About 60 miles north of Healdsburg and along some seriously winding roads that might cause motion-sickness for some lies the Anderson Valley.  This American Viticultural Area (AVA) is well-known for producing some fantastic Pinot Noir, so it didn’t take much for my tour guide for the day, Deb Kravitz (@whatdebpours), to convince me we should make the trek.  If you are visiting the Napa/Sonoma area and want to check out what Anderson Valley has to offer you will need to plan for an entire day due to the distance and time it takes to get up there and back.  But, it will be well worth the trip.

The main grape varieties planted in the AVA are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and White Riesling.  Warm sunny days and cool foggy nights are ideal for these types of grapes and ensures slow maturation leading to maximum flavor and development of varietal character.

Roederer Estate Brut Rose

Roederer Estate – Started in 1982 by the historic, 200-year old Champagne Louis Roederer, they are obviously well-known for sparklers but also make still wines.  We chose to stick with the bubbly to start our trip.  The view from the property is spectacular and my favorite was the NV Brut Rose.  However, Deb informed me that the L’ Ermitage Rose rocks even more, though they were not pouring it

Husch Vineyards Tasting Room

Husch Vineyards – Husch has quite a large list of wine to choose from which made it difficult to select just 6 for the basic tasting.  It included Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.  After some deliberation and a little sensory-overload, we ended up with 2 Gewurztraminers, 3 Pinots and a Zin.  The 2008 Pinot Noir was very expressive with anise and bing cherries on the nose while the 2006 Knoll Pinot Noir reminded me of Oregon-style Pinots with cherry cola characteristics.  In the end, I enjoyed the 2009 T-Bud Dry Cuvee Gewurztraminer the most with it’s floral, citrus and spice aromas.

Toulouse Vineyards – Named for the type of domesticated Goose originating near Toulouse, France, the owners released their first vintage (2002) in 2005.  The Pinot Noir Rose’ had a light, salmon-orange tint and was refreshing with watermelon and strawberries on the nose.  The 2009 Pinot Gris and 2009 Muscat were standouts as well.

Phillips Hill Estates – The tasting room is a cool little old house in Philo.  While you are there, you can get a sandwich at the small grocer next door too.  The winery is the child of artist, Toby Hill, who was, unfortunately, not around while we were there.  Deb tells me he is quite an interesting guy and that he creates his own labels for the wines. There is more Gewurz and Pinot Noir, including 2 bottles of 2008′s containing fruit that was affected by the fires in the area that year.  I particularly enjoyed the 2008 Ring of Fire and the smoke taint was less recognizable on the nose still allowing the luscious fruit to take center stage.  The 2007 Corby was the most delicate and elegant in the lineup.

2009 Jim Ball Rose of Pinot Noir

Jim Ball Vineyards – A retired lawyer, Jim started his winery and teamed up with infamous winemaker, Greg La Follette, to make some truly outstanding Pinot Noir.  This was a great way to finish the day of tasting.  The 2009 Rose’ Pinot Noir has a salmon-orange hue with luscious red fruit and watermelon aromas.  Greg’s creations, the 2006 Estate Pinot Noir and the 2007 Boonville Pinot Noir were also outstanding.  The latter was a little herbaceous at first, but eventually blew off allowing anise and black cherries to come through.  For those looking for a bolder Pinot Noir, check out the 2007 Jim Ball Pinot Noir that displays bacon fat, sandalwood (like woodust on the floor of my grandfather’s wood shop) and black cherries.  Deb and I had the pleasure to also try a few barrel samples and we both agree that the 2009 vintage is going to knock your socks off.

The evening ended with dinner at long-time and well-known Rodney Strong and Iron Horse winemaker in a previous life, Forrest Tancer, and Cynthia Ariosta.  Both are very much involved with horses and hosting long-distance riding events.  The view from their home up on the Greenwood Ridge was phenomenal, though we did not get to the see the usual early evening fog “event” everyone talked about.  Still, this was a good day.

Horses

After about 18 months, our 2008 Laurel Hills Syrah Alder Springs vineyardhas been birthed from it’s French oak barrel and finally bottled and ready for consumption.  It was a great experience working with the folks at Crushpad.  Their new facility in Napa (they used to be in SF) is coming along nicely as landscaping was still going in while we were there.  I was shooting for a more elegant style of Syrah like that coming from the Northern Rhone.  The wine is still a little tannic as expected, but will mellow over time.  The color is a dark and deep violet with aromas of dark berries and a rich, textural mouthfeel.  I can’t wait to see how this continues to mature.

Alder Springs is made up of 31 blocks on 140 acres in Mendocino and is known for producing high quality fruit thanks to the painstaking vineyard management practices insisted by the owner, Stu Bewley.  Other more well-known winemakers using fruit from this prestigious vineyard include James Hall (Patz & Hall), Pax Mahle (Wind Gap), Les Behrens (Erna Schein), among many others.  

The bottling process was pretty simple and happened in a space that was only about 15 x 10 where me, my wife Jonjie, Eric (videographer/social media guru for CP) and Pete, the main bottling dude, bottled and packaged about 25 cases of wine.  Below is the compiled video Eric put together for Crushpad, with a quick cameo of me and Jonjie within.  I would highly recommend Crushpad to anyone who is interested in making their own wine and want the flexibility to decide how involved, or not, they’d like to be, yet have the reassurance that winemaking professionals are involved along the way.

So, if you had the chance, would you want to ever make your own wine and why?

In 2008 we hooked up with Crushpad to begin making one barrel of Syrah.  In hindsight, it couldn’t have been worse timing to spend that much cash with the great recession beginning to show its ugly mug.  Regardless, I was (and still am) interested in making wine and this was a way to learn the process from a distance (since I live in Atlanta) and be as involved as I wanted to be along the way.  I wanted to make a Syrah reminiscent of the Northern Rhone and we began by selecting some choice fruit from the Alder Springs vineyard in Mendocino county.

Crushpad walks the customer through the winemaking decision process via an easy to use webpage (crushnet.com) which can only be accessed by the customer and includes setting up a plan to define what style of wine you want to make (fruit, color, tannin, use of oak, etc.) as well as status updates along the way (nutrients added, punch downs, SO2 additions, top offs, etc).  You are also assigned a wine consultant who is responsible for implementing your plan and working with you when decisions are necessary as well as schedule visits if you are interested in sorting, performing punch downs, pressing as well as bottling.

In October of 2008 upon completion of fermentation, I flew to San Francisco to accompany and “supervise” the pressing of my half-ton bin of Syrah.  This also allowed me to perform some other winery duties giving me some hands-on experience including punch downs of several bins that were still fermenting.  Tasting the wine coming directly from the press was a cool experience and we were able to gauge level of tannins, which were substantial, at this time.  Then, the wine went to barrel where it stayed for another year and half with only VA, pH, TA analyses and top-offs occurring periodically during that time.

Well, we have now arrived where the barrel aging process is complete and we are ready to bottle.  Luckily for us, we have already planned a trip to Napa this week to celebrate my wife’s birthday and we are going to take the opportunity to participate in the bottling operations now that Crushpad has moved their operations to the Napa area.  The result will be 25 cases or 300 bottles of wine.  I will follow up with some more information and hopefully video and pictures from the operation upon our return.

Cheers!

Tim Mondavi, son of Robert Mondavi, is an “artist” as described by his daughter, Carissa, and he was looking for another way to express that attribute and truly focus on and create an artisan-style wine.  Over lunch at Chops in Atlanta, Carissa Mondavi and Stuart Harrison explained how this was the dreamchild for Continuum Estate, which released their first vintage in 2005.  The name of the winery is not doubt defined by this statement made by Tim himself: “For four generations our family has created a continuum of wine excellence, enhancing the celebration of life.”

Continuum Estates sits on what will become around 60 acres of vineyards, 40 established and another 20 currently being developed, on Pritchard Hill.  This area of Napa, though not currently identified as its own AVA, is unique in soil, which is very rocky and steep.  In my conversation with Chris Carpenter, winemaker of Cardinale, recently, he noted the extraordinary ability of this region to produce some seriously high-quality fruit and if it ever becomes an AVA, he most certainly will be adding it to his repertoire as well.  Tim was particular in the parcels he was looking for including a westerly exposure for afternoon sunshine and has spared no expense to build his dream.  It is much more expensive to farm mountain fruit than that on the valley floor.  Just think about moving huge mountain boulders and rock when developing vineyard sites in such terrain.

The 2007 vintageis now available and still the majority of the fruit comes from Mondavi’s portion (the majority) of the To Kalon vineyard in Oakville until 2008 when the vines at Continuum Estate can contribute.  It is expected that about 70% of the 2008 vintage will come from the estate vineyards on Pritchard Hill with the goal of sourcing 100% in the near future.  The 2007 consists of

• 60% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 22% Cabernet Franc
• 18% Petit Verdot

Notice that level of Petit Verdot?  I am used to seeing blends of less than 5% PV, but Stuart tells me that this variety in Napa turns very elegant in about 10 years time and has certainly helped this wine keep its deep color as well.  The nose gave off a little heat, tremendous level of black fruits very indicative of Napa followed by a little char.  I noted the mid-palate was strong and lofty with the taste of plush black fruits and currant with spice on the end leading to a great finish.  I feel that only the best was yet to come as this had not been decanted and would have probably improved and only blossomed further over the coming hours.  Another thing I noticed was a lower-than-expected level of tannins for such a young Napa Cab.  It makes it enjoyable to drink now, but I agree with Kevin(@atlantawineguy), who also joined us, that cellaring tenure may be limited than what you might other expect for this reason.  Otherwise, acid and structure is great.

The current production level of the winery is only 1,500 cases with a planned ceiling of about 5-6,000 cases.  The wine retails for around $140 and Georgia is allocated about 75-80 6-packs and can or will eventually be found at places like Chops, Murphy’s and the Disco Kroger among others.  Continuum Estate is open to visitors by appointment only:

Address: 1677 Sage Canyon Road  ST. Helena, CA 94574    View Larger Map

Phone: 707 944 8100

Extending my earlier post regarding the 100 point 2006 Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon, here is some video footage from my exclusive tasting with winemaker, Chris Carpenter and the Toast of the Town event hosted by Wine Enthusiast later in the evening held at the Georgia Aquarium.