Vacation Rental Available

Looking to get away to the Mendocino wine country for the weekend? Check out our new vineyard vacation rental here!  

Grape Encounters Interview With Our Winemaker

The full-length unedited podcast can be found at: http://grapeencountersradio.com/

Coming Up: Holiday Wine Showcase at The Secret Wine Shop

On December 15th The Secret Wine Shop will be hosting a holiday wine tasting extravaganza featuring our 2007 Blanc De Blancs amongst at least 20 other local and imported wines. They are located in the SOMA district of San Francisco at the SE corner of Howard and 7th St. Not your typical wine store, it resides in a spacious yet intimate loft and host quite a few tasting events.  Even if you can't make it this time, please get in contact with Christy, the owner and see about attending another of her great events or just stop by this unique little "shop" during business hours. 

Christy can be reached at Twitter handle: @SecretWine or the Contact page of their website

• Thurs (12/15), 6-8pm, Sparkling, Port, Sherry, AND Madeira extravaganza.  Walk-around tasting with local wines and 4 importers (Broadbent Selections, Rare Wine Co., Europvin, Return To Terroir).  At least 20 wines.  Acme Bread tartines included. Wine Club save $10 off tasting; $25 advance; $30 at door.

Winemaker Randall Grahm entertaining and educating
an attentive group at The Secret Wine Shop

Idaho's Emerging Wine Industry

There is a registered winery in all 50 states however that doesn't necessarily mean every state has much of a wine industry; it also means some states do have one little known in the wine world outside that particular state. It sounds like Idaho has a bit of an up and coming wine country. Check out this blog post from the USA Today section.

The Filtering and Fining of Fine Wine

A happy Petit Verdot drinker recently sent Jim, our winemaker the following email asking if he filters his 100% Petit Verdot. Jim's answer is below the quoted email
Satisfied Petit Verdot Drinker: 
"Hi Terra Savia,

I just got a bottle of the 2008 Petit Verdot and it is excellent. I am a fan of [name withheld], but it has largely disappeared. So I am happy to find your Petit Verdot which reminds me so much of [name withheld] and is equally good (in fact better in some ways - more earthy and complex).

I have one question.

Are your wines filtered or fined in any way, with isinglass or egg whites, etc?"
Thanks!
Eric 

Jim's answer: 

Hello Eric,

I am glad you enjoyed our wine. I have been making wine from this vineyard for 35 years and it is always nice to see people enjoy it.

You ask about fining and filtration so let me ramble on for a bit. When I started making  wine back in the mid seventies I was inspired by Martin Ray, one of the pioneers of fine varietal wines in California. His philosophy was to do as little as possible to make great wine. As with everything, everyone translates or applies things a little differently. As a young winemaker I refused to fine and filter because I took things literally and thought that that was a large influence on the quality of wine. As the years went on I realized it was a very small part of what makes wine great, but made for great marketing banter. Great grapes make great wine.

When I look at wine making over the millenniums many of the great wines have been both fined and filtered...but with skill and reverence to the final outcome. Most of my reds are egg white fined; so are most great Bordeaux, especially Petrus. As far as filtering…My reds are filtered enough to keep the fruit fly eye lashes out of the bottle. I am also a proponent of using sulfur in my production. As little as possible but enough so that the wines do not grow unwanted bacteria or oxidize too quickly.

I believe with everything there is a middle. And in wine we have both extremes. Some people do nothing and claim it is the best and some do anything and claim it to be the proper way. Either way…as commercial beverages go, wine is one of the healthiest things on the grocery shelf. There are very few wines that will do harm to humans, except for those that are allergic to alcohol.

So as a winemaker I guess I am in that middle. I will do as little as possible to make good wine. I have been making wine that way for 35 years and now we have a category that I fit in called organic. What is most important to me is that we do not use pesticides and herbicides in the growing our fruit. We give up high yields because of that. Luckily we are not trying to feed the world; we're only making small quantities of wine.

I think many people miss the message about organic wine...it does not make you jump higher or run faster as they say. I am not even sure if it is better for you. But it is definitely better for the small piece of the planet that we have taken the responsibility to care for and farm.

Sorry if I ramble on to much but this is my passion. Happy to ramble more...

Sincerely,

Jim