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SONOMA.RG
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THE WINE TASTER
By Robin Garr
The Courier-Journal, Aug. 30, 1987
What's the difference between Sonoma County and Napa County?
It would take a bolder wine taster than I to profess an ability to
distinguish between the products of these adjacent California wine regions by
sight, smell and taste. The wines, like the counties themselves, share far
more similarities than differences.
These vineyard-covered counties sit side-by-side, separated by a range
of low, brown mountains, not far north of San Francisco. Both enjoy almost
ideal climate and soils for vine growing.
Both regions are steeped in wine lore and rich in wine history.
California's modern wine industry started in Sonoma County when Hungarian
Count Agoston Haraszthy opened the original Buena Vista winery in Sonoma
around the time of the Civil War.
Napa has a few more wineries today, with perhaps 120 to Sonoma's 100 or
so; Sonoma may have an edge in vineyard acreage, but it's close; both
counties had about 30,000 acres in 1985.
Napa may enjoy a bit more prestige, but Sonoma's wine makers are working
hard to catch up.
If I had to come up with a stereotype -- remembering that all
stereotypes, including this one, are often false -- I'd call Sonoma's wines
"generous," a wine-critic's term for a ripe, fruity and full-flavored
beverage, compared with a refined but relatively austere quality in Napa's
trademark wines.
One of the most interesting developments in Sonoma is the way its
wineries have taken the lead in having small vine-growing regions --
"viticultural areas" -- legally defined under a recent federal law that
resembles the traditional French practice.
Much of Sonoma's winegrowing map is now subdivided into 10 smaller
regions, each purportedly growing grapes and producing wines of distinct
character. Roughly from warmer north to cooler south, they are: Alexander
Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Northern Sonoma, Knights Valley, Chalk Hill,
Russian River Valley, Green Valley, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Mountain and
Carneros-Sonoma.
(More information is available in two free brochures produced by the
Sonoma County Grape Growers Association. For copies of "Sonoma County's
Viticultural Heritage" and "Which Fish? What Wine!" send a stamped,
self-addressed business-size envelope to SCGGA, 850 Second St., Suite B,
Santa Rosa, Calif. 95404.)
For this week's column, I tried three excellent, moderately priced wines
from two of Sonoma's top viticultural areas.
Most intriguing was a 1979 Russian River Valley Zinfandel ($9.19) from
the Old Vines River West Vineyard of Sonoma Vineyards (now known as Rodney
Strong vineyards, after its Broadway choreographer and dancer-turned-wine
maker). This limited-production wine is made from a patch of scrawny, almost
worn-out Zinfandel vines at least 60 years old, according to the wine maker.
Ancient vines produce relatively few grapes, but the wine they make is
intensely flavored and excellent.
A 1985 Clos du Bois "barrel fermented" Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc
($7.99) was an exceptionally refreshing, deliciously fruity white table wine,
with a rounded, almost pear-like nuance added by 10 percent Semillon grapes
in the blend.
Equally good but perhaps less immediately approachable was a 1983 De
Loach Vineyards Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($8.99). This was a
full-flavored, robust red wine with attractive nuances that developed with
breathing in the glass.
(4 1/2 stars) Sonoma Vineyards (Rodney Strong) Russian River Valley Old Vines
River West Vineyard Zinfandel, 1979. This deep, ruby-red wine shows a glint
of orange in the glass. Its heady aroma breathes ripe, prunelike fruit with
complex overtones of blackberries and fresh mint. Its lusty, mouth-filling
flavor is powerful (at 14.5 percent alcohol), rich and laden with ripe fruit
with delicate nuances of wood and old leather.
(4 stars) Clos du Bois "barrel fermented" Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc,
1985. (So-veen-yawn Blawnc.) This exceptionally sippable white wine is a
transparent bright-gold in color with a delicious aroma of wine grapes with
hints of oak and the characteristic grassy scent of Sauvignon Blanc. Its dry,
refreshing flavor is full of fruit, with a steely edge of acidity that makes
it a natural companion with chicken or fish.
(4 stars) De Loach Vineyards Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 1983. (Pee-no
Nwahr.) This inky, dark-purple wine has a perfumed, floral quality, almost
like gardenias, with a spicy overtone and hints of the black cherries typical
of good California Pinot Noir. Its full, rich flavor is dry and crisply
acidic, with loads of fruit, an astringent edge of tannin and a sense of heat
from its higher-than-normal (13.4 percent) alcohol content.
Courier-Journal Wine and Food Critic Robin Garr rates table wines
available in the Louisville area, using a one- to five-star scale determined
by quality and value. Send suggestions or questions in care of The
Courier-Journal, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 40202, call him at (502)
582-4647, or send EasyMail to 73125,70.