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?

On our Wine Fest trip to Napa earlier this month, Debi and I spent some time with Chris and Pauline Tilley from V Madrone Winery, who are returning this year to provide their wines at the dinner hosted by Daryl and Teri Isaacs in Miromar Lakes.

The newly renovated barn and tasting room

The news is good.  First, they’ve completed renovations on the rambling old barn on their vineyard property south of Calistoga, and it’s now a picturesque barrel storage facility and tasting room.

V Madrone tasting room...and boy, did we taste!

Second, they’ve expanded their winemaking abilities, and are now producing not only a killer Cabernet Sauvignon, but also a dense, inky Petite Sirah, and a wonderfully vibrant Chardonnay, all of which we tasted during a 2-hour session at their long table in the barn.

Pauline and Chris Tilley in the V Madrone vineyard

There was still fruit on the vine when we visited in early October, and we heard from other winemakers just last weekend that harvest hadn’t been completed even then, but it’s certainly all in the tank by now.

Debi tastes some V Madrone cabernet on the vine

September 29, thirty thousand feet out of Atlanta en route to San Francisco, and thence to Napa.  The flight is packed.  Surprising for a Tuesday morning.  Could be worse; the woman next to me is on her way to Shanghai.  Boy, is she in for a long day.

It’s becoming a (very pleasant) annual custom to make our way out to wine country each October to visit and coordinate with many of the vintners who will be presenting their wares at our event in February 2010.  But one thing is different.  This year we don’t have to go it alone.We are, in fact, aided and abetted (quite ably, I might add) by the prodigious sipping skills of Steve and Ester Machiz and Marshall and Lori Hanno, whose Napa journey coincides with ours. 

Lori Hanno (L) with Marsh and Debi

They’re a day behind us, and will have some catching up to do upon their arrival, but Debi and I have tremendous confidence in their abilities.

Of course, we’re going to make some sort of feeble effort to combine business with pleasure.  First priority is to touch base with the wonderful folks at Silver Oak, V Madrone, Teachworth, Fisher, and Anderson Conn Valley, all of whom will be pouring at the chef/winemaker dinners, and all of whom will be offering liberal samples of their finest wines at the Grand Tasting. 

The Silver Oak Winery with its landmark water tower.

Additional vintners, not included on the current visit list, will include Tablas Creek/Beaucastel, Piper-Heidseick, Banfi, and a few others names you’ll recognize, but they’re still pending.  Since they’re located in places like Champagne and Tuscany, our visits will have to wait until I can convince the Foundation to pay for the trips.  I’m not optimistic.

Also on the agenda:  spending some time with our California wine buddies, Miles Grant and Robyn Cohen from San Diego, and Tony Beck from Los Angeles.  These three stalwarts were dedicated enough back in February to travel transcontinentally, just to attend our Wine & Food Fest, and make a generous auction bid, too.  It happens that we’ll all be in Napa at the same time…a happy coincidence. 

Jerry, Tony Beck, and Miles Grant at WFF in Feb.

Between the Fort Myers committee and the California contingent on this trip, we’ve scheduled enough meetings, tastings, lunches, and dinners to keep us busy from morning till night. 

And we’re also going to be Listening to the Music.  Another happy coincidence.  As luck would have it, Bruce Cohn, the owner of BR Cohn Winery, is the manager of the Doobie Brothers, and has been for quite some time.  (You may have met his son Dan, who was pouring wine like crazy at our Feb. 09 event).  Long ago, Bruce persuaded the Brothers to host an annual charity concert at the winery the first week of every October.  That’s now.  At this point, we have no idea what we’re in for…what the venue will be like, how many people, etc.  We do know that we will be sitting on the grass, and we do know that there will be wine.  Details (and explicit photos) are submitted for your consideration.

Steve & Ester Machiz, Debi, Lori & Marsh Hanno at the concert.

Recent weather in wine country has ranged from the mid 90s during the day to the low 50s at night.  Exactly the kind of climate that grapes adore.  We’re also heading into the middle of crush.  Harvesting is happening.  The juice is flowing from the vines into gleaming temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks.  Soon, yeast will be working its miraculous magic on the sugar in the juice, and fermentation will take place.  Isn’t nature wonderful?

Punching down the cap at Tres Sabores winery.

But I digress.  Lest you begin to think that our trip is nothing but an excuse to spend five days running from vineyard to vineyard, tasting room to tasting room, sampling the best that Napa and Sonoma have to offer, well…

Let me try that again.  We do have a serious purpose.  No, really.  Getting all the vintners, chefs, and associated personnel to a single destination at the same time, arranging for their lodging and local transportation, coordinating the shipping of the wines, matching the chefs to the winemakers…all this is much like herding cats.  We’ve been meeting, planning, and arranging since May, but this is our first opportunity for hands-on, face-to-face base-touching with some of our generous participants.

The cave at Teachworth Winery

One more thing.  We are, in fact, going to be tasting some wines from several other vineyards with an eye toward inviting an ever-wider range of talented winemakers and wine varieties to future events.  Our discoveries will be your discoveries.

Here’s to you.

For most people who make wine, the task is a labor of love.  It is a painstaking process, but there is pleasure in taking pains.  Think, for example, of George Seurat, with his tiny tiny paintbrush, stippling an enormous canvas with millions of miniscule points of color.  He wound up with “Sunday Afternoon on Le Grande Jatte.”  Winemaking at the highest level is exactly like that. 

Cellar in Champagne

But the making of Champagne lifts the painstakingness to a whole nother dimension.  I mean, of all the wines you could choose to produce, Champagne makes you work the hardest.  It forces you to ferment it twice instead of just once, yells for constant attention while it’s in the bottle, and then giggles as you store it for years (decades, even) in chalk caves far underground.  Maybe, someday far in the future you’ll be able to sell it and make a few euros.

Bottles are stored for a LONG time...

(When we visited a Champagne house a few years ago, their caves must have contained over a quarter million bottles.)

The wonder of it all is that so many people do it…and most of them have been at it since well before Washington crossed the Delaware.

Like Piper-Heidsieck, for example, the company that has generously stepped forward as signature Champagne Sponsor of the upcoming Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest.  They’ve been bottling the bubbly with tremendous success since 1785, so they must be doing something right. 

The Vineyards

There’s a lot to be said for making a product that everyone on the planet considers a deliciously indulgent luxury.  Sure, you can make a lot of money, but you can have fun with it, too.  Like owning your very own network of Roman-era chalk caves far underground in one of the most awesome parts of France.  Like asking fashion designer Jean Paul Gautier to develop a package for your Cuvee Speciale.  He puts the bottle in a kinky red corset that laces up, it causes quite a stir, and you are showered with huge buzz.

The famous Champagne corset

The Champagnes most of us know best are the most expensive ones.  Whenever a celebration is depicted in a movie, like when the hero closes the deal, or the lovable crooks pull off the Big Score, everybody is guzzling from a bottle you instantly recognize.  Ask anyone you know, and they’ll probably be able to name at least one brand that sells for upwards of $200.  So in a way, Champagne producers are victims of their own marketing success.  Their wine is on every bride’s table, poured over the heads of every Super Bowl winner, and if we’re not observing a blessed event, job promotion, New Year’s Eve, or retirement party, most of us don’t drink it on an everyday basis.   Too bad.

Downtown Reims

Looked at one way, Champagne is just sparkling white wine.  Really good sparkling white wine, but even so.  If you’ll open a $30 bottle of Chardonnay with dinner, why not open a similarly-priced Champagne, which is mostly Chardonnay anyway?  Champagne is a beverage of charm, style, simplicity, even, and there are bubbly bargains all over the place.

In February, you’ll have the opportunity to expand your Champagne universe by drinking the Big Stuff, because the wonderful people at Piper-Heidsieck will provide the reception wine at each of the Chef and Winemaker dinners to be held on Friday night, February 26.  Better yet, you’ll have another bout of the bubbly as they pour for you at the Grand Tasting and Wine Auction the very next day.

More about them very soon, but the details still need a little time in the bottle.  News about chefs and winemakers also, as plans firm up. 

Here’s to you!

Depends on who you ask.  Hint:  don’t ask the Italians.

The people you can ask are John and Pam Mariani, who, in the early 1970s, journeyed to the heart of Tuscany and bought themselves a castle.  A real one, with towers and parapets and all the other stuff a castle is supposed to have, except I don’t remember seeing a moat.  As you exit the autostrada coming into the Montalcino area about 35 miles south of Siena, the ancient fortress rises in the distance to your left, looking, one can imagine, much as it did in the days of the Medicis.

Castello Banfi in Tuscany

John Mariani, Jr., had done quite well as a wine and spirits distributor in Long Island, partially because he and his brother were the first to introduce Lambrusco to the United States.  Under the Reunite label, they sold a ton of the stuff, which gave them the resources to go shopping for vineyards in the Brunello region, and if the property happened to have a castle on it, well, they wouldn’t mind too much.  The incredible success of Reunite convinced John that he knew what kind of wines Americans would actually buy and enjoy.  Remember, this is back when all we knew about Italian wines over here was that the bottles came in cute little baskets and they made great candle holders for our dorm rooms and apartments. 

The balsamic vinegar cellar at Banfi

John and his family had some extraordinarily deep roots in the country.  When his father was nine years old, his mother took him from their home in Connecticut to live in Milan.  They boarded with his aunt, Teodolinda Banfi, who just happened to be director of the household staff of the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, Achille Ratti.

The Archbishop, being more than capable in his profession, enjoyed some mild success and became Pope Pius XI.  One of his first official acts was to bring Teodolinda to Rome to run his household in the Vatican.  She was the first woman in history other than a nun to live in the Papal residence.  Caused a bit of a stir.

Debi with Tina Goldstein at Banfi

There are mountains on both sides of Napa Valley, which is probably why we call it a valley in the first place. The Mayacamas Range, Atlas Peak, Spring Mountain, and like that. But among them, Diamond Mountain holds a special place in my heart. Our friend Peter Thompson has his Andrew Geoffrey vineyard on Diamond Mountain (way at the top), and so do our friends Walter and Joan Teachworth.

We met the Teachworths through Neil and Karen Aldoroty, who are the owners of a private wine storage facility in St. Helena. They sit on a lot of really good wine for their customers, and when they discover something special, they let us know. (It’s also how we met Gary Ochwat and Ricardo Cajulis, who generously shared their Garric Cellars wines with Wine Fest attendees this past February.)

The Teachworth Vineyard

Having heard Neil’s praises of Teachworth’s wines, we decided to make a phone call. Joan immediately extended a gracious invitation to lunch, which we accepted with both delight and alacrity, and trekked up a nearly-vertical Diamond Mountain road on the appointed day. Best thing we ever did.

I suppose if you, like Walter Teachworth, started drinking aged Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour in the 1970s and paid about $6 a bottle for it, you’d develop a taste for the Good Stuff. He did, and shared it with his adorable and bubbly wife Joan, who got the idea in no time at all.

Walter Teachworth and Debi

By the mid-1990s, the couple had had just about enough of building houses and condos in Galveston, so there was only one place for them to go. Guess where.

The irony is that they never intended to become vintners. For them, it was enough to build a gorgeous home with waterfalls and riots of flowers, a pool that looks like some kind of exotic desert oasis, and a terrace that offers breathtaking views of the area. The idea was to drink a little wine, do some hiking, relax. Didn’t work out.

For better or worse, the land they bought for their home simply cried out to be planted with Cabernet Sauvignon. They couldn’t resist. Who could?

The Teachworths enjoyed another stroke of good fortune. Their neighbors were Al and Boots Brounstein, a lovely, gentle couple who just happened to make a deservedly-famous selection of wines called Diamond Creek. Fabulous stuff, costs around $135 a bottle, and worth every nickel. Al convinced Walter to produce two single-vineyard wines from the vines he had planted, which is exactly what happened.

Miles Grant & Joan Teachworth

Sidebar – when we go to Napa, we have the custom of stopping by Dean & DeLuca, buying up a ton of breads, cheeses, cold cuts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and the like, and bringing them to lunch at the home of our friends. So that’s what we did with Walter and Joan.

They welcomed us like long-lost cousins, maybe because they were hungry, but probably because they’re just that kind of people. This is how we had the delightful opportunity to sit on their terrace and savor both the Manzanita Vineyard and Rattlesnake Vineyard bottlings…along with an Estate Blend, which is a combination of the two.

The Other Teachworth Vineyard

The good news is that Walter and Joan have accepted our invitation to showcase their highly-allocated wines at next year’s event…both at a vintner dinner and the Grand Tasting. You’re going to love the wines, and you’re absolutely going to love the Teachworths.

Debi, me, and Joan Teachworth, October 2009

Well, not quite, but our progress is decidedly steady.  We’re still staying a bit closemouthed about the featured vintners we’ve invited, because even though they’re mostly confirmed, the details of their participation are still fermenting in the vat.  I expect we’ll have most of this nailed down in the next 60 days or so, and you can anticipate some announcements about participants and sponsors in the press and on this website.  As they’re announced, we’ll be telling you all about them.

The "Falcon Crest" house at Spring Mountain Vineyard

Mainly, though, most of the discussions and meetings have been about the chefs who will present their culinary creations at the hosted dinners and the Grand Tasting.  Shannon Yates, who’s been wandering around loose a bit lately, says he’s in, and I’m glad about that.  Our Chef’s Committee has had several coffee meetings, they’re in touch with people of culinary genius all over Southwest Florida, and all sorts of great possibilities are waiting to be set before us.

They’re also confirming the generous people who will be hosting one of the Chef/Vintner dinners, so if you have the room and would like to support children’s charities in the area, we’d love to hear from you.

The shores of Lake Como

On the wine side, I’ve still been collecting some selected stuff, thanks to the cooperation of our local distributors.  A few cases of very nice higher-end reds are now sleeping under temperature control, waiting for you and me to pop their corks.

IMROVEMENTS – At a recent wine committee meeting, I asked the members to critique last year’s event in terms of the wine selection, quantity, serving arrangements, organization, and other factors.  They were merciless in their evaluations, which is what I’d hoped for.  Thirty years in advertising has given me a thick skin, and I only cried a little.

One thing we’re going to do is offer more white wines at the Saturday event.  Seems that many of our guests experienced thirsts that ran in the white, rather than red, direction, so we’ll do a better job with that next February.

My wine cellar...I wish

Another thing is to dedicate a goodly portion of the Grand Tasting bottles to the auction room, so when you come in for the auction, treats will be on your table.  My inventory spread sheet already has a column for how many bottles will be served outside, and how many set aside for indoor consumption.  (Many, many of them, in case you’re asking).

It’s getting good.  Stay tuned.

What a difference.  As I might have mentioned before, we started planning the 2009 event in August of 2008…but we got to work on the next one as soon as our heads cleared from the February festivities.  That’s given us several advantages.

We’ve been reaching out to a few very distinguished wineries, and asking them to commit to participating.  The response has been more than encouraging.  Gratifying, even.  I can say that the selection of wines at the Friday night dinners will be much more international in scope this year, with prestigious vintners represented from Italy and France as well as California, Oregon, and points west.  And I can further state without fear of contradiction that the selection of wines at the Grand Tasting will be up a couple of notches from the previous not-so-bad level.

The Very Helpful Kristen Palazzo

(We’re also going to do a better job on the logistics and setup, so I don’t melt down at the start of the Grand Tasting, like I did back in Feb.)

The other thing that puts us ahead is that we can secure the wines we want throughout the year.  Previously, we had to wait until about a month before the event.  But we’ve already started laying in a sensational selection, and storing it in controlled conditions.  It’s sort of a good news/bad news situation.  The current economy (bad news) has put many great wines on the market at drastically reduced prices, and many wines that were highly allocated or simply not available are now up for grabs (good news).  We’re taking advantage.

Lovely and Talented Lou Bernardi and Wife Denise

And I’m getting huge support from some very dedicated people.  Founding Trustee Marshall Hanno, who never met a wine he didn’t like, the knowledgeable Angela Robertson from Angelina’s Restaurant, Kristen Palazzo from Premier Beverage, Lou Bernardi from Southern Wine & Spirits, and several of our other Founding Trustees are working their networks to confirm wineries and find us all those great deals. 

It’s gonna be fun.