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BONNY DOONE
Randall Grahm, owner and winemaker at Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz, is the leader of the pack commonly known as the Rhone Rangers, because he has done so much to stimulate interest in the varietals from the Rhone region of France, varietals such as Mourvedre, Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Marsanne, Rousanne, all of which are attracting highly enthusiastic consumers. Grahm is known not only for his unusual wines but also for the creative ways that he promotes them. He writes a quarterly newsletter, often in verse, full of literary allusions, puns, and wacky humor. He's a masterful winemaker and a highly articulate spokesman for these varietals which he thinks will dominate the market in the future.
CARNEROS CREEK
In large part because of Francis Mahoney's achievements with Pinot Noir, some of its finest expressions are now produced in the United States. When he started his winery in the late 1960s, California vintners had decades of experience with Zinfandel, Cabernet, and Chardonnay and understood which clones did best in certain areas, but Pinot Noir was still a mystery. With the help of the department of viticulture and enology as the University of California at Davis, he began a 10 year experimental program to determine which among hundreds of Pinot Noir clones would produce the best fruit on his property in the Carneros region of Napa. After 10 years, Francis had his answer, seven different clones which produce seven different wines,which he then blends to produce four exquisite labels, each one different from the other, each one appropriate for different types of food, from light and casual to rich and formal. The miracle of Pinot Noir, he says, is that it is the most versatile of all wines.
DAVIS BYNUM
Davis Bynum Winery is located amid the bucolic hills and valleys of the Russian River in Sonoma county, a far cry from the strife torn streets of Berkeley in 1965, which were a few miles from Davis Bynum's first winery. A former journalist, Bynum has seen dramatic changes during the 30 years that he has been in the wine business. Today he is a highly respected member of the wine producing community, well known for the superb quality of his Pinot noir, Merlot, and Fume Blanc.
GUNDLACH BUNDSCHU
The fifth generation of the Gundlach Bundschu family to have owned the Rhinefarm since its beginnings in 1858, Jim Bundschu has a reverence for his land and for nature that distinguishes him even among other farmers. At the southernmost end of the Sonoma Valley, his 400-acre Rhinefarm produces 13 different wines from 9 different grapes, most of them red -- Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot --but he is also well known for his dry, fruity Gewurztraminer.
HEITZ CELLAR
For the last twenty years Avid Heitz has been the wine maker at Heitz Cellar, and year after year, makes some of the best Cabernet in the world. His father Joseph Heitz was one of the very first California wine makers to conclude that the best California Cabernet Sauvignon not only was just as good as its finest French counterparts but also should command comparable prices.The industry was taken aback when Joe Heitz released the Martha's Vineyard for $35 a bottle, when other premier California cabernet Sauvignons were selling for $9 to $12. How did he expect to sell his wine at such an inflated price? But sell it he did! His belief that his Heitz Martha's Cabernet from the Napa Valley was every bit as good as the first growth Bordeaux has stood the test of time. In fact, in most vintages, it has been better than his Bordeaux rivals.
MARTIN & WEYRICH INERY
One of the most prominent wineries in the Paso Robles area, Martin & Weyrich is producing cutting-edge California wines from Italian varietals. Tom Martin is making wines from grapes with names like Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Pinot Grigio, Aleatico, Malvasia Bianca, and Muscats Canelli. One extraordinary wine which he calls Gemelli, or The Twins, is made from 50 percent Martin & Weyrich Nebbiolo grapes and 50 percent Nebbiolo grapes from the prestigious Franco Fiorina Winery in Italy, a wine which is truly the best of both worlds, a combination of the sharper Italian tannins and the round fruit flavors of California.
ROBERT SINSKEY VINEYARDS
Robert Sinskey and his family own 145 acres in Carneros, a premier grape growing region of Napa county, well known for its Pinot Noir vineyards. He believes that the best wines are made only from the finest vineyards, so he is as intensely interested in his vineyards as he is in wine making. Most of his wines are, of course Pinot Noir, and Rob feels that this varietal, light in body yet the most complex of all the reds, is more suitable for what has become America's melting pot cuisine, lighter, fresher, spicier foods, which reflect Mediterranean, Asian, Indian, and Mexican influences.
SADDLEBACK CELLARS
When the acclaimed wine critic Robert Parker gave a perfect score of 100 to the Groth Vineyards 1985 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, its value went from $35 a bottle to $200, and nobody who knew ever forgot. Nils Venge, the creator of this magical wine, also worked for Villa Mt. Eden and Groth Vineyard, creating the superlative wines for which both wineries were known. Since 1983, Venge has been making wines at his own winery, Saddleback Cellars in the Napa Valley, and is presently enthusiastic about Pinot Blanc because he feels that people need an alternative to Chardonnay.
SIERRA VISTA WINERY
Both the immigrant and the tourist have often compared California with southern Italy and the south of France--the warm summer sun, the oak trees, the hills, the rugged coastal areas. But John MacCready took the comparison one step further. An electrical engineer with a Ph.D., he had bought 70 acres in El Dorado County in the Sierra Foothills and was struck specifically by the similarities between France's famous wine producing southern Rhone valley and his own property. He reasoned that if he planted the same grapes as they did there, he would be able to produce similar wines. So in 1979, he began his Rhone program by planting Syrah. As the market became more interested in the Rhone varietals, he planted Grenache and Cinsault and most recently has planted Viognier. He is making wines with remarkably rich color, depth, and intensity.
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