Sonoma Wine Tour – April 2017 (Part 3) – Couloir / Straight Line, Argot, Calluna, Joseph Swan

Sonoma Wine Tour – April 2017 (Part 3) – Couloir / Straight Line, Argot, Calluna, Joseph Swan

I’ve posted a portion of a report on a late April three-day wine trip with friends to Sonoma County (plus one stop in Marin County). There’s a separate report on each day of the trip, and the portion below is from Part 3 of 3 - last one! The full reports for each day of the trip can be found on the Grape-Nutz.com website – here’s the link for Part 3:
Sonoma County Tour – April 2017 – Part 3

Couloir Wines / Straight Line Wine
Argot Wines
Calluna Vineyards
Joseph Swan Vineyards

I was joined on this wine tour by Grape-Nutz.com head honcho Eric Anderson and friend Michael Poston.


Joseph Swan Vineyards
It had been nearly five years since I last stopped in at Joseph Swan Vineyards in Russian River Valley, so when Eric suggested adding it to our itinerary, I thought it was a fine idea. I was able to get in touch with owner / winemaker Rod Berglund for an appointment, and we made it the final visit of our three-day wine tour. The vineyard and winery are located a few miles west of Highway 101 and just off River Road, near the site of the long-gone small town of Trenton. We rolled up to the parking area a few minutes early, and opened the large, heavy wooden door to the winery. The tasting area is about as low-key as it gets, just a corner of the winery with a basic wood counter, and stacks of barrels taking up most of the rest of the space. Eric, Michael, and I talked for a few minutes with a couple of Rod’s cellar hands while we waited for him. We asked how many different bottlings the winery makes, and they told us that it’s over 20 – quite a line-up of wines!

Joseph Swan Vineyards is one of Russian River Valley’s most storied wineries. The property was purchased in 1967 by airline pilot Joe Swan, who’d had a long interest in winemaking, picking up tips from friends at UC Davis. When he bought the 13-acre property, it included pear and apple trees, some old Zinfandel vines, pasture land, and a few old farm structures. Friend and mentor André Tchelistcheff encouraged Joe to replant the vineyard with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and he planted ten acres over the next few years with those two varieties, plus a little Cabernet Sauvignon – the old Zin vines were pulled out after Joe produced just one wine from them, in 1968. The Pinot plantings in 1969 were among the earliest in Russian River Valley – other early plantings included those at Bacigalupi and Rochioli vineyards.

The vine cuttings for Joe’s Pinot Noir came from Martin Ray’s vineyard (now Mount Eden Vineyards) in the Santa Cruz Mountains, via the UC Davis Experimental Station in Oakville. Joe and André looked at the vines propagated there from the Martin Ray cuttings and felt them to be of excellent quality, with low vigor and producing fruit with small clusters without wings or shoulders. The original vines at Ray’s vineyard had their origins in cuttings brought to California by Paul Masson in the 1890s, reputedly from Chambolle-Musigny. In turn, cuttings taken from Joe Swan’s Pinot vines have been propagated throughout many parts of California and have come to be known as “Swan clone” or “Swan selection.” Rod told us that they still have the original block of Pinot Noir in the vineyard as well as another block that was planted shortly after the first one.

Joe Swan made his first commercial Pinot Noir in 1973 and first Chardonnay the following year. Retiring from his pilot job in 1974, he built the current winery at the property in 1974, with the help of friend – and future Ravenswood founder – Joel Peterson among others. Considered one of the Russian River Valley’s wine pioneers, Joe traveled often to France for advice from vintners there and to see the techniques they were using. He learned about the use of whole clusters and manual punchdowns during fermentation, and aging wine in new French oak barrels. He also searched for better clonal material for vines than much of what he found available in California.

Joe was a mentor to Rod, inspiring him to make wine in the late 1970s. Rod, who grew up in Petaluma and has lived in Sonoma County his entire life, began his wine career in 1979 at La Crema Vinera (which was later reorganized as the present-day La Crema). He married Joe’s stepdaughter Lynn in 1986 and helped with harvest at Joseph Swan in 1987. That turned out to be Joe’s last harvest at the winery, and he passed away in early 1989. Rod took over the reins of the winery after Joe’s passing, and he continues to make the wines in much the same style that he learned from Joe. During our visit, Rod mentioned that he likes the way that older California wines were not “overthought” – keeping things simple is often the best way to go.

About half of the original Trenton Estate Vineyard was replanted in the mid-1990s. Rod replaced two
blocks nearest the winery, where the vines – most of which were Chardonnay – had particularly struggled. Those blocks are now planted to Pinot Noir, plus some Syrah and a little Viognier that is co-fermented with the Syrah. The newer Pinot planting includes five Dijon clones (113, 114, 115, 667, and 777) along with a small number of 828 clone vines – Joe had asked for these clones to be planted in the vineyard shortly before he passed away. The remaining older blocks at the vineyard are Pinot Noir (the original Swan selection), Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon, and there are now a total of about 11 planted acres.

Several other vineyards in the general area provide fruit for the Joseph Swan wines, including the estate Trenton View Vineyard, which is next door to the winery. Much of the winery’s production is sold direct to consumers through the tasting room, mailing list, and the wine club – known as “Joe’s Drinking Buddies.”

We tasted through a number of current Joseph Swan releases, beginning with the 2016 Syrah Rosé, the winery’s first Syrah Rosé from estate fruit. This was made by whole-cluster press (not saignée) and aged in older barrels. Next were a couple of 2015 whites, Grenache Blanc and Viognier, both from Catie’s Corner Vineyard in the Windsor area. Both wines were whole-cluster pressed and made in stainless steel drums. These two whites can sometimes take their time completing fermentation, but Rod doesn’t try to push them, letting them finish when they’re ready.

We moved to reds, starting with 2013 Pinot Noir from Saralee’s Vineyard. Rod noted that this well-known vineyard had provided many different grape varieties to the winery over the years. Named for famed grower Saralee Kunde, the vineyard was purchased by Jackson Family Wines in 2013. Rod poured us the 2014 Trenton Estate Pinot Noir next. This wine remains Joseph Swan Vineyards’ signature bottling, and it includes fruit from some of the original Pinot vines planted at the site. While the Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot was very good, the Trenton Estate was a real standout, and has fine aging potential.

Rod Berglund

Rod had us finish up with some of the winery’s bigger reds. First was the 2013 Trenton Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The site is a cooler-climate one for Cabernet, with vines planted on a south-facing slope. Rod told us that older vintages of the estate Cab continue to show very well. We followed this with the 2012 Zinfandel from Mancini Ranch, located a few miles southeast of the winery and planted nearly 100 years ago. Rod has worked with this Zin fruit for a number of years. An appropriately tannic 2013 Tannat from Matthew’s Station Vineyard concluded our tasting. The vineyard is located in the Wikiup/Larkfield area just east of Highway 101 between Santa Rosa and Windsor. Rod noted that they are no longer getting this Tannat fruit as it’s been grafted over to Chardonnay.

Although I’d visited Joseph Swan Vineyards in the past and I’d spoken briefly with Rod at larger tasting events, this was the first time I’d had the opportunity to talk with him at length. Although Rod seemed a little reserved at first, the more we talked with him, the more he opened up and it became a particularly enjoyable visit – a great way to conclude our wine tour. Rod has been around the Sonoma County wine scene for 40 years, so he’s got plenty of interesting stories to tell. We wound up spending much of the time just talking about whatever was on our minds, not all of which was wine-related – I think that if we hadn’t all had other places we needed to go, we might have spent another hour or more there.

I thought the current Joseph Swan wines were all very good, with a few real standouts. Among my favorites were the 2016 Syrah Rosé, 2015 Viognier, 2013 Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot, and 2012 Mancini Ranch Zinfandel. But the star of the show was undoubtedly the 2014 Trenton Estate Pinot Noir, one of the best Russian River Valley Pinots I’ve tasted in awhile. Not every winery with as much history behind it as Joseph Swan Vineyards continues to produce wines this good, and I think if anything, the wines here may be getting even better. Rod’s wines are generally on the lighter, more subtle side for Russian River Valley, they allow the vintage and vineyard character to show through, and most of them are built to age. They’re not wines made to knock your socks off, but at their best they are among the finest wines from Russian River Valley.

Current releases
Joseph Swan 2016 Syrah Rosé, Trenton Estate, Russian River Valley. Medium-light salmon-pink color, with floral red fruit and watermelon aromas, with a touch of spice. Medium-light weight with lively acidity and a clean, fresh finish, nice.
Joseph Swan 2015 Grenache Blanc, Catie’s Corner Vineyard, Russian River Valley. This featured bright and slightly higher-toned citrus along with touch of fresh herbs on the nose. Medium-light texture and a crisp finish.
Joseph Swan 2015 Viognier, Catie’s Corner Vineyard, Russian River Valley. Citrus and stone fruit aromas with floral undertones and an intriguing saline character. Medium weight with fine acidity and a slightly chalky minerality on the finish, nice.
Joseph Swan 2013 Pinot Noir, Saralee’s Vineyard, Russian River Valley. Bright red fruit and flowers on the nose along with earth and tea leaf notes. Medium-light bodied, with a fresh, savory finish, nice.
Joseph Swan 2014 Pinot Noir, Trenton Estate, Russian River Valley. Darker fruit profile with spice, earth, and forest floor elements in support. Deeper and more structured than the previous Pinot, with beautiful texture and fine tannins on the finish – delicious now but this should age well for many years.
Joseph Swan 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, Trenton Estate, Russian River Valley. Slightly reductive at first, but opened up to reveal tobacco, spice, darker fruit aromas, and a touch of oak. Fairly big and structured, this finished with grippy tannins and deserves time in the cellar.
Joseph Swan 2012 Zinfandel, Mancini Ranch, Russian River Valley. Brambly and herbal, with bright berry fruit and touches of spice and pepper, plus a stony mineral note. Medium weight with good acidity, and chewy tannins on the finish – quite tasty and should develop further with a few more years in the bottle.
Joseph Swan 2013 Tannat, Matthew’s Station Vineyard, Russian River Valley. Plum and blueberry fruit along with plenty of spice on the nose. Medium-full bodied with a structured mouthfeel and a moderately grippy tannic finish – another wine that should benefit from a few years in the cellar.

Thx for the great write-up. I love 'em all but reading about Swan is always fun. Too bad the Trenton Estate pinot is north of $70. Happy for Swan if they sell all they have at that price-point but I am not one of 'em to pay that for that,

Thanks for sharing that! Tried my first Swan Pinot last month and was surprised at the contrast pale color/translucence and the beautiful nose and perfume of the wine. On the palate it was lovely and elegant. I had the Saralee’s. I definitely want to try more Swan wines so thanks for the writeup and history!

Nice read. I was at Swan for the first time ever last friday and really enjoyed it. Agree that the estate pinot was standout but also agree that it was priced out of my comfort level.
I picked up a Ziegler Zinfandel, which was a really light and peppery expression, and a Petite Sirah that I didn’t taste but the pourer vouched for. Good wines.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. [cheers.gif]

Visiting Rod at Joseph Swan was a nice way to finish up our 3-day wine tour since all of the other visits were with relatively new producers, with labels that have been around for 10 years or less.

Just a final word to remind folks that the full Grape-Nutz reports linked in the posts here on the board the past three days include a number of visits that I didn’t post here on Berserkers due to trying to keep things (relatively) brief. So in addition to the write-ups I posted here - on Dirty & Rowdy, Idlewild and Ryme, and Joseph Swan - please check out the other write-ups on McEvoy Ranch, Irene, Couloir / Straight Line, Argot, and Calluna. Though they’re not as well-known as the producers I posted on here, they’re all making very good wine and are worthy of greater attention.

I somehow missed this post earlier. I love reading about the Joseph Swan Winery !

Thanks for another great post, Ken!!