Well-Bred Pinots Tasted Recently

Anthill Farms WineryThis project is one of many that has ties with Williams Selyem. Is there any other winery in California that has spawned so many successful Pinot Noir offshoots? Three young Pinot amigos, who had worked together as cellar hands at the distinguished winery on Westside Road launched their own winery with three Pinot Noir releases in 2004. Anthony Filiberti grew up in Sonoma County and was lured to wine at an early age. He learned winemaking at Bergstrom Winery in Newberg, Oregon, Hafner Vineyards in the Alexander Valley, and Williams Selyem. David Low grew up in Kansas but got hooked on wine while attending University of California Berkeley. A short stint as a computer programmer was followed by a change of heart and he later worked at both Williams Selyem and Papapietro Perry. Webster Marquez grew up on the East Coast and attended college in Virginia. Here he began working as an assistant winemaker at Jefferson Vineyards. He then moved to Sonoma County where he joined Williams Selyem. Currently he is the assistant winemaker at Belvedere Winery in Healdsburg. The trio’s goal is to craft Pinot Noirs that “express the growing site and the characteristics of the vintage, and above all else, taste good.” Their emphasis is on the vineyards and have named their winery Anthill Farms to emphasize the many tiny individual vineyards that form “the link between place and product.” Their grape sources are North Coast vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. They are partners with Dona Abbey and Dan Harris in the 1.5 acre Abbey-Harris Vineyard in the Anderson Valley planted to Pommard, 115, 667, and 828 clones. I did not taste the 2004 release from this vineyard but can report on the other two 2004 releases.

For the 2005 vintage, Anthill Farms has recently released five Pinot Noirs: Abbey-Harris Vineyard (25 cases, $46, sold out) and Demuth Vineyard (102 cases, $38) in the Anderson Valley, Peter’s Vineyard (134 cases, $36) and Tina Marie Vineyard (210 cases, $43) in the Sonoma Coast, and Comptche Ridge Vineyard (75 cases, $36) in the northern Mendocino County coast.

Anthill Farms Winery is located at 4791 Dry Creek Road, #3-4, Healdsburg, CA 95448. The phone is 707-490-5191. The 2005 Pinot Noirs may be ordered now online at www.anthillfarms.com.

Brogan Cellars

Owner and winegrower Margaret Wierenga followed in her father’s footsteps and crafts small lots of Pinot Noir and Zinfandel from a makeshift and humble winery in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley. Margi is the daughter of Burt Williams, of Williams Selyem fame. She worked there and at Hop Kiln for many years, founding her own label when Williams Selyem was sold in 1997. The name Brogan comes from her paternal grandmother and explains the Irish slant to the winery theme. Production is 1,500 cases of wines sourced from notable vineyards in Sonoma County (Summa Vineyard, Buena Terra Vineyard, Lingenfelder Vineyard, Benovia Vineyard) and Anderson Valley (Morning Dew Ranch farmed by her father, Burt Williams). Her Pinot Noirs are known for their age worthiness.

Brogan Cellars is located at 3232 B Dry Creek Rd B, Healdsburg, CA 95448. The phone is 707-473-0211. The website is www.brogancellars.com. Tasting is by appointment. The wines are sold through a mailing list.

Elke Vineyards Elke Vineyards is owned and operated by Tom and Mary Elke. They farm the 16 acre Donnelly Creek Vineyard located just outside of the town of Boonville where four clones of Pinot Noir are grown. The site is ideal for Pinot Noir as its proximity to the coast creates a climate featuring low-lying fog in the morning evolving into long, mildly cool days. They also have an 18 acre vineyard in the Tulocay District of the Napa Valley. The Elkes have been in the grape-growing business for over 20 years. Mary began by farming organic apples and making her Mery Elke Apple Juice which she still produces today. Elke Vineyards supplies grapes to many notable producers including Radio-Coteau, Copain, Londer, Au Bon Climat, and Breggo Cellars. Tom Farella has been the winemaker from the beginning. Production is about 1,000 cases per year including two Pinot Noirs.

Elke Vineyards also produces a price-friendly Pinot Noir under the “mary elke” label ($19). It is 100% Dijon 113 from the Donnelly Creek Vineyard. The wines are sold to restaurants and directly to consumers from the website at www.elkevineyards.com. Library wines are also offered for sale on the website. The phone is 707-246-7045.

Halleck Vineyard

The Halleck Estate Vineyard is a one-acre family-owned site in the Sonoma Coast planted in 1993 to fund the college educations of the three Halleck sons. Several additional exceptional sites were subsequently identified and five additional wines were added to the roster. Owner and winemaker Ross Halleck directs a very successful marketing services agency. Bitten by the wine bug, he moved to Sonoma in 1991. Buoyed by his wife Jennifer’s experience in the wine industry, the two have rapidly become one of Sonoma’s most high-profile producers of fine Pinot Noir.

For the 2005 vintage, the other Halleck Pinot Noirs include 2005 Halleck The Farm Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (270 cases, $55), and the 2005 Halleck Hallberg Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($55). The 2004 Halleck Estate Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($75) is still available.

Halleck Vineyard wines are sold primarily through a mailing list. Sign up at www.halleckvineyard.com. There is limited retail distribution of some Pinot Noirs (for example, www.wallywine.com).

Joseph Swan Vineyards

The history of Joseph Swan Vineyards has been told in some detail in past issues of the PinotFile. Founder Joseph Swan’s brother-in-law, Rod Berglund, has been the long-time winemaker here. Rod crafts consistently excellent Pinot Noirs and Zinfandels from an estate vineyard on Laguna Road, as well as other vineyard partners in the Russian River Valley.

Joseph Swan Vineyards has a tasting room at the winery, 2916 Laguna Rd, Forestville, CA 95436, which is open on weekends. Wine may also be ordered on the website at www.swanwinery.com. The phone is 707-573-3747.

Kendall-Jackson Estates Vineyards

Founder Jess Jackson, a lawyer by training, made his first wine under the Kendall- Jackson label in 1982. His Chardonnay rode the wave of popularity of Chardonnay and the winery has been hugely successful. Kendall-Jackson now farms 12,000 acres of grapes in California. The winemaking team is headed by Randy Villom, with Pat Pickett, who was trained at Chalone and Estancia, directing the Pinot Noir production. The Highland Estates series focus on unique estate properties on ridges, hillsides, and bench lands

Kendall-Jackson Estates wines are in wide retail distribution. The 2005 vintage of this Pinot Noir is available on the website at www.kj.com.

Green Truck Cellars

Green Truck Cellars is a one-man show with owner, grower, winemaker Kent Fortner producing about 600 cases of a single Pinot Noir each vintage. The name pays homage to Ken’s 1966 green Ford pickup truck which he still drives around Napa and Sonoma counties delivering wine. He produces his wine in leased cave space in the Stag’s Leap District of the Napa Valley just east of Silverado Road. His 2005 Napa Valley Pinot Noir was sourced from three vineyards in the southern-most reaches of the Napa Valley: Nord Vineyard, Poseidon Vineyard, and Stanly Ranch Vineyard. In 2006, he added a fourth vineyard: Suscol Ridge Vineyard. Most of his wine is sold through a mailing list of “truckers” who get first crack at the wine.

Green Truck Cellars Pinot Noirs are sold primarily through a mailing list a www.greentruckcellars.com. Kent also writes a terrific Pinot blog. The phone is 707-738-2376. Tasting is available by appointment.

Pali Wine Co Pali Wine Co is owned by 20 passionate wine lovers. The wines are crafted in Lompoc by Brian Loring. In 2005, there were five Pinot Noirs: 2005 Pali Wine Co Inman Olivet Grange Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (480 cases, $44), 2005 Pali Wine Co Cargasacchi Jalama Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir (299 cases, $44), 2005 Pali Wine Co Durrell Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (180 cases, $44), Pali Wine Co Turner Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir (130 cases, $44) and 2005 Pali Wine Co Shea Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($44). Sine Qua Non is no longer bottling a Pinot Noir from Oregon, so some of the grapes were made available to Pali. I particularly liked the Shea bottling. Hardly a surprise as the grapes from this vineyard are very of prime quality.

Pali Wine Co is located at 1601 W Central Ave, F2, Lompoc, CA 93936. The phone is 805-736-7200. The wines are available retail.

Mossback The founders of R.H. Phillips Winery, John and Lane Giguiere, launched their second wine venture, Crew Wine Company in 2006. In 2000, they sold R.H. Phillips Winery to Vinocor (it was subsequently acquired by Constellation as part of its purchase of Vinocor). The company is focusing on four new brands, with a total production of about 25,000 cases. The brands include Matchbook, Sawbuck, Mossback and Chasing Venus labels. The wines are made under the direction of Dan Cederquist, formerly of De Loach Vineyards. In April of this year, wine industry real estate investment trust, Vintage Wine Trust Inc. signed a $5.6 million sale-leaseback deal with the Giguieres to acquire 273.5 acres of vineyard land and vines in the Dunnigan Hills appellation of Yolo County as well as fund construction of a 60,000-case-a-year winery where the four Crew labels will be produced. The name Mossback is an old-fashioned term for farmer.

Renteria Wines Mexican immigrant Salvator Renteria picked his first grapes at Sterling Vineyards in Napa Valley in 1962. He was among the first to use innovative grape farming management techniques. In 1987, he started his own vineyard management company, Renteria Vineyard Management. In 1993, his son Oscar took over the leadership reigns and today is himself a master winegrower who supplies grapes to Williams Selyem, Caymus, Robert Mondavi and Duckhorn. Rentaria now manages over 1,350 acres of vineyards. In addition, winemaker Karen Culler crafts 2,000 cases of Renteria Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. A new winery and cave system is currently under construction on Mt. Veeder.

Renteria Wines are located at 1106 Clark St, Napa CA 94559. The phone is 707-253-7686. Wines may be ordered on line at www.renteriawines.com. There is a mailing list.

Sanctuary

This wine is released under the Brown-Forman umbrella that includes Sonoma- Cutrer, Fetzer, Five Rivers, and Jekel Pinot Noirs. The blend is 64% block G and Q inter plants clone 667 and 777, 24% block N Martini clone, with the balance from block Q clone 4 Pommard. All of the lots were fermented by winemaker Dennis Martin in small open-top barrels (photo right). Dennis is the director of winemaking at Fetzer Vineyards and Sanctuary is his pet label begun in 2004. He also produces a Cabernet Sauvignon under the Sanctuary name.

Sanctuary wines are distributed primarily to restaurants. E-mail brand manager Tom Dempsey at Tom_Dempsey@b-f.com to locate the wine through retail channels. An online store will be available soon.

Willowbrook

John Tracy of Owl Ridge Wine Services has about 34 winery clients at his facility in the old Vacu-Dry plant on Gravenstein Highway in Sebastopol. Tracy’s own labels are Owl Ridge Wines and its companion label, Willowbrook Cellars. The winemaker is Joe Otos. Pinot Noir grapes are sourced from the Owl Ridge Vineyard in Forestville, the Dutton Morelli Vineyard in the Russian River Valley and the Kastania Vineyard in Petaluma.

Willowbrook Cellars wines can be purchased from the website at www.willowbrookcellars.com. The phone is 707-823-0149. Tasting by appointment.