6th Annual Historic Vineyard Society Event at Limerick Lane

I’ll keep my impressions brief and hope that others chip in with their own impressions and photos (calling Larry P.). This was the first time I attended and hopefully not the last. Next year might be Contra Costa and I hope Paso is on the docket in the future (logistically easier for me).
This was a spectacular event. The weather caused several last minute changes for the dinner venue, but everything went extremely smoothly. About 140 people attended so it was a big production. (Almost) every famous maker of RRV Zinfandel was in attendance, either in the vineyard or as tour guide.
Brian already posted about our pre-HVS Berserker debauch at Rosso
Mike D. decided to place the same rowdy group on its own bus with Tegan Passalacqua at the helm to keep everyone in line. We toured 4 famous Russian River Old Vine Zin Vineyards: Limerick Lane, Carlisle, Papera, and Belloni. In each vineyard to owner and/or vineyard manager was on hand to walk us through and tells us about the history, legends, viticulture etc. We learned about differences in vine leaves, soil type, spacing of vines, geology challenges in farming and so much more. Tegan prompted from time to time and we were allowed to ask stupid questions. Even for an amateur it was extremely interesting. One of my take home messages is that these vineyards are not only unique in the bottle but also each requires its own personal touch to give its best. Everyone was in top form at each vineyard visit and if it hadn’t been for the rewards at the end of the trip we could have spent even more time among the vines.
After the tour we mingled for an hour with appetizers and any number of great wines:
'15 Y. Rousseau, French Colombard, was a great starter that I also came back to before dessert.
'13 Turley, Zampatti, vibrant almost electric in energy.
'13 Martinelli, Jackass, happy to finally try this.
'14 Carlisle, Montafi, Classic Montafi, elegant and balanced.
'13 Carlisle, Two Acres, Despite its youth it is drinking very well, but I’m saving my bottle until 2020+.
There were several others from Swan, Ridge and more that I didn’t get to try.

Dinner was served family style: Salad, meatballs, tri-tip with grilled vegetables, and tiramisu. It is generally a huge challenge to do good food for such a crowd but I was very impressed. Every dish was great. As were the wines:
'13 Limerick Lane, 1910, my favorite LL wine with its core of red fruits. Would have loved to have tried more of their wines but I only saw this bottles. This winery makes some seriously good juice.
'13 Matthiasson, Limerick Lane, but sadly only an empty bottle for me. Steve helps with the farming of LL!
'13 Bedrock, Papera and LL, but only tried Papera and sadly the only Bedrock wine I tried on this trip.
'13 Carlisle Vineyard and Papera.
'13 Biale, LL.
'13 Novy, LL, very elegant, refined and fresh.
'95 Ravenwood, Belloni.
'96 Ravenswood, Belloni, my fav of the two if I got them right.
'13 HVS Cuvee, made from Bedrock juice from a blend from Bedrock, Biale, Carlisle, Ridge, and Turley. Still youthful and tannic, but a winner. Glad to have some of this so I can check it out at home.
I’m forgetting several others, but won’t forget a wonderful
'05 Chateau de Malle, Sauternes that was served blind and gave us a chance to play idiots at guessing.


Huge thanks to Mike D. for getting HVS going and creating these special events. I’ve supported HVS only implicitly by buying 15-20 cases of wines per year from vineyards on the list. They are invariably among my favorite CA wines and I’m glad that so many people are working hard at preserving this special part of California history.

Thanks Peter, appreciate the notes!

Only problem is that it makes me even more bummed that we couldn’t make it out there

Some day…

I’ll add a bit of insight into the vineyard tours.

Our tour began at Limerick Lane. Jake began by telling us how back in 2007 he and his Wife purchased the property across the street to use as a homesite. They burned down the old decrepit home and moved out the squatters, trailers and trash getting the property ready to build. The owners of Limerick Lane approached them saying they were retiring and asked if he wanted to buy. The rest as they say is history. He walked us around the 1910 block which contains Zinfandel and Syrah vines. Thinking is that when vines died or succumbed to other hazards such as tractor blight they were systematically replaced but the bud wood was Syrah rather than Zinfandel. Syrah can be troublesome as a head pruned vine as the shoots grow long and rapid and often drape on the ground.

A question came up about the irrigation lines seeing that LL is an organically farmed site. A couple years ago when pruning they noticed that rather than the vine weeping/bleeding where the cuts were made they cracked due to the dryness of the plant. Three years of drought had started to take its toll. Steve Matthiassson suggested they irrigate over the course of the Winter as to mimic the Winter rains. Drip lines were installed and after regular watering the vines reacted amazingly and have revitalized themselves. This past Winter the rains have been sufficient so no irrigation has been used. Drip lines were pulled from one block and they will use that as a test. If things are good after pruning this Fall/Winter the remaining irrigation will be removed.

Limerick Lane 1910 Block

Rather than replant, this tractor blighted vine is being allowed to grow a shoot which will be trained back into an upright vine

Jake explaining how this one vine of Peloursin is why Mike O wants fruit from this part of the block.

Next it was off to Carlisle although our driver didn’t know where he was going and was defiant when we told him he was going the wrong way. So goes stubbornness. Eventually he succumbed and we arrive albeit 15 minutes late. Mike O greeted and told us the story of how he came to own the vineyard. I think he said back in 2003 it was when he and Kendall began looking for a second home/rental which then morphed into a home with acreage which then morphed into what he really wanted. An old vine vineyard. He knew exactly which property he wanted. The Pelletti Ranch. He got up the nerve to go to the home, knock on the door and introduce himself to the owner. Alcide Pelletti who planted the vineyard was no longer alive but his Wife answered the door. Mike asked her if the property was for sale. She said no but she had been thinking about selling. Just not at the moment. In the meantime Mike did his best to woo her. He came and mowed her lawn and did repairs, Kendall baked her cookies and pies… A little buttering up goes a long way and the following year, while at a wine consortium in Australia, they received an email from a real estate agent representing the Pelletti widow. She was ready to sell and didn’t want to list the property but rather sell to the Officers. Kendall flew home and hashed our the deal.

Cecil DeLoach who had interest in the property and had vintned wines from its fruit for years was incensed when he learned of the sale and told Mike that he had trademarked the Pelletti name. Therefor if Mike ever thought of making wine labeled Pelletti Ranch he would be sued. Thus the new name, “Carlisle Vineyard”.

Carlisle Vineyard

The next stop was Papera Ranch where owner Stuart Coulson and vineyard manager Chris Borlan gave us a rundown of the vineyard which was planted around 1930 by Charlie Papera. Not as much detailed info about the history of the vineyard but rather the farming practices and block layout. An interesting side story? We were at the dinner at Limerick Lane following the tours and as dinner was winding down I sent a text to Steve Sodini whose home and vineyard are just a few doors away asking him to come crash the party. About 15 minutes later he and his Wife show up. While we are talking I pour him a glass of Bedrock Papera and he says “Uncle Charlies vineyard.” I question him about it and he tells me that his Mothers maiden name was Papera and that Charlie was his Grandfathers Brother. Small wine community this is here in Sonoma County.

Papera Ranch

The final tour was Belloni vineyard where Joel Peterson greeted us and told us the story of how he came to make wine from this, his favorite, vineyard. He said he was out one day driving around looking for vineyards in 1989 or '90 when he came upon this old Italian farmer pulling weeds in and old head pruned vineyard. He walked up to him and introduced himself and asked the man if this was his vineyard. Ricardo Belloni replied yes it was his. Joel asked him who he sold his fruit to. Ricardo said Martini-Pratti. Joel then asked Ricardo if he would sell him some of the fruit. Ricardo asked him what he would offer him for the fruit. Joel made him an offer. Ricardo responded “That’s three times what they pay for it. Of course I’ll sell it to you instead, but under one condition. I make my own wine but I don’t like to crush the fruit. I want you to give me a barrel of juice each vintage so I can make my own wine.”

So each harvest Joel would fill a barrel with juice from Belloni Vineyard, call Ricardo and he would drive to Sonoma in his little Nissan pick-up truck to pick up his barrel.
One year Joel called and Ricardo never came. He finally got in touch with Ricardo and told him his juice was ready. Ricardo told him he didn’t want to make wine that year. When Joel asked him why Ricardo replied “I’ve tasted the wine that you make from this Vineyard and it’s way better than mine. Why should I make it when I can drink yours?”

Joel has been making wine from Belloni Vineyard since 1991. Ricardo’s grandson now farms the property which is three parcels but he only farms the western third. At one time Joel had talked the neighbors into letting him farm the entire vineyard as one. But as things go with neighbors that didn’t last. The Chelli’s who own the middle parcel were fed up with head pruned vines. They installed vertical trellising and trained the vines to grow up rather than out. That part of the vineyard has been renamed HighWire Vineyard and is a designate bottling of Hartford Court.

Belloni Vineyard

What a great event!

I was on a different bus than Brian. Here’s my pictures.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/clyde_underwood/albums/72157667558359750

Our bus driver tried to turn around at some point after dropping us off at Papera and put her bus in the ditch so we had to wait for another bus to come for us. Prior to that she made a too tight turn at the Carlisle vineyard driveway. These buses were awfully large for the very small country roads. It took a very skilled driver to negotiate the roads and driveways.

Comments are welcome (under each picture) to correct any errors I’ve made.

What a wonderful event! Thanks for sharing the stories and photos!

Yeah, you guys hi-jacked our bus when we arrived at Papera. Fun time.

Wow. Fantastic tour and amazing notes. Huge thank you for putting all of this down on digital ink. Hearing the history behind these vineyards is a huge part of the appreciation for the wines they produce.

Adding to Peter’s (top) post, there were also these 4 at the main tasting table:

• Swan Zeigler Zin
• Acorn Zin(?)
• Ridge Ponzo Zin
• Bedrock Dolinsek Zin

I wasn’t taking careful notes so I missed the vintages of these.

My favorite was the Turley Zampatti, but the 2 Carlisles and the HVS Bedrock cuvee were also great. For someone who was taking good notes, please post an accurate list of what was at the tasting table!

Peter, Brian, and Clyde, thank you for providing such a great review of a phenomenal event! I am blooming with envy!

The selected vineyards are amazing, and the pictures are perfect!

There was also a Novy Papera
Peter brought an '03 Carlisle Mondeuse
Steve Sodini brought a mag of '98 Topolos Rossi Ranch Zin
I brought a '99 Limerick Lane Zin

The Swan was a '13 and wasn’t showing very well
The Dolinsek was a '13 also. Dudn’t get a chance to try the Ridge or Acorn.
Wasn’t impressed with the Martinelli Jackass. OTT sweet fruit and alcohol.

Thanks for sharing all the pictures, notes and stories from the event. Sounds like a very fun event right in my backyard sorry to have not jumped onto this.

While not on the tour, but since the Zampatti was on the main tasting table, I took some pictures of the vineyard today.

It is just north of Zampatti rd, off of Chanate rd about 1.5 miles NE of downtown Santa Rosa.

The stone work on the column looks very much like other (Italian built) stone work in the area from the early 1900s.

If memory serves me right, the Zampatti ran out first on the main tasting table. It was great stuff.

That was the wine my Wife kept going back to. Interesting location as there really aren’t any other old vineyards in the vicinity until you bounce over to Riebli Rd. Thanks for the pics.

I think Zampatti is simply Sonoma County but it does taste like RRV juice. FWIW my sole bottle of this wine was much better on day two as the flavors and acid integrated.

Thanks to all for the pictures, it was a great day!

The evening was pretty great too. Some dinner pictures, complements of Bay Laurel Culinary, our caterer:

I stumbled across an old wall map I had of the RRV appellation from the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association. I took a picture of a section of it that shows the Piner-Olivet as well as Wood Road areas. The map is from 1998 data, but it’s interesting since it shows the vineyards back then, including the Barbieri vineyard.

1024×576 122 KB

It’s interesting to use Google street view to see what the vineyards look like now. Here’s a view of the Mancini vineyard, looking SE from the intersection of Piner and Olivet:

It was interesting that the same (1998) map showed the Zampatti vineyard labeled as the “Chanate” vineyard:

1024×576 86.3 KB

Here’s the same map showing the Limerick Lane area:

1024×576 109 KB

I picked up my spring allocation from Limerick Lane today at the tasting room (couldn’t do it last Saturday since Jake said they had to suspend their license for the day). Here’s a picture of Sodini vineyard off in the distance.

1024×576 132 KB

Love the maps Clyde. Thanks!

Clyde, Cool maps. Interesting how many vineyards were owned by Deloach only 18 years ago.

Check out this web site, which I found by googling for Sodini Vineyard:
http://www.everyvine.com/map/?vineyardID=38709

You can scroll around and see many other vineyards. Not all vineyards are identified though. For example, Belloni is missing, but it’s next door neighbor to the east, Chelli-Wood Rd, is. If you click on one, you get a pop-up showing what varietal it’s planted to along with soil type, degree-days etc.

It turns out my picture of Sodini is not just the old vines in the distance, but the vines in the foreground (next to the road) are 1992-planted Zin.

Everyvine.com is an awesome tool. Definitely a lot of gaps in the coverage, but it’s getting better all the time.