Spread the Warmth Gift Idea #7 – Alexander Valley Vineyards Wine

AVV Chardonnay and Gerwurz

Having Fun at AVV!!!

Edible Skinny Loves Alexander Valley Vineyards in so many ways!

Earlier this year we were able to experience their wines at their rustic Sonoma based tasting room, hike their lush grounds, and a spend a night on their estate (in an 18th century schoolhouse no less!!!) as part of our Vine to Vino Tour!  It was an amazing experience where we got to see every bit of their extensive dedication to winemaking!

Alexander Valley Vineyards is also one of the most Do-Gooder wineries we know!  They were super quick to donate to Pin-Ups for Vets “Evening with Bettie Page” event held a few weeks ago at the Creast Theater in Westwood! 

The Schoolhouse!!!

But besides the experiences Edible Skinny has had with Alexander Valley Vineyards the company, we’ve mostly enjoyed our experiences with their wine!  Of all our touring of the Sonoma and Carmel valleys with our Vines to Vino trip, Alexander Valley Vineyards was personally my favorite wines!  

The reasons for this run the gamut from the price point (most wines are under $20, and even their reserve wines are under $100) to their dedication to the environment through green winemaking to the Wetzel family living on the actual property and experiencing the winery day to day to the taste (deliciousness in all forms!). 

So if you’re looking for a great bottle of wine for a holiday party or gift we HEART AVV; Why don’t you?!?

(They are also running a special holiday deal at the moment where shippingis only $1)  Some of our favorites include:

2012 Sin Zin ($20)

2012 marks 35 years of Sin Zin at Alexander Valley Vineyards.  Their first vintage in 1978 was a family wine, which they bottled and shared with family and friends.  It was so popular they decided to make it a tradition!  This wine is 100% Zinfandel with aromas of spice, black pepper, dark fruits, and vanilla.   It’s a versatile wine that works great with anything from the casualness of pizza (pepperoni or Vegan) to the formalness of roasted turkey and grilled filet mignon. 

Miss Jovane Marie w/ some Sin Zin

2012 Temptation Zinfandel ($14)

This wine is my favorite of the Wicked Weekend (which includes the aforementioned Sin Zin, Temptation Zin, and finally Redemption Zin)!  A medium bodied wine that is full of the fruit forward flavors of plum, strawberry, cherries, and black pepper.  Plus with at $14 price tag this wine is an absolute bargain!

2013 Estate Chardonnay ($18)

The Alexander Valley Vineyards estate is bordered by the Russian River Valley and since 1975 they have showcased this location with their Estate Chardonnay.   They harvest 70% of their Chardonnay grapes at night when the grapes are cool to retain their natural acidity.  They then cold ferment those lots in stainless steel without malolactic fermentation or barrel aging to highlight the citrus and green apple flavors. The other 30% is barrel fermented to give a hint of oakness to this rich white wine.

2014 Gewürz ($12)

AVV’s Gewürz wine is harvested exclusively from a single small CCOF (“California Certified Organic Farmers”) vineyard about one hour north of the Alexander Valley Vineyards  estate, located in Mendocino’s cool growing region of Potter Valley.  This rugged location is the key to the great acidity of their Gewurztraminer grapes!   This wine is a refreshing glass of tropicalness with flavors of grapefruit, pear and minerality!  

Wine Guerilla's Zinfandels: Anything Else Is Just Sour Grapes

The recently opened tasting room of Zinfandel based Wine Guerilla has the air of a contemporary art gallery (which is fitting since that was the space’s previous job).   With flashes of color and clean lines this is vino with an edge.  Located in the teeny tiny town of Forrestville (population: 3,293) in the heart of the Russian River Valley, the Wine Guerilla is a hybrid of art and taste.  Raising his glass in defiance of corporate viticulture and bourgeois winemaking, the Wine Guerilla (nom du guerre of Mister Bruce Patch) is the defender of the rich tradition of California’s most iconic grape: the old vine Zinfandel.

Mister Bruce and Employee

This local gem is the perfect hybrid of subtle craft and wanting to be seen.  There’s multiple tasting bars inside along with a patio out back for al fresco imbibing.  Contrasting stark white walls, the space is adorned with posters of past Wine Guerilla labels, all original works of art by Topanga Canyon resident Sean Colgin.

The world to the art of Zinfandel has definitely been more than windy for Mister Bruce Patch.  After spending 30 years producing and promoting music, working with such artists as The Supremes, Gene Pitney, Bill Medley, George Jones, Smokey Robinson, Ike & Tina Turner, The Four Tops, and The Temptations, he felt it was time to leave the music business to the younger generations.

He and his longtime partner Andrea Cleall (who’s also the mother of label creator Sean Colgin) moved north and Bruce looked around for a new career.  What met his eye was mile after mile of vineyards.  As he became acclimated to this new landscape he began visiting tasting rooms and barns, chatting and picking the brains of local growers and vintners.  He started developing a refined wine palate.  It occurred to him one day that many of these small producers had no representation outside of their neighborhoods. He felt he could sell their wines all over the country so he created a brokerage. 

After a brainstorming session in front of the fire on a rainy evening he and a few family members, one of whom had been reading ‘Guerrilla Marketing,” came up with the name Wine Guerrilla.  The brokerage eventually led to a position as national sales manager for Deerfield Ranch Winery and eventually with Deerfield’s blessing, to making his own wine.  It seemed only natural to name it Wine Guerrilla. 

For the past decade Bruce has brought his passion for discovering just the right notes to the legendary vineyards of beautiful Sonoma County, making beautiful music for the palate.  And speaking of palates, Bruce also the author of the “perfect cookbook,” ‘Grillin’ with the Wine Guerilla’ which has recipes borrowed from family and friends as well as from the rich and famous. 

There’s a myriad of Zinfandel choices at the Wine Guerrilla from a myriad of Sonoma AVA’s.  My favorite was the 2012 Carrera's Ranch 'Old Vine' DryCreek Valley ($40).  With a nose of boysenberry and black cherry; its opulently rich without being overtly jammy.  The palate has flavors of blueberry, blackberry and boysenberry with notes of raspberry and spice in a marathon finish.  This is what single-vineyard Sonoma wines are all about!

Another standout was the WG’s 2012 CloptonVineyard 'old vine' Alicante Bouchet ($50).   Alicante Bouchet (a varietal that neither of us at ES had heard of), is a teinturier (a grape with red flesh whereas the majority of wine grapes have a lighter flesh inside of them).  Traditionally teinturier are used as a blending varietal to “redden up” wines, but the Wine Guerrilla tossed this concept aside and ended up 3 barrels of 100% Alicante Bouchet.  One barrel went to their meritage Rebel Cru, while the other 2 barrels created 48 cases of Alicante Bouchet.  All ripened and rich, it's really tasty with a great mouth feel for a newly released wine. 

But if you want to taste this California rarity you’ll need to get in your car because Wine Guerilla’s Alicante Bouchet is only available in their tasting room.  So get behind the wheel and set your iPhone GPS for the teeny tiny town of Forrestville and the Wine Guerilla’s kaleidoscope tour into the world of Zinfandels.  For as Mister Bruce Patch says, “Anything else is just sour grapes.” 

Russian River Vineyards, Corks Restaurant, and the Best Goat Cheese in the World!

The Thomas Gas in Action at Corks @ Russian River Vineyards!

Sorry for the delay in our next post, but Kelly and I were furiously working on an The Americans script for the Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop that was submitted on Saturday!!! So now we can return you to our previously scheduled program… The Vines and Vinos Tour!!!

After sipping some bubbly over at Iron Horse Vineyards, we sally forthed to Corks Restaurant at Russian RiverVineyards for lunch with Mr. Raymond Rolander of Wine Cube Tours.

From its original planting in 1963, Russian River Vineyards has established itself as one of the premier organic (!!!) and sustainably farmed grape-growing properties in California.  Many generations previously, in the ancient time of the Native American Pomo, the vineyard was a tribal village.  And prior to the grapes, the land was a Sonoma hay field. 

The vineyards on the property, which include some of the very first Merlot vines ever planted in Sonoma County, were originally established in 1963, a time when most of the agriculture in the area was devoted to apples and prunes, surrounded by forests of Redwood trees.  Even the name Russian River Vineyards came long before the Russian River Valley was officially declared an appellation in 1983.

Corks Restaurant at Russian River Vineyards is the only winery-based restaurant in the Russian River Valley.  Its menu features the seasonal best from local growers and emphasizes organic meats and sustainable agriculture.  

Like all good winery adventures, Corks likes to paint a picture.  The patio was very romantic, with white light strings, distressed wood, brick flooring, and a rusting iron art pieces scattered throughout the gardens.  RRV has brand ambassadors, two rescue dogs on the property that roam about saying hi to diners and sippers alike.  A large 18^th century Russian Hop Hose with 800 bats living in it (since they are an organic vineyard, the bats are used in place of insecticides and rodent poison along with the guano being a great fertilizer) gives the outdoor tasting area the slightest hints of gothic Brontë novel.    

 

Initially we were planning on just getting lunch, but James, the Director of Sales at Russian River Vineyards was amazing enough to bring us over samples, which were perfect for the sunny al fresco lunch we had.  Wine tasting is a fun experience as long as the person who pours it is fun, knowledge, and (most importantly) doesn’t have an attitude and that James to a “T”!

James had us start with RRV’s `12 Sonoma CoastChardonnay ($35).  A (French) Oaked Sonoma Coast Chardonnay (somewhat of a rarity in the Russian River Valley), this wines delicately balances crisp tropical notes with soft vanilla.  It was a perfect compliment to our first starters at Corks. 

Redwood Hill Chevre and Corks Garden Chard, Baby Greens with Zatar (aka Za'atar is a Middle Eastern spice similar to thyme that is traditionally dried in the sun and mixed with salt, sesame seeds and sumac) Dressing ($14) was absolutely amazing!!!  Kelly described it as “an orchestra of taste where each instrument introduces itself subtly.” 

This was mainly due to the Auh-Mazing goat cheese that was used in this and others Corks’ dishes.  The cheese darling Redwood Hill Farm is an award-winning, Grade A goat dairy farm and creamery located in Sonoma County.  Committed to making the best tasting and least processed artisan goat cheese, yogurt and kefir, their family-owned and operated company uses solar power to sustainably produce all its goat products.  Redwood Hill Farm proudly became the nation’s first Certified Humane Goat Dairy in 2005. 

 

Our other appetizer was the Grilled Castroville Artichoke with Smokey Garlic Butter, Vella Dry Jack Cheese and Lemon ($10) was absolutely smashing!!!  The garlic butter was out of this world. 

Our next wine sampling by James was RVV’s `12 SingleVineyard Pinot Noir - Fratti Lane Vineyard.  RVV’s Fratti was a Silver Medal winner at North of the Gate Wine Competition (a competition that focuses on Northern California wines at the Sonoma-Marin Fair).  This wine has an excellent concentration, delicate smoothness and mouth feel, balanced with rich dark berry, currant, and spice. This Pinot did not disappoint and had a not so wild and crazy price point of $55.

This was followed by their ‘12 Benedetti PinotNoir ($55); another Single Vineyard Pinot Noir that was a Gold Medal winner at the North of the Gate Wine Competition.  These grapes hail from the Benedetti Vineyards in the beautiful Russian River Valley.  This wine is full of lush black cherry and warm vanilla spice with caramel notes and hints of smoke.

Onto the main course, I dinned on the Grilled Vegetable Wrap ($13.50).  Composed of Olive Tapenade, Sundried Tomato, Redwood Hill Farm Chevre (there it is again), Grilled Carrots, Squash, County Line Escarole with Corks Garden Arugula wrapped in a Spinach Flour tortilla.  The dish was smoky vegetable deliciousness with truffle fries.  Yummm (with 3 Ms)!!!

Kelly sampled the Bodega Fish and Chips ($15.75).  A “Not So Traditional Spin” with Locally Caught Cod, Panko Breaded, Jalapeno Remoulade and Corks Slaw, she said it was everything Fish and Chips aspires to be: light and crisp with nary an oiliness about it.

Our amazing tour guide Mr. Raymond Rolander dined on the Ruben’s Reuben ($15).  House Smoked Pastrami housed on Costeaux’s Dark Rye (Costeaux FrenchBakery is located in Healdsburg and is known for their legendary artisan breads), Havarti, and Gruyere Cheese, with Sauerkraut and Spicy Sriracha Thousand Island.  Raymond and Kelly both agreed it the was the shining star of the lunch.

An awesome thing about joining the Russian River Vineyards wine club is that members and their guest enjoy discounts of 20% on Corks Restaurant food and wine portion of their bill.  So along with the organic practices, the locally sourced menu, and the rustic ambiance there’s one more reason to drive down their winding path road and experience what Russian River Vineyards has to offer.  
 

Local is Knowledge: Exploring the Russian River Valley with Wine Cube Tours

For the next day of our Vines to Vinos Tour Kelly and I drove southward through Sonoma County to the Russian River Valley AVA.  As the mercury dropped from the warm toastiness of the

Raymond Rolander of Wine Cube Tours

Alexander Valley to cooler coastal climates, the leaves danced along the road so they shadowed waves barrel rolling in a grassy ocean.
 
The Russian River Valley has a characteristically cool climate, by virtue of its proximity to the Pacific Ocean.  The weather here is heavily influenced by the cooling effect of the evening fog flowing in from the Pacific Ocean only a few miles West through the Petaluma Gap and up the Russian River.  The fog drops temperatures up to 40 degrees, allowing full grape maturity over an extended period of time, while simultaneously preserving crucial natural acidity. 
With over 15,000 acres of grapevines planted, there is a broad range of wines from the Russian River Valley.  The weather, along
with its famous Goldridge Loam (Loam is soil composed mostly of sand and silt, and a smaller amount of clay) converge, creating a phenomenal region for cool climate grape varietals like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. 

Iron Horse Vineyard

This is not an AVA known for “Butter Balls” or “Oak Bombs.”  This style of Chardonnay has (for the most part) been replaced by a leaner, crisper, more sophisticated, fruit-forward wines with a palette ranging from pear and apple to peach and nectarine, often with overtones of Meyer lemon.

Pinot Noir is a difficult grape to grow and for this reason this native of the Burgundy region of France achieves greatness in only a handful of places worldwide; luckily the Russian River Valley is one of those places!!! 

Russian River Vineyards

The perfect Pinot climate combined with an amazing complexity of
soil types, results in wines that reflect their individual sites but share a common intention.  In the Russian River Valley, aromas tend to be bright and focused fruit, ranging from wild strawberries and raspberries to red and black cherries.  Notes of cola and baking spices are also standard.

Our tour guide through this cooler climate AVA (as introduced to us by the Sonoma Wine Road) was Raymond Rolander of Wine Cube Tours.  This grinning bearded guy in pageboy cap knows where to go and what to drink in the Russian River Valley.  Driving around wine country in his Nissan Cube, Sonoma Magazine referred to Raymond as “a one man Uber.” 

The Wine Guerilla

A native of Sonoma County, Raymond’s a former tasting room manager with a decade of bar work under his belt.  With all that knowledge, he’s gained a unique perspective of what guest are looking.  Raymond’s fun, compact (it can seat up to 4 guests), and economical car provided us with an almost 360 degree view as we zipped through the back roads of the Russian River Valley.

Rolander tailors all tours based on whatever you want in wine, experience, and location preferences in a fun and 100% worry free environment.  With a catchphrase of: local is knowledge, he specializes in access to small, off the beaten path producers of wine, cheese and olive oil while serving up a side order of local

history.  Rolander quite mobile as he covers both Sonoma and Napa (he does about a 80/20 split between the former and the later).  Upon request, he’ll even enhance your day with a local farm,

Tree Hugger Kelly at Armstrong Redwoods

cheese and/or olive oil production tour.  


Our day with Raymond consisted of four unique Russian River Valley wineries (which will be fleshed out in detail in coming posts!).  Our first stop was the sparkling wine gurus Iron Horse Vineyards and their outdoor tasting room.  Next was the Russian River Vineyard, their bat-housing chateau like Hop House, and their delicious Corks Restaurant located in a historic 1890s farmhouse.  In the afternoon we continued our tour with a

Zinfandel only based winery the Wine Guerillia in the tiny hamlet of Forrestville.  This was followed by Hartford Family Winery, a family owned winery that specializes in single vineyard Chards and Pinots.  To finish off the day we drove through Armstrong Woods, an 805 acre California State Park of the magnificent Sequoia Sempervirens (aka the coastal redwood).

It was a perfect day of beauty: of bucolic landscapes, bright and brainy teachers, and bewitching bottles for as Rolander noted, “an open bottle, is an empty bottle.”

The First Sips of Our Sonoma Sojourn: Chateau St. Jean

And now onto the wine!  Our first social call on our Edible Skinny Vine to Vino Tour was to the Sonoma favorite Chateau St. Jean.

ChateauSt. Jean is the quintessential Sonoma winery with its gracious style, elegant architecture, and inviting gardens.  The winemaking estate is located at the foot of Sugarloaf Ridge in the Sonoma Valley near Kenwood, California.  Though the chateau was built in 1920, it was only in 1973, when the winery was established, that the estate began enchanting its visitors. 

Constructed almost a hundred years ago the Chateau was created as a summer home for Ernest and Maude Goff, and their children.  The family, originally from Saginaw, Michigan, made its fortune in iron mines there, and in lumber in the Pacific Northwest.  The 250 acres of land (now part of Chateau St. Jean vineyards) were initially planted with white grapes, but Prohibition curtailed alcohol imbibing and the family opted to grow prunes and walnuts instead.

When Chateau St. Jean was established in 1973, the decision was made to preserve the Goff legacy.  The Chateau was fully restored and opened to the public.  It has since been listed in the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In the summer of 2000, Chateau St. Jean winery opened the doors to its new Visitor Center and gardens.  In keeping with the Chateau architecture and sense of place, the wine tasting and retail rooms are housed in an elegant garden structure surrounded on three sides by terraces and outdoor garden spaces.  Inspired by formal estate gardens in Italy and the south of France, it features colorful shrubs, fragrant citrus, rare palms, and two effervescent fountains.

For our first sips of our Sonoma sojourn, Edible Skinny was able to experience the lusciousness of Chateau St Jean's Reserve tasting room.

One of the first wines we tasted was Kelly’s Top Pick, their 2010 Reserve Chardonnay Sonoma County ($50).  This wine was Kelly’s definition of a perfect Chardonnay: one that dances with butter and cream.  With aromas of warm lemon cream pie and toasted hazelnuts and a palate of lemon, browned butter, and baking spice it was the poster child of malolactic fermentation.

One of the first shining stars of their red tastings was their 2011 Sonoma County Pinot Noir ($65), which was a cheerful combo of cherry (very cherry!) and chocolate crush.  But my absolute favorite from the Chateau St. Jean Reserve tasting was their 2010 Cinq Cépages ($75). 

 

In 1999, Chateau St. Jean was the first Sonoma winery to be awarded the prestigious "Wine of the Year" award from the Wine Spectator Magazine for its 1996 Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux-style blend of "five varieties," (which includes (for those who don’t know it off the top of their head): Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, and Malbec).  Already considered the winery’s Flagship Wine, Chateau St. Jean then received even higher acclaim when it received the "#2 Wine of the Year" from Wine Spectator for its 1999 Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon.

Every year head winemaker, Margo Van Staaveren (who has been at the winery for 30 plus years) must decide whether the Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon grape varietal will be at the forefront of this bottle.  As winemaker, she makes the final decisions involving flavor fusing and style to produce a wine that is blended to be completely distinct from year to year.   

The 2010 Cinq Cépages wine received a 92 Points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and you can taste why!  The wine is ruby red in the glass and with a single sip you are swirled into a world of blackberry, blueberry, plum, and pomegranate.   This well-balanced and yet complex wine has smooth, silky tannins that offer solid structure but in no way overwhelm the mouth.  The post swallow result can’t but help blossom into a smile!

It was the perfect start of a beautiful romance with Edible Skinny and world of Sonoma wines!