I’ll tell you what…if you’re going to visit Anderson Conn Valley Vineyards, you’d better be ready to step outside your customary Napa Valley Route 29 Comfort Zone.  These people grow their grapes way up the hill off Silverado Trail, but the destination is worth the determination it takes to get there.

Todd Anderson

Managed by Todd Anderson and his wife Ronene, the company has been producing fine wines since 1983.  But they didn’t exactly do it alone.  There’s Todd’s father Gus, who studied viticulture at UC Davis, and their partners Phyllis and Dana Gallagher.

Sidebar:  It always amazes me that so many people who make their dreams come true as winemakers get to it from the most unlikely backgrounds.  One vintner I met had been a statistician.  Two of my vintner friends are doctors.  Todd Anderson left his career as a geophysicist (of all things) to make wine up in the hills.  Go figure.

The Anderson vineyard -- some of it

The Andersons are also supported by the able contributions of winemaker Mac Sawyer, and I’d very much like to have his job.  He went off to spend a year in France as only the second American to attend the famed winemaking program at the Superior School in Montpellier.  If there’s such a thing as a major at that institution, Mac specialized in the winemaking styles of Bordeaux, Alsace, and Provence, then brought his skills home with him.

About the vineyard.  Way back when, the Andersons started searching for their dream vineyard location, which they found – 40 acres worth of it, with a reservoir in the middle – way up in Conn Valley.  Currently, 26 acres are under vine, divided into 9 blocks.

Part of the process

Apparently they discovered the perfect spot.  Their neighbors are Joseph Heitz and Joseph Phelps, and the vineyard soils share important characteristics with those on the well-known Rutherford Bench.  This terroir yields them around 106 tons of first class fruit a year, from which they produce some first class Bordeaux-style blends.  There’s the Cabernet-based Eloge, and their newest wine, Right Bank, which, as the name suggests, pays homage to St. Emilion, building on a base of Merlot with that characteristic touch of Cabernet Franc.

There's wine in them thar caves.

At one point some years back, they brought out the Big Machines and drilled not one, but two caves through the side of the mountain.  In there, the reds spend plenty of time maturing in oak.  In fact, the Cabernet Sauvignon and Èloge wines may spend up to two years in barrel prior to bottling.

But the Andersons do more than pay homage to French winemaking traditions and styles with their red wines.  They have plenty of respect for other regions, as well.  Like Burgundy, for example.  Their Chardonnay is not your typical buttery California white.  It does not go through malolactic conversion, which gives it the lean, focused style you expect from a white Burgundy.  And the Pinot Noir is also done in an Old World style.  Depending on the vintage, it offers characteristic tobacco and spice, chocolate, and dark fruit.

The selection

While it’s a bit too early to tell which wines they’ll bring with them, they’re licensed to produce 16,000 cases annually, and you can count on a selection at our Grand Tasting and Auction in February.

Arrive thirsty.

I’ve met lots of people from Australia over the years, and every one of them has been genial, jovial, and jocular (pardon the alliteration).  I don’t mean to cast any cultural stereotypes, here, and I’ve never met the folks from Peter Lehmann winery, but you can tell just by looking that they seem to embody the optimism and cheer of the general Australian culture.  (If my family made wine like they do, I’d be happy all the time, too).

Margaret, Doug, and Peter Lehmann

I’ve always maintained that wine is a cultural artifact, and its style embodies character of the culture that makes it, which is certainly true of the juice from Down Under.  Unlike wines from other regions I could name, it’s easy to get to know Australian wines.  Not only are they approachable, but they come right up to you, yell “G’day, Mate,” and give you a slap on the back that just about knocks the wind out of you.

Which is why we’re all so delighted that the wines of Peter Lehmann will be served at one of our Friday night dinners, and at the Saturday Grand Tasting.  Consistently rated better than 90 points by Wine Spectator, Lehmann’s Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Semillon, and Chardonnay offer big, satisfying, mouthfilling flavors that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the years.

The Lehmann selection

You’d get plenty of argument (and maybe a fistfight or two) if you asked the Aussies to decide which region of Australia produces the best wines, but you can be sure that Barossa Valley will always be in the forefront of the conversation.  In Barossa, the soil, the climate, the rainfall, all the elements wine grapes love, have come together, one of those happy accidents.  It makes the wine industry the major economic engine of the area.

Since the first vines were planted in the 1840s, Barossa has grown into a major center of the country’s wine industry.  Even wineries not based in the region have a significant presence there, either cultivating their own vineyards or contracting with small growers.

The Barossa Landscape

Better yet, the area is a mere kangaroo hop away from the city of Adelaide, which makes it a major destination for wine tourists.  In fact, it’s closer to the city than Napa is to San Francisco.  The vineyards start right at the edge of the suburbs.

Now, about Peter Lehmann.  It’s said that he is to Barossa what Robert Mondavi was to Napa.  A pioneer who, when the government was pressuring grape growers to rip up their vines, pledged to buy what they grew so they could stay in business.  The family continues that practice to this day, sourcing grapes from almost 200 small family growers who cultivate 900 individual vineyards.  I’m told that many of the farmers are direct descendants of families who planted the first vines over 100 years ago, and at least some of the business is still done on a handshake basis.

Peter Lehmann

And speaking of those vineyards, they are among the oldest in the world, still flourishing on their original rootstock because the area was spared the ravages of the phylloxera epidemic that just about wiped out the world’s wine industry years ago.  That means the roots go deep, and the vines yield big, concentrated wines. The Lehmanns take that big fruit and fashion 12 reds and whites that put all kinds of power, finesse, and elegance in your glass.

Ancient vines in Barossa

And I do mean in your glass, because your opportunity to sniff, swirl, and sip the Lehmann family’s finest is right around the corner.

No worries, mate.

“We had an amazing experience.”  That’s what Juelle Fisher, owner of the renowned Fisher Vineyards, said about the time she spent at the Wine Fest in February, 2008.  It’s why she’s coming back next year, and why Fisher has consented to be our signature vintner for the upcoming event.

View of the Fisher vineyards

Today, after 37 years, she’s content to watch her three children achieve their own success at running the family business, while she travels around the world as an ambassador for Fisher wines.

Enjoying Fisher hospitality with new friends

Unlike most wineries in the Napa/Sonoma area, Fisher is not easy to find.  There’s no glamorous tasting room and gift shop on Route 29, no group tours, and no slick commercial roadside presence.  Rather, you have to be willing to go up in the hills – way up – to enjoy the hospitality they’re always eager to extend.

The Fisher winery

From the Calistoga side, you wind your way up Porter Creek Road, branch off at Calistoga Road, then hang a hard left again onto St. Helena Road, which runs along the very top of the Mayacamas mountain ridge, and forms the border between the Napa and Sonoma regions.  “We knew we wanted mountain fruit,” Juelle told me.  Well, they got it, because you can’t get any higher up in the mountains than they are.

And the wines?  Extraordinary.  At a recent extremely-well-attended Fisher wine dinner at Angelina’s Ristorante, Juelle poured a selection that included the Fisher Mountain Estate Chardonnay, the Unity Napa Valley 2006, Fisher “Cameron” Napa Valley, and their flagship Coach Insignia Cabernet Sauvignon 2005.  There wasn’t any left over.

Deb and me with the official Fisher dog

Juelle and her husband Fred started the winery from scratch in 1973, locating just the land they wanted.  When they cleared it of the trees, they milled the lumber to build the winery and associated structures.  Now, more than three decades later, they also farm 57 acres on the Silverado Trail adjacent to the famed Eisele Vineyard, and encourage their children Whitney, Cameron, and Robert in their efforts to continue the family tradition.

Juelle and Fred Fisher

Family.  It’s an important word to Juelle, who maintains that “the family is in the wine.”  She understands that when visitors meet the family who makes the wines, they gain an added understanding of the ground, the grapes, and the mission of the company.  “When you find a wine you like, you have to go there,” she says.  “When you do, you understand the emotional and spiritual part of what we do.”

And, as we have all discovered, the love of good wine opens us to relationships with new friends and interesting people.  “Our visitors enrich our lives,” says Juelle.  “Wine makes us meet amazing people.”

She’s right.  After all, I met her, didn’t I?