California Wine Country Steve Jaxon & Dan Berger

Dan and Doug



Breggo Cellars and Lichen Estate owner Doug Stewart joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country.



Breggo means ‘sheep’ in Boontling, probably derived from the Spanish word borego. Here is another Mendocino County wine with a Boontling name. It is like Dan Berger’s brand name of his new Riesling production. That is called Bahl Fratty, which is Boontling for “good wine.”



Doug Stewart is also the head of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers. They are promoting the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival, May 17-19. Get your tickets early!



Doug has brought several wines from Breggo Cellars and his other label, Lichen Estate. They are tasting a sparkling wine, a Lichen 2015 Blanc de Gris, made of Pinot Gris, which is fruity but with none of Pinot Gris’s usual aftertaste. Dan notices that it is barely into its prime and is really delicious.



Breggo Cellars is located up in Mendocino County. You have to take Highway 128 which is one of the most beautiful roads in the state of California. Dan Berger explains how Anderson Valley is an ideal place to grow cool-climate varieties of wine grapes, and Pinot Noir is the big one. There is a lot of excellent Pinot Noir coming from there and because the region is not as well known. There are wines selling for about $30 which are just like other wines that cost twice as much.

Pinot Noir and Gewurtztraminer like the cold.

Doug explains that Pinot Noir was the only grape that would ripen, on the valley floor. There are Gewurtztraminer vineyards planted there because conditions are ideal. As they are tasting one, Dan “Lay It Down” Berger says that it will be better with time in the bottle, big surprise.



Doug talks a little about how they are also working to revive the salmon population in the local rivers.



They are open 11am to 4pm. Dan recommends taking an extra day, and to stay overnight, because it is so remote. There is a limited number of restaurants but they are excellent. There is a wine shop called Disco Ranch there too.



May 17-19 is the Pinot Festival. Tickets are going fast, so check asap before it sells out. Doug has also brought a 2021 Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley, grown in Farrington Vineyard, called Fathers and Daughters. Dan suggests decanting it for a whole day.  Doug tells about how the quality of Anderson Valley Pinot Noirs has improved in the last 20 years.

Miro Cellars owner and winemaer Miro Tcholakov joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Miro was born and raised in northern Bulgaria. His grandfather made the family supply of wine and Miro was with him making wine since he was six years old. He came to the US in June of 1990, and has been making wine since then, having worked for Dry Creek Vineyards for about nine years then he moved to Trentadue Wines in 1999, and he is still there. He started Miro Cellars in 2001. Miro is a frequent guest on California Wine Country, his last appearance was this show of August 17, 2022.



Geyserville, where Trentadue is located, was not a place that was recognized much for wine. As the industry got more oriented to varietal wines instead of blended wines, Trentadue and its region got more recognition.



Miro Cellars is Miro’s personal project. When he had people offering to invest in his company, his wife advised him to keep it simple and he is still having fun, without debt.



Bulgarian Wine dot com is a site that brings Bulgarian wines to retail buyers in the US. Miro acquired it and his wife runs that part of the business.



Eastern Europe has lots of grape vines planted, Dan mentions Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova. In 1987 Bulgaria had more plantings of Cabernet and Merlot than California. In 1990 Dan visited Slovenia for an international competition there. The region around Maribor has a lot of wine production and the wines are really good. After Bulgaria joined the European Union, the EU made a lot of investment into the wine business.

La Storia

They are tasting the first Chardonnay that Miro has ever made, a 2022. His first white wine was an Italian varietal called Ribolla Gialla, which is delicious but unknown so people didn’t buy it. It won Best of Class last year at Sonoma County Harvest Fest. He only made 10 barrels. Dan describes it as having strong tropical fruit and suggests it could accompany rich seafoods.



They are tasting a Trentadue wine called La Storia. This one is a Super Tuscan style, made with Sangiovese blended with Merlot and Montepulciano. It is an unusual blend that is listed on the label. 47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot and 22% Montepulciano. Miro used a little Merlot to soften the two Italian varietals. It takes a winemaker willing to take risks, to produce a wine like this.

James Byus III, owner of Vine Burgers, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger in the studio on California Wine Country today.



Before we talk to James, Dan Berger has brought a 2013 Sauvignon Blanc from his extensive cellar. It’s a bit old for a Sauvignon Blanc but it is “tasty, interesting,” says Dan. On Monday, Dan will begin selling his own Bahl Fratty Riesling, online at the website only. There are 95 cases and bottles are priced at $38.



James Byus III from Vine Burgers is in today, with hamburgers to pair with wine and craft beer. He had a lot of restaurant experience and he thought there was a place for “premium” hamburgers. He opened Vine Burgers in March of 2022. They use all fresh local ingredients. All the vegetables are fresh. They do use fresh Grana Padano cheese (from northern Italy) on the Caesar Salad. The beef that they use is from a local producer, 100% grass fed, sustainably farmed, a third generation farmer.

“We slice every single pickle on your burger.” James Byus III

A Burger & a Glass of Wine

Naturally, James has brought some burgers to the show and first is the basic beef burger. They start with a 6-ounce patty, spiced inside and out, and cook it mid-rare-to-medium. This one is a cheeseburger with white cheddar. There are sauces, a creamy avocado, homemade chipotle barbeque sauce and chipotle aioli. With this they are tasting a white wine blend, made by Sans Liege in Paso Robles. It is mostly Viognier with other blending grapes. James finds obscure wineries with delicious wine that he puts on the wine list at Vine Burgers. He has also brought a Red Car Chard.



James describes his wine list. They have a house red and white, about 6 other reds and whites, plus a port, a reserve, a sparkling, a sweet Riesling. The wine list evolves from time to time with new entries. There is no corkage fee and these two facts make Vine Burgers a haven for wine lovers.



Dan Berger is very enthusiastic about the Vine Berger wine program. The place is unique in its evolving wine list and superb quality food.  Dan digs the effect on the local culture since it shows great wine to the average diner.



 

Dan and Raghni.



Raghni Naidu of Naidu Wines is back as our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. She was on CWC once before, on this episode of August 25, 2021, with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon that day.



Her story begins in India where she was born and raised. Her mother was always searching for interesting flavors in the kitchen and brought Raghni up to appreciate fine flavors. When she travelled overseas, she brought back recipe books and seeds that she planted in their kitchen garden. She moved to Melbourne, Australia to attend university. She already had some family in that city and her father was doing some business there. There she learned of many wonderful cuisines and she also met her husband there. They married and moved to the Bay Area in 2006 where she and her husband enjoyed the local food and wine culture.



After a vacation in Provence, they started searching for a place to start the winery. She purchased the vineyard in 2018 and began making wine and offering hospitality in the large house on the property. She feels a sense of responsibility to focus on the highest quality of production.



Dan Berger and Steve Jaxon both notice the excellent quality in the 2022 Chardonnay that they are tasting. Dan notices the great acidity “the secret weapon of all these good wines” and the lower alcohol, having been perfectly harvested.

Pinot Noir: It's the Loir!

They had Pinot Noir on the property when they purchased it, but they also have begun making other varietals. (Steve reminds us that by law, if you're growing grapes in Sonoma County you must make Pinot Noir.) They have done Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Dan appreciates the structure and balance in these wines.



They work with winemaker Matt Duffy who shares their convictions about making wines of the highest quality. Dan remembers someone saying that they best fertilizer for a vineyard is the footprints of the winemaker on the soil. Matt Duffy knows the vines and the ups and downs of the soil. Once the wine is in the house, half the work has already been done. There is no conflict between growing and production when the same winemaker is working on both aspects. It is Raghni’s leadership that holds it all together, from the vineyard through production and all the way down to other issues like bottles and labels.

The Naidu Wines House

The house on the Naidu Wines property is a beautiful family home with four bedrooms and luxurious decor. It is available



Guests who book a stay at the estate may enjoy the vineyard environment with a unique opportunity to get personal with the wines by experiencing the terroir directly. It is a fully remodeled home equipped with modern furnishings & contemporary fixtures, located on a knoll in the tranquil rolling hills of Sonoma Coast, with stunning vistas all around at all times of day.

Dan Berger and Clark Smith.



Clark Smith returns to California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today, to talk about pairing wine with music and other vinous subjects. His last episode was this one on December 8, 2021. He talked about his book on pairing wine with music. His website, called Who Is Clark Smith dot com, explains all about his consulting practice and his writing. His other website, called WineSmith Wines dot com, is all about his winemaking, including his use of many unusual grapes and winemaking techniques. Finally, Clark's website about wine and music is called Pairing Wine and Music dot com.



Clark Smith returns to California Wine Country today for the sixth time. He was actually our guest seven years ago, on the first podcast edition of CWC with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, here on March 15, 2017. To celebrate the 2017 start date, Dan Berger has chosen a 2017 bottle from his personal cellar, to open and taste on today's show. It is a 2017 Zinfandel from Ridge Vineyards.

It all started with Mateus Rosé

When Clark Smith came to California, there were only about 250 wineries in the United States. The average alcohol of a California wine in the 1960s was 18.5%, but by 1970 the average had dropped to 11%. "Everyone wanted to make Blue Nun knock-offs." Steve Jaxon's first experiene with wine was Mateus Rosé. (They had a catchy jingle on their radio and TV ads.) Clark admits that half of the wines he sold in the 1970s  were "crap" but "we have cleaned up our act" since then.

Mateus Rosé TV Ad, 1972

https://calwinecountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mateus-Rose-Wine-Commercial-1972.mp3



They are able to pair a song with a wine. This dark angry music from the Doors matches the dark angry 2013 Cabernet. The opposite of that music would be Beer Barrel Polka, which played against the same wine, ruins the wine. "Wine is liquid music," says Clark. He and his colleague Don Blackburn were consulting to Benziger in the 1990s. Originally, it was Don that demonstrated the pairing of music and wine to Clark.



They are tasting a wine made with a grape called Norton, which was a native American grape, not a European strain. Doctor Norton discovered it in the 1800s and he gave his name to the grape. It is popular in Missouri and Virginia, where it grows. They will taste this wine against the Bing Crosby song, Moonlight Becomes You.



Winesmith makes wine from about 12 different vineyards in California and one in Kansas City. Clark coaches about another 120 wineries spread out all over the world.



Clark and Dan were both involved in the website Appellation America which was an attempt to produce a complete catalog of American wine production. The website is still in existence, "on life support" as Clark describes. it.

Mike Lucia from Cole Ranch in Mendocino County is here on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, on a special Monday edition.



His family owns the ranch and they made their first wine in November of 2019. They have been converting a lot of their acreage to alpine varieties and have been selling fruit and making wine since then. John Cole, the vineyard’s namesake, passed away last year. He started a ranch that was going to be a cattle ranch, but he slowly started planting varieties that he liked, which were Cabernet, Merlot and Riesling. In 1984 he petitioned for Cole Ranch to become an AVA and he got it.



Dan tells about how hard it is to farm this land, which is not easy work. They have started with rootstock and irrigation systems, doing it all organically. You start with rootstock and then you can graft a varietal onto the rootstock.

Cole Ranch, the Bahl Fratty Source

This is where Dan Berger got his Riesling fruit for his Bahl Fratty Riesling. It is just barely ready to be released. A friend of Dan’s who is a German Riesling expert said he would buy some now and put it in his cellar for about three years. Dan knew how good this Riesling fruit was and he wanted it. So in 2022 finally Mike was able to procure a ton of fruit for Dan, for Bahl Fratty. Rootdown Wine is the name of Mike Lucia’s own label.



Dan describes the aromatics as typical of Cole Ranch. In Dan’s opinion, this is the best Riesling vineyard in the US. The terroir shows up in the aromatics of the wine. Dan’s wine has zero sugar, and Mike’s has only a little. Both will age very well, even if most people think of buying Riesling and drinking it right away. With these wines, they are showing people what can happen with aged, vintaged Riesling. Dan’s favorite Rieslings in his personal cellar are the 2001s and 2002s.



For the rest of the episode, Dan and Mike delve deeply into the whole subject of Riesling, Cole Ranch and making unusual wines. (Mike Lucia photo by Bonafide Productions, from the Cole Ranch website.)