Steve, Ben, Yolanda and Olli.

Ben Papapietro and his wife Yolanda join Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country. Dan Berger is away today, visiting the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival, which we talked about on this episode two weeks ago. Ben is a co-founder of the Papapietr0-Perry winery. This is Ben and Yolanda’s first time on CWC.

Ben Papapietro started in his basement in San Francisco as a home winemaker. He had a friend, Bruce Perry, who worked with Ben in the delivery of the San Francisco Chronicle. They wanted to make Pinot but there was hardly any fruit at that time. Another friend, Burt Williams, also helped him get some Pinot fruit. But they made a lot of Cabernet Franc blends and Zinfandel. In 1990 he got a really good source of Pinot fruit. Then his partner talked him into opening a professional winery in 1997. Early in his winemaking career, Ben did some harvests with Burt Williams, the co-founder of Williams-Selyem, who was a mentor to Ben. He was one of the local winemakers who started producing Pinot Noir in Sonoma County.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

They are tasting a 2023 Pinot Noir, a vineyard designate from Peter’s Vineyard. It is in the high southern hills with the famous Goldridge soil that makes the region famous.

Melissa Galliani joins us in the studio today. Her t-shirt says “near perfect” and it has a story. Ben’s partner made the t-shirt that reproduces the comments of wine reviewers who liked their wine. Bruce Perry was Ben’s partner and very close friend. He passed away a couple of years ago.

Papapietro-Perry is participating in the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience this weekend. But he and his wife are taking 80 people on a cruise up the Douro River in Portugal. They have organized several other cruises with as many as 140 people with them. They visit a lot of wineries and taste a lot of wine.

Ben grew up in the Mission district of San Francisco and visited Italy several times to see relatives on both sides of his family.

Papapietro-Perry has a “Light and Bright” club, which is for Rosé and Chardonnay. On June 14th there is an event called “Wine, Cheese and Chocolate.” Even during Covid they did a once-a-week live show that kept people involved. And in July there is the Papapietro-Perry Lobster and Chardonnay Festival.

Next they taste a Chardonnay which is a lighter style, fruit forward with a nice spicy finish that lingers. Ben also brought a Pinot Noir, made from the 777 clone grown in four different vineyards with different growing conditions.