Sometimes Wine Makes Magic

Recently, my husband and I were watching SOMM TV which featured the Martinellis and a vertical tasting that they did. Martinelli Winery is located in Sonoma. Watching this episode reminded me of one of our most favorite memories of having wine with a meal. This memory comes from the time we had our Greek friends over for dinner. One of his favorite mantras was "planning is overrated" so I'm sure this dinner was an impromptu, spontaneous kind of get together. I wondered what year the Martinelli Jackass Hill Zinfandel that we had was and what year we drank the wine with our friends. My husband suggested that we probably have that bottle of wine on our Wall of Fame. I gave the idea of looking through our more than 150 bottles of wine on our Wall of Fame serious consideration and then I had an epiphany. In 2021, I did a blogpost on the wines on our Wall of Fame and there it was, the 1997 Jackass Hill Zinfandel.
On that evening when we had the 1997 Jackass Hill Zinfandel, we ordered pizza to take out. When we opened the wine, the aroma that emanated from the bottle was indescribably amazing. The four of us all sensed that remarkable event simultaneously. We drank the wine and had the pizza and that event is now indeliably etched in our memories.
Every now and then we recreate that evening, by bringing out a bottle of Jackass Hill Vineyards Zinfandel and ordering take out pizza, but there is really only one magical moment. I still need to figure out what year it was that this dinner occurred. So far I've narrowed it down to sometime between 2000-2006.
Epilogue: Our friends recently went to Martinelli winery and visited Jackass Hill vineyards. There they learned why the vineyard is called Jackass Hill. It was planted in the 1880's by the original founder, Giuseppe Martinelli. The location where he planted this vineyard has a 60-65 degree slope and is NOT terraced. The saying in the family is "you'd have to be a jackass to farm a hill that steep!" So in Giuseppe's honor, the vineyard was named Jackass Hill Vineyard.

Vintage 2025: April Showers!

At the end of March we were very hopeful with the progress that we were making in the vineyard. We thought we were ahead in our pruning. We had a stragegy, then came April! The English proverb, "April Showers Bring May Flowers" was quite descriptive of April this year. Then this past Saturday April 19, we had temperatures in the high 70s so with all the rain and the heat, the April showers brought dandelions flowering in the vineyard! We don't mind having dandelions in the vineyard because the taproot breaks up compacted soil and creates a healthy environment for the soil.

But the dandelions are not the only things growing, the grass is growing and we are finding that all of this rain has put us behind in our pruning!
But Geoff to the rescue! This morning, he came to help us with the pruning of last year's canes from the fruiting cane. My husband and Geoff worked together and I came behind them to cut the fruiting cane from the fruiting wire. The three of us were able to get 6 rows done in the morning shift!
We are feeling better about finishing our pruning duties before budbreak! Thank you Geoff!

Wine Tasting Invitation from Our Friend

Last Friday, our friend Mia, invited us to a wine tasting organized by sommelier James Sligh. Mia hosted this event at her neighbor's Brian and Jessie's home. The unifying theme was natural wines chosen from wineries along the Rhone River.
James sent Mia, the following wines:

It was an event held on line with others around the country signing in. This was a first for us and it was very interesting to participate in with explanations from James. Mia, Brian, Jessie and we brought food to nosh on while tasting and learning about the wines.
The first wine we tasted was the O Faya Farm 2022 Jutz D'Heida, a white wine from the Valais region in Switzerland. It is a natural wine made by Ilona (Thetax) Hunkeler from the Savagnin grape. The Savagnin grape is one of the Founder Varieties so it was very interesting to me to taste a wine made from this grape. The synonym for the Savagnin grape is Traminer and the Gewurztraminer grape is the aromatic, pink-skinned mutation of Savagnin. Interestingly, Savagnin is also one of the parents of Chenin Blanc.
The next wine was the l'Aitennement Nebula from Savoie, Franc. It was a blend of Douce Noire and Mondeuse. There was a discussion on what the Douce Noire and Mondeuse grapes are, which was interesting. What I learned is that Douce Noire is another name for Charbono, grown in the Savoy region. We recently had a close encounter with Charbono when we visited Robert Foley. Mondeuse is another grape grown in the Savoy region. The wine was a very nice easy drinking red wine.
Full disclosure, the rest of the wines were much less discussed, but tasted and enjoyed. The le Cortis Brisure was a blend of 50% Altesse, 50% Gamay Teinturier (red-fleshed Gamay). The Vin de France 2022 le Grand Blanc was a blend of 50% Roussane, 30% Marsanne and 20% Viognier. Early in my wine drinking life I had a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape which forever spoiled my appreciation of Roussane, Marsanne and Viognier. I taste petrol and an oiliness that I can't bring myself to appreciate. Also on the tasting lineup was the Thibaud Capellaro 2022 Pierre Taillee Syrah. The 2023 Lirac Romain le Bars Rose was the final wine in the lineup made from Mourvèdre. It was a very pleasant gathering and learning experience.
James Sligh is an artist and sent Mia the following water color of the Rhone and where the wine we tasted is located along the path of the river.

It was a very unique experience to participate in and we are grateful to have been included in this wine tasting. Thank you, Mia, Brian and Jessie!

Wine Appreciation: Swirl, Sniff and Sip

I remember the first time I was given the challenge of swirling wine in a glass, my husband said, "We cannot go to the International Pinot Noir Conference if you don't know how to swirl wine in a glass." That was in 2006, nearly 20 years ago! I confess it took me awhile to master the art of swirling wine in the glass, but that is the first requisite for wine enjoyment.
In writing this blog, I checked the Internet and there are 5Ss to wine tasting and not the 3 that I am familiar with. The other 2Ss bookend the ones that I am familiar with so it goes: See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip and Savor. I agree. We do give the wine we are drinking a "see". We check the color of the wine regardless whether it is a red or a white wine, especially if it is an aged wine. The color of a wine can indicate many things even before the swirl. Swirling the wine releases the volatile components in a wine that contributes to the aroma that one perceives. After the appropriate swirl, the sniff, can reveal many different attributes of the wine. Then, the sip, how does the wine taste on the palate? If the wine lives up to expectations, the next step is to savor and enjoy!
Recently, we had a real life experience of another component to wine appreciation that may go neglected. It is just as important in wine tasting to serve the wine in the appropriate glass.

My husband and I did this test recently where we put the same wine in a conical glass and then a glass with a bowl. Even before the swirl, the conical glass made the wine mute, the glass with a bowl was already releasing some aromatics. It is much easier to swirl in a glass with a bowl than it is to swirl in a conical glass. After swirling, the aroma compounds in the wine were much more apparent in the glass with the bowl.
Lastly, regardless whether it is a white or a red wine, a well made wine will evolve throughout the drinking experience. If it is a white wine taken out from being chilled, a white wine will reach its sweet spot in temperature and be just delightful! So see, swirl, sniff, sip and savor!

Book Review: Napa The Story of an American Eden

In February, we visited Kelly and Bob Foley of Robert Foley Vineyards on Howell Mountain. We got there in the pouring rain but inside the tasting room, Kelly and Bob welcomed us warmly. We spent one hour telling stories and there were many! Bob was telling us about his love of Charbono after tasting an Inglenook Charbono in his formative years. He went to U.C. Davis and got a degree in Enology and Viticulture. Somehow Robert Mondavi's name came up and Bob told us that he went to school with one of the Mondavis and at that time they pronounced their name "Mon-day-vi". It was only after Robert Mondavi began his winery that Robert began to pronounce the family name "Mon-dah-vi".
After our trip to Napa, I decided that I needed to read more about Napa. Full disclosure, I have read Napa The Story of an American Eden once before and wrote about it, but in light of our recent trip to Napa, where we visited Bob and Kelly, I thought that it would be good to refresh myself by reading James Conoway's book again.
My first review was a general overview of the book. Since James Conoway begins by recounting how Jack and Jamie Davis were looking for a property to buy in Napa and then flashes back to some of the history, the read can be a little disorienting. I thought I would try to put some kind of chronology on the book by highlighting what I thought were some interesting facts about Napa.
Interesting tidbits from the book:

• Napa means grizzly, or harpoon point, or fish, or bounteous place
• George Calvert Yount, a trapper from North Carolina and the first white settler in Napa Valley, planted Mission vines bought from General Mariano Vallejo in Sonoma in 1838
• Agoston Haraszthy was a Balkan immigrant who started a winery in Sonoma, called Buena Vista, in 1856
• Wine was made commercially in Napa in 1858 by John Patchett
• Prussian immigrant and freethinker, Charles Krug, made wine in Napa three years after Patchett
• Beringer brothers from Germany, worked for Krug and in the late 1870s constructed their winery, tunneled into the mountain, and eventually built an elaborate seventeen-room mansion called the Rhine House
• Gustave Niebaum, a Finnish sea captain created an architectural wonder called Inglenook; Inglenook's first harvest was in 1882, Inglenook was one of the first wineries to put “Napa Valley” on its labels; Inglenook’s practice of vintage dating was also uncommon
• Hamilton Crabb as the owner of the To Kalon vineyard in Oakville
• J. Leland Stewart was the owner of Souverain Cellars on Howell Mountain
• Beaulieu Vineyard was owned by Georges de Latour and their enologist was André Tchelistcheff, in 1951 they hired Joe Heitz as assistant winemaker for $325 a month
• Tom (a du Pont) and his wife Martha May bought a vineyard from the Rhodeses and named it Martha’s Vineyard, in honor of his wife. Martha’s Vineyard produced some fine Napa Valley Cabernet grapes, which were sold to Joe Heitz

I was interested in reading about Joe Heitz because Bob said that he spent one year learning about vineyard and winery work from Joe. In reading the book, I also learned that Robert Mondavi did indeed change the pronunciation of his name to "Mon-dah-vi". There were many other interesting factoids in the book which I am thinking of summarizing in a future post.

2022 Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills Pinot Noir

Our son paid us a visit this past weekend so that he could get together with his friends and have a play date for his daughter, our 4 year old grand daughter. We met up for dinner which was moussaka, Greek salad and a nice Tuscan boule bread. Typically, when we have a Greek meal, our drink of choice is ouzo, which brings back wonderful memories of sunny Santorini. However, this evening, our son anted up a 2022 Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. I have to say, it went very well with the meal. The Pinot Noir was nice and smooth on the finish and tasted like a mature wine.

I wanted to find out more about this wine and looked on the internet and on the Sokol Blosser website was everything I wanted to know!
Here is the vintage notes from the 2022 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir:
What started as a dry winter turned into a deluge of rain in the springtime. We had the wettest and coldest April/May/June in recorded (130 years) history. Freezing temperatures on the morning of April 14th and 15th knocked back the fragile new growth and we thought our crop yields would be down by 50-60%. In over 51 years of growing grapes here in the Dundee Hills we have never seen a freezing event during the growing season, so we had no idea what was going to happen. The primary buds froze and died, but the secondary buds came on, produced fewer but larger clusters, and the vines made a miraculous comeback. We had the 2nd warmest and driest summer on record, and then we got to October. Everything depended on good ripening conditions in the month of October since bloom was much later. Fortunately we got the warmest October in Oregon history, we were able to let the grapes hang, and the rains stayed put until all our Estate fruit was in on Thursday, October 27th. The fruit got nice and ripe, and we are thrilled with the wine produced from this vintage!
As a grape grower, I really appreciated the vintage notes.
References:
1. Estate Pinot Noir Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2022.