The Sauvignon Blanc of Rugged Hills comes from the nearby Rabbit Vineyard near Kelseyville whose dark gray soil gives a Sauvignon Blanc with richness and body. The wine was fermented in stainless steel at a cool temperature to maintain acidity and freshness while showing bright grapefruit notes.

Rabbit Vineyard and its barn

 After a quick trip home to do the laundry I went to Washington to join Chateau Ste. Michelle’s two-day extravaganza on Rieslings from around the world. The event began with a blind tasting of fourteen dry Rieslings showing how versatile and adaptable to terroir the variety is. The wines hailed from Australia, Alsace, Austria, Oregon, Michigan, New Zealand, Washington, Mosel – Germany, Rheingau – Germany, New York and Canada.

 Lunch was with four more dry Rieslings from Alsace. This style works well with a number of foods from simple to spicy.

 The afternoon seminar focused on the ageability of dry Riesling. Cave Springs from the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario brought a 2008 and 2000, Dr. Konstantin Frank from the Finger lakes of New York showed 2008 and 1995, Josef Leitz from Germany’s Rheingau matched 2008 to 2001, Domäne Wachau from Austria showed 2009 and 1993, Domaine Pfister of Alsace did 2007 against 1985, Koehler-Ruprecht of the Pfalz in Germany brought 2008 and 1998, Schloss Gobelsburg from Austria showed 2008 and 1973, Van Volxem from the Saar in Germany matched 2008 with 2001 and, finally, the Kloster Eberbach in Germany’s Rheingau showed 2008 against a 1946 Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Cabinett Naturein????????. Anyone who doubts that Riesling can age should have tasted this wine. It still has years ahead.

1946 Cabinett

 A walkaround tasting by region filled the rest of the time until dinner, a boat cruise on Lake Washington. Bill Gates and his neighbors picked a beautiful spot.

Passing the Gates estate

 The next morning it was time to roll out and hit the Riesling trail again. The morning’s session was titled Off-dry Riesling, an idiotic term coined by a large publication in the U.S. It sounds as if the winemaker were shooting for a dry style and missed. These wines had moderate sweetness up into the dessert wine in the German auslese level. The Riesling world was well represented with fourteen wines from ten countries and regions. The best of them had the balancing acidity to carry the sugar and show the classic Riesling style.

 The afternoon brought a seminar on young German producers that was hosted by Stuart Pigott and Alex Gysler. The main point was that good Riesling can be produced in less heralded places if the winemaker is conscientious and motivated. Austria was next with a panel of Roman Horvath of Domäne Wachau, Willi Bründlmayer, Fred Loimer and Michael Moosbrugger of Schloss Gobelsburg. These were top Austrian dry wines that showed the differences in terroir form the Wachau to the Kamptal.

 After all of that Riesling I was ready for the barbecue at Chateau Ste. Michelle and some of their red wines. The temperature was down to the 70s and it was a great way to end the Washington part.

with Bob Bertheau of Chateau Ste. Michelle and Ernst Loosen, the fathers of Eroica

 The next morning I flew to Sacramento and drove to Napa to visit some of Ste. Michelle’s California properties. First stop was at Antica high in the Atlas Peak area. The Antinori family own the estate and grow Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon in a cooler climate than the valley floor and the wines show more structure and bright acidity than many.

Antica

 A short drive up the Silverado Trail took us to Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, an estate Ste. Michelle acquired last year. The team and the vineyards are the same and Stag’s Leap remains one of Napa’s icons.

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

 The last stop was at Conn Creek where we tasted several new wines in their new tasting room. It’s a novel design with samples of all of the soil types in their vineyards.

 The next day was the type you live for in the wine business. I began by meeting Jim Elder of the Sorting Table. We tasted Napa wines from Baccio Divino with owner, Claus Janzen and Expression wines from Washington, Oregon and California with Austin Robertson over lunch. Jim saved the best for last, a vineyard tour with Larry Hyde. Larry has a lot of vintages behind him and knows the history of Napa and his vineyards as few others do. Lessons come one year at a time in the wine business. What you learn one year can’t be used until the next. He’s working on getting the best bugs to kill the newest threat to the vines in Napa, some kind of fly. Check the bottles that get high ratings in California and you will find Hyde Vineyard on many of the labels. Nothing could top that and it was time to go home.

Larry Hyde