Vino In My Dino

Down to Earth Month: Being Sustainable

April 2, 2015 14:23

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What does it mean to be sustainable? It means to tread lightly and to be good stewards of the land. It means creating a better environment now and for the future generations. Three generations of my family have called Dry Creek Valley home since 1927. Sustainability is part of our DNA. We have always been good stewards from the days when my grandparents tilled the soil, farmed grapes, raised crops and animals to sustain their family to the next 8 decades of tending the land, making wine, and sharing the fruit of our labors. Our family is committed to bringing up the next generations the same way we were. After 87 years of farming we are on the path to be certified sustainable through the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance. Even our home county of Sonoma has pledged 100% of the vintners and growers will be certified by 2019. We are on board and have accomplished many of the requirements already. Believe me when I tell you I have gone through more than 200 of the assessment questions myself (twice!) and it is gratifying to see the proof of our sustainability in many areas along with room for growth in others. Join me as this month is spent studying our vineyards and winery operations and logging examples of our sustainability. Cheers!

An example of erosion control: stems from the 2014 harvest are spread along hillside areas to cut back on erosion of the vineyard roads.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Down To Earth Month, certified sustainable, sustainability, Dry Creek Valley
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Making history: A new winemaker

March 31, 2015 14:35

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Changes don’t happen too often here. We are a family-owned three generation business. When you lose someone like John Pedroncelli it has a deep and lasting effect on us all. His strength as a quiet leader as well as his depth of knowledge cannot be replaced. I was looking through our website and ran across a photo of John Pedroncelli and ‘his team’. I was reminded of the last few years whenever he was asked about who made the wine, he’d answer “the team, of course”. His years of experience combined with his team of Lance, Polo and Montse created consistently remarkable wines. While one legacy has come to an end, we, as a family, need to take the next step and announce that Montse has been promoted to winemaker.

Having worked in wineries from the Penedes and Montblanc regions of her native Spain, Montse earned her degree in enology from the Rovira I Virgili University in Tarragona. Once finished with college she came to California and joined the harvest crew at Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves in Sonoma in 1998. After that she was hooked and held positions at both Ferrari-Carano and Rodney Strong Vineyards. She joined the winemaking team at Pedroncelli Winery in 2007.

She considers it an honor to have worked with John for 7 years and says he truly was an icon. In an earlier interview for a local wine writer, she was asked what she has learned from him. Having learned about the valley, the grapes and his style, her answer was, “to keep it simple”. In fact she has taken John’s expertise and created her own stamp on the wines through her focus on detail, by zeroing in on the unique qualities of each vineyard block and creating singular small lots. She has the continuity of vineyards, staff and the team behind her. We've begun to see her passion and style in the 2014 vintage. It gives us great comfort and pleasure to know that John's legacy, and ours, is in good hands. Join me for a toast to Montse and all the women winemakers around the world!

Tags: Pedroncelli, Women's History Month, Cellar, Legacy
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Women's History: Living History

March 31, 2015 14:29

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Julie has been posting things about the women in her family all month as a tribute to Women’s History Month. There have been some great insights to the quiet strength of the women before her. It is no surprise, then, to find ourselves at the end of the month with no mention of one of the strongest, most humble of the Pedroncelli women to date. That would be, of course, my bride. Forgive me if I gush a bit here.

Having been raised here in the center of the winery, in what is now affectionately known as “World Headquarters of J. Pedroncelli Winery, Inc.” Julie lives and breathes Pedroncelli. She is the voice of Pedroncelli to the world, but more importantly, she is the guiding force behind all our hospitality—public and private. Given a choice, Julie would be in the kitchen or shuttling food, or taking out the trash—whatever she can do to serve others. She is, as she puts it, an introvert who has had to become a “professional” extrovert. She loves going on the road to sing the praises of Pedroncelli, but when she gets home she much prefers quiet times with Dirk the Dog and me. And sometimes I’m not so sure about me!

Julie is also the family archivist. She is the one who has files and boxes and lists and photos from generations of Pedroncelli achievements. From distant cousins in the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics to letters home from the family when they were serving their country in the armed forces. From family photos (now in the Smithsonian) to boxes and boxes of gold medals and ribbons spanning our nearly 90 years of winemaking awards. If you ask her about something she’ll say “give me a minute, I think I have a picture…”

As a wine lover (since age 4, she’ll tell you) Julie was thrilled to be invited to be a wine judge for the first time this year. We have a running joke that we can’t afford to go to a wine bar together. It isn’t the couple of glasses of wine that we have—it’s the several BOTTLES she discovers and wants to take with us when we leave! She has a great palate, a great wine vocabulary and has heard about every wine mentioned by some wine geek who is just testing her—she answers them with her trademark smile and sparkling eyes. She’s always happy to share her thoughts, but you’ll have to ask. She would never impose them on you. By the way—if you produce a Catawba, thanks for the offer, but I think Julie has had her share…that’s what you get when you are the rookie judge!

Julie’s quiet nature belies the depth of her knowledge about the wine business. She’s been around it all her life and in the thick of it for about 30 years. She’s quick to listen, a voracious reader and student of wine. She knows the history of Dry Creek Valley and Sonoma County like the back of her hand. As well she should, she’s lived it. And for that matter, written a good part of it herself. She is past president of the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley and Sonoma Vintners and recognized with the Spirit of Sonoma Award. She’s served on countless boards including the Wine Road, California Wine Institute and Healdsburg Shared Ministries. She is a perennial volunteer with various community service projects and most of all, beloved Grammie to our two grandsons—there is a wonderful picture of Julie looking at a grapevine with Jordan, our oldest grandson. That’s how it all begins, isn’t it?

So I’ll raise a glass to the woman who is making history every day at Pedroncelli. And I’m proud and honored to call her my wife. Here’s to you, sweetie. Go make some history!

Tags: Pedroncelli, Women's History Month, family, Legacy
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Women’s History Month: Weaving the Story of Women’s Lives

March 25, 2015 14:43

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They say it takes a village to raise a child and I say it takes everyone in a family to run a winery. All four Pedroncelli children worked on the farm and in the winery or vineyards as soon as they were old enough. One of Margaret’s jobs as the big sister was to take care of Jim, 11 years her junior. She married Al Pedroni and through them the Bushnell Vineyard survives today, with over 60 years of grapes from this hillside vineyard. Marianne was the bold one, always offering to drive the tractor and taking on the more challenging jobs. After enlisting in the Marines during World War 2 she worked for the State of California until retirement. She moved home where she became our tireless promoter. John married Christine in 1966 and moved to their home on estate vineyards. She served on the Dry Creek Zoning Committee to help design the zoning regulations and keep agriculture the focus rather than creating subdivisions. She served on the Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees followed by the Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees and the Memorial Foundation. My dad Jim married my mom Phyllis in 1959 and, once they moved to the family home on the winery property, she took on the task of keeping the books as well as other winery duties outside of raising me and my sisters. My mom not only had her hands full here but she also volunteered countless hours at our school while working side by side with my dad as the business expanded. My aunts and mom contributed greatly, one and all, and by their example and hard work the winery continues today. A toast to them for their contributions to the family and to the wine business.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Women's History Month, family, family business
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Women’s History Month: Weaving the Story of Women’s Lives (1)

March 19, 2015 16:23

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My grandmother was born in Italy and immigrated with her parents Antonio and Margarita Petrelli and sister Rena to California in the 1890s. They landed in Redding and operated a boarding house. Teaching would be her first profession out of high school and she taught at a one-room school house. Later on, she met my grandfather Giovanni when he sold vegetables from his garden to my great-grandparents. After they married they began to look for a permanent home. In 1927 the young family purchased 90 acres of land, a defunct winery, 25 acres of Zinfandel and a home here in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County. Three children came with them and my dad, Jim, was born a few years later at the family home.

My grandmother’s contributions were invaluable in many ways to the family business. From keeping the books, raising her family, working in the vineyards not to mention her generous hospitality, she was the backbone of our winery's early years. When I was growing up I was unaware of her accomplished life because she didn’t speak much about those days. I imagine they were difficult at first, especially with the Depression settling in two years after they moved to the ranch. Sons John and Jim reminisce in their oral history J. Pedroncelli Winery: An Ongoing Family Tradition about how she made sure her family always had food on the table-canning fruit and vegetables, making cheese and butter, raising chickens and cows to make ends meet.

Later on, during the heyday of the 50’s and 60's, she hosted many dinners with family and friends, dining alfresco style. We even have a photo of one of those afternoons in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History celebrating FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000. Her rosemary chicken, venison stew, risotto, ravioli and spinach malfatti remain in a class by themselves.

Most of all, I remember her as a quiet pioneer. She didn't call attention to the years of hard work and dedication, of working side by side with my grandfather, because she was humble to a fault. You didn’t call attention to the wine, wine was just part of life. If life is good then the wine, like my grandmother, has done its job. She helped create a legacy which proudly continues today. Her philosophy still echoes in our wines and lifestyle. A toast to Grandma P and National Women’s History Month.

Great-grandparents Margarita and Antonio Petrelli with my grandmother Julia and her sister Rena standing behind her.

This is the ledger my grandmother kept between 1950 and 1960. We have donated this to the archives of the National History Museum along with her polenta pot as testament to her enduring legacy.

For more photos of the family click here.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Women's History Month, family, family business, Legacy
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Dear Dino: Salads

March 17, 2015 16:33

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As the transition from winter to spring happens this week-and it has been spring-like here for awhile-we’ll talk about spring greens and pairing them with wine. Salads in general are a challenge to pair with wine. Truth be told they are a large part of my daily meals and are included for lunch and dinner. Let’s take a look at what is involved in order for there to be a bridge between the salad and the wine: the components, the dressing and the style of wine. I tend toward bitter greens but my workhorse salad base is Romaine. Meats like bacon is a favorite as is grilled chicken or beef. If I am in the mood for cheese I’ll add some cheddar or parmigiana. Other add-ins include the usual suspects but I do use green onion as it is the most mild in that family. Dressing is either vinaigrette or creamy depending on my mood.

To match these combinations with a wine I consider the style-is it light and fruity or full and oaky; is it tannic or highly acidic? Look for lighter wines with salads-not necessarily sweet but fruity. Our Sauvignon Blanc and friends.white make great candidates for vinaigrette style dressings especially since the Gewurztraminer in the white blend makes for a spicy and floral base. Chardonnay is a nice companion to creamy dressings especially green goddess or even Ranch (homemade of course).Our Dry Rosé of Zinfandel is a great choice for salads with salty elements like cured meats, cheeses or nuts due to its crisp acidity. If you want to consider a red wine, I recommend Pinot Noir which is lighter in tannins. For a wine dinner I once paired our Pinot Noir with salad by roasting Portobello mushrooms with salt, pepper and olive oil. I used some of the pan juices from the mushrooms in the salad dressing-lowering the acidity and boosting the flavor. I also added shaved Parmigiana which contributed a richer element that matched well with the woodsy mushrooms. Your salad bowl is your palette, use your imagination with ingredients and the wine. Go green this spring!

Dungeness Crab Salad is a favorite to pair with our F. Johnson Vineyard Chardonnay-thanks to Gary Gross for the photo.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Recipe, food and wine, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
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Barrel Redux

March 12, 2015 16:43

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How many bottles of wine do you get out of each barrel? What does “MT” stand for? Where does the oak come from to make the barrels? I’ll answer them in order and I will include some other aspects of the Barrel Room and barrels in general. We get about 300 bottles of wine (25 cases) from each barrel. We store 2000 of them which equals 600,000 bottles total. To take it a step further we make 70,000 cases of wine with a total of 840,000 bottles. And we are still considered at the larger end of ‘small’ production. The initials ‘MT’ stand for medium toast, which is the overwhelming choice when it comes to the level of toast in a barrel for us. The toasting of the staves and heads (barrel ends) brings more flavor to the gradually aging wine. By toasting the oak you get aromas and flavors like vanillin and spice. They aren’t in the forefront but they do add complexity. Oak or Quercus Alba, American oak in this instance, is grown in and around Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin. We think this type of oak suits our wines and is used almost exclusively (we do incorporate French oak for a couple of our wines). The life of a barrel typically sees about 8-10 vintages here because we use 25% new oak combined with seasoned barrels. This also gives us wine that is mellow rather than overly oaky-my dad always says he’d rather taste the grape than wood. Stop by this weekend-I’ll be thieving our 2013 Merlot. I will be happy to answer your questions! Click here for ticket information.

A peek at a few of our barrels--did you know our Barrel Room is naturally air conditioned?
Vents open to the night air and close during the day keeping it a cool 48-55 degrees.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Barrel, Barrel aging
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Wine + Julie: In a relationship

March 9, 2015 16:49

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This revelation should come as no surprise to many of you. I enjoy wine. I know it is a funny thing to admit here, in a winery blog, after all. It must have begun long ago when I would play in the vineyards during harvest and taste the grapes, see wine included at dinnertime, experience the camaraderie in sharing with friends and family on holidays and Sundays. My passion for wine developed over the years-after spending 30 of them working for my family’s winery it seems I have it in my DNA. Perhaps it is from focusing on our wine over this long period where my perspective was broadened and my palate sharpened. My life of wine led to trying ‘Other People’s Wine’ or OPW as Ed and I like to say. It also led to being adventurous in my scope-trying varietals or appellations I had never heard of before (I’ll admit I had a brief fling with Paso Rhone blends not too long ago). I have shared before how much I love Champagne and other sparkling beverages and will continue my search for the next delicious glass of red, white, or rosé. I think of it all as an adventure and a very fun side of my career. How many people do you know who taste wine at all times of the day or night? Hmmm, which wine will I choose this evening? Dear friends gave us a bottle of Chardonnay to try and tonight it will be enjoyed!

Sharing my passion for Pedroncelli (it’s all in the hands) at a sales meeting in Chicago last week for Louis Glunz Wines.

Tags: Pedroncelli, family, family business, wine tasting
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Stave yourself

March 5, 2015 16:53

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Barrel tasting, a term which has been around since barrels were invented, refers to tasting wines throughout their time in barrel. Each year we participate in an event that features hundreds of wines thieved out of the barrel for educational purposes. We believe you, the taster, will gain a better understanding of what goes on with the wine as it ages. Many of us will either feature the 2013 or 2014 vintages depending on the winery (we’ll be thieving our 2013 Merlot) and a younger vintage will display some rougher mouthfeel because the tannins in the wine haven’t been tamed by time. If you read some of my blog posts from January I discussed the importance of oxygen in aging. A little bit over the year or so in barrel will soften the wine and make it more appealing-ready to drink. Bottle aging helps too because again that bit of oxygen exchange also takes place and softens the wine even further. Some questions to ask as you stand at the barrel talking to the winemaker or cellar master might be: What type of oak do you use? How many vintages do you use your barrels? What do you prefer when ordering your barrels, medium or light toast? How long has this wine aged or how long will you age the wine? You get up close and personal with the wine process. There is nothing more personal than having the winemaker thief a sample of his or her pride and joy for you to taste. I’ll be there at the barrel during the weekend-stop by and we’ll discuss the finer points of toast, wood and aging.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Barrel Tasting, wine tasting, Barrel aging
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Swirl it, sniff it, taste it, dump it.

March 3, 2015 16:57

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Tasting rooms come in all shapes and sizes. There are a bunch, a big bunch, of wines to try. It seems a bit overwhelming at first. My advice is to plan ahead as much as possible-even if it is a day trip. With hundreds of choices, you can narrow it down to a few like appellation or varietal, white or red wine, organic or sustainable. The list goes on. Have fun with it because the last thing I want you to do is take wine too seriously. We believe wine is made to be shared with friends and family-and taking home a bottle that you enjoyed in order to share with them is the best part of the experience. About the video: the Wine Road, a marketing organization for northern Sonoma County wineries, produces some great videos involving their events, winemaker tips, inside information on vineyards and today’s subject: wine tasting tips. If you plan on visiting the wine country to find some great wine I think you’ll find this a fun way to guide your wine tasting experience. And at 1:23 you’ll see my husband Ed who shares one of his tasting tips. And like Robert says—no cologne! Now where is my Dino cup…I’m ready for a taste of wine.

Check out the Wine Road video here.

Tags: Pedroncelli, wine tasting, Wine Road, Dry Creek Valley
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