Dan, Daedalus and Bob.

Our guest is Bob Cabral again, on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell, with four of his wines to taste and describe. He was one of our very first guests on this episode of June 21, 2017, a couple of years after he launched his own label, Bob Cabral Wines.

Since that first podcast appearance in 2017, Bob has been on California Wine Country many more times. His last time on CWC was June 14, 2024, with a double episode. In the first part of that show, Bob talked about his own wine company and about having just finished his 45th harvest. The other part of that show was with Mark Tchelistcheff, to talk about the film André the Voice of Wine.

Bob Cabral started in the wine business in 1980. The Judgement of Paris had happened in 1976 and it got a generation of future winemakers like Bob interested in wine. He studied winemaking at Fresno State, then  found a job working at the bottom of the totem pole as a “cellar rat,” hoisting barrels, etc. Dan points out that most great careers in the wine industry have begun this way. The experience is critical and all of one’s knowledge is goes into the work and to teaching others.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

Dan took a two-day intensive wine course at UC Davis in 1976 and he had to be completely alert the whole time. The most important class he took was Winery Sanitation. Bob says it was also the first thing his professors at Fresno State told him. You can’t control mother nature, but you can control sanitation. You have to clean and scrub. A lot of Bob’s fellow students became famous and influential winemakers. It was a generation that caught the wave growth in the California wine industry.

The first wine they are tasting is Bob Cabral’s 2019 Wildflower Riesling. Daedalus notices tropical fruit flavors. It comes from two vineyards on the Sonoma Coast. Bob fermented it in a concrete amphora. He used native yeast and no barrel aging. Dan says this is what the Germans do, they age Riesling. Dan believes that great white wine age well, such as some of his Italian Arneis.

All of the proceeds from Bob Cabral Wines after operating expenses go to charity to support local causes. Dan appreciates how important that is for the community of Sonoma County. One out of every five people work in the wine industry, directly or indirectly.

Dan notices that in addition to the tropical fruit, it has “TDM” which is a ‘petroleum’ taste. TDN stands for 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene. It gives a SLIGHT gasoline or kerosene aroma.

The traditional German Riesling bottle shape (“Schlegel” in German) will be either green, blue or brown, depending on the region. The shape of the bottle can be different from red wine bottles because the shoulders and the push-up bottom are there to to trap sediment. White wines don’t have sediment, which makes the flute bottle OK for it.

The next wine is the 2024 Chardonnay whose name is Acoustic Sunset. Neutral barrels give more flavors than mere stainless steel. Dan says this wine has an expressive personality. The secret to this one is there was no ML so the pH and the acid stayed the same. So this wine has all the pieces, which will merge and combine with one to three years in the bottle. He only made four barrels of this one.

Bob tells a lot of stories about famous musicians he has met, who were interested in his wine.

The next two bottles to taste are Pinot Noirs. The wines have proprietary names, Troubador and Fillmore, and the fruit comes from several different vineyards. The Russian River one, Troubador, has all the features of RRV, says Dan. The last tasting is a library wine, a 2018 Pinot Noir called Fillmore. He calls it “a one-off” because he got some special fruit once only. He only made six barrels.

Daedalu, Drew, Daisy and Dan.

Our guests today are Drew and Daisy Damskey, who join Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Drew’s father and Daisy’s husband Kerry Damskey has been on this show several times, most recently on this episode of March 1, 2023.

The first wine in our glasses is a 2023 Semillon, made by Drew Damskey for Palmieri Wines. This white wine grape is relatively common in Hunter Valley in Australia. It is also the grape used for white Bordeaux and is a common blending grape.

This Semillon comes from a vineyard planted in 1886 and is the second oldest Semillon vineyard in the world, called Monte Rosa vineyard. The vineyard is at the top of Moon Mountain which is above the town of Sonoma in the Mayacama range. Drew considers it to be ideal for Bordeaux varietals. They make about 75 to 100 cases of this wine per year. That 2023 Semillon has some of clean, crisp freshness of Sauvignon Blanc but with the weight, richness and texture of a Chardonnay.

Dan would give it a minimum of three years of aging. He has 30-year-old Semillons that are still good. Dan contends that all wine ages, even whites. Dan opened a 1990 French Chardonnay the other day that was “just about perfect.” Speaking of perfection, Dan had a 1991 red wine from New Zealand, a Syrah, which Dan called perfect.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

The next wine tasted is Daisy’s Chardonnay, which Drew and his father made for Daisy. They were making only red wines for a long time but Daisy wanted them to make a white wine too. So father and son got some fruit and made the wine. Dan says it’s terrific, with great presence and acidity and a little bit of oak character. The fruit comes from Dorell vineyard. Drew explains that the wine undergoes Malolactic Fermentation,

David and Dan

David Ramey, founder of Ramey Wine Cellars, joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. He has been on CWC before, but it was a while ago, on this episode in 2018 and again here in 2019.

The weather today is unseasonably warm, but it doesn’t affect Dan’s work. People tell him it seems he has the greatest job in the world. They think he just has to drink wine and write about it. But Dan actually drinks very little, when tasting and evaluating wine. The better the wine, the less of it you need to drink to appreciate high quality. “It’s not about volume, it’s about character,” says Dan. “Wine is food. It’s fermented grape juice and it goes with food. You might get a little relaxed but you you don’t drink wine to get drunk,” declares David. Dan reminds everyone, “Life’s too short to drink bad wine.”

Dan Berger declares that Chardonnay today is better than it has ever been, and he thinks David Ramey can explain why. David thinks that the Chardonnay producers went down the wrong path, when rich, hedonistic wines, fruit bombs, were popular. Robert Parker was an influential wine critic and he liked that style. David Ramey’s Chardonnays represent a reversal of that trend and an appeal to wine lovers who know that Chardonnay can do much more than those big buttery fruit bombs that don’t age well.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

David Ramey describes his pathway into the profession of winemaking. He grew up in Sunnyvale, a schoolmate of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. He attended UC Santa Cruz from 1969-1973, when the campus was brand new. He worked as a waiter where he also had the chance to taste wine. He thought he would go and teach English in Colombia, but he never made it there. He was driving from Mexicali to Hermosillo and one day he describes a coup de foudre, French for a lightning strike, when he realized he should make wine. It’s something that people like, it’s not bad for the environment, it’s an aesthetic statement, lot to like about it.

So he applied to UC Davis in enology. He had to take all his college level math and science courses at San Jose State before he could start the major. He graduated with a Master of Science in Enology. Several of his fellow students became famous winemakers.

They are tasting one of David’s Chardonnays, which is not chilled. “Chardonnay is the red wine of whites.” Both whites he brought are 2015s and the reds are both 2013s. Both combine richness, strong acidity and good structure.

David went to France after he graduated. “I’m a classicist,” he says. He wanted to go where people have been making wine for a very long time, to learn how to do it. He ended up working in Bordeaux. Then he worked a harvest in Australia. They processed 37,000 tons of grapes that time.

Next they taste the Claret. That name is protected now but David says they can still use it, they are grandfathered in. It is a generic British English term for a Bordeaux wine. The French claimed it, despite the fact that there is no place named Claret. It’s just a generic word, but it was ceded to the EU in trade negotiations. Ramey also treademarked two varietal blend names for themselves. Their Left Bank Blend is a Cabernet based blend. Template is another name, modeled on the Right Bank, so it is Merlot based. This is all with Sonoma County grapes. Dan adds that the name Ramey on the label indicates a higher level of quality, by itself.

Dan and Matt

Matt Duffy from Vaughn Duffy Wines is back on California Wine Country. Matt has been on the show before, on this episode last summer.

Dan Berger is back after taking last week off to attend the Anderson Valley White Wine festival, which we previewed on a few recent CWC episodes. He was in charge of the Riesling table with 12 different ones. They will hold a Pinot Noir festival in about five weeks, which we will hear about too.

Matt Duffy was on CWC once before, last summer. Vaughn Duffy Wines specializes in single vineyard Pinot Noir. Their wines have captured many awards. Today Matt has brought four Pinot Noirs, all from different vineyards in the Petaluma Gap AVA. They are all from 2024. There are 3 vineyard designates, and one called Petaluma Gap which is a blend of Pinot Noir all from within the AVA.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

This wine has characteristics of a Petaluma Gap Pinot Noir. A Russian River Valley Pinot Noir has a little more raspberry and strawberry flavors. This one has a little more rustic character that reminds Dan a little more of Burgundy than one from RRV. Matt notices that the wines from Petaluma Gap makes purple, darker fruit compared to the bright reds from the Russian River Valley. The wind keeps things cooler in the growing season which lengthens the ripening season and limits the yields.

Dan describes Pinot Noir as being on the edge between being too light or too heavy. A winemaker has to be careful through harvest and production, “…because if you try to get too much or too little (from it), it either lacks something or has too much of something.” Daedalus finds Pinot Noir sometimes too dark or too light but this one is “just right.”  Dan says you can run the risk of making an overripe wine anywhere with any varietal, but there is more forgiveness in some varieties and in some regions. If you harvest Cabernet a little too late, you can get away with it. If you harvest Pinot Noir a little bit too late in some regions, “…you’re going to get an odd configuration of characteristics.” And those aren’t necessarily a benefit to anyone.

The first wine they taste is the blend, of Sangiacomo’s Roberts Road vineyard and Uberroth vineyard, both in the Petaluma Gap. Later in the show they will taste single vineyard Pinot Noir bottlings from each of those vineyards, plus one from Secret Hill vineyard. 🍷

Miro Tcholakov is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell, and Melissa Galliani is also in the studio today.  He operates Miro Cellars and is also winemaker for Trentadue Wines. Miro has been on CWC before, on this episode back on September 9, 2020. and his last appearance was this episode on April 5, 2024.

Miro has brought a Chardonnay, the only Chardonnay he makes now. The vineyard belongs to the De Loach family. It was given “incomplete” malolactic fermentation, so it doesn’t have too much “popcorny” flavor. This wine won a gold medal at the SF Chronicle competition.

Miro grew up in Bulgaria. Sometimes he refers to it as “way back east.” After college in Bulgaria, he came to the US on a student visa. He had good grades in biology and, also needed to do two years of military service. His degree was agronomy engineering, specialized in viticulture. Then in 1990 he won access to an exchange program to the US. He chose viticulture and he was the only one of the six who went to the west coast. He worked a standard harvest internship at Dry Creek Vineyards. The night before he was supposed to leave, they asked him to stay, to cover for an injured colleague. He rose through the ranks and nine years later he took a full time winemaker job at Trentadue.

When he was growing up in Bulgaria, his grandfather made wine. They made about 1000 bottles of wine per year.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

Next they taste the Pinot Noir. Miro doesn’t usually make Pinot Noir. He was known for making Petite Syrah and Zinfandel, but he wanted to try it just to say he can do that too. He gives credit to the work in the vineyard. “I am in opportunistic buyer…” of Pinot Noir grapes. It won a double gold medal from the SF Chronicle competition. Daedalus tastes dry cherry, old books, dustiness. Miro thinks maybe it’s from the oak or the terroir. It’s supple and round. It might handle about five or six years of aging. Daedalus’ judgement: “Super drinkable, dangerously drinkable.”

Later the discussion turns to the wine market and everyone’s opinion of how this downturn looks from their point of view. Aurelio Aguilar who is twenty-six, speaks for his generation. He suggests that winemakers have an important opportunity to get young people familiar with experiences like wine tasting. Then Miro tells his story of how the cave woman invented wine.

Next they taste the Grenache named after his daughter, Cuvée Sasha. He started making it when she was born, 23 years ago, and for the last 10 years the grapes have come from the same vineyard on the shore of Lake Mendocino. Grenache is a good wine for any occasion, sort of like Pinot but spicier, and can have a hidden bite of tannin when younger. It’s fruity but can also be earthy. It is easy to pair with anything, Miro suggests grilled salmon or tuna. It can benefit from chilling, too. Melissa suggests bringing Grenache as a hostess gift, for it novelty and quality.

“You can make high quality wines at a reasonable price. It’s possible. I’ve been doing it for twenty-three years.”

Dan Berger, Chris O’Gorman and Daedalus Howell.

Chris O’Gorman and Chris Sawyer are our guests on California Wine Country, to present Pour and Explore at Rodney Strong Vineyards on Feb. 12. Chris O’Gorman is in the studio and Chris Sawyer joins us on the phone. Chris O’Gorman has been on CWC before, his last appearance was this episode last August. It was actually Daedalus Howell’s first CWC episode as full time host of the Drive.

Dan has brought one of the wines he will be pouring at the Riesling table next week at the Anderson Valley White Wine Festival on February 14th. The 2021 Smith-Madrone Riesling is a dry wine but not as dry as some of the really bone dry types. Dan likes it with Thai food. The winery is releasing their 2022 Riesling now. This is the same hillside where Stony Hill winery also makes Riesling on an adjacent property.

Chris Sawyer is with us on the phone from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He is there to judge the American Fine Wine Competition. It is one of the largest invitational wine competitions in the US. It is taking place at Florida International University.

Chris O’Gorman describes Pour and Explore which is taking place next Thursday night, February 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Rodney Strong Vineyards. Pour and Explore will feature Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot, by themselves or blended. Dan enjoys the company, since there are winemakers pouring the wine, so they can answer his questions.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

The first tasting today is a Rodney Strong Bordeaux blend named Symmetry. Rodney Strong has been producing Symmetry since 1996. Single varietal wines are not as common in France as they are here. They realized that Chateau St. Jean provided a model of a successful blended red. This Symmetry wine is a 2021 vintage. The label shows it is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon. With other wines being released at 2 and 3 years old, this wine is different. Cabernet Sauvignon can’t be too young. Chris O’Gorman describes the qualities that each of the five grapes bring to the blend.

Next they taste a wine from Alexander’s Crown, one of the most historic red wines in Sonoma County. The first Alexander’s Crown vintage was 1974. This is the first single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County.

Chris Puppione from Puppione Family Wines is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. The last time Chris was on the show was this episode last summer, on June 6, when he spoke to Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger.

Chris has brought four wines that Dan describes as “fabulous” and they are low-alcohol wines. Dan says Chris has had an opportunity to explore the lower-alcohol market. Chris says that people are just looking for flavor and “what’s old is new” and Dan notes that higher alcohol takes flavor away from the variety. Low alcohol is not less wine but just less noise. It takes away from nuances that they prefer to bring forward in their wines. There is a white and three reds.

First, Dan’s cellar wine is the 2024 Bahl Fratty Riesling, which he will pour at the VIP event at the Anderson Valley White Wine Festival. “It’s coming out of its shell,” but in three or four years it will be really ready. They will also pour Vermentino and other whites. Dan’s table is all Riesling. It’s at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds, February 14. Tickets are $160 and are all-inclusive, with beverages and food.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

The Puppione label is blue, which is supposed to discourage spontaneous sales. Well, not always, says Daedalus, tell that to Blue Nun. Chris wants to make “Tuesday night wines” not Friday night wines. Festa was his grandmother’s name, so he makes a Festa Bianca and Festa Rossa. The white is Friulano, which means “from Friuli” which is in north-eastern Italy. He got the vines from a high mountain vineyard in California. He uses a combination of stainless steel and barrels. His children press the grapes with their feet. The alcohol is just 12.4%. Compared to those othe heavy wines that come in around 15% or 16%, this is refreshingly light. It is just a 2023 and it will still evolve.

“This is something I do with my wife and kids for fun,” says Chris. Chris made his first wine to honor the birth of his daughter. He made it in secret. He is grateful to have help from many friends in the business. Everyone agrees that this camaraderie and willingness to help other is typical of Sonoma County people.

Next they taste a red wine. It is their Juventus Cuvée. His family is from a village outside of Torino in Italy, and one of the home teams is Juventus, but also Juventus is the goddess of youth. This is a blend of Syrah and Cab. He used stainless steel and captured a little effervescence. It’s in a clear bottle and he suggests chilling it. It reminds Dan of the simple wines you find in the back roads in France. He smells “fruit, not adorned…” This is a young wine that doesn’t need any maturation. After 2 years it is still lively and fruity. Dan says that Syrah and Cab are compatible varieties and compliment each other.

Dan, Daedalus and Julie

Julie Pedroncelli from Pedroncelli Winery is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. She has been on the show before, the last time was this episode of last January.

Dan describes the current slowdown in the wine business. The other times that the wine market went soft, there were one or two causes, but today there are several causes. But the benefit to the consumer is, the longer it takes to sell the wine, the more the wine improves.

The Pedroncelli family has owned the property for almost 100 years. The vineyards are very carefully farmed and they take great care making their portfolio of wines. “Four generations and still going strong,” says Julie. Her grandparents put down roots in Dry Creek Valley outside of Geyserville. They bought a property in 1927 that had a vineyard and a shuttered winery. The previous owners were making wine as far back as the early 1900s.

Their winemaker Montse Reese just completed her 18th harvest at Pedroncelli. They produce mostly Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and a few red wine blends. Her father is 94 and retired just a few years ago.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

Julie has brought the “block party” today, with single-vineyard wines that represent certain blocks in the Pedroncelli vineyards. She has brought a Sauvignon Blanc, which they will start with, before moving on to the Zinfandel and others. “White wine is always good to start with.”

This Block 11 reserve Sauvignon Blanc, vintage 2024, is not their regular production. It is a special designation reserve. Block 11 showcases the grassier, herbaceous side of SV and Montse Reese thought the neutral oak would bring out that side of SV without overdoing it. Daedalus detects a bit of Pez candy flavor, which Dan thinks is like green mint.

Next is a Block 13 Zinfandel from 2023 which was a cool year. This is a little spicy, with a bit of black pepper flavors, and a raspberry note that Dan says is a characteristic of Dry Creek Valley Zins. Block 13 has had Zinfandel grown on it for over 100 years. It is the third generation of Zinfandel vines on the property. Some of the vines are 100 years old but they have replanted twice. It was Zinfandel, then Petit Syrah, then back to Zin. Montse found that this block stands out and merits a single-vineyard bottling. They used bud wood from the Rockpile vineyard for the planting and Montse also uses a yeast that was developed at Rockpile. Julie describes its character as feminine, not high in alcohol, very delicate in its fruit, “…it doesn’t hit you over the head, it’s not a fruit bomb, it’s more like a light spice bomb,” says Julie.

The Cabernet Sauvignon needs to breathe, decanted it would be a little more open. The long finish is not oak, though, it’s all the flavors you want in Cab without the other flavors like too much Oak.

Dan Berger will be opening a 1966 Louis Martini Barbera next week for a special occasion. There are two Masters of Wine candidates from Taiwan who are taking a course at the Flamingo. Dan has met them and they expressed interest in an old California wine. Dan has one of two remaining bottles. He will open one for the students at Ca’ Bianca in Santa Rosa, along with two or three other wines from the era.

The fourth wine they taste today is the Pedroncelli Syrah. Dan says he has never heard of anything like this before. It is a lower-alcohol Syrah, about 12%. This one was earlier harvested, to make a lighter style of red with lower alcohol. They picked two or three weeks before they otherwise would have.

The book that Dan and Don agree is the best one on this subject.

Don Chigazola has brought Colle Ciocco wines to taste and review with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Don’s company Chigazola Merchants imports selected small lots of Italian wines made by small family-owned wineries. He travels to Italy regularly to find wines and to meet everyone involved. Don Chigazola has been on California Wine Country several times, the last time was this episode on June 13, 2025, with wines from the Alto Adige region.

They begin by tasting a very dry Trebbiano. It’s a white wine popular in Italy but not widely known in this country.

This Trebbiano is one of the wines Don has brought today, all from the same producer, which is one of his favorites, the Spacchetti family in Montefalco, Umbria. Their label is Colle Ciocco, which translates to “Choko Hill” in English.

Don Chigazola founded Chigazola Merchants to travel in Italy looking for wines to import. They started importing from the Spacchetti family after he got to know them about four years ago. They only make about 5000 bottles per year. The wines that Don chooses for Chigazola Merchants are combinations of a variety and a region that are common in Italy but not well-known here. Don looks for those varieties that will surprise and delight his customers.

Dan Berger remarks on a wine that was a 2022 Sancerre which is made with Sauvignon Blanc and it was sweet, not dry as he expected. Sweetness sells, apparently, according to Dan.

There are different clones of Trebbiano in this wine which make it unique. Trebbiano Spoletino is grown around the village of Spoleto in Umbria. Don describes it as very clean and dry, flavors of apricots, peaches, stone fruit. Dan notices good minerality that makes it go well with food. The only way to get a California Chardonnay to have any acidity at all is to chill it down. We all agree that’s a cheap trick and beneath us.

Don Chigazola has run Chigazola Merchants for about 13 years now. He has seen the shift in demand from Italian reds to white wines. So he began to favor white wines about six years ago. Now his portfolio of Italian white wines is very strong and unique among American retailers. Some of Chigazola Merchants’ wine club members are local wine producers. They are eager to taste a wide range of production. A lot of his members have joined after they got to know the wines from their friends.

The next wine is a Grechetto, another Italian white grape grown around Orvieto and near the town of Todi. The Spacchetti family has blended a couple of clones of Grechetto with about 15% Viogner, which gives it a soft finish on the palette and “rounds the edges.”

The third wine tasted today is a red blend, called Montefalco, which is 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino and 15% Merlot. Dan notices this difference: in California, we make wines that are big and rich and bold, for reasons “I don’t wanna talk about,” ok fine. But he finds them tiresome. Contrast that with what these Italian wines accomplish. “It is not very ripe, only just ripe.”

Then they have a Sagrantino from Montefalco. This is a 2019. Sagrantino was first a sacramental wine, and was made to be sweet. But it is now a dry wine because tastes have changed. Don explains that the Spacchetti family ages it for two years in barrels and then a minimum of five years in the bottle. With all that it still feels young.

There are over 400 varieties of Italian wine, so Don says that nobody can claim to be an expert, there is too much to know.  But Dan Berger begs to differ and cites Ian D’Agata and his book, Native Wine Grapes of Italy. Dan admires the author as an expert because of his book. Don actually knows Ian and agrees about his level of knowledge. Don describes himself as a student of wine.

Dan, Daedalus & Courtney

Courtney De Graff, from the Anderson Valley International White Wine Festival joins Dan Berger & Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. She is the executive director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association.

The International White Wine Festival is coming this February 14th through 16th. Courtney was on California Wine Country at this same time last year, for the previous annual festival.

Courtney De Graff, of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association talks to Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell about Anderson Valley White Wine Festival. It is happening on February 14-16, with the 14th being the big tasting day.

CWC is brought to you by Deodora Estate Vineyards. Visit Deodora to discover 72 acres in the Petaluma Gap that are producing exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Sip the difference! 

Dan remembers when this was called the Alsatian Festival, but they changed the name to include more wines from other places. Dan Berger will be there this year at a special Riesling table. There will also be Gewürtztraminer, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Dan likes the festival because white wines are easier to identify by their scent.

This is the seventeenth annual festival. It has had a few different names and rebrandings.There are 64 members in the Association and not all of them produce Alsatian varietals. Dan notices a worldwide evolution in white wine tastes. There are grape varieties showing up today that were not produced in great volumes, because we lacked the technology to make the wine.

Anderson Valley is eager to do a white wine festival because white wine is at the forefront of the current evolving trends in wine popularity.

The Anderson Valley is an hour north of Healdsburg, on the way to the town of Mendocino. festival is on Hwy 128. Visitors either say overnight or make a day trip. Saturday is the grand tasting from 11 to 3, then on Sunday is winery open houses. They will open their doors for food, wine and entertainment.

There are 44 wineries booked this year, the largest contingent ever. They also have wineries from all over the world, including Swiss, German, Italian, French and Mexican wines. It is held at the Booneville Fairgrounds.