Alphabet Soup (VMC, MWI, AVWA, ATORV, DH, YHGVA)

John On Wine ­ – Alphabet soup (VMC, MWI, AVWA, ATORV, DH, YHGVA)

Originally published on November 7, 2013 in the Ukiah Daily Journal by John Cesano

Last week was remarkable for inland Mendocino County’s wine scene. In a perfect example of “when it rains, it pours,” after I had complained that the wineries of inland Mendocino county receive scant attention when compared to the folks over in the Anderson Valley, all of a sudden we started getting noticed.

First, of course, was the San Francisco Chronicle’s tasting room reviewer for the Sunday travel section giving a three star review to the lovely Campovida and then a three and a half star review to the small but mighty McFadden Farm Stand & Tasting Room, both located in Hopland.

The impact, the number of first time visitors who came because of the write up, was astonishing.

Next, Visit Mendocino County (VMC) brought professional photographers for all of last week, and in addition to capturing photographs in Anderson Valley and on the coast, the Vintage Marketplace building, which houses four winery tasting rooms, in Hopland was one of the locations chosen. Any promotional efforts by VMC on behalf of the winery tasting rooms, restaurants, and places to stay here along the 101 corridor from Hopland up to Willits, will be greatly appreciated.

Huge thanks go out to Jen Filice from VMC, who shepherded photographers and models all over the county, and to Margaret Pedroni from Ray’s Station, who was instrumental in helping the Vintage Marketplace location be chosen as the new hot spot for tourism promotion.

Speaking of Margaret Pedroni, Margaret also handles marketing for Coro Mendocino and has been busy working with Dave Richards, the manager of Crush restaurant in Ukiah, to see the 2010 vintage Coro Mendocino wines be the featured wines for the next Crush Chef’s Wine Dinner, on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

All 10 producers will be featured, Brutocao, Claudia Springs, Fetzer, Golden, Mendocino Vineyards, McFadden, McNab Ridge, Parducci, Philo Ridge, and Ray’s Station, but with eight of the 10 wines being made at inland wineries, hopefully this dinner will bring a little more attention to the area.

You may have noticed a sign or two, or read an ad, or heard about events while listening to local radio; we are smack dab in the middle of the Mendocino Mushroom, Wine & Beer Fest. It started last weekend, and runs through this weekend.

Many wineries throughout the county take advantage of the opportunity this festival, organized and promoted by VMC, provides. For two weekends, mushroom appetizers are available to taste with wines at dozens of winery tasting rooms. I, as an example, spent four hours preparing enough mushroom risotto to feed an army, and maybe a navy and some marines too, for my tasting room.

Restaurants team with wineries to feature mushroom and wine pairing meals, like Tuesday’s delicious dinner two nights ago at Uncorked in downtown Ukiah that featured the wines of winemaker Deanna Starr of Milano and Uncorked’s magical mushroom menu.

The big event is the mushroom train, where guests travel on the Skunk Train from both Willits and Fort Bragg to Camp Mendocino in a benefit for the Mendocino County Museum to taste culinary delights paired with the best local wine and beer.

A group of celebrity judges, members of the travel, food, or wine media, take part in the mushroom train event, taste the creations, and announce their favorites.

Last Friday, the members of the press and folks from throughout Mendocino County, kicked off their weekend at a reception put on by VMC and hosted by the four winery tasting rooms of Vintage Marketplace in Hopland; Ray’s Station, Graziano Family of Wines, McFadden Farm Stand & Tasting Room, and Naughty Boy Vineyards.

Again, it was a treat to play host to visiting press, and also to our counterparts from around the county. Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association (AVWA) Executive Director Janis MacDonald was among the visitors and, always gracious, was very complimentary about one of our wines, sharing a story about how well it went over with a group recently. Poorly kept secret: I don’t only taste and drink wines from inland Mendo, and although I may not write them up, I love scores of wines made in the Anderson Valley.

Thanks to VMC’s Scott Schneider, Alison de Grassi, and Jen Filice for all you did to make the reception happen, and for making sure it was such a delightful success.

Lastly, but absolutely not leastly, the Mendocino Winegrowers, Inc. (MWI) brought all of Mendocino County’s grape growers, winemakers, tasting room managers, everyone in our industry, together for a wonderful night of fellowship and celebration at a Harvest Party BBQ Dinner at Seebass Family Vineyards on Old River Road about a mile and a half north of the Buddhist Temple in Talmage. All hands were on deck for this one.

Thanks to Zak Robinson and Aubrey Rawlins of MWI, and all the folks from A Taste of Redwood Valley (ATORV), Destination Hopland (DH), Yorkville Highlands Growers & Vintners Association (YHGVA), and Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association for bringing so many of your folks to this special night. Hosts Scott and Michelle Willoughby could not have wished for a more perfect evening for Seebass, for inland Mendocino County, and for the county’s wine community as a whole.

Glenn McGourty, University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor to Mendocino and Lake County, was presented with a richly deserved award for his many years of service to the entire county’s grape growing success; MWI announced the receipt of a grant from the USDA’s Risk Management Agency; the Mendocino Winegrowers Foundation, the non-profit organization raising resources for the Winegrowers’ Scholarship Fund, presented past recipients and fundraised for future recipients. All in all, a great night for Mendocino County’s wine industry, in the midst of a period of great promotional promise for the wineries of the inland county.

 

Spotlight Distillery: American Whiskey and Greenway Distilleries

 

 

John on Wine –

Spotlight Winery Distillery: American Whiskey and Greenway Distilleries

John Cesano of John On Wine

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal by John Cesano

Walking into Germain-Robin’s distillery during June’s A Taste of Redwood Valley event, the aroma of apple and pear fruit, as brandy distilled, perfumed the air in a way different than the gorgeous aroma of a winery’s barrel room – richer and more pungent – these were aromas so big they penetrate beyond mere smell sense, but touch your soul.

On that day in June I met Crispin Cain.

Crispin runs the American Whiskey Distillery, Craft Distillers, and Greenway Distillery, all distilleries within a distillery, co-located at Germain-Robin. Passionately answering all questions and proud of his products, Crispin poured his pre-prohibition styled clear malted rye whiskeys. Gins, absinthe, and rose liqueur.

Crispin applies the handcrafted cognac method, improved by Hubert Germain-Robin and Ansley Coale in Mendocino County, to distilling his whiskey and the result is breathtaking.

From the craft distillers website, “Whiskies are spirits distilled from grain: barley, rye, corn, wheat. The grains are prepared in various ways, including malting and drying, to convert starches into sugars. Water is added to create a mash,’ which is fermented to convert the sugars into alcohol. Distillation can be on either potstills or column stills.”

I tasted the 2010 single barrel malted wheat, 84 proof and single barrel #1-100 proof whiskeys.

I bought a bottle of Crispin’s Russell Henry London Dry Gin, distilled from wheat. It tasted of sweet candied juniper berries, with notes of lemon peel, cardamom, and iris.

Crispin also served up a bowl of Absinthe ice cream, homemade using the Germain-Robin Absinthe Superieure, which is made by Crispin.

That 20 minute visit led to a subsequent longer visit with Crispin where he gave me a tour, tasting, and did his best to expand on the frighteningly rudimentary knowledge of distilling I had gleaned from television’s Moonshiners, aired on the Discovery Channel.

Crispin told me he jumped at the chance to interview with Hubert to be his assistant, and worked in that capacity from 1989-92, moving to Redwood Valley winery Gabrielli in 1993 and 94, before coming back for most of 1995 through 2000. A back injury in February 2000 set Crispin back “really bad” and unable to work, he went through his savings until with just $500 and an idea, he convinced Ansley to let him come in to Germain-Robin and set about making what would become Crispin’s Rose Liqueur.

“It took until 2003, three years, to get what we have now,” explained Crispin, as he poured a taste of his rose liquor for me. Not perfumy, not sugary sweet, but an intense infusion of old David Austin and Don Juan rose petals in an apple honey mead brandy, with underlying notes of raspberry and chocolate.

When I told my friend Margaret Pedroni that I had tasted Crispin’s Rose Liqueur and was undone by it, she described it as “sex in a glass,” which is the perfect description. Both the dictionary definitions of “lovely” and “delicious” feature a picture of a Crispin’s Rose Liquor bottle.

“I intended the Rose and Absinthe to be a part-time job,” Crispin said, before adding, “this is where my passion is.”

Today, the role of distiller consumes Crispin full time, and his wife and children also work in the business.

Making whiskeys, liqueurs, gins, vodkas, absinthe, and more, Crispin engages in a blend of science and art that to me seemed a little like the potion and concoction making of a wizard or magician.

 

Happening upon a vat of gnarled Buddhas Hand citron fruit, used for flavoring a vodka to be released this fall, did nothing to dispel the impression. The tools of his trade, the cognac stills, one as old as 1830, round copper pot stills, and many windowed column stills, further lend a mad scientist feel to his endeavors.

The math and methodology of cognac style distillation was a little more complex than what the television show hillbillies go on about. A first distillation of grain mash results in the brouillis, which Crispin hesitated to show me because it is somewhat off-putting, a blue blend of alcohol and water with sugars and fats not wholly resolved. The brouillis reduces the original mash volume to just 25 -30 percent, and that is reduced in a second distillation in a separate still to just 25 percent again. Barely over 8 percent of the original mash volume is left, but this is the heart of the heart, with barely 3/10ths of one percent sugar left. Cutting the high proof spirit with collected rainwater can lower stratospheric alcohol levels. Move the spirit to a barrel, perhaps new oak, for a year or more, and we’re talking some amazing whiskey.

While most whiskey is colored by the oak barrel it is held in, Crispin has some clear whiskeys. Crispin’s Low Gap Clear Wheat Whiskey was named the Whisky Advocate’s 2012 Artisan Whiskey of the Year and his absolutely clear malted rye whiskey spent just 204 minutes in a used neutral barrel so it could legally be called whiskey. These are incredibly smooth and flavorful spirits.

Crispin took me through his whiskey barrel room, where some of his spirits are aging and picking up color. A great variety of barrels were assembled; Bourbon, Limousine, Cognac, and Minnesota were well represented. Crispin shared that his dairyman grandfather got barrels from the same barrel maker in Minnesota for his (illicit) distillations of grains, fruit juices, honey, and whey; the dairy smells, butter and cheese, hid the smell of whey fermentation and distillation.

For the second time, we tasted two finished whiskeys that have graduated from barrel to bottle, Low Gap Single Barrel No. 1, an incredible 100 percent malted wheat whiskey running at 100 proof, and Low Gap Single Barrel No. 2, that made me say “yum” and running at 84 proof. These are drier whiskeys with very little sweetness, but amazing for their cleanness or clarity of flavor.

Crispin pulled a sample of 94 proof gin that was being barrel aged. It blended the bright flavors of gin with the color and weight that comes from time in a barrel. Barrel color for a gin was unusual for me, but really no more unusual than clear or uncolored whiskeys.

Another barrel sample, of rye whiskey, was smooth and oh so tasty, the rye flavors were almost like candy. Crispin opened a container of the rye malt and it was wonderful to smell the aroma both before and after distillation. Crispin’s rye whiskeys were far and away the best rye whiskey I’ve tasted.

Promised future tastes include a candy cap mushroom liqueur, barrel aged seven years, in apple honey spirits.

Visiting with Crispin and tasting through his spirits is worth the price of any A Taste of Redwood Valley event. The next ATORV event will be their big holiday weekend sale, the weekend before Thanksgiving, Nov. 23-24, 2013. Look to this column for ticket information as we get into the fall season.

For more information about Crispin’s many spirits, or to try to schedule a tasting appointment, call (707) 468-4661.

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John Cesano writes about wine and reposts his columns to JohnOnWine.com

 

Spotlight Winery: Brown Family Wines

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal on August 1, 2013

John on Wine

Spotlight Winery: Brown Family Wines

By John Cesano

During this summer’s A Taste of Redwood Valley, I found that one of my favorite turns was west off of Uva Drive onto Bel Arbres Drive, down a lovely quiet tree-lined residential street with well-cared for homes set back from the road, and then beyond the homes into a trio of delicious stops: Brown Family Wines, Germain-Robin, and Graziano Family of Wines.

My editor, the fantastic gal who makes me seem a better writer than I am, Kelly Hancock, sent me an email following Taste of Downtown in Ukiah asking if I had tasted the wines of Brown Family Wines yet, and suggested I consider doing so for a possible column.

Already on my list of things to do, it was easy to say yes.

Scott and Michelle Brown first arrived on the Mendocino County wine scene in July of 2011. The first thing you may notice about Scott and Michelle Brown, if you get a chance to talk with them, is that they are from England; they speak with an accent that makes words sound melodious. Both possess an easygoing, open, affability that helps make time spent with them enjoyable.

Their wines will largely be estate wines, made from grapes they grow on their grapevines, and plans are drawn up for a combination barrel and tasting room building in the future.

The vineyards of the 125 acre Brown Family Wines estate have been grown organically for more than 40 years.

For now, wines are poured al fresco, at a covered outdoor bar, with nearby tables for groups to relax at. My visits to Brown Family Wines have been on hot summer days, and afternoon breezes are a blessing. Well, breezes and chilled white wines.

The first wine I tasted, the 2009 Brown Family Wines Sauvignon Blanc, California ($10) is made from Sonoma County grapes. I thought the wine was both varietally correct and tasty, approachably enjoyable, round and weighty without harsh edge, with notes of light sweet hay, flowers, and pear on the nose, and apple and pear flavors. This Sauvignon Blanc has a long lingering finish; 14.7 percent alcohol.

The NV Brown Family Wines Rhone ($12) is a blend of vintages and varietals: 37 percent Rousanne, 30 percent Grenache Blanc, 18 percent Marsanne, 13 percent Sauvignon Blanc, and 2 percent Viognier. Speaking about the blending process of making this wine, Michelle shared, “this one we played about with; one of the nicer aspects of the job.”

The result of Scott and Michelle’s play, this Rhone white blend has lovely mouth feel, round and slightly honey coated, and shows pear, hay, herb, a little veg, and lush full pear fruit balanced by a touch of acid. The blend yielded a rounder white than their Sauvignon Blanc; 14.0 percent alcohol.

Onto the reds, the 2011 Estate Merlot, Redwood Valley ($15) is made from the Brown’s own hand-picked and hand-sorted grapes. Full berry fermented and held 14 months in French oak, 2-3 years old, on lees, the Merlot has a rich nose of leather, cocoa, strawberry rhubarb, anise, and bell pepper. The mouth had rich plummy cherry, boysenberry and herb. This Merlot was round, yet soft, with a touch of oak. Food friendly, I imagined pairing this wine with a duck breast; 14 percent alcohol.

The 2011 Brown Family Wines Meritage ($17) is a blend of 72 percent 2011 Estate Merlot and 28 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. This was my favorite of the wines I tasted, with licorice, blackberry, cherry, and herb running seamlessly from nose to mouth to finish. The wine started a bit closed, but opens in the mouth; 14.2 percent alcohol.

2007 Brown Family Wines Red, California ($12) is another blend, and again uses Sonoma County grapes, roughly 88 percent Zinfandel and 12 percent Petite Sirah, and while lighter is dry, really dry, with an acid edge. The greatest part of this blend comes from two Zinfandels, both done in barrels for 22 months.

The longer hold in oak led to this 2007 red being noticeably drier in my mouth than the 2011 reds; that and 2011 fruit is generally lighter, brighter, and more elegant than the big, rich, and dense fruit of 2007.

This red blend has a powerfully perfumy, sherry pungency. There are caramel, chocolate, red vines, cherry, and berry notes in profusion. Did I mention cherry? If you missed it in the nose or mouth, you’ll definitely catch it on the finish; 14 percent alcohol.

The 2007 Brown Family Wines Syrah, California ($12) is also a noticeably drier wine than the 2011 reds. Firm tannin dominates a wine of chocolate syrup, green herb and both red and black fruit; 14.1 percent alcohol.

Rather than tiered discounts for different wine club obligations, the Browns keep things simple; join the wine club and receive a 25 percent discount on all purchases.

Open Friday and Saturday, noon – 5 p.m., for tastings, Brown Family Wines is located at 1106 Bel Arbres Drive in Redwood Valley. For more information, call (707) 234-4236 or visit their website at http://www.BrownFamilyWines.com

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John Cesano writes and posts on his wine blog at JohnOnWine.com

 

A Taste of Redwood Valley – an essay in images

 

 

 

 

Wine is busting out all over in June

John On Wine

Wine is busting out all over in June

By John Cesano

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal on June 6, 2013

 

Here are four big wine events for our local Mendocino County wineries, each a great opportunity for you to taste our county’s wines:

 

Taste of Mendocino

Tuesday, June 11, 2013 • Trade & Media Tasting 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. • Public Grand Tasting 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. • Golden Gate Club in San Francisco’s Presidio • Tickets are $25

Sometimes getting folks from San Francisco to visit us in Mendocino County is difficult, so each year Mendocino County visits San Francisco to remind the folks there about all we have to offer visitors.

“Hosted by Mendocino Winegrowers, Inc. and Visit Mendocino County, this intimate, wine-filled event is a showcase of all the people and products that make Mendocino County such a special destination for wine lovers, outdoor enthusiasts and rebels.”

Participating wineries include Abertina Wine Cellars, Alder Springs Vineyard, Balo Vineyards, BARRA of Mendocino/Girasole Vineyards, Bink Wines, Brutacao Cellars, Claudia Springs Winery, Demuth Kemos Wines, Drew Family Cellars, Elke Vineyards, Edmeades, Frati Horn Wines, Frey Vineyards, Graziano Family of Wines, Greenwood Ridge Vineyards, Handley Cellars, Harmonique, Husch Celllars, Judson Hale Winery, Kimmel Vineyards, Lula Cellars, Maple Creek/Artevino Winery, Masut, McFadden Vineyard, Meyer Cellars, Navarro Vineyards, Parducci Wine Cellars, Paul Dolan Vineyards, Philo Ridge Vineyards, Seebass Vineyards and Family Wines, Testa Vineyards, Trinafour Cellars, and Waits-Mast Family Cellars.

Other participating Mendocino County institutions include Assagiare Mendocino, B Bryan Preserve, Camp Navarro, Craft Distillers/Germain-Robin, Kemmy’s Pies, Living Light, Mendocino Brewing Co., Mendocino Music Festival, Mendocino Organics, Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Company, Sapothecary, Skunk Train, Thanksgiving Coffee Company, and Visit Ukiah.

For more information, or to buy your tickets online, visit https://tasteofmendocino.chirrpy.com/

 

A Taste of Redwood Valley

June 15 & 16, 2013 • 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. both days • Two day tickets are $30.

“On Saturday & Sunday, visitors can meander along the back roads of Redwood Valley to each winery and distillery to taste library wines, unusual varietals, small production lots and experience the fun of tasting right out of the barrel. Guests will enjoy plentiful offerings of food, live music, and local farmers’ market stands. Each winery is family owned and is unique in its setting, its wine and food presentations, and its welcoming ambiance. Visit with the winemaker, vintner or grower, and listen to their stories, ask technical questions and experience the wines of a truly unique appellation.”

Participating wineries include:

Barra of Mendocino /Girasole Vineyards • 7051 North State Street • 707-485-0322 • http://www.barraofmendocino.com • http://www.girasolevineyards.com

Cole Bailey Vineyards • 1482 Inez Way • 707-485-9507 • http://www.colebailey.com

Frey Vineyards • 14000 Tomki Road • 707-485-5177 • http://www.freywine.com

Germain-Robin • 1110 Bel Arbres Drive • 707-468-7899 • http://www.craftdistillers.com

Giuseppe Wines •395 School Way • 707-485-8458 • http://www.giuseppewines.com

Graziano Family of Wines • 1170 Bel Arbres Drive • 707-744-8466 •  http://www.grazianofamilyofwines.com

Oster Wine Cellars •13501 Tomki Road • 707-485-5257 • http://www.osterwine.com

Silversmith Vineyards • 8121 Vineyard Oaks Dr. • 707-485-1196 • http://www.silversmithvineyards.com

Testa Vineyards  • 6400 North State Street • 707-485-7051 • http://www.testaranch.com

There is also a Redwood Valley Winemaker’s Dinner Friday night at Testa Vineyards. For more information, or to buy your tickets online, visit http://atasteofredwoodvalleysummer2013-efbevent.eventbrite.com/#

 

Taste of Downtown (Ukiah)

Friday, June 21, 2013 • 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. • Tickets are $30

“This evening of fine wines, marvelous micro brews and specialty food items is perhaps one of the most anticipated events of the year. The evening festivities will also include local musians and local artists, and it all takes place on the streets of Historic Downtown Ukiah.”

2012 Participants include :

Wineries: Lavender Blue, Zina Hyde Cunningham, Chiarito Vineyard, Husch, Claudia Springs Winery, Craft Distillers, Graziano Family of Wines, Parducci Wine Cellars, Cesar Toxqui Cellars, Frey Vineyards, Bonterra, McNab Ridge, Fetzer Vineyards, Navarro Vineyards, Weibel Vineyards, McFadden Vineyard, Jaxon Keys, Rivino Winery, Jeriko Estate, Neese Vineyards, Milano Family Winery, McNab Ridge Winery, and Ceago Vinegarden

Breweries: Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Eel River Brewing, Mendocino Brewing Co., Kona Brewing Co., Lagunitas, Lost Coast Brewing, Mad River Brewing Co., Shock Top, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

For more information visit http://www.ukiahmainstreetprogram.org/news-details.asp?id=102&subarea=Home

 

10TH Anniversary Coro Mendocino Release Party – celebrating the 2010 vintage

Saturday, June 22, 2013 • 6:00 p.m. • Little River Inn, 7901 N. Hwy. 1, Little River, CA 95456  • Tickets are $500 per couple

“Join the winemakers of Coro Mendocino for a weekend of fine food and wine as they celebrate their 10th Anniversary and the release of the 2010 vintage. Taste a showcase of each winery’s white and sparkling wines during the cocktail hour, then feast on a gourmet dinner for two prepared by Chef Marc Dym before taking home a full set of the 2010 Coro Mendocino.”

Participating wineries include Brutocao, Claudia Springs, Fetzer, Golden, Mendocino Vineyards, McFadden, McNab Ridge, Parducci, Philo Ridge, and Ray’s Station.

There is also an exclusive V.I.P tasting of library Coro Mendocino magnums on Friday, June 21st, 4:30-6:30 p.m., limited to the first 30 release party guests that reserve at $75 per person.

Seating for the five course dinner is limited reservations are required, call the Little River Inn to secure your spot (7017) 937-5942. For more information, visit http://www.coromendocino.com/index.php/pages/release_party

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John Cesano is looking forward to tasting many different wines this month.

 

Spotlight Winery: Milano Family Winery

JOHN ON WINE – Spotlight Winery: Milano Family Winery

By John Cesano

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal on May 16, 2013

A few months ago when launching this column, I said I would try to limit my use of the words love and adore, because with the way I feel about the area’s wines and people I could easily overuse both.

Well, I have been sparing enough that I hope you’ll forgive me now. I absolutely adore Deanna Starr.

Deanna and her husband Ted own Milano Family Winery at the south end of Highway 101 in the big old hop kiln. Deanna is also the winemaker at Milano.

I worked with Deanna when we were on the board of Destination Hopland together. Deanna is intelligent, funny, patient, thoughtful, and a joy to work with. Deanna is also a gracious hostess; last year, I attended a group meal Deanna hosted at Milano for tasting room folks from a number of local wineries in the middle of Hopland Passport after the first full day of pouring.

Milano Family Winery can’t be missed. Although it sits back off Highway 101, it’s the only big wooden hop kiln building with the word “WINERY” in giant letters posted on the side facing the road.

After parking, you can climb the stairs to the tasting room, or take in the menagerie on the south side of the winery.

I always visit the animals first. On my last visit, I saw chickens, turtles, ducks, pygmy goats, geese, sheep, and a llama. There are probably more, but I especially like seeing the giant turtles. Seeing them doesn’t make the wine taste better objectively but, since it always puts me in a good mood, the turtles may make the wines taste better subjectively for me.

The first thing you notice after climbing the stairs to the second floor and entering the tasting room is how well it is stocked with fun wine themed merchandise. After tasting wines at McFadden, I often send our guests who ask about particular wine accessories onward to Milano because of the incredible range of products offered.

There were 22 wines on the list when I visited. There is a modest tasting fee which Dawn, my tasting room host, waived for me. I tasted six wines. Here’s my notes:

2009 Chardonnay $16 ­ Caramel notes from oak, butter from malolactic fermentation, nice light apple fruit.

2009 Sangiovese, Palisades Vineyard $24 ­ Enjoyably drinkable. Cassis, plum, cedar. Approachable, not the spiced tannin edge of some Sangiovese. Nicely balanced with just enough acidity to provide structure for the fruit.

2006 Carignane, Hidden Hawk Vineyard $22 ­ Nice, rich, forward fruit notes of cherry, raspberry, and strawberry.

2006 Neese Merlot $24 ­ Sherry like vanilla and sweet fig, sweet tart cherry, tannin, tapering finish.

2006 Echo, Bells Echo Vineyard $37 – I (forgive me) love (there, I said it) this wine. Didn’t want to spit. Blackberry, cherry. Great mouth feel. Long lingering finish.

2006 Orange Muscat $29 ­ This was Dawn’s favorite. Honeyed apricot meets lovely citrus, wonderfully balanced. 15.2 percent alcohol.

Deanna holds her wines longer than many local winemakers, so you will find older vintages available at Milano Family Winery than at most – if not all – other local winery tasting rooms. The extra time gives her wines a chance to fully age, both in barrel and in the bottle. You have undoubtedly heard of people laying wines down, cellaring them, aging them; Deanna and Milano Family Winery do that for you so the wines you purchase are how Deanna would like you to taste them.

In addition to the varietal reserve, premium, and dessert wines available for tasting, Milano Family Winery produces some wine bottles that are blends with fun names such as Sunshine, Mistero, Big Ass Red, and Disaster Relief Red.

Wines are sold by the bottle, but Milano Family Winery also sells wines by the glass, which is perfect if you want to head back outside and enjoy a picnic lunch (BYOP: bring your own picnic) with wine at a wooden picnic table under a grape arbor next to the animals. Milano has a terrific spot for picnics.

The Milano Family Winery tasting room is open daily from 10 a.m. ­ 5 p.m.

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A Taste Of Redwood Valley will be hosting a winemaker dinner Friday, June 14, followed by their 21st annual special weekend of wine tasting on Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16. Participating wineries include Barra of Mendocino/Girasole Vineyards, Cole Bailey Vineyards, Frey Vineyards, Germain-Robin, Giuseppe Wines, Graziano Family of Wines, Oster Wine Cellars, Silversmith Vineyards, and Testa Vineyards. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit ATasteOfRedwoodValley.com
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John Cesano is twice the man he was in high school. Literally, John weighs exactly twice what he once did many years ago.

 

Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission renewal referendum called.

Every wine region that wants to successfully compete for the public’s attention and good prices for grapes and wines has an organization tasked with promoting the quality of the grapes grown and the wines made in their area.

Lodi uses the Lodi Winegrape Commision to do effective work convincing buyers that their central valley grapes are being grown in a green fashion. Sonoma County is represented by Sonoma County Vintners and the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission (these two share the same physical address). Napa has the Napa Valley Vintners Association. Paso Robles has the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance.

As a peripheral member of the local wine industry, I am thankful that Mendocino County has the current incarnation of the Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission (MWWC).

MWWC represents 343 winegrape growers and 91 wineries in Mendocino County.

Megan Metz is MWWC’s Executive Director, having been promoted to the position in October, 2011 after a successful turn as MWWC’s Director of Marketing and Communications beginning February of 2011.

Megan and her incredible staff including Gracia, Courtney, and Jen, assisted by Josh and Jan, help Mendocino County’s winegrape growers through an ongoing series of viticulture educational forums aimed at helping growers increase the quality and value of their grapes, by acting as co-hosts of  eco-wine symposiums, and working with growers to contain and eradicate the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM) in the county.

MWWC is instrumental in collecting and making available information vital to the county’s winegrape growers like the recent water updates concerning Russian River frost regulations.

Hosting an online grape marketplace, MWWC helps our winegrape growers sell their fruit and, through focused marketing events that focus on the county’s vineyards and growing areas, MWWC works to maintain the price that Mendocino County fruit commands in hard times and help that fruit increase in price in good times.

I know Megan and her crew at MWWC professionally through my dual roles as tasting room manager for McFadden Vineyard and Secretary of the Board of Destination Hopland.

At last year’s incredibly successful Taste of Mendocino event in San Francisco, MWWC brought Mendocino County’s bounty to San Francisco and played host first to trade and media and then the general public for tastings that saw winery tasting rooms grouped by the AVA, growing area, their wines predominately came from.

My boss, Guinness McFadden, was proud to pour his wines ordinarily tasted in our Hopland tasting room under a banner for Potter Valley. As the first grower to plant grapes in Potter Valley, growing organically from day one, that Potter Valley sign flying in San Francisco was enormously important to Guinness.

Social media savvy, MWWC had trade and media guests tweeting using the #TOM12 hashtag. From my tasting room over 100 miles away, I was able to steer attendees directly to Guinness using those same tools.

Destination Hopland is charged with hosting two major events each year, a Spring and a Fall passport event for our area’s 16 member wineries, our Hopland Passport. We are fortunate that under Megan, MWWC partners directly with Mendocino County’s various wine region organizations. In addition to Destination Hopland, MWWC also directly helps A Taste of Redwood Valley, Yorkville Highlands Growers & Vintners Association, and the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association.

MWWC has helped Destination Hopland improve our website, making Jen available to provide the text on each page. MWWC has also helped with advertising and marketing, aiding with ad placement in upscale glossy publications, while tasking Jan with disseminating effective press releases to help Hopland achieve the media notice we wish to gain for our local winery members.

Megan also stepped in to host a winemaker dinner for visiting press members to Hopland Passport last year, leading directly to beneficial media attention.

Last November, at the Mendocino County Wine & Mushroom Fest event Wine and Mushroom Train that MWWC and Visit Mendocino jointly hosted at Camp Mendocino, Megan appeared at my side as I poured wines for an exuberant crowd. Megan calmly told me that she needed my help, that a speaker came down ill, and that I would need to give a talk to assembled media including writers from Sunset Magazine, Edible Marin & Wine Country, O – The Oprah Magazine, Taste of Home, Vegetarian Times, Popular Plates, Intermezzo, Newsweek, and Cooking Light.

Megan made clear that as an emergency guest speaker, I wasn’t to be wearing my McFadden hat, or my Hopland hat, but that she wanted me to speak about all of Mendocino County’s wines, focusing as much as possible on the different growing regions throughout the county.

Megan and MWWC saw that every wine growing region in Mendocino County enjoyed press attention from the gathered media, that the focus was on the winegrape growers as much as it was on the wines of the county.

I started at McFadden in March last year, and joined the Destination Hopland Board in July last year. For me, Megan and her crew are the only MWWC I have ever known.

MWWC became effective in 2006, and late in 2011 the California Department of Food & Agriculture announced a February 1, 2012 hearing in Ukiah to consider the continuation or suspension of MWWC.

I attended the hearing and spoke in support of MWWC, of Megan, and of the incredibly effective crew that has been assembled to help market the winegrapes and wines of Mendocino County.

Let me be blunt, not only is MWWC doing a great job but with even the central valley wine organizations engaging in what appears to be a bit of greenwashing, without MWWC the other wine areas are poised to eat Mendocino County’s lunch.

I was surprised to find semi organized opposition by some growers at the meeting, with a saddening lack of civility, cogency, or willingness to acknowledge any of the positive works MWWC has accomplished for growers and wineries under Megan. Some of the speakers were unpleasantly ugly, repeatedly interrupting testimony in support of MWWC’s continuance and spewing vitriolic comments tinged with a paranoiac worldview that I don’t share.

I am grateful to one grower who would not want to be identified, who I know to be intelligent through our shared involvement in Hopland wine industry events, who explained that the opposition by some growers stems from the notion that MWWC was forced into existence at the insistence of a major buyer of fruit within the county, under threat of blackballing the county’s growers if MWWC was not voted for back in 2006. My serious thanks to you for sharing your passionately held view, you provide a much needed perspective lacking in the presentations made during the hearing.

MWWC during the first four years of existence, prior to Megan and her crew taking charge, is not the Commission I know, it was explained to me. Malfeasance bordering on criminal and ineptitude bordering on tragic were common, I was told.

I came to understand some of the opposition to the continuance of MWWC, but I think that such a stance is both myopic and irresponsible.

Getting rid of MWWC just as it is well formed and ready to build on the last year’s marketing successes seems nearly stupid, akin to cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. Myopic, because growers can expect to see their grapes valued less, and prices remain flat or decrease, if their opposition is the majority view, as other areas continue to successfully market their grapes to buyers through their commissions, organizations, alliances, and associations. In the ‘bad’ past, MWWC’s director and staff operated under the guidance of a board made up of member growers. If malfeasance and ineptitude were the order of the day, then it seems to me that those board members – and those Commission members who didn’t bother to join the board or a committee – are the people ultimately responsible for the first four years of Commission failure. Every person who spoke against MWWC’s continuance spoke of the past; not one spoke of the present.

I’m the new guy. I don’t see the past. I don’t know the politics. I judge things on their face. MWWC under Megan Metz and the crew she has assembled are doing a fantastic job, and they want to improve their efforts on behalf of Mendocino County’s winegrape growers and wineries.

I respect a difference of opinion, and am able to place disagreement in context thanks to the perspective shared by others who have been active locally in this industry for decades. I know that the opposition by growers is not monolithic, and the vote will be close. I also find that those who spoke in support of MWWC’s continuance spoke intelligently, citing specific events and results, mostly from prepared statements, while opposition was offered in incoherent and angry rants. I am heartened that most growers I know are not like the speakers I described, but instead are intelligent, thoughtful, friendly, and open to fair consideration of a reasonable proposition. I believe that this is true of most of Mendocino County’s growers.

I’m a tasting room manager, not a vineyard or winery owner, so I don’t have a vote, but I urge the voting Commission members to return a favorable vote when a referendum is called. According to MWWC’s twitter page, “MWWC renewal ballots to be sent out within 60 days from 2/23”