This is not a Chinese wine. I’m just putting that out there because when I first received this wine I completely thought Iron Horse went rogue in China. They did not. In fact, this bottle was made to celebrate the Chinese Zodiac — 2018 is the year of the dog. Despite this not being a Chinese wine, I did pair this with a Chinese-inspired recipe…
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Guest Post: Nancy Croisier – “Lodi Wine Rules”
We’ve all heard the saying, “great wine starts in the vineyard,” but what does that look like?
In Lodi, it’s evident in the big old gnarly vines that have been cared for by multiple generations and produce deeply concentrated fruit It’s visible at Bechtold Vineyard, the oldest known Cinsault vineyard in the world planted in 1886, where pheromone disruptors hang on the vines to control mealybugs. It’s demonstrated by the owl boxes posted in Bokisch Vineyards that house the birds that prevent pests from visiting the vines. It’s apparent when Lange Twins vineyards has a plane fly overhead taking pictures in order to provide the vineyard manager with heat maps as an aid in pest detection. Most of all, it’s very clear when hearing firsthand from vineyard managers and winemakers how much care they put into the vines.
In Memoriam: Nicky Hahn Founder of Hahn Family Wines dies at 81
It is with deep sympathy that I report Nicky Hahn, Founder of Hahn Family Wines has passed at the Age of 81.
Jenny Dawn Cellars 2016 Unoaked Chardonnay
Jenny Dawn Cellars is the product of one woman’s passion for wine and pride of place….
CEO Jennifer McDonalad has always been, what she calls, a wine connoisseur. However, her curiosity and interest went past the bottle and into the science of it. She began experimenting with at-home winemaking kits, but swiftly mastered the basics. She moved on to sourcing grapes and other fruits from local Kansas growers, continuing to make wine on a small-scale for fun. But in 2016 her wine world expanded: McDonald began sourcing grapes from some of California’s best wine regions, crafting wines that won many awards and accolades. Though her grapes come from several states away, she insists on keeping her business local to her Witchita, Kansas community.
“Jenny Dawn Cellars is excited to open its brick-and-mortar winery and tasting located at Union Station in downtown Wichita, KS in November of 2018,” says McDonald. “We will be a wine production facility, tasting room and event center.” This will be the first urban winery in downtown Wichita. The dual CEO and winemaker notes that though the city has a thriving downtown, it’s yet to see an influential wine scene. Jenny Dawn Cellars plans to be that influence. McDonald will also be the first African American female wine CEO and winemaker in the state of Kansas. “We are very proud of that fact and excited to bring diversity into the Wichita small business and wine community,” she says.
Bonny Doon Vineyard 2016 “A Basque-ette Case” Red Blend
I first met Randall Grahm at one of the annual Rhone Rangers events in San Francisco, after which he was kind enough to invite me to his Davenport tasting room and take me through a full line up of his — then — current releases. I was enthralled, not just with Randall’s obvious passion for wine, but his innate ability to teach about wine and pass his passion forward. That first one-on-one meeting will always be a special memory for me.
The thing about Bonny Doon Vineyard wines is that there’s, well, a lot of them — reds, whites, pinks, even oranges and more obscure colors — the common thread being Rhone varietals and Rhone-style blends. As a young winemaker, Grahm sought to recreate the great wines of France here in his native California home, but soon realized that one cannot make French wine if one is not, in fact, in France. So now the very core of his Rhone-style wines is the idea of vins de terroir — wine that speaks of its specific place and time. He’s constantly experimenting with new-to-California wine grape varieties to see if and where they’ll thrive — and if he finds a vine’s sweet spot, rest-assured a wine will soon follow. He also plays with the idea of Rhone-style blends. This eclectic mix of Iberian grapes Tempranillo and Graciano along with the well-recognized Rhone grape Grenache Blanc was, for me, a new concept — and one I couldn’t leave behind in the tasting room.