Wine•GOOD EATS•BEVERAGES


By Jo Diaz of Gyserville, CA. • jo@diaz-communications.com Photo by Paul Doyle


Juicy Tales Petaluma Gap Wines ~ Wildly Flavorful


Sonoma County CA. ~ [PHOTO: Dr. Mark Green- span, borrowed from his Ad- vanced Viticulture Website]


From the famed viticulture expert Dr. Mark Greenspan in a Petaluma Gap Newsletter:


According to viticul- turist Mark Green- span in this Wine Business Monthly article, “Wind is a significant factor in many regions [includ- ing] the Petaluma Gap of Sonoma County… We see thicker skins and more


intense


color in Pinot Noir vines grown in the Petaluma Gap relative to the neighbor- ing Russian River Valley… I like to put a positive spin on the windy climate effect. One could argue that wind con- veys an element of terroir to a region. But, from a grower’s perspective, wind isn’t much appreciated.” As for thicker skins, be-


cause I’m from Maine and have picked tons (maybe not that many) of wild Maine Blueberries, along the coast line… Tink Maine blueber- ries. Tey, too, grow in wild, less-nitrogen soils, along the


plants are very hardy, because they’ve adapted to that chilly terroir, otherwise they won’t survive. Now, equate that with Seba-


stopol’s climate as it equates to the Pacific Ocean, and how that factors into the grape ber- ries that are going to become wine… Let’s just say, you’ve got the beginnings of some very aromatic and flavorful wines. Whites are a natural variety, in this cooler climates. Tink about wines from Northern Europe, and Ital- ian Wines along the Adriatic Sea in places like the Marche


coastline. Te berries are so tiny, and they’re so flavorfully intense… Quality over quan- tity. Along any coast line, the


region. Red wines have to be carefully monitored, because they need a modicum of heat to ripen fully, and when they do… Ooo lala… Pol- ished, restrained, and also quite tasty.


PETALUMA WIND GAP


I attended a Petaluma Gap wines tasting a while ago, hosted by the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alli- ance. I was very im- pressed with some of the wines, especially those grown on loca- tion and made in small lots,


bottling with their own winery name and AVA listed. Tere are some


aren’t going to help build the obscure regions. It’s like my grandfather taught me, when we were picking Maine blue- berries: “Do not make a sound when we’re picking. Someone will know we’re here, will see the blueberries, and now we have competition.”


I’m going to list some of the wines I tasted during that visit, most especially those located in the Petaluma Gap AVA


It all Began In a Charming Little School House


I like to put a


big name wine companies, buying grapes from this region, too. Names you’d easily recog- nize, buying grapes grown in the Pet- aluma Gap area, but they’re not all putting the American Viti- cultural Area (AVA) on that wine’s labels… yet. How the wine industry typically works, among the old guard: they


My whole philosophy is about doing, not talking. ~ Theresa May


positive spin on the windy


climate effect.


conveys an ele- ment of terroir


One could argue that wind


to a region. But, from...


When I drove to the invite’s locations, it, like Petaluma Gap’s wines, was well hidden. I arrived a bit late, because I had zipped right by the Green String Farm location on Adobe Road. As I traveled farther and farther away, instinct said, “turn around.” In my mind I had no idea how small this tasting was going to be.


I thought I could just slink in. I wondered if it was an optical illusion, “Does this tiny house go much further back?”


...continued on page 22 UPBEAT TIMES, INC. • February 2019 • 21


Wine Trivia


Ancient vignerons (vine growers) were pragmatic about their work, so they gave grape varieties straightforward names. The Pinot in Pinot Noir simply refers to the pine cone-like shape of the grape bunches that is characteristic of this variety. Noir is French for black. Pinot Noir is French for the black pine cone grape variety.


Pinot Noir is believed to one of the most ancient winemaking grapes that has survived to this day. Pinot Noir has been documented in France since the Roman era. As early as the first century AD, the Romans had invaded most of Europe, and spread their taste for wine, including those made produced with Pinot Noir.


Because the Monks of the Middle Ages were obsessed with the quality of their wine, and because they had such a sensitive grape, they mapped the soil variation of many of their vineyards. They precisely identified and classified which pieces of land were more suitable to growing the best Pinot Noir grapes, inventing the concepts of Premier Cru and Grand Cru.


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