Vino In My Dino
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Varietal of the Year: The Wines
February 25, 2020 14:26
We make three Cabernet Sauvignons: Three Vineyards, Block 007 and Wisdom. All are estate grown, one is a Bordeaux blend, one is our longest planted Cabernet vineyard and one is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. These define our Varietal of the Year.
The wines as expressed through the vineyards they are grown in or the composition: Three Vineyards, our Bordeux blend, is styled as a ‘ready to drink’ Cabernet. Always with a significant layer of Cabernet (80%) we also include Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec in differing amounts depending on the vintage and what it brings. We look for the blend as a way to introduce a softer version of a normally tannic wine. The other varietals contribute and allow the balance to be achieved. The area is located on a bench just above the valley floor with gravelly to rocky soil, well suited in producing excellent fruit.
Block 007 is a single vineyard, single block, Cabernet. As a 100% varietal it truly expresses this grape as a Dry Creek Valley grown and influenced wine. Winemaker Montse Reece likes the challenge of this vineyard as it shows the ‘greenier’ elements-her word-and finds sage and oregano as the herbal notes in this wine along with the red plum fruit. Note: pyrazine in Cabernet Sauvignon expresses itself in a range from dried green herbs to bell pepper notes. Planted in 1992 the vines continue to produce excellent fruit in the gravelly loam soil.
Wisdom was established in 1965 and was the first planting of Cabernet Sauvignon not only in Dry Creek Valley but also for Pedroncelli as this varietal was growing in popularity. The 5 acre piece is located on West Dry Creek Road, considered the dryer side of the valley and sits on the valley floor where the gravelly soil is well drained. This vineyard was replanted 40 years later with the Mendoza or Clone 4 and became the source of this single vineyard beginning in 2012.
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Your Insider's Guide to Barrel Tasting
February 25, 2020 14:19
Have you ever barrel tasted? What does it taste like? Notes of oaky wood mostly-unless of course you’re talking about the wine inside (insert smile emoji). So I asked some experts here at the winery for their tips about tasting from the barrel in Your Insider's Guide to Barrel Tasting.
Julie: Warm up your glass with your hands-barrel samples are pretty cold coming straight from a cellar that is usually 50 degrees or cooler in the winter. This way the aromas will be better released with a bit of warming up.
Jim: Since it is a barrel sample, the wine has not reached its full aged potential. It is interesting and fun to anticipate how the wine’s tannins will soften with additional time in barrel. Ed: Challenge yourself to notice the specific characteristics of a wine: which fruit, spice or herb.
Montse: Take your time, don’t rush, so you can taste the differences between the wines offered.
Gary: we get a lot of these questions asked about barrels from visitors: What are the differences between American Oak and French Oak? What are the effects of each on your wines? How does a winemaker decide whether to age in French or American or blend the two? What are the effects of the various barrel "toasts" and how does it influence the taste? (Answers: American oak is more straightforward in its’ influence with more vanilla overtones while French oak is more subtle with warm spice aspects. The winemaker decides to use a type based on the varietal-for us American oak and Zinfandel are perfect for each other while our Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon have an affinity for French oak. Barrel ‘toasts’ range from light to medium to dark kind of like coffee. We use exclusively medium toast as our style isn’t overly oaked and prefer to let the fruit aspect come forward in your glass. Advice during the Barrel Tasting weekend: Particularly with young barrel wines...use the dump bucket often. We are not offended with one sip and done. It's a long day.
Colin: I would encourage people to ask as many questions as they can. Things like how does the wine age, what is the process, how does it change, why age certain wines more than others, etc. Take advantage of the winery staff’s knowledge and treat the event as an educational event in addition to having a good time.
Lance: Type of oak wine is age in French / American; is the wine they are tasting 100% barrel fermented or part of a blend? How long it has been on oak and how long it will remain on oak. Relax there is no wrong questions to ask & ENJOY.
Gina: What are Tannins? How does this show up in the wine? What effect does the weather have year to year on the grapes? What is that “thing” used to get the wine out of the barrel? Water or wine rinse? Tannins are the structure or as I call it ‘backbone’ to the wine. They are softened over time in the barrel so it might be a bit sharp to taste a young unfinished wine out of the barrel. Vintages are like fingerprints-each one has its’ own story. The ‘thief’ is the glass tube to take a small sample of wine out of the barrel. I prefer a wine rinse because sometimes the water is sometimes chlorinated.
Richard advises: Swirl, Sniff, Sip & Swallow
Lizzy: How far along is the wine? The wine’s “growing” process? When do you know it's done? oung wine vs aged wine. All of these questions are answered at the barrel from the length of time (varies) to the background on each vineyard and the notes from the vintage. And you can taste the young wine along with the current release and compare differences-the barrel sample is typically a bit ‘raw’ as the tannins are still softening with barrel aging. Advice: Enjoy the barrel tasting because it only happens once a year!
And of course if you are in the neighborhood over the first two weekends in March it is a good time to invest in a ticket to over 80 wineries thieving samples, answering questions and encouraging your palate to a greater education on wine. Here's the link for tickets.
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The People Tell The Story (1)
January 27, 2020 12:14
While I tell my grandparent’s story often I also tell the story of second gen members John and Jim. Both generations are deeply entwined in the story of Pedroncelli. John grew up in the vineyard and winery helping his parents (along with two sisters and a younger brother) make a go of it in our little corner of Dry Creek Valley.
John’s story begins when he was just 2 years old. His parents purchased the vineyard, shuttered winery and a home in 1927. He grew up working with his family in the vineyard and cellar. One of the stories he told often was the time when he was 7 years old and helping his father deliver grapes to Redding (quite a distance from home especially in those days) in the Model A truck. The axle broke, he stayed with the truck while his father went into town to get help-basically being left for a few hours, found safe and sound with the truck.
He served in World War Two in the Coast Guard and once back home he took up his work at the winery becoming winemaker in 1948. He was in charge of the vineyard planting as the family bought up property to expand from the original 25 acres to 100 acres today. John quietly went about crafting the wines, the house style and finding which grape best suited each site. We had Pinot Noir and Chardonnay planted in those early days and they soon gave way to Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon as the better varietal candidates. John expressed himself through his wines.
Like his father he was very close to the earth, to the vines and vineyards he had laid out. Making the wines from these vineyards was his pride and joy. When I was growing up and hanging around the winery you would often hear him whistling as he went about his many tasks in the cellar. He loved to travel with wife Christine and in fact went on forays to learn more about wine including a famed trip to Portugal where he learned the finer points of port making. Our Four Grapes Port remains a testament to his willingness to experiment and go beyond the norm. From 1948 to 2014 he either made the wines or oversaw them with Montse Reece who is our current winemaker. He always called it a team effort and included cellarmaster Polo Cano and Vineyard Manager Lance Blakeley. When I say he took great pride in his wines he did, and enjoyed wine for nearly 90 years before passing away in 2015. He lived and worked where he loved-what better story than this.
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Varietal of the Year: Cabernet Sauvignon
January 27, 2020 12:13
Zinfandel is our 'first' flagship and was featured last year. I’ll focus on our ‘other’ flagship for 2020—Varietal of the Year: Cabernet Sauvignon. Over 50 years ago we first planted Cabernet Sauvignon in Dry Creek Valley and continue to this day. Our Dry Creek Valley appellation is well suited to growing this grape and the climate gets the best out of the varietal.
The origin of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape via modern DNA tests indicate the parents are Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. It does bring the best of both to the forefront and has become one of the most popular wines on the planet. It is the most widely planted red wine grape in California with over 93,000 acres planted (want to guess which is the number one white wine grape?). The varietal is Sonoma County's second most planted wine grape with 12,478 acres and the most widely planted in Dry Creek Valley with just over 3000 acres. Pedroncelli has 32 acres planted (out of 100).
Of important note: John Pedroncelli was the first grower in the valley to plant Cabernet Sauvignon in the mid-1960s. That first five acres of Cab was replanted 40 years later and John chose the Mendoza clone (Clone 4). It was such a success they named it Wisdom in honor of the knowledge gained over 50 years farming the same varietal. The main part of theestate acreage is in the Three Vineyards location where John also planted Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Planted in 1992-1994, these vineyards are all situated in lower benches or valley floor where the soil, the trellising and careful vineyard management brings out the great qualities of this noble grape. Block 007, our 100% Cabernet offering, is located on this piece as well.
A few Cab stats: How much is that Cabernet Sauvignon per ton? $3114 is the top end market price from the 2018 Sonoma County Grape Crush report. Total crushed in tons was 60,000 county wide. The total crushed in CA equals 15.1% of all wine grapes crushed in the state with a whopping 680,000 tons. Now that is a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon! It is good to be the king.
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Bottling Up the Vintages
January 27, 2020 12:03
The 2019 harvest seems like it just happened yesterday but here we are in February bottling up the Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé. The 2018 harvest is a bit more distant in memory but now the red wines have had their year in the barrel and are being bottled up. Join me in finding out more as we are Bottling Up the Vintages.
I asked winemaker Montse Reece to jot down some notes on each of the vintages. Well 2019 was a late start harvest. We started picking Sauvignon Blanc September 4th, about one week later than previous years. In 2019 everything matured slowly and that is good news for highly aromatic varieties like Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and early pick Zinfandel for Rosé. This is a very aromatic and full favored vintage. The reason is because during this harvest, we didn’t have any major heat wave challenges and temperatures were cool at night. This kept acids on track and added extra freshness to the wines. Very nice vintage overall.
The 2018 vintage was a little warmer than the 2019, but without major heat spikes or other weather challenges from previous years. Here is the link to the blog post on the harvest wrap up. The 2018 wines coming out from their time in barrel are showing nicely, with high concentration of fruit flavors and spices in all reds while keeping the acids and alcohols in balance. Bottling up vintages and coming to you soon with the 2018 reds releasing later this year and the 2019 whites and rosé making their way in the next couple of months.
Note: The photo at the head of this post is of a temperature controlled stainless steel tank. One of the final stops on the way to bottling white wine is the chill down as seen here. Those bands are frozen for a reason-it drops tartaric acid out of white wine and Rosé so that you have a clear glass of wine in front of you, and no ‘wine diamonds’ get in the way of your first or last sip.
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The People Tell the Story
December 20, 2019 16:41
A few of my earlier posts focused on how some part of our grapes or wine tells the story. As we wrap up the year and look forward to 2020 I’ll focus on a few of The People Who Tell The Story.
Our story always begins with my grandparents Giovanni & Julia, who founded the winery in 1927. It came with a shuttered winery, a farm and a home. They brought with them their three young children Margaret, Marianne and John and put down roots in what would become known as the Dry Creek Valley American Viticultural Area. My dad Jim was born 5 years later and completed the family. They all worked together to grow and sell the grapes during Prohibition and once it was over they began to make wine. Their story is very similar to many immigrants of the time. They worked hard especially as the Great Depression started just two years after they bought the property. The farm sustained them. My grandmother made cheese, butter, canned vegetables and created a dynasty of wonderful dishes. My grandfather and uncle hunted or managed the animals on the farm to feed the family. Everyone chipped in even if they didn’t want to like my dad milking the cow every day before school. He finally convinced his parents, once he was 18, that he didn’t need milk anymore. They made it through the lean times by working the land themselves. Stories like John waiting by the Model A full of grapes while his father went into town to find help; Marianne and Margaret both working in the vineyard or plowing with the horse, Jim chipping off tartrates from the redwood tanks in order to support the munitions during the war and Margaret becoming a grape grower with husband Al Pedroni. These are just a few from the family lore which shaped the future of the family business.
Hard work paid off of course and the story continued. Surviving the 1930s and 1940s, where there were some bleak years, only made them stronger and more resilient. Word grew about the wines being made and soon Giovanni was purchasing more land to expand the business. He created many choices by introducing a varietal Zinfandel in 1948 and soon a Rosé along with Riesling and Pinot Noir. He was most comfortable out in the vineyard working among his beloved vines. My grandmother was known for her hospitality but she also was the bookkeeper for many years. They retired in 1963 and sons John and Jim took the reins. Their story is next, the second generation.
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Come Home to Sonoma County
December 20, 2019 16:38
There was a full court press of articles immediately following the Kincade Fire that took place over a week in late October 2019. Sonoma County did not in fact burn down again. Even now we hear of people wondering what really happened to Wine Country. There are many organizations getting behind the #GatherInSonoma and #SipSonoma in order to get the word out that the area is generally unfazed. Won’t you Come Home to Sonoma County with me?
I was born and raised in Sonoma County. College took me out of the county for a time but soon I was back, the siren call was strong especially since I lived in the East Bay right near the BART tracks. I began working in the tasting room on weekends and a few months later made the move back when my father Jim offered a full time job. That was 35 years ago this year. Coming home to the county after the time away gave me a new appreciation for all the area has to offer. Once I began networking with other winery people I began to explore the county in new ways. When I think about it there is so much to do! The Russian River makes the wide swath from the north end to the west into the Pacific Ocean-where there are many great beaches offering their own views. How about Lake Sonoma which, besides the water, offers great trails to hike. We have our own museums, ice arena, redwoods, county parks, wonderful restaurants and of course tasting rooms all along the way.
We carry a book in the tasting room called The Down Low: Things to do in Sonoma County (A local’s guide to the Provence of the U.S.). The author, Barbara Barielle, is an entrepreneur: a travel writer, publicist, actress, producer and more. Her book includes all the best about Sonoma County because it is so much more than wine country. It is her home (and mine!) and her enthusiasm about each place beckons us all to explore this great county.
The Kincade Fire, while large, singed the corners of Alexander and Knights Valley and a tiny bit of the Russian River Valley to the east and didn’t touch the other 15 appellations. Sometimes it is hard to remember it is much larger and that only 6% of the county is planted to grapes. Think about the other 94%! Other organizations like the Wine Road and the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley along with the Sonoma County Tourism group have pulled together two programs: #GatherInSonoma and #SipSonoma. You don't even have to be here to be a part of #SipSonoma-pick up a bottle of your favorite juice and take a photo & post. Come home to Sonoma County-I'd love to share all of it with you. And don't forget the hashtags!
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The Top Nine of 2019
December 20, 2019 16:31
As we begin the New Year reflecting on what took place last year is a good place to start. The Top Nine of 2019 covers many accomplishments and challenges, which is how a year typically goes. Just like life!
9 We celebrated 92 years in July-marking the anniversary of the day my grandfather Giovanni Pedroncelli signed the papers for this special place in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.
8 The Smithsonian connection. Over 10 years ago we had one of our photos in an exhibit at the Museo Italiano in San Francisco. That connection led the curators at the American History Museum to seek us out so they could include that photo in their Food Transforming America exhibit-still going strong after 10 years. In fact they just refreshed the exhibit and included items the family had loaned to the museum-captured in the title photo of this post. Visit Food Transforming America when you are in Washington DC-wine is indeed a part of the transformation.
7 Our Mission-we crafted our thoughts into a statement capturing the past, present and future: We are a Sonoma County farming family, founded in 1927, sharing our legacy through sustainably-produced exceptional wines.
6 My parents Jim & Phyllis celebrated 60 years together last February-you wouldn’t know it by looking at them but they are over 60 years old. While my dad grew up here and has worked in the winery from the ground up (literally) my mom married into the family in 1959. She was in integral part of the business as my dad and his brother bought the winery from their parents in 1963. Mom helped out in the office and during harvest as well as kept tabs on me and my sisters-station wagons, after school activities, weekend outings and more kept us all in line. Cheers to many more as 60 years is quite an accomplishment!
5 The 2019 harvest was the fifth for Montse Reece as winemaker-she was first hired in 2007 as assistant winemaker and worked with John Pedroncelli. She became winemaker in early 2015. Did you know that only 11% of the winemakers in California are women? Cheers to many more vintages and women joining the ranks!
4 Four generations of one family calling this corner of Dry Creek Valley our home. We continue to strive for excellence with fourth generation member Mitch Blakeley heading up our Sustainability program, leading the way for future generations to call this home as well.
3 The king of red wine grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, has quite the presence on our estate vineyards at one third of the acreage planted. I consider it our ‘2nd’ flagship grape as we were the first to plant and maintain it in Dry Creek Valley. The varietal is now the top planted red wine grape in the valley-coincidence? I think not.
2 We are celebrating the 2nd year of our Gratitude Vine displayed in our Tasting Room. So many people have added their thanks for a wide variety of subjects-family, friends, pets and kids and good health. A toast to another year of gratitude for all of our friends both new and old.
1 Zinfandel is always number one with us. It is an iconic grape here in Dry Creek Valley and our flagship. We received some nice accolades for all three of our red Zins as well as our Rosé on our recent releases. We are dedicated to this iconic grape and wine-cheers to 2020!
Tags: Pedroncelli, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley, Winemaking, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon
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Repealed!
December 3, 2019 16:11
December 5 marks the anniversary of the end of a long dry time in America. Each year, especially in wine country, we celebrate the end of Prohibition by raising a glass or two on the anniversary of Repeal of the 18th Ammendment-December 5, 1933. Prohibition itself played an important role in how we got into winegrowing. In fact, if Prohibition hadn’t happened I’m not sure we’d be in the wine business today.
The tale has been lost to history as to why my grandparents bought 90 acres in 1927. I think it is because my grandfather, who arrived to the U.S. from Italy as a teenager, wanted a piece of land he could call his own after working on other farms. The property included 25 acres of vineyard, a home and a shuttered winery. It was sold by the Canata family who could no longer shoulder the debt of owning the land-and there may have been more to the story there as well, also lost to history. Even though Prohibition began in 1919 if you still owned vineyard you could sell grapes to home winemakers if they were a ‘head of household’ and obtained the permit from the federal government. Each household could make 200 gallons of wine per year.
Now let’s think about this for a moment: this totals 84 cases or about 4 gallons per week. 20 bottles a week, or just shy of 3 bottles per day. Big families? Tradition? Thirsty? Many of these home winemakers had wine in their DNA-or at least were accustomed to enjoying wine with their meals every day. These were families from the old country with traditions which included wine on the table. Thanks to these home winemakers who bought grapes they also kept some vineyards growing through this period—and helped wineries reboot once Repeal rolled around. Statistically, the story is a sad one for Dry Creek Valley. Before 1919 there were 17 wineries making just over 1 million gallons of wine. Business was booming and then the hammer came down. Many of the vineyards were taken out and planted to prunes and other orchard crops. While there was still a market for wine grapes the bottom fell out by 1925 or so and part of the reason for the sale of the property. Gratefully December 5, 1933 ended this nationwide dry spell and we were poised at the right time to enter the winemaking business. Only 2 other wineries survived the next decade and it wasn’t until the 1970s when our county and valley saw a resurgence of wineries. Raise your glass, enjoy a bit of history and be thankful we are a nation that believes we should have wine on our tables.
For those who love details I found this blog post from the Consitution Center and National Archives is a blog post on the 21st Ammendment and 5 things you may not have known!
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Food Transforming America: Wine Did Too
December 3, 2019 16:08
An invitation was sent out inviting donors to the Food Transforming America exhibit at the National Museum of American History which was refreshed this year after being on display for 6 years. I had received word that several of the artifacts my family loaned to the museum were now on display in the wine portion of the exhibit. Ed and I accepted and were wowed by the magnitude of having family heirlooms included.
A little background: early in 2013 we were approached by the National Museum of American History because they were working on an exhibit Food Transforming America. The museum found me because they had received a photo of my family at an alfresco gathering in the 1950s and they wanted to include it in the exhibit which also featured a wine focus. The museum sent two curators to wine country to touch base with the wineries who would be part of the exhibit. As I showed them around Paula Johnson, Curator in the Division of Work and Labor, along with Project Manager Nanci Edwards, saw other items of interest and they asked if the family would loan the museum several of our artifacts to be used for future exhibits. We agreed and crated up and sent our precious bits of history to Washington DC.
Fast forward to August 2019 and I received the invitation to attend the refresh of Food Transforming America from Paula. It was such a popular exhibit that they expanded and included more items. And this time some of our artifacts were included! I didn’t know what was chosen until we arrived at the museum shortly before the reception for the donors. What a surprise to see our winery sign, the stencil and my grandmother’s polenta pot along with an enlarged photo of my family’s alfresco dinner. The fact that wine is included in this exhibit to a large extent cements its place as an important part of how food (and wine) transforms our daily meals and special occasions.
When Paula Johnson visited our winery in 2013, she noticed the winery sign which had hung on our cellar door from the 1930’s through the 1970’s. This is the item that really lit up her face. She turned to me and asked, “Would you rather have hundreds of people see this or thousands?” So instead of hanging in our barrel room it now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum and what Paula said has come true.
This photo shows the artifacts we donated:
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