On Saturday, June 4, 2011 the second annual Russian River Valley Wine Growers Single Vineyard Night will be going off in Sonoma County.
According to William Allen, fellow online wine writer, and RRVW member, last year was a big success that they would like to repeat and even grow on.
Now, while I go on about the beauty of Mandocino County Pinot Noir from the north end of Potter Valley and from along the Noyo River in Anderson Valley, I grew up on Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and for me, these are the wines against which I measure all other Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. If I taste a great Pinot Noir, I assume it is from the Russian River Valley. One of the best ever Chardonnays was a 1994 Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay made by Carol Shelton. There is a great Merlot Vineyard in the Russian River Valley that Toad Hollow sources their Merlot grapes, and I even tasted some fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon from the RRV made by Carol Shelton back in the day.
Starting at 6:30 pm at the Thomas George Estates in Healdsburg, there will be wine, single bite pairings, a live auction, and then music and dancing until 10:00 pm,
Tickets are $45 in advance, or $55 at the door, and can be purchased at the Russian River Valley Winegrowers website.
I could go on about all the cool stuff, but I’ve got to be honest, wine events are about the wines, and the single vineyard Russian River Valley wines poured on June 4 will include:
Ancient Oaks, Siebert Ranch
Arrowood-Saralee’s Vineyard
Balletto Vineyards , selection of single vineyards
Benovia, Bella Una Vineyard
Desmond Wines, Estate
Dutton Estate Winery, Dutton Palms Vineyard
Dutton Goldfield, Freestone Hill Vineyard
Ferrari-Carano, Fiorella
Gary Farrell, Westside Farms
George Wine Company, Leras Family Vineyard
Graton Ridge Cellars, Bacigalupi Vineyard
Hop Kiln Winery, HKG Bridge Selection
Iron Horse Vineyards, Rued Clone
Inman Family, Olivet Grange Vineyard
John Tyler Wines, Bacigalupi Vineyard
Joseph Swan, Trenton View Vineyard
Korbel
LaFollette, DuNah Vineyard
Lauterbach Cellars, Estate
Longboard, Dakine Vineyard
Martinelli Winery, Lolita Ranch
Matrix Winery, Nunes Vineyard
Merriam, Willowside Vineyard
Merry Edwards, Klopp Ranch
Moshin Vineyards, Bacigalupi Vineyard
Mueller Winery, Vino Farms
Nalle Winery, Hopkins Ranch
Old World Winery, Estate
Papapietro Perry, Leras Family Vineyard
Russian River Vineyards, Estate Vineyards
Sandole Wines, Oehlman Ranch
Siduri Wines, Ewald Vineyards
Sonoma Cutrer, Owsley
Thumbprint Cellars, Saralee’s Vineyard
William Selyem, Flax Vineyard
I have previously written about wines from a number of these wineries and vineyards, and this really is an amazing opportunity to taste not just good, but world class wines from some of the best producers and celebrate the amazing gift that the Russian River Valley land, the soil, the climate, the vineyards are to wine.
May 30, 2011 at 8:46 AM
All the fabulous varietals, yet no mention of the wealth of blended table wines – how come?
Some of the finest that Sonoma County has to offer, and my personal favorites include Meritages from Alexande Valley, Russian River Valey and so on.
Otherwise, I cannot find fault with this post highlighting the amazing variety of the hundreds of micro-climates, and how that creates such different wine – much more distinct than the vaunted Napa Valley.
Just sayin’
May 30, 2011 at 10:09 PM
This is a night of single vineyard wines, and while there are spectacular field blends out there, the Russian River Valley is most famous for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and most of the vineyards I named are most famous for single varietals. I would love to taste an amazing field blend, single vineyard, wine Saturday night, but most single vineyard field blends seem to come from warmer climate AVA’s.
The Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Sonoma Valley, all near the Russian River geographically, share a major difference from the Russian River Valley: they are warmer climates, while the Russian River Valley is a cooler climate. I can think of numerous vineyards planted to an intermixed blend of varietals, many old school head pruned and dry farmed, in these warmer climates. The Bordeaux varietals that make up a Meritage blend also do better in warmer climates, and are more prevalent outside of the Russian River Valley.
The winery I work for is on the Russian River, at the northern end of Potter Valley, a cooler climate growing area of Mendocino County, where night time temps plummet during the summer. We produce spectacular non-typical cool climate Zinfandel, very different from the dense high alcohol jammy fruit bombs powerfully spiced with pepper notes, but lean, lush, and bright with terrific food pairing acidity. To make a Rhone styled Coro Mendocino Zinfandel based blend, we trade with another grower from a warmer climate some of our Zinfandel for some of their Syrah and Petite Syrah. While we grow seven different varietals on different vineyard blocks, we hold them separate. In that, we are much like most Russian River Valley single vineyards.
One week after Single Vineyard Night, I will be tasting at Vinify in Santa Rosa, and now I will be looking to taste and write up some blends…if blends there be.