The Press

A Valley Found

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:17:00 GMT

30 years ago the Livermore Valley was a drive thru. It was a place, in my mind, that was a gas stop on the road to Yosemite.

When Phil Wente was drumming up support for the San Francisco Bay Appellation he came to the Santa Cruz Mountains and bought lunch for a group of winemakers. Duane Cronin, Bob Mullen, Donn Reisen and a hand full of other winemakers including myself joined Phil at the Plumed Horse in Saratoga to listen to his pitch on establishing a new appellation called San Francisco Bay that ran from the mid bay area in the east and west down through Monterey. Until that point I literally had no opinion of the Livermore Valley, mostly because I had no knowledge of it. After that meeting I learned, first hand, and was affected by the dismissive attitudes regarding this "in between" appellation.

A number of SCM winemakers were ambivilant to the appellation, but a more vocal few were adamant that the Santa Cruz Mountains not be included in this "land grab" by the Livermore Valley.... which was ridiculous it seemed to me. After all, we all belong to the appellation called California, but that doesn’t mean we have to put that on our label... we can be in California and still say Paso Robles for the appellation, or Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz Mountains or Livermore Valley... but they are still in California.

Today the SF Bay appellation excludes the Santa Cruz Mountains which exemplifies the spirit of winegrowing where I was "raised"......

When I came to Livermore, I intended to continue making wines from other appellations, business as usual... but the wines and the vines tapped on my shoulder and whispered in my ear...... "and what of us?" until I listened.

If the Santa Cruz Mountains represents a rugged individualism, with the Brown Bear that used to roam the mountains being the mascot, and the Northern climes are the Hollywoods of our kin with the lush lands and gold plated parking meters being their mascot, then the Livermore Valley is represented by the roots of the vines.... extending deep into the river bed of time through the valley growing winegrapes for over 100 years. Like the vines themselves, the valley is patient. Roots extend deep and quietly work beneath the surface. What I have learned in the wine business comes from the vines, the grapes themselves and from the juice in the barrel. The "in" winemaker has nothing to teach me, it's the quiet, deep rooted and thoughtful that I want to listen to, that's where the lessons lie. The sound of a dormant vineyard, the rustling of the vines pre-harvest, the alive bubbling of a quiet fermentation happening out of sight of the camera, the barrels that stack, and sleep and wait.

If you listen to the glass of wine it tells a story... if you don't, it's just a cork and a bottle, some wine..... who cares.

End of a Whacky, Wierd, Wonderful Harvest

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:23:00 GMT

The 2010 harvest is almost in the books.
Prior to 2010, the latest that we have ever picked grapes was November 7th. This year we picked our final grapes on November 19th. I could see it coming. The entire vintage from bud break to verasion was delayed due to the cool summer conditions. We typically begin our harvest on September 2nd and this year it wasn't until September 26th that we got our first grapes into the crush pad.
Overall, the quality has been very good. The vineyards, almost without exception, were in great condition through the small heat spikes we got in September and if you held on long enough, were able to achieve an ideal harvest balance of flavors, brix and pH/acid balance.
We brought in 13 different lots made up of 9 different varietals. The largest was the Sauvignon Blanc at 8.5 tons and the smallest was the Syrah from Santa Cruz Mountains at one ton. 95% of our harvest came from vineyards within the Livermore Valley which is pleasing to me because it is the culmination of 5 years of exploring the valley, sifting through the varietals and vineyards that are here, and making a game plan for the future of the winery. We have settled on a handful of extraordinary vineyards that produce unique, delicious wines.

We ended up processing roughly 45 tons of grapes.

Gary Brink was a big help on the crush pad, aiding in processing and cleaning of equipment. John Ignowski and Adam Ono also helped out on the occasional late night and Michael Curran was not involved too many days this harvest, but when we saw him, he made a big impact taking large tasks off of my plate freeing me up to get to the winemaking.

It will be remembered as the vintage for which i bought way too much acid that I ended up not using. Because of the slow maturity and long hang time, as we attained the brix and flavor balance in the vineyard we were able to bring grapes in with excellent acid/pH numbers.

Thank you to my wife for once again putting up with the unpredictable, frenetic schedule of being a winemaker. September was mellow but when the grapes started to pour in, there were many times that I arrived home after midnight during the month of October.

5 years in Livermore

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 16:27:00 GMT

Page Mill Winery grew up on the peninsula 45 miles south of San Francisco at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, but finally came of age in 2005. That's when we found the property that we now call "home", in the Livermore Valley.

When we moved here we made not a single wine from grapes grown in this appellation. We harvested grapes from the "big time" appellations like Napa Valley, Alexander Valley, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Mountains. I personally trucked the grapes during harvest from the outlying areas back to the winery and our move to Livermore wouldn't have to change anything... it's just as easy to truck the grapes to the East Bay as it is to the peninsula. In many cases it was easier... Now I don't have to fight the San Francisco traffic to get to Napa, it's a hop up 680, a skip on 37, and a jump up 29... easy.
So when i moved here I had very little interest in changing the Page Mill "mix". I did, however, know that i wanted to try making Sauvignon Blanc from the region because I had tasted a couple that piqued my interest with their fresh fruit and bright balance.
The first year, that was all that i dabbled in... Sauvignon Blanc.

Then, like a whisper, the vineyards began to call..... Syrah next door, Petite on the new property... and luscious Cab... I was blown away by the locals who were making wonderful wines like the Steven Kent Home Ranch Cab, the Wente Louis Mel Sauvignon Blanc and the Wood Family Madden Ranch Syrah. It was kept secret from me all the years I lived in and made wine in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Livermore was the ugly stepchild to the East... don't pay attention, he'll quiet down..... I was a lemming. Now i was discovering the vineyards and the culture of this hidden gem. I was realizing the history and tradition of 135 years of winemaking... not by movie stars and the wealthy, but by farmers and earnest hard working people.

The first vineyard to fall was the Paso Robles Sauvignon Blanc. I could make better quality more cost competitive wine with all the freshness of the Paso fruit from a vineyard right up the road.... and I didn't have to truck up and down the state to do it..... a no brainer.

Then I tried Petite Sirah and Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The next appellation to go was the Alexander Valley and most of Napa. I was shedding appellations at an alarming rate. As I found myself immersed in the local growing scene I thought less and less about the Santa Barbara, Sonoma and Napa marketing machines, and more and more about quality, value, and goodness. I brought the focus closer and closer to our new location, we pulled in on ourselves and it was good. I see the vineyards grow throughout the season, I know the managers and owners and see them in the local coffee shop. We're all in this together.

I, now, rarely drive very far for grapes... and that's a good thing. We should all be aware of 'food miles'. For the 2010 harvest Page Mill Winery will make 95% of its wines from Livermore Valley fruit and most importantly we didn't have to sacrifice our overall objectives to do that. We are still making wines that finish in the top third of blind tastings, and are priced in the bottom third. I am still making hand crafted, delicious wines like my dad used to.

When I first moved to Livermore, I did it for business reasons, but we're staying for the grapes. It feels like we were always meant to be here. Like we've come home. I can't believe it's only been 5 years!