wine book club

A good wine for the holidays

There is a winemaker in the Russian River valley who is marking her ninth Pinot Noir vintage this year, and she seems to have charmed this recalcitrant grape into allowing her to produce wines that sell out as soon as the waiting world hears another is on the way. Eugenia Keegan, owner and winemaker of Keegan Cellars is the person whose name is on the label of these Pinot Noirs, and that’s all that many people need to know before heading to their favorite wine shop.
Read More …

Bettinelli Vineyards - wine making

The first two vintages of Bettinelli wines were produced in St. Helena at Rombauer Vineyards. In 1995, Bettinelli Vineyards moved its production to Oakville Wine Cellars, a custom crush operation located closer to their “Rutherford Vista” vineyard.

Winemaker, Aaron Mosely, formerly with DeMoor Winery, was hired as winemaker in 1997. He crafts each of the 100% varietals, using an integrated French and American oak barrel management program. After bottling, each vintage is held back a short time before release, allowing for additional bottle aging. Prior to 1997, Bettinelli wines were made by Greg Graham.
Read More …

Will Ron And Nancy Blossom In Ohio?

The tiny hamlet of Ripley, Ohio, some 55 miles east of Cincinnati, is the scene of a fascinating experiment to produce international class wine on the north bank of the Ohio River valley. At the time of writing, which is March 2001, Ron Barrett and Nancy Bentley have, at Kinkead Vineyards, a vineyard - but no winery. They are convinced that the latter will be completed by August 15th, just 5 months away. Nancy, a marketeer, PR and superb cook, is so convinced that literally every brick will click into place on that date, she has promised to up-date Wine on the Web readers monthly. When mid-August arrives some of the varietals amongst their 3-year-old vines will be ready to offer their first wines.
Read More …

1999 Ca’del Solo Big House Red

This wine is from the completely whacked folks at Bonny Doon Vineyards. They blend together traditional French varietals Syrah, Grenache, Carignane and Mourvedre with Italian varietals Dolcetto and Barbera. This blending produces a rather nice wine that comes in under $10. The price point is key here. There is so much crappy red wine out there now for under $10 that whenever I can find something that is good or very good in that price range, I will let you folks know. I know it is the year 2001 and I should stop using the $10 price range for bargain reds. I need to up it to $15. Many of the under $10 reds I have bought lately with at least modest expectations, I have had to pour out. They were nasty.

O.k., enough about other wines that I didn’t like, lets talk Bonny Doon. They have been producing this wine for a while now and it has been a success for them most every vintage. This release was over come by the successful Syrah vintage they had in “99” and it kind of took over the blend. They have tried to make this an Italian style “vino tavola”, and then dropped that idea for this release because the Syrah was so good. So the best grapes took over the blend. Ah, the joys of blending for wine makers that don’t have to follow any rules.
Read More …

CALIFORNIA: Santa Cruz Mountains

Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards
5937 Alpine Road
Portola Valley, CA 94028
Phone: (650) 851-6777

A frequent stomping ground of ours. Whether you found Fogarty’s name in the Time 2002 Almanac under the Inventor’s Hall of Fame, worked with him in the medical field, or know him personally, you need to stop at the winery if you are in the Santa Cruz Mountain Region, more specifically if you are traveling the Skyline Blvd area near Silicon Valley.

Jon Hunt manages Fogarty’s wine tasting room. Although he can’t make a good bet on a football game, he sure is fun to talk with at the winery. The winery has wonderful views of the vineyards and is a great place to have a great outdoor event like a business meeting or wedding. They have all that is necessary.
Read More …