cross of Syrah and Peloursin that occurred in a field in France somewhere and was discovered by a guy named Durif. He named the new grape after himself and released it to the world.

The resulting grape was noted to be vigorous and resistant to mildew. So they planted some more. Then some immigrants brought it to California. Durif grew well in California and around the turn of the century was widely planted. From there on out Petite Sirah ebbed and flowed in popularity, hitting a peak in 1976 and a low in 1990.

Currently, Petite Sirah is enjoying some popularity. There are a lot of old plantings, which mean that the vines are older and producing great juice. Also, that means the plantings are paid off and the wine can be sold for a pretty nice value. Petite Sirah is some great wine for the price. It’s got some big tannins, a very lively acidic backbone which has blueberry, plum and black pepper on the nose. The wine has a firm structure, but generally only a medium finish.

The French more or less abandoned Petite Sirah, which means that most of the planting are here in America. If you think about it, it’s kind of a great American wine: it’s tough, it’s strong, it’s unpretentious and it has an ambiguous cultural heritage. Oh, it’s pretty inexpensive. So, it’s not Syrah, it’s just good wine and you can get a great bottle of it for under $15.

Now just memorize these fun facts and recite it at a wine party, you’ll sound really smart.

California Wine, Cheap Wine, Red Wine California Wine, petite sirah, Petite Syrah, Red Wine, Syrah

No other name evokes American wine in the way that Napa does. The consistently excellent quality of the wines coming out of the Napa Valley in California has earned the region an amazing brand. In most instances, a famous wine region is known for producing a single grape or style of wine; think Cabernet blends from Bordeaux or Pinot Noir from Willamette. While Napa certainly has cemented its reputation with Cabernet Sauvignon, the region is also known for excellent Merlot, Chardonnay and Zinfandel, amongst others. Basically anything that has Napa on the label will be able to sell for a higher price than if it was produced elsewhere. This is truly a triumph of wine making skill and excellent geographic site selection

Vineyards popped up in the Napa Valley almost as soon as settlers reached the area in the 1800’s with the first established in 1858. The wine industry in Napa moved along slowly from there, garnering a little attention here and there. Then came the double-whammy of Phylloxera and Prohibition. Phylloxera knocked out the vines and Prohibition denigrated wine production to sacramental purposes only. After Prohibition wine production picked up again and fine wine became the focus of some producers. The seminal moment came at the Judgment of Paris in 1976 when a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa beat the best of Bordeaux. This led to renewed interest in Napa and California in general and began the landslide of activity that has culminated in the industry we know today.

Napa is further broken down into 15 sub AVAs, which are defined by unique microclimate and geographic differences. The geography of Napa leads to several climatic differences within the valley. The southern end of the valley abuts the San Pablo Bay, which brings cooler air in. The northern half of the valley is usually much warmer. Two of the best known are: Rutherford and St. Helena.

Rutherford lies just north of Oakville and is home to the famous Rutherford Bench a stretch of low-vigor soil composed of well-drained volcanic and maritime sediments. The star of the Rutherford Bench is Cabernet Sauvignon. This small appellation is home to some of the best producers in Napa, and some of the most famous wines in California, a sample list: Caymus, ZD, Livingston, Beaulieu, Quintessa, Frogs Leap and Cakebread.

St. Helena is home to some of the most sought after Cabernet produced in Napa. The AVA is the warmest in the entire valley and the vines are able to climb the steep valley walls and soak in the rays. The Grace Family and Colgin Herb Lamb wineries, based in St. Helena, have developed a near cult-like following for their mailing list only Cabernet Sauvignon. The bottles sell for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Others in the AVA are Revana, Nickel and Nickel and Chase Family; and while Cabernet is big here, excellent Zinfandel is also produced.

California Wine, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, USA Wine, Zinfandel Cabernet, California Wine, Napa Valley, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel

The American Viticultural Area (AVA) that we call the California Central Coast lies on the Pacific coastline and stretches from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. The AVA was established in 1985 and today is the largest in the country, with more than 100,000 acres planted with wine producing grape vines—half of which are Chardonnay. The Central Coast AVA produces 75% of all the wine grapes grown in the state of California.

The Central Coast AVA is broad—700 miles long—and encompasses several other smaller AVAs within its boundaries. The most notable appellations within the Central coast are: Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, Paso Robles AVA and Livermore Valley AVA. All of these appellations share the cooling affect of the Pacific in the vineyards and all produce quality wines.

The Santa Cruz Mountain AVA includes three counties, all centered on the aforementioned mountains: Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo. First declared an AVA in 1981, the area received special attention, and eventual designation as a quality wine area, because of the unique climate conditions in the mountains. The appellation is unique in that it designates elevation as well as location in the determination of the AVA area. Among the 200 or so small vineyards in the AVA, most grow Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, with some additional Merlot and Zinfandel. The vintners in the area are decidedly forward-thinking and actively practice attempts at sustainable agriculture and alternative energies. There are several notable wineries in the region, a few of which are Ridge Vineyards, Bonny Doon and the David Bruce Winery.

The Paso Robles appellation is located in the southern portion of the Central Coast AVA, in the county of San Louis Obispo. The area has seen grape growing activity since the 1790’s and has been alternatively planted with Zinfandel and Bordeaux grapes. In the 1980’s a group of winemakers made a move toward planting Rhone varietals, specifically planting the first Syrah in California as well as Viognier and Roussanne. These winemakers were eventually dubbed the “Rhone Rangers” for their efforts and dedication to Rhone varietals in the area. Look for Syrah and Viognier from Alban and Tablas Creek.

The Livermore Valley is a well-established wine growing region outside of the San Francisco area. A wine from the Livermore Valley was the first to win an award in France, in 1889. Livermore has a fairly warm climate and produces a sizeable amount of the Petite Sirah coming out of California. The large producers Wente and Concannon have been located in Livermore for decades.

California Wine california, central coast, livermore valley, Paso Robles, santa cruz

The Central Valley of California has a bad rep among wine consumers. The Central Valley is monstrous in size and has the dubious distinction of being home to the huge producers of inexpensive box and jug wines that make up a sizeable chunk of the output of California. And while there is no denying the bulk nature of wine in the Central Valley, there are some pockets of fine wine production in this goliath of wine regions. Most notable are two areas in the northeast of the Valley: Lodi and the Sierra Foothills.

The Sierra Foothills must have been named by a seriously un-creative bureaucrat, but don’t let the obvious nature of it’s name fool you; this region is capable of producing some very complex wines. The eponymous mountains of the Sierra Foothills area provide this large AVA (American Viticultural Area) with a necessary cooling effect, which tempers the heat of central California. The vines were introduced to the area with the flood of humanity that ensued during the gold rush of the 1850’s. The Sierra Foothills is compromised of several sub AVAs including: Fiddletown, Shenedoah Valley and El Dorado.

Zinfandel has found a foothold here and produces wines that have become a style unto their own. The Zin production in the area is centered around Amador County and the style is generally called Amador Zin. The wines are unmistakable, huge alcohol content—16% isn’t abnormal—with a rich body and deep tannins. The best examples have the acidity and fruit to balance out the monstrous body and alcohol of these wines. Amador Zin is certainly an acquired taste, you have to be ready for these wines, but they can be quite enjoyable and reasonably priced for the quality.

Outside of Zin, Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted grape in the Sierra Foothills region. Cab is grown all around the region, but El Dorado is home to a good portion of the vines. The acidic magma soils and cooling mountain breezes bring out a strong, but balanced Cab. Some Syrah is also planted and the grape generally does well in the region.

The Lodi area is located between the Sierra Foothills to the east and the rest of the Central Valley to the west. The area has a Mediterranean climate regulated by the mountains and the northern location in the valley. Zinfandel is the main product of Lodi and the area benefits from huge swaths of old Zin vines that have been producing for decades. The Lodi style of Zin isn’t quite as big as Amador Zin and could be though of as halfway between the more restrained Dry Creek Zin and the over-the-top style of Amador Zin.

California Wine, Fine Wine, Red Wine, Zinfandel ava, California Wine, lodi wine, sierra foothills, Zinfandel

It’s that time of year again – time to get the corporate gifts going.  You remember when your dad got a fascinating assortment of sausages and nuts, and of course you always dug around to get the dutch cannister of cookies in that lot.   These days, corporate gifts have graduated to a bit more class, and a lot more antioxidants.

The gift of a wine club is the gift that keeps on giving.  What a delight for your boss and co-workers to come home to find a couple of bottles of shiraz and pinot grigio.  I enjoy that myself – I’m partial to that once a month surprise that I certainly look forward to!  To really impress with some 90+ point wines, try Cellars Wine Club.  This club pleases with the best from all over the world – from California, Europe, South Americ and Australia.  A world trip of wines right to your door!  What could be better?

For a great value wine club that won’t break your wallet, and still please the avid wine drinker, try The California Wine Club.  For less than $100, you can buy 4 bottles of wine in 2 shipments – an assortment of reds and whites that will not disappoint.

No go out and make sure you get your Christmas shopping done early!  With the best wines, you might just get that promotion you’ve been longing for.

- St Nick, North Pole Winemaker

California Wine, Wine Club Gift california wine club, cellars wine club, Christmas, corporate gift

So who knows about The Gold Medal Wine Club? They’ve got 5 different wine clubs and all of them offer highly rated award winning wines. If you’re looking to grow your own wine cellar or send a wine club gift to someone special I’m sure they’ll appreciate any of the 5 clubs from Gold Medal. The Gold and Platinum series are ideal as gifts… they are good value and still great wines. But if you’re buying for a real wine snob I suggest the Diamond Series. All of these wines are 93+ and are sure to please.

Everyone knows a Pinot fan… and now you have the perfect gift for them. You can get a Pinot Noir wine club from Gold Medal. Most of the selection comes from California but some also comes from around the world. If you’re really looking to experience different parts of the world then I’d suggest the International Series. The special part of this club is that these wineries cannot be found in the US. So they’re great additions to your cellar.

They’ve also got some tasting notes videos on their site. So if you’re not sure what to look for in a wine they’ve got you covered. The videos give some background on the winery, what to eat with the wine, etc. I think it’s a great idea!

They also do gift baskets… so if you’re looking for a one time gift rather than a recurring wine club I’d suggest the basket. Everyone’s always excited to get a gift basket.

Well I’m off to the grocery store. See you next week!

California Wine, International Wine, Pinot Noir, Uncategorized, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Education 93+, Gold Medal Wine club, International Wine, Pinot Noir

Wine Club Insider back with you!

Well, I’m back from an out-of-town working sojourn in lovely central Oregon.

My last evening there, I competed in a little “Iron Chef meets Chopped” cooking contest against a local chef, and it was a blast!

The key ingredients were chicken, strawberries, Graham crackers, and the secret ingredient was Bok Choy (?). We could prepare as many dishes as we could, highlighting the ingredients, and using a few other things as well, so with the opening gong, the battle was on!

For my dishes, I prepared a double appetizer that was well received… I made a sauteed chicken taco, stuffed with diced bok choy, cilantro and a sour cream, yogurt and wasabi sauce with a lime wedge on top, and I made a mille feuilles of very thinly sliced chicken breast slices and super thinly sliced red potatoes, topped with a jumbo prawn and a strawberry emulsion.

For my main course, I took a piece of the chicken breast, sliced it and stuffed it with strawberry, graham cracker and a piece of Havarti cheese, and the baked it, wrapped in puff pastry.

I served it over sauteed bok choy with a mustard and white wine sauce, accompanied by diced red potatoes cooked up in the rest of the sour cream – wasabi sauce.

For dessert, I made a puff pastry crust, and coated it with Graham crackers and a butter/lemon cream. While that was cooking, I took rhubarb, lots of strawberries, raspberry liqueur and some sugar, and cooked them down to a nice coulis. I filled the pastry shell, let it chill a bit, and served it with a touch of whipped cream.

My opponent Lisa made a spinach and bok choy salad with strawberries and carmelized almonds (which were really good!)).

For her entree, she went with simple, pan seared chicken breast with a balsamic reduction, and baked bok choy in the same sauce. She served it with rice with raisins and almonds. For dessert, she made a graham cracker pie crust, and made a key lime pie topped with a couple of strawberries.

In the judging, I won the appetizer and entree unanimously, and narrowly lost the dessert, but won the overall. More importantly, we had a great time, and ate 5 terrific courses.

We also had some wine, and I’m not talking just any wine!

We started with the terrific Clos du Bois Zin, which, while not as good as the Ravenswood, was pretty special. Next, we had the Concannon Petite Syrah, which is one of our host’s favorites, and it didn’t disappoint. Then I brought out the Borra “Fusion,” a Syrah, Cab, Merlot, Zin blend from Lodi, and it was AMAZING! Everyone loved this wine… it was one of the best I’ve drank in some time, and even better under the circumstances.

For dessert, I cracked one of my treasures: a 750 of 1982 Renaissance Late Harvest Sauv Blanc. I’m not sure if I’ve had a better glass of dessert wine in a long time, Ice wine included.

I bought the last case a couple of years ago, and have been drinking them for special occasions. The wine is now the color of rich caramel, and the flavor just keeps getting better. What an awesome way to end a great evening!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sweet Wine, Uncategorized, USA Wine, Vineyards, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Borra Fusion, Clos du Bois Zinfandel, COncannon Petite Syrah, Iron Chef