Producer Profiles Flashcards
Bonny Doon
- Location
- Style of wines
- Santa Cruz, California
- They are producing Rhône style wines
Sine Qua Non
- Location
- Style of wines
- South of Santa Barbara, California
- Rhône style wines
Dominus Estate
- Location
- Style of wines
- History
- Yountville, Naapnook Vineyards, Napa Valley, California
- Bordeaux style blends
- owned by Christian Moueix since 1982. (He managed Pétrus for over thirty-eight years)
Christian Moueix, president of Bordeaux négociant Jean-Pierre Moueix and owner of several Right Bank Bordeaux properties (including Trotanoy and La Fleur-Pétrus), formed a partnership with Robin Lail and Marcia Smith to purchase Napa’s historic Napanook Vineyard in 1982.
The new estate, Dominus, released its first vintage of a Bordeaux-style, Cabernet-based blend in 1983. Moueix became the sole proprietor of the property in 1995, and in 1996 introduced a second wine, the Napanook blend. The estate is dry-farmed, and planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Tod Mostero, Director of Viticulture and Winemaking, has worked at the estate since 2007.
Kistler
- Location
- Styles of Wine
- History
- Sonoma Hills/Coast, Carneros, Russian River Valley
- Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
- The Kistler family founded Kistler Vineyards in 1978, and the first vintage was made in 1979. The winery focuses solely on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir production from across Sonoma County and southern Napa. Since 2006, a conscious effort has been made to step away from the “big, rich style” of Chardonnay that made the winery popular. Grapes are harvested earlier and the winery uses less new oak than in the past. Vineyard operations and winemaking are overseen by Steve Kistler and his business partner Mark Bixler oversees lab work and business management.
Jason Kesner, former vineyard manager of Hudson Vineyards in Carneros, was hired to assist Steve with winemaking in 2008, and took over completely at the end of 2017 after Steve stepped down to focus on the Occidental label.
Ruinart
- Commune
- Top wines
- History/style
- Reims
- Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blanc Brut Vintage
Blanc de Blanc NV
Dom Ruinart Rosé Brut Vintage - Established in 1729, it is the oldest champagne house. It is mostly dependent on Chardonnay but not necessarily on grapes from Côte des Blanc, and it is usually a blend with grapes from Montagne de Reims.
The base wine is fermented in stainless steel and goes through malolactic fermentation.
Charles Heidsieck
• Commune
• Top wines
• Little bit of history/style
• Reims
• Champagne Charlie
• Blanc de Millénaires
• Brut Millésimé
• Rosé Millésimé
• Charles Camille Heidsieck and Ernest Henriot founded this Champagne house. Heidsick, a slick salesman, saw the potential in the American market and took his first sales trip to the States in 1852. On his visits, Charles became a favorite of New York high society and picked up the nickname “Champagne Charlie.”
Usually, the full-bodied style of champagne
Weingut Emmerich Knoll
* Location
* Predominant grapes and styles
* Info
* Top wines
- Unterloiben, Wachau, Austria
- Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. Grapes are hand-harvested and have no malolactic fermentation. Large oak foudres are almost exclusively used for oxidative purposes, although some steel tanks are used. The Smaragd wines are known to be able to age for decades.
- Family-operated Weingut Emmerich Knoll, currently run by Emmerich II. It was founded in 1825. The labels adorning Knoll’s bottles depict St. Urban, the patron saint of winemaking, in glorious detail
- Loibenberg Riesling Smaragd
Loibenberg Grüner Veltliner Smaragd
Weingut F.X. Pichler
* Location
* Grapes and styles
* Info
* Top wines
- Wachau, Austria
- Grüner Veltliner, Riesling. Grapes are hand-harvested and traditionally aged in large oak casks. No fining before bottling.
- One of the finest estates in Wachau. It has gained the most claims since Franz Xaver (F.X.) took over in 1971. 80% of total production is Smaragd (the rest is Fiederspiel). F.X.’s son Lucas joined in 1996 and took over management and winemaking in 2009 when F.X. retired.
- Grüner Veltliner Dürnsteiner Liebenberg Smaragd
Grüner Veltliner Loibner Berg Smaragd
Unendlich Grüner Veltliner, Riesling
Weingut Prager
* Location
* Grapes and styles
* Info
* Top wines
- Wachau, Austria
- Grüner Veltliner, Riesling. Wines are known for their high acidity and freshness. Grapes are picked through several passes to avoid Botrytis. Winemaker Anton (Toni) Bodenstein believes in a healthy ecosystem in the vineyard and does not use herbicides, insecticides, or fertilizers. They use natural yeast, and grapes are destemmed and macerated with the skins for up to 15 hours. The wines are aged in their lees up until bottling in temperature-controlled steel tanks. Typically, bottling occurs in February for Fiederspiel and April for the Smaragd.
- The Prager estate is one of the oldest in Wachau. It dates back to 1302. Franz Prager dedicated his career to improving quality wines from his estate and all of the Wachau. He was a founding member of the Vinea Wachau Nobilis Distictus and served as chairman until 1988. Since Franz’s retirement in the 1980s, the estate is now run by his daughter, Ilse, and husband, Anton (Toni) Bodenstein.
- Achleiten Stockkultur Grüner Veltliner Smaragd,
Hinter der Burg Grüner Veltliner Smaragd
