| If your wine club wants a break from Cabernet and | | | | What Did You Learn From The Italians? |
| Chardonnay, come to the Foothills of the Sierra | | | | We visited Isole e Olena, Castello di Rampolo, even |
| Nevada Mountain Range, one of the oldest grape | | | | Antinori's people, and a handful of other top notch |
| growing areas in California, developed during the Gold | | | | Chianti and Brunello producers in Tuscany. We |
| Rush of 1849. Instead of maritime breezes that cool | | | | understood that to preserve the floral aspects of |
| the coastal vineyards, cold air floats down mountain | | | | Sangiovese, a wine club favorite, we were better off |
| ravines at night and sweeps over Foothill vineyards. | | | | using large-format cooperage than small. If you go to |
| Nevertheless, Foothill appellations are warm weather | | | | Italy and look under the covers, you'll see that some |
| areas and provide environments for the sunniest | | | | wineries are still using large tanks. |
| European grapes from mountainous Italy, arid Spain | | | | We thought for the style that we were trying to |
| and Portugal, and the steep slopes and wide valleys | | | | make, using 500-liter puncheons, or 130 gallons, about |
| along the Rhone River of Southern France. Most | | | | 55 cases, instead of the typical 225-liter barrels. By |
| Foothill wineries, over one hundred now, are located | | | | not swapping them out after two or three vintages, |
| in Amador and El Dorado counties. | | | | we thought we'd get a wine that emphasized the |
| If you've never tasted wines from these areas, you | | | | fruit more and oak less, and the wine would be |
| have good reason. Most wineries are small, and, | | | | handled more gently than in smaller barrels. So, the |
| instead of selling commercially or to a wine club, much | | | | vast majority of our Sangiovese is aged in large |
| of the wine produced there is sold locally to | | | | format puncheons. We have one or two specific lots |
| customers who visit from the greater Sacramento | | | | out of 15 or 20 different clones, or spots, in the |
| area. Vino Noceto is located in Amador County's | | | | vineyard that do better in relatively new barrels. But |
| Shenandoah Valley, a little winery with a big | | | | by and large, our wines are aged in the larger format. |
| reputation for Sangiovese, or the "blood of Jove," as | | | | We think that makes a difference. We also do cool |
| the Romans called this noble grape. | | | | fermentation, and we use Di Franceschini punch-down |
| Owners Jim and Suzy Gullet both had careers as | | | | tanks for fermentation, which do a gentler job of |
| computer systems analysts and purchased their first | | | | extraction. We do roughly a week's fermentation |
| 21 acres in 1984 and then 18.5 acres a few years | | | | rather than high extract. And we try to stay within |
| later. But they didn't reside on the property until | | | | 13.3 to 14.5% alcohol, because we've found that as |
| 1995, moving themselves and their three children | | | | the wine gets to 14.5% alcohol, it doesn't last, and it's |
| from the San Francisco Bay Area. Suzy subsequently | | | | out of balance. If the fruit is real ripe and it's not a |
| retired from banking, but Jim continued his career | | | | wonderful year, the wine loses its character and |
| until just three years ago. | | | | tastes like every other wine, a disappointment for |
| Both now work full-time at the winery and produce | | | | wine lovers belonging to a wine club. In addition, it's |
| about 10,000 cases of mostly Sangiovese wines, 80 | | | | very important to preserve the acid for a food wine |
| percent of which they sell directly to visitors at the | | | | and Italian wines in general by not over-ripening the |
| winery tasting room and to those who receive wines | | | | fruit. |
| from the Noceto wine club. Well-known wine writer, | | | | You've struck a beautiful balance. I don't think that |
| Dan Berger, says that Vino Noceto is "the only | | | | your Sangiovese could be easily confused with a lean |
| California producer that consistently captures the true | | | | Chianti because it's a riper, fruitier wine. But it's not an |
| Sangiovese fruit character" and names Noceto | | | | overly big California wine either. |
| Sangiovese "the best California Sangiovese." I repeat | | | | We certainly tried hard not to make Italy disappear |
| my conversation with Jim Gullet with minor editing for | | | | from it. But we've got the sun, and unless you work |
| clarity. | | | | hard at it and pick really early, you're going to have |
| Why Did You Choose To Plant Sangiovese? | | | | the ripe fruit that's very hard for the Italians to get |
| We've always had more freedom to do different | | | | consistently. |
| things in the Foothills, partly because there isn't a | | | | How Are Energy Prices Affecting Wineries? |
| clear road to success. While you can no longer just | | | | We all have concerns about energy costs going up. |
| show up with a couple of extra bucks and start a | | | | By and large, grape growers haven't increased |
| winery in the Foothills to market to a wine club, it is | | | | wholesale, commercial, retail, or wine club prices over |
| none the less a lot less expensive and painful than | | | | time. But the price of diesel to run tractors through |
| Napa and Sonoma. But having said that, in the end | | | | the vineyards is significant. Glass has gotten a lot |
| Mother Nature and soil conditions determine what | | | | more expensive in the last three to five years and |
| you can do well in the area. | | | | will continue to increase because of the energy to |
| This is a warm area; most of the Foothills are | | | | produce it. A box of empty bottles weighs about half |
| although as you go north or to higher elevations, you | | | | of what full bottles weigh, and even if it's American |
| can move to more cool weather grapes. When we | | | | glass, it's probably been transported some distance. |
| bought the property, we knew that it was a warmer | | | | Most of the time, we use American or Canadian |
| region. We talked to a number of people, including | | | | bottles, but they're very expensive. If economic |
| Darrel Corti (influential Sacramento wine shop owner | | | | times are tough, and you want to sell your wine, it's |
| and Italian wine consultant and wine club enthusiast), | | | | not a good idea to raise your wholesale, commercial, |
| who set up a trip to Italy in the fall of 1985. We | | | | retail, or wine club prices 10 percent. The industry has |
| went with our two and four year-old boys and spent | | | | gone through this before and will rally back. Grape |
| two and a half weeks there, visiting a number of | | | | prices haven't gone up yet, but I think we're going to |
| Chianti and Brunello producers as well as other | | | | see a shortage of grapes because demand will |
| vintners, Mastroberardino further south and some | | | | continue to increase. It appears to me that while |
| folks elsewhere that Darrel suggested. | | | | traffic in this valley is less, not as lucrative, and |
| We'd been working with Italian wines, particularly | | | | people are certainly not spending quite as much |
| Sangiovese during the prior year once we purchased | | | | money this year as they did a year ago, it's still not |
| the property. And from our trip to Italy, we came up | | | | bad. |
| with how we thought it worked and how we should | | | | And local businesses that are linked to tourism, like |
| grow it here and make the wine. At that time, Italian | | | | RV parks and Bed & Breakfasts, are seeing |
| wines were starting to come into prominence here, | | | | some people, who would have gone perhaps |
| and we thought we could make interesting wine with | | | | overseas or at least a lot longer distance for their |
| the grape. Things go in spells. If we'd started 10 | | | | vacations. Now they're sticking a little closer. Time will |
| years ago instead of 20, I'd probably have looked at | | | | tell, but we've seen tremendous growth over the last |
| Spanish or Portuguese varieties, which now have | | | | couple of years. This year is likely to be pretty flat, |
| some level of prominence. | | | | but we could certainly live with that. |