Pinot noir or Pinot nero is a red-wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for pine and black. The word pine alludes to the grape variety having tightly clustered, pinecone–shaped bunches of fruit.
Roussanne is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellations of Crozes-Hermitage AOC, Hermitage AOC and Saint-Joseph AOC. In the southern Rhône appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC it is one of six white grapes allowed, where it may be blended into red wines. Roussanne is also planted in various wine-growing regions of the New World, such as California, Washington, Texas, South Africa and Australia as well as European regions such as Crete, Tuscany and Spain.
Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th century. It has been often cultivated because it makes for abundant production; however, it can produce wines of distinction when planted on acidic soils, which help to soften the grape's naturally high acidity.
Terroir is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these contextual characteristics are said to have a character; terroir also refers to this character.
The state of Oregon in the United States has established an international reputation for its production of wine, ranking fourth in the country behind California, Washington, and New York. Oregon has several different growing regions within the state's borders that are well-suited to the cultivation of grapes; additional regions straddle the border between Oregon and the states of Washington and Idaho. Wine making dates back to pioneer times in the 1840s, with commercial production beginning in the 1960s.
Bien Nacido Vineyards is cool-climate vineyard on the central coast of California. Located midway up the Santa Maria Valley, it is known for growing Burgundian and Rhone varieties of wine grapes. Bien Nacido has the distinction of being one of the major viticultural nurseries in the state for certified, varietal budwood. Most of the vines were originally from stock grown by the University of California at Davis. While the average increase block in California is less than 10 acres (40,000 m2), Bien Nacido Vineyards has several hundred acres of certified Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and a number of other varieties. Much of the Chardonnay planted in California in the last twenty years began as Bien Nacido Vineyards cuttings.
Pacific Rim Winemakers is a Washington winery owned by the Mariani Family. It was founded by Randall Grahm in 1992. Pacific Rim's winery is located in West Richland and is the United States' only large winery devoted almost exclusively to Riesling. The wines have been produced since the 2006 vintage) by general manager and head winemaker Nicolas Quillé. Pacific Rim produces principally Riesling from Dry to dessert style and also small amounts of Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, and Chenin blanc.
Bonny Doon Vineyard is a winery in the Santa Cruz locale, that focuses on terroir wines. Founded by Randall Grahm in 1983, it is perhaps best known for its quirky labels, eccentric mix of grapes, and humorously named wines—like its flagship wine, "Le Cigare Volant". It was amongst the first Californian wineries to embrace Rhone varietals, and entered the national spotlight in 1989, after Grahm appeared on the cover of Wine Spectator as "The Rhone Ranger."
Sonoma County wine is wine made in Sonoma County, California, in the United States.
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
The Rhone Rangers are a group of American winemakers who promote the use of grape varieties from the Rhône Valley. They are mostly based on the West Coast, particularly California, and have created a not-for-profit organization for the promotion of wines containing at least 75% of the 22 Rhône grape varieties. The name is a pun on The Lone Ranger, and was coined by Wine Spectator to describe Randall Grahm for their 1989 April 15 issue, which featured Grahm dressed as the Lone Ranger under the title "The Rhône Ranger" (singular). The name was subsequently used for other winemakers.
Sine Qua Non is a California winery that is known for its limited-production and expensive wines made from blends of Rhône grape varieties. Each release is allocated and directly sold to a mailing list of customers. As of 2018, the wait to join the mailing list was approximately 9 years. The winery is located in Ventura County and was founded in 1993 by Austrian Manfred Krankl, who emigrated to the US in 1980.
Matt Kramer is an American wine critic since 1976. He is a columnist for The Oregonian, was a columnist for The New York Sun before its demise in 2008, and previously for Los Angeles Times, and since 1985 is a regular contributor to Wine Spectator. He has been described as "perhaps the most un-American of all America's wine writers", by Mike Steinberger as "one of the more insightful and entertaining wine writers around", and by Hugh Johnson as "an intellectual guerrilla among wine writers".
Cristom Vineyards is an Oregon wine producer and vineyard based near Salem, U.S. It is in the Eola-Amity Hills wine region within the Willamette Valley AVA, about 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Keizer.
Bethel Heights Vineyard is an Oregon winery in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley. Founded in 1977 by twin brothers Ted and Terry Casteel, their wives Pat Dudley and Marilyn Webb, and Pat's sister Barbara Dudley, the vineyard was one of the earliest plantings in the Eola-Amity Hills region. A winery soon followed, with the first estate wines produced in 1984. Bethel Heights specializes in Pinot noir, offering several individual block and vineyard designated bottlings, but also produces wines made from Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Pinot blanc, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, and Gewürztraminer.
Benjamin Cane is an Australian winemaker who currently owns Duke's Vineyard in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
Pisoni Estate is a family-owned and operated vineyard and winery located in the Santa Lucia Highlands of California’s Monterey Coast. It was founded in 1982 by Gary Pisoni, who was more interested in growing wine grapes than row crops for the family vegetable farm. He decided to plant a vineyard in the mountains above the Salinas Valley--an area previously considered undesirable for growing because of its dry, granitic soil. The vineyard began with small crops of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir, then eventually focused on the Pinot Noir for which it has become renowned.
Dick Ponzi is an American winemaker, a pioneer of the Oregon wine industry and the Oregon brewing industry, and the founder of Ponzi Vineyards, one of the Willamette Valley's founding wineries. He also had a successful career as a structural engineer. Ponzi is regarded as an enological and viticultural innovator. He was a founding member and the first president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association and a founding director of the Oregon Wine Board. He and his wife also established Oregon's first craft brewery, Bridgeport Brewing Company.
Santa Barbara County wine is an appellation that designates wine made from grapes grown mostly in Santa Barbara County, California which is located approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of Los Angeles County. County names in the United States automatically qualify as legal appellations of origin for wine produced from grapes grown in that county and do not require registration with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) of the Treasury Department. TTB was created in January 2003, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF, was extensively reorganized under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
