Two Guys From Napa
Favorites in Anderson Valley, January 2012
Anderson Valley may be the best known wine-growing region in Mendocino County. Located near the Pacific Coast, this 15 mile long valley has a wide diurnal range, in that the daily high and low temperatures can be up to 40 or 50 degrees apart. The appellation also ranges in elevation from sea level up to 2500 feet.
The climate and geography here create an excellent growing region for Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, and the Anderson Valley is well known for those varietals as both still wines and sparkling wines. Riesling and Gewurztraminer also grow well here...
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Wine Country This Week
Alsace Varietals Festival Showcases International Whites
January 2012
For the seventh consecutive year, the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association will host the International Alsace Varietals Festival – an event that has become a popular showcase for Alsace-style white wines from around the world. The 2012 festival, to be held February 18-19, will also feature a celebrity chef cooking demonstration and a New Zealand Riesling challenge.
Producers from both near and far will pour five highlighted varietals during the two-day celebration: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Muscat. Festival events will include a technical conference, a cooking demonstration by Food Network star chef Beau MacMillan, a grand tasting, a group winemaker dinner and winery open houses.
click here to read the entire article
Examiner.com
International Alsace Varietals Festival February 18
By Steve Ferree, January 2012
There is only one wine festival dedicated to Alsace-style wines and the Anderson Valley wineries are hosting the event, the 7th Annual International Alsace Varietals Festival, on February 18. This unique and exclusive wine tasting event will feature a celebration of Alsace-style wines, local foods, entertainment and more with wineries from around the world participating...
Click here to read the entire article
Via Magazine
California's Highway 128
By Chris Colin, October 2011
Look closely as you travel on Highway 128, the winding ribbon connecting Highway 101 with California’s coast, and you’ll notice Bay Area drivers slapping their foreheads: How have I never been here? Anderson Valley works hard to preserve the feeling of seclusion responsible for its peaceful, timeless vibe—the town of Boonville even had its own language for a while. But once you’re here, the vineyards, teeny towns, and rolling hills deliver a thorough welcome. A tour of the region’s trees alone is worth it, as palms give way to lichen-draped oaks, then ghostly eucalyptus and finally massive redwoods—all in 60 miles. The so-called “tunnel to the sea” that winds through misty old-growth forest? Says Pat Daniels, the longtime tasting-room manager at Navarro Vineyards: “For me, that’s church.”...
Bloomberg
Wild West Pinot draws Banker to vineyards among cannabis crop
By Elin McCoy, October 24, 2011
... With its marginal climate of warm, sunny days, cold foggy nights, long growing season and steep hillsides, this remote 15- mile-long valley in northwest Mendocino has become the spot for classic, balanced pinots with lively acidity and lower alcohol.Think rose-and-spice scents, subtle crushed-cherry and plum flavors, silky richness, and Burgundy-like complexity.
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SF Chronicle
As Pinot Noir evolves, Anderson Valley grows up
By Jon Bonne, October 9, 2011
Philo, Mendocino County -- Anderson Valley was once California's little secret, a remote Mendocino nook protected from the sea but still drawing in the coastal chill.
From the 1970s it was home to a handful of back-to-landers, labels like Navarro and Lazy Creek, that showed a fondness for Alsatian varieties like Gewurztraminer plus the occasional Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. Then sparkling winemakers like Roederer Estate and Scharffenberger came calling. If grapes might not always ripen for still wine in the persistent fog, they'd thrive as a base for bubbly.
When Pinot did ripen, it gave Anderson Valley a reputation for wine that showed the purest qualities of that grape: bright red fruit, heady scents of earth and forest, a mineral tension that was increasingly rare in California wine. As Pinot elsewhere grew burlier, Anderson Valley was the loyal opposition. That suited its reputation as an insular spot - one whose residents of the village of Boonville once devised their own language, Boontling, to rebuff outsiders...
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Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
By Jon Bonne, October 9, 2011
It's wonderful to see Anderson Valley back in form.
Among nearly 40 bottles tasted, there was a clear division of styles (see cover story), but wines from a number of familiar names show both the complexity and subtlety that brought the area attention in the first place. These aren't wines that do a Salomé dance of immediate allure; they're often slightly shy and restrained at first, needing time and air to show their full depths.
But that's what Anderson Valley has always been able to provide, in the tradition of the finest Pinot. With 2009 it's clear that its innate potential is as strong as ever.
Click here to read the entire article
Secondact.com
What's your favorite wine getaway
By Russ Parsons, September 22, 2011
"After 25 years of writing about food and wine, I don't really take 'wine vacations' any more. But I do quite often wind up vacationing at places where wine is made. Probably my favorite is Mendocino County [in Northern California]. There are a lot of really good, very individual wines coming out of there right now. My favorite part is the Anderson Valley, which lies between Ukiah and the Pacific, along Highway 128. You climb up through the Yorkville Highlands, which is really coming into its own, pass through Boonville, and then hit the wine trail...
Huffington Post
The top Ten Off the beaten path wine country experiences
By Tom Wark, September 15, 2011
Wine Country beckons to Bay Areans looking for a nearby getaway. But if you are like most visitors to Grapeland, your weekend will have you lined up elbow-to-elbow at well-traveled winery tasting rooms, browsing and buying grape-shaped trinkets and eating at the same fancy Wine Country restaurants as the couple that muscled by you at the bar at the last tasting room you visited that day.
The solution is to get off the beaten Wine Country path and experience the Wine Country less traveled. Here are my top 10 ways to create a unique wine country experience.
1. Find the Less Traveled Wine Valley -- Anderson Valley
Located about 100 miles north of San Francisco in Mendocino County between Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast, Anderson Valley is an isolated, bucolic, narrow wine region that has a host of tasting rooms that aren't crowded and deliver some of the finest Pinot Noir and delicate white varietals in the land. Anderson Valley is strewn with small B&B's, small hamlets and, most important, a lack of crowds...
Los Angeles Times
Traveling north: Mendocino, Part I
By Russ Parsons, August 15, 2011
...The airline schedule has changed, but now a much earlier flight gets us to the
Anderson Valley at almost exactly the same time. The Anderson Valley is one of the most picturesque wine regions in California, a state lousy with them. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the drive along Highway 128 west from Cloverdale to the coast is one of my favorite road trips in the state as well.You climb corkscrewing through the Yorkville Highlands, pass through the determinedly quaint town of Boonville and then comes the wine country, punctuated by majestic
allees of redwood trees...
Wines and Vines
Wineries Promote Isolated Anderson Valley
By Paul Franson, August 9, 2011
Anderson Valley, Calif.—It’s not often that much news originates from sleepy Anderson Valley in California’s Mendocino County, but this week, there’s a flood.
To start, four tasting room/wineries have formed the Wineries of Downtown Boonville to promote both local wines and the town. The name is a bit tongue in cheek, as anyone knows who has visited the hamlet: Downtown Boonville is about two blocks long...
Napa Valley Register
Mendocino offers friendly, informal tastings and fine wines
By Paul Franson, August 4, 2011
Though Napa and Sonoma get most of the attention, other counties in California have their winemaking charms, too.
One county that gets little attention is also one of the most interesting. Mendocino County lies north of Sonoma along the wild and cold Pacific Coast....Anderson Valley is one of my favorite wine-growing regions, pinot noir one of my favorite wines and Mendocino one of my favorite places to visit, so attending the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival in June is an easy decision for me...
PinotFile
Andersonoir Valley Pinot Noir Festival
By William Rusty Gaffney, July 1, 2011
... Veteran Anderson Valley winemaker, Bob Klindt (Claudia Springs Winery, Harmonique), called 2009 “a typical growing season in the Anderson Valley.” Larry Londer of Londer Vineyards said, “The quality of the 2009 vintage in the Anderson Valley parallels the 2007 vintage, and may surpass it.” Winter rains were lighter than usual, and a mid-May heat wave brought high temperatures for the second consecutive year. Bud break was late and spring was generally cool but not accompanied by frost. The summer was moderate and relatively cool allowing slow ripening and a prolonged harvest which began in mid-September and finished the last week of October. A late September heat wave brought grapes quickly to optimum ripeness and a large October storm provided a challenge that most vintners avoided...
Serious eats
Digging deeper into Pinot Noir : Mendocino County, California
By Maggie Hoffman, June 28, 2011
... Over the past few months, I've tasted an assortment of pinots from Mendocino County, an area a few hours north of San Francisco and west of Sacramento in California. Many of the wines we tried were from Anderson Valley along the western edge of the county...
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Simple Hedonisms
Highlights and top picks of the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival
By William Allen, June 12, 2011
May 20-22nd was the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival. It was a busy wine weekend, with overlapping events including Taste Alexander Valley. I had missed the last few years Anderson Valley Pinot Festival due to similar conflicts, and decided to prioritize the event this year. I headed first to Scharffenberger Cellars , who hosted a media tasting, then over to Goldeneye for the walk around tasting. The day prior was a series of technical seminars and tastings, I unfortunately missed, a mistake I will not repeat in 2012.
I will gush in more detail about both, but this is not to be missed event for Pinot-philes...
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Wine Spectator
Arguing Pinot Noir on the Road to Anderson Valley
By Tim Fish, April 12, 2011
Quarreling over Pinot Noir styles is a favorite pastime for wine lovers who have more spare time than I do. It's basically an Old World versus New World argument, the classically graceful reds of Burgundy against the boldly flavored Pinots of California. For those of us who manage to love both, the whole thing seems like nonsense.
That may be why I like the Pinot Noirs (and most of the other wines) of Anderson Valley in Northern California's Mendocino County. At their best, the wines balance elegance and a sense of place with rich and complex fruit, a satisfying reconciliation of the Old and New Worlds.
Planet Grape.net
International Alsace Varietals Festival
By Terah Bajjalieh, Mar 1, 2011
This was my first visit to the Mendocino wine growing region. I was very surprised at how beautiful this region is – rural forests with vineyard-filled rolling hills. The area is situated right on the Northern coast of California, so you can drive through forests for miles and then find yourself looking over at the sea. The sites are quite stunning and dramatic...
Unfiltered, unfined
Wine on the road in Mendocino County
By Ben Weinberg, Feb 22, 2011
Mendo is full of laid-back farmers, an impressive green movement, and a whole lot of wine grapes. This time I was the guest of the Mendocino Winegrape and Wine Commission, and after we toured a bunch of wineries I ended up at the Alsace Festival in Boonville (more on that later)...The next morning, Saturday, we all gathered at the Alsace Festival, headquartered at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds. Don’t ever call these wines Alsatian, which technically refers to a type of dog! Speakers included wine writer Dan Berger, who predicted big things for wines made from Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and the like, and sommelier Chris Sawyer, who lauded Alsace’s predilection for pairing wine with spicy foods. Wines were sampled from all over the world, the only qualification being they had to be made with grapes native to that part of France...
Vinography.com
Thoughts on the wines of aslace and their cousins
By Alder Yarrow, Feb 21, 2011
I was in the valley for the International Alsace Varietals Festival -- a celebration of the wines made in (and in the style of) France's Alsace region. That means wines made of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and various combinations thereof. Anderson Valley has been producing wines of these varieties for many years, and with much (but often overlooked) acclaim. Every Spring, the region celebrates its heritage, and these wines, by holding a series of events, including a tasting of wines, a technical conference, and a series of dinners for wine lovers, the trade, and the press.
Luxist.com
Alsace Wine Festival Brings European Taste To Northern California
By Deidre Woollard, Jan 17, 2011
Northern California's Mendocino County offers a different
wine profile than you can get in other places in the state. In many ways it is similar to Oregon with cooler weather that is favorable to
pinot noir and to riesling and other aromatic whites. The Anderson Valley growing region will celebrate Alsace-
style white wines next month in an
decoration: underline;">Alsace Wine Festival weekend event February 12 and 13 that brings together a variety of different white wines including Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Muscat. The event includes a
technical conference where participants can interact with winemakers and wine experts from around the globe and discuss the trends. This year's topic is Old World/New World and includes a discussion of Alsace wine and the wines of Germany as well as a look at Anderson Valley wines and the white wines of New York's Finger Lakes region.
The New York Times
California Farmland, Known for Its Drinks
By Freda Moon, October 13, 2010
Cradled between ridges of coastal redwoods and inland oaks, and laced by the narrow, meandering Navarro River, Anderson Valley is a two-hour drive from San Francisco in Mendocino County’s under-appreciated interior. ...Here, there are no tour buses shuttling visitors from
winery to winery; no posh spas or chi-chi restaurants with multimonth waiting lists. ...Though Anderson Valley is an easy overnight trip from the Bay Area, it seems far removed — both in geography and in time. But that remoteness is an attribute, a full-bodied gasp of air. ...
The Napa Valley Register
Anderson Valley is Pinot Territory
By Kip Davis, May 21, 2010
Laurie Gepford didn’t seem to mind manning a busy tasting table ... far away from the pleasant Rutherford tasting room he manages for Cakebread Cellars. Gepford was pouring Cakebread’s Anderson Valley pinot noir to a sellout crowd at the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival May 15. “We love our Anderson Valley pinot,” Gepford said. “They are great wines. You get lots of layers, a lot of complexity … the fruit is so rich.” ...
Zester Daily
Alsace in Wonderland
By Virginie Boone, May 7, 2010
Looking for high-quality, affordable white wines? Mendocino's Anderson Valley can't be beat. ...
Vinography.com
2010 Anderson Valley Alsace Festival: February 20-21, 2010
By Alder Yarrow, February 10, 2010
With all the fanfare surrounding Cabernet and Pinot Noir coupled with the obsession this country seems to have with Chardonnay, it's sometimes hard for people to remember that California produces a lot of other different kinds of wine. It's even harder, it seems, to get people to drink some of it.
Enter what may be the most unique wine festival in California and perhaps the country. Some of the most under-appreciated and least consumed wines in the state are those made from grapes like Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Riesling. There aren't a lot of places in California where these grapes thrive, but the Anderson Valley, three hours north of San Francisco, is the de-facto home for growing and making wines from these varietals in the style common to the French border region of Alsace. ...
Wine Spectator Magazine
Anderson Valley & Mendocino Rugged beauty and eccentricity amid the California redwoods
By Tim Fish
On the long and winding road to Anderson Valley and the Mendocino coast, even grown men ask, "Are we there yet?" California wine country doesn't get farther from the beaten path. There's a stubborn, undomesticated beauty here, from the high rocky bluffs of the coast to the charismatically rustic landscape of the valley. ... But if you like visiting folksy little wineries, drinking unfussy and fruit-forward wines, having dinner by a fire and getting some peace and quiet, this is your wine country. ...
Budget Travel
4 Wine Country Contenders
By Alison Rohrs, September 1, 2009
Twisting from Cloverdale, California, to the Pacific Ocean, a 16-mile portion of Highway 128 passes through the organic apple orchards, olive groves, and redwood forests of Anderson Valley. Some of the more than 20 vineyards along the way supply pinot noir grapes for famous wineries in Napa and Sonoma, but you can taste similar vintages at the farm-style Anderson wineries -- minus the popped-collar crowds. ... Read the full article
here.
The San Francisco Chronicle
Gewurztraminer's passionate California devotees
By Steve Pitcher, August 2, 2009
Gewurztraminer occupies a special niche in California. Its fans are enthusiastically loyal. It's often as expensive as some other top whites - in the $16 to $27 range - which makes selling it to the uninitiated a daunting effort. The Teutonic name leads to an erroneous suspicion that the wine is always sweet.
Yet Gewurztraminer producers persist in their efforts. It can only be attributed to a labor of love. ...
San Francisco Examiner
Anderson Valley: the other wine country
By Lisa Alpine, July 14, 2009
Wisps of river fog, rising from the
Navarro River, veiled the
Anderson Valley as we descended along the narrow ribbon of Highway 128. The valley opened as vineyards climbed their way up the gentle folds of tawny pelt-like hills. ...We felt transported to an earlier and slower paced era in California’s history as we walked up the creaky wooden plank steps of the
Boonville Hotel . ... Were we somehow transported to rural France or Italy? No,
Boonville, a quaint and curious remnant of old California just three hours north of
San Francisco. ...
Wine Review Online
The Pinot Noirs of Anderson Valley
By Ed McCarthy, May 26, 2009
Exciting Pinot Noirs are emerging from several different wine regions in California today, as well as from Oregon. But a region we hear little about might be one of the best: Anderson Valley. ...
Read the full article here.
San Francisco Examiner
You don't have to go far for pinot noir
By Deborah Parker Wong, May 21, 2009
Pinot noir fans in Nothern California don't have to go far to enjoy the wealth of wine styles and price points available from Anderson Valley producers. The expressive and well-crafted pinots from this coastal valley and it's surrounding sub appellations make experimenting with several producers a low-risk proposition. ...
Find the full article online,
here.
Wine Enthusiast Magazine
Anderson Valley's Surprises
By Steve Heimoff, December 29, 2008
It's far better known for the caliber of its Pinot Noirs, but little Anderson Valley—the fourth-smallest American Viticultural Area in California at only 600 acres—has been quietly turning out some of the most interesting and affordable white wines in California. ...
