| Varietal | Winery | Wine | Award | SRP |
| Cabernet Sauvignon | Shannon Ridge Winery | 2007 Lake County | Best of Class | $19.00 |
| Cabernet Sauvignon | Shed Horn Cellars | 2006 Lake County | Best of Class | $30.00 |
| Merlot | Steele | 2006 Lake County | Best of Class | $18.00 |
| Zinfandel | Brassfield Estate | 2005 High Valley Round Mountain | Double Gold | $21.99 |
| Zinfandel | Jus Soli Winery | 2006 Lake County Madder lake | Gold | $30.00 |
| Zinfandel | Wildhurst Vineyards | 2007 Lake County Home Ranch | Gold | $29.00 |
| Syrah/Shiraz | Ceago Vinegarden | 2006 Clear Lake Del Lago | Gold | $22.00 |
| Syrah/Shiraz | Red Lava Vineyards | 2006 Red Hills Lake County | Gold | $25.00 |
| Petite Sirah | Writers Block | 2006 Lake County | Gold | $24.99 |
| Merlot | Ceago Vinegarden | 2006 Clear Lake Del Lago | Gold | $26.00 |
There are many noteworthy efforts to improve sustainability and environmental stewardship among different California winegrowing regions. Located in the mountains north of Napa County, Lake County winegrowers use fewer pesticides and more low-risk crop protectants than other winegrowing regions in the North Coast and California.
The climate of Lake County is very favorable for wine grape production but not for diseases and pests. The region has many new vineyards that are designed and ... (READ MORE see PDF article)
The SIX SIGMNA PHILOSOPHY of doing business is a data-driven, systematic approach based on the idea that processes can be measured, analyzed, improved, and controlled. This internationally recognized management model has been successfully applied in many different types of organizations because its primary objective is meeting customer needs. Kaj Ahlmann, who first became familiar with the Six Sigma method while working for General Electric in the early 1990s, felt that it held great potential for winemaking. In 2000, Kaj and his wife bought what was to become Six Sigma Ranch, and in 2006 celebrated the release of the first wines under the Six Sigma label.
"Not to take the romance out of the wine process, but it is a business at the end of the day," says Kaj. "Customers want quality and consistency when they buy a bottle of wine. They don't want a completely different product from bottle to bottle." ... (READ MORE see PDF article)
Everything looked so great last January, with the wine industry healthy and happy and the economy rolling along. Then, in the spring and summer, came dark hints of a problem in the home mortgage industry, which nobody quite understood. Suddenly, wham. September arrives, and the stuff hit the fan. Now here we are slouching towards 2009, wondering what the hell happened and how much worse things will get before they start to get better.
Still, in my job, there was a lot of great wine in 2008. Here are my top-scoring ones. My employer, Wine Enthusiast, already has released our Top 100 list, so I don’t mean to compete with that. That’s worldwide; these are all from California ... (READ MORE see PDF article)
Click here to see PDF summary of reviews from SF Chronicle, Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, and more.
Sitting on his barn deck overlooking the 18 acres of vines that went into the cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc in his hand, Mike Thompson turned to his vineyard manager and said, "I could sit up here every day."
But Thompson can't sit up here for even one day. At 6 the next morning, a Sunday, he was on a plane for Washington en route to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Like most small growers, Thompson, 57, and his wife, Jan, support their vineyard with full-time jobs. She is a nurse practitioner. He is a member of Congress, First District, California. The Afghanistan work was recon for an intelligence subcommittee he chairs. The tasting work was recon for the Congressional Wine Caucus he co-founded and co-chairs.
The name Congressional Wine Caucus has the ring of elitism - as if maybe it's he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a few other fortunate farmers from Oregon and Washington. But it is not as exclusive as that. Qualifications to join are that ... (READ MORE see PDF article)
In its first full year of business, Cecchetti Wine Company is approaching 100,000 cases in total sales of its Line 39 Lake County wines and Redtree California wines, according to the Sonoma-based company. www.cecchettiwineco.com
Favorable awards and ratings, consumer acceptance, and strong demand from airlines have all helped propel the company's two brands, including:
- British Airways: The international carrier purchased the Redtree Chardonnay in late 2007 for its international economy consumers, doubled the order this summer, then doubled it again in fall 2008. In total, they will have purchased more than 37,000 cases.
- United Airlines: Redtree Chardonnay is now featured on domestic first class flights.
- US Airways: Line 39 Sauvignon Blanc was ordered in summer 2008 then re-ordered in fall.
- All Nippon Airways: Line 39 Cabernet Sauvignon is featured in first class. (The 2005 vintage was just featured as a "best buy" in Wine Enthusiast's October 2008 issue.)
Cecchetti Wine Company was founded in late 2006 and began selling wine in spring 2007. Wine sales through the third quarter of 2007 totaled less than 17,000 cases. But through September 2008 sales have exceeded 77,000 cases according to the company. Cecchetti says the company will surpass 100,000 cases by year end.
Cecchetti Wine Company was launched by wine industry veteran Roy Cecchetti in 2006. The company strives to produce consistent and approachable wines of excellent value from California, especially the emerging AVA of Lake County, California.
My first glimpse of Lake County, Calif., was a flash of silver through the trees. Clear Lake, the second largest freshwater lake in California, shimmered and rippled in the sharp afternoon sun. Two hours into my drive north from San Francisco, the familiar sights of Napa — winery lined roads, faux Italianate tasting rooms, chichi shops — had given way to a more countrified scene. I passed ramshackle trailer parks with names like Holiday Harbor and Starlite Resort, where "OvernitersAre Welcome" and sagging family resorts painted the faded colors of a ’70s postcard... (READ MORE see PDF article).
After two decades of heavy investment and pioneering work by an infusion of ambitious winegrowers, Lake County - once better known for canoeing than cabernet - is re-launching itself, made over with more thoughtfully sited vineyards and state-of-the-art winemaking facilities. Although the just-north-of-Napa region has enjoyed a solid reputation for Sauvignon Blanc for a few decades, it was also known for uneven Cabernet Sauvignon and other reds. New plantings coming on line in the high-altitude Red Hills of Lake County and High Valley AVAs are already producing some head-turning wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon.
Grape growing in Lake County dates to the 1880s when the first commercial winery was developed there by David Voight. By 1920, there were some 10,000 acres under vine in the valley and hillsides surrounding Clear Lake. Then, during Prohibition, most of the vineyards were replaced with pear and walnut orchards, which, though they don't reliably produce bumper crops in the relatively infertile volcanic soils that dominate Lake County, are still a common sight. (READ MORE see PDF of article)
As California's winemakers begin the 2008 harvest, they are scrambling to find enough Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. After several years of bumper crops, Mother Nature turned fickle this year, offering up deep frosts, followed by hot weather and ultimately not enough rain. "This is one of the strangest weather patterns that I have seen in more than 30 years of farming," said Andy Beckstoffer, the largest independent grower on California's North Coast.
Growers and winemakers estimate that the state's grape crop, especially in such prime wine regions as Napa and Sonoma counties and the Santa Rita Hills near Solvang, could be 20% smaller than last year and as much as one-third less than a massive harvest in 2005. It's likely there won't be enough grapes to meet all the needs of wineries, said Beckstoffer, who has already sold most of what he is growing and came up 5 tons short on a 50-ton order of Sauvignon Blanc grapes last week. (READ MORE see PDF of article)
Responding to its remote location, far-flung wineries and limited visitor accommodations, Lake County wineries are adopting a popular European model - wine tourism.
At present, Lake County is short on high-end visitor facilities. The only real qualifiers are the Tallman Hotel and adjacent Blue Wing Saloon and Café in Upper Lake, far from most wineries. As a result, many wineries are developing lodging, food and entertainment facilities to host visitors, in some cases primarily members of the wine trade, but often with plans for the wine-loving public. (READ MORE see PDF of article)
Lake County is another fast growing region with 22 wineries (18 with tasting rooms), up from just four in the early 1990s.
Fredrikson said the standouts remain Steele Wines and Jim Fetzer's Ceago Vinegarden, which attracts a number of well-heeled visitors, some of whom fly in on seaplanes and land on Clear Lake to taste his wines and visit his bio-dynamic vineyards. (Plans at Ceago also call for a restaurant, hotel and spa and nearby condominiums.)
Fredrikson isn't the only observer paying attention to Lake County. Its Snows Lake Vineyard, in the Red Hills Lake County American Viticultural Area, won a "great gold" and three other golds in Bordeaux, France, this year at the 15th annual Concours Mondial de Bruxelles international wine competition, one of eight U.S. wineries to win a total of 14 medals -- and the only one to win a great gold. (READ MORE see PDF of article)
A vineyard tour hosted by the Lake County Winegrape Commission led VIP guests including County Supervisors, city managers, chamber directors, and media representatives for a question and answer session, as well as a lunch and wine tasting.
Attendees were sent winegrape vines with an invitation attached, asking them to meet at the County courthouse where they boarded a bus that took them to... (READ MORE - See Winegrape News Winter 2008 Newsletter)