Vino In My Dino

Down to Earth Month: Fish Friendly

April 8, 2016 16:00

Tweet

Recently my dad Jim and brother-in-law Lance (our vineyard manager) attended an event in Dry Creek Valley to get more information on the Dry Creek Habitat Enhancement project. As part of Down to Earth month we'll go fish friendly.

But first, I’ll take a walk down memory lane. When I was a kid growing up here ‘Dry Creek’ itself would dry up during the summer. The function of this major creek is to empty into the Russian River which in turn empties into the Pacific Ocean. When I was in high school the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began work on what would become known as Warm Springs Dam and Lake Sonoma. It was built for three main reasons: flood control, water supply and recreation. A fish hatchery was also part of the plan. As farmers we all know the importance of this vital element in both grape and wine growing. The argument was this dam was needed to save the lower parts of Sonoma County from excessive flooding in heavy rain years-see a photo below of the town of Guerneville during flood stage, with the dam in place-imagine what it would have been like without it!

Fast forward to 2012 or so and over the ensuing years lots of erosion along the creek banks has occurred because water is let out of the dam year round-widening and pitting in many places and making a poor habitat for the fish to thrive. In order to protect the endangered Coho salmon as well as the threatened Steelhead and Chinook, the Sonoma County Water Agency in cooperation with wineries, private landowners and the USACE proposed a six-mile habitat enhancement project. This development would use boulders, root wads and logs to create backwaters, side channels and shady habitats for the young fish that live in Dry Creek during the summer. Ultimately the project is intended to restore our creek to its original flow and restore the original ecosystem so that wildlife can thrive. We, as landowners, have agreed to participate in the program and are proud to continue this worthy venture. A toast with some Sauvignon Blanc (which grows along Dry Creek) in my glass to these future efforts.

The 1986 flooding of Guerneville along the Russian River.

Tags: Pedroncelli, weather
Categories:
Sustainable for Generations

April 4, 2016 16:04

Tweet

Spring is a great time to focus on the earth and the future bounty of a harvest what with the vineyards growing inches by leaps and bounds. This month also happens to be Down to Earth Month, established five years ago by Wine Institute’s California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) program to celebrate sustainability in both vineyards and wineries.

A couple of years ago Sonoma County’s winegrowers and vintners decided to put our words into action and created a deadline of 2019 for all vineyards and wineries to be certified sustainable. We here in Dry Creek Valley are proud to be part of this initiative to become a 100% sustainable wine region. Sustainability is defined by three key and comprehensive practices: being environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically viable. To me the idea of sustainable winegrowing boils down to good farming practices, good for the people and as a family we can make a living doing what we love.

So we, the Pedroncellis, find ourselves working through the self-assessment process and plan on being certified in the next year or so-well in advance of the deadline set by Sonoma County. Part of the process has us as a team in discussion about what we have achieved, what we can do better and what we can focus on in the future, for generations to come. Much like my grandparents, we hope to continue the legacy of several generations farming the same corner of Dry Creek Valley and be good stewards of what we have.

Interested in learning more? There is great information put together by the CSWA and I have found the best source is their website. Discover what it means for us as family businesses who have come together for the betterment of our land and our wines. Check out the number of vineyards and wineries over the last 10 years who have adopted the program from one end of the state to the other. I'll raise my glass of Mother Clone Zinfandel in celebration of being down to earth.

This is a close up of bell bean blossoms, part of the cover crop among the vines on our home ranch.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Mother Clone, certified sustainable
Categories:
Women's History Month: Julia Child

March 25, 2016 16:10

Tweet

In celebration of Women’s History Month, I take a look at the late Julia Child who influenced so many people with her cookbooks and cooking shows. One of the most impressive facts about her life is, at the age of 50, she changes course and delves into the world of French cooking. She was a writer (near and dear to my heart) and served in World War 2 working with highly classified information as chief of the OSS Registry. Her life was one of many adventures and I admire her bold choices. While I never met Julia Child I have three stories about her that involve Pedroncelli in one way or another.

When I began looking through newspaper clippings in my early days at the office, I came across a 1980s Parade article which focused on what was in celebrities’ refrigerators. The photo of Julia’s included, serendipitously, a bottle of our Chardonnay.

The wine connection continues with a story from one of our retailers in the Cambridge area where she and her husband Paul lived. A couple of years ago, when I was calling on Murray’s Liquors in Newton, the wine buyer, Rich Cataldo, told me a story about his experiences with Julia herself. At the time he was working in a wine shop near her home, one that Ms. Child frequented. He regaled me with this story and did a great impression of Julia asking about where to find Pedroncelli Gamay Beaujolais, a light red wine we don’t make any longer. She did love wine and it is so nice to be reminded of how much she liked ours.

Lastly we were honored a few years ago to have one of our family photographs installed in an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum. The photo is an alfresco BBQ here at the winery in the 1950s. The name of the ongoing exhibit is FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000 and Julia’s home kitchen serves as the opening to the major exhibition on food history. A toast to a great lady with some of our Pinot Noir, a wine I know she would enjoy!

Our Chardonnay in the door of Julia's fridge!

And the photo exhibited at the FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000

Tags: Pedroncelli, Women's History Month
Categories:
Women's History Month: Sisters

March 23, 2016 16:51

Tweet

Women’s History Month is designated each year to celebrate the achievements and contributions by women in the history of our great nation. We seem to celebrate women everyday here-we are a large part of the staff from our office manager Kathy Cross to our winemaker Montse Reece. Women in my family have played an important role at the winery and in the vineyards from my grandmother Julia, who worked hard to ensure the success of their shared dream to the second generation including aunts Margaret, Marianne, Christine and my mother Phyllis who all played important roles from grape grower to businesswomen and advocates. There is a solid layer of us in the third generation including my sisters Cathy, Lisa & Joanna along with cousins Carol, Connie and Maureen. Fourth generation includes our daughter Adrienne who is a winemaker in Solvang CA and Denise MacNeil our graphics designer along with Erin & Sarah, Lisa's daughters and Katrina & Felicia, Cathy's daughters.

We four grew up together here at the winery-you might remember that my office is formerly my bedroom, the one shared with Joanna, my youngest sister. We played in the vineyard, traipsed through the cellar, pestered my uncle and dad with questions, ‘picked’ grapes, later on gained respect for the work done by the first and second generations and then followed in their footsteps, each blazing our own trail into the family business and beyond.

We now work together at the winery and our jobs are as diverse as we are. I took on marketing and travel almost from the start, after having honed my skills in the tasting room and offic. My sister Cathy, who owns her own bookkeeping and payroll service in San Francisco, has always worked with numbers-I used to call her The Collector because she was diligent in tracking those who were slow to pay. Lisa began in the tasting room when she was 18 and going to Santa Rosa Junior College taking viticulture courses. Hers’ is an administrative position balanced with care for her grandsons. Joanna began here in the office taking on many administrative duties but has cut back and is following her passion of animal rescue and care.

A toast to sisters everywhere but especially to my own. We all have our favorites-mine is our Mother Clone Zinfandel, Cathy's & Joanna's is Sauvignon Blanc, and Lisa likes the Dry Rosé of Zinfandel.

Clockwise from the top are Lisa, Cathy, Joanna and me.

Tags: Pedroncelli, family, Women's History Month
Categories:
Women's History Month: Women Winemakers

March 18, 2016 16:57

Tweet

Women’s History Month is proclaimed by our President each year to celebrate the achievements and contributions made to our great nation's fabric. Women winemakers are very innovative and ground breaking the world over and yet unsung in their own right. Three women who chose winemaking in one form or another can be found in my family and winery. My cousin Maureen graduated from UC Davis with her degree but chose another path by also attending culinary school in New York and becoming a pastry chef. Our daughter Adrienne graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a chemistry degree and is now the winemaker for Rideau Vineyards in Solvang. Montse Reece, a native of Spain who was hired by John Pedroncelli (Senior Winemaker, 1925-2015) and was named winemaker a year ago after working 8 harvests here.

For great information on these and other women winemakers there is a website founded and maintained by Professor Lucia Albino Gilbert, Ph.D, Santa Clara University, entitled Women Winemakers of California. There she, and her husband Professor John Gilbert, Ph.D, collect data, articles and studies on the number of women in this male dominated area of the wine industry. As it says on their website, "Our searchable web-based resource introduces you to California’s talented women winemakers and their accomplishments. We also provide the most comprehensive and accurate information currently available on women winemakers in California, the wineries for which they craft their wine, where they are located within the state, and the evolution of their careers."

I encourage you to read a case study published last May by the Gilberts from a sampling of 480 wineries in California. It showed an increase of about 4% between 1999 to 2014 in the number of women hired as winemakers. While this seems to be a small increase it is considered an important one. In another 10 years I hope more are added to this number. For now we are proud of the wines made by Montse and Adrienne. They are exciting to taste and we are looking forward to future achievements on behalf of our family and family of wines. A toast to them and the women winemakers here in California and beyond!

Montse taking a sample from the Wisdom Cabernet Sauvignon during the 2015 harvest.

Adrienne in the cellar at Rideau Vineyards.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Women's History Month
Categories:
What Would Carrie Nation Say?

March 16, 2016 17:04

Tweet

We are now halfway through Women’s History Month and I’ll spend the next few posts focused on the women of Pedroncelli Winery and their accomplishments. While reading over one of the first proclamations for this important national celebration I noted that the women of the temperance movement were included as playing an important role in our nation’s history. I am in the wine business as you know, a third generation family owner, and in retrospect I see the impact these women made by urging the passing of the 18th Amendment which began a 13 year ban on alcohol. Paradoxically it also was the reason we went into the wine business.

My grandparents, Giovanni and Julia, were looking for land to put down permanent roots. 89 years ago they bought a defunct winery, 25 acres of vineyard and a home mid-Prohibition. The Italian family they bought the property from, who had begun their winery in the early 1900s, could no longer make it by selling grapes because the bottom of that particular market had fallen out. It would be another 7 years before wine was made again upon Repeal and the 21st Amendment. Even during Prohibition all was not dry-there was some wiggle room. Heads of households could make 200 gallons of wine a year if they had access to grapes. My grandfather was able to sell the grapes and support his family and, at the same time, save the vineyard. My grandmother, who was a stalwart lady, raised four children and helped her husband farm the grapes. She later on became the bookkeeper for the winery, ensuring its success. So I’ll raise a glass to the Temperance Movement, the reason we make wine in one of the greatest wine regions in California. What would Carrie Nation say now?

My grandparents, Giovanni and Julia, in the early 1920's.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Women's History Month, family
Categories:
Burma Shave and Barrel Tasting

March 11, 2016 17:10

Tweet

The act of going winetasting, driving from winery to winery, especially during an industry wide event like Barrel Tasting, needs what I call tricks of the trade. Previously we’ve looked at how to taste wine from a barrel; while tasting to swirl, sniff, sip and especially spit or pour out the remainder in your glass and presented a video, made by the Wine Road, to give some friendly advice on what to do while tasting. The reason? Responsible hospitality both on the winery’s part as well as the visitor-that would be you.

A few years ago we tried to get the idea of responsible sipping across to our visitors at major events by creating four signs that followed the Burma Shave signs which were popular throughout the US beginning in the 1920s. (Hey we were founded in the 1920’s too!) These used humor to sell their product, shaving cream, as people drove along the highways and byways of the U.S. We used humor to get the point across, that it is really okay to spit or pour out the sample of wine, as tasters entered our barrel room.

The reason behind limiting the amount of wine is because it allows the taster’s palate to last longer throughout the day, known as palate fatigue, and to be responsible for the amount of wine consumed. Sometimes it is hard for tasters to understand why we think it is the right thing to do but trust us, we have a lot of experience with this subject. So take a look at our Burma Shave-inspired quip and remember the next time you have some vino in your dino to do the right thing for you and your palate.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Barrel Tasting
Categories:
American vs French Oak

March 9, 2016 17:14

Tweet

Barrel tasting continues this weekend across Northern Sonoma County via the Wine Road's 38th annual event. I have written about how to taste from a barrel, how wine in a barrel changes, and today I’ll focus on oak sources.

Our oak barrels, all 2000 of them, are a mixture of American, French and Hungarian oak. The reason for using three types of oak comes from their ‘flavor profile’ and we match it up with certain varietals. For instance American oak and Zinfandel have always paired well together and we only age our Pinot Noir in French oak. But why is this? You should also take into consideration that we do not use 100% new oak each vintage-more like 25% which also influences the wine’s flavor profile.

There are subtle but tangible differences between the three types of oak. We use medium plus toast across the board. This means the barrel is toasted to a medium char and the heads (or ends) of the barrel are toasted too. This brings out what we call the toasty, wood fire-like aroma in all of them. The American oak can be a bit more reserved when it comes to its’ profile with less fruit aspects and more toasted oak influence. Since Zinfandel is already fruit forward it makes sense to pair the American oak with this one. Pinot Noir, while showing fruit, benefits from the almost perfume-y aromatics of French Oak. We don’t use a large amount of Hungarian oak but it is similar in profile to French oak.

It all comes down to the bouquet-both of the varietal as well as the oak. If you have ever walked by a coffee roaster think about those aromatics because they are close to what you can smell of the oak influence in a finished wine. Or the next time you are camping, take in those aromas as well and develop your olfactory memory for toasted oak. I'll 'toast' to oak and its wonderful layered influence in our wines.

I couldn't resist using this photo of my uncle from a few years ago-he is surrounded by a friendly group of barrel tasters.

A typical March day outside the Barrel Room. Making way for a new vintage to be aged within.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Barrel Tasting, Barrels, Barrel aging
Categories:
Educate Your Palate

March 4, 2016 17:18

Tweet

Barrel Tasting Weekend is here, the annual event sponsored by the Wine Road. Begun 38 years ago with a few barrels scattered around northern Sonoma County, you brought your own wine glass and bellied up to educate your palate. Today the event is successful and draws visitors from all over California and the U.S. It has evolved, changed with the times and at many wineries you can now buy futures.

So what is it about tasting a wine from a barrel that educates your palate? If you plan it right, by reviewing what each winery in the area offers, you could do a few things like focus on a varietal or a sub-appellation, drill down to either white or red wine, take a look at a specific vintage. By tasting wine thieved from the barrel you’ll be met with some young wine issues including heavier tannins and that awkward teenage stage where the wine is still developing. This is also the time to ask questions about what type of oak, how long the wine will age as well as other winemaking info.

We are offering our Wisdom Cabernet Sauvignon that has been in the barrel for over one year. It will age an additional 4 months before bottling. It is still reaping the reward of time in the barrel-the most important feature of aging. Slowly over the months the wine has slowly, painstakingly oxidized where the water evaporates making it more concentrated. The process also softens up the tannins in the wine, making a more palatable, if you will, Cabernet. Either way, you will end up with an education. A toast with some 2014 Wisdom Cabernet Sauvignon (our barrel feature) in my Dino.

Montse Reece, our winemaker, thieving samples for Barrel Tasting a few years ago.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Barrel Tasting
Categories:
The 4 S's of Wine Tasting

March 2, 2016 17:21

Tweet

Swirl, sniff, sip and spit was the phrase used in the 1980s and 1990s by our Sonoma County Wineries Association to help people in a humorous way to taste wine responsibly. Easy to remember not always easy to do especially the last word.

When visitors stop by tasting rooms they happily swirl the wine in the glass, take a sniff to enjoy the aromas and then sip a bit of the wine to get the full enjoyment of the tasting experience. Spitting, not so much. They ‘don’t want to waste the wine’ or are uncomfortable spitting something out in front of others. I am here to say it really is the best thing you can do in order to maintain yourself at a good pace at each winery. Getting blotto by the end of the day shouldn’t be your goal. Getting educated about what you like and don’t like, trying new wines, spitting or pouring out what is left in your glass is completely acceptable at any tasting room anywhere in the world. I prefer to bring a plastic cup with me-the popular red cup is great because it isn’t see-through. Many tasting rooms offer cups to use as an important responsible hospitality tool. As we get ready to welcome our visitors to Barrel Tasting over the next two weekends, I’ll be reminding everyone not to be afraid to swirl, sniff, sip AND spit. Cheers with a splash of vino in my Dino-the original plastic cup!

Swirl, sniff...sip and spit.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Barrel Tasting, wine tasting
Categories: