Don's Gillette's Weekly Wine Blog
Weekly musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Check back here each week for Don's latest thoughts on various wine-related topics. Read Don's full bio...
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A Lament for Lost Apples, sort of... [Part one]:
The Gravenstein is a tasty apple and a good one to cook with. Before the advent of nation-wide cold storage it was a popular one as well, available in stores when other apple varieties were not. In its heyday, it was the staple agricultural crop of Sonoma's Russian River Valley. At the crossroads of Highway 116 and Occidental Road the giant Vacu-Dry apple warehouse still exists, although it is no longer utilized for the processing of the now humble Gravenstein crop.
There is nostalgia for the passing of any era and many valley locals no-doubt remember the apple harvests fondly. This isn't a tragic tale however, because the Gravenstein trees - now mostly gone - grew in some of the most Pinot Noir-friendly soil in the world. Today there are vineyards nearly everywhere in the RRV and the once-idle apple processing plants are beginning to gear-up again, although the expansive stadium-grade restrooms built for the use of seasonal packers now seem a bit out of place. It isn't nostalgia that draws visitors to the property now known as Owl Ridge Wine Services, however.
These days, the huge buildings provide working space for de-stemmers, presses, fermenting tanks, oak barrels, bottling machines and the artisan winemakers that tend them. The corner is home to the wines of Adrian Fog, Cal Star, Halleck, Londer, MacPhail, Owl Ridge, Tandem, Willowbrook and a fair group (34 in all) of others, including Bill Hunter's Chasseur.
While many wineries share a corner or a wall space in one of the cavernous main rooms, Chasseur's digs consist of three high-ceilinged rooms, each with distinctively different temperature and humidity, along with equipment geared to match the needs of Bill's meticulous winemaking procedures. Already having an intimate familiarity with Chasseur's great 2005 "vineyard designated" Chardoonay and Pinot Noir bottlings, I was there to sample 2006s in barrel.
2006, in the north coast, is a vintage with high peaks of ripeness and quality, but also with valleys. A few lucky vintners - Halleck is an example - seem to have achieved full ripeness in every one of their vineyards. Most however, will have barrels that may show good complexity yet lack the generosity and completeness of a great vintage. The best producers, and Chasseur is one of them, will "declassify" those lots into RRV or Sonoma Coast blends, where the classy fruit can work to elevate the final product.
