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Pouring on the California flavors
Visitors to the Abilities wine tasting in St. Petersburg get a taste of what Sonoma winemakers have to offer.
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published March 22, 2006
In 1959, dancer Rodney Strong was better known in sophisticated circles for his years with George Balanchine and Martha Graham than for his sturdy wines of Sonoma County. Or neighboring Napa for that matter."He used to say, 'I'll never be able to make it as an old dancer, but I could be an old winemaker,' " Strong representative David Borkan said when Sonoma County wineries came to the Tampa Bay area for the Abilities wine tasting in St. Petersburg, a week after Strong's death this month. And Strong, who died at 72, had been right. He was famous as one of the pioneers whose grace and polished style helped win Sonoma a reputation beyond its first jug wines. He saw the value in Sonoma's diversity, celebrated specific vineyards from Alexander Valley to Carneros, named Chalk Hill and helped establish Sonoma's reputation for fine chardonnay. What Borkan poured during a three-day tour proved Chalk Hill chardonnay as rich and sunny as ever, friendly and creamy with a lively touch of lemon and mineral crispness. He was joined by a dozen other Sonoma winemakers who demonstrated deliciously how their wines have grown at various events, including Abilities' grand tasting at Tropicana Field on March 11, which drew more than 4,000 wine lovers. Sonoma's quality is not just chardonnay or old reds, but "across the board,'' said Richard Pedroncelli, whose family started growing in Dry Creek Valley in 1927. "Zinfandel, cab, and the sauvignon blanc, and there's great pinot in the Russian River and Carneros, syrah.'' Ironically Trentadue's Old Patch Red was one of the best values poured, a $10 blend of the inexpensive old grapes favored by the first Italian winemakers: carignane, petite sirah and sangiovese. This old field blend is now polished into a dark, jammy wine with deep red fruits and hints that are breezy and as rich as chocolate. As the special guests of this year's tasting, which featured hundreds of wines from around the world, the Sonoma delegation included familiar and lesser-known names. That includes entrepreneurs who find the rumpled patchwork of Sonoma more appealing than Napa, and a little cheaper. But just a little. The best new tastes offered were near-Burgundian chardonnay from Stonestreet, petite sirah from Forchini, a smoky cabernet franc by Merriam and a ripe red blend called Tillerman from Hook & Ladder, a new effort from the DeLoach family and named for dad Cecil, a former San Francisco firefighter. New generations of Sonoma wines are likely to continue to reward exploring as the weather gods keep shining. After a so-so 2000 vintage, Pedroncelli boasted that 2001, 2002 and 2003 were fine years. "So's 2004. And '05 is fabulous.''
[Last modified March 22, 2006, 06:43:17]
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