Fans and snoring

John On Wine – Fans and snoring

Originally published in the Ukiah Daily Journal newspaper on Thursday, April 23, 2015

Recently, I found myself in a packed courtroom on a Friday morning in Ukiah. Thankfully, I wasn’t fighting a speeding ticket or doing my civic duty by sitting on a jury; I came to witness Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Richard Henderson hear from the lawyers in the matter of Scaramella vs. the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.

The plaintiff, Mark Scaramella, is suing Mendocino County and named three farmers as Parties of Real Interest, claiming that wind machines are a noise nuisance which should be banned. The County has replied, among other issues, that the wind machines are an established farming practice protected by the county Right To Farm ordinance.

The three Anderson Valley neighbors of Scaramella named in the suit were Pennyroyal Farm, V. Sattui Winery, and Foursight Wines.

Scaramella was seeking an injunction to stop the use of wind machines immediately, and encouraged opponents of the fans to show up at the hearing, publicizing his request in the Anderson Valley Advertiser.

Fans are used in vineyards to mitigate damage from frost, and effectively replace the use of water to do the same job, which is a responsible vineyard management tool, especially in these times of critical water shortage owing to the continuing drought in California.

The case was a battle of competing interests, the right to be free of noise pollution and the County’s Right to Farm ordinance.

Mendocino County has a noise ordinance in place, prohibiting sound in excess of 40 decibels (dB). 40 dB is roughly equivalent to the sound produced by a babbling brook, a refrigerator hum, a library, or the lowest ambient sound of an urban area.

Because of the size of the crowd gathered Judge Henderson made a few introductory remarks to the assembled crowd, noting that many were likely Anderson Valley residents opposed to the fans, which drew an audible dissent from the majority of those gathered, before he went on to note that it seemed there were many farmers who were there to support the use of the fans, and then asking that only the lawyers speak and that the courtroom remain silent throughout the remainder of the proceedings.

I took advantage of an offer from the court clerk and moved to the jury box to sit, rather than continue to stand, and enjoyed a great view of the participants.

Judge Henderson noted that his tentative ruling had taken into account all filings thus far, but the ruling he referred to had not yet been shared with the lawyers, so a brief recess allowed copies to be made and lawyers to read the ruling.

The Ukiah Daily Journal’s Justine Frederiksen reported on April 10 that the tentative ruling read, “The court finds that the interim harm that (Mark Scaramella) may suffer, (estimated to be) 10 nights of sleep interruption of deprivation, is clearly outweighed by the probable damage that would be caused to grape vines,” and that prohibiting the use of agricultural fans during frost events, which can “kill all actively growing parts of a grape vine and will reduce yields from between 50 percent to 100 percent, could result in losses measured in the tens of millions of dollars.” Frederiksen ended her piece noting, “Judge Henderson [had] said Friday he was inclined to favor his tentative ruling, but would be releasing a formal ruling in writing soon.”

I have deep empathy for those vineyard neighbors throughout California’s wine valleys missing sleep on some nights, but I feel this is a good tentative decision. Wineries attempting to use wind instead of water during this drought to prevent catastrophic crop frost damage should be afforded every reasonable accommodation. I feared that this suit about fans could lead to further Right to Farm erosions, possible battles regarding water use and other farming practices in the future.
The judge noted that the plaintiff had not presented any real evidence of a noise ordinance violation, no certified dB readings had been taken or offered.

I thought, absent any real evidence to the contrary, that a dB level above allowed might not be owing to any one farmer’s practices, but cumulative, and while the would be sleeper is impacted, no one grower might actually be in violation of noise ordinances. It is also entirely possible that each farm exceeds noise restriction with their fans, and cumulatively it is a nightmare. I do not know. My position as a wine guy has me on the side of growers, surprising no one, I expect. This suit, to me, could be seen as an attack on Mendocino County’s largest legal industry.

I used to snore like a chainsaw, definitely well in excess of 40 dB, and more than one partner could well empathize with Scaramella. My high school best friend told me she actually thought about killing me to end the noise. I gave her my iPod and ear buds, and dialed up some music for her, and she was able to sleep. Major dental work last November ended my frightful snoring, but I well remember the murderous look in her eyes over her sleep deprivation.

I have other friends who live near vineyards and tell me that the fans are loud, but that they would rather live near healthy and profitable vineyards than not, and find ways to counter the occasional use of fans, from ear plugs to noise cancelling headphones.

I hope that Judge Henderson’s tentative ruling remains intact when crafting his final ruling. I also hope that Scaramella reads this: Walmart sells Panasonic noise cancelling headphones for $31, Best Buy sells Sony noise cancelling headphones for $50, and top of the line Bose earbuds or headphones, the Cadillac of noise cancellers, are $300 direct from Bose. I used to have a pair of Bose when I flew each week for business to wine tradeshows, and even the sound of propellers right outside the passenger cabin were masked into absence. I think an old girlfriend might have stolen mine, to make living with a new snoring boyfriend tolerable.
___________

Tomorrow, Friday, April 24, 2015 is International Sauvignon Blanc Day. Originally created by social media marketer Rick Bakas while at St. Supery, the world wide celebration of Sauvignon Blanc has grown, and countless wine lovers will buy and taste the variety, tweeting and posting words and pictures online using the hash tag #SauvBlanc to be part of a one day global social media trend.

Locally, McFadden will pour for the public a new Sauvignon Blanc release, from the 2014 vintage. It is the best Sauvignon Blanc I’ve tasted from McFadden, and I hope you can visit Eugene tomorrow in McFadden’s tasting room in Hopland for a complimentary tasting between 10am-5pm, bringing your cell phone or other mobile device to post while you are tasting #SauvBlanc – and if you can’t make it to Hopland, then grab a bottle from any producer in a local store and join the fun.

 

John On Wine enjoys a moment of self reflection

Today I look back at where the blog has been, and where I would like to see it go in the next year. This isn’t a self congratulatory puff piece, at least that isn’t my intention; I want to touch briefly on some topics that I hope to cover in greater fullness in the next year, and rededicate myself to what I think I’ve done well with my blog over the last year.

In January last year, I started blogging on Myspace, not about wine, but about whatever I wanted. My writing was equal parts journal, soap box, and therapist’s couch. I wasn’t writing about wine, and the writing didn’t come easy every day, but I found that I enjoyed writing. I found that the writing helped me clarify my thinking on a variety of subjects, and I found myself shocked when people found their way to my random writing and bothered to read it.

It wasn’t until May that my first wine oriented articles appeared in the blog. Murphy Goode was looking for a really good Hardy Wallace, and at the time I thought I would be a great candidate. Murphy Goode’s contest is why I started to focus on wine.

Although I had loyal facebook friends, was able to mobilize support from members of online forums where I was a member, and through 30 year reunion communications had my high school classmates voting en masse, all leading to my video application being the 8th most popular out of the almost 2,000 submitted; looking back, I can say I was woefully unqualified for Murphy Goode’s job.

I had more knowledge of Sonoma County than any other applicant, a love and passion for the area I was born and raised. I have awards for marketing Sonoma County wines; my experience is grounded in the real world, and compliments my Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. I was the perfect candidate, except for one little thing: I wasn’t really a wine blogger, and my writing wasn’t really all that good.

Through the Summer, I continued to write my little blog on Myspace. I still wrote whatever I wanted, and wasn’t hemmed in by being a blog about a subject yet. As I wrote, my writing started to improve. I never felt that my writing was artistic, beautiful, elegant; for me writing felt like craft, not art. The most I could hope for was to construct a well built article. I felt like a handyman.

By Fall, I was happier still with my writing, feeling like a craftsman. I was happy with my writing, and actually proud of a piece or two.

In December, I moved my blog here to WordPress, and originally named it John On Wine, Food, Friends, and Wine Country Lifestyle. I narrowed the focus, and was surprised that inspite of the narrower focus, my readership increased.

Coming to WordPress, I brought some of my writing from Myspace, but deleted the vast majority of what I had previously written. Looking back at my archived articles, I wonder if I might have deleted enough.

Without intending to, I have written almost exclusively about wine in 2010. The writing is easier, I have worked for many years in the industry, have experience, knowledge, passion, and I enjoy sharing what I know and think. I shortened the name of the blog to John On Wine.

Where I once had fewer than 100 find my blog in a week, I now have over 200 people visit my blog daily. There are wine bloggers that claim 10,000 visits daily, so my success is small, but I am happy with it.

The decision to focus on wine was made unconsciously as I looked at the writing about wine, both in print and online. It seemed that wine writers were writing for each other instead of for regular people. Seriously, why waste a sentence writing about  a wine receiving a 100 point score from a well known wine critic if the wine is a small 150 case release, costs $275 a bottle and all of the bottles are already allocated to customers on a list maintained by the winery with a 15 year wait to get on the list?

I am the wine geekiest of my friends or family, the Frasier Crane in a world of Daphne Moons.  I want to write about wines that taste good, cost relatively little, and are readily available. I want to write without pretension or built in snob biases against certain wines (yes, I’m looking at you White Zin). I have friends who didn’t drink wine, but drank beer instead, with meals. I write for them, not other wine writers or bloggers, and I am thrilled when I get an email from a friend about bringing home a wine from the supermarket, or ordering a glass of wine in a restaurant, because of something I have written.

That is why I write, that is who I am writing for. Please do not bring up “monetizing” my blog, a regular person picking up a wine is my payback.

I live in wine country, I write with passion, I do well what the wine industry as a whole does horribly, I market wine, and wine country to my readers. My writing has led to some opportunities, invitations to special tastings and events.

I love writing about a huge tasting like ZAP; the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers grand tasting in San Francisco is an opportunity for a Zinfandel lover to choose, from several hundred Zinfandels being poured by nearly every producer of the varietal, Zinfandels to taste over a three hour period.

I am proud of the recap I wrote covering three days of ZAP events, and about my chance encounter with Zinfandel icons Joel Peterson of Ravenswood, and his son Morgan Twain-Peterson of Bedrock wine Company.

I am equally proud of my piece dedicated to White Zinfandel. There are plenty of wine snobs, many with wine blogs, who write about White Zin with derision. I do not join them, but will happily join a friend at a Summer picnic in enjoying a deliciously sweet and refreshing White Zin.

I visit wineries, and write longer feature pieces, making generous use of photography to paint a better picture of the property than my words convey. I am surprised, when leaving a winery that I am going to write about, to find I love the winery and want to work there – each and every time. Every winery I visit is special, a jewel, worthy of a story, stealing my heart. I don’t seek out special wineries, I just find that every winery I have visited so far is. Sit down with a winemaker, a tasting room manager, a winery owner, and it doesn’t take much digging to find the uniqueness, the magic, the specialness.

I write evaluations and reviews of wine accessories and wine books. My article condemning the vacu-vin pump wine saver was one of my most read pieces and I still have people visiting my site to read that article after Googling “vacu-vin.” I read and reviewed Randall Grahm’s book Been Doon So Long; I loved reading it, I hope my love for the book inspires someone to buy a copy for a wine loving friend, and I know it will make a Christmas Gift list recommendation piece at year’s end.

I write about wine and health. My piece on wine and pregnancy is linked and referenced on several maternity sites. I followed that up with a review of a book on the benefits wine offers in fighting the effects of aging, “Age Gets Better With Wine.”

I have taken up issues; Government censorship of wineries, neo-prohibitionism, wine blogger ethics, FTC rulings that apply to bloggers but not print writers, and snobbery by wine writers.

I don’t want to become a wine blogger writing for other wine bloggers, endlessly twittering about absolutely nothing in an attempt to be a loved member of the in crowd wine blogger community. I’m a 49 year old man, not a 12 year old girl. I believe in the value of community, and I think that reading more than one wine writer has value; I honestly think that too much of the wine writing (I’m guilty of this sometimes) out there just plain sucks.

Here’s a funny one; there’s a wine blog that calls itself “Wine for Regular People” or some such misnomer that reviews bottles of Lynch Bages at $95 and Morley Cabernet at $175. Those are single bottle prices folks. I have just one question for the regular people who read my blog:  How many of you are interested in wines you’ve likely never heard of at prices you’ll never pay? Seriously, I would respect the writing if it wasn’t front loaded with a bald face, um, lie. Change the name of the site to “Wine for Elites For Whom Money Is Not An Issue,” and you will instantly stop being mockable funny and start garnering immediate respect.

While I’m touching on things I don’t like; let me talk about Social Media Marketing hacks. I know of one winery wasting their money on not one, but two employees who together do not accomplish the worthwhile Marketing output of the majority of their peers. To make matters worse, one of them has publicly written that building his own personal brand is his focus in doing his job. What about your employer’s brand? Another gripe, I find there is far too little Marketing involved in most Social Media Marketing. How about you stop talking about your personal business on your employer’s site, maybe try developing a voice, a message, a professional content? My complaints about the weak could fill an entire article, and perhaps in the future, they will. Two people I think are doing a great job with Social Media Marketing in the industry are Eric Hwang and Rick Bakas; on their heels, learning and growing almost daily, is Nicole Marino.

I think that Social Media Marketing holds amazing potential for the wine industry specifically, but the only wineries that will see a benefit are those hiring people with a strong work ethic and pre-existing marketing skills who can apply them within a new environment.

So bringing this post to an end, I want to thank you for your support. I write for you, my regular guy or gal reader. I will continue to write an insider’s view into wine from the wine country. I want to continue to mix it up, providing varied content, but try to find more inexpensive, available, good wine to write about.

I will leave the wine ratings, 100 point scales, letter grade, puffs, stars, to others. I can’t, and don’t want to, taste hundreds of wines at an event and sum up each wine by assigning it a number; there are well read and respected wine writers who do just that already. I am looking forward to Summer, hot days spilling into long warm nights, friends gathered, enjoying food that I prepared from locally sourced farm ingredients, and wines. I love to write about wine in context.

I would rather tuck review sample wines away until Summer and review them in context, painting a much more full picture of fellowship and enjoyment, than open five wines, taste one after the other, and publish my tasting notes today.

 

Three, three, three posts in one.

Yesterday, the folks behind the 2010 Wine Blog Awards opened nominations in a number of categories. I went to facebook and pretty much asked for a nomination. My very good friend, and a supremely talented writer, Nancy Cameron Iannios nominated my wine blog in the Best New Wine Blog category.

If you read my blog regularly, and feel moved to do so, here’s a link to the nomination site; you can second my nomination through April 7 at:

Click here to be taken to a place you can second my nomination, thanks!

Here is the kind nomination post Nancy left for my nomination:

I am writing to nominate JohnOnWine.com for a Wine Blog Award in the Best New Wine Blog category.

John’s blog is well read and highly ranked. His posts aren’t puff pieces, but often run t thousands of words; he writes with passion and it is felt in each article he writes.

John started in April 2009, and has 66 posts, his writing has gotten better, richer, more full month by month, post by post.

Consider his event recaps, they are the most complete, often surpassing the descriptions of wine writers who have been around the scene many more years:

Celebrating V. Sattui Winery’s 125th Anniversary

19TH Annual Zinfandel Festival

The Biggest Petite Event of them all – Dark & Delicious

Passion for Pinot Noir, a recap of the Pinot Noir Summit

John’s interview with Ravenswood’s Joel Peterson and Bedrock Wine Company’s Morgan Twain-Peterson was a must read:

A conversation with Ravenswood’s Joel Peterson and Bedrock Wine Company’s Morgan Twain-Peterson

I look forward to each winery review John writes, it is almost like being there:

Feature Spotlight: Toad Hollow Vineyards

Featured spotlight winery: Keller Estates

Mendocino Wine Company: Parducci and Paul Dolan Vineyards

I tried to taste Fetzer’s, but tasted Topel Winery’s wines instead.

John provides wine reviews:

Nine Fine Wines reviewed, with my food pairings. All socially conscious.

2005 Toad Hollow Merlot Reserve, Richard McDowell Vineyard, Russian River Valley

As well as wine book and accessory reviews:

Getting Doon with Been Doon So Long

Age Gets Better With Wine

Friends don’t let friends Vacu-Vin

Finally, John handles tougher more controversial aspects of wine, wine and health, wine blogger ethics, proposed wine excise tax increases, and entertains while he educates his readers:

Wine and pregnancy, a healthy mix.

So, you don’t get wine writers or the wine industry? I know why.

Will Trader Joe’s be forced to sell Seven Buck Chuck?

Who is behind the “Alcohol-Related Harm and Damage Services Act of 2010″ Initiative?

With respect to all of the talented first year wine bloggers nominated, I think John Cesano has to be given serious consideration for this award. John’s work is not just well read, it is referenced, tweeted, retreated, linked, and commented on with great regularity.

Thanks again to Nancy; in the spirit of full disclosure, Nancy runs a business offering consultants to wineries in need of a little help, and I am one of Nancy’s consultants.

I will say, with what limited humility I am able to muster, that I too think I have the Best New Wine Blog in the English reading world, and that I am certainly worthy of being a nominated finalist for consideration. Just sayin’.

__________

Yesterday there was another tweetup built around wine. From 5pm-7pm, people opened bottles of wine and tweeted about them. Some tweeps banded together, turning a tweetup into a meet up, to enjoy wine and fellowship, and then tweet about the experience.

These wine tweetups were started by Rick Bakas, who handles Social Media Marketing chores for St. Supery. Initially, the theme wine was California Cabernet, and a huge number of people opened, tasted, and tweeted about the experience, using the hashtag #CaliCab, allowing a streaming shared experience across space. Did a number of people visit St. Supery, or open a bottle of St. Supery Cab? Sure, they did.

In the wake of success, other wine tweetups followed. There have been Sauvignon Blanc (#SauvBlanc), Washington state Merlot (#WAMerlot), and yesterday was a celebration of the winemaker’s art at blending (#WineBlends).

I visited Parducci near my home in Ukiah for the March 4 Sauvignon Blanc tweetup and had a great time; I returned again yesterday to taste two wine blends.

First things first, I want to say that the tasting room gals were not only smiling hugely, but laughing freely; Parducci has some of the friendliest, most welcoming staff in the industry.

One of the wines, the 2006 Paul Dolan Vineyards Deep Red, Mendocino County, I had tasted last month with the winemaker Bob Swain. Here are my notes from then: $45 – 14.5% alc. 770 cases made. 100% Demeter certified Biodynamic. 100% Dark Horse Vineyards; 57% Syrah, 31% Petite Sirah, 12% Grenache. Deep Red represents the winemakers attempt to best capture the best expression of the single vineyard for the vintage. Plum, blueberry. The land and varietals are both speaking with an earthiness from the vineyard and spices from the Syrah, Petite Sirah and Grenache. Yesterday, I was much less analytical, enjoying the wine with some delicious Greek food made at a Ukiah shop I didn’t know exists – but will be visited often now. My notes, limited by twitter’s character limits, were much simpler; 100% Demeter Biodynamic grapes, soft tannins, red fruit, delicious flavors, utterly drinkable.

The second wine was initially made exclusively for Whole Foods, but is now available at Safeway; the 2008 Parducci Sustainable White is 41.5% Chenin Blanc, 38% Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Viognier, 7.5% Muscat Canelli, and 1% Fruilliano, but 100% delish. crisp, yet fruity, unpretentious, accessible, easily drinkable.

Although I have a stack of wine books to read and review, sent to me at no cost, I bought Paul Dolan’s book, True To Our Roots: Fermenting A Business Revolution, at the tasting room and look forward to reading and reviewing it when I can get the time.

Next month’s event will be Chardonnay (#Chardonnay), and is scheduled for May 6. If you can visit a Chardonnay producing winery, like Parducci, it is completely worthwhile. You shouldn’t need an excuse to get out after work, and enjoy a little wine and food, and meet some new, like minded people. There is a rumor that Parducci is going to drag Cinco de Mayo out an extra day and have a taco truck park next to the tasting room; I hope the rumor is true. I love real tacos, I love Chardonnay; I want to find out which Chardonnay pairs best with Al Pastor.

If you can’t make it to a winery, buy a bottle of Chardonnay (French White Burgundy will do, but look for something either local to where you live or exciting to try, open it about a half hour before the appointed time to let it breathe and open up, then taste and tweet with the rest of us, starting at about 5pm.

__________

I got a Google alert last night just before bed, letting me know that I had been mentioned by name in someone else’s blog.

I didn’t find the post particularly complimentary; quite the opposite, I felt I had been insulted.

To be honest, I was a bit pissed. I didn’t really mind the post in and of itself, and the author was perhaps justified in his feelings about me and my actions; I just thought the author should have posted his thoughts as a comment to the article that offended him and perhaps a worthwhile conversation could occur. Instead, without contacting me, and without providing a full context, he took issue with my decision to publish the contact information, easily found using Google, of the authors of the ill considered 12,775% wine tax increase initiative they are trying to qualify for the November ballot.

Rather than count to 100, I got out of bed and crafted a comment of my own, but (perhaps fortunately) it was lost in the internet ether. I wrote my response again and posted it by email.

Having responded, I found I didn’t really care much anymore, my anger had dissipated, and reading some of the other posts on his site, I realized I had read his work before, and found just about every post I wasn’t in to be enjoyable.

Here’s a link to his original piece, along with my response which he edited in and then responded to.

I’m sure it wasn’t his intention, but you’ll find Tom Johnson’s LouisvilleJuice blog listed over in the right column where I have my blogroll.

 

Passion for Pinot Noir, a recap of the Pinot Noir Summit

I attended Affairs of the Vine’s 8th Passion for Pinot Noir Summit on Saturday, February 27, 2010, arriving at a bit before 12:00 noon and staying through nearly all of the festivities until 8:00 pm. Barbara Drady, Affairs of the Vine CEO offered a full day ticket in a contest which I won.

Barbara Drady, Chief Wine Evangelist & Affairs of the Vine CEO

Held at the first floor of the beautiful multi floor Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, I was welcomed with an event badge bearing my name and the names of the workshops I had signed up for.  Waiting for the summit to officially begin, I mingled with other attendees, chatting with other wine writers I have met at previous wine tasting events and finding a number of people that I have worked with at wineries to play the “whatever happened to” game of catch up with.

Dave Rogers, left, and Thea Dwelle, Wine writer Luscious Lushes, center

We were ushered into a ballroom with tables set up in to create a “U” shape. On the tables were 40 different Pinot Noir. Each of the bottles was completely covered in tape secured aluminum foil, labeled with different color names running from Aqua Marine to Yellow.

Pinot Noir prepared for 3 1/2 hours of blind tasting

Prior to the actual summit, 40 judges tasted many more Pinot Noir that had been submitted to be considered for inclusion at the summit. Tasting flights of eight wines at a time, and no more than 32 wines at a sitting, scores from the judges were totaled and the top 40 Pinot Noir were now available to be tasted by the summit attendees.

Wine bloggers and twitterers were well represented, and the following is a transcript of relevant tweets from my tweeps using the hash tag #PinotSummit:

LarryTheWineGuy Arrived at the #PinotSummit. Now for 8 hours of drinking Pinot. Where to begin?

elizabethdehoff After a quick stop at Whole Foods to pick up gluten-free crackers, I’m at the #PinotSummit! Still can’t believe I did this. 😀

elizabethdehoff Just ran into @LarryTheWineGuy. #pinotsummit

LarryTheWineGuy Interesting aromas from the cafe near the #pinotsummit. Pinot and matzo ball soup?

LarryTheWineGuy thirsty crowd at the #pinotsummit. let us in already. mmmm pinot.

JohnOnWine At #PinotSummit recognizing folks from previous tastings, taken pictures, ready to blind taste and make notes.

elizabethdehoff Small world: One of today’s winemakers is Eric Luse, an AP photog I sat next to randomly on a HNL-SFO flight 3 years ago. #pinotsummit

elizabethdehoff One down, 40 to go… #pinotsummit

StevePaulo At #PinotSummit! (@ Osher Marin JCC) http://4sq.com/4AU8c2

SFDoug At the #PinotSummit (@ Osher Marin JCC w/ @brandyea) http://4sq.com/4AU8c2

elizabethdehoff No reviews yet — this tasting is blind. Plenty to come after the big reveal! #pinotsummit

elizabethdehoff Oh man. I don’t know what cheese they’re serving with the blind tasting but it’s really good! #pinotsummit

LarryTheWineGuy Half way thru tasting 40 Pinots at #pinotsummit. Very high level of quality. Wouldn’t kick these out of bed.

elizabethdehoff @LarryTheWineGuy Wow, you are way ahead of me! #pinotsummit

brandyea RT @elizabethdehoff: Oh man. I don’t know what cheese they’re serving with the blind tasting but it’s really good! #pinotsummit << Agreed!

elizabethdehoff GOD, I love Pinot Noir! #pinotsummit

brandyea Some at #pinotsummit blind tasting pondering whether wines assigned colors like gold and burgundy have leg up on pumpkin and lime green.

LarryTheWineGuy Slowly progress is made at the #pinotsummit 24 down, 16 to go. All good. some great. Arguing over which is which.

StevePaulo @elizabethdehoff @brandyea And wedgewood? Wedgewood is a color? #pinotsummit

elizabethdehoff @stevepaulo @brandyea I think it’s the color of the Wedgwood china or something? #pinotsummit

JohnOnWine 27 tasted, 13 left to taste at #PinotSummit.

elizabethdehoff @JohnOnWine I think I’ve tasted 13 and have 27 to go! Ack. #pinotsummit

JohnOnWine @elizabethdehoff clearly you have to drink faster, grab a 2nd glass and stop spitting! #PinotSummit

StevePaulo 28 Pinot Noirs. Stick a fork in this guy. #pinotsummit (and for this who think I’m insane… yes, of course I spit)

brandyea @stevepaulo @elizabethdehoff Yeah, Wedgewood’s a little lost on me, too! #pinotsummit

JohnOnWine #PinotSummit OMG, the INDIGO Pinot is the best, followed by VIOLET, then AUBERGINE. (Note: We had been tasting for over 2 hours, not everyone was spitting, and these three colors were not actual wines to be tasted)

brandyea Heard a guy compare one of the wines to Bob Ross, the guy w/ the crazy hair on PBS’ Joy of Painting. Not sure what that means. #pinotsummit

LarryTheWineGuy Approaching the final stretch at the #pinotsummit Only one clunker so far. This is Pinot heaven.

brandyea Nice try! >> RT @JohnOnWine #PinotSummit OMG, the INDIGO Pinot is the best, followed by VIOLET, then AUBERGINE.

elizabethdehoff OK, the Pinot labeled as “deep purple” is my favorite so far. #pinotsummit

LarryTheWineGuy @johnonwine #pinotsummit You had me going there for a minute. Shuffling thru my notes!

demilove @randyhall – At the #Pinotsummit in san rafael; want a report on it for @Winebizradio?

elizabethdehoff 10 Pinots to go. I’ve given up taking detailed notes, am just writing “Yum!” or “Eh” to simplify, will revisit “Yum!” wines. #pinotsummit

ShaRayRay Still gonna make it to the #pinotsummit!

vintuba At #pinotsummit tasting and taking notes. Some good, some bad, and some ugly

elizabethdehoff I got through 39 Pinots (can’t find the 40th). Lots of spitting! #pinotsummit

LarryTheWineGuy Q: Can one have too many Pinots? A: No. Just finished tasting 40 Pinots. Now ready for more. #pinotsummit

brandyea Made it through all 40. Only poured wine from bottle into spit cup instead of wineglass twice! #pinotsummit

educatedpalates Discovering new stars at #Pinotsummit

JohnOnWine RT @educatedpalates: Discovering new stars at #Pinotsummit <- All the new stars are at my table!

ShaRayRay Finally made it to #PinotSummit (@ Osher Marin JCC w/ @sfdoug) http://4sq.com/4AU8c2

ShaRayRay http://twitpic.com/15q6k7 – Discovering New Stars in Pinot Noir #pinotsummit

StevePaulo Umm who farted in here! #pinotsummit /via @winebratsf Stay classy, Brat ;D

ShaRayRay Hi @jamiebakas. You look like you need a glass of wine!! #pinotsummit

educatedpalates Wine and food pairing at #pinotsummit

elizabethdehoff Attending seminar on global perspectives on Pinot. Burgundy, CA, NZ. #pinotsummit

philular Getting set up @osherjcc for #pinotsummit grand tasting! #hahnwines

elizabethdehoff Burgundy, je t’aime! #pinotsummit

elizabethdehoff @winebratsf really good so far. Which one did you end up in? #pinotsummit

demilove Enjoying the lectures at #Pinotsummit!

JohnOnWine Most important thing learned at #PinotSummit was that my palate is the best. LOL.

ShaRayRay @philular I already left! 😦 Sorry to have missed the finale of the #pinotsummit

JohnOnWine Thrilled that one of my top 3 #PinotSummit wines is from a vineyard that had not impressed me before. #BlindTastingRocks

brandyea Dark gray = Hahn SLH Estate and turquoise = Lucienne Doctor’s Vineyard. Both 2007. #hahnwines #pinotsummit

brandyea Some faves from the #pinotsummit: Pacific Coast Vineyards 2007 Babcock Estate (gray), Claiborne & Churchill 2007 Edna Valley (tan).

JohnOnWine OMG! #PinotSummit just gave me a best taster trophy! Nah, not really.

JohnOnWine @winebratsf Real #PinotSummit faves: Purple, 08 Left Edge Sonoma Coast, Gray 07 Pac Coast Babcock Vnyd, Dp Purp 07 Deaver Sierra Foothills

brandyea Two last picks from #pinotsummit: Vine Hill 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains and Exhuberance 2007 Sonoma Valley. Nice discoveries.

AnoushBotanical Enjoyed participating in Blind Tastings plus Wine Making & Organic / Sustainable Workshops at #PinotSummit thanks to @myvinespace

LarryTheWineGuy My favorites from the #PinotSummit Elk Cove, Perception, Sonoma Coast, Left Edge, Nicholson Ranch, Artesa. The others were really good too.

LarryTheWineGuy Champagne Pommery had a delicious new cuvee at the #PinotSummit 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier. I like Champagne. A lot.

elizabethdehoff My favorite in the blind tasting at #PinotSummit: Deaver Vineyards Sierra Foothills Pinot Noir (2007, I think). http://bit.ly/cTOTJL

elizabethdehoff @winebratsf Yes! I was stunned that it came from the Sierra Foothills. Heard lots of others liked it too. #PinotSummit

The initial event was the blind tasting of 40 Pinot Noir in a comfortable 3 1/2 hours. I secured a table with Dave Rogers, a friend I worked with years before at Windsor Vineyards, and we would venture forth, find an untasted wine, bring it backk to the table, taste, write notes with a score, spit and dump the remainder into a large plastic cup, and venture forth affair. Conveniently, our table was under great lighting allowing a judgement of each wine’s color and clarity.

Dave Rogers, right, with a high school friend

Each attendee was asked to note their top three wines on a ballot, and the results of the totaled scores, broken down by gender, will be posted no later than March 15, 2010  right here.

Barbara Drady, foreground, Elizabeth DeHoff and Thea Dwelle, background

After the blind tasting, attendees split into groups to attend the workshops they signed up for.

Amy Cleary, twitter @educatedpalates

I attended Discovering New Stars – “An Introduction and tasting of wines from young wineries producing fabulous Pinot Noir,” moderated by C. Jason Mancebo of http://www.20dollarwineblog.com/ fame. The new stars were Mark Ray of Perception Wines, Bradley Brown of Big Basin Vineyards and Ken Post of Mariposa Wine Company. Tables were set with placemats prepared with three wines to be tasted.

Jason Mancebo, $20 Dollar Wine Blog

Mark Ray poured a 2007 Perception Wines Pinot Noir Orsi Vineyard. I try to find and write about delicious inexpensive easily obtainable wines, that is my wine writing goal. Having said that, this is a wine few will taste, and I have to confess a thrill hearing that production is only 48 cases (website says 43), the cost is $53 (website says $52), and the alcohol is 13.8 (website says 13.9). Remembering exact numbers aren’t important, taste is; and this beautiful Pinot Noir tasted delicious, the grapes coming from the Russian River Valley, from vineyards just across the river from William Selyem and Rochioli. It was interesting to hear Ray say he used a clone (114) that is neither his nor the consumer’s favorite when it comes to Pinot Noir, but that the varietal is so site specific that the grapes planted in Bernard Orsi’s loamy and very rocky vineyard just shine. It was a treat to taste a 2007 Russian River Valley from a single vineyard, single clone, only two barrels, and about 45 cases only.

Mark Ray, Perception Wines

Bradley Brown poured a 2008 Big Basin Pinot Noir, Woodruff Family Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountain. The grapes come from clones older than 20 years, planted where regular fog allows harvest a full month later than most other areas, and yields of only 1 ton per acre. The not yet released wine will sell in the low $40’s and runs 14.6% alcohol.

Bradley Brown, Big Basin Vineyards

Finally, Ken Post of Mariposa Wine Company talked about his 2008 CRU Pinot Noir, Santa Maria $35, about grapes from the Derbyshire  Vineyard near San Simeon yielding only 600 pounds per acre, and about grapes coming in at 29° Brix in 2008. I imagined miniscule clusters of sugar bomb raisins. At least one wine was watered back (thank you for having the balls to openly admit to what many do) to a manageable 14.7% alcohol.

Ken Post, Mariposa Wine Company

I found the seminar more interesting for the different paths to great Pinot Noir these three winemakers took, having started with significantly different starting places. Great wine is made in the vineyard, and it was interesting to hear how each of these three worked with grapes they had.

While the rooms from the first workshop were reset for the afternoon’s second workshop, attendees enjoyed a Cheese Intermezzo with bubbly in the ballroom.

The second workshop I attended was the Food and Wine Pairing – “An exploration of Pinot Noir pairings, what works with what Pinot Noir? Taste for yourself,” moderated by Rick Bakas, Director of social media at St. Supery Winery.

Rick Bakas, St. Supery Winery

The wines were a 2007 Lionheart Wines Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, a 2006 Kendric Vineyards Pinot Noir Marin County, and a 2008 Mariposa wine Company CRU Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands Sarmento Vineyards. The foods were salmon with pickled ginger, pheasant pate with sweet chutney, and Manchego cheese. Our room wasn’t really set, and the event was a bit of a clusterfuck. Fifteen minutes into the workshop, Dave Rogers asserted some measure of control, moving up to the front table, grabbing the three wines, and announcing what we were going to be tasting. Eventually, everyone had the three wines and a too small morsel of each food to be tasted with the three wines, and tasting and note taking ensued.

Bakas then asked each table about their food and wine experiences. I found it interesting that some people could be so completely wrong. What I really found is that some people can’t break free of limitations and rules they have read or heard, while others can imagine new, possibly superior, pairings inspired by these pairings. Some could not taste the Pinot Noir for the sweetness of the chutney, while others allowed the chutney’s sweetness to compliment the Pinot Noir and create a more complete whole flavor profile. Some complained that the ginger spoiled the salmon and the Pinot Noir, while others, perhaps more used to pairing Pinot Noir with Asian cuisine, managed the whole quite well.

Second workshops finished, the summit attendees reentered the ballroom that had been reset for the Pinot Noir reception. The wine identities of the wines blind tasted at the summit’s start were revealed, medals were given out to participating wineries, tasty hors d’oeuvre were generously sampled, wineries poured their Pinot Noir and other offerings, notes were compared.

Pinot Noir Reception and Award Ceremony festivities

My top 10 Pinot Noir from the blind tasting were:

9.5/10 points – PURPLE – 2008 Left Edge Winery Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast,

9.0/10 points – GRAY – 2007 Pacific Coast Vineyards Pinot Noir Babcock Vineyards Santa Rita Hills,

9.0/10 points – DEEP PURPLE – 2007 Deaver Vineyards Pinot Noir Sierra Foothills,

9.0/10 points – BLUE – 2007 Mariposa Wine Company CRU Pinot Noir Vineyard Montage Central Coast,

8.5/10 points – AQUA MARINE – 2007 Kendric Vineyards Pinot Noir Marin County,

8.5/10 points – DUSTY ROSE – 2008 Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Noir Williamette Valley (OR) Mount Richmond,

8.5/10 points – LIGHT BLUE – 2006 Sonoma Coast Vineyards Pinot Noir Peterson Vineyards,

8.5/10 points – TAN – 2007 Claiborne & Churchill Vintners Pinot Noir Edna Valley,

8.5/10 points – WEDGEWOOD – 2007 Vine Hill Winery Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains, and

8.5/10 points – YELLOW – 2007 David Bruce Winery Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains.

No wine pours itself, or sells itself. The best winery representative at the summit was Megan Schachern of Row Eleven Wine Company.

I tasted and enjoyed the 2006 Row Eleven Pinot Noir Santa Maria, the 2007 Row Eleven Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, and the 2007 Row Eleven Pinot Noir 100 Barrel Reserve Santa Maria (J. Torres Vineyard,  Bien Nacido Vineyard, and Sierra Madre Vineyard). All three wines were delicious, but I would like to visit Row Eleven in San Rafael and taste again at the beginning of the day instead of the end. Megan shared a wonderful note on the winemaker; Richard de los Reyes puts his phone number on every cork that goes into a bottle of Row Eleven wine.

In addition to Dave Rogers, I ran into former Windsor Vineyards team mates Gordon Harsaghy and Linda Verdone. It was a genuine pleasure reminiscing with old friends.

Linda Verdone receives a kiss from Gordon Harsaghy

My thanks go out to Barbara and John Drady, and all of the volunteers from wineries and Affairs of the Vine, the judges, panelists, and everyone else who contributed to help make this a stellar wine event.

DISCLOSURE: I attended this wine event after winning a full day ticket in an online contest.