By Virginie Boone

This year’s Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience will feature a seminar called “Legendary Leaders of Terroir: Unearth California’s Grand Cru Vineyards,” led by Master Sommelier Jason Smith of ICON Wines and featuring six winemakers each representing one grand cru site.

Two are from Sonoma County: David Ramey of Ramey Wine Cellars to talk about Ritchie Vineyard; and Justin Ennis of Joseph Phelps to talk about Freestone Quarter Moon Vineyard, two very worthy sites.

But of course, as we know, Sonoma County has many vineyards worthy of grand cru-like distinction, a designation that can be difficult to define simply in words. These are places that not only grow incredibly high-quality grapes but often also hold historical significance, having endured over a great expanse of time and helped build the reputation of this region.

For example, the Historical Vineyard Society has identified many Sonoma County vineyards planted as early as the 1880s that have further established themselves as grand cru. These include such places as Monte Rosso, Pagani and Jackass Hill/Jackass Vineyard.

The term grand cru is linked most specifically to Burgundy where it literally translates as “great growth.” This classification dates back to the 19th century, when vineyards were divided into four classes that had to be stipulated on the label. Grand Cru is the first class, followed by Premier Cru, then Appellation Commune (also known as village wines) and lastly those labeled simply as Bourgogne.

In California we have no such strict classifications, but over time, and over many wines produced, vineyards here earn certain levels of respect for producing grapes of great quality and vineyard designations.

Let’s consider a handful of vineyards we would all agree are exceptionally long-lived sites, particularly for Pinot Noir/Chardonnay. We’ll explore more of Sonoma County’s grand cru sites in future editions of The Good Stuff.

B.A. Thieriot

Southwest of Occidental at 900 feet-elevation overlooking Bodega, this is a cool-climate site planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Purchased by Cameron and Bridgit Thieriot in 1988, the first part of the vineyard was planted by Warren Dutton in 1989. It has three clones of Chardonnay – Dijon 95, Hyde and Dutton selections; and several of Pinot Noir – Swan, Pommard, Dijon 114 and 777 and a proprietary clone. Littorai, Senses and Rivers-Marie are among the producers to source from here.

Hirsch

A pioneer on the Sonoma Coast/Fort Ross-Seaview, Hirsch was founded by David Hirsch in 1978 to make site-specific wines. The first vines were planted in 1980; it now has 72 acres of grapes. Making wines of their own since 2002, the Hirsch bottlings are among Sonoma County’s best, but Hirsch has also long been a sought-after vineyard-designate by the likes of Williams Selyem, Kistler, Failla and Littorai.

Kistler Vineyard

A Chardonnay-only site, Steve Kistler started focusing on a singular clone of Chardonnay in the 1980s, bringing material over from Burgundy. The site is on Moon Mountain above the Sonoma Valley, at 1,800-feet elevation in red volcanic soils and dry farmed. The first bottling was 1986. Kistler Vineyard Cuvée Cathleen is from a specific section of this vineyard with a broken shale uplift that gets afternoon sun instead of morning, planted in 1989. It has warranted its own bottling since 1998.

Occidental

Steve Kistler’s Pinot Noir-only vineyards in Freestone-Occidental are comprised of several sites in full view of the Pacific Ocean and planted to field selections of Pinot from two grand cru Vosne Romanée vineyards specifically determined by Kistler over many years, with the goal of producing wines with the highest natural acidity and finesse. The vineyards are named Bodega Headlands, Running Fence, SWK, Bodega Ridge and Occidental Station. It all began in 2008 with the purchase of a 250-acre Bodega Ridge property. The first single-vineyard bottling was in 2019.

Rochioli

Originally known as Fenton Acres, Rochioli’s 125-acre Russian River Valley property was first planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc in 1959; the Sauvignon Blanc vines remain and are some of the oldest in the state. Joe Rochioli Jr. started planting Pinot Noir in 1968, followed soon after by Chardonnay. Davis Bynum and Williams Selyem were among the first buyer of grapes. In 1983 Fenton Acres became Rochioli Vineyards and Joe Jr.’s son Tom began making Rochioli wines in addition to selling grapes. In addition to Williams Selyem, Ramey and Gary Farrell are among the other producers who have long sourced grapes.

Sangiacomo Roberts Road

The Carneros-based grapegrowers helped establish the Petaluma Gap early on, buying and planting Roberts Road Vineyard in 1999 on the outskirts of the city. With both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay established, there are 14 different combinations of clones and rootstocks here making it is a highly sought-after source of grapes, selling consistently to Sojourn, Saxon Brown and Anaba, as well as making Roberts Road Vineyard-designated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of its own under Sangiacomo Wines.

Pictured: Rochioli Vineyard 

By Virginie Boone

Italian varieties are no stranger to Sonoma County, a region rich in Italian heritage and history. The majority of these varieties exist in small pockets of acreage for the most part, with the possible exception of Sangiovese, which cracks the top 13 red varieties by value with only 276 acres planted (2023 Sonoma County Crop Report).

As we reported in a previous Good Stuff, the breakdown of other Italian varieties in Sonoma County consists of mostly Primitivo (59 acres), Barbera (47 acres) and 11 acres or fewer of Catarrato, Malvasia Bianca, Moscato Giallo, Palomino, Tocai Fruilano, Vermentino, Aglianico, Dolcetto, Graciano, Montepulciano, Nebbiolo, Nero D’Avola and Teroldego.

But two new varieties may now be added into the mix. The team behind Rhys Vineyards in Anderson Valley and the Santa Cruz Mountains have unveiled a Sonoma County project called Centennial Mountain (formerly known as Aeris). Centennial Mountain is the first to plant both Carricante (white) and Nerello Mascalese (red) vines in the New World, at 2,000-feet elevation along a ridgeline in northern Sonoma County just 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Both grapes are longtime mainstays on Sicily’s Mount Etna.

Owner Kevin Harvey’s first taste of Carricante in Italy made him think of a Grand Cru Burgundy meeting a Grand Cru Alsatian Riesling, while the Nerello Mascalese echoed Pinot Noir’s aromatics and complexity.

Jancis Robinson in her Oxford Companion to Wine describes Carricante as a “Zesty eastern Sicilian which can make wines worth ageing,” while Nerello Mascalese is “The most important and increasingly respected red grape on Etna,” a late-ripening variety that holds its acid and offers gentle tannins.

The Centennial Mountain team established the rootstocks for the vines in 2013 and grafted them in 2015 after years of study in Italy, collecting weather data, planting vineyards and making wine on Mount Etna under the Aeris name. The vines were then brought over from Italy through UC Davis Plant Services.

The vineyard uses the Alberello (small tree) method of vine architecture for both these varieties, dividing the 26.40 acres of vines into 42 smaller blocks. There are a little more than four acres of each, and the first wines are from the 2021 vintage. There is also Nebbiolo on the site.

Data from their time on Mount Etna showed that both the Carricante and Nerello Mascalese would need a modest diurnal temperate swing, with cool days and warm nights to preserve freshness and bring the acidity and sugar into balance, able to combine high altitude with a marine influence.

While grapegrowing in Sonoma County may date back to the late 1800s, our region continues to prove that anything is possible and that new varieties previously unknown to even California can thrive in our soils and microclimates. This bodes well for Sonoma County’s ability to sustain itself now and always.

Image by: Rhys Vineyards

By Virginie Boone

Dating back to 1905, and two brothers, Pasquale and Luigi Bastoni, who came to Sonoma County from Northern Italy, Bastoni Vineyards is one of our region’s illustrious members of Sonoma County Winegrowers’ Century Club, having farmed continuously for 100 years or more.

When Luigi Bastoni passed away at age 79 in 1952, his obituary in The Press Democrat said his vineyard “was once described by experts as one of the finest in Sonoma County.” The property had been sold five years earlier to Bastoni’s sister-in-law, Mrs. Maria Bastoni (Pasquale’s widow, also known as Mary), and nephew, Pasquale Bastoni Jr. The elder Pasquale and Maria had eight children.

Luigi first came to the area when there were only about half a dozen families here. He was said to be milking a cow under an oak tree when the 1906 earthquake hit, though the ranch was thankfully spared of any damage. Along with four sons, he had five daughters, who became members of the Sanchietti, Cardinelli, Valli, Basignani and Uboldi families.

The Bastonis started out with 160 acres of land in what we now know as the Fountaingrove District, settled along Riebli Road in Santa Rosa. The original vineyards were planted to Zinfandel on St. George rootstock, interplanted with Alicante Bouschet, Carignan, Palomino and Petite Sirah, but at its lowest point, consisted of only 13 acres of grapes. In its heyday, grapes were sold to Italian Swiss Colony, Charles Krug, Joseph Swan and Geyser Peak.

For a time it was a prune orchard and had some cattle. It also became known for its brick-oven breads; it was said that “better bread was never baked in Sonoma County,” in a 1955 Press Democrat piece by then-food editor Byrd Weyler Kellogg.

“The Bastoni family knows that no other homemade bread could compete in taste and nourishment with loaves baked in the outdoor brick oven,” it read. “There are hosts of friends to back this opinion. They have all eaten some of the white bread Mary Bastoni makes just as she did in Italy 50 years ago.”

For more than 40 years, Mary and her husband Pasquale baked Italian bread for her family weekly in an outdoor brick oven built two feet above the ground near their home on Bastoni Ranch. Prunings from grapevines often served as fuel for the fire. At its height, she baked twice weekly, 15 loaves at a time, to feed a 21-person household.

Today the third generation of Bastonis, Martha Bastoni Messana (daughter of Pasquale Jr.) and her husband Russ oversee 37 acres of sustainably farmed vines, replanting much of it in 2005 to predominantly Zinfandel and Alicante Bouschet, both still on St. George rootstock. The grapes are sold to such producers as Carol Shelton, Wonderment Wines and Miro Cellars.

Featured artwork: “Bastoni Vineyards” by Tom Rissacher.

By Virginie Boone

Though there’s tumult in the air, hope is never hard to find when a slew of Sonoma County wineries are opening long-awaited tasting spaces to enjoy their wines. None of these are newcomers, either. They’re all well-established Sonoma County-rooted brands and families taking their businesses to the next level, with hospitality that’s welcoming and rooted in a distinct sense of this place, all set within vineyards.

Auteur Wines

Operating what they call the Sonoma Bungalow for many years off the main square in the town of Sonoma, Auteur founders Kenneth and Laura Juhasz are just about to open their Russian River Estate on Wohler Road in Healdsburg. Auteur has been around for 22 years, but this is the first time it’s been able to showcase its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines in the midst of where they grow best.

Auteur sources grapes from across Sonoma County, from such well-known sites as Bacigalupi, Gap’s Crown, Durell and Green Acres, and other exceptional vineyards like Labyrinth, Balinard, Starkey, Nunnery (for Moon Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon) and Attune. Auteur also produces a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from the Middle Reach and Laguna Hills, and a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay made by blending several single vineyard sites into one. With doors opening this Friday, April 11, tasting options include an Appellation Series flight ($40) and Single-Vineyard Series flight ($60), with plans to add tastings of rare past vintages, wines by clone and a blind tasting option down the road.

Black Kite Cellars

The family-owned boutique producer of site-specific Chardonnay and Pinot Noir opened the Jasper House last year in the Freestone Historic District, seven miles from the Pacific Ocean. It is its first permanent tasting room despite being founded in 2003. Tastings of six wines are by appointment and take place in the cozy interior tasting salons, designed to reflect the different terroirs Black Kite loves, from West Sonoma Coast to Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma Coast and the Petaluma Gap. The producer also conducts tastings at Grand Cru in Windsor.

Bob Cabral Wines

A Sonoma County winemaking icon since his early days at DeLoach, Alderbrook and Hartford Family, and later Williams Selyem and Three Sticks, Bob Cabral quietly launched Bob Cabral Wines a few years back, focusing on Sonoma County Pinot Noir (Cuvée Troubadour and Cuvée Electric Hippy), Rosé of Pinot Noir (Cuvée American Girl) and Chardonnay (Cuvée Anne Rose). His Wildflower Riesling, in most years, is made from Sonoma Coast grapes.

A fourth-generation grapegrower, Cabral has long been devoted to Sonoma County and will also be launching a 2024-vintage tribute to his dad called Farmer Tinto, blending Tempranillo (aka Tinto Ruiz) from Marimar Estate and Petite Sirah from Bacigalupi. All the wines have a charitable component, especially to charities involving children, like Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair, The Guardsmen, Café Hope and others.

Cabral is making his wines in a brand-new production facility at Paradise Ridge in Santa Rosa and invites one and all to come taste at his Backstage Lounge at LOVE Meadow (where the LOVE Sculpture lives) within walking distance of the winery. A huge music devotee, Cabral’s lounge reflects his deep connection to music and musicians and is meant to be a relaxing place to enjoy wine and music together – he correlates every label to an important song in his life and also pairs every bottle with a playlist of hand-picked songs.

Kanzler Vineyards

Overlooking Kanzler’s 20 acres of estate vineyards in the Sebastopol Hills, eight miles from the Pacific Ocean, the family unveiled a new tasting space opened July of last year after more than seven years of permitting and planning. Established as a vineyard in 1996, Kanzler sold grapes in the early days, to such notable producers as Kosta Browne, Landmark, Flowers, Gary Farrell and Rhys. They slowly built their own Pinot Noir brand, naming son Alex winemaker in 2011. A Chardonnay was added not long afterwards, produced from Walker Station Vineyard in Green Valley of Russian River Valley. A Rosé of Pinot Noir is also made. Intimate, the classic tasting experience includes a walk in the vineyards. By appointment Thursday-Monday.

Kutch Wines

Celebrating 25 years of making wine this year, Jamie Kutch and Kristen Green of Kutch Wines have finally been granted approval for a winery and tasting room on their estate vineyard in Sebastopol. Plans are now able to go forward and build a 12,000-case winemaking facility and tasting room that will be open by appointment.

Kutch and Green bought a 12-acre apple farm in Sebastopol in 2021 and soon set about planting, starting with 15,000 plants from a local nursery. The vineyard was planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 2022 and is expecting its first real crop this fall. In addition to wine, the facility also holds a 500-gallon distillation permit; Kutch will make brandy from both Pinot Noir and two acres of apple trees they kept in the ground. They also planted native fruit trees and native plants, in addition to a pollinator garden for bees. Kutch sources from across Sonoma County for several vineyard-designated Sonoma Coast wines, including McDougall Ranch, Falstaff, Salt Point and Bohan vineyards.

Pictured: Black Kite Cellars’ Jasper House – Will Bucquoy/Black Kite Cellars

By Virginie Boone

All of April California celebrates the wine industry’s commitment to sustainability with Down to Earth month, highlighting the state’s leadership in sustainable viticulture and winemaking.

The Certified California Sustainable Vineyards and Wineries program is about growing quality winegrapes and making quality wines while protecting the environment, being a good neighbor and employer, and maintaining thriving family farms and businesses. Certification is done by a third-party auditor.

The amount of vineyards certified under the California Sustainable Winegrowing program has grown 86% since 2018, representing about 65% of total vineyard acreage in the state; the amount of certified wineries has grown 50% in that same time period. Another 22% are certified under other programs, which can include organic, biodynamic and regenerative farming practices.

Sonoma County remains far and away a leader in holding these certifications for both wineries and vineyards with 1,108 listed within the California Certified Sustainable database. The next highest is Napa County with 303.

The key areas of sustainable certification for vineyards center around water efficiency, pest management, healthy soils and energy efficiency, as well as the categories of stewardship, neighbors, employees and contributions.

Wineries also focus on water efficiency and energy efficiency but also waste management and supply chain. A comprehensive Workbook exists to help winegrowers evaluate their level of sustainability and learn more about improving practices.

But the best way to learn is to visit.

Here are 10 Certified Sonoma County wineries with tasting rooms:

Balletto – The Russian River Valley-based grower and winery has an extensive section on its website detailing the work it does in the vineyards with cover crops, its responsible water use, natural pest control, soil moisture monitoring, composting, making of solar-powered wine and a whole lot more, and has long been an active proponent in Sonoma County’s commitment to becoming the first 100% sustainable wine region in the United States.

Benziger – In the folds of Sonoma Mountain, Benziger has farmed in Glen Ellen for some 30 years, putting down roots in 1980 after buying the old Wegener Ranch. Over time they adopted Biodynamic farming practices, getting Demeter-certified in 2000. On April 13 VP/Brand Ambassador Chris Benziger will lead a Casual Biodynamic Vineyard Tour on the ranch.

Crossbarn – Started in 2000 by Paul Hobbs to honor his family’s family heritage and values of farming sustainably, this Sebastopol-based winery is in a former apple processing facility, where the wines are made from grapes grown across Sonoma County.

Hartford Family – Set just outside of Forestville, the first Hartford Court wines were released in 1996, and the winery remains committed to working with older-vined vineyards across the county, like Fanucchi-Wood Road and Arrendell. It farms sustainable organic.

Jordan – One of the grand Alexander Valley estates, Jordan is a certified sustainable winery and vineyard and farms other agricultural products as well across its 1,200 acres, from cattle to vegetables. It maintains considerable natural habitat around its 18 estate vineyard blocks. It is also the largest winery pollinator sanctuary after having turned 10 acres of non-native grassland into preserved habitat for pollinators like native bees and Monarch butterflies.

Pedroncelli – An historic family-owned property in the Dry Creek Valley that dates back to 1927, Pedroncelli’s vineyards are certified sustainable, and they take a comprehensive approach to all they do, from human resources to soil management.

Rodney Strong – Family-owned and operated, the winery based just outside of Healdsburg is 100% certified-sustainable in its 12 estate vineyards, which span across the Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley and Chalk Hill. The winery has long been committed to sustainable practices, earning the Sustainable Winegrowing Green Medal Leadership Award in 2004.

Seghesio – Based in Healdsburg, the Seghesio family first planted grapes at its Home Ranch Vineyard in 1895. It now farms more than 300 acres of sustainable vineyards in the Alexander, Dry Creek and Russian River valleys, some of them still planted to head-trained old vines and has some of the oldest Sangiovese in America.

St. Francis – Based in the heart of Sonoma Valley, the winery operates on three sustainability pillars: environment, equity and economics. It considers each one each time it makes a business decision. In addition to overseeing the winery’s 400 acres of certified-sustainable estate vineyards, Director of Vineyards Jake Terrell assisted in revising the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices and its ongoing standards for sustainable practices in the wine industry.

Three Sticks – The winery based in the town of Sonoma is 100% estate, owning and farming such heritage vineyards as Durell, Gap’s Crown and Walala, all on the Sonoma Coast, while also selling these grapes to other producers. Its monopole sites include Alana, One Sky and William James, located in the Russian River Valley and on Sonoma Mountain. Certified sustainable, it looks at the three e’s in all decision-making, ecological stewardship, social equity and economic validity.

Image by: California Wine Institute

By Virginie Boone

The first farmers’ market in America on record took place in 1730 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Locals there have said, “Meet me at the Market,” ever since. The Lancaster Central Market in fact was built in the center of town as a focal point for the community. In 1995 it was designated one of our country’s “Great Public Places.”

Later, what became known as “curb markets” sprang up all over the burgeoning United States, a way for local farmers and merchants to set up their wagons on the curbs of streets to sell their goods to people in cities.

Farmers’ markets have continued to grow ever since, as both gathering places and sustainable market places. The USDA National Farmers Market Directory today counts more than 6,800 such markets operating across the United States. To be included, a farmers’ market must “feature two or more farm vendors selling agricultural products directly to customers at a common, recurrent physical location.”

The directory also lists farms, CSAs, agritourism destinations, on-farm markets and food hubs, places that aggregate and distribute local food products.

The Original Farmers’ Market in Los Angeles first opened in 1934 and is now a historic landmark, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Third Street. When it opened, the property was a 265-acre dairy farm. Local farmers started parking their trucks on a field selling their wares, paying fifty cents a day to rent a space. Part of the market’s lore is that James Dean had breakfast there on the morning of his deadly car accident in 1955.

The Alemany Farmers’ Market in San Francisco, founded in 1943, calls itself the first farmers’ market in California, started during World War II to support farms that were near the city, and is particularly known for carrying Latin and Southeast Asian ingredients.

During the war, another reason markets sprung up was due to a shortage of aluminum, which caused canneries to stop canning fruits and vegetables, which needed to be sold in other ways. Also, larger grocery markets preferred to buy in bulk, which made it harder for small-scale farmers to compete. There were also rations on gasoline at the time, so consumers couldn’t easily travel directly to farms on a regular basis, prompting farmers to come to them.

At the time though, the success of the farmers’ market was almost its undoing, as larger grocery stores complained that it affected sales. But in the end, voters voted to keep the farmers’ market and it, and many others, became a permanent fixture of city and suburban life.

California now has more than 650 certified farmers’ markets, 60% are year-round.

The Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers’ Market was established in 1967, making it the oldest in Sonoma County. In its early days it was held on Petaluma Hill Road near the Crane Melon farm. It then moved to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and later the Veterans Building (it has since moved again to a lot near the intersection of Highway 12 and Farmers Lane).

In the 1980s Hilda Swartz was an important figure in Sonoma County farmers markets. Swartz grew up on a 10-acre family farm in Southern California after the Great Depression years, growing peaches, cherries and table grapes.

She moved to Oakmont in 1979 and soon met Sara Lee Kunde and began working at the Harvest Fair. Later with Kozlowski Farms, Swartz started selling their wares at the Sonoma Farmers’ Market in 1985 and two years later was hired to run it, starting with just 10 vendors.

Soon, the growth of more farmers markets across the region helped Sonoma County become a famous place for not only wine grapes but all the other things it was growing so well on local farms.

In a December 1989 Los Angeles Times story called, “Stalking the Perfect Asparagus,” the area was described as a place where, “it is now possible to achieve some level of fame by growing vegetables… The demand for the most succulent zucchini and the crunchiest endive has reached such heights that vegetable growers get mentioned in the same breath with the Chardonnay vintners. One now ‘has vegetables’ the way one used to ‘have grapes.’”

The Healdsburg Farmers Market is one of California’s original 22 Certified Farmers’ Markets. There are now many more, including in Bodega Bay, Cloverdale, Cotati, Forestville, Oakmont, Occidental, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Russian River, several in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma, Windsor and Roseland.

The Certified part exempts farmers from packing, sizing and labeling requirements that had been in place until 1977 that required farmers to pack size and label their fruits, vegetables and nuts in standard containers to transport and sell anywhere other than their farm site, including farmers’ markets.

The Certified Farmers’ Market system gained them more flexibility, allowing farmers to interact directly with consumers, an increasingly important way for consumers to learn more about their local food supply.

California winegrowers holding a Type 02 license are able to sell wine at farmers’ markets with a special Certified Farmers’ Market Sales Permit so long as the wine is produced entirely from grapes or other agricultural products grown by the winegrower and bottled by the winegrower.

Here are just a handful of our local farmers’ markets:

Healdsburg Farmers Market –  April 12 to December 20, Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; May 13 – September 30, Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Rohnert Park Farmers’ Market – June to August, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Roseland Mercadito Farmers’ Market – Year-round Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Santa Rosa Certified Farmers Market – March to December, 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Santa Rosa Community Farmers Market – Year-round, Wednesday 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Sonoma’s Tuesday Night Market – May through September

The Springs Community Farmers’ Market – September to November

Image by: Sonoma County Tourism

By Virginie Boone

When winemaker Joel Peterson was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintners Hall of Fame in 2011, he noted how wine was just beginning to rival beer as the American beverage.

“I don’t think anybody when I started came close to thinking that was a possibility, it was a small, esoteric little business, boy has that changed,” he said at the time, adding, “You take stock and gather breath and move forward. I plan to die with my boots on, hoping that won’t be for a very long time.”

Well, he’s not dead yet. And neither is Ravenswood, the winery Peterson founded in 1976 after working for Joseph Swan. When Ravenswood was sold to Constellation in 2001, for $148 million, it was one of the biggest wine acquisitions of all time – with Peterson the only no vote against the sale. Constellation then took it from 400,000 cases/year to 1 million.

Peterson’s footprints loomed large for a little longer. In 2009 the National Museum of American History included Ravenswood memorabilia like a “No Wimpy Wines” T-shirt (a diss on White Zin) and famous three-raven label logo, designed by Berkeley artist David Lance Goines, as well as a punch down tool in the Evolution of Food and Wine exhibit.

The raven logo was so popular for a time that it inspired a fair few tattoos. People with such a tattoo would be invited to taste free at the winery back in the day.

But alas, not all tales are fairy tales, and by 2019, Ravenswood was being sold again, this time to E&J Gallo, as part of a 30-plus wine and spirits brands and six-winery package deal valued at $1.7 billion.

While that deal was tied up in a back and forth with the FTC, both Ravenswood’s production facility and Sonoma-based tasting room were closed and contracts with many of its old-vine vineyards allowed to expire.

In between, Ravenswood started to slowly disappear.

“It’s disturbing to see a once-proud wine brand stuck in limbo,” Wine Spectator’s Tim Fish lamented in a 2020 story. “It’s not even clear whether the winery made wine in 2019, and harvest 2020 is fast approaching. That’s not something that is going unnoticed by California Zinfandel’s small but dedicated cadre of fans.”

Fast-forward five years and the good news is that Ravenswood is poised to return after a five-year hiatus, with Peterson onboard for the relaunch. And according to Wine Spectator, “E&J Gallo recently released the first new wines, beginning on a modest scale, with just 3,400 cases of four Sonoma County Zins from the 2023 vintage.”

The wines will include a Dry Creek Valley appellation wine, and single-vineyard offerings from MacMurray Ranch (Gallo owned), Monte Rosso (Gallo owned) and Teldeschi vineyards, the wines priced between $27 and $70.

It’s good to see Ravenswood embrace old vines again. During its heyday of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Peterson was one of the most important champions of old-vine vineyards, deliberately trying to highlight sites with plantings dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, when there wasn’t much interest in such a thing.

He once told me that the price when he started sniffing around was under $300/ton back then and the vines not particularly revered, with everyone moving more into Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

The white Zinfandel phenomenon helped keep some of the vines in the ground, but many others were pulled and replanted. But he and others, like Joe Swan and Paul Draper of Ridge started looking at the sites as both an important emblem of California history and as right for the environment in which they were grown.

Peterson and Swan found Old Hill Vineyard in Sonoma Valley, first planted in 1852 to mixed blacks, with a majority of Zinfandel. Bedrock Vineyard was another treasure trove of field-blended grapes, a 152-acre property originally planted in the 1850s and again in the 1880s by Senator George Hearst near Old Hill that Peterson bought with his son, Morgan, who makes wine under Bedrock Wine Co.

Barricia Vineyard was another important source, with Zinfandel dating back to 1892. Big River in Alexander Valley also figured into the original Ravenswood lineup, a 100% Zinfandel vineyard planted first in 1893. Russian River Valley’s Belloni Vineyard was another single-vineyard, as was Teldeschi Ranch, with vines planted in the 1880s.

Moon Mountain District’s Monte Rosso is in keeping with Ravenswood’s love of old vines, first planted in the 1886 to Zinfandel and Semillon at 1,300-feet elevation. MacMurray Ranch in the Russian River Valley was first established as a farmstead in the 1840s, became a beef ranch in the 1950s under actor Fred MacMurray, and transformed into a Pinot Noir growing site by Gallo in 1996.

It is welcome news to see a brand like Ravenswood return especially with its founder Joel Peterson on board, a true icon of Sonoma County wine.

By Virginie Boone

Consider this: George Martinelli of Martinelli Family Winery is a fifth-generation Sonoma County farmer on his mother’s side (Carolyn Charles Martinelli) and fourth-generation on his father’s side (Lee Martinelli Sr.). That’s a lot of generations to get to this point. His kids (two daughters) are sixth and fifth generation on either side and their kids will be seventh and sixth, and so on and so on.

Therein lies the tale of the Sonoma County Winegrowers’ Century Club, with the Martinelli family representing one of the oldest family farming legacies in our region.

In 2018, the family made a point to cement that legacy by purchasing 465 acres of the Charles Ranch, including two vineyards, the Charles Ranch Vineyard and Three Sisters Vineyard, with 27 acres planted to wine grapes.

Set two ridges in from the Pacific Ocean near Fort Ross, first homesteaded in the 1860s by her great-grandparents and later worked as a sheep and bison ranch by her father George Charles, who planted it to Chardonnay grapes in 1981, Carolyn had previously owned the vineyard with her two sisters. The Martinelli family felt it was important to keep the ranch viable for winemaking and grape farming for future generations, the Charles Ranch an important symbolic and practical piece of that vision.

In addition to Charles Ranch and Three Sisters, which grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, the Martinellis own 19 vineyard sites across Sonoma County, amounting to about 475 acres. And while they make their own Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Syrah and Muscat of Alexandria wines at Martinelli Winery, they remain first and foremost grape growers, selling about 90% of their 100% certified-sustainable grapes to other wineries.

Today, three generations of Martinelli family members work together on all aspects of the business: Lee Sr., his children George, Lee Jr. and Julianna, and granddaughter Tessa, Julianna’s daughter.

The most famous of the family’s sites is the 60-65-degree sloped Jackass Hill, planted primarily to Zinfandel, the steepest non-terraced vineyard in California.

This was the original site of the Martinelli Winery established in the 1880s by Lee Sr.’s Tuscan grandparents Giuseppe and Luisa Martinelli on Martinelli Road. Nearly a century later, the current Martinelli Winery & Vineyards opened in an historic hop barn on River Road by Lee Sr. and Carolyn, hiring Helen Turley as their first winemaker.

Of course beyond the steepness, the difficult thing to imagine about Jackass is that someone had to plant it before mechanical tractors, meaning, by hand. The dry-farmed vines began to be designated as Jackass Hill in the 1980s, comprised of only three acres, including a small amount of Muscat Alexandria. Lee Sr.’s father Leno farmed it until around 1968, well into his 80s, reluctant to hand over the reins to his son.

Leno’s second wife Helen was the one to say only a “jackass” would be foolish enough to farm it. First wife Alma was a Bondi, who were potato and apple farmers. Her brother Tony’s early death in 1971 is what prompted Lee Sr. (a high school teacher at the time) to become a full-time farmer, taking over the Bondi apple farm on Watertrough Road to keep it alive, leaving apples behind to plant Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah at what is now known as Zio Tony Ranch.

Zio Tony is just one ranch within the 400 total acres farmed by the Martinellis in Russian River Valley alone, joining Jackass Hill, Jackass Vineyard, Giuseppe & Luisa, Moonshine Ranch, Lolita Ranch, Vellutini Ranch, Chico’s Hill, Hop Barn Hill and Martinelli Road. In Fort Ross-Seaview is Charles and Three Sisters, but also Blue Slide Ridge, Sky Ridge and Wild Thyme Vineyard, while the 17-acre Bondi Home Ranch sits in Green Valley.

To hear more about the Martinelli family’s long legacy as Sonoma County grape growers, tune into this Saturday’s episode of “The Good Stuff” on KSRO 103.5 & 96.9 FM/1350 AM from 1 pm to 2 pm, with guests George Martinelli and Tessa Martinelli Gorsuch.

By Virginie Boone

This Saturday, March 8, TEDxSonomaCounty returns to the Jackson Theater at Sonoma Country Day School for a day of inspiring speakers, including one member of the Sonoma County wine community, Ross Halleck of Halleck Vineyard, with a talk called “Time Traveling with Wine.”

A non-profit that “believes powerful ideas, powerfully presented, move us,” TED started in 1984 as a conference on technology, entertainment and design where speakers deliver talks on a range of subjects, from science, engineering and economics to humor, farming and dance.

From that first year on, the talks went viral and a movement sparked. Subsequent events have led with the mantra, “Where Curiosity Meets Community.”

The similarly named TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission of “ideas worth spreading,” to support independent organizers who wish to create TED-like events in their own communities.

In Sonoma County the event is organized by local wonder women, executive producer Marilyn Nagel and Emcee Anisya Fritz. Fritz is also the proprietor and director of customer experience at Lynmar Estate.

It was in fact a March 24, 2022 TEDxSonomaCounty talk given by Sonoma County Winegrowers President and CEO Karissa Kruse called “Drink the Good Stuff,” that inspired this very column, as well as a weekly radio show on KSRO by the same name.

Over the years, TEDx Talks have often touched on the subject of wine. Taking place all over the world, many have had wonderful speakers tackling interesting facets of wine culture.

It’s hard not to love first Asian Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee’s “How Wine Keeps You Slim, Healthy and Humble,” a TEDx talk she gave in Hong Kong where she traces her journey of learning about wine the way she learned to speak English.

Dr. Gregory Jones, Ph.D. tackled “Climate, Grapes and Wine,” at TEDxRoseburg in Oregon. The discussion of wine made it to Fargo, North Dakota in Sam Wai’s 2023 TEDx talk about “Wine in Culture and Agriculture.” Farther afield, Kailash Gurnani detailed “What Winemaking Taught Me About Life,” about being one of the top winemakers in India.

In 2018, Madelyn Meyer, a Swiss wine expert whose mission is to simplify wine communication, confronted the subject in a TEDxZurich talk called “The New Wine Language: A Simpler Concept.” In it, she discusses wine’s unique ability to intimidate and her contrarian desire to create a more lighthearted wine world.

That same year closer to home, fifth-generation winemaker Karl Wente of Wente Family Estates talked about “Wine and the Senses,” at TEDxEmeraldGlenPark, California, where he asked himself questions like, “what is wine?” and “what’s quality?”

Ten years before that was popular wine influencer/Wine Library TV founder Gary Vaynerchuk’s rousing talk titled “Do What You Love (No Excuses!).” That same year, The Billionaire’s Vinegar author Benjamin Wallace’s “The Price of Happiness,” recounted how he sampled some of the best food, wine and experiences to determine their true worth.

Leo Johnson (former English Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s brother) in Brixton, England comically described how he found happiness by making wine as a way to get to know his neighbors in “Make Unthinkable Drinkable Wine with your Neighbors.” The talk was so successful, Johnson started a community initiative called “Unthinkable, Drinkable Brent,” to encourage people to make homegrown wine together everywhere to avoid the loneliness epidemic.

Sometimes a speaker gets more technical. Australian mechanical engineer and entrepreneur Brian Murphy’s 2021 “Making White Wine Crystal Clear,” explored the inefficiencies of wine production and some specific ideas for overcoming instability in white wines.

In addition to wine-specific talks, there are moving conversations about agriculture. Mark Jackson of Jackson Farms is a fifth-generation Iowa farmer and head of the American Soybean Association. His moving “Personal Story about Farming and the Future of Agriculture,” is a riveting tale of remaining sustainable over generations.

Or there’s “Without Farmers, You’d Be Hungry, Naked and Sober,” by Eric Sannerud in St. Cloud, Minnesota, about the impact of farming in local communities around the world and how farmers in the U.S. are retiring faster than they’re being replaced.

Thus there’s a long list of meaningful content and things worth contemplating within the TED and TEDx library, even around the subjects of farming and wine. Consider attending in person to truly be inspired within the folds of a focused audience or dig deep into the treasure trove of ideas out there waiting to be explored.

By Virginie Boone

Through this Sunday, March 2, there’s no better time to support our local restaurant community than by enjoying one of the many meals and deals during Sonoma County Restaurant Week. Participating restaurants will have both a la carte and special tasting menus on offer showcasing the wide array of world-class cuisine we have here in our own backyard – and don’t forget to have a glass of wine.

Here’s a selection of where to go, especially if you love wine:

Arandas, Healdsburg: in the Hotel Les Mars, this Mexican hotspot is offering a $35 three-course lunch and $65 three-course dinner special and features a full bar, while the outstanding wine list has local wines from A. Rafanelli, Quivira, Dumol, Dry Creek Vineyard and many more.

Ca’Bianca Ristorante Italiano, Santa Rosa: a landmark in local Italian cuisine, Ca’Bianca is offering several three-course dinner menus for $60. The wine list is outstanding, with local selections from J Vineyards, Kokomo, Dutton-Goldfield, MacRostie, Balletto, Jordan, Hartford Court, Kistler and many more.

Catelli’s, Geyserville: A two-course lunch of salad with either pasta or The Ultimate Rex burger for $25 is an excellent way to go at this beloved fifth-generation Italian family-run destination, with many local wine choices, from Comstock, Bricoleur, Rochioli and more.

Dry Creek Kitchen, Healdsburg: Chef Charlie Palmer needs no introduction, a longtime supporter of all things Sonoma County, including with his wine list. This week enjoy a three-course dinner for $60. The wines are an endless series of temptations, from Rochioli Blanc de Noirs to multiple vintages from Aperture, Bucher, Trombetta, Nalle, Saini, Morlet, Williams Selyem and many, many more.

Farmstand, Forestville: Take in a two-course hyper-seasonal, locally grown lunch on the patio (or poolside) of the Farmhouse Inn for $35 and be surrounded by the beauty of the Russian River Valley vineyards all around.

Glen Ellen Star, Glen Ellen: The bastion of delicious Italian-inspired wood-fired food has a three-course restaurant week menu for $60/. Local wines by the glass and bottle change often, but recently included wines from Guthrie Family, Smith Story and others.

Goldfinch, Sebastopol: This week have a $35 two-course lunch or $60 three-course dinner at this wonderfully creative space, where wines by the glass include such stars as Dehlinger Chardonnay, Kanzler Pinot Noir, County Line Zinfandel and Bedrock Cabernet Sauvignon.

Hazel Hill at Montage, Healdsburg: Convince yourself you’re on a resort vacation overlooking the Montage grounds from its on-site restaurant, where this week’s deals include a $25 two-course lunch and $60 three-course dinner. There’s an impressive wine list but the property also has its own estate wine, Surveyor, made in partnership with Aperture winemaker Jesse Katz.

John Ash at Vintners Resort, Santa Rosa: One of the legacy restaurant names and important Sonoma County chefs, John Ash remains a landmark of great local food and wine. This week, have a $60 three-course dinner and bask in the award-winning wine list, chock-a-block with regional wines.

Seared, Petaluma: The three-course dinner menu for $60 looks outstanding at this steak and seafood palace, known also for its barrel-aged cocktails, while wines by the glass include selections from Cline, Rodney Strong and Sonoma-Cutrer.

Spinster Sisters, Santa Rosa: Three-courses for $60 from this chef-driven favorite will pair well with many of the local wines on the list or add a $40 wine pairing to dinner.

Valette, Healdsburg: Another great three-course dinner option for $60, Valette is a winemaker hangout in addition to an important supporter of our local wine industry through its award-winning list. From March 10-16 it will also be celebrating 10 years of Valette with a $95/person four-course celebratory meal or $175/person six-course “Best of the Best” with every day of the week featuring a special wine from area winemakers, from Jackson Family Wines to Silver Oak.

There’s more – see the whole list of participating restaurants here and go out and enjoy a meal.

Image by: Catelli’s