Being Sonoma

Less
chic, less compact, it sprawls over a much larger area of
bewilderingly diverse terroirs, which, when properly fit
with grape variety and growing methods, yield wines as fine
as anywhere.

Sonoma County,
now with more than a dozen appellations, can offer cool
sites suitable for sparkling wines and delicate Burgundian
varieties, hot spots for ripe Zinfandel, and just about
everything in between.

Sonoma can be
said to be the cradle of the California wine abundance, an
oft-told tale with beginnings in the early 19th century, but
with no conclusion in sight. I get many opportunities to
taste wines, often serially, and naturally find some
consistently especially pleasing to me (not necessarily to
you). I keep no secrets, so will own up to what I’ve been
liking from Sonoma. These are some of the producers who have
most pleased me.

Hanzell
Vineyards is truly of the few in California producing wines
at the grand cru level. The site, in the Mayacamas Mountains
overlooking the Sonoma Valley, then called Weathery Heights,
was purchased in 1948 by industrialist-diplomat James
Zellerbach, who planned to produce Burgundy-styled wines. He
named the property Hanzell, after his wife Hana. Chardonnay
and Pinot Noir were planted in 1953, the distinctive winery
built in 1956, the year of the first tiny vintage. Cabernet
Sauvignon was produced in addition from 1979 through 1992,
otherwise Chardonnay and Pinot Noir exclusively, estate
grown, estate bottled. No wine was made in 1963 and 1964,
the two years immediately following the death of James
Zellerbach in 1963. The 1961 and 1962 wine stocks were sold
to Heitz. Brad Webb was winemaker from 1956 to 1973,
succeeded by Bob Sessions, who retired after 2OO1, but who
remains as consultant. His French protege, Daniel Docher,
ascended to the job in early 2OO2. I just learned of the
appointment of a new winemaker, Michael Terrien. The staff
is stabile, the work hands-on.

The steeply
sloping, partially terraced vineyards lie between elevations
of 65O and 9OO feet, consist of 27.5 acres of Chardonnay and
14.5 of Pinot, with vine age averaging 25 and 36 years,
respectively, and generally face south. The soil is rocky
clay loam of volcanic origin. Yields are low. Total
production, now about 27OO cases of the two wines, may rise
as high as 6OOO within the next three years.

Winemaking here
has been innovative, yet with artful moderation. Hanzell
pioneered, in California, the use of temperature controlled
stainless steel fermenters, French oak barrels for
fermentation of the Chardonnay and for aging, controlled
malolactic fermentation, on-site enology laboratory
analysis, and preserving nitrogen during
bottling.

After James
Zellerback died, the estate was sold in 1965 to Douglas and
Mary Day, who sold to the de Brye family in 1975. Alexander
de Brye now presides over expanded vineyards. Jean Arnold
Sessions is the company president.

The wines demand
and benefit from bottle aging. I have drunk the Chardonnays
for about 3O years. They are remarkably good: balanced,
durable, elegant, with substance and finish – delicious –
all one could wish. I have tasted fewer of the Pinot Noirs.
They are weighty and ripe, with sweet, long fruit,
long-lived, intense, sometimes with a hint of
mushroom.

Dry Creek
Vineyard was born in 1972 when David Stare, a Bostonian who
had qualified in civil engineering at MIT, experienced a
vinous epiphany. He transformed prune trees to grape vines
in the Dry Creek Valley, establishing the first new winery
there since Prohibition, thereby stimulating a
revitalization that continues. There are now more than 3O
wineries and growers in the valley. Stare’s son-in-law, Don
Wallace, and daughter, Kim Stare Wallace, now play large
roles in managing the estate. Bill Knuttel joined as
winemaker in 2OO3. He had previously made wine at Chalk Hill
Estate and at Saintsbury.

The estate draws
from vineyards in Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley,
Russian River Valley, Knights Valley, elsewhere in Sonoma,
and, for Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg in the Sacramento Delta.
The sites fit the varietals growing thereupon. Annual
production is about 1OO,OOO cases. Knuttel has deemphasized
the vague “reserve” designation in favor or specific
vineyard sourcing, and has reduced production of some wines,
especially Sonoma Chardonnay, instead focusing on vineyards
ideally suited to particular grape varietals, for example
the cool Russian River Valley to Chardonnay and Pinot
Noir.

Inexpensive
Chenin Blanc 2OO4, always a pleasure and so versatile, has
mineral notes and balanced fruit and acid – one of the too
few in California. Fume Blanc 2OO3 is perfectly balanced,
lively, lemony, long, and delicious – a great value, an
under-appreciated treasure. DCV3 Estate Fume Blanc 2OO3 had
more body and substance, needs more time. Taylor’s Vineyard
Musque 2OO3, made from a selection, perhaps a clone, of
Sauvignon Blanc, has silky texture, very long finish, and
dash. Saralee’s Vineyard (Russian River) Chardonnay 2OO3 is
intense of fruit, balanced by oak, long. Beeson Ranch
Zinfandel 2OO2 (vines over 1OO years old) evokes dark plums,
is intense and long. Somers Ranch Zinfandel 2OO2 tastes of
blackberry, and also promises a fine future. Both are from
Dry Creek Valley grapes; both contain a bit of Petite Sirah.
Meritage 2OO1, composed of Dry Creek Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, is dark, ripe, and
suave. Malbec will likely be in future mixes. Endeavour
Cabernet Sauvignon 1999, the winery’s best effort, contains
15 percent Cabernet Franc. It spent 38 months in French and
American oak. Only 5OO cases were made. It is dark and
fragrant, full of flavor, of fine texture, long in finish.
In addition to these eight wines, Dry Creek currently offers
a Chardonnay, two other Zinfandels, a Merlot, a Cabernet
Sauvignon, and a Late Harvest Zinfandel. I expect more
changes.

Iron Horse
Vineyards makes wines that are thoroughbreds, lean and long
of life and finish. Owned by the Sterling/Tancer family
amalgam, Iron Horse was founded by Barry and Audrey Sterling
in 1976. Grower-winemaker Forrest Tancer married Sterling
daughter Joy Anne, a former Los Angeles television reporter
who had become the public face of the estate, in 199O. (Her
book A Cultivated Life, Random House, 1993, is an
informative account of a year’s cycle in the vineyard.)
Tancer had planted the original Green Valley vineyard for
Rodney Strong, and brought his own T-bar-T in Alexander
Valley into the estate. The bulk of Iron Horse’s 244 acres
of vines lie in the very cool Green Valley, really a
subsection of the Russian River Valley. Here are grown
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, particularly for a sterling
family of elegant sparkling wines unsurpassed in California.
They do not undergo malolactic fermentation. The still
versions are lean and crisp. Cabernets, Viogmier, Sauvignon
Blanc, Merlot, and Sangiovese are grown in the Alexander
Valley. Plots are selectively harvested. The signature Iron
Horse leanness is detectable here too, despite the higher
temperatures. Upwards of 4O,OOO cases are produced each
year.

Marimar Torres
Estate, also located in Sonoma’s Green Valley, is devoted to
estate-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of selectively varied
clones. Marimar, one of those few instantly identifiable by
first name alone, is, of course, the scion of the
illustrious Torres family of Cataluna, of international wine
fame. The estate was acquired in 1983; the Don Miguel
Vineyard initially planted at about 2OO to 4OO feet in 1986;
the adjacent winery was built in 1992. A second vineyard,
the 12-acre Dona Margarita, was planted to Pinot Noir on a
hillside on the even cooler Sonoma Coast (Freestone Valley)
at 435 to 625 feet in 2OO1. Both are densely planted and
lovingly tended by organic methods. Yields are kept low.
There are now 3O acres of Chardonnay, 42 of Pinot, giving a
total production of about 13,OOO cases. The maximum produced
so far was 16,OOO in 2OO1; the least was the 8OOO in 2OO4,
when April frost visited disaster upon the cover crop and
grape buds. The grape quality was, however, excellent.
Ultimately, about a 17,OOO-18,OOO case production is
expected.

A number of
significant changes are planned. Starting with the 2OO3
vintage, a small bottling of Earthquake Block Pinot Noir
from the Don Miguel Vineyard, all Pommard clone, will be
kept separate. A separate barrel selection called Cristina,
after Marimar’s daughter, was inaugurated with the 2OO2
vintage. It spent its time in 😯 percent new, 2O percent
one-year-old oak. The first vintage of the Dona Margarita
Vineyard, the 2OO4, will be bottled. Each of the three will
be released at an appropriate time. The name of the
enterprise is to be shortened to Marimar Estate. A strip
label will further identify it as a Torres Family
Estate.

The winegrowing
team is composed of proprietor/winegrower Marimar Torres,
technical director Bill Dyer, well known from his work
elsewhere, cellar master Tony Britton, and vineyard manager
Ventura Albor. The Chardonnay is barrel fermented in French
oak, and goes through malolactic fermentation. Is is aged on
lees in barrel until summer bottling. A few barrels are
selected for Dobles L’as (double lees). After initial barrel
aging, lees from other barrels are added, and the wine
remains on them, being periodically stirred, for a second
year. Pinot Noir ages in French oak until the summer or fall
after harvest. Bottles are released the following spring.
The barrels for both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are one-third
new, sometimes more.

With the skill
and uncompromising attention to detail brought to bear, it
is no wonder that the wines turn out well. They combine
impeccable fruit with just the right touch of
highest-quality oak, and seem elegant and self-contained and
reserved in a European manner rather than showing the
exuberance of California. They are delicious with food. They
endure. The Dobles L’as possesses extra fragrance, richness,
complexity, and finish.

Finally, a note
on the notable Sonoma doings of Gallo. After sourcing grapes
from Sonoma for decades, Gallo bought the old Frei Brothers
winery and vineyards in Dry Creek Valley in 1977, and has
been expanding ever since. I believe that Gallo is Sonoma’s
largest landholder, now owning about 6OOO acres in several
Sonoma appellations and a modern winery on the Frei site,
and producing about a million cases of wine annually in
Sonoma. Half the acreage is in producing vineyards; the rest
is reserved for wetlands and the like. The emphasis on
vineyard development has extended in some cases to
reconfiguring the land. Gallo, which has long demonstrated
that it can do superbly whatever it sets its mind to, has
developed or acquired a number of Sonoma properties. Its
Sonoma wines are found behind a number of labels, including
Gallo of Sonoma, Gallo Sonoma Single Vineyards, Gallo
Estate, Frei Brothers, MacMurray Ranch, Ranco Zabaco, and
Turning Leaf Sonoma Reserve. Gallo has just purchased
Barefoot Cellars. Contributions from Sonoma are part of
other Gallo products of California appellation. Venerable
Louis Martini, acquired by Gallo recently, although based in
the Napa Valley now produces a few wines from Sonoma
grapes.

I can’t claim
firsthand familiarity with every wine Gallo touches. I’ve
often found Gallo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay,
made from highly selected lots, too oaky and too pricey. The
Gallo Sonoma Single Vineyards line is consistently most
satisfactory and of good value, as are the wines of Rancho
Zabaco. The latter makes two single-vineyard Zinfandels from
Dry Creek Valley, Chiotti and Stefani, that are intense and
flavorful, two inexpensive and tasty Zins, Dry Creek Valley
and Heritage Vines, and one outright bargain, Dancing Bull
Zinfandel (the last mostly not of Sonoma grapes), as well as
a Syrah from Dry Creek Valley and one from elsewheres.
Rancho Zabaco’s winemaker, Eric Cinnamon, continues his
winning streak. The Frei Brothers and MacMurray Ranch wines,
which I just tasted for the first time, are tasty and
balanced and finish very well, an auspicious
sign.

We have seen
from just one overflight a bird’s-eye view of a broad
spectrum of makers of estimable wines: tiny productions of
Burgundian varieties of character, elegant sparkling wines,
Californian versions in the spirit of Bordeaux and the
Loire, virtually autochthonous expressions, and the progress
of a supple giant. Let’s plan another flight before
long.