Prince of Wine » winery

Wine Review Short #35: Valdez Family Winery-Mexican Immigrant Success Story

princeofwine — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:58:40 +0000

Most of us day dream of doing things we are passionate about ( a mid career change anybody?) whether it is becoming an actor, best selling writer, an accomplished chef or a winemaker. The reality is there is a tremendous amount of work to be done behind the scenes to accomplish our dreams. Enter Ulises Valdez a field worker who landed in Napa/Sonoma in 1985 as an immigrant from Michoacan, Mexico. Ulises joined the thousands of immigrant field hands who are the backbone of the agricultural miracle we call California and specifically the vine growing valleys of Napa/Sonoma. Behind all the fancy labels and the “superstar” winemakers this small army tends to the vineyard, protecting, nurturing, pruning and harvesting. Ulises, a hard worker climbed up the ladder and ended up owning his own vineyard management business. Although the history of Napa/ Sonoma is primarily a success (and heartbreak!) story of italian immigrants who over the generations rose to the top (Mondavi, Gallo, Sebastiani etc.), there are few Mexican field workers who rise to become winemakers themselves (other notable mexican immigrant success stories are listed below). Valdez took the big leap bottling his debut wines in 2006 producing varietals like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel to critical acclaim. Valdez has the advantage of picking and choosing the source for his wines from the various vineyards he manages for his clients. I tasted the 2006 Lancel Creek Russian River Valley Zinfandel (one of 5 different single vineyard Zinfandels Valdez makes) and found it to be very elegant with the characteristic varietal fruitiness but without the sticky mouthfeel of bigger Zins. The wine was made with the help of consulting winemaker Jeff Cohn and was sourced from a tiny 2 acre parcel with a production of 400 cases. 15.5% alcohol. POW 92 points.

As the new generations grow up within the vineyards, my prediction is that the story of Valdez will be more of the norm than the exception. For further information please visit valdezfamilywinery.com.

Here is a list of other notable and successful Mexican immigrant stories:

Ceja Vineyards cejavineyards.com
Renteria Wines renteriawines.com
Madrigal Vineyards madrigalvineyards.com
Delgadillo Cellars dcellars.com
Shafer Vineyards shafervineyards.com (The longtime winemaker is the respected Elias Fernandez)

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine

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iPOW-Carlo’s Garage Winery, Pittsburgh, PA

princeofwine — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:53:19 +0000

A couple of guys making wine in Pittsburgh, yes the Pittsburgh, PA. The urban winery is located in The Strip District, a historical area with a heavy italian immigrant influence. It was also my first introduction to the Vidal Blanc Varietal, a hybrid white grape well suited to cold climates.

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine

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Wine Review Short #8 – 2004 Ceja Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa

princeofwine — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 09:17:19 +0000

The Ceja family, an immigrant success story, makes a cabernet sauvignon wine of medium garnet color that is aged for 28 months in a mix of French and American oak barrels. This Carneros sourced wine exhibits aromas of smoke and a mixture of red and dark fruit. On the palate the wine carries the smoke and intertwines it with cassis, plums and blackberry. The tannins are soft and serve as a nice backdrop. Overall a solid effort. Made in small quantities (235 cases), drink now to 2014.

For more information please visit:
www.cejavineyards.com

For information about the painting in the background, please visit www.dougiemann.com

POW 90

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
www.princeofwine.com

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First Ever Episode – Menghini Winery, Julian, California

princeofwine — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:19:51 +0000

This documentary style show on location in Julian in the mountains East of San Diego, was my first ever Prince of Wine show of any kind. It was taped August 28, 2007. I had a lot of fun especially when I spilled the wine on my shirt during the interview with Mike Menghini, owner of Menghini Winery. The old title was there (Prince of Wines-plural) as well as “Episode 2″ because I had done a home wine tasting and I had considered Menghini “Episode 2″. This is definitely an experimental format with a lot of rough edges. I also crammed way too much that day. After we finished taping in the morning, my crew and I drove 55 miles West to downtown San Diego and taped the ‘Tango Wine” Episode during lunchtime then drove another 35 miles to Escondido (North San Diego County) to tape the Orfila Winery show…Phewwww!!

Walid Romaya
www.princeofwine.com

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Wine Review Short #15 – Robert Parker interrupts my interview with Janet Myers of Mount Veeder Winery!

princeofwine — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:11:42 +0000

After attending the acclaimed wine critic Robert Parker’s Napa based tasting of 20 of the top 2005 Bordeaux wines (all 1st growths plus the Cheval Blanc and Pavie crowd), I attended a private Dinner at Press restaurant in St. Helena in honor of Parker. Although the place was packed (with Napa’s who’s who in attendance), for some unknown reason our table of 10 had only 2 people in addition to myself: Janet Myers, the winemaker of Mt Veeder winery and Genevieve Janssens, the winemaker of Robert Mondavi Winery. I handed my little flip camera to Genvieve to record an interview with Janet and then Robert Parker stopped by for a quick chat. Interview interrupted!!
Later I resumed the interview with Janet,(I will post next)…

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
www.princeofwine.com

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Wine Review Short #10 – Yates Family Vineyard, Mount Veeder Appellation, Napa

princeofwine — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:53:27 +0000

Michael and Lynn Yates and their daughters Whitney and Mary operate the 35 acre Yates family vineyard in Mount Veeder, Napa Valley. I tasted their 2005 Cheval, a small production (98 cases, $45) of 100% Cabernet Franc of exceptional balance and finesse, with forward red fruit tamed by evident but silky tannins (POW 91).This varietal seems perpetually in the shadow of Cabernet Sauvignon, but here the Yates manage to put it at center stage! For more information on the Yates and their wines, please go to www.yatesfamilyvineyard.com

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
www.princeofwine.com

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Wine Review Short #12 – Educated Guess!!..Interview with Marc Albrecht of Roots Run Deep Winery

princeofwine — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:41:38 +0000

Marc Albrecht started Yountville based Roots Run Deep winery in 2005 to make wines that well…keeps you guessing!! No!! The fact of the matter is we all make educated guesses when we buy wines; What is it going to taste lik? Is it worth the price? is it the right vintage? and so on.. so Marc made his affordable ($20) Napa Cabernet Sauvignon wine with the great label: Educated Guess!!
For more information visit www.rootsrundeep.com

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
www.princeofwine.com

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Wine Review Short #13 – Carica Winery- Terroir in Sonoma!

princeofwine — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:17:13 +0000

Interview with winemaker Charlie Dollbaum of Carica Wines at the Kick Ranch tasting event as part of the Wine Bloggers Conference event in Sonoma County. Charlie makes a minerally charged Sauvignon Blanc as well as a bold but well balanced Rhone style Syrah. Both grapes sourced from Carica Wines partner Dick Keenan’s Kick Ranch, a vineyard that believes in little intervention in the grape growing process and sustainable farming practices. They have a terroir state of mind! For more information you may visit www.caricawines.com

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
www.princeofwine.com

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Wine Review Short#11- Siduri Winery, Sonoma County

princeofwine — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:55:50 +0000

I met Adam Lee of Siduri Winery at the 1st US Annual Wine Bloggers Conference held in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. I tasted a few of his single vineyard pinot noirs sourced from appellations ranging from St. Lucia Highlands, Russian River Valley all the way to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Adam and his wife Dianna, both Texas transplants, moved to Sonoma in 1993 intending to write about wine (also working in wine tasting rooms to make ends meet) but ended up getting the winemaking bug (and using their whole life savings of $24,000) by releasing their 1994 Pinot Noir under the Siduri label (named after the Mesopotamian Goddess of wine). As a winemaker without his own vineyards, Adam has pursued a quest to source grapes from vineyards buying by the acre instead by the ton (i.e lower yields but improved quality). This gives him the freedom to manage the various aspects of grape growing (grape thinning, trellising etc.) as though he owned the land himself. The effort shows well. I was very impressed with the multi layered, spicy and earthy 2006 Keefer Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley) (239 cases, $52)(POW 93). The 2007 Sonoma County Blend Pinot Noir is a nice effort with well defined and relatively complex bright red fruit characteristics, and a medium finish. (1,374 cases, $20)(POW 89). For more information you can log on to www.siduri.com

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine
www.princeofwine.com

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Wine Review Short #9 – A new winery from Paso Robles – Daou Vineyards and La Capilla

princeofwine — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:41:44 +0000

I met Daniel Daou co-owner and Chief Winemaker of Daou Vineyards at the Southern Wine Trade fall tasting in San Diego’s downtown Hyatt Regency. In these occasions I am always trying to spot the new faces on the wine scene and I was happy to meet Daniel. He and his brother grew up in France and headed stateside for their Engineering education. After a successful career in the technology field (which included a successful IPO), Daniel went deep into the wine business by acquiring a 100 acre estate in the west mountain Adelaida area of Paso Robles. The winery and tasting room are in the planning stage with groundbreaking scheduled in 2009.

Daniel heads a winemaking team of James Hendon and Oenologist Delphine Barboux-Laurent from France. Their focus is Bordeaux and Rhone varietals in the true french terroir fashion. I was able to taste through their line up at the event and I was impressed by the finesse and balance of their wines for a retail range of $20-$40. For more information please visit their website at www.daouvineyards.com.

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