It’s all in the family with Pedroncelli. It all started in 1927, when Giovanni and Julia Pedroncelli purchase their hillside Geyserville property with a mere 25 acres planted predominantly to Zinfandel. The winery survived prohibition, watched Dry Creek become an AVA, expanded and replanted their vineyards, opened their official tasting room. It’s been 90 years of wine and vine ups and downs and Pedroncelli has managed to keep it all in the family.
John Komes, co-owner of Flora Springs, may have a self-proclaimed love affair with Chardonnay, but his son Nate, general manager at the winery, is a fan-boy for Sauvignon Blanc. The Komes family have been farming the white grape for over three decades, utilizing the the two vineyards sourced for this bottle for the past two decades. Apparently there has been some talk about, and temptation to, graft these vines over to Cabernet Sauvignon (Flora Springs is well known for their big bold reds.) But with Nat’s encouragement, the family’s held back. And, personally, I’m glad they have. Well structured Sauvignon Blancs are hard to find — but with the clonal mix along with the combination of different aging techniques, that’s exactly what Flora Springs have produced with this 2016 vintage.
I’ve always been a fan of Italian wines. In fact, previous to my career as a wine writer, I visited the bucolic country, soaking up every ounce of wine (and pasta) I could find. But at that time I sipped without understanding or truly appreciating the vast diversity of the great country’s regions, native grapes, and winemaking methods. So the chance to learn from the highly acclaimed wine editor and critic, Daniele Cernilli — aka “DoctorWine” — was a most welcome one. Last week I had the chance to do just that at the San Francisco Wine School.
Y. Rousseau’s Colombard is called “old vines,” but it could also be called “only vines,” as the vineyard sourced for these white grapes is one of the last of just two or three remaining sites planted to Colombard in the Russian River Valley. There was a time in California’s history when Colombard was the number one grape grown, predominantly in the Central Valley, where it was used to produce “easy drinkers” (aka jug wine), as well as add a crisp acidic backbone when blended with other white varietals. Oh how times have changed. Even in the grape’s native Gascony the Colombard vineyards are dwindling, as its prone to powdery rot and mildew. So, suffice it to say, Yannick was pleased to find these old vines growing in his new Northern California wine country home. And, like the passionate professional he is, he pays due respect with his expression of this lesser-known grape variety.
If tasting wines from Y. Rousseau, a journey into the somewhat obscure (for California) Colombard grape is a must. Yannick, owner and winemaker of Y. Rousseau wines, is a native Gascon — as is the white grape Colombard. So it’s only appropriate that in 1996, while studying for his winemaking degree at Toulouse University and interning at Côtes de Gascogne, the first wine Yannick ever made was Colombard. When Yannick eventually founded Y. Rousseau Wines in 2008, Colombard was his “inaugural wine,” and, according to Yannick, remains one of his most popular.
