Dan, Joey and Mark.

Mark Mathewson and Joey Stockton from Kendall-Jackson, join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Joey Stockton is the winemaker in charge of Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay and Mark Methewson is VP of Hospitality. CWC has featured KJ before, on this episode recorded on October 19, 2016, when KJ winemaster Randy Ullom was our guest.

KJ is the official NBA wine partner. This began during the pandemic when NBA players were confined to hotels and some of them complained about the poor wine selection available to them. When the folks at KJ heard about that, they sent 50 cases of their wine, which really got people’s attention and led to the official sponsorship deal.

However this is not KJ’s first foray into sports sponsorships. Dan Berger did a speaking engagement at the opening of Jacobs Field in Cleveland. He was in Ohio for another reason, and Randy Ullom invited Dan to Cleveland to talk about KJ wines, which were going to be the exclusive wine supplier to the luxury boxes at Jacobs Field.

KJ is hosting a fund raising event called The Climate Ride on August 17. Julia Jackson is a climate philanthropist who has funded an organization called Grounded, which funds high-impact climate solutions. She wanted to do a fund raiser, so they started a collaboration with Climate Ride. The ride starts and finishes at KJ. There are 4 routes to choose from, from short to long, for riders of every level of endurance. The most ambitious one is 81 miles with 4700 feet of elevation. We will have more about Climate Ride in the weeks before the event, on this show. There will be wines from KJ, beers from Seismic Brewing and cider from Golden State, along with music and food from the KJ culinary team.

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Speaking of events, tomorrow is the Sonoma County Vintners’ annual Taste of Sonoma event, also at KJ. Dan Berger will be wearing his Argentine straw hat.

Joey Stockton started his career in wine in Washington state, then worked in Napa Valley and started at KJ when they started in 2011. Now he is the Chardonnay winemaker.

The first wine they taste is a 2022 dry Riesling. They saw a quote from Dan Berger that there is not enough dry Riesling out there. Back in 2018 they had the same idea and started making it. They made it in a concrete egg, a ceramic egg and stainless steel. When the ceramic egg broke, they had to work with the concrete egg and steel. Dan says it has just a trace of sugar and it is perfectly balanced and has perfect varietal aroma.

Next they taste the KJ Chardonnay. Dan has written about how complicated it is to make this high quality wine consistently year after year, with a high production volume. The grapes all come from Mendocino, Monterey and Santa Barbara, all coastal regions, and cool surf towns. As time goes by, the KJ approach to Chardonnay has evolved and today shows better acidity than before. This wine has tastes of White Burgundy. It is not sweet. They do “surly aging” meaning they age the wine on the lees and they stir the barrels monthly.

Mark Matthewson is VP of Hospitality (not Operations, as originally stated). KJ has a property in Tuscany that Dan says is amazing.

André

Mark Tchelistcheff is also here today with Bob Cabral on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He is the grand-nephew of André Tchelistcheff, the great winemaker. He is the author of a film “André, The Voice of Wine,” a documentary about André’s influential career and his love of wine. André’s enduring legacy is primarily in the many other great winemakers that he trained. There was great wine coming from California even in the late 1800s. After Prohibition, André was perhaps the one most influential winemaker in California after his arrival in late 1938.

Dan Berger mentions that André made Riesling, just as Dan does now. The first dry Riesling that Dan really liked was one that André had made at Beaulieu Vineyards. The Bob Cabral Riesling they are tasting is a 2018 called Meadowfoam. This one is completely dry with no residual sugar. It is made in a concrete egg-shaped vessel. Concrete is neutral, especially when treated with tartaric acid. Dan says it is a longer and more difficult process but is worth it. The proof is that at 5 years old, this wine has not reached its peak yet.

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You can see Mark’s documentary at the film’s website, called André The Voice of Wine dot com. 

Mark talks about how Georges de Latour (a French winemaker who had settled in California) hired André after Prohibition.

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The rest of the show is a combination of stories about André and tasting some more of Bob Cabral’s wines.

Winemaker Bob Cabral.

Winemaker Bob Cabral is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, after a long time. His last appearance on the show was this episode on October 20, 2021.

This 2024 harvest will be Bob Cabral’s 45th harvest in the wine business. Bob Cabral Wines is his label now. He grew up in Central California where his parents were growers of red wine grapes and almonds.

Bob pronounces almonds “amands” with the short A, which is a pronunciation unique to the California central valley where they grow. (This pronunciation is close to the form and pronunciation of the French word for almonds, “amands”.) He studied winemaking at Fresno State and got a Master’s in Biochemistry, moving to Sonoma County in 1986. Bob has travelled the world for his business.

He worked for DeLoach vineyards under Randy Ullom, who is now at Kendall-Jackson. He just celebrated thirty years there. Then he went to Kente, worked for some consulting winemakers, then Alderbrook, now owned by the Orsi family.

Back in 2011 Wine Enthusiast magazine named Bob Cabral its Winemaker of the Year. Now they are tasting Bob’s 2019 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Bob tells about how he is getting ready to move to Paradise Ridge. He will lease half of their winery and he will make his wines while Paradise Ridge will also continue to make wine. It should be open in July. Paradise Ridge will also be open for visitors.

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Next they taste a 2021 Rosé called American Girl, a Rosé of Pinot Noir. He first made it this way in 2016, but he stopped making it until 2021 again. “It may be a pain to make but it’s not a pain to taste!”

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Dan Berger says it has a little of the richness of a white wine but also some of the structure of a red. Steve Jaxon declares that it is one of the best Rosés he has ever tasted. Dan suggests it would go perfectly with Steak Tartare. “An explosion of flavor in your mouth,” in Bob Cabral’s words.

Quady Winery co-founder Andy Quady is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. The Quady Winery is located in Madera in the San Joaquin Valley. Their website shows an exotic version of a Margarita and also an idea for Sangria made with Moscato. Most of what they make is Muscat grapes, or Moscato. Orange Muscat is also called Moscato Fior d’arancio (Italian for Orange Flower Muscat). They also use Muscat Hamburg, also called Black Muscat. Muscat Canelli (so-called in California) is Moscato Bianco, used in all the Italian Moscato wines.

The first Quady Winery vintage was 1975. They made their first Vermouth in 1999. He graduated from UC Davis and spent a lot of time in southern France. He saw that in Marseille they have a habit of drinking a vermouth as an aperitif. Its combination of bitterness and sweetness works well at that moment of the day, before a meal.

Dan Berger explains how quality vermouth should be treated, which is not the way it is treated here in the US. People open a vermouth and use some, then put it away. The wine oxidizes and loses flavor. In Europe people don’t have that problem because they drink more of it and it doesn’t hang around. Quady makes three vermouths, dry, extra dry and sweet. Vya is the name of their line of Vermouth and Andy has a good story of its origin.

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In the US we use vermouth as a cocktail ingredient but in Europe people drink it straight, mostly on the rocks, as an aperitif. In Italy, people drink white or red vermouth over ice, before dinner.  Andy started making vermouth because he had a customer who ran a restaurant where the customers didn’t want old stale crummy vermouth in their drinks. The extra dry vermouth would go with a gin martini, and the Whisper would go with vodka.

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The label includes the plants (or “botanicals” if you prefer) that go into flavoring the vermouth. People drink vodka martinis because they don’t like gin, so the vermouth shouldn’t suggest a gin martini either, which is a result that Andy can achieve with his highly perfumed and delicately flavored vermouth. Other vermouth brands treat their recipe like a family secret or a state secret. Dan pronounces the aromatics, “captivating but delicate.” Beefeater gin is made only with juniper flavor. This makes a classic martini when mixed with a vermouth that matches and compliments the juniper flavor.

Evan Damiano (center) with (l-r) Dan, Melissa and Chris.

Evan Damiano, winemaker at Marchelle Wines, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Marchelle Wines is Greg La Follette’s label and he was on CWC earlier this year on February 9, on this epiode. Also in the studio today are Melissa Galliani, GM of Wine Country Radio and Chris DiMatteo, producer of this podcast, who has brought and uncorked a 1985 Barolo he has been holding for thirty years.

Evan Damiano started working with wine in 2010 when he worked a harvest in Oregon, then in Australia, at Balletto and then he took a “sojourn” to Milwaukee to try brewing, but that didn’t work out. While living in Milwaukee, he sold high end Cabernets to restaurants, including some prestigious Napa Valley names. The pandemic wrecked his business when everything closed. He wanted to get back into wine and got an offer from Pride Mountain Vineyards. But in 2020, the fires affected them so much that there was no wine to be made. Evan emailed his friend Greg La Follette.

Evan had met Greg when he worked selling wine, Greg’s wines were in his portfolio. He got a job in another winery and in the evening he was helping out at Greg’s winery. Evan got to do more and more under Greg’s supervision and eventually became assistant winemaker then fully titled winemaker.

Evan is making some wines now where he is making the picking decisions as well as doing the winemaking. They did a whole-cluster press into new barrels. J & H Estates is owned by two African-American women partners. Evan has brought a bottle of Chardonnay that he made for their label. Greg La Follette’s label is Marchelle Wines, where Evan is the winemaker now. Greg was the last apprentice of André Tchelitscheff and Evan is the last apprentice of Greg La Follette. Evan is proud of this lineage.

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Dan Berger has brought a bottle of his now award-winning Bahl Fratty Riesling. This 2022 has just won a Gold Medal at the Sunset International Wine Competition. They ask Chris to describe it in Italian, which he does. “Proprio secco!” means “really dry!” Quanto costa? (How much does it cost?) Dan Berger answers, $38, having understood the Italian question. Bravo Dan!

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Chris has brought a bottle of Barolo from 1985, so at 39 years, one of the oldest wines, if not the oldest wine we have ever tasted on this show. Dan Berger waxes eloquent to describe it. Barolo is known for being able to last this long and this one has survived its 39 years with deep complex flavors.

Chris does a jazz radio show called This is Jazz broadcast on Radio Morcote International and this week’s show is a Steve Jaxon tribute show. Steve Jaxon did a show called Swingin’ with Sinatra and Chris’ show this week uses some of Steve Jaxon’s voice work and music programming. You can listen to the weekly one-hour This is Jazz show here at the Radio Morcote International site’s “podcast” page, scroll down to the third item. Find the dropdown menu for several weeks of older shows.

Evan will be pouring Marchelle Wines at Big West Vine Fest at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville this weekend. It is a new wine festival that is attracting a young crowd. And Dan will be there too pouring his Riesling.

Taste of Sonoma is happening Saturday June 22, 2024. Here is a link to the radio report on CWC from the 2023 Taste of Sonoma.

Evan pours a barrel sample of a Cab that he is about to bottle. Then Dan opens a California Barbera. It’s different than the Italian Barberas. It is good, but in a different way. Piedmont is cooler so the local Barbera isn’t as strong as this California one. It’s warmer here so the Barbera is stronger than the usual common everyday Italian Barbera.

California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger celebrates World Chardonnay Day with a selection of Chards and Rosés.

Dan has brought two Chardonnays, three Rosés and a mystery wine from Dan’s cellar. The first tasting is called Samur, and it’s a 2022 Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley. The producer is Arnaud Lambert. It is on the sweet side, a “patio wine” says Dan. The region is south-east of Paris. It starts on the Atlantic coast and follows the river east over 100 miles.

Next, they taste a 2022 Knuttel Family Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley. Bill Knuttel was the winemaker at Dry Creek Vineyards for a long time. This wine won a gold medal at the recent Press Democrat wine competition. It has a bit of both rich and tart flavors.

“Sonoma County makes better Chardonnay than just about any American wine region.” -Dan Berger.

There are so many sub-regions of Sonoma County that produce different styles of Chardonnay.

Wine sales are down. Why, everyone asks? Is it because millennials have more options for beverages than ever before? Within the last 6 months, the craft brewing industry has collapsed, and sales of wine are flat but not off. It is more seasonal than beer. Beer sells year-round, but wine has summertime specialties like Rosés. When the weather turns hot, everybody wants Rosé. Red wine is not a summertime wine, although Pinot Noir is “going nuts” while zinfandel sales are flat. Maybe that’s because people are backing off the high alcohol wines. Other varietals are getting more attention, relatively speaking, such as Syrah, Grenache and many more.

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Dan describes Chardonnay as kind of neutral flavored, as a grape, it really doesn’t have a lot of flavor. It is sort of citrussy and fresh, but not always. If harvested late, it can be rich and bold. But it is a clean canvas for a winemaker. Since Chardonnay doesn’t have very much by itself, if it is properly treated in the vineyard and in the winery, then in the barrel, everything you do can change the wine. From year to year, what style does mother nature allow a winemaker to make that year?  Dan notes three types, from three Sonoma County regions, Petaluma Gap, Russian River Valley and Bennet Valley. Petaluma Gap has wind and Russian River Valley has fog. Both conditions slow the ripening so the grape stay on the vines a bit longer. This is also true of Bennet Valley, in Sonoma County. Dry Creek Valley can also produce some great Chardonnay, although it is better known for other varietals.

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Next is a 2021 Chardonnay from Germany. Chardonnay has appeared in Germany only in the last ten years, as climate change has made Germany warmer. In the future some vineyards that produce Riesling will probably be converted to Chardonnay. They are even making Chapagne-style wines in England now, which was impossible before the warming of the climate.

Rosés became popular after stainless steel tanks were developed that allowed winemakers to keep the temperature down during winemaking. The first tasting is Campuget, a Rosé from France, very dry with a trace of sugar. Another is a 2022 Mas de Gourgonnier. (Mas is an old French word for a farm. -ed. note)

Clark Smith has a Noam Chomsky story to tell.

Clark Smith is in the studio for California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Today he tells his MIT stories and more. The Clark Smith MIT story begins with his first two years of college, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This podcast episode is from the portion of the live show where Clark tells his personal story. Clark’ last appearance on CWC was this episode of last March.

The rest of Clark’s conversation with Steve and Dan is about the wines he brought in today, so that has its own podcast episode, here.

Clark Smith dropped out of MIT after two years and we finally hear the story today. At MIT, the senior faculty teach the Freshman courses. So he had Noam Chomsky for Linguistics, Francis Crick for microbiology, and several others. The trouble came when he had to declare a major at the beginning of his junior year, after earning straight As his first two years. He wanted to create his own major that combined science and art in some way. Today, that is a common practice in universities but at that time, he was not able to do it. So he dropped out thinking he would take a year to figure it out.

That is when Clark and a friend drove across the country and he ended up getting a job in a wine shop in Oakland. Someone asked him about a bottle of Paul Masson Emerald Dry wine. He didn’t have the answer, so he started tasting the wines, eventually all of them.

There were 250 wineries in the US and he visited a lot of them, maybe “all” of them. One day while visiting a winery he told his wife, that this was his calling. He is happy to have found the art plus science angle he was looking for. After that, he completed the BS and MS programs at UC Davis. Then he helped found RH Philips winery and he started his WineSmith consultancy.

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When he was working for Benziger, their owner needed to find non-alcoholic wine. So he bought a reverse osmosis machine. One of the big problems of winemaking up to the 1970 was how to get rid of VA, Volatile Acidity, i.e. vinegar. In 1960 the average wine in California was 18.5% ABV, mostly Port and Sherry but that was before enough people learned how to really do it.

There is great wine coming from places like South Africa and Australia, but most of the best product stays in the country of origin.

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Visit Clark’s website to see the section about Forgeries and Oddities. Forgeries are wines that he makes exactly like wines from other places. His Cabernet Franc is Bordeaux style, made like a St. Emillion, and his Cabernet Sauvignon is made like a Pomerol. The Oddities are wines made from rare grapes you’ve never heard of, like Norton.

Enter the promo code IKNOWCLARK all caps no spaces, for a 20% discount.

Dan Berger and Clark Smith, WineSmith.

WineSmith Clark Smith has brought four unique wines on to California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Clark Smith’s last appearance on CWC was this episode of last March, when he talked about pairing wine with music. WineSmith is Clark’s label for personal projects.

This live show ran a bit long, so the portion of the conversation dealing with Clark Smith’s early career, from MIT to starting in the wine business, is here on this other podcast episode.

The wine marketplace is in serious downturn. Dan Berger notes that every ten to fifteen years or so there is a recurrence of Prohibitionist thinking, people saying not to drink anything. A former Yale professor wrote about this phenomenon. Dan notes another factor, which is alternative beverage which are giving consumer more choice.

Clark Smith explains that there are really two wine industries. 95% of the market is for mass market consumption and is not very good. It is meant to be “run of the mill” and not excellent. The other five percent of wineries are struggling to make wines that are “interesting.” Clark’s market is the consumer who is interested is something other than the kind of inexpensive wines found in supermarkets.

This is even true about the beer industry. Take the example of Russian River Brewing Co. which makes beers that are “interesting” which are driving their success.

Today’s cellar wine is a 2022 White Haven Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. It did not have sufficient acidity and has not aged particularly well.

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They turn to a WineSmith sparkling wine made of Grenache. A lot of champagne used to be really sweet. The Grenache taste of strawberries and the vineyard character of honeydew melon. Grenache is usually made into a red or rosé. You typically don’t see white sparkling Grenache, like this. A little baked bread component in the nose, and some minerality in the aftertaste. Even with Dom Perignon so-called brut has 1.5% sugar. Brut Champagne was made to respond to English market demand for less sweet wines. One Champagne maker supposedly said that only brutes would like it that way, hence the name “brut” which has stuck around.

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WineSmith owns no vineyards but Clark Smith has good long-standing relations with many growers. His website states that growing great grapes is a full time job so he is happy to let others do it. Everything WineSmith makes is experimental, says Clark. With the market the way it is, with people looking for something different, Clark is well positioned to provide the novelty that demanding consumers want.

Clark also owns no barrels that are less than 20 years old. The new oak adds too much oak flavor. That’s when people can say that the wine tastes like wooden furniture.

Words of wisdom from Clark: “Wine is fundamentally mysterious. Understanding wine is the booby prize.”

One of Clark’s labels has content that can only be seen under a black light. It costs $75 so with the purchase they throw in a black light flashlight.

Dan Berger wants to write a book on wine myths. It’s complicated because there are PhDs who believe in myths. Since Clark knows the.chemistry, where Dan does not, they might have to collaborate on the book. Clark uses the technical term “out to lunch” to describe some examples of that.

Dan is writing a book about American wine regions. There are great wines coming from states that were never known for wine, especially cold climate wines. Michigan is an example. Dan mentions Iowa too. Iowa also produces La Quercia prosciutto, which Clark says is excellent.

Clark uggests we find a documentary film out there called Wine Diamonds, that tells the story of five American families that are producing interesting wine.

Baran Ziegler and Steve Dveris in the CWC studio.

We have two guests from the 2024 Healdsburg WFE – Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience – on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger.

Dan has brought a cellar wine for tasting, a Sauvignon Blanc that Steve calls “spectacular.” It’s a 2018 Benziger Estate Paradiso de Maria. Dan has been holding it for five years.

Steve Dveris is back, to describe the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience. And Baran Ziegler is here, he has Valkyrie Selections and Marine Layer Wines.

The 2024 Healdsburg WFE is a four-day event, between May 16-19, 2024. It is the favorite wine event on the calendar for many people who have attended. This is its third annual edition. There are still  tickets available for the big tasting event on May 18 featuring 125 wineries and 30 chefs, plus beverages galore. Wine Enthusiast magazine voted the HWFE as one of the 10 best wine events in the country. That’s a great achievement for the event which is only on its third annual edition.

Baran worked in wine retail in college and has been in the industry for 25 years. His company Valkyrie Selections is an importer of wines from Spain and France. His first company was Banshee wines, which he started 20 years ago. Marine Layer is the name of his current winery. The weather in the western part of Sonoma County has a strong marine influence, which makes the area perfect for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Marine Layer tasting room is in downtown Healdsburg.

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Among the wines that Valkyrie Selections imports is an English producer of sparkling wine. On the southern coast, the chalky soils are the same soil formation present across the Channel in Champagne, France. Climate change has warmed England by 5-6 degrees which is enough to allow grapes to grow. 20-30 years ago it wasn’t possible. Valkyrie Selections imports 212 wines from 42 growers in Spain. They sell almost 500 wines, as a company.

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Most of their wine is sold direct to consumer on their website. In the future, some store distribution is a goal. They have a 3000-square-foot tasting room.

William Weese, Merriam Vineyards winemaker, is our guest with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Melissa Galliani, GM of Wine Country Radio is also in the studio. The last time William Weese was on CWC was this episode on March 15, 2023. Today he has brought a Cabernet Franc, a Merlot and a Chardonnay.

The Merriam family started with one vineyard called Windacre in 1998 that produced Merlot. They built a winery and planted more vineyards in 2008 with Cabernet Franc and Malbec and Merlot, in their present location off East Side Road, directly below Shone Farm.

Dan says the Merriam project has been under the radar but it has become one of the most beautiful wineries in Sonoma County. They have been certified organic in the vineyard for many years and and now also the winery, recently.

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The Cabernet Franc is “spectacular” says Dan. In the Russian River AVA Pinot Noir is dominant but Cabernet Franc and Merlot deserve more attention. They are open daily from 10 to 5. Reservations are encouraged but not required. They have all kinds of tastings and tours.

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William Weese, Merriam Vineyards winemaker learned winemaking by working in New Zealand, France, Chile and Napa Valley, after some study at Cal State at Chico and at UC Davis.

Dan Berger and William were at the Sonoma County Barrel Auction today where the variety of production in Sonoma County was on display. Dan notices that a lot of the buyers here are people who want a personal affiliation with the winery. It is also a great place to get to know other wineries and winemakers. There are people who know wine who appreciate special products.

They pour the 2021 Cabernet Franc, one of their favorites that comes from a small block in the vineyard. It is a slow-ripening grape so they let it hang for a long time. It is smooth and silky. It has some of the personality of Cabernet Sauvignon, but more floral and less astringent.

The winery and tasting room are located a few minutes outside of Healdsburg.