Perspectives on the Wine Industry & Reflections on Winemaking
— An Interview with Five Northern California Winemakers —

Any enthusiast will agree that wine has the potential to inspire our minds, fulfill our hearts, and arouse our souls like few other things in life do.  But in experiencing the magic of wine at its best, it's not very often that we stop to think about the very people whose talent and skill are essential in making it all happen.  Curious to learn firsthand about the personal impressions and professional experiences of these craftsmen, outside the context of any single wine brand, I gathered together a group of five winemakers, all of whom have made wine over the last ten years in Napa and Sonoma counties for boutique and medium-sized wineries and/or their own private labels.  On an unusually cool summer afternoon in the Stag's Leap District of Napa, I engaged them in an animated conversation touching on various themes: attitudes on the wine industry at large, both in California and worldwide; observations about wine consumers and trends in the marketplace; positions on evolving wine styles and practices in production; and finally, reflections on the lessons they've learned in the process of raising vines and crafting wines.  Whether in expressing the satisfaction they've enjoyed in this unique vocation or in describing some of the challenges inherent in it, their candor, insight, and occasional irreverence made for a discussion that was engaging, enlightening, and altogether entertaining.

Former Châteauneuf-du-Pape Producer Explains the Efficacy of Biodynamic Viticulture
— An Interview with Wine Consultant Philippe Armenier —

Biodynamic viticulture was something with which I'd been vaguely familiar when I first learned about the work of wine consultant Philippe Armenier.  It was during an interview I conducted some time ago with one of his clients that I began to suspect that this once-obscure approach to winegrowing was becoming increasingly practiced among premium producers.  In fact, in turns out that Armenier has provided Biodynamic services to quite a long list of prestigious clients that includes Joseph Phelps, Grgich Hills, Opus One, Peter Michael, and Cain, among a few dozen other reputable wine brands up and down the west coast of the United States.  And yet, it's all a far cry from where the former winemaker originally hails from the south of France, where he used to make wine under his own label — that is, until he sold the property, moved to California, and devoted his time entirely to consulting on Biodynamic farming.  Since then, the expatriate's success in earning a long list of devotees has been remarkable, given that the mainstream often considers the practice to be a rather unorthodox tangent of agriculture.  Skeptics notwithstanding, it appears that evidence is growing considerably in support of its efficacy, some of which I, myself, witnessed while Armenier took me on a tour to some of his clients' vineyards in the Napa Valley.  It was there among the vines that I learned the capabilities of this rather unconventional strategy in the quest to make better wines.

Enterprising Winemaker Aims to Better Sonoma's Reputation for Cabernet
— An Interview with the Winemaker of Super Sonoman —

Many in Sonoma County would take issue with being told that their winemaking region suffers from what might be called a bit of a varietal void.  But arguably, much of its reputation has been built on the quality-driven production of Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah.  Can the same thing be said of Cabernet Sauvignon?   With a negative answer to that question, at least one local producer has gone out on a limb to assert not only that the Bordeaux varietal can, in fact, become a major player in Sonoma, but that there is one particular geographical feature that would be instrumental in making it so: the micro vineyards on the slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains overlooking the Russian River Valley.  Super Sonoman, the relatively recent venture of Chris Taddei and his wife Dana, involves the making of wine from those ridge-top vineyards.  As a brand, it serves as a testament to their firm belief that Sonoma's potential for producing lush, elegant, and ageworthy Cabernet Sauvignon has gone largely untapped and is capable of surpassing the best on which neighboring Napa has established its own reputation.  Curious, I set out to learn more about Super Sonoman and what its winemaker hopes to achieve with its implicit message.