Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels

What's an appropriate wine to serve at a New England Patriots themed party? What wine would be a good gift for a hard core Patriots fan? Ask any pro football fan about the decade's top NFL franchises; chances are high that the New Enland Patriots will be on that fan's short list of the league's best teams. Since 2001, the Patriots have won three Super Bowl titles and made the playoffs eight times; coach Bill Belichick has been named NFL Coach of the Year three times. The Patriots' strong record of success under Belichick's leadership attracts the admiration of football fans across the country. The New England Patriots played their first season in 1960, in the now-defunct American Football League. At that time, the team was known as the Boston Patriots; the team logo featured "Patriot Pat," a football-playing Minuteman. In 1970, the Patriots joined the National Football League and broke ground on their new stadium, Foxboro Stadium, located in Foxborough (also spelled "Foxboro"), Massachusetts. The next year, playing in their new stadium, the team became the New England Patriots. In 1976, the team qualified for the NFL playoffs for the first time.

Beckmen Vineyards, founded in 1994 by the father and son team of Tom and Steve Beckmen. With the planting of their Purisima Mountain Vineyard, located in Santa Ynez, they were one of the first to create a fully sustainable vineyard site, which many wineries purchase fruit from. In addition to growing grapes, Beckmen is known for a focus on Rhone varieties, and a holistic approach to winemaking. Steve individually ferments as many as 100 small lots of fruit, often employing techniques such as native yeast fermentation or whole cluster pressing to highlight the personality of a given clone or block. You and your father (originally from the Chicago area) set up your winery in Santa Barbara. Of all the places you could have chosen to immerse yourself in the wine business, why here? Though my father is originally from Chicago, I grew up in Southern California. When we were thinking about founding a winery, there were several reasons we were drawn to Santa Barbara County. The first reason was very personal—we have always really loved this area and have been drawn to it. From a winemaking standpoint, I think we both liked the fact that the story of Santa Barbara wine had yet to be written in the early-to-mid 1990s. There was, and I think still is, a pioneering spirit, as people were trying new things and exploring new varietals to see what works best here. This greatly appealed to us.

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.

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.

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.

I know that we’re still several weeks away from New Years Eve, but it’s my favorite holiday of year, where I truly go all out in the kitchen preparing a 5 – 7 course meal along with some close friends and I’m already planning for it. One of those friends, my co-host for the evening, selects and brings wine paired with each course, and over the years our pairings have varied from the most straight-forward to the most eclectic (a wine pairing with a dish based on halloumi cheese?). However, it being New Years Eve, one particular wine is always called for: Champagne (for purposes of this article, let’s call all sparkling wine Champagne). While I’m not actually an ardent lover of Champagnes, and rarely order it out, I do admit to feeling special when I have a glass in hand. It screams out “It’s Celebration Time”, is clearly associated with special events, and gets people as excited as Kramer during Festivus ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus ).

Tom Wark has been in the public relations wine business since 1990 and has become a force to be reckoned with. In addition to his promotion of the industry as a whole, his blog, Fermentations, has become for many, a daily reading ritual where he covers the wine business, wine communications and public relations. He is the founder of the American Wine Blog Awards as well as one of the founders of the Wine Bloggers Conference. In addition, Wark regularly appears at industry conferences as a panelist and moderator covering subjects as diverse as small winery marketing, blogging, social media and the politics of wine. Had you not become involved in the wine industry as PR professional and blogger, where do you think you’d be right now? Well, first I got involved in the wine industry as publicist, the blogging came later. That said, I’d likely be involved in politics. I investigated politics fairly thoroughly coming out of college. I was deterred from the profession, believe it or not, by politicians and consultants I met with who suggested that life as a political activist or consultant is not the best life…by a long shot. Still, I think I would have found myself in that realm despite the advice. I was saved by wine.

The name Mondavi is synonymous with wine, there is no denying that. Peter Mondavi, Jr., son of Peter Mondavi, Sr. and nephew of Robert Mondavi, heads the Charles Krug- Peter Mondavi Family Napa Valley Winery. Part of the Mondavi vision, and one that he believes only a successful family-owned and operated business can make, is the investment of $25.6 million made to replant the 850 acres of their Napa Valley vineyard land, renewing the winery’s focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and other red Bordeaux varietals and converting to sustainable farming methods. In 2010 the winery received the California Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for the restoration of the winery’s historic structures. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career, and was there ever a thought about leaving the family business for something else? My original intent was to pursue some form of engineering, thus the BS in Mechanical Engineering. But my experience working in virtually every aspect of the winery during my summer vacations since I was 8 years old was too strong of a draw. There are way too many draws and positive aspects to living and working in the Napa Valley and in the agricultural business of winemaking.

As the son of well-known New Zealand wine journalist Fintan du Fresne grew up with an appreciation for the wine industry. Originally from the southern end of New Zealand’s North Island, he graduated from Victoria University with a degree in geology and set about exploring the relationship between geology and how it affects terroir in wines. He became winemaker at the historic Chamisal property (the first vineyard planted in the Edna Valley, located in San Luis Obispo County) in 2006, where the focus is on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Describe your winemaking philosophy. My philosophy is that there is no right way or wrong way to make wine. I’ve worked for enough different wineries in different parts of the world to have seen the same thing done in totally different ways. One winemaker will tell you “you can’t do it that way” while another winemaker is having complete success doing it “that way.” My job is not to make MY favorite wines or wines in the style that I like. My job is to make wines that our consumers love. Too many winemakers are making wine for other winemakers. However, I do believe in the concept of Terroir. A vineyard is going to produce a certain style of wine and that is not something I can change. I can help steer it in a certain direction, but that is all I can do. If Mother Nature is a raging river, a wine is like a kayak on that river. All I can do is steer it through the rapids.

Baseball and Wine combines the great American pastime with wine enthusiasts. Find out the wines served at various ball parks across America and what wines your favorite team chooses to celebrate with.