Had a very nice 07 Rivers Marie Sonoma Coast last night at Botega Restaurant in Yountville. It retails for $25 and flies out the door of Botega at just $41. At any rate, although I liked the wine, I thought it lacked a bit of “fat.” It had the high acidity and lean structure of a true Sonoma Coast, which I like! On the other hand, I am finding that many Russian River Pinots are a bit flabby and lack structure. But what they DO have is great juicy flavors and nice fat.
So why not make a blend that is 1/2 each? Something tells me this would be a nice blend! You get some of the fruit and fat from the RRV but better natural acidity and structure from the SC. Does anyone do this already? I know everyone likes to promote terroir, expecially in Pinot, but this seems like the sum (if done right) might be better than the parts. Any thoughts?
I had thought of that, specifically the Kanzler. I wondered of maybe that little area might produce such good Pinots because it seems to have bit of both worlds. I may have to do it the hard way and get 2 bottles, one from The True Sonoma Coast and a good RRV and blend them to see if it has any chance of working.
Well, since the SC includes most, if not all, of the RRV, some Sonoma Coast bottlings you drink may very well be that.
Unfortunately, no way to know without doing a decent amount of homework.
It’s one thing I happen to like (and many others despise) about the Sonoma Coast AVA. It offers the ability to work with some very diverse sites that have a common, value-added AVA. You can take a lot of sites that might not work on their own and produce a pretty darn nice wine.
A contrary thought to many, I know. Just my opinion.
Yeah, I guess I do NOT count the Petaluma Gap area or Green Valley area as the “true” Sonoma Coast. I think they are their own areas. I think of the “True” as being the second and third ridge in from the ocean, starting in Occidental in the South up to Annapolis in the North. Even there, you could divide it into 3 sub-sub regionsl Occidental, Fort Ross and Annapolis.
those sorts of places can still be blended into Son Coast blends with RRV sites…and may even include the “false” Sonoma Coast like Freestone, the Petaluma Gap, the Forestville banana belt, the Harrison Grade arctic, the Sonoma Valley oddball and so on. again, why I find it a pretty interesting place to make a 100% varietal blend.
with P&H, we bought from Annapolis, Peay for a few years, the Goldridge & Sebastopol series corrider known as Dutton Valley, Freestone, the Gap, the Marin border, RRV lowlands, the Bodega Highlands, all the way into Petaluma proper and even over into the Lakeville corrider, Sonoma Carneros and heavy Adobe and Diablo clay. Pretty fun way to make a blend.
Some areas of the false Sonoma Coast might be pretty sweet areas in their own right; Green Valley, Petaluma Gap. Hey Nate, where is Chenoweth at? I really liked that Pinot.
Isn’t Pinot supposed to be site specific? No offense intended, but isn’t Pinot (and Riesling) the great communicator of site? At least that’s the way I like to look at it.
I understand the ease of blending to make nice, drinkable varietal wines but at the end of the day are they more interesting?
At the top of the hill at the homestead and vineyard management office. Near where Green Valley Rd and Harrison Grade meet in Green Valley.
Todd- Interesting question and certainly no offense taken. Yes, it is, and I think we both know it be as such.
Not everyone (who buys wine) is interested in site specificity, though, and AVA blends serve purposes for wineries while offering the opportunity to reach a different type of consumer. Certainly most wineries who make SVD’s also make AVA or political designate wines, no? Many wineries use AVA blends as a declass wine. Some, like P&H, use it as a proving ground for single vineyard wines. You start there and work your way up to a single-vineyard wine, as some sites always make interesting stand-alone wines, some sites do in certain years, and some sites never do.
You get to know the site and how it does in warm years, cold years, moderate years, and determine whether it’s SVD material and sell a complete wine in the meantime at a more attractive price. That way, you ensure that your SVD wines are more interesting than your blend. You win, your consumers win.
See! Chenoweth has a bit of both worlds due to it’s location. Maybe Green Valley should start to promote itself as being “perfect, half-RRV, half-SC” location. The “mid-slope” of RRV and SC. I like almost every Pinot I taste from Green Valley.
Roy- It’s an anomaly…the first Pinot we picked each year I worked for James. Before Napa-Carneros, before Sonoma-Carneros, before the Forestville banana belt, and so on. Something about the top of the hill ad the way the air would collect, the exposure, and so on.
Just goes to show, every site is unique and different. Often unexpected attributes.
FWIW, it’s young, too. Lots and lots of upside. Charlie also planted a connected hill on Stoetz Ln in '06 or so that everyone was really excited about (next to the UV Vineyard, I think, but am not sure - it is a Valdez vineyard). To be shared with a couple of folks. Should be interesting.
Pretty cool-looking red soil out at Charlie Chenoweth’s place. Nate, do you know what that soil composition is? I’m sure I’ve heard but I can’t recall.
FWIW, Roy, the Green Valley appellation has aligned itself now with Russian River. They lobbied successfully to be able to call the appellation “Green Valley of Russian River Valley” I had to put that clunker on our 07 Green Valley pinot label and wasn’t very happy about it. In fairness, it is much more russian river in character than true sonoma coast in character, IMHO.
Yeah, I think a lot of labels would find that more acceptable than “California.” I recall the the first Grgich Hills Cab had something similar too. Of course, this all depends on the % of blend. Plus, despite the legality of it all, I’d be surprised if there hasn’t been some fudging done in the past.
Wouldn’t this theoretical blend need to be labeled “California”? If so, I think that might be hard for a lot of labels to swallow
No. This is what I was originally getting at.
Since the RRV vineyards would also be in the Sonoma Coast AVA, the wine could be labeled “Sonoma Coast”. You’d have to do your homework to discern that the blend was 50% from the “true” SC, whatever you define that to be, and 50% from the RRV. My guess is that some already exist, probably as declassification blends from single-vineyard sites.
If the SC AVA did not incorporate the RRV (theoretically), you could use “Sonoma County” or “North Coast” before CA. Now if it was 33% SC, 33% RRV and 33% Sta Rita Hills, CA would need to be used.
Sonoma Coast like Freestone, the Petaluma Gap, the Forestville banana belt, the Harrison Grade arctic, the Sonoma Valley oddball and so on. again, why I find it a pretty interesting place to make a 100% varietal blend.![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
I like almost every Pinot I taste from Green Valley.