A Visit to Crushpad and Anderson Valley: Day Two

Entering the Valley - Click Picture for Larger Version

With mist in the air and shadowy grey clouds masking the morning sun we left downtown San Francisco and headed north on route 101 toward wine country. Anderson Valley is only a few hours from the city, yet, it seems much more remote and isolated due to the lack of a major access road. Starting in Cloverdale the only road from the south that allows access to the valley is route 128 which is narrow, steeply graded, and repleat with blind hairpin turns in several sections. Slow driving is necessary and you have to be on the lookout for logging trucks! The landscape here is rugged, with moss covered oak trees standing tall among the continuous rolling hills. After about 45 minutes of slow and steady driving--which brings you through the Yorkville Highlands AVA--the valley floor finally emerges as you enter the hamlet of Boonville. Are first impressions were that the area was rustic, smaller than we had anticipated (this may actually be due to the fact that the Anderson Valley Tour Map is not really to scale!), and all together fascinating. A few viticultural facts about Anderson Valley:

AVA Status Granted: 1983

Vineyard Acerage: Approximately 2,400 acres with Pinot Noir accounting for half of the total

Varietals Grown: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer

Elevation Range: 2000ft to 3000ft

Climatic Zones: Region I and II

Diurnal Range: Daily highs in the 90's and down to 50's at night

Average Annual Rainfall: 40.6 inches

In just over 24 hours in the valley, we were able to visit about nine wineries and really get a good feeling for local winemaking styles, culture and area geography. Our primary goal was to explore the different interpretations of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir while getting to meet some of the people behind the wines. On the first day we visited Goldeneye, Navarro, Husch, Handley, Claudia Springs and Lazy Creek Vineyards. Below are a few thoughts on some of our stops:

Goldeneye - Our first stop. The most visible and well capitalized of the resident Anderson Valley wineries, with a very professional tasting facility and diligently manicured vineyards. The style of winemaking at Goldeneye is unique to the valley in that they are pretty agressive in their use of oak. It was interesting to stop here first, as no other wine in the valley came close to matching this style.

Goldeneye Estate Vineyard - Click Picture for Larger Version

Navarro - This popular winery has a wide selection of reasonably priced wines, including the designated driver friendly pure Pinot Noir and Gewurztraminer grape juices. One of the more interesting features of this stop was the opportunity to taste and compare the filtered and unfiltered versions of their 2005 Pinot Noir. The latter having a much more luscious mouthfeel and costing only a few dollars more than the former.  We ended up ordering a selection of their wines to ship home. From a marketing and business perspective, one can learn a lot from Navarro about how to execute a direct-to-consumer strategy since they have been selling the majority of their wine that way since opening their doors in 1974. So what is the secret to their success in this regard?  Well, having one of the best newsletters in the business helps a lot!

Handley - Another top quality producer, Handley has been around since 1982. Located in the deep end of the valley, winemaker Milla Handley sources fruit from all over the valley for inclusion in the winery's regular and reserve bottlings of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. In stark contrast to our stop at Navarro, in which the tasting room was literally jam packed, we were the only people to be found at Handley. This afforded us the opportunity to really get into some of the more technical aspects of the Pinot recipes with the tasting room attendant. The winery produces 14,000 cases per year and is located on 59 acres of what used to be a ranch. Nice people and great wine.

Lazy Creek - Our last stop of the day led us to Lazy Creek Vineyards the second oldest winery in the valley, which is owned by Josh and Mary Beth Chandler. The couple purchased the vineyard in 1999 which turns out some highly acclaimed Pinot Noir and Gewurztraminer wines. Lazy Creek's wines can be found on the lists at exclusive restaurants such as French Laundry and Gary Danko. The uniqueness of the site is what makes this winery so special. The original Pinot vines, which were grown from suitecase clones, are more than 35 years old. They survived the phylloxera epidemic because the previous owner, Hans Kobler, didn't bother listening to UC Davis and instead planted the vineyards to St. George rootstock. Yields are ridiculously low, with grapes destined for Lazy Creek's best Pinot offering, the Reserve Puncheon Blend (a cool $100 a bottle), coming in at only .8 tons per acre. One tasting room attendant that we talked to at another winery described the amount of fruit per vine at LCV at harvest as being "scraggly." Josh was a great host, as he poured us his offerings and filled us in on the details of his recipes. He let us wander around the property after our tasting, which included some '06 Pinot still in barrel. What a great place to spend some time, this was definitely the best stop of the day!

The "Truck" at LCV - Click Picture for Larger Version

35 Year Old Pinot Vines - Click Picture for Larger Version

Day two in Anderson Valley coming soon...

Jeremy & Casey