Dunnewood and Mendocino Vineyards; Jeriko Estates; two wine events; and Tierra in Ukiah

I visited Dunnewood Vineyards in Ukiah recently.

The first thing I learned is that the Dunnewood Vineyards name was all marketing, and no one knows where they got that name. The good news is that most of the wine in the Dunnewood Vineyards tasting room carries the Mendocino Vineyards label, and I can grasp where that name came from.

Located in Ukiah, north of town, at 2399 North State Street; the sign for Dunnewood Vineyards is the most visible clue that a winery exists in this industrial zone outside Ukiah city proper. The winery location features vineyards around, an old front building doubling as tasting room and office, and a rather large winery facility in rear.

The large winery facility is owing, in part, to Dunnewood/Mendocino Vineyards being owned by wine giant Constellation. All Mendocino County grapes for Contellation Brand wines are made into wine at this facility. More interesting, from a “green” Mendocino County wine industry perspective, Mendicino Vineyards makes certified organic grown grape wines.

From Constellation’s website:

Mendocino Vineyards comes from the proverbial heart and soul of organic viticulture, Mendocino County. Bordering California’s rugged Pacific Coast, the county is enveloped by the cool morning fog that rolls in from the ocean and settles on the vineyards to produce wines with bright green apple flavors and a crisp, clean finish. It’s here that our team crafts this world-class wine that exemplifies environmental integrity by employing the strictest certified organic farming practices.

It may be unfair, but I don’t think of corporate responsibility and eco awareness when I think of of worldwide business conglomerates, yet Constellation seems to embrace and support Mendocino County’s eco spirit in their grape growing and winemaking choices surrounding their Ukiah facility.

Helen Kelley poured wines for me at the tasting bar. Helen is the office manager, and her pride in the winery and wines was evident.

2009 Mendocino Vineyards Chardonnay Mendocino County $12 clear color of light straw, nose of apple, pear, lemon, nice fruit shown. Tasty tropical sweetly candied fruit flavors. Nice body. Very, very long finish. Made with organic grapes sourced from about Mendocino County.

2003 Dunnewood Vineyards Coro Mendocino $35 Winemaker George Phelan has a lighter bodied, brighter Zinfandel based wine. 64.6% Zinfandel, 25.7% Syrah, and 9.7% Sangiovese. Nice fruit, raspberry and mixed berry, and cedar wood spice.

1997 Dunnewood Tawny Port Signiture Napa Valley $19 A charbono port, really really nice. Rich, sweetly delicious, plummy goodness.

Helen poured me a library selection, the 1979 Dunnewood Tawny Port California Limited Edition $28. At first nose, I wasn’t in love, it is tobacco juice tar color, but I came stuck with it to find plum dark fruit, sticky caramel apple and fig. I would enjoy trying to pair this with a fig reduction sauced pork. Helen shared a story of having to hand fill the unusual shaped bottles, and how at the end of the task, she was a syrupy, sticky, sweet mess.

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Last week, I stopped in at Jeriko Estate in Hopland to taste a local Mendocino County Brut Rosé for a Valentine’s Day bubbly write up.

As long as I was there, I tasted the 2009 Jeriko Estate Pinot Noir Mendocino 14.3% alc $38 as well. Lovely Burgundy color, delightful dried cranberry nose, delicious lush cranberry and cherry fruit flavors. Lingering finish, Nice acid. Well balanced.

J.J. Cannon, my host in the tasting room, told me that this was winery owner Danny Fetzer’s favorite wine, the wine he most often has a glass of when choosing from among the winery’s releases.

J.J. also serves as the wine club manager, and has grown the membership to a bit over 150 members, about an 18% increase, in a relatively short period of time. Founder’s Club members receive a case, discounted 20%, spread over 3 shipments each year. Estate Club members receive two cases, discounted 25%, spread over 12 shipments each year. Cellar Club members receive a half case monthly at a 30% discount. Other benefits include a big discount on wines purchased at the tasting room on the day you sign up for a wine club membership, an annual wine club member appreciation party, wine club pick up parties, complimentary reserve wine tasting for members and guests, and special pre-release priority and prices. Wine club members can choose all white, all red, or a delicious mix of both with each wine club shipment.

Wandering about the tasting room area, I noticed some lovely jewelry available for purchase. It turns out the jewelry from Hook & Loop Jewelry Designs is made by winery owner Danny Fetzer’s niece Christina McDonald and her partner Rasean Powell. I would encourage the introduction of additional items of interest to warm the feeling of the tasting room area. Books on wine, wine accessories, art, jewelry, olive oils and foodstuffs placed about the tasting room would increase movement, and warm the experience immensely.

Outside the Tuscan styled and colored main building, the vineyards were readied for the upcoming spring and bud break a month or two away. A fountain burbled, olive trees decorated the property, and baby goats played on the property’s neighboring hillside.

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Two events I attended last year are coming up and I highly recommend them for lovers of Petite Sirah or Pinot Noir respectively:

Dark & Delicious Petite Sirah and Food Event
February 18, 2011
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Rock Wall Wine Company
2301 Monarch Street
Alameda, CA 94501

40 top Petite Sirah wine producers and 30 top bay area restaurants and caterers, one night, stain your teeth purple.

Parducci Wine Cellars of Ukiah in Mendocino County will be pouring at Dark & Delicious

The 8th Annual Pinot Noir Summit
Saturday, February 26, 2011
11:30am – 6:45pm
Hilton San Francisco
750 Kearny Street
San Francisco, CA 94108

Blind taste 32 or 64 top Pinot Noir wines, rate them, attend workshop seminars, enjoy the results of the blind tasting while enjoying these and more Pinot Noir paired with hors d’oeuvre.

Mendocino County’s Handley Cellars of Philo in the Anderson Valley and Rack & Riddle of Hopland will be pouring at the Pinot Noir Summit.

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Finally, Tierra, art, garden, wine in Ukiah will be closing their doors after the end of this month. If you live in or near Ukiah, stop in Wed-Sat 11am-6:00pm, and help out by purchasing a thoughtfully artful gift for a friend or something beautiful for your home, and save 30-70$ off most items.

Tierra is located at 312 N School Street in Ukiah.

I am sorry that Nicole Martensen and Nicholas Thayer’s Tierra will disappear from Ukiah, I will miss it. I wish I had visited more often.

 

Are you going to be at February 27th’s Pinot Noir Summit?

Once upon a time, before it was found that the best Pinot Noir in the United States comes from grapes planted in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley, all of the wine publications, connoisseurs, and cognoscenti held that the absolute best, perhaps only, place to grow Pinot Noir grapes was Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

The notion that the only Pinot Noir that was good, worthy of buying, was Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, was so pervasive that growers of the grape in California were struck with angst and near despair, and led to the first documented cases of Pinot envy.

Pinot Noir is planted in many different areas, and in each it expresses itself differently. In the Russian River Valley, the Pinot Noir tends to bright candied cherry and floral rose notes; the same grape grown in the Carneros yields an increased mineral note; and Pinot Noir from Monterey’s Gavilan Mountain range produces a big meaty wine.

This Saturday, February 27, 2010 I am thrilled to be attending the 8th Pinot Noir Summit. I LOVE Pinot Noir.

http://affairsofthevine.com/pn_summit_8.php

The Pinot Noir Summit will be held at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael, CA from noon until 8:30 pm. There will be a full day of events that help lead to an increased knowledge and appreciation for Pinot Noir.

Barbara Drady and Affairs of the Vine have developed the “must attend” Pinot Noir event of the year.

The Pinot Noir Summit begins with a 3 1/2 hour blind tasting of 40 top rated Pinot Noir. Rating each wine tasted blind can lead to a better understanding of preferences. Do most of your favorite wines come from the same vintage or wine growing area? How do your personal ratings (the only ones that matter) compare with the ratings of the expert tasting panel?

Following the blind tasting, Summit attendees can attend two different 45 minute Pinot Noir workshops; workshop titles include “When Pinot Sparkles,” “Winemaking 101,” “Discovering New Stars,” ” Food and Pinot Pairing,” “A Global Perspective on Pinot Noir,” and “Sustainable? Organic? Does it Matter?” In between the two workshops is a 45 minute intermission – with cheese!

After the workshops attendees will enjoy a Pinot Noir Reception where top winemakers and winery owners pair their Pinot Noir – and a few other jewels they produce – with hors d’oeuvre and at the event culminates with Awards Ceremony when at 8 pm the final tasting results of the Pinot Noir Summit are announced, and the wines you tasted blind to begin the day’s events are revealed.

I grew up drinking Zinfandel and Cabernet, and Zinfandel was my favorite wine growing up. When I was young, Zinfandel was in every kitchen of every Italian friend of my family, it was everywhere. Frankly, when I was young, local Pinot Noir was not going to be tasty, more like paint stripper than a delicious food beverage.

Things have changed. Winemakers have found where Pinot Noir grows well, and are making lush, beautiful wines of unbelievable complexity and integration, with gorgeous fruit notes. I love Pinot Noir above all wines, be it from the Russian River Valley or Burgundy. When it is good, there is no wine more divine, more ethereal. Sadly, when it is bad, it is awful. There isn’t much in-between Pinot Noir; I find it great, or not. I think most other varietals are safer, they are more consistent vintage to vintage, or can be saved by a winemaker in a bad vintage more easily. Pinot Noir offers a greater glimpse into vintage than any other varietal, celebrating a great vintage with a wine so delicious as to defy imagination, or demonstrating a weak vintage with a wine unpalatable and displeasing.

Wine Spectator called the current vintage, 2007, the best in California history for Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. I have found this “wow” quality spreads to Napa and Monterey, to Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. Right now, there are so many great, mind bogglingly delicious Pinot Noir out there just ready to be tasted.

Pinot Noir is also my favorite food wine, it is a chameleon pairing well with more foods than any other varietal. It is deservedly most chef’s favorite wine.

Tickets are limited, and can be purchased for the full day’s activities (only 14 remain) at $125, or for just the reception and ceremony (only 27 remain) at $75; just click on the link I provided above I will say that with so many great Pinot Noir available right now, this special tasting event with workshops is going to be especially great. I urge you to consider attending, but don’t consider too long – you don’t want to miss this event this year.

DISCLOSURE: I am the lucky recipient of an event ticket won in an online contest.