Fred Peterson, owner of Peterson Winery, joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country today. This is Fred’s first time on the show, but Peterson wines were a big part of this episode with Darryl Miller, on March 27 this year.

Daedalus mentions the birds on the labels of the Peterson wines that Fred has brought. There are other labels with a mountain lion, a bear, a fox and a deer. They find old prints that are in public domain that they can use with no royalties.

Fred Peterson calls his winemaking style “zero manipulation” which they have trademarked. He uses the jackalope on the label, but he can’t trademark that mythical animal which is in the public domain.

They begin by tasting a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley. This is what happens when you have the proper fruit, the proper region and the proper technique of making the wine, says Dan. It is a great example of what it can do when it is properly aged. A Cab needs about 12 years to reach its fully mature complexity. This one is 23 years old now and has flavors of dry herbs and bay leaf.

This is a mountain cabernet from Bradford Mountain where Fred lives, at about 1100 feet elevation. If a Cabernet is just big, oaky, alcoholic and tannic, it can’t also carry terroir. Mountain Cabs have an edginess that other Cabs just don’t have.

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Dan reminds us that bitterness is a good thing. We like it in dark chocolate and in coffee. For example, bitters are appropriate in a mixed drink. They are part of the overall complexity and diversity of flavors. This wine is a perfect example. It delivers all its high-altitude character.

Fred says, “If we don’t make wines that taste of the vineyard, there’s no reason for a small winery to exist, in my opinion.” He calls his winemaking process “zero manipulation” so that his wines taste like the vineyard.

Their current release Cab is the 2022. So, it is young, for a Cabernet. The 2022 is also a very good wine, and Dan thinks that Fred harvested it at the right time. Both Cabs are blends. The 2003 is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot. The 2022 has the same 83% Cab, 11% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc.

After time in the Navy, Fred enrolled at UC Santa Cruz. He took time off for a road trip, to bring a motorcycle to a friend’s farm in Iowa. He took an interest in agriculture when he was there. He took some Agriculture classes at the JC then finished at UC Davis. His mom’s side of the family is Sicilian and Calabrese, so he grew up around wine. Dan sees this as a typical pattern for winemakers, to start in another field before settling on winemaking.

He calls the vineyard Gravity Flow block. It is an acre and a half of vineyard with over a mile of deer fencing. When he planted this block, he planted about 7% Viogner which he co-ferments with the Syrah. He and his son don’t like very tannic wines and the Viogner helps temper the Syrah. Co-fermentation is also called co-pigmentation.  The grapes ferment together. If you put 5% Viognier you get darker wine, aromatic improvement and a lighter texture. It has a paradoxical flavor. It has personality and maturity, but it feels young. The 2005 just needs ten more years in the bottle. The Syrah from 2018 is “stunning” says Dan, and was just released. It is available at the winery. Peterson Winery has a mailing list that we can all join. His son does blending seminars occasionally and he does vineyard tours.