By Rob Costantino

In the past decade, the nation's established family wine producers have faced increased competition at home and from abroad. The domestic market has experienced both a massive consolidation, resulting in the demise of wineries and ever-larger wine companies and distributors, and a vast expansion of the number of wineries and brands in the market. Wine imports from Spain, Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, Greece, Portugal, South Africa, and others have joined Australia and Chile in seeking a larger share of domestic wine sales through aggressive marketing of premium wines at favorable price points. Even family wineries with track records of consistent quality and strong brand recognition have not been immune from changes in consumer preferences and freewheeling market forces. Maintaining a position at the top level of the wine world in the eyes of restaurant wine buyers and their customers is a battle that family wineries wage every day.

2007 Chardonnay / Russian River Valley
100% Chardonnay
Spicy, ripe apple, citrus, and honey on the nose and palate. Terrific acidity balances the rich and focused apple, citrus, honey, mineral flavors. Long finish of citrus and mineral. Excellent.
Can serve now but will hold for some time.
Salmon and other firmed-fleshed fish, stuffed quail.
More Santé Wine Reviews

Rise of Sonoma Star
Alexander Valley's Jordan Vineyard & Winery is one family winery that has forged a winning strategy to remain among the elite American wine producers.

By Rob Costantino
Santé Managing Editor

The Russian River Valley (RRV), one of California's cool grape-growing areas, is a hot place to make wine, especially Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. There are warmer sites within the region's vast expanse where Zinfandel and Syrah ripen to perfection, but the climate is most suited to growing the Burgundy varieties. Other cool growing regions near California's coast, from Carneros to Santa Barbara, also specialize in these two grapes, but bottlings from the Russian River Valley seem to garner a disproportionate share of fame and fortune. The world-class quality of RRV Chardonnay and Pinot Noir derives not only from a climate and soils that are a near-perfect fit for growing these grapes but also from the skills and ingenuity of the region's grape growers, winemakers, and producers.

A Defining Mist

The Russian River Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), as approved in 1983, covered roughly 96,400 acres. Included within its extensive boundaries are the Green Valley, Sonoma County AVA (about 32,000 acres sanctioned in 1983), and Chalk Hill AVA (approximately 22,400 acres, founded in 1988). In 2005 new boundary lines for the appellation expanded the RRV designation by 30,200 acres to include the entire Santa Rosa Plains (west of the city of Santa Rosa) and the Sebastopol Hills (south and west of Sebastopol).

PDF Version>>

Rob Costantino provides more about the history of the Russian River Valley as a wine region and the growers, winemakers, and producers who built its reputation.

RRV Wine History The region and its river were named after the Russians, who arrived in 1812, hunted otters off the Sonoma coast for fur and food, and left by 1841. They may have planted the first wine grapes, but it was settlers from European grape-growing countries, spilling in from the Gold Rush, that ignited what became a vibrant wine industry. By 1876 grape vines covered 7,000 acres and more than a half million gallons of wine were produced. The era's prominent wineries included the Martini & Prati Winery, established in 1880 and now the home of Martin Ray Winery; Korbel Champagne Cellars, which opened in 1882 after two decades of lumber production; and Foppiano Winery, founded in 1896 and still going strong under Foppiano family leadership. Prohibition crippled the RRV wine industry; many wineries shut their doors for good, and the industry was slow to start up again after Repeal. The region's modern wine industry began in the early to mid-1960s, when farmers and visionaries such as Joseph Swan began planting cool-climate grape varieties. In the beginning Chardonnay was easier to sell than Pinot Noir, but the high quality of the fruit was undeniable, and the Burgundy varieties have attracted many who believe that the Russian River Valley is California's promised land for the great grapes of Burgundy.

By Rob Costantino
Santé Managing Editor

Napa Valley's rich wine history began in 1838 when George Yount planted cuttings of Mission grapes on a small section of his expansive tract. But Charles Krug might be considered Napa's first man of wine. He made Yount's wine and, in 1861, his first Napa wine under his own name. In A Companion to California Wine, noted wine historian Charles Sullivan writes of Krug, "He is remembered today for his great estate and its wines, but his friends, neighbors, and associates in the industry knew and loved him for qualities not measured in gallons or acres. He was the conscience of his winemaking community, a pillar of constant integrity, and a steady voice in favor of higher standards and better quality." Krug embodied a way to conduct business that took hold in the many Napa family wineries that followed. Some of the great Napa wineries that thrived as family businesses—Beaulieu Vineyard, Beringer, Inglenook, and Larkmead, to name four—eventually passed from family control, and three of Napa's iconic wineries that were established during the region's modern era—Robert Mondavi Winery, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, and Duckhorn Vineyards—are no longer family operations. But for every Napa Valley winery that is no longer family-run, there are many more that remain in family hands or have recently been established as family-owned and family-operated enterprises. All have a compelling story to tell about their business and their wines. Santé presents thumbnail sketches of six Napa family wineries that operate as Charles Krug once did—with a special blend of pluck, talent, hospitality, and vision.

PDF Version>>

By Randy Caparoso
iSanté Featured Blogger

In the mid-eighties Paul Prudhomme's blackened redfish permanently entered the vocabulary of the average American restaurant-goer, but you can argue that all the variations of blackened tuna have become even more ubiquitous in restaurants and bars, and practiced by adventurous home cooks. For over thirteen years I worked with one of America's original Euro-Asian fusion (a.k.a. East-West or Pacific Rim) style chefs, Roy Yamaguchi, and during that period opened over two dozen restaurants for him, from Hawai'i to up and down the East Coast. One of the most popular dishes at the Roy's restaurants, since day one, has been Yamaguchi's blackened 'ahi tuna ('ahi being the Hawaiian name for the high quality, red fleshed tuna caught in the vicinity of the Islands) with a more Frenchified soy-mustard butter sauce (Yamaguchi is, after all, basically a French trained chef who applies fusion thought processes). Yamaguchi's blackened tuna also served as the most basic dish utilized for our wine/food matching staff training; part of our "wine & food 101," which hundreds upon hundreds of servers as well as chefs experienced in this scenario: pen, paper, fork, knife, and usually five different wine glasses filled with five different wines. Blog>>

By Marnie Old

A wine list's goals should be clarity of communication and ease of use, which will speed service and boost sales. So why do restaurants with smart, snazzy food menus routinely present drab, pedantic wine lists? The simple answer is that most lists are written to be convenient for the management, not designed with the end user in mind. Traditional lists tend to be organized around knowledge that neither guests nor servers possess. The systems and formats that once seemed appropriate and lucid now look outdated and incomprehensible. It's time to renovate the wine list and bring it into the twentyfirst century. Luckily, this project won't require a big investment, only some time and effort. Even better, today's wordprocessing programs guarantee that you don't need a graphic designer or fancy software to make your documents look polished. You probably have everything you need to give your wine list a facelift. Practice these four fundamentals, and your "new" list will reward you, your staff, and your clientele.

A good wine list should be easy to read. No guest enjoys pulling out reading glasses, yet many wine lists squeeze too much onto each page.
• Make certain wine lists can be read in low light. Choose legible fonts and reasonable type sizes. Avoid italics, which run letters together. low light. Choose legible fonts and reasonable type sizes. Avoid italics, which run letters together.

By Piero Selvaggio

Wine rituals in restaurants can be mystifying. When hosts order a bottle, they are always offered a taste to approve the wine before it is poured for their guests. Many people are confused about what they should look for when asked to judge the wine and are afraid to ask. Some are too shy to reject a bottle, worrying that to do so is rude. Others misunderstand the purpose of the sample taste, sending bottles back for little or no reason. Neither of these extremes is correct. Wine should be rejected only if it is truly bad or if it was recommended in error. Since wine is a natural product, each and every bottle is unique. Like grapes, a few wines are imperfect. Wine can be damaged by many factors, most often faulty corks, poor storage, and accidents of winemaking. Although modern winemaking has greatly reduced the number of disappointing bottles, many reasons can cause a wine to be unfit to serve your guests.

From the book "Wine Secrets" by Marnie Old, published by Quirk Books.

By Bill Nesto, MW

Against the background of the Rioja village of Elciego, the violet-blue-silver tumble of the Frank Gehry-designed hotel-restaurant at Marqués de Riscal declares, "Rioja is transformed." Three miles away, at the feet of the Sierra Cantabria, the Santiago Calatrava-designed Ysios winery spreads out in an undulating yellow wave. It sings, "Rioja is this land." Rioja wines have been synonymous with unchanging tradition. These striking architectural symbols proclaim that style—and change—have arrived in Rioja. Bordeaux Begets a New Rioja Winemaking techniques adapted from Bordeaux's producers helped establish Rioja's wine traditions. In the late eighteenth century, Manuel Quintano y Quintano visited Bordeaux, learned techniques used there, and brought back to Rioja superior barrels that required neither pitch nor resin as a sealant.

PDF Version>>

By Madeline Triffon, MS

The lineup is the preshift meeting of a professional restaurant staff during which new menu items, daily features, and beverage education are shared with the service staff. As beverage hospitality pros, our mission is to review these new products, learn a little about them, and practice describing them in a manner that will be irresistible to our clientele.

Eyes Wide Shut

Blind tasting, which teaches us how to taste properly and keeps us focused on the wine itself and how it fits into the range of what our guests have enjoyed, is an essential training tool to use at lineup. But whoever is leading the tasting should steer the conversation away from "What is this?" and toward "Is this good wine?"

nytimes.com – Stephen Silberling, a tax lawyer who considers himself a knowledgeable wine drinker, could not contain his astonishment as he told me of his recent experience in a New York restaurant. He had ordered a 2007 Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche, a wine he and his date had enjoyed so much the previous week that they decided to drink it again. As they sipped their first glass, however, they both thought the wine tasted different, and they debated whether it was flawed. Listening to the conversation, the sommelier piped up. "He said, 'I've tasted the wine, it's fine,'" Mr. Silberling recalled. "He tasted the wine? I was very surprised. I had never heard of that being done before." Few issues of wine etiquette seem to cause as much consternation as the increasingly common practice of a sommelier taking a small sip of wine, usually unbidden, to test for soundness. Diners often are surprised to learn that their bottle has in effect been shared with the restaurant, even if it's just the smallest amount. The practice, which is more common at high–end restaurants with ambitious wine lists, can make diners uncomfortable. Some believe the restaurant may be taking advantage of them by consuming wine that they have bought. Others feel demeaned, that their role of assessing the wine has been usurped. "I know I'd rather be doing the tasting because I trust myself," Mr. Silberling said. Original Source>>

web.mit.edu – The same molecular mechanism that increases life span through calorie restriction may help boost memory and brainpower, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the July 11 issue of Nature. Resveratrol, found in wine, has been touted as a life–span enhancer because it activates a group of enzymes known as sirtuins, which have gained fame in recent years for their ability to slow the aging process. Now MIT researchers report that Sirtuin1—a protein that in humans is encoded by the SIRT1 gene—also promotes memory and brain flexibility.The work may lead to new drugs for Alzheimer's disease and other debilitating neurological diseases. "We demonstrated previously that Sirtuin1 promotes neuronal survival in age-dependent neurodegenerative disorders. In our cell and mouse models for Alzheimer's disease, SIRT1 promoted neuronal survival, reduced neurodegeneration and prevented learning impairment," said Li–Huei Tsai, director of the Picower Institute and lead author of the study. Original Source>>

cnn.com – "I've got the best commute in the world," Fairview Estate's chief wine maker Anthony De Jager says with a smile as he watches his amiable pack of dogs run excitedly through the vineyards. The sound of dried leaves crunching underfoot follows him as he wanders down the straight rows of vines. It is winter now and harvesting has come to a halt, giving the vines a rest and following a cycle of cultivation that has endured in this valley near the Western Cape town of Paarl for more than 300 years. Not much has changed in the view of the stately mountains and picturesque vineyards, but football fever is running as high here as in the rest of the country and De Jager has seen a spike in wine sales to countries whose teams are playing in the World Cup. Original Source>>

nytimes.com — The world of wine is full of hornets' nests. The minute you step on one, whether you nudge it accidentally or boot it with malice aforethought, the angry buzzing begins, rising to a high-pitched howl that would send anybody in search of shelter and a beer. Prime among these are natural wines. These wines, which barely make up a tiny slice of the marketplace, effortlessly polarize, not least because of the implied repudiation contained in the word "natural." If your wine is natural, what does that make mine? Unnatural? Artificial? Even defining the term incites the sort of Talmudic bickering usually reserved for philosophers and sports talk-radio hosts. Generally speaking, though, it is intended to mean wines made of grapes grown organically, or in rough approximation, and then made into wine with a minimum of manipulation—nothing added, nothing taken away, the winemaker simply shepherding the grape juice along its natural path of fermentation into wine. Original Source>>