Just in Time for Christmas.

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The gift for every wine lover you know. Available through Amazon.com in many varieties.

Just in time for Christmas.

Sonoma Mountain versus Westside Paso Robles 2016 Vintage

Last night we cracked open two bottles of , both 2016 vintage. One was the Belden Barns Serendipity block. The second was Jack Creek Cellars Estate Reserve. The former is in the AVA just east of Santa Rosa. Jack Creek is in the Westside district of the Paso Robles AVA. We are long-time club members of both these fine wineries. This is our Sonoma Mountain versus Westside Paso Robles 2016 vintage tasting competition. At the outset, we’ll confirm your suspicions. Both these wines are terrific right now. The Belden Barns entry will probably improve a bit with one more year in the cellar. We’re old and impatient.

Both of these need time to breathe. Immediately after opening the bottles, each wine had excessive earthy notes both aromatically and on the palate. The Jack Creek developed in about 15 minutes. We decanted the Belden Barns to encourage it. To put it mildly, a little air was just what they needed.

The Jack Creek offering opened with aromas of cherries and spice. The palate is cherries and huckleberries with a solid underpinning of earthiness. The finish is long and exquisite with silky tannins and a nice acid balance.

Belden Barns opened with rose petals and cherries with a hint of brambleberry on the nose. The palate was more cherries with a solid spice base and a nice acid balance. You could easily cellar this for another year, but we suspect anything longer than that would be excessive.

Comparing the two led to an unusual result. We are accustomed to the idea that the further north the vineyard, the lighter the pinot (palate, not color). In this case, the Jack Creek was lighter. Once again the importance of microclimates shows itself. Norma preferred the Jack Creek while I liked the Belden Barns. Which makes for both a good tasting experience and a good marriage!

New European Union Planting Rights

Via the American Association of Wine Economists, the new European Union planting rights are available. As you may have guessed, winegrapes are being planted. This is yet another illustration of EU overregulation and interference with the market.

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The note below the table is important. Each country may expand plantings by one percent of the current total. This, of course, gives an advantage to countries with large areas planted since they will be allowed to plant more acreage than those with smaller planted areas.

And there seems to be a certain absence of logic in the allocations, most likely reflecting the political negotiations within the EU commmission. France was entitled to 8,101 hectares of new planting, asked for 11,744 and was gtranted only 5,755. Meanwhile ltaly received the rights to 6.685 hectares, 163 more than they were entitled to.

This decision is clearly political so I won’t bother worrying about the economics. But I will add that the U.S. also restricts new plantings. Our saving grace is that these decisions are usually made at the local government level by zoning and other land use regulations. For example, a developer who wants to build a new housing tract in the Livermore Valley must purchase an equal acreage and declare it to be used only for agriculture in perpetuity. The result, naturally, is houses and condominiums crammed together with developments separated by large parcels of land that are often not used for much of anything.

Kent Rosenblum, an Appreciation

Kent Rosenblum (Click for larger image)

I just heard that Kent Rosenblum passed away on September 5, 2018. Mr. Rosenblum, founder of the eponymous Rosenblum Cellars, became famous for , sourcing grapes from all over Northern California. But his real fame should be starting the warehouse winery movement. In 1978, Kent opened his winery on the north end of the island of Alameda, just across an estuary from Oakland. The main feature of that area is the Alameda Naval Air Station. It was an industrial area and, clearly, no grapes were grown there. Instead, he expanded the practice of sourcing grapes from various growers.

Today we take warehouse wineries almost for granted. One of our favorites, Siduri, was started in 1994. Carol Shelton opened her winery in 2000. William and Jack Salerno started Manzanita Creek in 1996. Interestingly both Ms. Shelton and Manzanita Creek have a fondness for . Siduri, of course, produces some of the finest pinot noirs anywhere.

[pullquote]California has lost yet another pioneer of our industry. Robert Mondavi brought science to winemaking. Ernest Gallo understood marketing and showed us the way in that field. Kent Rosenblum gets all the credit for rediscovering Zinfandel and bringing it to its current popularity.[/pullquote]

I was fortunate to be part of a group that had lunch with Kent about 15 years ago. He was delightful, sharing with us tales of his experience in the wine industry. In his earlier life, he was a veterinarian. He was famous for producing Chateau La Paws, proceeds of which were donated to animal related causes.

In 2008 Diageo made the Rosenblums an offer they couldn’t refuse. With some trepidation, they sold the winery. Today Diageo has turned Chateau La Paws into its own label, producing three different wines. The winery supports the North Shore Animal League of America (NSALA), the largest no- kill animal rescue group in the country. (Click for larger image)

Over lunch, Kent also told a story relevant to wine economics. He said that you could take a tanker full of grape juice from Australia, bring it to the U.S., ferment the grape juice, and ship it back to Australia at a total cost of about five cents a gallon. And remember, this was quite a few years ago. Shipping costs are even lower today.

Chateau La Paws

Chateau La Paws bottles (click for larger image)

Writing at IHeartDogs.com, Kristina Lotz describes the relationship between Chateau La Paws and NSALA.

“NSALA’s no-kill efforts and emphasis on education and advocacy align seamlessly with our passion points at Chateau La Paws Wines – we love our furry friends just as much as we love our wine,” says Chateau La Paws.

As a testament to this, their wine labels feature rescue dogs from NSALA. “We worked closely with NSALA to identify the 28 rescue dogs featured on the label of each varietal,” says Chateau La Paws. “Our goal was to assemble a varied mix of breeds and ages to showcase the expansive selection of loveable pets that may be available in shelters across the country.”

But Chateau La Paws has a much longer history. The Wine Spectator took note of the Rosenblum’s charitable activities in 2007:

Yet another reason to likeRosenblum . The winery’s proprietors, Kent and Kathy Rosenblum, have joined the trend of vintners using their wines to benefit their favorite charity for those on four legs. Starting this year, $6 from the sale of each case of Rosenblum’s Chateau La Paws wines benefits Paws with a Cause, a national organization that provides assistance dogs to people with disabilities. Sales of Chateau La Paws Côte Du Bone Roan California ($14), a blend, and Chateau La Paws Côte Du Bone Blanc California, a Viognier blend ($14), have thus far generated $21,378 for Paws with a Cause. Although the wine’s name seems tailor-made for the charity, the Chateau La Paws name was in existence long before any charity connection was made. Rosenblum began making the wine in the ’90s after Kent and Kathy took a trip to La Paz (pronounced “la paws”), Mexico. “We were joking around about putting paws on a [wine] label and calling it La Paws as a fun tie-in to [my veterinary background]” said Kent. That “paws” pun morphed into two wines, which now have a combined production of about 11,000 cases.

In my time I drank several bottles of these wines. They were exactly what you would expect: quaffable and very tasty. Notably, the 2002 Côte du Bone Roan San Francisco Bay scored a respectable 85 points and made Wine Spectator’s list of 50 of California’s new red wine values in 2004. The 2002 Amador County zinfandel also made this list, scoring slightly better at 86 points. And the Rosenblum zinfandel also made the list giving Kent three of the 50 best values in California rents for that year.

Exploring the Wine Spectator archives, the earliest release of Château La Paws that I could find was 1997:

Other Rhône reds include the silky-textured Mourvèdre (pronounced mohr VED dra and formerly known in California by its Spanish name, Mataro) and Counoise (pronounced coon- WAHZ), a lesser-known grape whose wine is soft and fruity. Mourvèdre was planted throughout Northern California in the late-1800s, and some of the old vineyards survive, producing intensely flavored, supple wines such as Rosenblum Contra Costa County Chateau La Paws Côte du Bone 1997 (88, $10). Dark-colored and somewhat tannic Petite Sirah has also been grown in California since before Prohibition. This cross between Syrah and Peloursin grapes was created in France in the late 19th century, but is hardly seen there today.

I suspect the label goes back even further, but my time for this project is limited.

History

The San Francisco Chronicle in their appreciation of Kent ‘s life recounted the families early history and their migration into winemaking:

Kent Martin Rosenblum was born in Iowa in 1944 and grew up in Minnesota. “He always loved animals,” said Shauna Rosenblum. “He grew up reading ‘Dr. Dolittle.’ He communicated with animals like Dr. Dolittle did.” Kent Rosenblum met his wife, Kathy, at the University of Minnesota, where he was earning his veterinary degree and she was studying history. They married in 1969 and moved to Alameda two years later.

A passionate skier, Rosenblum joined the Berkeley Ski Club. In 1972, just for fun, the group bought a ton of grapes and divvied them up. Everyone made a small amount of wine, but “my dad’s was the only one that was remotely palatable,” Shauna Rosenblum said. The next year, the club tasked him with making all of the wine.

The Rosenblums, who had never had wine before moving to California, quickly fell in love with their new hobby. They made wine in their garage, drilling holes in the ceiling so that the tanks could fit inside. In 1978, they decided to launch a business, initially using the Dead End Bar in West Oakland as their winery.

…

“Things kept chugging along, but they weren’t making a profit,” Shauna Rosenblum said. Rosenblum was still working as a full-time veterinarian at Providence Veterinary Hospital in Alameda, where he continued to work through the late 1990s. After Shauna Rosenblum’s birth in 1983, Kathy told her husband that if they weren’t making a profit by the next year, they would have to abandon the winery.

But then something unexpected happened. Rosenblum purchased some Zinfandel grapes from George Hendry, a Napa Valley grower, in 1984, and it turned out to be the wine that changed their course forever. It won Best of Show at wine competitions and earned outstanding scores from critics.

“That launched them into stardom,” Shauna Rosenblum said. That year, she said, they made a $250,000 profit. …

There was no intention of selling the brand. But when Diageo approached the Rosenblum family in 2008, “they offered them too much money to say no,” Shauna Rosenblum said. It was a bitter loss for her father, but Shauna Rosenblum said he was also excited by the prospect of starting over. “By that point, he’d been doing much less winemaking than he wanted to,” she said.

That year, father and daughter started Rock Wall Wine Co. Although Shauna Rosenblum runs the business and the winemaking, Rosenblum remained active in the winery until his death. He had recently taken on a new vineyard site in Sonoma County, Maggie’s Vineyard, and was excited to sell fruit from its 130-year-old Zinfandel vines to winemaker friends this year — including Jeff Cohn, his longtime winemaking partner at Rosenblum Cellars.

“All we want now is to do him proud,” said Shauna Rosenblum, who spoke on the phone from the Rock Wall winery, where harvest was under way. “I know that he would want me to be here making the best wine possible today.”

Rosenblum is survived by his wife, Kathy; daughters, Shauna and Kristen; brother, Roger; sister, Pamela; and granddaughter, Skylar.

Rock Wall Wine Company

Shauna immediately took over the presidency of Rock Wall. She continues her dad’s heritage of making zinfandel but also produces 41 other wines. And you could do no better than the view from the deck above her winery. Looking north toward the Bay Bridge you can see parts of the skylines of San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. Rock Wall view (Click for larger image)

In a recent feature in the San Francisco chronicle, Shauna describes the transition:

“I thought I was an adult before,” she says. But suddenly, she had to take up tasks that were completely new to her, all at once: dealing with the city of Alameda for permitting issues (she’s trying to get permission to put up a walkway of murals), negotiating with insurance agents, managing the farming of vineyards that her father had owned or leased. She even became the de facto facilities manager and learned how to patch a roof leak by herself.

She’s embraced this new era with some new, and even unorthodox, business decisions. She started by cutting off her wine distribution in all but three states. “I was losing $19 a case on distributed wine,” she explains, since distributors take a cut of the final price. But she suspected that Rock Wall might be able to sell everything itself, without the help of wholesale, through its tasting room and its 4,000-person wine club. (She sends every wine club member a 50 percent discount coupon on their birthday.) Her suspicion proved correct. “I was able to trim over $500,000 in expenses over the last 10 months,” the new president says proudly. Shauna Rosenblum

Conclusion

California has lost yet another pioneer of our industry. Robert Mondavi brought science to winemaking. Ernest Gallo understood marketing and showed us the way in that field. Kent Rosenblum gets all the credit for rediscovering Zinfandel and bringing it to its current popularity.

Guide to Making Wine Decisions (Click for larger image)

Bad News For the Santa Rita Hills The white plastic greenhouses of a cannabis-growing operation built in March are seen between the Fiddlestix (top) and Sea Smoke (bottom) vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley northwest of Santa Barbara, California on August 6, 2019

[pullquote]Santa Barbara County went to big too quick.[/pullquote]

There is, indeed, bad news for the Santa Rita Hills.Santa Barbara County has implemented a set of regulations for marijuana growers that are probably the loosest in the state. Among other features the county allows stacked grower licenses.

Yahoo! News reported on this August 10. Their article begins with this little bit of hyperbole.

Lompoc (United States) (AFP) – A bitter war has erupted between pot growers and vintners in one of California’s famed wine regions where cannabis farms are proliferating, leading critics to denounce a “green rush” they fear could prove disastrous.

It happens that this encroaches on several wineries and vineyards that grow and create excellent pinot noir. Stephen Janes the general manager at Pence Vineyards is among our favorites. Also cited in the article is Fiddlestix Vineyards, one of the legendary great growing sites in the Santa Rita Hills. Here’s what Kathy Joseph, owner of Fiddlestix Vineyard, has to say.

It’s not like any farming neighbor we’ve ever had, and this is all happening very quickly. No one anticipated the visual impact, nobody in the region had ever experienced cannabis in this quantity.

In many ways, cannabis is ruling the roost right now.

Pesticides

One of the big issues is the use of pesticides. California cannabis growing regulations place severe restrictions on pesticides. However wine grapes are susceptible to a number of diseases that are very difficult to control organically. There is conflict over pesticides being used on vineyards drifting into marijuana growing areas.

We contacted Barbara Satterfield of the Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance. Her opinion is that “Santa Barbara County went to big too quick.” Specifically she pointed out thatSanta Barbara County regulations allow stacked growing licenses. To understand what that means you need to understand a bit about the structure of California cannabis grower licenses.

California Cannabis Growing Regulations

When setting up regulations on growers, the state try to accommodate the existing industry structure. The idea was to support the existing small growers while eventually allowing a transition to larger plantings. To accomplish that, no licenses for large growers will be issued before 2023. Currently only small and medium grower licenses are available. The largest planting allowed is 22,000 square feet of canopy.

But the large growers discovered a loophole: stacked licenses. The growers purchase a large parcel of land and then buy a number of small grower licenses that they can use concurrently on the large parcel. As far as I know, Santa Barbara County is unique in allowing this structure. Here’s what Barbara Satterfield says about the situation.

It is causing a lot of stress and concern among our vineyards and and our country neighbors. It is big money coming in and bullying the established farmers by throwing lawsuits and allegations at them for what have been standard farming practices for several years.

One Reaction

The Yahoo news article mentions Maureen Foley Claffey. She and her family are pulling up stakes and moving out of Carpinteria. More about Ms. Claffey shortly. Here’s how she is quoted by Yahoo! News.

It’s like having 500 liquor stores within three blocks. This has pitted neighbor against neighbor, and I have lost friends over this, And now I’m losing my family home.

Maureen Foley Claffey

Ms. Claffey has quite a history in Carpinteria. She was a candidate for the local school board. She lived in Carpinteria for 30 years. Her mother taught in the Carpinteria public schools. Her dad was president of the school board. She is a small business owner. Here’s what her campaign website says about her business experience.

As owner of Red Hen Cannery, I make and sell artisanal, small-batch jams and marmalades for hundreds of customers in California and beyond. My jams and marmalades are featured at nine stores across California and sold in four weekly, Santa Barbara County farmers markets. I am a sixth-generation California farmer who is proud of my Bailard Family pioneer heritage in Santa Barbara County.

The fact that she is leaving says more about the situation in Santa Barbara County than anything else I could imagine.

Florida Alligator Raids Woman’s Wine Cabinet

First it was Florida man. Next camp Florida woman. But the latest is Florida gator. This big boy seems to have a taste for red wine. See the PDF for details.

Florida Alligator Raids Womans Wine Cabinet VinePair Political Wine

When she was still writing for Bloomberg, Megan McArdle did a winetasting of two wine clubs: National Review and The Nation. The former is conservative, the latter is very liberal. Hence, political wine. Her article is pretty entertaining as well as being informative. The specific piece was “Drinking to Blur Party Lines. A taste-test battle of two partisan wine clubs: National Review vs. the Nation” (November, 2015). Forthwith, a few paragraphs.

Naturally, I had to subscribe to both. I imagined a titanic showdown between the somewhat stuffy traditionalist wines of the heirs to William F. Buckley, and the strident cosmopolitanism of the Nation’s approach. Then I placed the orders, and realized that both wine clubs are supplied by the same third-party company.

In a way, this made things even more interesting. Would the wines in both shipments be the same, denoting the collapse of American politics into a single corporatist enterprise? Or would they be different — the Nation’s box stuffed with little vintages hand-produced by impoverished Guatemalan villagers under a fair trade cooperative, the National Review box full of American wines with little flags on the labels? And which would be better?

For $70 apiece, I was sent two boxes of wine, each containing 14 bottles. Then I invited over my friend Matt Ficke, a software developer who used to be a sommelier and the manager of DC’s fanciest cocktail bar. We sat down with his wife, Becks, and my husband, Peter, to discover what we had.

…

It took us three bottles to get to anything that anyone would consider drinking for any reason other than scientific inquiry. This was the Willow Springs California (from National Review). My companions’ reviews were more along the lines of “I would totally drink this” than “Let’s make a note of the name so we can buy it again.”

“This has many of the flavors that you associate with cabernet sauvignon,” Matt said carefully.

The next bottle, a Silver Pony Cabernet Sauvignon from the Nation, represented a substantial regression. Matt licked his lips, stuck out his tongue and looked pained. His wife dumped the glass into our spit cup, declaring that it was too sweet. Indeed, when I tasted it, it was unpleasantly reminiscent of communion wine.

En Route Redux

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We discovered En Route pinot noir at Pinotfest 2015. And we were very impressed. On Norma’s recent birthday we took a chance on The Post, a new local restaurant (full review forthcoming, stay tuned). On the wine list was“Nickel & Nickel Russian River Valley “Les Pommiers” pinot noir.” That sounded familiar, so we took a chance. But, frankly, it’s hard to screw up grapes from the RRV AVA.

When the wine arrived, Norma looked at it and noticed that the label said En Route, not Nickel & Nickel. I did a quick search of CaliforniaWineFan on my phone and found our old review. Sure enough, this is one of the sisters of that winery.

We are, if anything, more impressed with the2016 vintage ($60) and priced fairly at $75 at The Post. We can do no better than the sensory description from their website.

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California Fire Donation Resources Woolsey Fire (click for larger image)

It was just over a year ago that fires swept through northern California . Weposted a link to various resources. Now the fires are back. The two largest are the Camp Fire in Butte County and the Woolsey Fire in Malibu. There are many others. Normally the winter rains would have started by now. Not this year, our bad luck. This is our very unofficial guide to California fire donation resources.

Camp Fire (click for larger image)

If you’re not familiar with California geography, CALFIRE has an excellent interactive map.

People have been asking how they can help. As of 6 pm Sunday November 11, many locations have run out of space for donations of food, blankets, and other goods. We advise giving money, the most fungible of all products.

The list below is actually a meta-list. These are four articles that are from reputable sources that list ways you can help. Assistance in any form is appreciated.

Refinery 29 has the most comprehensive list. The Sacramento Bee has a good list, focus on the Camp fire.

KTLA in Los Angeles is a good source for the Woolsey fire.

The Orange County Register is also very good.

RN Estate 2012 Pinot Noir Solomon Hills

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If you have a bottle of this beauty laying around, don’t hesitate to open it. Aromas of bing and black cherries. The palate features one of the finest, silkiest tannin finishes I’ve ever tasted. Mid-palate of cola and spice with a hint of cinnamon. Outstanding. And worth every minute of the wait. Added bonus: the RN Estate 2012 pinot noir Solomon Hills is available as a library selection for the bargain price of $49. Scroll to the bottom of the current releases page to find it. Belden Barns 2017

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We’ve written about these folks quite a bit over the years. About a week ago we got our wine club shipment. The pinots can wait but the lure of the Belden Barns 2017 sauvigvnon blanc ($26) proved irresistable.

And we were not disappointed. Aromas of honey and tangerine with just hint of grassiness lead to a palate of pineapple and honeydew melon. The finish is long and multi-layered moving into a touch of wet slate. This is a major bargain.

The Beldens planted a unique clone of sauvignon blanc. Nate describes it as “the pedigreed vine material originally sourced from Collio, Italy near the Slovenian border.” We are pretty sure the terroir is a contributing factor. Sonoma Mountain is rocky with an interesting soil structure. They benefit from being directly aligned with the Sonoma wind gap. Days are cool and foggy, something very unique for properties east of highway 101 in Santa Rosa.

Buy this wine and try it. Unless, of course, you are a fan of the grassy, vegetal sauv blancs. In that case, this is not for you.

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Piper-Heidsieck Visits Chef Chu’s With Artisan

Our friends at Artisan Wine Depot invited us to a special food and champagne pairing on September 19. The champagne was from Piper-Heidsieck with their local expert and evangelist Kyle Kaplan. Food pairings were from the legendary Larry Chu who also put in several appearances. Chef Chu’s has been a fixture in Los Altos (CA) for 48 years. It was the first restaurant I visited that fused California cuisine with traditional Chinese recipes. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, this landmark is worth a special trip. We put together a video montage of this event.

There were nine champagnes on the menu. Five were vintages, including four with the coveted “Cuvee Rare” designation. Those included the 2007 Brut Rose, the 1988 Brut, the 1998 Brut (magnums only), and the 2002 Brut. A fifth vintage, the 2008 Brut was actually our favorite. We bought half a case.

Cuvee Rare is a special designation for vintages that are exceptional. There is a special label, affixed by hand, for these vintages.

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Kyle got to (literally) show off his chops by demonstrating how to open a champagne bottle with a sabre. The image below doesn’t do the event justice. Watch the video above to get the full impact.

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Hahn Visits Artisan

Long-time readers will remember our admiration for Hahn Family Wines. We were delighted to be invited to a tasting by our friends at Artisan Wine Depot. Hahn visits Artisan and we are there to report on the event. As always, all prices are from Artisan.

Browsing the Hahn website, we discovered the fascinating biographies of the Hahn family. I’ll include photos and bio sketches between wine reviews. Let’s start with co-founder Nicky Hahn. (click for larger image)

There were ten wines on the menu. In the interest of promoting only the best, we’ll limit our review to five of them. (Naturally, we’ll skip the Smith & Hook cabernet sauvignon and the Boneshaker zinfandel.)

Hahn’s 2016 Monterey County ($16) is a bargain. The opening is tropical aromas of citrus, and orange zest. The palate is more citrus with a nice acid balance and luscious mouth-feel.

Co-founder Gaby Hahn (click for larger image)

The 2016 “SLH” Santa Lucia Highlands pinot noir ($20) is also a bargain. This one is the forest floor – earthy style. The nose is ripe cherry fruit with touches of newly-plowed earth. The palate features dark berry flavors, with hints of spice and dried thyme. (click for larger image)

Lucienne is one of Hahn’s higher-end labels. The 2016 Smith Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands pinot noir ($45) begins with enticing aromas of strawberry and blackberry with a hint of chocolate. The palate features dark fruit, especially plums with spice undertones. Add a nice acid balance and this is a winner.

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The 2016 Doctor’s Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands pinot noir ($45) is a good illustration of why terroir matters, even at the vineyard level. Aromas are toward the earthy end with hints of leather and, unusually, cedar. Flavors feature wild raspberries, blackberries and more cedar. Incidentally, this vineyard is named in honor of Dr. Caroline Hahn (see bio sketch above).

It was a pleasure to be reminded of this outstanding winery. Why the Dinosaurs Went Extinct

At last, after centuries of “scientific” chicanery, we can reveal the true story of why the dinosaurs went extinct.