California Wine Country

Martha Barra of Girasole Vineyards and Barra of Mendocino is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell.

This is Martha’s third time on the show, the first time was this episode in November of 2020 and the second time was this show on January 5, 2024.

The first wine in their glasses is a Pinot Blanc, not to be mistaken for a Sauvignon Blanc, some of the best that Dan has ever tasted. It has flavors of tropical fruit, a trace of orange peel and fresh fruit all the way. It is about $16 under the Girasole label.

Barra vineyards started in the mid-1950s and expanded by acquiring some adjacent properties. They are certified organic and were one of the early adopters of organic practices.

The Red Blotch Problem

There is a problem with red blotch virus on the vines and growers have to protect their vines. The vector is the alfalfa bug which moves on the wind. It can kill the vines in 10 years and also decreases the quality of the fruit. Red blotch started as a result of a virus that was discovered in 2008 at UC Davis and in 2009 on the east coast. They did not understand the vector at first. The wind can carry the alfalfa bug. There is a law that requires unused vineyards to be removed because they can harbor diseases of the vines.

The next tasting is a 2024 Chardonnay, aged on the lees for nine months, with 30% new French oak. It is not overly buttery, but lean and elegant. Martha describes the goal in their profile is “…good mouth feel, round in the mouth, true to the varietal and balanced.” This year was the earliest harvest ever for them, because of weather, with a heat peak in March.

Then they taste a Barra Reserve Estate Pinot Noir. The block is in its prime at about eight years old. It sells for about $28 which may be the best deal anywhere. Dan suggests pairing it with some salmon, cooked simply. “This is the way Pinot should be,” says Dan.

Going Organic in 1988

Martha explains their early embrace of organic practices, in 1988. They are concerned with with what goes into the watershed and the soil, and with the health of their workers too.

“We continuously build soils to enrich the soils and make them healthy. Healthy soils make healthy wines.” They also make biochar. To do this, they burn old vines at high heat and low oxygen, then cool it with water. This produces little chunks of carbon that are good for water retention and hosting micro-organisims. They mix this with the pomace from the vineyard and use it to regenerate the soil. 

Clark Smith, winemaker, author and frequent California Wine Country guest, is back with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. His last time on the show was this episode on April 3 of this year. Professor Damien Wilson from Sonoma State University is also with us, from the previous on-air segment. He runs the Wine Business Institute at SSU.

Clark Smith has a new book coming out, called The Myth of Science: A Winemaker Recommends Repairs. He has a Substack called Confessions of a Renegade Winemaker where he posts occasional excerpts from the book.

Clark loves the Santa Cruz mountains which he considers the best winegrowing region in California. Down the hill from Ridge there is a vineyard called Bates Ranch that grows some Grenache. Sometimes, the wine doesn’t “color up” so they made some sparkling wine from it. Clark has brought a bottle of that. Later he will open the red from the same vintage.

Clark says his favorite Dan Berger quote is, “I would agree with everything you said except then I would have no story.”

Clark thinks that Champagne grapes make crummy wine, thin and sour. 300 years ago, they made it sweet, like soda pop. The term “brut” means brute or beast, and was originally a term of disapproval, meaning only an animal would drink wine so dry. But today it’s all they make.

“I am notorious” – Clark Smith

Clark Smith, winemaker, author and notoriously opinionated enologist, declares that the general American tendency to focus on varietals over the land has been a mistake. He explains that part of the problem is that judges have to taste 40 or more wines. It used to be a judge would throw out the junk, then good better and best got bronze, silver and gold. The problem lies in the fact that the place of origin, or terroir, is such an important factor in the quality of the wine, but that information is often not on the label. This keeps valuable information from the judges and curious ordinary wine drinkers.

Dan got Clark involved in Appellation America about 20 years ago. They tasted a varietal from several different regions. Dan had a friend, the late Tom Rinaldi, a winemaker for Duckhorn, who could tell a Merlot from Carneros apart from any other.

Clark explains that in Europe, they don’t taste for varieties. He compares two wines that have different goals that you would never put together, such as a St. Emillion and a Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. Dan explains that they have different strategies, different planting, growing and watering regimes and different climate. 

Steve Sangiacomo from Sangiacomo Family Wines joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. This is his first time on the show.

The Sangiacomo family has been growing grapes in the Petaluma Gap area before it was identified as an AVA. They purchased their first property in 1927. The Roberts Road was planted in 1999 with about 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. They have about 20 wineries that make single vineyard wines from it. In 2016 they launched their own label, and Roberts Road was at the top of the list for sourcing.

The Wind to Wine Festival is back this year, after a one-year hiatus, on Saturday, October 17 from 1 to 4 pm, at the Gambonini Ranch. There will be Petaluma Gap wines and lots of food options. There will be an auction of wines and wine-related experiences. Tickets are $75 for general admission and $95 for VIP. Click here for all the info, Petaluma Gap dot com.

They get plenty of fog and it is a low-yielding site. This year is probably their lightest crop ever. This wine they are tasting is a 2022 Sangiacomo Chardonnay. Daedalus describes an understated elegance from flavors of pears. Dan says it is already tasty and shows its potential for aging too. It is a clone of old Wente, Dijon 95 and clone 17. The blend of these three produces an elegance beyond just old Wente alone.

Vines are drought-tolerant plants.

Steve points out that vines are drought-tolerant plants that don’t need a lot of water. But you have to give them enough so that when you get heat spikes, the vines can withstand it.

Next, they taste the Roberts Road Pinot Noir. They have 5 clones there, which allows them to play with more options. They ferment all 5 clones separately so they can blend any way they want. Dan detects a unique forest floor component that you don’t get from anywhere else, except maybe Santa Cruz.

When the Sangiacomo family started their own label, after supplying high-quality grapes to other winemakers for many years, they had to be sure the quality was first rate and the price could not undercut their customers’ retail prices. Steve says he and his brother and sister learned how to work together from their father. Now the fourth generation is starting to get involved in the wine business.

The Wind to Wine Festival

The Wind to Wine Festival is back this year, after a one-year hiatus, on Saturday, October 17 from 1 to 4 pm, at the Gambonini Ranch. There will be Petaluma Gap wines and lots of food options. There will be an auction of wines and wine-related experiences. Tickets are $75 for general admission and $95 for VIP. Click here for all the info, Petaluma Gap dot com. 

Jeff Mangahas, Williams Selyem VP of Winemaking, is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. The last time he was on the show was this episode in November 22, 2024. Dr. Damien Wilson is staying with us to, from the previous segment. He is the head of the Sonoma State University Wine Business Institute.

The first wine tasted is a 2024 Williams Selyem Chardonnay that says “Estate” on the label. Jeff explains that it comes from one of the four estate properties they own. This is the Drake Estate. They own the land and manage the farming. Then, they make the wine and label it as coming from that place. Dan considers it a fine-tuning exercise. They can do anything they want to without any other influences.

Eleven Vintages

Jeff Mangahas has been at Williams Selyem since 2016 so this is his eleventh vintage there. They harvested their last grapes today, September 18th. The founders of Williams Selyem winery set down a tradition that Jeff feels strongly about continuing.

Dan tells the story of how Burt Williams ran the presses for the San Francisco Chronicle by day and ran winery in his spare time. He and Ed Selyem started the project with a sense of style of Russian River Valley wines, before most other wineries were there.

The next tasting is the Louis MacGregor Estate Pinot Noir. It is outside Windsor on East Side Road. It gets the Russian River Valley coastal fog that slows down the ripening process and preserves the acidity. Dan says it has a more earthy and powerful character since it has more herbal notes and a little more power and richness. It is quite young, and Jeff says they need seven to ten years. Jeff explains that their wines are made for that kind of aging.

This wine is delicious right now, at two years. But Dan has wines like this that are 40 years old and still coming on.

After eleven years Jeff still feels that he is under the influence of Burt Williams who was a genius. You have to be very gentle with Pinot Noir, timing has to be perfect and it has to be handled with care. His approach was simple and he feels that he is continuing that style. He even practices ancient techniques of foot treading. Dan notes that Williams Selyem wines never suffer from tannins because of their gentle methods. They use stainless steel repurposed dairy tanks, which are wider and have open tops. “The philosophy was correct from the beginning,” says Jeff.

Jeff makes 25 different Pinot Noirs. Some are blends, but 19 are single site origins. It is a study in soils and in terroir. All of the gentle house methods were used on them, so the differences are due to the vineyards and the soil and terroir of the place. 

Dan Berger speaks with Daedalus Howell about the state of harvest and the wine industry right now on California Wine Country. He is occasionally the featured guest, the last time was this show from last May with his personal picks from Bottle Barn.

Dan reports that the crop is very light this year. Especially Cabernet Sauvignon is looking “ratty” and there is virtually no fruit. The growers are facing a dilemma. Some grapes look sound and others don’t. They have to pick something, but when? On the eastern side of Sonoma County the Cabernet Sauvignon looks horrible. We had a lot of rain in the spring that caused some shatter. That is when the buds that are being formed are damaged by heat or rain or hail. There was a lot of uneven bloom. But the weather wasn’t warm enough to help the vines recover. Champagne grapes were being picked in June. Some Sonoma County Cabernet growers finished harvesting in late August, which is very early.

Oversupply and Alternatives have lowered wine consumption.

The slowdown in sales right now has many origins. Covid trained people to order wine for home delivery. People ordered more wine than they needed. Now people have more wine at home. Then trends moved toward reducing consumption of alcohol. Some people quit drinking and others looked for low alcohol or zero alcohol or alcohol removed wines. There are also pre-mixed cocktails with moderate alcohol and low sugar levels. So, overstock plus more options has made wine consumption drop.

Dan thinks the next category of buyer has yet to discover wine. The Sonoma County Wine Library in Healdsburg has a presentation scheduled for February about next generation families in the wine business. They will hear from young people in winemaking families and why they stayed with it.

High-quality wine is expensive to produce, and it can’t be sold for less than $60. They just opened a bottle of 2021 Black Kite Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Jeff Gaffner is the winemaker and he has been on CWC before on this episode. It still has “that youthful pizzaz” but is also starting to show some creaminess and richness. The oak flavors are not over the top.

Dan Berger’s International Wine Competition

This coming December, Dan Berger will hold the 45th consecutive annual edition of his international wine competition. His judges are mostly winemakers and some wine columnists. He is adding canned wines and ciders to the competition this year.

Dan is also interested in judging quality wines in half bottles. He thinks that half bottles will be important for the future of the wine industry. It comes to about two glasses and that is convenient for a lot of diners. It also allows the buyer to get a high-quality wine because the purchase price can be about half. Trader Joes has a line of half bottles. They are often a source of new ideas for low-priced options.

Dan says that California brands don’t want to discount too much because they don’t want to depress prices in the future. Red wine blends are also a very popular trend. The key to a consistent big selling brand is good blending. One of Dan’s favorite blends is Old Patch Red from Trentadue. Miro Tcholakov makes it. Dan says Miro is a great blender. There isn’t a lot of it and it’s not widely distributed. One that is widely distributed is Gallo’s brand Barefoot. To Dan, they are “incredibly reliable.” The most important thing is they are consistent. 

Prema Kerollis, co-founder and general manager of Three Sticks Wines, joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. This is her first time on California Wine Country, although others from Three Sticks have been on before, including this episode on Oct. 13, 2021. Prema has worked alongside Three Sticks founder Bill Price, since they founded the winery in 2002. They produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Gap’s Crown vineyard in the Petaluma Gap. Dan calls the vineyard site “spectacular” and “really gorgeous.”

They start with the 2024 Gap’s Crown Chardonnay. The place is famous for Pinot Noir. When they got the vineyard, there was a block of Dijon clone Chardonnay that thrives in the Petaluma Gap. It produced this wine which is only slightly sparkling.

The Wind in the Petaluma Gap

Dan explains that grapes don’t want to be producing lots of leaves, which happens in fertile soil. In less fertile soil, you get a better balance of fruit and concentration, not too much of either. Gap’s Crown delivers this because if its position and climate “This vineyard is easy to farm… as long as you are there every day of the year.”

The Dijon clone, aka the Wente clone, is lighter, which they carry through in the winemaking. It is aged on the lees slowly. There is a balance of steel and oak. Dan suggests this wine is made well enough that it will age very well. If you leave it for 4 years it will take on characteristics that you would not imagine possible from Chardonnay. These wines could support 10 years or more.

Next there are two Pinot Noirs from 2023, Gap’s Crown Vineyard and Gap’s Pinnacle. Dan explains how the wind shuts down the stomates on the underside of the leaves. When the wind comes, the stomates close to protect the vine from losing moisture. That shuts down photosynthesis as the vines are protecting themselves. This way, the grapes develop later, which allows more fruit flavors to develop. 2023 was an easy year, without great heat. 2010, 2011, 2023 and 2025 are the classic cool vintages here. Dan has a lot of old Pinot Noir. Some of it is 20 years old and can last still longer. Magnum bottles are best for long aging, provided that the cork is good. 

Jonathan Darrow, director of the 2026 edition of Winesong, joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on Calfornia Wine Country. This is his first time on the show, but his predecessor Jamie Peters was here last year before Winesong, on this episode.

KSXY15 is the Winesong discount code for listeners to California Wine Country and The Drive, to recieve a 15% discount on tickets here at the Winesong site. 

Jonathan Darrow is the coordinator of the event, auction and tasting for Winesong. It takes place the weekend of September 11 and 12. It’s a beautiful drive past the redwoods and through Anderson Valley. The event is at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, right off Hwy 20.

Winesong is the primary fundraiser for the Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation. It was founded in 1985 to benefit Mendocino Hospital and evolved into its present status in 2019. Now their contributions can benefit the entire district. Whatever equipment they donate, belongs to the community. They provide benefits to the hospital and also to the Mendocino Coast Clinics. 

Jon has brought four different wines which pertain to Winesong. First is Husch, which started in 1979 in Anderson Valley. This is the Husch 2024 Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc.

Winesong Live Music

As the name Winesong implies, there is live music at the event. There are six stages with performances of all kinds. You wander through a 20-acre park, where there are little hubs or stations here and there along the way. There is a Harvest Market with food, and the Dahlia Market. There will be 20,000 blooming Dahlias.

Friday is dedicated to Pinot Noir. Saturday is the Grand Tasting at the Botanical Gardens. They have deflated the admission price to the 2016 cost.  Dan says the Pinot Noir tasting is not to be missed. There is an unbelievable number of great Pinot Noirs. They taste a Fathers and Daughters Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley. Anderson Valley is also becoming a hub for sparkling wines. There are wineries at Winesong from not only Mendocino County but also Napa, Sonoma and Lake as well as importers from Europe.

Mendocino Ridge AVA

The Mendocino Ridge AVA is the only one with non-contiguous borders. It includes any wineries in the area that are above 1200 feet above sea level. The next tasting is a 2016 Chardonnay from Napa. Someone will win a case of this wine at Winesong. They will celebrate their Legacy Vintners of the Year, including Golden Eye and Duckhorn. Winemaker Greg Graziano will also be represented with the St. Gregory Sparkling Wine at the beginning of the auction.

Jonathan has covered lots of different roles at Winesong and this year he has stepped into the director’s role. He started college as a theater major, then got a degree in Beverage Management at UNLV. His first job was working for a bar with 3300 beers and 1800 whiskies. He likes to see “the lightbulb go off” when people start to understand something. The more you know about things, the more you can appreciate it. Dan points out that in the US we start our wine education after age 21 which is late. 

Winemaker Ted Seghesio from Solo Nostro Wines is our guest today on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. Ted used to work for the winery that bears his family name. In what he refers to now as his “previous post,” he made Zinfandel for 40 years. He still makes it under the new label, among many other varietals. Solo Nostro is Italian for “ours alone.”

Ted started as as winemaker in 1979 when the Seghesio family had been making wine already for many decades. The winery used open top concrete fermenters and redwood storage tanks. They had 400 acres of vineyards including French Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Carignane and Zinfandel. He remembers the advent of White Zin in the 1980s that saved a lot of Zinfandel vineyards.

Ted and his wife honeymooned in the Rhone region when they got married in 2015. When they created Solo Nostro in 2019, they chose to feature Rhone varietals, Grenache Blanc and Syrah, as well as a Rhone white blend. In addition to that, also make Dolcetto. They plan to expand their portfolio to other Mediterranean grapes. The Dolcetto is from their estate, and they get others from other local growers.

Viognier and Dolcetto Rosato

They planted Viognier because it was harder to find locally and they wanted it. Viognier can be tricky from year to year, the crop sizes are not as consistent as other varieties. So that is a risk for a winery or a grower. Now they taste a Viognier that Dan says has the flower basket aroma typical of Viognier. It should smell like flowers.

They picked at 3am, and went straight to the press at 50 degrees F, then straight to the concrete amphora. After 2 months fermentation, they left it on the lees until 6 months then bottled it. It has flavors of ripe peaches and apricots and floral flavors that put Viognier “in a different class.” Dan says to put this in oak barrels would be a misdemeanor. Dan estimates its alcohol is around 13.8. It’s 13.9. This would not be for aging. In France they do not age this wine. The floral aromatics are there to be enjoyed now. It should be served below 65 degrees.

Solo Nostro Wines are available at Bacchus’ Landing, which has various events. The owners are the former owners of the lucrative Low-Rider Magazine so they also hold an annual car show too. Dan says the place is “just stunning.”

Next is a Syrah, which is another variety that Ted did not work with in his previous post. It has thick skins. In 2022 it was 116 degrees on Labor Day. Fortunately they had picked the day before. It came out with blueberry essence with a trace of pepper. Dan says it needs two years to get to its ideal place.

The Consumer Is In the Driver’s Seat

With the downturn in sales in the wine industry right now, consumers have opportunities to try wines at prices they wouldn’t find. Some wines that already have an extra year of aging are now reaching the market which is good for buyers. Slow sales mean the wines for sale may be longer aged. One reason why California wines have become so popular is that they deliver fruit. On the east coast where they grew up with European wine, they are missing the California fruit flavors.

Daedalus asks if there is something about the California palette. Are we spoiled? Well, we are just different. Ted says they have done comparative tastings forever, France, Italy, California, lots of them. “Our fruit always stood out.”

The Pivot

Daedalus asks Ted how he made the pivot in his career. He quit Seghesio in 2018 and his wife Dana was studying in the Sonoma State University Executive Business program. They were going to start a winery but the wildfires wiped them out. They were going to call it Atto Due, Act Two. He rode Seattle to Portland and passing back into California, they found themselves before a breathtaking scene with nobody else around. Dana remarked, Solo Nostro which in Italian means “Ours Alone.” They only make 500 cases per year so far. He even makes a little Pinot Noir. They will also make Sangiovese. He will get some grapes from a vineyard that started with vines that his grandfather planted in 1910. Nobody else has century-old Sangiovese vineyard in California. 

Kim Stare Wallace from Dry Creek Vineyards joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. She has been on the show before, the last time was this episode in September of 2025.

Kim has brought four bottles of two varieties, for tasting. One is their dry Chenin Blanc. They have made the same style for 54 years. Dan Berger remembers the first vintage of this wine and it is still as good as ever. Chenin Blanc is having a comeback right now. 

Her father, David Stare, founded Dry Creek Vineyards. He loved the Loire Valley wines of France which is why he planted these vines.

Charles Krug made Chenin Blanc since the late 1960s but it was sweet. David Stare at Dry Creek Vineyard made it in an authentic dry Loire Valley style. Dan says this one is as good as any vintage they have ever made. Despite the ups and downs of sales over the years, they continue to produce it the same way, low alcohol and high acidity. It is a single vineyard wine, coming from the Wilson Vineyard nearby in Clarksburg. Dan knows the vineyard and says it has very fertile soil. It is close to Stockton. Their style is “hands-off winemaking.” It is 100% Chenin Blanc, fermented in stainless steel, there is no oak and no blending of other varietals.

Melon Flavors in Chenin Blanc

Dan mentions that the textbooks say to look for melon flavors, but not cantaloupe, he means white melon. He also notices that this wine is dryer than most of the Loire Valley Chenins.  Dry Creek Vineyards also makes about 500 cases of a Chenin Blanc crémant style.

Kim remembers a tasting that their friend Jean Baumard organized. He has a winery, Domaine des Baumards, in the Loire Valley. Dan remembers that event, when Jean Baumard brought some very rare dry Chenins called Savennières. One was from 1937. They had hidden some bottles during World War Two and this was a survivor. It was excellent. When Kim was 13 years old, her parents did a house exchange with the Baumards, whose home is in the Loire Valley village of Rochefort sur Loire.

This Chenin Blanc sells for $16-$19, and it is a great value at that price. Dan advises storing some in a cool place for any occasion.

2025 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Next is a 2025 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc. It is a new release. David Stare was the first to plant SV in the region, in the 1970s. People laughed. He was told it was a dumb variety. He turned out to be right about it. It’s 100% Dry Creek Valley, so it reflects the warmer climate. They planted unusual clones of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Musqué and Sauvignon Gris. Dan says you can taste the subtle differences between these clones and their signature Fumé Blanc. Sauvignon Gris is very rare. Dan compares the flavors to an heirloom grapefruit. He thinks it will improve with ten years in the cellar. The New Zealand SVs are softer and sweeter.

Kim reads the tasting notes, “Floral notes of jasmine, geranium and hibiscus; fresh herbal hints of cilantro stem; tomato leaf and white pepper mingle with wet gravel minerality.” The herbal notes won’t come out for this wine until about ten more years, says Dan. In this case, the fruit is right up front. Daedalus detects a whiff of dried tarragon.

2026 Best Winery in the 2026 SF Gate

Dry Creek Vineyard won the title Best Winery in the SF Gate’s 2026 Best of the Bay issue. Dan remembers they showed Field of Dreams on a portable screen in the vineyard. They have a concert this Saturday afternoon, from 12-4 pm, two days from the day the show is recorded live. Visit the Dry Creek Vineyard website Events page for their full schedule.  

Bitterness is a good thing.

Dan reminds us that bitterness is a good thing. We like it in dark chocolate and in coffee. For example, bitters are appropriate in a mixed drink. They are part of the overall complexity and diversity of flavors. This wine is a perfect example. It delivers all its high-altitude character.

Fred says, “If we don’t make wines that taste of the vineyard, there’s no reason for a small winery to exist, in my opinion.” He calls his winemaking process “zero manipulation” so that his wines taste like the vineyard.

Their current release Cab is the 2022. So, it is young, for a Cabernet. The 2022 is also a very good wine, and Dan thinks that Fred harvested it at the right time. Both Cabs are blends. The 2003 is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot. The 2022 has the same 83% Cab, 11% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.

After time in the Navy, Fred enrolled at UC Santa Cruz. He took time off for a road trip, to bring a motorcycle to a friend’s farm in Iowa. He took an interest in agriculture when he was there. He took some Agriculture classes at the JC then finished at UC Davis. His mom’s side of the family is Sicilian and Calabrese, so he grew up around wine. Dan sees this as a typical pattern for winemakers, to start in another field before settling on winemaking.

Gravity Flow Block

He calls the vineyard Gravity Flow block. It is an acre and a half of vineyard with over a mile of deer fencing. When he planted this block, he planted about 7% Viogner which he co-ferments with the Syrah. He and his son don’t like very tannic wines and the Viogner helps temper the Syrah. Co-fermentation is also called co-pigmentation.  The grapes ferment together. If you put 5% Viognier you get darker wine, aromatic improvement and a lighter texture. It has a paradoxical flavor. It has personality and maturity, but it feels young. The 2005 just needs ten more years in the bottle. The Syrah from 2018 is “stunning” says Dan, and was just released. It is available at the winery. Peterson Winery has a mailing list that we can all join. His son does blending seminars occasionally and he does vineyard tours. 

Russian River vs. Petaluma Gap

Russian River wines have more of a bright juicy red character, while this vineyard produces darker blue fruit, “kind of plummy,” with tangerine skin and spicy flavors. They have a very long growing season, and their harvest goes from late August sometimes into November. Some grapes need more time on the vines. Shane names Albariño, Blau Frankisch, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot, which they have all on the same property. He credits Al and Lisa for being crazy enough and intuitive enough to put so many varieties together like that.

Thirty-Seven Wines produces all their wine from their own estate grown grapes. Shane describes their approach to making wine. To keep it fresh and vibrant, they don’t do any lees stirring, they only do partial ML, mainly fermented in concrete. They use their oldest barrels, from 2010 and 2011. These barrels are “really neutral.” Dan detects a faint tropical note in the Albariño they are tasting. It gets intense morning sun but long cool afternoons. Lisa is in charge of managing the canopy to keep space between the clusters and maintain acidity. 

The next wine is the 2021 Passion Valley, which Scott calls their prestige brand. Scott was making wine when he was an art student mostly doing sculpture, so he wanted to call it Sculptured Cellars. But then one evening, his wife handed him a gold pen to customize some labels on the bottles of some of his home made wine. The gold ink leaked from the pen, and he used his thumb to blot the ink. Then he left a gold thumbprint on the bottles. He realized he had a name when people asked for more of “that thumbprint wine.”

This Sculptured Cellars wine won a Gold Medal at the North Coast Wine Challenge. It comes from 75-80 year-old Carignan vines, 50%, with another 50% Syrah. It gets a little barrel aging in French oak, about 20% new. The Carignan is grown near the Russian River, so it gets cooler evenings. Dan finds it succulent and mature, ready for further aging. He would serve it slightly chilled, with barbeque.

Scott started making wine as a hobby after his wife got him a book about how to make wine in your garage. He thought about what he would want on the label. While staring at wine labels in a store for half an hour, he would read labels. He thought that the information he wanted was lacking. Scott decided it was important to put some information on the label, so the customer has an idea of what’s going on.

Scott is making Cabernet Franc, which will be more and more in demand. In Napa valley, it is already more expensive than Cabernet Sauvignon. Dan predicts that its popularity will increase. Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. It is not easy to grow. Cabernet Franc is not as difficult to grow. Scott describes winemaking as an art, and the science part is important but secondary. He started by making wine at home. He was lucky to work for a family in Dry Creek Valley who allowed him to make wine there, as part of his compensation. Today his artistic expression comes through his winemaking, instead of sculpture. 

Kevin says he waits for acidity to come down before sugars get too high. In other places, you reach sugar maturity and acid maturity at the same time. Kevin picks on 3 criteria. Flavor is first. He can taste and predict Brix. When he tastes something, he knows. He has a flavor catalog in mind. For example, the Roberts Road vineyard, he has flavor criteria, and he knows what he wants. Dan says California can have fruit, acid and body without having to sacrifice one.

Greg Jones is a meteorologist and Oregon farmer, who runs a weather forecast site. Visit the Abacela winery website.

Too much oak.

Chardonnay in California usually has too much oak. Kevin’s Montagne Russe Chardonnay is different. It has a bit of lemon oil and tropical fruit. But the acid is holding everything together. 2023 was a cold year. He did half ML on this wine. They use Puncheon barrels, which are 2.2 times larger than regular barrels. That puts less oak per unit of volume, onto the wine.

Next, they taste a 2022 Pinot Noir with spectacular color. 2022 was a difficult vintage. The fruit came from the Sangiacomo family vineyard. Dan says the grower gets credit. When you pay premium prices for fruit, you also get the grower’s expertise and personal care.

Dan finds this wine faintly rustic, as opposed to the bright cherry and berry. It’s a different kind of Pinot Noir. Petaluma Gap always delivers because it has more than just cold climate. It is more subtle and has more character.

When Kevin has picked, he asks around to see who else has picked.

Sometimes he’s the first. Gary Farrell would often pick early too and made great wine.

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On June 9 at 6 pm, the Healdsburg Wine Library is opening the new Millie Howie Memorial Garden and Patio. It’s free to the public and tickets are available at the Healdsburg Wine Library events page.

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The last wine is the Syrah. They have 23 bottles left. 2022 Petaluma Gap Syrah from Keller Estate. The Keller estate had some extra Syrah and Viognier that they offered to him. “Co-fermentation time!” says Dan. They put it all together, 100% whole cluster, 9% Viognier. It spent the final 8 months in stainless steel. He created an entirely different label for it. It came alive after a year in bottle. Dan says that this one “identifies” Syrah, which is meaty in a fruit sense, it’s not gamey.

The Wind to Wine Festival is coming, October 17, 2026. Start planning now! 

Esporão, Assyrtyko and Pigato

The first taste is Esporão, a Portuguese white wine made in the style of Chardonnay. It is aged in wood, but delicately. It has only 13.5% ABV. The region is near the Atlantic Ocean in a cool area. It’s a 2020 and still fresh. It was $30 at first release, but now it is $12.99. The wine has the aging that it needs, it’s ready to drink.

The next tasting is a 2024 Assyrtyko. It is a Greek grape that grows primarily in Greece. But this one is from Jim Barry Wines in Claire Valley in Australia. It sells for about $24 at Bottle Barn.

Dan thinks the next wave of interest in wine will not be from collectors. There will have to be more diversity in the choices of wines, varieties and origins. Wine today is better than it has ever been around the world, because of better grape growing and better technology.

Then they taste a 2024 Pigato from Liguria from the Durin label. It has some lemon blossom in the aroma. It’s delicious and has a lot of personality. Pigato only grows in Italy in Piedmont and Liguria, both are cool climates. Wine makers need to plant grapes like Pigato here in California.

Pithos Rosso and Verduno Pelaverga

Next is a red, Pithos Rosso. The bottle is 750 ml but has a squat shape. The grape variety is Nero d’Avola and is native to Sicily. The label says both Italy and Sicily. It is red, but light and delicious and not particularly tannic.

Last is a 2024 Verduno Pelaverga from Fratelli Alessandria. It is a light grape from the Piemonte province, where Barolo and Barbera also grow. Pelaverga was planted as a blending grape. After 1945, they sent cuttings to UC Davis. Then, the vineyard was bulldozed and became extinct in Italy. But UC Davis had cuttings and now they have replanted it in Italy. It is as light as a Rosé but it has the taste and flavor of red wine. It’s Dan’s favorite recent discovery. Bottle Barn has it for $29.95, down from $45. It has the flavor profile of a good Barolo. Black pepper, violets, green herb, “complexity without knowing what it is.” Pelaverga is very rare here. The importer is North Berkeley Imports. Dan says they are committed to the wines they import. 

Wild Thing Zinfandel

Dan calls it silky and elegant, with good acidity and perfectly balanced. It has a little Carignane (14%) blended in, and a little Petit Syrah (7 or 8 %). This wine just got 94 points and a Gold Medal at the North Coast Wine Challenge. She won a total of 8 gold medals and two double golds, and one was a best in class. The half bottles are 375 ml.

During the first decades of Carol’s career she worked for Windsor Winery and produced a lot of excellent wines. Dan got to know here when he was writing about the winery’s direct-to-consumer program, which was a new process then. She produced 200,000 cases a year of 48 different wines. “Everything was exemplary,” says Dan. Carol is one of the first women to get an Enology degree at UC Davis. In the early years she remembers there were about ten or fifteen women winemakers. She noticed more and more until today there are about sixty or eighty. She belongs to a roundtable of women in wine that meets monthly.

Albini Zinfandel

The second wine they taste is the 2023 Albini Zin, grown in Windsor. The vineyard is not old vines, it is only about 35 years old. She and her assistant winemaker taste every barrel. The first year they got that fruit, they both agreed that “the new Albini” was the best. Dan explains why Russian River Zinfandel is hard to find, because a lot of vineyards were converted to Pinot Noir. She also makes some other Zins from old vines and both styles are in demand.

There is an undefinable spice component in Russian River Zin that you don’t find anywhere else, says Dan. This wine got 97 points and a double gold medal. Dan explains that a lot of Zinfandel suffers from having too much alcohol. He actually put a small amount of water in the glass to balance it and free the flavors. All of Carol’s wines are under 15% alcohol, usually about 14.5. She used to use Clark Smith’s process for removing some alcohol from wine. Dan remembers a clinical tasting session with Clark Smith. The “sweet spot” for flavor was more apparent at different alcohol levels, and his favorite was the lowest.

Then they taste the third and fourth wines. Third is an old vine Carignane called Wireless because the vines are not growing on trellis wires. Fourth is an Alicante Bouschet. That is a grape named after the botanist who created it. For a consumer looking for something “off the beaten path” this is a good choice. It has a dark red color. It is unusual and makes a great gift. Dan would give it 10 years but with really good storage.

Courtney Wagner followed a path into winemaking that began with studying music in high school. Then she thought of studying nutrition. Food science at Cal Poly led to wine. Chris Sawyer remembers the farmers market in San Luis Obispo on Thursdays. Courtney had a professor who suggested she work a harvest, to see if she really wanted to do that. She stayed with her grandparents in Napa and was able to work at Artesa. Chris thinks that they are making the best sparking wines in California now.

Courtney has made Pinot Noir and Chardonnay everywhere she has been a winemaker. She did 32 different varietals at Wild Horse. Chris Sawyer remembers Sonoma County in the late ’70s and ’80s. Some of the innovators were starting Pinot Noir then, but Zinfandel was already well-established.

Conditions can vary a lot from year to year, and so does the wine. 2022 was a hot year, and their last day of picking in 2022 was the first day of picking in 2023. They were worried that their foreign interns’ visas would expire before harvest was done. Because of that cold weather, these wines will age very well. The 2023 Bondi Pinot Noir is nice now, but it has the potential to be great up to 15 years in the future.