The recent ruling in favor of Gallo’s proposal to expand the Russian River Valley AVA further south to Cotati and specifically include all of their Two Rock Vineyard just off Hwy 101 has raised more than a few eyebrows.  Wine Industry Insight has been on this story for several years and raised more than a few issues not only with Gallo’s claims but also with the TTB’s process and regulations.  On the surface it seems once again the big corporation bullies its way to get what it wants, but at what price?  What does this expansion potentially mean for winegrowers, producers (majority of smaller wineries) and, more importantly, consumers?

The battle for expansion has been going on since at least the early 90′s and pushes the RRV AVA boundary further south to Cotati, a move adamantly opposed by the Russian River Valley Winegrowers and notably Merry Edwards in this article, though several producers in the area were outspoken on this issue.  The expansion totals more than 14,044 acres bringing the total AVA acreage to 169,028.  The winegrowers argued weather conditions were, indeed, not the same and resulted in extended harvest dates when compared to the current AVA, however, Gallo contended the geographic components including climate and soils were, in fact, the same and seemed to have provided more evidence to the TTB than the naysayers.  It also appears the TTB process is based more on the information provided by all parties and not by bringing in any independent experts to validate such claims.

What is clear is that Gallo’s Two Rock Vineyard (350 acres) was a focus and expected to be included in the final boundary proposal.  It is my opinion that this argument is less a geographic and climatic one and more about what  Gallo does with the juice from this region and how it impacts the perception and reputation of the “brand” that is Russian River Valley.  We all know Gallo (most brands anyway) is a bulk producer more interested in high yields, high volume and low price and that can only mean less than great things when is comes to the level of quality we’ve come to expect from the Russian River Valley, don’t you think?

a viticultural area for American wine [is] a delimited grape-growing region having distinguishing features as described in part 9 of the regulations and a name and delineated boundary as established in part 9 of the regulations. These designations allow vintners and consumers to attribute a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of a wine made from grapes grown in an area to its geographic origin. The establishment of viticultural areas allows vintners to describe more accurately the origin of their wines to consumers and helps consumers to identify wines they may purchase

Complete ruling and supporting information can be found here:  http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/11/16/2011-29519/expansions-of-the-russian-river-valley-and-northern-sonoma-viticultural-areas

I am curious as to why when making a case for the Two Rock Vineyard degree day comparison to the rest of RRV, why they used 1996-98 data instead of something more recent?  Is the next step to create smaller AVA’s within RRV to target further uniqueness or does that become too confusing for the regular consumer?  But, as some have pointed out, what is done is done, so why not just move along?

I once said on this blog that when drinking Pinot Noir there are no losers, but now I am not so sure.

What are your thoughts?

Gallo Proposed

RRV Map Prior

One year ago I packed up the car without a job and moved to wine country from Atlanta for a short stint as a harvest intern for Holdredge Wines based in Healdsburg, CA.  As I have chronicled here on the blog and elsewhere on the internets my short time working with John Holdredge and the “diminutive one” (my intern partner in wine, Adrienne) was one of the best experiences of my life.  For that, I give John my thanks and gratitude.  The wines we worked our asses off for in a short but hellfire 5 week onslaught in 2010 were released this week with much fanfare and an introspective, funny and always informative newsletter written by John himself.

And with that, the sounds of harvest began, but so did the fury. Because the temperatures had been so cool, the difference between ripeness at our warmer (relatively) sites and our cooler sites was nominal. That meant everything all came in at once – with a fury. We had every fermenter filled and I had to turn down some fruit because I just didn’t have space for it. It was just crazy.

Everything John describes about the calm before the storm in his introduction is spot on as Adrienne and I left the winery every day completely soaked, fingers raw, tired to the bone and ear-to-ear grins – and that was before the first cluster was every picked.  As he explains each wine, my mind flashes back to code names for each written on duct tape and slapped on T-bins while we punched down caps with abandon, took Brix & Temp measurements and shepherded our little babies through fermentation and into barrel.  I felt one with nature and the simple nature of hard work and working with your hands as well as with your mind.

You can read the details about each wine in the newsletter, but here is a summary of each wine:

2010 “The True” Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast – named for the fact that the fruit is sourced from what John calls the “true” cooler climate Sonoma Coast because much of the southern end of that AVA juts inland to thru Petaluma, which arguably is not even close to the same terroir as what you get actually on the Coast itself.  This will be a lighter style of wine and is just simply “pretty”, with lower alcohol (about 13.6%) and is what I fashioned my own 2011 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir after.

2010 Bucher Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - this has been my long time favorite of all Holdredge Pinot’s and this vintage is no exception.  It is quintessential Russian River with the Bucher ranch situated at the northern end of the AVA just off Westide Rd.  Holdredge’s block shares company with some other highly touted Pinot producers in the area.  Expect layers of complex flavors with bright cherry cola, raspberry, and tea.

2010 Mazie Rose Pinot Noir RRV – very small vineyard near Olivet containing Pommard and 828 clones.  Leaving some whole clusters intact and plenty of love this is a solid wine.  I’ll let John tell the rest:

There is an undercurrent of dark red and black fruits- and a nice toasty quality about it. Rich and round, but the finish holds together quite nicely. I’d enjoy these as I wait for the other wines to catch up. Three nights ago I served it with seared mushrooms (Chanterelles, Lobsters, Shitakes and Cinnamon Caps with garlic time and shallots and a touch of brandy) over crostini topped with goat cheese and then melted under the broiler. It seemed quite comfortable in those surroundings.

2010 Rolling Thunder Pinot Noir RRV – powerful, dark and brooding, the name says it all.

If you are a lover of Pinot Noir, no matter what style, Holdredge has an offering for you.  John has been making wine for decades and his own label as been around for more than 11 years so he knows Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley and how to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience.  Seek them out.  Love them.  Cheers!

Perhaps I should change the name of this blog to something that has the words Pinot Noir in it.  I can’t get enough of the stuff!  Don’t let the rainy forecast deter you from immersing yourself in the elegant juice that is Russian River Valley Pinot Noir by attending Pinot on the River 2010.  When you get there be sure to seek me out, send me a tweet or check-in via foursquare so I know that you are here, so we can finally meet in person and raise a glass together.

See the list of over 100 participating wineries HERE, which include many of my favorites that I have mentioned on my blog over the years.

Pinot on the River Fan Page

Below is a summary of the event schedule, but for more details check out the website link above or the Facebook Fan page.

Friday (TODAY!), October 22, 2010:

• 6pm Pinot On The River’s “Friday Night Out In The Valley” Dinner

Saturday, October 23, 2010:

• 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Seminar Program at our host hotel in Healdsburg.

• 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Seminar #1: A Vintage Retrospective – How well do Western Pinot Noirs age? We’ll explore that topic with three top Pinot producers each showing their Pinots from three vintages of their choice. Our goal is to have at least wines from 2000 through 2005. (Wineries and panelists to be determined.)

• 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Seminar #2: Vintage Focus: 2009 in Western Pinot Regions – 2009 in Western Pinot Noir looks to be an even better vintage than 2007 has turned out to be. We will taste wines from six great winemakers representing Pinot regions up and down the West Coast. PinotReport Editor & Publisher Gregory Walter to moderate this session. (Wineries and panelists to be determined.)

• 1 p.m. – Light Buffet Lunch – Join us for a light casual lunch. Get to know other Pinot lovers and winemakers and share your thoughts about Pinot and the morning seminars.

• 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Take a Break!

• 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. — “A Taste Of Pinot” — We are partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County to create our first annual “A Taste Of Pinot” dinner at the Hotel Healdsburg in Healdsburg. The event will feature Pinot-inspired tastings of unique small bites prepared by Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen paired with limited production & reserve Pinot Noirs from 10 fine Pinot producers.

Sunday, October 24, 2010:

• 12 noon to 4 p.m. – Artisanal Pinot Noir Grand Tasting – Taste current releases, special bottlings and library wines from over 100 top Pinot producers from up and down the West Coast at this “full immersion” walkaround tasting.

A full weekend of Pinot Noir, what more could you ask for?  See you there!

The South is at risk of losing it’s title of having the friendliest hospitality in the land.  Once I arrived safely in Santa Rosa after my 5-day trek across this great land of ours, I had expected to take a few days to relax, get settled and work on a few things.  Well that thought didn’t last long as I was greeted by great friends in the area, including those I had met face-to-face before as well as others I had only known as online friends.  I truly appreciate this outpouring of generosity and friendliness which has made me feel at home very quickly and has helped my transition to living in wine country that much easier.

It Takes Lots of Beer to Make Wine

So, I roll into wine country and you’d think I’d celebrate the arrival by cracking open a fine bottle of local juice, no?  No.  My first two night were chilling with Shana Ray and Hardy Wallace at Toad in the Hole in Santa Rosa and Healdsburg Bar & Grill (HBG), respectively, on the first two nights.  Toad in the Hole is a British-style pub off of 5th street in the historic Railroad Square area of Santa Rosa.  I did not know that there were so many local microbreweries in the area and I enjoyed a Bear Republic Racer 5 and Lagunitas IPA.  At HBG, the bartender, Dave, enlightened us with some unique brews (at least to me) including Supplication wild ale from Russian River Brewery, Hitachino Nest White Ale and a German Smoke beer.

Grape to Glass

This weekend was busy with many events in the area including Grape to Glass and on Saturday I attended a discussion on Russian River Valley terroir and the Hog in the Fog dinner.  The setting along the Russian River could not be any more beautiful as Darek Trowbridge, Mark Greenspan and Kevin Hamel discussed terroir, grapegrowing practices and the impact of the river to the region.  Thanks to Old World Winery and Steven Washuta for allowing us to attend.  Some tidbits I took away from this discussion included:

• the identification of Goldridge Soil, which is a sandy loam in which Pinot Noir will  flourish
• 1800-2000 degree days is ideal in this area for Pinot
• you may detect more tree fruit aromas (i.e. apricots, peaches) in Chardonnay in the warmer, northern end of the AVA
• you may detect more green apples, pears citrus in Chardonnay in the colder, southern end of the AVA
• The 2008 Olivet Lane Pinot Noir by Pelligrini rocks

Steven Washuta and Kevin Hamel

Olivet Lane and Pellegrini

Darek Trowbridge

Hog in the Fog was at Saralee’s Vineyards in Windsor where we enjoyed some fine animal flesh (mainly pork and beef for me) and more fantastic wines.  I met more winemakers, owners and other local social media personalities.  It was funny how every time I mentioned that I was working for John Holdredge at Holdredge Wines this harvest I would get the occasional snicker, but all in good fun.  It’s good to see John (and his wine) is well known and well liked.

Soiree Lighthouse

There’s nothing like a bonfire near Diamond Mountain in Calistoga at Drew’s pad (@winesoiree) with some new and old friends.  Oh yeah, there was more wine.

Photo by Andrew Lazorchak

Dirty Drive Around Russian River Valley

The weekend wrapped up with a surprise early morning text from my fellow ATL-ien, Sir Dirty himself to take a cruise around wine country and maybe hit a few wineries.  We made two great stops for Pinot: Woodenhead and Iron Horse, not to mention some fantastic sparkling wines are also made at the latter.  While at Iron Horse, we ran into Clint and Loni of Stark Silver Creek, a great local lifestyle site that I have followed in the past.  It was great to finally meet them in real life.  I highly recommend the 2007 Woodenhead Buena Tierra Pinot Noir.

Loni, Clint and Hardy

Thanks to everyone for the great hospitality!

The idea for the #PinotNoir Twitter smackdown was hatched over wine and wings in my basement with Joe (@SuburbanWino)  and was later fleshed out further over crawfish and shrimp at the Crawfish Shack on Buford highway.  There’s just something about filling our gullets with food that really gets the creative juices flowing.  Throughout the entire process a lot of jokes were made and many more fun and crazy ideas were discussed.  Of course, we needed a west coast correspondent so we brought in Tamara (@SipWithMe) who was fantastic in moving things forward from her Oregon HQ.  In the end, the Pinot Noir Twitter tasting created a buzz we could not have fathomed and we could not be more happy with the turnout.  Thanks to everyone who participated or followed along.  Without further ado:

Winner of the 2010 #Pinot Noir Twitter Smackdown:  

#WV (Willamette Valley)

Play-by-Play Summary:

• We saw a serious flurry of blows thrown immediately out of the gate as #WV (Willamette Valley) took the early lead and really never looked back
• #NZ (New Zealand) was hanging tough though in a distant second place followed by #GV (Green Valley) after the first 40 minutes of the night
• By the halfway point, however, #RR (Russian River Valley) had swooped into 3rd place followed by #GV and #SLH (Santa Lucia Highlands).  No doubt, the Belle Glos Las Alturas and Hahn submissions were behind the quick rise of Santa Lucia Highlands in the rankings
• #CN (Los Carneros) started making a late surge with 30 minutes to go, but couldn’t muster enough flying elbows to gain any glory
• #RR and #GV were gunning neck and neck for 3rd place — in hind sight, if the regions were aggregated, could #RR have provided more of a challenge to #WV?  No, not really.  #WV stole the show.

Event Stats:

• Total tweets during the 2-hour event:   2,073
• Total unique tweeters during the event: 323
• Tweets per minute: 17.3
• Tweets including a #hashtag region vote: 873 or 42.1%
• Several event sites, including ours, are reporting significant sales generated at the event – would like hear other results if you hosted an event or promoted a special offer as part of the event
• [UPDATED] 2,224 pageviews of the pinotnoir.eventbrite.com invitation

Top 8 Results during Event:

________________________________________________________

July 1 – July 15 #PinotNoir Stats: (incl. 2-hour event)

• Total tweets:   4,145
• Total unique tweeters during the period: 677
• Tweets including a #hashtag region mention: 1,461 or 35.2%

Top 8 Results during July 1 – July 15:

Notables:

• Mentions for #ARG, #FLX and #CdN were great to see and generated some interest from many on the stream
• Others include #Bacon, #Pinotentendre and #wewantthefunk

MANY THANKS TO:

Joe Herrig – SuburbanWino.com

Tamara Belgard – SipWithMe.com

Andrea Robinson – AndreaWine.com

Tower Beer Wine Spirits   

Paul’s Restaurant  

And most importantly  YOU  the participants, the pinotphiles, the wineries and the winemakers.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts and drinking along.