Sonoma Winery Delivers Quality with Value
— An Interview with the Proprietors of Charles Creek Vineyard —

I'm normally very cautious about making sweeping generalizations when it comes to wine.  As an artisan-driven product with a dizzying array of styles, production techniques, regions of origin, distribution channels, and variations stemming from climate and soil, wine is entirely too complex to sum up with a single turn of phrase or flourish of hand.  But when it comes to the wines of Northern California, namely from the likes of Napa and Sonoma, there's one generalization that I have no hesitation with asserting: they are expensive.  That is, of course, if you're looking for wines of quality.  Granted, it might be stating the obvious that a price tag must be high for something well made.  But if we take a good look at the continuum of wines produced in this region, many will agree that below $30 per bottle retail, their quality sharply plummets into a category overwhelmingly dominated by the uninspired and insipid.  Much of it frankly verges on plonk.  There are, however, a few regional producers who manage to make wines of exceptional value in the $20 to $25 range, one of which is Sonoma's Charles Creek Vineyard.  In an effort to learn the story behind the portfolio of wines I admire so much for its remarkable quality in the context of great value, I spoke with the winery's proprietors, Bill and Gerry Brinton, over a casual lunch on Sonoma's main square.

Winegrower Pushes Limits on Mayacamas Mountains to Accomplish Viticultural Feat
— An Interview with the Owners and Winemaker of Hidden Ridge Vineyard —

With vine rows reaching gradiant slopes as steep as 55%, Hidden Ridge Vineyard is, without a doubt, an anomaly among grapegrowing properties in the United States.  The creative scheme and audacious endeavor of owners Lynn Hofacket and Casidy Ward, it also boasts some of the densest planting of grapevines found on any hillside site.  In pushing the envelope of agricultural development, the couple have gloriously succeeded in creating not only a visual spectacle but, more importantly, a superb source of mountain grown Cabernet Sauvignon whose production into quality-driven wine is overseen by their consulting winemaker, Marco DiGiulio.  I met with the three of them for a private tour of this stunning vineyard located on a ridge at the Napa/Sonoma border, and just as the dense morning fog began to lift, I was afforded the full impact of this viticultural feat, with breathtaking vistas as a backdrop.

Former Neurosurgeon Cultivates Prized Vineyard Land in Calistoga
— An Interview with Tom Kenefick of Napa's Kenefick Ranch —

When Tom Kenefick first got into the business of raising vines over three decades ago, he had no idea he would eventually be growing grapes for some of Napa Valley's finest wine brands.  In fact, tending vineyard land had only been a weekend endeavor for many years, which he balanced with a full time schedule as a practicing neurosurgeon for the University of California, San Francisco.  Yet in spite of the demands that medicine made on him, he managed to focus his free time on the cultivation of not only the grapevines themselves but also of his growing curiosity in the complexities of the industry, by taking night classes in viticulture and enology.  In 2000, his knowledge and enthusiasm had gained enough momentum for him to quit his surgical practice and delve entirely into the venture he'd grown to love so much.  By that point, Kenefick Ranch had secured a reputation for producing some of Napa's highest quality Bordeaux varieties, with a list of client wineries that includes Robert Mondavi, Rosenblum, Plumpjack, and Joseph Phelps.  Two years later, Kenefick ventured for the first time into the world of winemaking itself, launching his eponymous label and hinting at a professional turning point for the grower.  It was some time after meeting him at the annual California Cabernet Society tasting event in San Francisco that I joined Tom Kenefick at his ranch house in Calistoga to talk about his longtime experience as a grower and more recent foray into wine production.