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Q&A with Richard Sanford, Owner and Winemaker at Alma Rosa

by Michael Cervin

Santa Barbara wine pioneer Richard Sanford is among the inductees into the 2012 Vintners Hall of Fame. Sanford started one of the first modern wineries south of the San Francisco Bay Area in 1982 and for several decades, his Sanford Winery and Vineyards was the lone outpost in the now-sizzling Santa Rita Hills area of Santa Barbara County. He was the first winemaker to prove the potential for Pinot Noir in the Santa Rita Hills and spent the next 20 years making some of the best regarded Pinots from the region including bottlings from arguably his best vineyard, Rinconada. Sanford left his namesake winery in 2005 and founded Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards in Lompoc.

What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? If not winemaking, what path would you have chosen?

Upon returning from military service in Vietnam in 1968 I wanted to pursue an activity more connected with the land. During my tenure in the Navy I had been introduced to a wonderful Volnay by a fellow naval officer. That became my inspiration to pursue a career in agriculture and I chose winegrowing to attempt to duplicate the quality of that wine. After 40 years as a winegrower I cannot imagine any other path.

Wines to Go Buy This Week: "Comfort Wines" - A Zinfandel by Glenn Hawk and Tulip Hill's Cabepulciano (yeah you read that right)

by Brad Prescott

I live in San Francisco and January weather here means 50 degrees and rain. Constant bone-chilling rain, or so it seems. And before the rest of America emails to remind me how good I have it and how freaking cold it is in New York or Ohio or whatever other frozen tundra they call home, I'm just gonna say that when you are cold, you are cold, and comfort food -and comfort wine- goes a long way towards warming your heart when Old Man Winter starts to have his way with you. So with this in mind, I bring you two comfort wines you should go buy this week.   

Glenn Hawk Zinfandel - I typically don't gravitate to Zinfandel. I associate Zins with "cocktail wines", that is, wines that are delicious for a few sips of a single glass but can be a bit too fruity and overwhelming for those of us who tend towards enjoying multiple glasses. So I don't recommend many Zinfandels simply because I don't drink many of them. Every once in a while I stumble back down the Zinfandel path and am reminded of how good the varietal can be. I recently tried the 2009 Glenn Hawk Zinfandel from Livermore Valley (just south of Napa in the shadow of Mt. Diablo).

Q&A with Wes Hagen, Winemaker at Clos Pepe Vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills

by Michael Cervin

Wes Hagen assumed control of Clos Pepe Vineyards in Santa Barbara’s Santa Rita Hills in 1998, though it was first planted in 1994. This former English teacher brings an analytical and thoughtful approach to winemaking, specifically Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. He received his viticultural and winemaking training from the University of California at Davis extension program. His small lot production and strict allocation program have helped earn him 90+ point scores from Wine Spectator, Robert Parker and Decanter Magazine.

What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? If not winemaking, would you still be teaching English?

I was teaching college in Minnesota and it was very cold. I got a call from California that my Mom and Steve Pepe had purchased a horse ranch near Lompoc. I came back for Christmas, fell in love with the place, and left Minnesota immediately for the Pinot Promised Land.

Q&A with Nicolas Mahler-Besse, CEO of Seguin-Moreau Cooperage, France

by Michael Cervin

Seguin-Moreau is one of the premier cooperages in the world. Started as two different cooperages in the 1800s, they merged in 1972 to become a barrel powerhouse. Nicolas Mahler-Besse assumed the position of CEO of Seguin Moreau in 2011 and had worked for the last 14 years in the cooperage business for Radoux. Seguin-Moreau currently has more that 4,500 clients in 35 countries, making their domination of the cooperage business clearly evident

With three cooperages in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Napa, do you foresee the need for other cooperages in emerging wine regions, and where might those be?

For the moment there is no plan to build new cooperages as we are already in the main wine locations, we’ll see how we grow then determine business in other areas.

Football and Wine: Pittsburgh Steelers

by Nancy Parode

What's an appropriate wine to serve at a Pittsburgh Steelers themed party? What wine would be a good gift for a hard core Steelers fan?

 Steeler Nation

 Wherever you go in the U. S., you will find fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  In fact, the team is so popular that its fans are called the "Steeler Nation."  You can join Steelers fan clubs in nearly every major U. S. city, including Atlanta, Kansas City and Tampa.  Part of the reason for all of this enthusiasm is the team's long history; founded in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Steelers are the fifth-oldest National Football League team.  The main reason, however, for the Steelers' popularity with fans is the team's outstanding record.  No other team has won as many Super Bowls – six – as the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Steelers' all-time roster includes some of the greatest names in professional football history: Ernie Stautner, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Greene, Lynn Swann, Franco Harris, John Stallworth, Jack Lambert, and, of course, current quarterback "Big Ben" Ben Roethlisberger.

Q&A with Dan Duckhorn, founder of Duckhorn Winery

by Michael Cervin

With the founding of Duckhorn Vineyards in 1976, Dan and Margaret Duckhorn played a pioneering role in establishing Merlot as one of North America's great premium wine grapes. Duckhorn Vineyards produces several single-vineyard Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons, as well as a highly regarded Sauvignon Blanc. Their work as wine industry leaders has been recognized on many fronts including the New York Times which dubbed Dan as “Mr. Merlot.” The Duckhorns took that same Merlot vision and applied it to Pinot Noir in Mendocino’s Anderson Valley with Goldeneye. In July, 2007, GI Partners, a private equity firm, purchased a controlling interest in Duckhorn Wine Company. 

Q&A with Bernard Portet, Winemaker at Heritance

by Michael Cervin

Mentored by his father, a technical director at Château Lafite, Bernard Portet grew up tasting each wine vintage. Born in Cognac, his family has owned vineyard property in France since the late 1600s.  A firm believer that making wine is all about a specific place, Portet’s journey led him to the United States, Australia, Morocco, South Africa and South America. Due to the similarities of several of his favorite wine regions in France, it was California’s Napa Valley that inspired him. With a clear vision of the potential of the Napa Valley, in 1971 he co-founded Clos du Val. He pioneered several Napa Valley regions and developed a keen focus upon the Stags Leap region. Portet remained at Clos du Val for more than 35 years. His latest wine label, Heritance launched in 2011.

The Ten Greatest Wines in the World

by Loren Sonkin

This time of year, many publications, writers and bloggers come out with their top ten wine lists for the year.  Recently, during a discussion of one of these lists, I was asked what the ten greatest wines were.  Before answering such a question, I needed to settle on my criteria for judging.  Was it the ten greatest in the past year?  Was it the ten greatest bottles which would include vintage?  What does greatest mean?  After some thought, here is what I came up with. 

First, I need to define great.  I don’t mean interesting, contemplative, unique.  I mean superlative.  I am talking about the kind of wine that makes everything stop as you taste it because it’s just so damn brilliant.  Also, I am interested in wines that are produced from year to year and are always (or almost always) great wines.  I will not consider one hit wonders.  I don’t need a long track record, but for example, the 1990 Château Beauséjour-Duffau was an incredible wine.  It is, however, so far above the usual quality of this wine that it would not be considered.

Q&A with Nicholas Miller of Bien Nacido Vineyards - Santa Barbara County

by Michael Cervin

Bien Nacido is not only the most well-known and respected vineyard on California’s Central Coast, but is has the distinction of being one of the major viticultural nurseries in California for certified, varietal budwood. In addition to Bien Nacido, the Millers operate two other vineyard sites, French Camp east of San Luis Obispo, and Solomon Hills in Santa Maria, with well over 2,500 combines acres, as well as two custom crush facilities in Santa Maria and Paso Robles. Bien Nacido was called on of the top 25 vineyards in the world by Wine & Spirits Magazine, and Food & Wine Magazine called them one of the ten best vineyards. The Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast routinely award over 90 point scores to wines made from Bien Nacido fruit.

Bien Nacido is the most widely sourced vineyard on the California Central Coast. Certainly with 800 planted acres it produces a lot of grapes, but beyond that, why is Bien Nacido so sought after?

Bien Nacido seems to have that magical formula of making wines with a sense of place.  Long term customers, such as Jim Clendenon of Au Bon Climat say they can pick a Bien Nacido Pinot Noir out of a blind tasting. Whether it’s cool climate Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or another varietal, our winery customers enjoy receiving product that is uniquely Bien Nacido.

Football and Wine: Dallas Cowboys

by Nancy Parode

What's an appropriate wine to serve at a Dallas Cowboys themed party? What wine would be a good gift for a hard core Cowboys fan?

 Whether or not you hail from Texas, you probably know the Dallas Cowboys as "America's Team."  From coast to coast, you can buy Dallas Cowboys gear at retail stores, thanks to the team's enormous national fan base.  Although the Cowboys have their fair share of detractors, no one who follows professional football would dispute the claim that the Cowboys have proven that an expansion franchise can achieve legendary status.

The Dallas Cowboys came to life in 1960 as the first modern NFL expansion team, although they were originally called the Dallas Steers.  The name was quickly changed to Rangers, then to Cowboys when the new team's owners learned that the name "Rangers" was unexpectedly unavailable.  Coach Tom Landry built the Cowboys' program year by year, taking the team to its first NFL championship game in 1966 but losing to the Green Bay Packers.  The next year's NFL championship rematch against the Packers quickly became famous as the "Ice Bowl," played in freezing conditions with wind chills plunging below minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  The Cowboys lost Super Bowl V to the Colts in 1970, but came back the next year to win Super Bowl VI under the leadership of quarterback Roger Staubach.

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