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Which California Counties Added the Most Vineyard Acreage in the Past Five Years?

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General Interest

Written by Fred Swan

Created on Tuesday, 04 September 2012 05:11

In honor of California Wine Month, I'll be providing a variety of details about the scope of the state's wine industry. Last week, I published California Wine by the Numbers. Today, We'll look at growth in vineyard acreage. Tomorrow, I'll highlight those wine grape varieties seeing the biggest growth.

California’s wine industry is growing not just in sales volume, but also acres under vine. In the past five years, California added 76,651 acres of wine grape vineyards, an increase of 17.5% from 2006. The expansion is broad-based. High-volume growing areas added vines, but so did the highest-quality regions. No county experienced a decrease. The biggest increases in acreage came in counties that already had substantial plantings.

The 12 California Counties which Added the Most Vineyard Acreage, 2007 - 2011

County	Acres Added	Total Acreage in 2011
San Joaquin	10,783	71,403
Fresno	9,651	41,808
Monterey	9,595	45,110
Sonoma	8,777	57,056
Napa	7,332	45,801
San Luis Obispo	5,193	30,720
Madera	3,418	35,334
Sacramento	3,192	19,486
Kern	2,934	21,093
Yolo	2,905	12,632
Santa Barbara	2,537	17,178
Mendocino	2,092	17,173

[Only one other county, Merced, added more than 1,000 acres.]

Fast Fact: San Luis Obispo County has nearly 31,000 acres of vineyards. That's almost as much as New York State (approximately 32,000 acres).

As you might expect, counties with the largest percentage growth in vineyard acreage over the past five years are relatively low in plantings overall. Marin County, which is emerging as a very good cool-climate growing region, boosted its vineyard land by nearly 66% but is still well under 200 acres overall. Other small, yet high-quality, growing areas with significant growth are El Dorado and Santa Cruz counties. Surprisingly, Fresno and Monterey counties, among California’s biggest growers of wine grapes, managed to increase their plantings by roughly 25%.

The 14 California Counties which Increased Vineyard Acreage by more than 20%, 2007 - 2011 

County	Percent Increase	Total Acreage in 2011
Marin	65.6	167
Colusa	39.1	1,577
Riverside	33.4	1,039
Shasta	33.3	98
San Benito	31.3	2,616
Glenn	29.3	1,046
Calaveras	28.2	675
Contra Costa	27.8	1,878
Yolo	25.5	12,632
Fresno	25.3	41,808
Monterey	24	45,110
El Dorado	22.4	1,847
Santa Cruz	22	445
Solano	21.4	3,560

The 6 Counties with Zero Growth in Vineyard Acreage

County	Acres Under Vine
Kings	1,541
Mariposa	57
Orange	1
Sutter	99
Tuolumne	30
Ventura	52

 

Source: The raw data was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service

 

Follow NorCalWine on Twitter for breaking wine news, information on events and more. Become a fan and join the NorCal Wine community on Facebook. Also check out our comprehensive Northern California winery listings. They are very useful for planning a tasting trip or just getting in touch with a winery.

This article is original to NorCalWine.com. Copyright 2012 NorCal Wine. All rights reserved.

My Top Picks from the 2011 Pinot Noir Shootout

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Wine Reviews

Written by Fred Swan

Created on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 01:20

Saturday, I served as one of the judges for the 10th annual Pinot Noir Shootout finals put on by Affairs of the Vine. There were three panels of judges, each evaluating 32 wines over four flights. There were 96 wines in all. Most of the wines were from California, but not all. Theoretically, they could be from anywhere.

The Shootout is a well-organized, multi-stage evaluation of wines. A very large number of wines are submitted but, unlike most wine fair situations, the wines go through several judging stages over two or more months. This means judges don’t have to wade through hundreds of wines in just one or two days. Every wine that makes the finals has successfully passed at least two prior evaluations.

My personal experience in the finals suggests that this vetting was successful. From a qualitative standpoint, the wines fell into a narrow band in my view; roughlty 87 to 93 points. There was only one wine in the 32 that I rated significantly lower. That could well have been an issue with the particular bottle. (It definitely wasn’t corked though.)

One of the nice things about the Pinot Noir Shootout is that many of the wines involved are not regularly reviewed by mainstream wine magazines. Some are only available winery-direct, in person of through the online stores.

Below are the 12 wines I rated most highly from my group of 32, in alphabetical order by winery. The overall winners from the 96 wines will be published at Affairs of the Vines when all results have been tabulated. But, if you’re looking for a new Pinot Noir to try for a holiday meal, consider those I’ve listed here.

2007 Anderson Oaks Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, $30
Speaking of small wineries, Lee Anderson's primary business is real estate as you'll see from the website. But he also has a listing for this pretty wine with delicate flavors and a lightly creamy texture. Notes of rose, dark flowers, cocoa, cedar and red cherry. Charming, ready for immediate move in.

2009 Bargetto Reserve Pinot Noir Regan Estate Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains, $40
A very good wine with exotic aromas and flavors pine forest, mandarin orange and tea mixed with attractive red cherry, vanilla and marshmallow. Well-balanced, good concentration.

2007 Barney & Kel (KB Cellars) Pinot Noir Russian River, $28
Cherry, dill frond, citrus zest, berries and spice on aromas are followed by a richly-bodied and supple palate. Black cherry, dark spice and oak flavors. A pleasure to drink, seemingly impossible to find. If you're in Santa Rosa, ask around.

2009 Cubanismo Vineyards “Rumba” Pinot Noir Amity-Eola Hills, Willamette Valley, $21
Rose petal, tea and strawberry aromas. Medium body and well-balanced acidity, alcohol and intensity. Flavors of tea, orange and cranberry. Medium-plus length.

2009 Davis Family Vineyards Pinot Noir Soul Patch Vineyard, Russian River, $42
Ripe cherry, berries, vanilla and oak aromatics and long, very attractive flavors of dark flowers, raspberry cream soda and sweet spice. Medium tannins contribute a gentle but interesting texture.

2008 Elkhorn Peak Pinot Noir Elkhorn Peak Estate Vineyard, Napa Valley, $34
The vineyard is in Jamieson Canyon, due north (across the highway and well up the hill from) the Chardonnay Golf Club. Spicy berries and slightly jammy red cherry with vanilla, oak and chocolate accents. A good drink with prominent tannins that will match up well with a juicy duck breast or beef filet.

2008 Estancia Estates Reserve Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands, $31
Pretty aromas of strawberry, vanilla, cherry and pot pourri spice. Satisfying palate weight and flavors of cherry and cedar.

2009 Ferrari-Carano Pinot Noir Sky High Ranch, Mendocino Ridge
Very long and juicy, with chewy tannins and a plethora of red fruit flavors. Pine, herb and dust add interest.

2008 Heart O’ The Mountain Pinot Noir 667 Clone, Single Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains, $52
A friendly, lightly sweet wine with maraschino cherry, vanilla, fennel and fig on the nose and raspberry jam with cocoa on the palate. A crowd-pleaser from this small, Santa Cruz Mountains winery.

2009 Hearthstone Vineyard and Winery Pinot Noir Hearthstone Estate Vineyard, Paso Robles, $38
Yes, Pinot Noir from Paso Robles. It's been grown in the Adelaida District since 1964. This one has a very dark Pinot nose: black cherry, cola and dusty earth. Grippy tannins lead to restrained flavors, mostly cherry, vanilla, cocoa and toasty oak. A good wine for seared pork belly.

2009 Sharp Cellars Pinot Noir Keenan’s Cove, Sonoma Coast, $48
Toasted oak, toasted marshmallow, black cherry and dried orange peel on the nose. Rich, almost creamy body, with concentrated flavors of cherry, raspberry, oak and caramel. Very long finish. A decadent Pinot.

2009 Ventana Pinot Noir Ventana Vineyard, Arroyo Seco, $29
Garnet tones made this wine look older than it is. The delicate aromatics also showed development: dried fruit, cola, driftwood and sarsparilla. Medium body with good acidity and balance. Light, jammy red fruit, vanilla, cocoa and dusty wood on the palate.

Follow NorCalWine on Twitter for breaking wine news, information on events and more. Become a fan and join the NorCal Wine community on Facebook. Also check out our comprehensive Northern California winery listings. They are very useful for planning a tasting trip or just getting in touch with a winery.

This article is original to NorCalWine.com. Copyright 2011 NorCal Wine. All rights reserved.

6 Ways to Re-Use Empty Wine Bottles

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General Interest

Written by Fred Swan

Created on Wednesday, 07 July 2010 01:57

Unless the wine you drink comes out of a box, you probably empty a least a few bottles every month. And you probably drop the empties into a recycling bin. That’s a responsible thing to do, though just 28% of glass bottles get that treatment in the U.S. Apparently, most people just throw them away. [The link is to an EPA PDF.]

Not only does recycling keep the bottles out of landfills where they last eons — about one million years in fact — it saves energy. Recycling just ten bottles saves enough energy to run a laptop computer for an hour. [The link is to an EPA Excel spreadsheet that calculates the energy value of recycling various materials.] And for every ton of glass recycled, 1.2 tons of raw materials are conserved.

Of course, recycling consumes energy too. Recycling a bottle requires two-thirds the energy it would take to make a new one. If we can re-purpose a few wine bottles here and there, we can save energy and reduce carbon emissions. We might be able to save a few dollars too. Here are six ways you can re-use your empty wine bottles.

“Tiki” Torches
Add mood lighting to your outdoor parties, and shoo the insects, by turning some wine bottles into oil lamps with industrial chic. The photo below comes from Gerardot & Co. which also has complete instructions for the project. [If you like the blue bottles, you might drink some La Sirena Moscato d’Azul.]

 

Rolling Pin
The super smooth, non-stick surface of glass is ideal for use as a rolling pin. It works especially well when chilled.

1. Remove the label from an empty Cabernet-style wine bottle by soaking it in water. Make sure to get all of the glue off too.

2. Wash the outside of the bottle thoroughly.

3. Fill the bottle with water.

4. Reseal the bottle with a cork.

5. Put the wine bottle in the refrigerator.

Now you have a smooth, heavy, cold rolling pin, just the thing for rolling out pastry dough. The bottle full of water will help keep the temperature inside your refrigerator stable too, saving a little bit of electricity.

Candelabra
When we were taking a tour of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, we noticed they were using wine bottles as candle holders everywhere. But, the Chateau wasn’t doing it by shoving a candle into the neck of the bottle like some neighborhood spaghetti restaurant might  (though that’s charming in its own way). Things are a bit more formal in Bordeaux. They used inserts to turn empty bottles into full-on candelabras.

When we got back from our trip, one of the first things we did was track down those inserts. You can find nice ones for $20 or less. Just do an online search for “wine bottle candelabra insert.”

Tip: Make sure you fill the wine bottle with water, sand, marbles or something else heavy. If you don’t weigh it down, the bottle will be top heavy which is dangerous when flaming candles are involved. Using a Pinot Noir or Syrah bottle with a wide base will give you a more stable candelabra too.

Water Pitcher
This one is pretty obvious, but charming nonetheless. Just clean a bottle thoroughly, remove the label if you like, and fill with fresh water. I think colorless bottles look the nicest in this application.

A bottle takes up less room on the dinner table than a pitcher, looks nice and gives you a bit of bistro ambience. In fact, we had a very nice dinner at Bistro M in Windsor recently and they were using wine bottles in exactly this way.

Wine Storage
People spend a lot of money trying to preserve left over wine. You can use a vacuum pump, or spray a bunch of nitrogen into the bottle, before you seal it. Or you can insert one of those funny looking “wine condoms” into the bottle. They lay on top of the surface of the wine, theoretically reducing exposure to oxygen.

I don’t do any of that these days. The vacuums can pull delicate aromatics out of the wine, the gas sprays aren’t cheap and those inserts are just weird. Instead, I pour leftover wine into small, clean wine bottles.

We keep a number of bottles on hand for this purpose. Half-bottles get the most use at our house. Once you’ve drunk about half of your regular-size bottle of wine, pour the rest into a half bottle and seal it with a cork or whatever cheap or fancy stopper you prefer. Then, pop the bottle into the fridge. It’ll be good for at least a couple of days — even longer with some wines.

There will be very little oxygen in the bottle and very little surface area exposed to it. The cold refrigerator will also help keep the wine fresh, but the half bottle won’t take up much room. Take red wine out of the fridge about one-hour before you want to drink it. Whites are generally served colder so they take even less time to warm up.

We also keep a couple of empty 750ml bottles around to deal with the remaining wine from magnums. And, if you have a Piccolo, a 0.1875ml Champagne bottle, you’ll never have to abuse your liver finishing a bottle because “there’s not enough to save.”

Philippe Dambrine of Chateau Cantemerle shows off his assortment of bottle sizes.

If the wine ends up sitting in the fridge a little too long to be perfect for drinking, you can always use it as cooking wine. And if cooking is to be the wine’s sole use, you can even blend different wines in one bottle. If you do this, try to stick to one color of wine per bottle though.

Vinegar and Oil
We make our own vinegar at home from leftover wine. It’s better tasting than most of the stuff we could buy in stores and it’s free from artificial additives. Empty wine bottles are a great way to store the vinegar. We don’t pasteurize our vinegar, so we seal it tightly and refrigerate it. Pasteurized vinegar you can just keep in the cupboard.

On a similar note, some of our favorite high-quality olive oil comes in large metal containers. Those aren’t practical to use on a daily basis. We pour it into 375ml wine bottles which are just the right size for easy pouring. They don’t take up much space in the cupboard or on the counter either. Olive oil doesn’t like sunlight, so green or brown bottles are the best ones to use.

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Follow NorCalWine on Twitter for breaking wine news, information on events and more. Become a fan and join the NorCal Wine community on Facebook. Also check outour comprehensive Northern California winery listings. They are very useful for planning a tasting trip or just getting in touch with a winery.

This article is original to NorCalWine.com. Copyright 2010 NorCal Wine. All rights reserved. Banner from photo by Wolfgang Sauber.

Tasting 12 of California’s Best Syrah with Antonio Galloni

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Wine Reviews

Written by Fred Swan

Created on Thursday, 25 October 2012 06:53

Yesterday, I wrote about Antonio Galloni’s approach to tasting and rating wines. The genesis of that article was the 8th Annual Wine Advocate Seminar and Tasting at the CIA’s Greystone Campus. Today, I’m discussing the twelve California Syrah he selected for the tasting.

In his preliminary comments, Antonio Galloni said that his primary goal was to use twelve great wines to showcase the differences between Syrah from different regions in California. He also wanted us to evaluate each wine on it’s own, within it’s own context, rather than trying to compare the wines on a points basis. “They are standalone great,” he said.

Galloni also believes strongly that “it’s time to take off the training wheels” with respect to varieties such as Syrah and Grenache in California. That means no longer referring to them as Rhone varieties or trying to compare a wine from Sonoma Coast or Napa Valley or Edna Valley as being like a Cote Rotie or Cornas or Hermitage. There may be some similarities of course. The varietal is the same. But the regions are different, the individual sites are different and they deserve to be evaluated independently.

California’s Syrah wines won’t get the respect they are due while being constantly compared to wines from the Northern Rhone. It’s not that our domestic wines aren’t as good. The wines are just inevitably different and our great Syrah regions and vineyards need to forge their own identities.

Today, people don’t talk about Napa Valley being a great place for Bordeaux varietals. They laud Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or Spring Mountain Merlot. We don’t tell the salesman at our local bottle shop we’re looking for a domestic Nuits St. George. We ask for California Pinot Noir with a certain character or from a specific region such as western Sonoma Coast or Carneros.

It’s a difficult situation though. The varieties we have been calling Rhone are still not as well known here as Cabernet or Pinot. Syrah hasn’t had a Robert Mondavi-like evangelist. Grenache hasn’t had a hit movie. And sales aren't as brisk as we might wish. But, Galloni is right. It’s time to create our own local points of reference.

Of course, that assumes region and site are important for Syrah and that the wines are worthy of the effort. Asked if he thought that Syrah reflected terroir as well as Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, he responded, “there’s no question that these wines can be as transparent to site... These aren’t just twelve great Syrah. They are twelve of the best California wines that I’ve tasted in the last few years. These wines actually transcend the grape.”

We tasted the wines, and I wrote my notes, in silence, three wines at a time. Then, Galloni gave us his thoughts on them. So, my notes below are solely my impressions of the wine. Galloni’s comments, which I recorded and have abridged, follow. He did not discuss scores, but I’ve added them as found on eRobertParker.com. I’ve included prices and case volume as available.

12 California Syrah selected by Antonio Galloni, in the order we tasted them:

Araujo Estate Wines Syrah, Eisele Vineyard, Napa Valley 2010
Fred Swan: Tangy dark fruit and herb on the nose with flowers, spice and smoked sausage. Full-body, very fine powdery tannins and medium+ finish. Packed with flavor; dark, meaty, delicious. Very Highly Recommended+
Antonio Galloni: More about Eisele than Syrah. I like the texture and smoky tobacco... It’s really highly reflective of where it’s from. 95 - 97 points

Kongsgaard Wines Syrah, Hudson Vineyard, Napa Valley 2009 - $150
FS: Bright black fruit, licorice and sweet herbal aromas. Full-bodied and long with fine, powdery tannins. Black licorice, black and red fruit, black Moroccan olives, earth and black pepper flavors. Engaging and beautiful. Highest Recommendation
AG: [I love] the textural richness and volume, but it’s not heavy. Incredible fruit and then the more varietal notes on the finish. A very sexy wine. 97 points

Colgin Cellars Syrah, IX Estate, Napa Valley 2009 - $175, 400 cases
FS: Sweet and briary dark red fruit on the nose with black pepper and high-toned spice. Medium+ body and tannins (chalky and grainy) with a long finish. A savory wine with a highly textured mouthfeel. Earthy spice, black raspberry, huckleberry and herb. Very Highly Recommended+
AG: Another beautiful wine I’m attracted to because of the amount of structure and freshness. Much more floral, more of a red fruit profile. I’m attracted to the higher, brighter tones. 96 points

 

Alban Vineyards “Reva” Syrah, Alban Estate, Edna Valley, 2008 - $94
FS: Very ripe black fruit, sweet herb, flowers and plenty of oak. Full body and rich, chalky tannins. Peppery black and purple fruit on the palate alongside dark flowers, spice, oak and tangerine rind. Lengthy finish. Highly Recommended+
AG: I fell in love with this wine the first time I tasted it in barrel, and then I found out the bottle was really better... It captures the house style. Voluptuous but not heavy. Floral notes throughout. I like the juxtaposition of rich fruit, but not heavy, with complexity. 96+ points

Piedrasassi Syrah, Rim Rock Vineyard, San Luis Obispo County, 2009
FS: Chocolate, black pepper, licorice, animal and eucalyptus aromas. Medium+ body and tannins (chalky), very long. Flavors of dark fruit, earthy spice, eucalyptus, black pepper and licorice. An earthy, peppery wine with rich fruit. Very Highly Recommended+
AG: Now we get into the more Syrah-like notes, the black pepper and licorice, grilled herbs, olives, black fruit, earthiness. This is a great wine to pair with food, great brightness and acidity. One of my personal favorites. 95 points

Paul Lato Syrah, Il Padrino Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley, 2010 - $95, 125 cases
FS: Bresaola, black pepper and purple fruit on the nose. Medium+ body and moderate, lightly chalky tannins. Earthy spice, dark fruit, bresaola and floral flavors. A long, meaty/savory wine with soprano notes of fruit and flowers. Very Highly Recommended+
AG: More of a lifted quality... much more floral, delicate and feminine. 96 points

 

Tensley Wines Syrah, Colson Canyon Vineyard, Santa Barbara County, 2009 - $56
FS: Aromas of grape soda, peach and five spice. Medium+ body and tannins (chalky, grainy) and a long finish. Flavors of grape soda, tangy herb, chocolate and spice. [I tasted this wine three weeks ago and didn’t get any grape soda notes then, just rich dark berries. Either way, it's really good.] Very Highly Recommended
AG: Interesting because it’s constantly changing in the glass. I find that so intriguing. Push and pull tension between feminine, graceful elements and more powerful and masculine structure and tannin. 95+ points

Samsara Wine Company Syrah, Melville Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, 2009 - $48
FS: Very floral on the nose with black pepper and juniper berry. Medium+ body and tannins (fine, powdery). The palate offers rich, dark fruit, dark flowers and juniper with a long finish. Very Highly Recommended
AG: More of those floral notes. Very clear and distinctive notes of juniper berries. Very high-toned notes of stone fruits. It’s like an orchestra with all the bass notes in the middle and then all the high notes. 94+ points

Sine Qua Non Estate Syrah, “The Duel,” Santa Rita Hills, 2008 - $220
FS: Earthy black and purple fruit, chocolate and black pepper on the nose. Nearly full-bodied with medium+, very finely powdered tannins. Very sensuous and long with rich dark fruit, oak and chocolate. Highest Recommendation
AG: Textural opulence, rich, voluptuous. This wine is really precise, really beautiful. Super finessed. A very different expression of Syrah. More about ampleness and generosity and creaminess. 97+ points

 

Copain Wine Cellars Syrah, Baker Ranch, Anderson Valley, 2009 - $45
FS: Aromas of spice, dark fruit, flowers and exotic wood on the nose. Medium body and medium+ chalky tannins. A long, feminine wine of flowers and exotic spice. Very Highly Recommended
AG: Almost pinot-like in texture and its ripeness of fruit. There’s a really beautiful purity of fruit. The most mind-bending wine of this flight, because it’s definitely not heavy but it’s so flavorful. There’s an intense minerality. [Note: During the tasting, Galloni said that to him, minerality is “a tension on the finish”] It’s got so much going on yet, it’s so light. 94 points

Radio-Coteau Vineyards Syrah, Las Colinas, Sonoma Coast, 2010 - $48
FS: Flavors and aromas of tangy purple fruit, sweet exotic spice and herb. Medium body and tannins (chalky). Long. Very Highly Recommended
AG: A wine of contrasts: very bright red fruit and then you have black pepper, savory notes, herb, earthiness. Constantly changing. It’s difficult to describe these wines sometimes because every time you taste them there’s something different. A dazzling wine. 93 - 95 points.

Arnot-Roberts Syrah, Griffin’s Lair Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, 2010 - $55
FS: Very earthy and meaty with elements of barnyard and black pepper. Medium body and tannins that are chalky and drying. Excellent length. A polarizing wine, but I like it. Very Highly Recommended
AG: The elegance of the Radio-Coteau, but it has more fruit, more body, more volume. It shows the richer side of Sonoma Coast Syrah. 95 points.

 

Follow NorCalWine on Twitter for breaking wine news, information on events and more. Become a fan and join the NorCal Wine community on Facebook. Also check out our comprehensive Northern California winery listings. They are very useful for planning a tasting trip or just getting in touch with a winery.

This article is original to NorCalWine.com. Copyright 2012 NorCal Wine. All rights reserved.