Vino In My Dino

Two Virtues and a dash of Intuition

June 19, 2015 15:59

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Finding out the best way to go about working side by side with family developed certain attributes in me. Working with my cousin Richard in the tasting room, where we were literally side by side, I learned we both have completely different personalities and different ways of telling the story. I realized it was okay to have our own stories because they were told from our experiences.

In the early years of working with my dad, I was impatient, thinking I had a better idea for one of our wines and couldn’t understand when the answer was ‘no’. Over time I realized I needed a different approach. I developed a plan and I called it ‘planting seeds’. When I want to discuss a new idea with him I plant seeds of ideas. We have a chat and I usually float an idea I have knowing there won’t be a quick solution-we’ll both take time to consider it and work through the variety of outcomes a change in the line-up of wines would make or in how we market a particular wine.

11 years ago my husband joined the marketing and sales staff. Since then, and even before this time, we worked on the ‘after hours’ approach to home life. Meaning the time it took to walk our dog was the only time we discussed business outside of office hours. It has worked well-but sometimes we slip into the ‘did you hear about what happened in the office today’ followed by an apology for bringing up work at 9pm. Patience and wisdom have been my teachers over the years. Intuition kept me out of trouble. A splash of vino in my Dino helps. Maybe tonight it will be our Wisdom Cabernet.

Throwback photo from a wine club gathering in 2001.

Tags: Pedroncelli, family business, family, Cabernet Sauvignon
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Learning by Example

June 12, 2015 16:03

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As I mark my 30th year in the family business of wine, my post today is a reflection on learning the ropes of sales and marketing from my dad. Once I graduated from the tasting room to the office I began to learn the intricacies of the wholesale business through my dad Jim who had established this network over the previous 30 years. He and his brother John had hit their stride at this point in the second generation’s story; vineyards and production had expanded and there was wine to sell. The beauty of my dad and uncle’s partnership was they had divided the business almost in two with John taking care of the vineyards and winemaking and dad heading up the selling side. They met in the middle when one or the other overlapped. These meetings are legend among us because they literally met in the yard between the offices.

So I took a page from my dad’s book and plunged into his end of the business. Plunge is the right word-I had no idea what I was doing but soon put my degree in English to work because I began producing a newsletter which in turn helped me to communicate our story to wholesalers and customers alike. I also began to travel much as my dad had traveled. During this time the Sonoma County Winegrowers put tours together and sometimes it was a week or two in various US markets. One moment I cherish to this day is when Rodney Strong (himself!) walked into one of the event venues where the wines weren’t in place yet and trade would soon be lining up to taste. He said to the small group of winery reps “we are all in this together to promote our county so let’s get to work (delivering the wines to all the tables)”. From that point forward I have seen working with other wineries to broaden the message and working together as the ultimate one-two punch of marketing a region.

I learned to present wines at sales meetings, to develop materials the market needed and to find the right balance of what was actually needed-this was during the days before internet and you shipped pounds and pounds of sales kits, back-cards and fact sheets. If you visit our case goods warehouse there are some relics of those days stored there even now. There are some great moments and cringe-worthy moments during these formative days-sometimes my enthusiasm or impatience ran over and are stories for another post. A toast to learning by example with some Zin in my Dino!

Another throwback circa 2005. Stepping back in time is fun-less grey hair! Oh, Ed is the guy next to me. We have worked side by side for 13 years.

Tags: Pedroncelli, family business, family, Sonoma County, siblings
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You Have to Start Somewhere

June 10, 2015 16:08

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As I reflect over 30 years of working for my family I think one of the important parts of working with them was having the option of choosing my course, my direction. I know I am very blessed because we don’t always get to choose our path. In my case I had a degree in English with a Writing Emphasis, I had been raised at the winery, and now I was entering into the business from the ground floor, the tasting room. It was a good beginning and gave me a chance to immerse myself in the day to day winery stuff, plunge into wine education and listen to people as they shared their wine experiences and more importantly their preferences. The tasting room at that time was in the front of our case goods warehouse. I remember my commute to work was on foot-from the apartment below the offices where my great-grandparents once lived; working in the middle of winter in the warehouse-you can imagine just how cold; learning tips from John Soule, tasting room host since 1968; having a rush of guests followed by boredom when there was a lull; local winemakers and growers stopping by to talk about how exciting it was that Dry Creek Valley was now an official American Viticultural Area (granted in 1983); the countless conversations about who liked which wine and why; the poster (made by my cousin) with the tagline ‘Don’t bite the foot that stomps your grapes’. I realize now I was following in the footsteps of my grandfather who ran his tasting room out of the wine cellar, building his network in the same way. At the same time I was learning the basics, I was also storing away experiences I would share as part of telling my story in the coming years. Learning to be patient when Peter from LA (who was a lawyer) walked in at 5:02pm and stayed for an hour or helping people to correctly pronounce Pinot Noir (it was the wild west in those days-Americans were being exposed to varietal names rather than the standard 'Burgundy'). A toast to the early years, from my Dino to yours.

Each photo takes a step back in time-by the end of the month will be the real 'throwback' of 30 years ago. This was taken in 2005.

Tags: Pedroncelli, family business, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
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Training Wheels: 1985-1995

June 5, 2015 16:12

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I’d majored in English, without plans on a wine career, and now was changing direction and going to work for my family. I was eager in those early years of my employment to learn as much as possible and of course put all this knowledge to work right away. Night classes had me studying viticulture and wine marketing. I joined trade groups like the Wine Road to network and widen my scope. A Tasting Class at UC Davis opened my eyes to the many nuances found in white and red wines. My own Pedroncelli education would take the next ten years learning the family ropes, going from tasting room to the office, as well as the industry’s intricacies. By the time I joined in, my dad had been developing our wholesale network for 30 years. I was hard pressed to come up with something other than ‘I’m the daughter of the owner’ and it took time to develop my own voice, my own way of telling our story. I went from being an introvert to an extrovert when I realized no one buys wine from a shy and tongue-tied person, family member or not. I will admit there are times I cringed from some of the situations I found myself in. These days I usually refer to myself as an extrovert by profession because my preference is to fade into the background. Being a perfectionist helped spur me on and made me even more determined to tell a compelling story after a few false starts. The years have refined me to say the least.

Let's go to the 'way back' machine to refresh your memory with a few milestones between 1985 and 1995: the market moved from jug wines to varietal wines, grape prices doubled, ‘fighting varietals’ were introduced, the French Paradox changed the way American’s embraced wine and consumers demanded quality over quantity. It was a time when we were adding varietals like Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot to our line of wines and replacing Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer and Johannesburg Riesling. These were exciting times to be in the business and I will toast these with a splash of Sauvignon Blanc in my Dino.

On the road-doing my thing. With Scott Gayman, our broker in the Northeast.

Tags: Pedroncelli, family business, Market Work
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It's a Family Thing

June 3, 2015 16:26

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Here I am 30 years after making the decision to work full time for my family’s business. Today I am remembering a conversation between my dad and me when I was asked to consider full time work for the winery. We were standing in the Case Goods Warehouse, I was helping out on weekends and living in the East Bay. The place is important because, after all these years, I now realize this was where my dad lives and breathes Pedroncelli, where you will find him at any time of the year either on a forklift or counting cases. He had a plan and I would soon be part of it. So my first thought was how my degree in English would benefit working in this industry and for my family. Come to find out, my liberal arts education came in mighty handy. I went from staffing the Tasting Room and focused on learning the business from the ground up (what is the difference between Zinfandel and Cabernet, viticulture and winetasting classes, learned the importance of the Dry Creek Valley appellation) to Brand Ambassador where the world is my market and sometimes my office chair is 30,000 feet up. What does 30 years working for a family wine business look like? You work closely with family members, taste countless wines, find my voice and then tell our story to thousands of people, travel too many miles to count, give tours of our vineyards again and again without it ever getting ‘old’, live our lifestyle, see the next generation set in place, write millions of words. I can tell you it has been fun, exciting, challenging and rewarding. Sit back and relax as the next month covers a few of the highlights over the years. I’ll toast my Dino, where it all started!

Tags: Pedroncelli, family business, Market Work
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Varietally Speaking: Syrah

May 28, 2015 16:30

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The final post for this month is about Syrah and is a tale of two vineyards. We have four acres planted between two very different locations: our home ranch in Dry Creek Valley and on a family-owned mountain side high above Alexander Valley. Rhone varietals have been planted in the valley for more than 30 years beginning with the most well-known: Syrah. California acreage totals 19,000 (!) and in Sonoma County there are 1890 acres. In Dry Creek Valley the acreage is smaller, so I’ll estimate under 200 acres. John Pedroncelli and vineyard manager Lance Blakeley planted 2 acres in 1998 and the varietal has done quite well, thriving in its own microclimate of hillside and rocky soil on our home ranch vineyard. The second vineyard was planted in 2003 on the Ridge Ranch, owned by John and Christine with roots going back to 1963 when Christine’s father purchased the property, with 2 acres high above the Alexander Valley. We combine the two vineyards into our friends.red where they are a welcome addition with the characteristic fruity quality helps underscore our red wine blend. A toast to our varietals as we end the month on a Syrah note-from my Dino to yours.

While the Portuguese varietals can be seen in fall splendor at the top, our Syrah vineyards are the green bands at the bottom-this is on our home ranch.

Tags: Pedroncelli, varietals, winespeak
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Varietally Speaking: Port

May 26, 2015 16:35

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We have four acres of Portuguese varietals planted in the mid-1990s on our home ranch. We have found the hillsides are a great spot for these dessert wine grapes which consists of 30% Tinta Madera, 30% Tinta Cao, 20% Souzao and 20% Touriga Nacional. The stats for acreage in the state of California are sketchy when it comes to these varietals as I could only find Souzao which has a total of 88 acres in the state and 2 in Sonoma County-we have 1 acre. The other listed is Touriga Nacional with 270 acres statewide and 2 acres in Sonoma County, with one here. John Pedroncelli, who liked to experiment and find out which site is best for each varietal, began making this wine in 1990 from a grower nearby (does Raymond Burr ring any bells?) and soon added this to our permanent portfolio.

When I give a vineyard tour at the top of our Mother Clone vineyard it is easy to see the bands of color, in the growing season and fall, representing the different grapes planted across the way. If you are wondering why we can still call this a Port, thank the 2006 trade agreement when we were grandfathered in because we have been using the name for so many years. The vines continue to thrive in our Mediterranean climate. Each grape adds its’ own unique character to the blend be it color, flavor or tannin.

Bands of color delineating the Portuguese varietals in the fall.

Tags: Pedroncelli, varietals, Port, winespeak
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Varietally Speaking: Petite Sirah

May 22, 2015 16:39

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As I continue the series about varietals we grow, the focus is on Petite Sirah. This wine grape is an important part of Dry Creek Valley’s grape-growing history although it has been in the shadow of Zinfandel all along, being a supporting player when blended. Adding deeper tannin, color and structure to our Zins, it is a delicious wine on its own. It has also been growing on my cousin’s vineyard (Bushnell) and we make a Family Vineyards blend of the two. Let’s step back and take a look at the grape itself. There is a bit of a mystery why it is called Petite Sirah but I can tell you it is the love child of Sirah and Peloursin and known in France as Durif. While the name and pedigree can be confusing, thank heavens they didn’t try to name it Peloursin Sirah. Looking at the grape acreage planted in California there is a sum total of 9576 acres and I was surprised at the amount planted in Sonoma County-I thought we would have led in number of acres but at 650 we are in the middle of the pack. Between our vineyard and the Bushnell vineyard we have 7 acres and this provides blending opportunities as well as a stand-alone offering. There are a couple of distinctive qualities about this grape as it has small berries and tightly packed bunches. Like Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah has a small amount of juice to skin ratio and the deep purple bunches produce what I call a ‘bruiser’ of a wine-deep and inky with chalky tannins. In fact it is the wine of choice to age-and some experts say it ages better and longer in the cellar than Cabernet Sauvignon! For more about this intriguing grape you should visit PS I Love You-a winery and grower organization support group. To add one more antidote: PSILY once held a Blue Tooth Tour-proof this wine stains more than your glass. A toast to blending in and standing out, only Petite Sirah can do it.

Our Petite Sirah vineyard is located on our home ranch, where it has thrived since the earlier 1900s.

Tags: Pedroncelli, varietals, Petite Sirah, winespeak
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Varietally speaking: Sangiovese

May 20, 2015 16:44

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Sangiovese is the focus varietal for today’s blog post featuring of the different grapes we grow. In the early 1990’s John Pedroncelli wanted to add an Italian varietal, in honor of our heritage, to our home ranch vineyard. We planted the first 2 acres in 1993 and it took to the hillside as if it were home. We named it Alto Vineyard, and soon another 3 acres followed on two other hills. We went into the California Chianti business. Yes, this grape is the backbone of Italy’s Chianti region. In number of acres planted in California, it is most widely planted in Sonoma County with 365 acres scattered around the many appellations in our county with a healthy amount taking root right here in Dry Creek Valley. The vineyard crew has learned these vines like to start early-usually the first at bud break and needs some hang-time on the vine to ripen properly-this is a high acid grape and the longer it hangs with the right climate the better it gets. You could say it is a vineyard I have seen mature from the early astringent days when we added Merlot to soften it to the recent 2012 vintage where it stands on its own as a true California Chianti with bright acidity balanced with perfectly ripened fruit. Now for a toast to our heritage!

Our Alto Vineyards Sangiovese hugs the hillside terraces.

Tags: Pedroncelli, varietals, Sangiovese, winespeak, Italian
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Varietally Speaking: Sauvignon Blanc

May 15, 2015 12:43

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In honor of the focus on varietals we grow, today I’ll talk about Sauvignon Blanc. It is the only white wine varietal we have planted on our vineyards and is the white wine counterpart to Zinfandel as the signature wine of Dry Creek Valley. For comparison’s sake here are the numbers: 2700 acres planted in Sonoma County, it is the most popular white varietal in Dry Creek Valley, with an estimated 1100 acres planted. We have 7 acres planted on the valley floor where the sedimentary soils and balance of warm days and cool nights create near perfect conditions for making great Sauvignon Blanc. Located down on the east side of Dry Creek, we farm two blocks where the vineyard crew takes special care during the growing season to tuck and cover the ripening fruit-this process is almost as important as where it is planted and what type of microclimate we have there. Tucking the shoots back makes way for sunshine to do its part in ripening up the grapes. As farmers, we always want the best of both worlds: sun and shade. Leaves are a very important part of this cycle as they provide the much-needed cover for the grape bunches as they go through the season. Not enough shade, and the grapes become raisins in due time, too much shade and the wine takes on green flavors. Tuck and cover is an apt description for this vineyard process. As I like to say the wine reflects this pattern: it ripens on the vine, makes a stop at the fermentation tank and bottled shortly after harvest capturing tropical fruit and citrus aromas and flavors finishing with crisp acidity. Cheers, I’ll have some in my Dino.

East Side Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc.

Tags: Pedroncelli, varietals, Sauvignon Blanc, winespeak
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