Pinot and Mead- Russian River to Anderson Valley (Day 3 of April 2013)

April 2013 wasn't all Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon. My traveling wine-tasting committee spent the next day working our way up from the Russian River Valley and Healdsburg, to Anderson Valley and Boonville. 

sidewalk bbq chicken tacos in Healdsburg- photo by Jon

Highlights included a stop at Holdredge Winery in Healdsburg to taste their wines and to meet with Ed Thralls of Thralls Wine. We met Ed the prior evening to try his initial bottled releases – a 2011 Thralls Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, and a 2008 Thralls Alder Springs Syrah from Mendocino. Ed, who was a wine blogger in Atlanta, made the Syrah at Crushpad in San Francisco while still living back east. After moving to the west coast in 2010 he further honed his winemaking skills in the cellar at Holdredge, producing his first Pinot Noir. 

The 2008 Alder Springs Syrah I thought was excellent – showing bright blackcurrant fruit along with integrated notes of violet, white pepper, and beef-marinade; with firmly structured tannins and bright acidity. The 2011 Pinot Noir comes from the Prodigy Vineyard near Occidental. It showed lots of funky green earth notes with plenty of tart bright cranberry & cherry fruit, polished mid-palate weight and fine tannins, along with a juicy finish – a solid first Pinot Noir effort.

Ed doling out the samples- photo by Justin

What really impressed me though were Ed’s 2012’s in barrel. Four single vineyard wines (Saralee’s and Bucher from Russian River, Roma’s from Anderson Valley, and Occidental from Sonoma Coast), and a Sonoma Coast blend – all were exhibiting nice bright fruit and rich depth. My early favorite was the Thralls 2012 Roma’s Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley- which showed nice earth, floral and fig notes over a nice vibrant and polished frame.

Holdredge Winery specializes in Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. The lineup was mostly 2011 vintage – a cool year that brought out little extras in the cellar – saignee, pigeage, and longer cold-soaks. This added an apparent depth and richness to the mid-palate that I appreciated throughout the lineup. These wines showed a bright elegance that made way for a rich hedonistic side, exhibiting balance throughout. My favorite was the 2011 Holdredge Selection Massale Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley- a blend of 9 different clones, showing savory spice, violet, dark fruit and earth throughout with a richly layered palate of polish and brightness.

photo by Ed Thralls

Pinot Noir wasn’t the only thing flowing at Holdredge. We tasted Monks Mead, a brand that Justin produces back in Atlanta. Mead is wine fermented from honey. Monks is inoculated with a Champagne yeast and fermented to drink like a beer, resulting in a carbonated beverage with bright and slightly sweet notes, finishing crisp and clean, and with a lethal 12.9% ABV. Justin and his fellow mead-maker Martin sell Monks on draught and in growlers back in Atlanta.

The road to Anderson Valley from Cloverdale takes you through green forests and over pastoral foothills before landing in the narrow valley that’s home to the many up and coming Pinot Noir vineyards and producers. The Drew tasting room in Philo was a good introduction to the valley with a nice lineup of wines, and an interesting host named Susan Robinson. Susan’s a writer and exile from LA who writes a blog that educates and enlightens on the subject of GMO’s in food. She also makes some killer bread.

Jon & Justin with Joe from Foursight

Anderson Valley was highlighted by an epic tasting with winemaker Joe Webb of Foursight Wines in Boonville. Foursight produces Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from their estate Charles Vineyard. Joe makes his Pinot Noir with native yeast fermentations, using partial whole-clusters, and bottles unfined and unfiltered. Aging takes place in new and used French oak barrels from the Allier, Troncais, and Bertranges forests.

I thought this was a stellar lineup of wines. The 2011 Foursight Charles Vineyard Semillon, impressed with bright tropical fruit and savory white pepper and earth tones, along with a richly polished structure. But this was all about Pinot Noir. We tasted wines split between the cool weather 2009 and 2010 vintages. The 2009’s showed massively bright high-tones that brought an expanded fruit profile – think red apple and tropical on top of fig and cherry mineral notes. I loved both the 2009 Foursight Charles Vineyard Zero New Oak Pinot Noir and the 2009 Foursight Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir. The former showed gleaming bright fruit along with slate and earthy spice, on top of an elegant structure. The latter added more floral & mineral depth and richness to the bright high tones. In contrast the 2010’s were more about darker cherry and fig notes and earthy spice. The 2010 Foursight Charles Vineyard Zero New Oak Pinot Noir showed both sweet and savory spice notes, along with tea leaf and sagebrush on top of fig and cherry fruit, with richly layered structure. The 2010 Foursight Charles Vineyard Pommard Clone 5 Pinot Noir was massively layered with pine & eucalyptus earthiness, tea, fig and sandalwood – good acidity and long fine tannins. Quality to price – these estate single vineyard Pinot Noir bottlings are screaming values.

The drive back to Sonoma County passed through the Mendocino Ridge AVA and down the coast. Click here for a full list of tasting notes from this epic day of coastal wines from Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.