Reds
MELVILLE – ALL NATURAL BEAUTIES IN SANTA BARBARA
by Fred Swan Kurt Amman, GM of Melville winery in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, leans down to show me their new under-vine weeder. Not every winery tour begins this way. But Melville is serious about organic growing and, especially, about avoiding stuff like Round-Up. Cover crop is necessary to do organic right in this […]
MALBEC – MAKE MINE FRENCH
Cahors has a soft, supple style all its own. Planet Grape The SOMM Journal April/May 2016 Malbec is a rock star in our industry. That is if it is from Argentina. There, the transformation from shy, sensitive, earthy and awkward to rich, ripe, super clean and beautifully balanced was so spectacular the wine drinking world took […]
FROM TUSCANY TO SONOMA – MARTINELLI WINERY & VINEYARDS
The Martinelli family has been growing grapes in the Russian River Valley since the 1800’s, when Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini eloped and moved from Tuscany to Sonoma County. In the 1970s third-generation vintners Lee Martinelli Sr. and Carolyn Martinelli assumed leadership and began developing vineyards on family properties throughout Sonoma County. In 1992 they brought on […]
WRATH – A DAILY WALL OF FOG & WIND ROARS INTO SALINAS VALLEY
By Fred Swan Wrath’s San Saba estate vineyard is not in the Santa Lucia Highlands. It’s darned close though. The vineyard is located at the junction of Foothill Road and River Road, but on the wrong side of Foothill to be within the AVA. The boundary isn’t arbitrary in this case. There is a difference […]
INMAN FAMILY WINES GO NATURAL
Often referred to as “the barometer of Russian River Valley” as she is one of the earliest to harvest her grapes, owner and winemaker Kathleen Inman is quietly making natural wines that feel alive on the palate. This self-proclaimed “grape groper” picks by taste and feel, not by brix, the accumulation of sugar in […]
STEVEN SPURRIER CELEBRATES 4OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS IN SAN FRANCISCO
By Fred Swan In 1976, a competitive tasting of French and American wines was held in France. Steven Spurrier, an English wine merchant based in Paris created the event, now known as The Judgement of Paris, to highlight progress made with French grape varieties in the United States. To everyone’s great surprise, the French judges […]
BIEN NACIDO VINEYARDS – SANTA BARBARA’S GRAND CRU
By Fred Swan In Burgundy, vineyards which have proved to be the very best over an extended period of time are designated Grand Cru. They also have distinct personalities, making it possible for experts to identify their wines when tasting blind. The United States doesn’t have any official designation of quality for vineyards. If we […]
SANTA MARIA’S RIVERBENCH FINDS ITS RHYTHM
Riverbench Wines Sing to Me by Fred Swan People often ask me what kind of wine I like. I taste so many different ones, very good ones, that I can’t narrow answer with a particular variety, region or style. In the end, the wines I gravitate toward and really want to drink are those that […]
BORDEAUX BY THE BAY – INSPIRED REDS FROM A LITTLE PACIFIC ISLE
Planet Grape The SOMM Journal December January 2015/2016 While the Chinese have an unquenchable thirst for blue chip wines, especially Bordeaux – they are the number one buyer of the 42% exported share of its annual production of 685 million bottles – they also purchase a lot of wine from Gimblett Gravels, a warm rocky area […]
THE MONK’S ELIXIR – Unique Sagrantino DOCG is Ripe for Discovery
Planet Grape The SOMM Journal October November 2015 While tourists flock to artistic, medieval Perugia and Assisi, landlocked Umbria’s bucolic green rolling hills provide idyllic growing conditions for spicy olives, lentils, wheat and spelt, and the tartufo nero (black truffle) di Norcia. Black pigs roam the verdant hills and lush forests, along with deer, sheep and cows. […]
PINOT FEST 2015 – A PUBLIC TASTING OF SEXY WINE
Billed as “The Great Big Bacchanalia,” Pinot Fest is one of the most anticipated wine tasting events of the year. It is rare to have winemakers and winery principles from some of the top names in California Pinot Noir in the same room (technically 3 rooms, but still). Fifty-eight wineries were present. Organized by Pat […]
LODI NATIVE – PURITY AND VINEYARD EXPRESSION PUT LODI ON THE MAP
Lodi is known for many things, high quality wine not amongst them. Things are changing, though, as a group of local winemakers inspired by sommelier/writer Randy Caparoso have looked to their cherished old vine Zinfandel vineyards, many over 100 years old, to produce pure, unadulterated wines which showcase the personality of the land and grape plant vs. winemaker style and […]
BORDEAUX UNDER ONE ROOF
Bordeaux and Port are the most significant benchmark wine regions of the world, both created by a thirsty U.K. market and waterways providing access to that market. While Port consumption remains steady, Bordeaux is enjoying another Golden Era, the first since Robert Parker “discovered” the stunning 1982 vintage. Over 685 million bottles of Bordeaux wines are sold annually, […]
THE FATHER OF MALBEC – ARGENTINA’S JOSE “PEPE” GALANTE
Bodegas Salentein honored winemaker Jose “Pepe” Galante at a private luncheon in the home of Deborah Parker Wong last week here in San Francisco. Galante was the long-time winemaker at Catena Zapata, one of the country’s other big names in wine, and has only just recently joined Bodegas Salentein, completing the 40th harvest of his life […]
VICTORY FOR THE GODFATHER OF PASO ROBLES – GARY EBERLE
Former Penn State Linebacker Gary Eberle, fondly and accurately referred to as the Godfather of Paso Robles for his contributions to the wine industry there as well as his fundraising efforts on behalf of many local causes, youths in particular, is having a very, very good week. Sixteen months ago, he and his wife Marcy […]
COL D’ORCIA – AN ORGANIC ISLAND IN MONTALCINO
Elegant, regal, and silver haired Count Francesco Marone Cinzano, owner of Col d’Orcia in Montalcino, Tuscany, greeted a small group of San Francisco area wine experts, reviewers, sommeliers and press as we sat down in Sociale’s private dining room last Thursday. Sociale is a gem of an Italian bistro hidden down a narrow alleyway in […]
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is the most ubiquitous red variety in the world. Bordeaux is its heartland, but upstarts in Napa Valley, California, Tuscany and South Australia are staking a claim. As a point of reference, Cabernet Sauvignon is the offspring of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The patriarch of Bordeaux, even though it is outplanted by […]
Aglianico
Aglianico derives from Hellenic, or Ellenico, the Italian word for Greek, indicating that the centuries-old varietal was introduced by the Greeks who settled in Southern Italy as early as 700 B.C. It was blended into the historical Falernum, the most requested wine in the world at that time. Though also cultivated in Puglia, Molise, and […]
Lake County’s Luscious Reds
Trying to compete with Napa Cab is a common problem for those producing wines in their shadow. Sonoma was the first to experience this, but over time it has successfully distilled a singular message about “coastal” and “cool” and established itself first and foremost as an ideal place for cool-climate loving Pinot Noir and […]
