Elaine, the owner of Elaine Wines is our guest today on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. She started her winery after a career as an biotech intellectual property attorney. Dan Berger discovered these wines just by tasting them at an event. He was excited to find a Chardonnay that was not overdone and that smelled and tasted like Chardonnay. It is an older style of making Chardonnay that appeals to people like Dan who remember when that style was prevalent. Elaine Wines is a small winery but has already earned a bunch of awards.

This first one for tasting is the 2023 Chardonnay, the youngest one that Elaine brought. All of the Chardonnays are made with fruit from her vineyard. She has three acres with one acre of Chard and two of Pinot Noir. Dan detects a little bit of dried pineapple character and the oak is very subtle. The vineyard is at high elevation and Dan says the wine matches the smell of the vineyard. There are fir trees and oaks nearby which influence the vineyard. Dan also appreciates the good acidity. The vines are 25 feet from their house.

Before Elaine moved to California, she was a biotech patent attorney, with a background in molecular and micro-biology. She got an online certificate in winemaking from UC Davis, before she moved from North Carolina. Elaine found a custom crush where she was not obligated to meet a tonnage minimum, which allowed her to start making wine with a small production. She found a community of helpful people in California, who work in wine. That is uniform throughout most wine regions in the world, says Dan Berger.

Dan says that Prohibition may have ended in 1933 but it was the 1960s before winemaking woke up in the US, in California mostly.
Chardonnays
The second Chardonnay they taste came from the same grapes, but the first had newer barrels and the 2022 was made in one single barrel that had been used once before. That is generally considered 50% new. She only made 23 cases of this, because they had a very low yield and she had promised some grapes to another winemaker. This wine won a Double Gold at the San Francisco Chronicle wine tasting. Dan says that the problem with a lot of Chardonnay today is that it has to be big and rich. This is the other side of the spectrum of types of Chard.

A lot of people making Chardonnay are trying to make a wine that they think will sell. Elaine, on the other hand, came into this without that notion at all. She just lets the vineyard do what it can do, and then handle it in a way to bring that out. Don’t serve it too cold, because the flavors won’t come out. What’s more, this wine is a 2022 and it has had enough time to reach full maturity. She likes to do "as little as I can" and treat it gently.
Pinot Noir
The next tasting is a Pinot Noir that earned 99 points and a Double Gold from the American Fine Wine Competition, and Gold Medals all over the place. Dan says that the judges like it when the dominant flavor is fruit not oak. Dan describes the flavor of beets that is hiding in the wine.

Nicola Pellacani of Saintsbury Winery joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country today.

Dan Berger explains that Saintsbury has been around for about 40 years with a record of getting better and better all the time and Nico will tell us their story.

Saintsbury used to be focussed on Carneros and now have shifted toward Sonoma Coast. Nico has brought their Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, made from their favorite vineyards.

They start with the 2023 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Most of it comes from a San Giacomo family vineyard. Dan Berger describes the cool climate influence with a bit of the complexity of Chablis and a light acidity. Saintsbury has been using this vineyard for a long time. Some of the planting was even done for Saintsbury.
Where the senses and the mind come together
The process of building a blend involves three or four passes. Nicola describes blending as a process where "...senses and mind come together. You have to allow yourself to reach that point." Nicola started at Saintsbury as an intern in 2018. He worked on his first harvest that year, while was still a student in viticulture and enology at the University of Bologna in Italy. He is now the assistant winemaker
A family winery with a family atmosphere
Nico grew up in Italy and wine is on the table all the time. Dan Berger is eager to learn from the younger people in the world of wine. People's palettes have evolved and this continues, just as weather patterns have changed. Nico mentions two mentors at Saintsbury, they are Tim Colla, the head winemaker at Saintsbury, and Jaime, their cellar master who has been there for 20 years. They have lots of conversations and taste lots of blends. They have family style lunch every Friday at Saintsbury. Having come from Italy, Nico is grateful to have a family feeling at Saintsbury.

Dan Berger describes the house style of Saintsbury, which has remained consistent for 40 years.

Next they taste a pétillant-naturel, which is abbreviated to pét-nat.  It has very small and light bubbles and Dan declares it is delightful. They only made about 150 cases of it.

Saintsbury has an event scheduled for November 1, 2025, at the Napa winery at 1500 Los Carneros Ave. It is a celebration of past and present winemakers. It is structured as a market, with local artisans.

Winemakers Greg Morthole and Chris O'Gorman join Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Greg is the winemaker at Davis Bynum.

They are here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Davis Bynum's wine company. He was a pioneer in Russian River Valley and was one of the first to make Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is difficult to grow properly.

Davis Bynum's father was a journalist and wrote a book about how to make wine. Davis became a journalist from the age of 25 to 40 for the San Francisco Chronicle. At 40 he studied winemaking at the Berkeley library and went through a few "hard knocks."

Dan points out that the one thing about Russian River Valley is that the weather is cool. The wines had natural acidity and did not need to be adjusted. Davis liked the natural style of winemaking because they required less work. His wines were always very good. When Dan interviewed him in 1986, he was making Merlot which he loved. Greg remembers that Davis would also play music to the vines. He started by raising organic grapes but got tired of paying certification fees.
Davis Bynum
Greg Morthole got to work with Davis Bynum, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 92. He was an interesting character and Greg heard a lot of stories from him.

They taste a 2023 Davis Bynum Dutton Origin Chardonnay (on the left, in the picture above). It has a beautiful rich personality. Dan calls it almost Burgundian in its aromatics. It has good acidity so it could be served with rich seafoods like lobster. It will probably get better after 2 or 3 years in the bottle. This wine come from a block that the Dutton family has been farming since the 1880s.
The 50th Anniversary Wine
The next tasting is the 50th Anniversary wine, a 2023 vintage. Dan Berger loves it but Greg Morthole gives credit to the weather. That year the ripening was slow, then there was some rain, and only then, the fruit ripened perfectly. "Mother nature just gave us a great wine," says Greg. Dan suggests, and Greg agrees, that the ripening conditions this year remind him of 2023. They only made 35 cases of it.

Ventura Smalley, Harry Duke, Cathy Ratto and Dan Berger.

Dan Berger and Harry Duke are in the studio together on California Wine Country today on the Italian holiday of Ferragosto. Our expected guest was not available.

California Wine Country is brought to you by the 40th annual WineSong!

Ferragosto is the Italian holiday celebrated on August 15th. It is the middle of summer vacation season in Italy. It is also a religious holiday, the Catholic Feast of the Assumption. Dan describes the rich history of Ferragosto and how a holiday with ancient roots is still an annual occurrence.

Dan Berger has brought a bottle of his Bahl Fratty Riesling, and several other wines. The Bahl Fratty is probably the driest Riesling ever made anywhere. There are also some red wines to taste.
Bahl Fratty
Bahl Fratty is Boontling for good wine. There is a typewriter on the label, which reminds us of Dan Berger's illustrious career as a print journalist.

The 40th Winesong Weekend Celebration is Sept. 5-6, 2025. Click the Winesong 40th logo for details.

The next among the wines that Dan Berger has brought today is a 2024 Chateau Montelena Riesling. They have been making this exact same wine for a long time. It has aromas of tropical fruit, pineapple, a spice component, it's not entirely dry, but it's not sweet, just barely off-dry. It would go well with Thai or Chinese food.

Riesling is a grape variety that requires a cooler climate, or if not cool, it needs high winds to cool it off. There is only a little Riesling left in Russian River Valley, and some in Carneros and Petaluma Gap.

Harry asks Dan to tell about how Steve Jaxon introduced himself and invited Dan to join the show. They met for coffee and did a show that day, and have done it weekly since 2017, eight years ago. "It's been an absolute blast," says Dan. Dan mentions a lot of our regular guests, people with a great story to tell, like Don Chigazola from Chigazola Merchants, Alan Baker from Cartograph Wines, Darryl Miller from Delingher Wines. People travel long distances sometimes, to be on the show. Carol Shelton is another favorite, and Harry agrees.
Ferragosto
Dan describes the Italian holiday of Ferragosto, pronouncing it almost correctly, so Chris DiMatteo in Los Angeles calls in with the right sound and little more about the story of this important Italian holiday. This gives Chris the chance to raise a glass of Dan Berger's Bahl Fratty Riesling and to toast Steve Jaxon, who has been a friend and mentor to Chris. Cin-cin, maestro!

Dan's next tasting is a 2018 Syrah from Carneros. Syrah is considered a warm climate variety and Carneros is a cool region. So Dan decided to give it a few years to test it and it turned out to be "really really good." It's not a dark red but has a white pepper character. It was released probably is 2021 and the white pepper component has developed. It also has some dried violet character, which Harry can't confirm. Cuvaison has been in business for close to 50 years and has owned that vineyard for about that long. This wine produces "an explosion of flavors" says Harry.

Winemaker Michael Browne is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Daedalus Howell is sitting in for Steve Jaxon today. Michael has brought a few wines today.

The first pour is a 2020 Santa Rita Hills, made under his Cirq label. It his is focus on Russian River. His other brand, Chev, focuses on all the west coast, from Oregon to Central California.

The Santa Rita Hills is interesting to him because “it really moves in your mouth…it has a lot of movement. … It has massive presence. If you let it sit on your palette just a bit, you can kind of see that.” It is not heavy but it has presence. It has what he calls intense elegance. Michael Browne wrote a book called Pinot Rocks, subtitled A Journey Through Intense Elegance. He describes good wine as a piece of music, with high notes, middle notes and low notes. Daedalus calls it, “a wine that went to charm school.”
The Song and the Instruments
The “song” has been written in the vineyard and the barrels are the “instruments” that will play it. Dan Berger has one last bottle of a 2005 Santa Rita Pinot Noir that is one of the best he has ever tasted.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Next to be tasted is under the Chev label, which is Russian River, heart and soul. It’s a wine to be aged, or decanted at least. Their 2013s, ’14s and ’15s are in great shape right now.

In the 1990s there was an explosion of Pinot Noir producers in California and also Willamette Valley in Oregon. When Kosta Browne started, they were the second wave, doing unique things with Pinot Noir. He tasted a “substantial” Pinot Noir from Williams-Selyem and asked winemaker Burt Williams for advice on how to achieve that result. He learned how to time his harvest to get exactly that result. They are also tasting a Santa Lucia Highlands wine.

Michael Browne talks about making wine with “the Garys,” who are growers Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni. Gary Pisoni runs Pisoni Family Vineyards while Gary and Rosella Franscioni run Gary’s Vineyard and ROAR Wines. Both of them are located in the Santa Lucia Highlands. “They are the best growers that I know… They are family to me, big time.”

Today’s pre-show guest is Rex Pickett, author of Sideways. The main show guest is Trevor Durling, Winemaker from BV, Beaulieu Vineyard. This show was recorded on August 9, 2017 eight years ago. Due to a technical glitch, there is no recording of the live show recorded today, August 1, 2025. So for our podcast listeners, we offer this jewel of a Highlight show, in its place. Enjoy!



In the live segment before CWC begins at the top of the hour, Steve and Dan visit with Rex Pickett, author of Sideways, the book, movie and now stage play. Then after the main show, we will hear more of Steve’s interview with Rex Pickett.

Rex Pickett, author of Sideways.

First, Dan tells that somebody called him on the telephone way back in the ‘90s when he was writing at the LA Times, to ask him about Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez, the area where the book is set. Dan never got his name, and after the movie came out, Dan always assumed the call had come from Rex, but Rex says he wasn’t the caller.

The movie Sideways was not really about Merlot, it was more about Pinot Noir, or people, really. The situation of the market for Merlot changed as a consequence of the movie. The book was about Pinot Noir, not about Merlot. Dan says that Rex put his finger on the pulse of the industry at the time, what people were talking about in the industry then, which was that Pinot Noir was starting to take off in the US and particularly in cooler regions, Santa Barbara and Sonoma Counties in particular.
A story about people, that happened to have wine in it.
But it was a book about personalities and people, and only incidentally about wine. In Dan’s opinion, it was a great book and movie but it really tapped into something that was more wine-related than what Rex was hoping for.

Rex tells that he was starting to go to wine tastings and loved the lyricism and poetry about describing wine, (apart from some pretentiousness). Rex didn’t know that the wine tasting scene would become so important in the movie.
Merlot and the Cinema
Merlot had been “overcropped” at the time and the movie thinned out the herd, as a lot of poor Merlot producers no longer make it. They agree that the movie did a lot for Pinot Noir and at that time we were starting to get away from the routine Cabernet-Chardonnay and into other wines and Pinot Noir was the one that first broke through, and that the movie picked up on that momentary market trend. Dan points out that in 1992 California had 8,000 acres of Merlot. In 1995, there were 58,000 acres of Merlot. Rex says they were mechanized-farming it and Steve says it just wasn’t that good. Dan says there is good Merlot all over the place now but you have to be very careful what you buy because we’re down to about 29,000 arcres now, which is way too much, and planted in the wrong places.

Steve tells that his friend Jim from BV is there and he talks about when they were in DC, in April. Jim was there, he started singing and Steve was playing piano. Later we will hear a musical excerpt.
At the intro to the main show, Steve re-introduces Rex Pickett, author of the book, screenplay and the new stage adaptation of Sideways which will be on stage in Santa Rosa from September 8 through October 1 (2017).
Dan introduces Trevor Durling, winemaker at BV, which has been around since 1900. It was the home of the great André Tchelistcheff, starting in the 1930s up to around 1973. The BV style of the wines had been formed and it’s not easy to shift. It’s like turning an ocean liner. The problem always had been to use French oak versus American oak. BV started using American oak, for Cabernet. The fact is that BV didn’t make certain grapes that had become popular, such as Zinfandel. Dan talked to André about that and André said he would not know how to make Zinfandel, as he didn’t know it.

Kyle Cameron and Gianna Fugazi of Trecini Winery are our first-time guests on California Wine Country with Daedalus Howell in for Steve Jaxon, and with Dan Berger.

Kyle is a seventh generation Russian River Valley farmer. They are farming grapes now. He and his wife Christina bought Trecini Winery in order to get more involved in the rest of the wine business, apart from growing grapes. The wine market is in a downturn, so he has a positive outlook. Dan Berger says this downturn is a predictable one or two year cyclic drop.

Giana Fugazi is originally from Linden, California, where she grew up on a cherry orchard. She studied wine business and archaeology at Sonoma State. Her dad calls grape growing "fancy farming."  She worked as an archaeologist in Italy for three years.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Dan Berger believes that the future will include more Italian grape varieties. He peaks to retailers all around the country and the world. Retailers are telling him that there is less enthusiam for the Number one varietals in white and red, which are Chards and Cabs. There are many wines that used to be obscure that people are asking for. "I'm interested in making any kind of obscure wine," says Kyle.
Dan's Albariño and Gianna's Verdolo
As a starter, Dan has brought a wine from grape grower Francis Mahoney, a friend of his. It is a 2024 Albariño, quite dry, sells for about $24 a bottle. It's in a lot of local retain shops. Gianna has brought a Verdolo from Portugal. There are less than 500 acres of this grape in California. This is a 2024 from Taft Street, where Gianna is a series winemaker. This is her first take, a 100% neutral barrel. The organic grapes are from Calaveras County. She fermented it outside in barrels, no temperature control, then she consolidated it into an egg (concrete). There was no temperature control, so it was risky but successful.

Darryl Miller from Dehlinger Winery is back on California Wine Country today with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He has been on the show before, the last time was this episode, last summer.

This is the 50th anniversary of Dehlinger Winery. Darryl has known the family for forty years. Tom Dehlinger was a biochemist and got the wine bug. He studied wine at Davis and worked with some local wineries. Then, bought a property on the corner of Vine Hill Road and Guerneville Road in 1972. He and his brother built an octagonal house in the middle of the property which is iconic. They crushed their first grapes in 1975.

Dan Berger started writing about wine at that time and tasted his first Dehlinger wines in 1979. They were among the first to plant grapes in the area which would later become Pinot Noir and Chardoheaven. The other local pioneers were the Rocchioli and Martinelli vineyards, not far from there. The vineyard is a rolling hill property with two types of soil, Altamont, a red iron based clay, and Goldridge, a gray sandy loam. The sections of the vineyard with different soils produce different results in the wine. This is why they produce some wines from each section and soil type.
Bahl Fratty Riesling
The 40th Winesong Weekend Celebration is Sept. 5-6, 2025. Click the Winesong 40th logo for details.

Dan Berger has brought a bottle of his Bahl Fratty Riesling It is a 2023 that just got a Gold Medal at the American Fine Wine Competition in Miami. The grapes are from Cole Ranch in Mendocino County, near Booneville. Bahl Fratty means Good Drink in Boontling, the local lingo. Dan's goal was to make the wine as dry as possible. The 2022 was also a gold medal winner.

Darryl went to college in Humbolt State then moved to Seattle and worked as a waiter. He met someone who suggested he could sell wine and he did end up selling a lot of wine. The business took him to San Francisco, Hawaii and Tahoe. Eventually he ended up in Sonoma County, the same year as Dan, in 1981. He started his own company as a broker and sold some very famous wines like Taft Street, Davis Bynum and Iron Horse. Then in 1995 he sold his company to the Henry Wine Group and continued to work with them. Darryl is one of the judges at Dan Berger's annual wine competition.
There are different ways to know good wine but what's really important is what you like. -Darryl Miller
California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Dehlinger makes about 8,000 cases of wine per year, but they grow enough grapes for 40,000. Many famous wineries get grapes from them, whose names are not to be made public. The rest of the show is the tasting of the wines Darryl has brought.

First  is the 2021 Goldridge Pinot Noir. Round, rich and juicy, Dan says silky with a crisp finish. The next one is also a Pinot Noir, from the Altamont soil section, that has more structure because it also gets some whole cluster fermentation. Darryl calls the Altamont tighter, stronger with more minerality. Visit the website for details.

Matt Duffy from Vaughn Duffy Wines joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country today. Daedalus Howell is also in. He is doing an hour every weekday from 2 to 3 PM on Wine Country Radio.

Vaughn Duffy specializes in Pinot Noir. They make 8 or 10 Pinot Noir wines from Russian River Valley and Petaluma Gap. Their tasting room is on Sonoma Highway next to Palooza Restaurant. Today he has brought two bottles of Pinot Noir. The San Giacomo vineyard and Uberroth vineyard, as well as a barrel sample of another Pinot Noir that is in production.
Petaluma Gap
In August there will be a tasting event that culminates on August 10 at a new venue in Santa Rosa called The Backdrop. There will be over 100 Petaluma Gap wines to taste.

Petaluma Gap is one of the greatest wine growing regions that gets its cool climate from the wind. This keeps the acidity levels high. As the climate gets warmer, regions like Petaluma Gap will enjoy favorable conditions. The wind comes up every evening at about 5:00 and it is unstoppable. The region is ideal for Pinot Noir but they grow Grenache, Syrah and Blau Frankish. Great Pinot Noir will not be dark red, and Dan noticed that about these wines.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Pinot Noir lovers have been drinking Petaluma Gap wines since even before the AVA of Petaluma Gap was establihed in 2017. Before that, it was all Sonoma Coast AVA. But Sonoma Coast is a gigantic area and it made sense to carve out the Petaluma Gap due to its unique conditions and results.

The Wind to Wine Festival is coming on August 8, 9 & 10 with exclusive vineyard walks, winery tours and the great tasting on August 10 with super-chef Charlie Palmer.

Matt Duffy and his wife Sarah Vaughn are about to make their sixteenth consecutive bottling. His first year working was 2007. After being a harvest worker and learning winemaking from the process of doing it. He and his wife bought some grapes in 2009 and started making wine, while he was still working his day job managing the crush facility. They have a tasting room in Kenwood in the Sonoma Valley. "The wine business is a long game. It takes a year or two to get your line into the bottle to sell it... You've got to stick it out... Keep going, keep growing... look for better vineyards every year."

David Hejl from Domaine Della is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Blair Hardman is also in the studio today. The Domaine Della winery is named after David's mother, Della.

David used to be the CEO and general manager for Kosta Browne. He worked for Kosta Browne winery after they were sold to new owners. He was entrusted with managing the staff through a transition to go from 10,000 cases per year to 30,000.

Before that, David started in the 1980s living in Paris, France, working for Nabisco. He had great French wine at dinner every night. That was the exposure to wine that started his lifelong interest.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

They are tasting a Chardonnay that Dan Berger calls, “Chardonnay to make you wake up,” and, “incredible.” David gives credit to the vineyard, one of Sonoma County’s finest. It’s all about picking to get the perfect acidity. He also prefers not to use too much oak. That is how he gets the fruit to take the lead.

Dan calls this wine perfectly balanced. It has the rich fruit that you want, but the acidity to make it pair well with food. It is a remarkable balance between big and delicate. And of course, it should get better in about three years.
David says, "We'll be in harvest before you know it!"
Then they open a Pinot Noir. He uses fruit from some of the same vineyards that supplied Kosta Browne. The owners and growers are longtime friends. They are 85% direct to consumer. The rest sells through charity events around the country.

Dan says the Pinot Noir is excellent, and has all the best characteristics of Russian River Pinot Noir. Elegant, raspberry aromas, a little bit of cherry, and a spice component. David explains that there are 6 different clones, in two different vineyards.

Dan, Melissa and Deadalus.

Melissa Galliani and Daedalus Howell are our guests on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Melissa Galliani is the GM of Wine Country Radio.  Deadalus Howell is the editor of the North Bay Bohemian and some other local publications. He is also a frequent guest on The Drive with the Boho Buzz, a regular feature of what's currently in the paper. Lisa Santos, the advertising director of The Bohemian, is also in.

This is Bay Area Burger Week. Co-incidentally, Dan Berger wrote an article this week about hamburger meat and hamburger sandwiches. There is just one vowel of difference between burger and Berger! There is a promotion with restaurants that have specials throughout the 12-day "week." Daedalus has a trivia question for listeners, which is, what actor played the part of McDonald's entrepreneur Ray Kroc in the movie The Founder? Listener Kelley knew that answer is Michael Keaton and she wins the prize. Later we will ask who played Pussy Galore in Goldfinger? Honor Blackman is the answer.
After all the banter, the wines.
Terry Damskey from Dehlinger Winery could not come in as scheduled today. So Dan Berger has brought a few wines from Bottle Barn for tasting and discussion. The first one tasted is a Washington state wine which was at Bottle Barn for a mere $4.99. Today is the first day of summer, so there will be a lot of whites (and Rosés) on the show.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Then they taste a 2022 Babich Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. It is on sale at a close-out price at Bottle Barn. There is also a Cinsault from Lodi, California. The winery is called Jesse's Grove. They have their own vineyards, some of which are original vines planted in 1886. They have some of the oldest Cinsault grapes in the world. Finally, Ammunition is a Sonoma County Pinot Noir.

Wine importer Don Chigazola is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, with newly arrived wines from Alto Adige.  His company Chigazola Merchants brings small lots of carefully selected wines from small family producers in many different regions of Italy. Steve Jaxon describes what he does as "...the coolest job in the world." Melissa Galliani is also with us in the studio today.

Don begins by describing how he has recently expanded his activity into France, by applying the same model that they do to their business with Italian winemakers. He and his wife travel to Italy

They went to the Paris wine show, and they also spent some time visiting family winemakers in Provence. They met with four and they will definitely be importing from two of them. That will begin once the tariff situation settles down.
Chigazola Merchants
Don started traveling to Italy with his wife Debbie, visiting small hilltop towns, asking the locals about who made the best wine. He found a lot of great wine, and noticed that the quality of wines he found in Italy was not available here. So he figured out how to import wine from Italy, to sell directly to consumers. He needed three different licenses and eventually fulfilled all the requirements.

In the first few years, Chigazola Merchants sold about 80% of their wine to local bars and restaurants, and 20% to individuals. That proportion has reversed now, since their wine club has grown so much.

Today Don has brought some white wines from the Alto Adige region, where they grow grapes at very high altitude. The wines come out with high minerality and fresh acidity. The first are tasting a Riesling that arrived in California last February. This Riesling is bone dry. Dan Berger calls this wine the anti-Chardonnay. It’s not so dry that it’s austere. It has fresh clean aromatics and it goes with food. Melissa agrees that it tastes fresh and crisp. The Rieslings from this producer will age well.

The second wine they taste is a Sylvaner, which is a dry white variety very different than the Riesling. Dan says it is oriented to delicate foods, as a delicate wine. It could go with halibut or sturgeon. Riesling is more aromatic, this wine is more minerally. Melissa suggests Teriyaki Sea Bass. These wines are all 2023s.

The third wine is a varietal that if very difficult to find here in California called Kerner. It typically makes a little sweeter wine, a little bit like Gruner Veltliner. It has a nice balance between sugar and acid. It's a "porch pounder" says Dan.
Meet the Producers
There is a section on the Chigazola Merchants website called Our Producers where you can learn more about the families that produce the wines that Don imports.

The fourth varietal tasted today is a Gewürtztraminer. Usually that is a sweet wine, but Dan describes this one as "succulent without being sweet." The label says 3g of residual sugar, which Dan calls "nothing." Dan says it's not an easy wine to make because you have to be in a really cold climate and know exactly when to pick the grapes. The producer makes a very small amount and sells most of it in their local village. Don got 10 cases. Dan Berger says it is the most amazing Gewürtztraminer he has ever tasted.

Leah Scurto and Chris Puppione.

Chris Puppione from Puppione Family Wines joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today.

Leah Scurto from PizzaLeah is also here, and she brought several different pizzas. We will try some pizza and wine pairings.

Chris Puppione starts telling the story of the family winery. He had worked in wine and thought of bottles of wine as time capsules. So when his first daughter was born, he made a wine for her to celebrate her birth. A neighbor in the Russian River area sold him one ton of Syrah grapes.

He even told a tall tale to his wife to get her to come out and prune the first grapes for their wine. When the second daughter was born he made another wine and they kept on making wine that connects to their family history. This wine they are tasting today is a 2017.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Dan Berger discovered Puppione Family Wines when he was a judge in a blended red category at a recent competition. Immediately he liked it so much he found out who made it. It was a really low alcohol wine, which Dan likes. About 10 days later, Dan found the winery and met Chris for the first time. Chris Puppione mentions his day job, he oversees US wineries for Coravin, a company that makes wine equipment.
Pizza and Wine Pairings
Festa Bianco + Sicilian

We’re going to do pizza and wine pairing today. Leah Scurto has brought four different pizzas, each one with very different flavors. We will pair them with four Puppione wines.

The first pairing is a bottle of Festa Bianco, a white wine, with the Sicilian pizza. Festa was Chris’ grandmother’s maiden name. The Sicilian pizza has Castelvetrano olives, Italian salame, chili flakes, ricotta and a little red onion. The wine is a Friulano, which is a northern Italian white wine often mistaken for Sauvignon Blanc. It goes well with green vegetables and salads. It come from the Friuli region of Italy, which is the north-eastern part of the country, next to Slovenia.

Festa Rosso + Nico

The next pizza is the Nico, which is an award winner. It has confit garlic, fresh rosemary, black pepper and Italian sausage. This is paired with Festa Rossa, which is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet and Friulano. It is again, pretty low alcohol.
PizzaLeah's Cold Fermentation Dough
Dan calls PizzaLeah's pizza the most classic pizza in Sonoma County. A lot of factors make PizzaLeah's pizza special. Importantly, the dough is made by a slow, cold fermentation process. She uses local flour from Central Milling. She makes dough fresh daily. Only after two or three days of proofing in cold storage does it become pizza. Extended fermentation makes bread more digestible. It also gives the dough the right texture. Some deep dish pizzas are not really even pizza, they are more like cake. For comparison, it's almost more like a casserole. PizzaLeah does have two Detroit-style pan pizzas. The crust comes out looking like a brick but light as a feather when you eat it.

Juventus + Spade

Dan appreciates Chris Pappapietro's wine for the abundant fruit flavors. To make their Friulano, he had to go up into the hills near Tahoe, to a vineyard called Snow's Crossing. It's an alpine wilderness. They foot stomp all of their fruit, just like his grandfather did. His kids get into the bins and stomp fruit. There are pictures of that on their site. Especially, they left the Friulano on the skins in order to get more flavors from it.

Next up is the Juventus wine, named after the goddess of youth and rejuvenation (not the soccer team). Instead, he wanted to make a red wine that would invigorate people instead of bringing heaviness. He made it in stainless steel which helps maintain the fruit flavors.

Dan and Paul from Small Vines.

Paul Sloan from Small Vines Wines joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Daedalus Howell also joins us today. Small Vines Wines makes “world class wines of distinction.” Paul grew up in Sonoma County on a 250-acre horse and cattle ranch, on the eastern side of Santa Rosa. He worked in restaurants and ended up at John Ash & Co., known as one of the original farm-to-table restaurants.

His favorite wines were always from families that grew the fruit and also made the wine. When he fell in love with age-worthy, food-friendly wines, he continued to work for the Dutton family and studied viticulture at Santa Rosa JC. He planted some high-density vineyards over the years and his wines come from them.
High-Density Vines
Dan Berger says that the predictions of weather are less reliable than ever, as climate change is not uniform. Paul finds that high-density planting helps, in hot years by shading the vines. High density planting works but you have to take careful care of the vines.

Paul was the first person to actually design a wine with good natural acidity by planting high density vines.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Phylloxera is a root louse that is so small it is hard to see. It chews on certain roots and in particular, native roots. So you have to choose rootstock that is impervious to it. It appeared in the late 1980s. It was inevitable that all the vines affected had to be torn out and the vineyards replanted.

The more leaf surface you have, the more dappled sunlight you have, instead of direct light. By planting a 4-foot tractor row instead of an 8-foot tractor row, you can get fifty percent less direct sunlight on the fruit.

Daedalus asks about automation and the potential to use drones in the vineyard. Paul tells about advanced tractors that gather data. The high end producers will continue to do things by hand, but a lot of less expensive wines will have to use some automation. Dan Berger mentions that a lot of the automation is in the winery, rather than in the vineyard. There are tanks with built-in chemical analysis equipment. Also, sorting the fruit is still an important manual process. Ideally, you only harvest the ideally formed clusters of fruit.

Their first tasting is a 2021 TBH Chardonnay, that demonstrates the fruit selection. They sort the fruit on the vine. You only take the ideal length of cluster and diameter of berries. Their 2021 Chardonnay is the current release. His goal is to make age-worthy, food-friendly wines, so he sees no reason not to hold his wines for a few years before releasing them.

Erica, Judy & Doug.

Doug Mryglod, Judy Phillips and Erica Stancliffe from Deodora Wine are our guests with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Daedalus Howell is also in the studio today.

This is the first time that Doug and Judy have been on the show for Deodora Estate Vineyards. Erica Stancliff has been on CWC before on this episode of June 24, 2020.

Dan Berger introduces Deodora for winning a gold medal for a dry Riesling at the latest wine competition. The 2019 that won was up against some very stiff competition.

The 2024 is maybe better, says Dan. Judy says they bottled it back in February and this is the first bottle they are opening. The grapes come from “an amazing site in the Petaluma Gap.” This is precisely what the American consumer wants, and doesn’t know it. It is dry but not too much, with just enough personality in the aftertaste to suggest what kind of food it would go with. It should be served chilled but not ice cold. Dan describes plumeria, wild tropical fruit, and citrus flavors. The lime flavors will come out in about two years. Judy says Dan’s commentary makes the perfect tasting notes for this wine. It is not gripping and so lemony.

Daedalus Howell is also here today. He notices the minerality in this wine, “a quiet little whisper” of slate, underneath the fruit flavors. It was barreled in concrete, there was no malolactic fermentation, and there was one neutral French oak barrel, and stainless steel.

Doug tells the Deodora story that starts with Judy. In 2012 they got a property that was an old goat farm. It took them months to clean it up and decide what to plant. There is a story behind the Riesling. He worked with Ford family in the Finger Lakes region, Heron Hill wine. Doug fell in love with Riesling after tasting theirs.
Doug's Riesling made for himself
Doug didn’t want his Riesling to be too dry or too sweet, just in the middle, and for himself only. Dan says, “I did the same thing… just for me.” Dan says that Riesling makes itself if you have the right grapes. Judy says it was hard for them to believe they won that award for the Riesling.

Erica Stancliff tells how she was born and raised in Forestville with parents who were home winemakers. They started Trombetta Winery where Erica is the winemaker. Her mentor was Paul Hobbs and she is now a winemaker for various local labels. She loves Petaluma Gap for the wind, climate, Sonoma coast influence and the fog. That makes it perfect, absolutely perfect for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and also Riesling.

Daedalus asks Erica if their friend Chris Sawyer, the “sommelier to the stars” is really the originator of the term Petaluma Gap. He claimed it, says Daedalus. Erica has a precise technical description of the climate that makes for slow development of brix levels. In Petaluma Gap you only get a few hours of the peak heat, before the wind comes in every day.

The name Deodora comes from an old tree that is on a property he owns on a golf course. The tree is beautiful and comes from the Himalayas.

Steve, Ben, Yolanda and Olli.

Ben Papapietro and his wife Yolanda join Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country. Dan Berger is away today, visiting the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival, which we talked about on this episode two weeks ago. Ben is a co-founder of the Papapietr0-Perry winery. This is Ben and Yolanda's first time on CWC.

Ben Papapietro started in his basement in San Francisco as a home winemaker. He had a friend, Bruce Perry, who worked with Ben in the delivery of the San Francisco Chronicle. They wanted to make Pinot but there was hardly any fruit at that time. Another friend, Burt Williams, also helped him get some Pinot fruit. But they made a lot of Cabernet Franc blends and Zinfandel. In 1990 he got a really good source of Pinot fruit. Then his partner talked him into opening a professional winery in 1997. Early in his winemaking career, Ben did some harvests with Burt Williams, the co-founder of Williams-Selyem, who was a mentor to Ben. He was one of the local winemakers who started producing Pinot Noir in Sonoma County.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.
Goldridge Soil Again
They are tasting a 2023 Pinot Noir, a vineyard designate from Peter’s Vineyard. It is in the high southern hills with the famous Goldridge soil that makes the region famous.

Melissa Galliani joins us in the studio today. Her t-shirt says “near perfect” and it has a story. Ben’s partner made the t-shirt that reproduces the comments of wine reviewers who liked their wine. Bruce Perry was Ben’s partner and very close friend. He passed away a couple of years ago.

Papapietro-Perry is participating in the Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience this weekend. But he and his wife are taking 80 people on a cruise up the Douro River in Portugal. They have organized several other cruises with as many as 140 people with them. They visit a lot of wineries and taste a lot of wine.

Ben grew up in the Mission district of San Francisco and visited Italy several times to see relatives on both sides of his family.
The Papapietro-Perry Light & Bright Club
Papapietro-Perry has a “Light and Bright” club, which is for Rosé and Chardonnay. On June 14th there is an event called “Wine, Cheese and Chocolate.” Even during Covid they did a once-a-week live show that kept people involved. And in July there is the Papapietro-Perry Lobster and Chardonnay Festival.

Next they taste a Chardonnay which is a lighter style, fruit forward with a nice spicy finish that lingers.

Bettina from Laurel Glen Vineyard is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Bettina’s father was Peter M. F. Sichel just passed away at 102. He was an old friend of Dan Berger who credits him with great contributions to winemaking, in Germany and in the US. Dan wrote a review of Peter’s book called “The Secrets of My Life: Vintner, Soldier, Prisoner, Spy.” He was instrumental in making Blue Nun wine popular, a dry white wine from Germany.

Dan describes the story of Blue Nun as a story of the Atomic Age. There is a bottle of it on the cover of the Fleetwood Mac album Rumors and there is a Beastie Boys song called Blue Nun. Blue Nun was very widely distributed in the 1970s.

Laurel Glen is on top of Sonoma Mountain. It is a remarkable property. The fact that people would plant Cabernet up there is “outrageous” says Dan. It makes a special kind of wine. Bettina says it’s a great site for Cabernet. In the 1990s, Cabernet was a much more restrained, a low-alcohol wine with high acidity. That is still the Lauren Glen style.
Sonoma Mountain AVA
The vineyard was first planted to Cabernet in the 1960s. They are located on a plateau. The Sonoma Mountain AVA is on the east side of the mountain. The west side of the mountain is now the Petaluma Gap AVA. The mountain blocks the wind and fog. They don’t achieve the degree of ripeness that Napa Cabernets do, which produces what Dan calls a richer, oaky, more concentrated and higher in alcohol.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.

Next for tasting is a Riesling that comes from a vineyard on the central coast near Monterrey. They are the last grapes that come into the winery, after all the other grapes. That shows what a long maturation process these grapes require. Dan can think of only about 5 vineyards in California that produce high quality dry Riesling and this is one of them. They make three Cabernets, a Rosé and some Gruner Veltliner.

Barbara Barrielle

Barbara Barrielle calls in to California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger to talk about the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival 2025 coming May 16-18. She was a guest on CWC last January on this episode when the Anderson Valley Winegrowers were promoting the International White Wine Festival in February.

The Pinot Noir Festival has been going on for 26 years. Anderson Valley is home to some picturesque small towns and to several vineyards. Its cool climate is ideal for Pinot Noir.

The Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival runs from Friday May 16 through Sunday May 18. Get all the information at the Valley AV WINES website, and get tickets at the Eventbrite page for the 2025 Festival. Use the Promo Code MENDOCINO to get 30% off tickets to the Barbeque and the Grand Tasting. 

On Friday May 16, there is a barbeque where the vintners bring special wines from their cellars. It's a show-off opportunity and everyone brings their best. Plus, the food is fantastic.

Then on Saturday, May 17, the Grand Tasting is at Scharfenberger Cellars. It's one of the few wine festivals that takes place right in the vineyard. In the morning, VIPs spend a few hours "in the bubble lounge" with oysters, caviar etc. In the afternoon, 45 different wineries and great food. On Sunday, the local wineries open up for visits.

California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines.
One Hour Away From Santa Rosa
To get there you drive north on highway 128 for about an hour, from Santa Rosa. It's springtime and everything is in bloom. There will be easily 60 different wines. Dan Berger says the sub-region of Comptche (pronounced "com-CHEE") is producing very good wine. Three years ago there was nothing coming from there. Today, they are world class. It's remarkable that they are still unknown even in a town as large and as close as Santa Rosa.

Joy Sterling from Iron Horse Vineyards is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Joy has been on California Wine Country before, on this episode of Sept. 27, 2017. Clark Wolf is sticking around from the previous segment to talk about the Northern California Public Media Awards that are coming back on May 10. This year's honorees are Joy Sterling and her whole family, who are getting the recognition they deserve for all the delicious wines they make and also for all of their other work outside of winemaking.

Joy describes Iron Horse as a magical place, with stunning views across rolling hills of vines, with Mt. St. Helena in the distance. "The grapes know they are growing in a gorgeous place." Dan Berger says its magic is a result of its location. The old road has not changed in 100 years. As you cross the bridge, it feels like you are 100 miles from anywhere. While a lot of wineries try to "turn it up so much" as Clark says, Iron Horse is natural. There is wildness thriving around them, including deer, who ate Joy's roses. The turkey vultures that live all around northern California are thriving. Green Valley Creek bisects the property. The Coho Salmon use the river for spawning. Their farming is so careful that the water is clean.

Iron Horse has been legendary for making some of the finest Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and sparkling wines in the world, not just in Sonoma County. These wines are "really pristine" such as the 2023 Audrey Chardonnay, named after Joy's mom. Ever since the beginning, they keep the malolactic fermentation to a minimum and they use steam-bent barrels, so there is no smoke on the wood and therefore none in the wine either. Joy describes this wine as gracious and elegant, just like her mom. Dan Berger describes it as having perfect acidity and all the components are subtle, not ostentatious. The aren't "blow your socks off" wines, more like "glide your socks off," says Joy.
POP goes the cork!
"Who doesn't like a big pop? It just says "party," says Joy. This is their 2021 Spring Rosé. It has a beautiful petal pink color and it really tastes like spring." Dan Berger, who has an extensive personal cellar, says that these wines will improve with age in the bottle. They already have three years on the yeast. It is a limited production wine, only available at their tasting room.

The second wine they pour is the one they are best known for, Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée. Joy explains that their sparkling wines have become drier and drier, due to two factors, the increased quality of their craftsmanship and their vineyard practices. Dan Berger also gives credit to Iron Horse's customers, who demand their quality. "We have the best customers!" says Joy. Iron Horse wines have been served at the White House for the last six consecutive administrations, as well as State Department events and to foreign dignitaries and royalty including the Queen of England.
The Intimate History of Iron Horse
Joy's mother is a San Franciscan and her father was from Los Angeles and they lived in LA when Joy was a child. Then the family moved to France in 1967 and that is where they encountered wine. They would go on trips together to discover wine and their parents felt right at home. When they missed on a vineyard acquisition there, it may have been a blessing because by the mid-1970s they found a property in California. They have 3 generations living on the property in an 1876 house. Next year they will celebrate several big anniversaries. The USA turns 250, Iron Horse turns 50, winemaker David Munksgard celebrates 30 years making wine there.

They had a second label for a while called Tin Pony which they don't make anymore. It was for wine made from grapes that did not make it into the Iron Horse blend. Joy said they preferred to focus on their top quality product. Dan thinks that with the market the way it is,

Nolan Jones, winemaker at Lava Cap Winery, is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Lava Cap Winery is located in the Sierra Foothills, in Placerville. It is two hours due east of Napa and Sonoma. Dan Berger says that Sierra Foothills makes great wines but there are differences between the different regions. The Sierra Nevada Foothills is one of the biggest AVAs in the state. Their vineyards are at some of the highest elevations in California, at roughly 3000 feet. That is close to the snow line. They get snow and frost in the Spring.

Nolan grew up in Placerville. His grandfather started the winery and brought his father into it. Now a retired as a Geology professor at Berkeley, he looked for a place where the climate and soil were what he wanted. They bought the property in 1979, planted in 1980 and their first vintage was the next year.
Vermentino
They begin by tasting a Vermentino which Dan Berger says is excellent. Vermentino mostly grows in Liguria and Tuscany, in north-western Italy. It is popular there and it is just starting to get recognition in California where more and more producers are making it. This Vermentino has a faint tropical note with a hint of pineapple. This is their second Vermentino vintage. It has fun, bright summer characteristics. It has been very popular since they started making it. Nolan thinks the intensity of being at high elevation produces the acidity and other flavors they want. It was fermented in stainless steel, aged on light lees for three months and then bottled.

Dan attributes this wine to the fact that we now have the technology to make wine this way. It uses cold fermentation and good quality filters. This used to be unavailable to most producers. Thanks to new reasonably priced equipment, notably from Italy, local producers can make these world class wines that require special treatment. Nolan says this highlights the California character, which is aromatic, bright and intense. Their freshness comes from the Alpine region, while most other California wines come from coastal regions.

To make a parallel, it's like a Sauvignon Blanc but with none of the green grass flavors. Vermentino has its own spice profile that is different than Sauv Blanc. His grandfather, being a geologist, named the winery after the soil, which the old miners named Lava Cap.

Lava Cap dot com is their website, where you can buy their wines. They do 26 different SKUs, including Italian, Spanish and French grapes. El Dorado has not settled on a "signature grape" the way that other regions have. Their goal is to showcase their elevation and the volcanic soil. Dan explains that the higher you go in elevation, the cooler it gets, and that gives you the effect and benefits of cooler weather, at a time where other vineyards are experiencing warmer weather.

They go on to taste a Chardonnay which is unique due to all the unique growing and winemaking conditions at Lava Cap Winery.