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Vino In My Dino Blog

sauvignon blanc

Everything Old is New Again

September 24, 2024 09:39

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Part of the excitement of being a small family winery is I get to work with winemaker Montse Reece to develop new wines to add to our portfolio. She knows the vineyards well, this is her 18^th harvest at Pedroncelli! These are small lot of single vineyard estate wines (blocks really) that are deemed exceptional in quality. In the coming months, we are introducing four new wines.

Block 11 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc

We have been making Sauvignon Blanc for nearly 30 years, beginning in the mid-1990s. John Pedroncelli established this grape on our East Side Vineyard and Dry Creek Valley, especially in our area, is the perfect climate with the best soils for producing exceptional fruit. It is the only white wine grape we grow on the estate.The two blocks, numbers 6 and 11, each picked at a different time bring out the two sides of the grape from the grassy to the tropical fruit.

Even as far back as the 90s we made two styles of Sauvignon Blanc: one in oak (Fume Blanc) and one with very little oak (Sauvignon Blanc). At the turn of the century, we adjusted the portfolio and landed on just one, the unoaked style, and added a screw cap. In 2023 as we looked at the quality of estate fruit, we asked Montse what she would like to create, and which vineyard block she would work with to make a reserve style. She happily pointed out Block 11 as the vineyard that produces the reserve quality she looked for and chose to barrel ferment the wine.

It is fun to reflect that we have come full circle with two Sauvignon Blancs from one end of the spectrum to the other. Each one showcases the versatility of the grape. Which makes the release of our Reserve Block 11 Sauvignon Blanc so exciting.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sauvignon Blanc, Reserve, Single Vineyard, Estate Vineyard
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A Year Filled With Change

April 14, 2023 16:48

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April is Down to Earth Month, and as a winery committed to sustainability, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on our efforts to protect the environment. Our winery has undergone some major changes this year, including the renovation of our hospitality grounds and refreshed our tasting room with a new look. We've created a warm and inviting atmosphere for our guests to relax and enjoy our wines.

But that's not all! We're thrilled to announce that we're continuing to introduce our new labels, starting with our 2022 Giovanni & Giulia Sauvignon Blanc and soon our 2022 Rosé. These new labels are sleek, modern, and embody the essence of our winery, embracing our Italian heritage.

And now, onto the big news. Starting with the release of our 2021 cork-finished red wines, we'll no longer be using capsules on our wine bottles. We've realized that these have a significant impact on the environment. Most capsules are not biodegradable and end up in landfills where they can take hundreds of years to decompose.

We're taking a stand for sustainability and taking small steps like eliminating capsules to make a big impact on the environment. Our bottles will still be sealed with high-quality corks to maintain the freshness and flavor of our wines. By doing so, we'll be reducing our carbon footprint and investing more in our cork supply chain to ensure that our corks are of the highest quality.

Small steps like these can help to preserve the natural beauty of our region for generations to come. Come on over and see our changes for yourself, and let's celebrate Down to Earth Month together! Join us in our efforts as we find ways to take care of Mother Earth.

Tags: Dry Creek Valley, Tasting Room, Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Winemaking
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Seasons In The Cellar: Summer Edition

July 25, 2022 09:00

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As harvest is fast approaching in our Dry Creek vineyards, our winemaking team and cellar crew prep all of the empty tanks to make room for a new vintage. It's the calm before the storm.

Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our harvest season.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Harvest 2022, Sauvignon Blanc, wine, Winemaking
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Ped 101

May 31, 2022 14:49

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It is nice to have a long weekend every once in a while to reflect and take time out from busy schedules. Lately we have all been working at what feels like breakneck speed here at the winery as we build out our 10 year plan following strategy assessments and portfolio planning. And as we head into the 95^th anniversary of our family business I would like to take a look back as well as forward.

Our tale begins when a young family was looking around for some property in 1927 with a GI Loan to back them up and some cash in hand to fund the purchase. A property was found near the town of Geyserville with vineyard, a shuttered winery (thanks to Prohibition) and a home. 90 acres of land located in Dry Creek. The American Viticultural Appellation ‘Dry Creek Valley’ didn’t come along until 1983. It must have been quite a move for the family to go from Dunsmuir California to Geyserville with no connections. The link to this new community was the vineyard. They could still sell the grapes to home winemakers which helped both the family and the vineyard to thrive and survive. Their ‘social’ network established them with other families and our story began.

Intertwined with our family history is Zinfandel. First planted on the property in the early 1900s it was the grape which became the foundation of our portfolio, and our flagship wine. What became known as the mother vineyard was replanted or cloned back into place becoming our Mother Clone. It continues today as the mainstay in our line of wines.

Another part of our story is told through Sonoma Classico, our red wine blend. My grandparents were new to winemaking when Repeal came around allowing them to now make wine commercially. They made wines from what was grown on the estate-Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane and maybe a little Golden Chasselas and Burger thrown in for good measure. It didn’t come with a varietal name as it was a field blend. Today this wine evokes those early years with the focus on estate fruit and is a classic on its’ own.

The next chapter continues with Cabernet Sauvignon. Second generation brothers Jim and John purchased property on West Dry Creek Road in 1965 and, based on market observations of what people wanted to drink, they planted this grape, the first winery in the valley to do so. Today we are on the second generation of vineyard there and now farm a total of 33 acres on the estate. Our Three Vineyards Cabernet is singular and reflective of the soil and climate. This wine deserves the designation of our second flagship.

Weaving white grapes into the mix, we have planted a few of them over the years. The early days we had Golden Chasselas and Burger, later French Colombard and Sauvignon Vert. These made way for Gewurztraminer and Riesling along with a bit of Chardonnay. They all had their time to shine depending on the era and we found Sauvignon Blanc, planted in the early 1990s, takes the prize as the longest planted. It is the grape which captures best the microclimate of Dry Creek Valley and reflects this in the wine itself. And having grown up 'Dry Creek' this is indeed a grape that deserves all the attention.

As we look to the future as a family some things will change and others stay the same-it is the age old story. We are building a strong base, as strong as the first generation and following generations. I look forward to sharing our journey with you.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Classico, Sauvignon Blanc
Categories: Note from Home
Postcards from Home: Bottling Up

March 30, 2021 16:10

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March brings us rain, spring, setting our clocks forward and, at Pedroncelli, the cellar crew is busy getting wines ready for their final stop before coming to you—the bottling line. We usually begin bottling the white wines from the previous harvest in February followed by the red wines from the previous harvest as they finish aging—some see 12 months while others a little longer. The bottling schedule lasts for about six months—just in time to get ready for harvest and all that brings.

From winemaker Montse Reece is a snapshot of preparation to bottle. “One week before bottling we rack the wine off (with either bentonite for white wines and gelatin for reds) and filter the wine. All wines, except the Port, get cross-flow filtered. After filtration I adjust the sulfur levels for bottling and check the specific gravity that I use to check the fill levels during bottling. We order nitrogen to purge the empty glass bottles before they get filled with wine.

Bottling day starts with the sterilization of the line (pipes/filler bowl/filters). During bottling we check fill levels and adjust, if necessary, the oxygen levels in nitrogen purged bottles and in wine to be sure we are under 1 ppm (part per million) O2, vacuum pressure on the corks, torque pressure in the screw caps and filters pressure. Then the wine is packaged and stored until release.”

In Line

Montse mentions nitrogen to purge the bottles and here they are in line to begin the filling process.

The Line Up

Once filled and sealed with a screw cap or cork, they make their way to the labeling section.

Labeling Up

In the early days there was the label and then there was glue, slicked onto the label as it was placed on the bottle. If these were on white wines they’d eventually slide off after being on ice for an hour or two. Today self-adhesive labels are the way to go and do their part to stick when submerged in that tub of ice at your next picnic.

The Finished Product

Our family of wines waiting for you to try one—we make many choices so there is something for every palate and taste.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Pandemic, COVID19, Sauvignon Blanc
Categories: Postcards from Home
Follow the Vineyard: Harvest Ends

September 28, 2020 16:06

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Vintage 2020 was one of the fastest harvests in our 93 years at Pedroncelli. It began on August 24 with Sauvignon Blanc and ended with our Cabernet Sauvignon on September 23. And this vintage year began with the pandemic and ended amidst it with all the accompanying safety guidelines in placed. A fire to the west of us complicated things with a brief evacuation followed by smoke high above the valley from the large Walbridge fire. Add a couple of high heat weeks and the grapes ripened along quickly. Reminiscent of the 2017 vintage which was equally as fast.

We follow the vineyard with Mitch Blakeley, fourth generation family member, who works with his dad Lance and is our Vineyard Manager and a key part of the winemaking team which also included Montse Reece and Polo Cano. He gave me an update on the grapes, the vineyards and the vintage:

"Just as we are picking the last load of Cabernet Sauvignon we are also back out in the vineyard preparing for winter by planting cover crop and fertilizing the vines. We are heading into a heat wave next week and we are buttoning things up so the vines can get some much needed rest.

The harvest overall was very quick and busy in that we picked every day between August 24 and September 23 except for two of the days. We don’t pick on Sundays as well and this gives everyone a break to get ready for another busy week-rest, make plans, gear up.

I find this year similar to 2017 in that we had high heat over Labor Day weekend then and this year as well. The crop is also lighter and similar to three years ago. I learned more this year than I knew when I worked the 2017 harvest, that’s for sure. To give an example at how quickly the fruit ripened I’ll use our Zinfandel as an example. At the beginning of Labor Day weekend the fruit samples came back at 24 brix-we watched the brix (sugar) rise a degree per day and by Monday we had 27 degrees Brix-and we picked it as fast as we could to preserve the style we like in our Zins.

Aside from all the challenges we were on par for a great vintage. We’ll now play the patience game and wait for the overworked labs to get us results to see if there is any smoke damage in the new wines.

A couple of other notes; we machine harvest about 15% of our vineyard: Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon blocks that are cane pruned and able to withstand the machine taking fruit off. You need to have some age on the wood so it doesn’t break off and damage the vine. Another anomaly this year was the amount of labor we had-his dad Lance noted it was like 30 years ago when labor was plentiful. The reason this year is because other wineries delayed picking or cancelled picking of vineyards and we had people eager to work."

Thanks Mitch for the update as we follow the vineyard through 2020.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Pandemic, COVID19, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Vintage
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Follow the Vineyard: Vintage 2020

September 2, 2020 16:18

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Our Sauvignon Blanc harvest kicked things off for us on August 24-seen above are the grapes as they arrived at the crushpad. Vintage 2020 begins!

This post is a bit of a mix between talking to Mitch about following the vineyards on their road to harvest along with an update on our first week of harvest all the while with the Walbridge fire as background. The vineyards are ripe and ready to pick, the harvest waits for no one.

August brought some challenges for sure. The dog days of summer heat ripened vineyards a bit faster than previously estimated. The early varieties like our Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley were ready to pick, moved along after a relatively cool and uneventful July. The first day of harvest brought fruit in on time for a normal beginning of the vintage. To give you a reference point, the average first day of harvest over the last 10 years fell between the third and fourth week of August. I managed to catch up with Mitch, as I mentioned, to check in on August 21st, right before the big day. He was taking bunch samples of the Bushnell Vineyard Zinfandel for our Rosé. It was a beautiful warm day in Dry Creek Valley while I talked to Mitch, he in the vineyard and me from a smokey parking lot in Soledad California-where I stopped to take notes along my way home from taking care of my grandson Galen.

Mitch shared the following: "The vineyards are holding up just fine through the heat. The vines didn't shut down because the vineyard crew made sure the vineyards were given a drink of water now and then through controlled drip irrigation. There was some evidence of shriveling in the Zinfandel bunches but overall not too much was lost. We'll move from picking Sauvignon Blanc early in the week to the Rosé and Pinot Noir. We'll finish the week by beginning to pick our Zinfandel and Merlot blocks. All the work we have been doing through the summer like dropping fruit where needed, getting water to where it was needed, readying equipment and doing the final bottling in order to make room in the cellar for the new vintage all came together right on time."

He continued, addressing the smoke from the Walbridge fire. Editor's note: This fire began on August 17 due west of the winery and vineyards by several miles. As of September 1st it was under 74% containment and no longer was a threat to Dry Creek Valley. Mitch talked about the change in the weather with the arrival of the cooling marine layer which helped the fire fighters to contain the fire as well as bringing development to the grapes-acids and sugars balance out much better with warm days and cool nights. The smoke itself was to the west actually blowing south into the Bay Area and remained west and high above the valley floor. We'll see how things go as the vineyards are tested and we take things on a case by case basis. One other challenge to this year's harvest is COVID-and we have instituted and followed the guidelines set forth by the state and county when it comes to the safety of our vineyard crew. While it will slow things down we'll still get the grapes to the crushpad."

There you have it, Vintage 2020 has begun. The excitement of our 93rd vintage has been tempered somewhat but we are hopeful as we look forward to the last load of grapes to come in and call it a year-what a year it has been.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Pandemic, COVID19, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Bushnell Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé
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Follow the Vineyard: Veraison

July 24, 2020 15:50

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Another month into vintage 2020 and the next stage of the grape development is here: veraison. From here on out we can predict harvest dates by when the fruit begins the transition from hard green pea sized berries to a lighter softer green in the white varieties and shades of purple in the reds. I caught up with Mitch Blakely, fourth generation family member, as he was heading home for the day.

“We are watching the vines as the crop on each turns color-all but 11 acres of what we farm are red wine varieties and Merlot seems to be out ahead of the pack at 50% of the fruit turning color. Zinfandel isn’t too far behind at about 35%. Other varietals like Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon range from 5-15%. What that tells us is we’re looking at an average to slightly later harvest with mid-September for white grapes and lighter red wine grapes followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah the first couple of weeks of October. This timing is typical of the past harvests from normal growing seasons. And of course this will change if the weather spikes higher as we get nearer to picking.”

“It’s been hot at the beginning of July so one of the other jobs I had was trying to find blocks needing water. The vines were getting slightly stressed, slowly development down because of heat although some of the days topped out at 100 degrees but tapered off as the late afternoon fog began to come in. While fairly early on in the season it is better to have the higher heat at this time. Varietals susceptible to damage during heat are Zinfandel, Merlot and Sangiovese on hillside or limited soils where they have a tough time bouncing back. Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, on the other hand, can handle it. It was unseasonably cool at the last half of July which helped the vines out a lot."

He continued, "The crop size is fairly consistent, not as big of a year as last year. Not as many clusters and counts are down-which is a good thing because it is easier on the vines. We'll see COVID harvest protocols slow down harvesting with smaller crews and split crews for picking in order to keep our vineyard crew safe. Hoping for a nice even harvest with lots of time in between. Other projects include working on the vine blocks under the Scott Henry system where they are separating out the canes and pinching them down so the arms aren't snapped off during machine harvesting (Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc). There are 20-25 acres of the split system so it takes a while-7 acres done so far and there is time to get this done. Pulling leaves and dropping fruit (also known as green harvest) also has taken place in order to allow ripening of the clusters as well as lightening the load on the vine."

Thanks Mitch for the time and information-cheers to Vintage 2020 as it comes more into focus with each month. Follow our vineyard next month when we are in striking distance of harvest.

Tags: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, wine, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Vintage, Veraison
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#PairitwithPed: Dinner on the Lake

June 30, 2020 09:50

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I received a text from our son Joe last month-he was excited because he had found our Mother Clone Zinfandel at the Whole Foods and had sent along a photo-he lives in Reno Nevada. He also included an idea for a blog post: #pairitwithPed. I loved it and this is the second in a series of pairing wine, food and experiences.

The first hot day of June rolled around on the second day-95 degrees and it was time to take out the boat and go to Lake Sonoma. This year we had to wait for the public boat ramp to open—COVID19 etc which took place toward the end of May. Our 'dinner cruises' are something Ed and I do every year during the spring, summer and fall. We plan at least one day during the week when we would prepare a picnic dinner, pick up the boat from storage and launch at the lake in northern Dry Creek Valley.

There were some firsts however-Jasper had never been to the lake or on a boat before. I am recreating recipes from our website and had chosen a Grilled Chicken Salad with Mint, Feta and Toasted Pita Bread. We had a guest along too-my sis-in-law Carol who was staying with us and is from Maui. And of course there is the first time to put the boat in and remember all the details that go along with it-fan on, pump the gas a couple of times, remember to put the motor down all the way and the like. The lake was beckoning and it was time to go relax in the cool!

We brought along a bottle of our Sauvignon Blanc which always pairs well with dinner on the boat, especially with this recipe. With a lemon-cumin marinade & dressing with kalamata olives and feta the wine and food pairing was perfect-plus did I mention we were on the boat? Carol commented that she typically didn’t like mint but in this salad it worked with the lemon zest in the dressing and the tomatoes. I used a locally made Feta which was delicate not salty and chalky-it made a difference. And grilling the chicken ahead of time helped this to become an easy midweek meal that was also easy to transport.

Jasper, seen here post-excursion over and out in the boat, had a blast zooming along the shore, trying to get sticks out of the water, barking and listening to his ‘counterpart’ bark back from across the cove, bothering a squirrel that was outraged at the idea of a dog running below his tree, chirping aggressively. It was our evening's entertainment besides the chorus of birds, the gaggle of geese swimming along and the occasional splash of a fish hitting the surface-the big on that got away.

Our evening ended as the sun set and it became noticeably cooler (and darker). Sometimes on our way back in-we are typically about 10 miles from the ramp-I need to dig out our sweatshirts to keep warm. But not this time-the bands of cool and hot air as we took the boat in at 45 miles per hour were sensational. An experience which filled all our senses from the wine to the food to the views.

Each month I'll have a new #PairitwithPed story. If you send me your stories (and many of you have) I’ll share them here in an upcoming post.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Pandemic, Sauvignon Blanc, Lake Sonoma, Wine & Food
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