Dry Creek Valley Wine Meets Southwest Ranch Cuisine

For the second spring in a row, we have the pleasure of joining the team at Rancho de la Osa for a weekend of wine, regional cuisine, and ranch living at their beautiful Sonoran Desert home. Located 65 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona, at the foot of the Baboquivari Mountains, the century-old hacienda is renowned for its beauty, hospitality and top-notch gourmet events, including the upcoming Wine Weekend on March 9, 10 and 11.

	Join us for a wonderful winter retreat at Rancho de la Osa March 9-11.

Attendees will enjoy an authentic, adventurous and relaxing ranch experience by day (no TVs or radios and very few clocks here!), with a variety of outdoor activities and more stunning scenery at nearby Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and Brown Canyon. In the evenings, Rancho de la Osa’s chef brings everyone together for delicious multi-course dinners paired with Passalacqua wines.

Jason and Noelle can’t say enough about last year’s event, and, with Rancho de la Osa owners and Passa il Vino members Richard and Veronica Schultz, they invite you to add this getaway to your springtime travel plans. For more information and reservations, visit www.ranchodelaosa.com.

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Passalacqua Reserve Room To Open April 7, 2007

We’re pleased to announce the forthcoming addition of the Riserva della Vendemmia tasting experience to our Dry Creek Valley location. This premium, intimate space will be the first destination for our new releases, which will be served in Riedel crystal with specially paired sweets and savories. We’ll also be showcasing our Estate Zin, Maple Zin, Lavender Hill Primitivo and 2002 Cabernet.

Riserva della Vendemmia tastings are complimentary to Passa il Vino members and open to the public at $10 per person. For more information on the opening, watch for future e-mail bulletins from the winery or call us anytime at 877-825-5547.

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Postcard to Passalacqua

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Winemaker’s Notes: Winter In The Cellar With Margaret Davenport

	Topping off 2006 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay.

The harvest season of 2006 seemed to go on forever. All of us were spoiled by the relatively quick, hot years of 2003-2005. I began with Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc on September 7 and ended with Dry Creek Zinfandel on November 1.

And I should not complain because many growers were still waiting for Cabernet to ripen in mid-November. Although I make a good deal of estate-grown Cabernet (15 tons) at Passalacqua, their vineyard is on a well-drained bench above the Dry Creek Valley floor and has never been harvested at the end of October, as it was in 2006.

The North Coast as a whole had a blessedly cool vintage, following a late start due to the wet spring. But what really slowed things down was the persistently foggy summer mornings followed by rain in early October. The fog definitely set us up for botrytis, and there will be some great dessert wines made in 2006. The rain wasn’t particularly heavy but brought more cool weather and cloudiness. Lots of Zin was just hovering near perfect ripeness when it rained—a most frustrating situation! The weather slowly improved, but the daylight hours were waning and nighttime temperatures were gradually dropping.

As I began sampling fruit again, I noticed how fragile the grape skins had become. One expects this in very ripe Zin, but even the Cabernet was affected this time around: after the rain the skins almost slipped off, leaving the denuded pulp still attached to the rachis. Due to this rather strange skin condition, along with the mold present in so many vineyards, 2006 was not a year for extended maceration. The skins were just too easily broken down during punchdowns (Zin) and pumpovers (Cabernet). For 2006, Jason and I purchased a device that gently irrigates the cap on the red fermentors with wine. Using this, we were able to handle the fermenting must much more gently than with either punching or pumping over.

	Although recent freezing temperatures gave us some unexpected photo ops (this one by Prima Vite member Brian Boarts), the dormant vines were unaffected by the cold.

By November 9, all the Cabs were pressed off and then barreled the following week. Another striking occurrence of 2006 was the speed with which the malolactic fermentation is proceeding. All of the red wines except Cabernet were finished and rackable (separated from fermentation solids like grape particles, yeast and bacteria cells) by the end of December. Chardonnay, of course, is just poking along in barrel. The Chardonnay will remain on its lees, stirred every two to four weeks, until next summer’s bottling.

The young wines of 2006 are slowly growing out of infancy and showing more personality. Most of them are out of their malolactic funks and speaking again in tones of fruit and oak. There has been time for oak extraction, particularly in the new barrels. I’m especially excited about the Gamba barrels we’ve acquired from Italy for the Zinfandel.

One of the greatest winemaking pleasures is to regularly taste each wine in barrel as it develops. Fermentation bouquet fades as fruit aromas and flavors clarify and then gradually blend with oak. As time passes, the more exotic aromas and flavors from fruit and barrel become apparent, like spices, coconut, and vanilla, as well as chocolate and toast. Join us at Barrel Tasting and during Passport Weekend for an opportunity to taste and appreciate the evolution of our wines.

	Jason and Margaret adjusted weekly yield expectations during one of the longest harvest seasons in recent history.

Farmer's Corner:
A Look At Harvest 2006
Tom & Sandi Passalacqua

Cautious optimism abounds for the success of the 2006 harvest among the farmers who devoted attention, time and labor to produce quality fruit.

Proper canopy and irrigation management assisted the vines and grapes in surviving the 15-day heat spike in July with temperatures ranging from 100 to 119 degrees. In August and September, Mother Nature cooperated by giving us warm days and cool nights—the desired grape growing conditions for Sonoma County. The grapes matured slowly, which is very important as the climate is one of the major factors determining brix, acid, and tannins. Bud break occurred in April, bloom in late June, and harvest in September and October; hence, the duration of the “hang time” was optimum.

Every winemaker knows that the brix, acid, and tannin must be in balance in order to produce the high quality of wine that an experienced palate expects. Although the weather cooperated to give both the white and red varietals the optimal growing conditions, a week of cool, foggy, wet nights created mildew problems. Fortunately, when the dense fog arrived, the fruit was mature and the brix, acid, and tannins were in balance, which allowed the majority of farmers to harvest their crop before mildew became a problem. But some were not so fortunate as they left their crop on the vine.

Just before harvest, winemakers and their assistants were in the vineyard inspecting and tasting the flavors of the grapes almost every other day. Depending on the slope of the terrain and the direction of the rows (north–south, east–west or a variation thereof), a single block in the vineyard was harvested at different times. Competition to produce Sonoma County’s world-class wines demands total cooperation between the farmer and the winery, so a delayed harvest in a single, separate block has become a necessity. The total tonnage of the grape crop was 15-25% below the 2006 yield, and slightly below the average. The 2006 grape juice is in stainless steel, oak barrels, or bottled, and the vines are now being tended for the 2007 harvest. If Mother Nature’s plan for 2007 is similar to 2005 and 2006, grape growers will give wineries the fruit that makes our county’s wines so renowned. Enjoy!