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Dateline April 10, 2008
Spring has Sprung
Vines began to push in late March this year and it seems like every
year we see an earlier start to budbreak. This makes growers very
nervous as frost damage becomes a concern. This Easter Sunday
morning one could hear frost machine churning away in the Valley as
temperatures dropped to 31 degrees. No reported severe damage to
date, however, until we get into May we can not really rest our
concerns. It has also been extremely dry as we have not had
any measurable rain since the Academy Awards night in late February.
Farmers are always concerned about weather and it seems of late the
weather can be from one extreme to the other. We will keep our
optimism up and hope the weather will be cooperative and provide a good
productive year for quality fruit production.
Pinot Noir Back In Fold
We bottled 690 cases of 06 Pinot Noir April 7 & 8 which will be
officially released at our Passport Event on April 25. It was
difficult being on restriction of our 05 Pinot since October last year but
you can blame it on the movie Sideways as wine drinkers now have
discovered the beauty of a well made Pinot Noir. Seductive and
elegant.......Grace Kelly in a bottle is what I call our
Pinot Noir. The new 06 Pinot is simply delicious with a brick red
color, medium body, Burgundian fragrance and a hint of Rose perfume.
The lingering flavors are of candied black cherry with cinnamon spice and
a trace of Orange zest. Aged 18 months in 50% new French Oak,
medium toast +, with toasted heads. This wine is very drinkable now
but will cellar well for 8 years.
Those lucky customers who purchased 06 Pinot Futures may pickup on May
10, 2008 where we will offer tasting on the new wine along with a complementary
light buffet lunch.
Zinfandel, California's Historic Grape
Zinfandel is planted extensively all over California, but Dry Creek
Valley is noted for its' reputation in high quality Zinfandel,
particularly from old vines. I use to refer to Zin as "little
orphan Annie" because in the early 70's when we started no one
really had a good idea where it came from. It wasn't found in France
so it had no nobility. After extensive study by UC Davis using
DNA, the parents of Zin were found to come from Croatia.
Historians have traced the vine's introduction into California around
1850. It came into San Francisco and Sacramento ports as part of an
European grapevine package from nurseries on the East Coast. The
earliest known plantings in Dry Creek were around 1880. By
1883 some 375 acres of Zin were growing in Dry Creek Valley. One of
the largest blocks of Zinfandel in northern Sonoma County was Italian
Swiss Colony in Asti where they had 150 acres planted by 1883. I
strongly believe the ISC nursery, located on the Asti property next
to the old Mt. Carmelo church, was instrumental in the distribution
of Zin throughout Sonoma County. Emigrant workers at ISC likely
obtained cuttings from this nursery to plant their home vineyards which
later made available budwood for propagation to local growers . This
practice was still being used in 1970 as growers would obtain clean
budwood in the late fall from other grower vineyards and graft to
rootstock. This clone would now be named after the vineyard in which
the cuttings were obtained. You hear the names Pedroncelli's Mother
Clone, Seghesio , Mazzoni , Prati and even sometimes Forchini clone but my
belief is they are all decedents from the old original clone of the
1860s. This is why you see such parity in the characteristics of the
clusters and leaf from old head pruned vines around Cloverdale,
Geyserville, and Healdsburg. Believe it or Not!
Upcoming Winery Special Events
Passport To Dry Creek Valley, April 25, 26, and 27 will soon be upon
us. If you do not have Passports by now, chances are you are up a
creek without a paddle. We have no more Passports to sell.
Contact the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley (707) 433-3031 to go on a
waiting list or for assistance in getting Passports.
Carla's Club Summer Solstice Winemaker's Dinner will be Saturday June
21, 2008 from 5:30 - 9pm and will take on a new format this year.
Celebrity Chef Jeff Mall of Zin Restaurant in Healdsburg will cater this
year's dinner and will prepare a delicious Sonoma Cuisine dinner paired
with Forchini wines. Cost is $30 to Carla's Cellar Club Members
which includes wine. Up to 2 people per membership.
Additional guests are $50 each. Space is limited so RSVP and prepay
now by credit card to insure your reservation. Refund
cancellations must be made 5 days prior to event.
Will Call pickups for the Carla Cellar Club May shipment will be on May
10, 2008 from 11 - 3pm. We will offer a complimentary light buffet
lunch with 15% off all bottle sales that day only to Club Members.
Try to plan your pick-up for that day and enjoy the lunch in our Tasting
Room gardens.
Looking Forward:
05 Papa Nonno, a recent Silver Medal at the Jerry Mead New
World International Wine Competition, is nearly depleted. Only
30 cases remain as of this date. Better hurry if
you would like more of this proprietary Tuscan Style Red blend.
The remaining bottling schedule is anticipated to be as
shown below w/ release dates TBD:
400 cs 06 Papa Nonno, May 08
120 cs 07 Chardonnay, May 08
420 cs 06 BeauSierra, June 08
1030 cs 06 Zinfandel, July 08
610 cs 06 Cabernet, August 08
A Tasting Fee of $5/person on the Estate Reserve wines of Cabernet, Pinot
Noir, and Zinfandel was put into effect on 4/6/08. The Tasting Fee
is refunded upon purchase. Club Members enjoy complimentary tasting.
Come Visit
There is not a better place on earth than our Tasting Room Gardens
to taste and savor our new vintages while enjoying a picnic lunch.
Engross yourself in the close surrounding flora of our
vineyards while enjoying the magnificent views of Dry Creek Valley.
We are open Fr-Su 11-4:30pm and mid
week by appointment.
Hope to see you out our way soon.
Salute per tutti! Good health to all!
Jim Forchini/Editor
Update 4/24/08 ( 2 weeks after posting the above
newsletter)
In the early morning of 4/21/08 temperatures dropped in
Dry Creek Valley to 28 degrees and severe frost damage was incurred
depending on location. At our Dry Creek Bench Vineyard an avalanche of
cold air swept through the lower draw behind the winery resulting in damage
to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, our young 2 year old Petite Verdot
plants and our newly grafted Malbec vines. The upper benchland
of Zinfandel and Cabernet escaped damage. The overall loss is
difficult to estimate but it will have an impact on our production for the
year including our Cabernet Sauvignon and BeauSierra Bordeaux style
wines. Russian River Terrace Pinot Noir and Chardonnay seem to be OK
fortunately. April daytime/nightime temperatures have been well below
normal in addition to continued dry weather. Picture below is of Cab
Franc behind the Tasting Room.
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