Darek Trowbridge from Old World Winery discusses natural wine on today’s California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Today’s show was recorded live in downtown Santa Rosa, in front of the Bollywood Restaurant. Darek Trowbridge is the owner of Old World Winery which produces natural wine, which they will describe on the show. Dan introduces the subject of natural wine. There are some people in the wine producing business who are seeking the old […]

Greg Morthole and Justin Seidenfeld both join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today on California Wine Country. Greg Morthole is the winemaker from Davis Bynum Winery and Justin Seidenfeld is the winemaker Rodney Strong and for a new project called Rowen. It’s a new single vineyard at high elevation which has been in the works for 15 years. Greg majored in natural sciences, he went to University of Wyoming but took many wine classes since then. […]

Randy Ullom, winemaster at Kendall-Jackson, is our guest in the studio with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. (This episode was originally recorded on October 19, 2016. There was no live show today Oct. 3, 2018, since Steve and Mike are traveling to Washington DC this week.) Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger start by tasting a very nice Estero Gold cheese, courtesy of their friend Sharon Montgomery at Oliver’s. Dan says this cheese […]

Our two guests today are Tom Mackey, the former winemaker at St. Francis Winery, now owner of Mackey Cellars, and Jim Morris, winemaker at Charles Krug. Barry Herbst is back in today too. Tom Mackey retired in 2012 after 30 years at St. Francis. Dan Berger says Tom knows where all the great grapes are so he is not surprised he is back in the business. Mackey Cellars has sold out its first two vintages, 2013 and […]

Jeff Hinchliffe, winemaker at Hanna Winery, is our guest, and Rene Byck from Paradise Ridge is also here. Today’s Wines Tasted: 2015 Hanna Red Ranch Malbec 2017 Hanna Bismark Mtn. Vineyard Riesling 2017 Hanna Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Paradise Ridge Pinot Noir 2017 Paradise Ridge Sauvignon Blanc Steve asks how the harvest is going. Jeff says you don’t really know until after it’s over. You can only look into the crystal ball so much, and you only […]

Tom Simoneau has brought two guests from Treasury Wine Estates, Tamara Stanfill, PR Manager and Ming Alterman, Director of Digital. First, Tom mentions the talking wine bottles, which Steve promises we will get into, in detail. But first Steve asks them to talk about Treasury Wine Estates. It is based in Australia and they own a lot of historic wineries in California like Beringer, Sterling and Chateau St. Jean. They also own brands in Australia like 19 […]

Don Chigazola is back with some Barbaresco wines from Italy today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Don Chigazola is a wine importer whose company Chigazola Merchants specializes in importing special wines from Italy. Today has brought some wines from a single family producer Fontanabianca, in the Barbaresco region (in Piedmont, northwest Italy). Don drives the back roads of Italy with his son looking for good local wines. He will establish a relationship […]

Paul Foppiano, President and Rod MacNeil, General Manager, of Foppiano Vineyards are our guests today on California Wine Country. Paul Foppiano describes the winery as a small one and so he does a little bit of everything there. The Foppiano family has been making wine in the area since 1896 and Paul is the 5th generation that makes wine. Today they make high quality Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay Pinot Noir and Petite Syrah. Paul’s grandfather reopened with […]

Giovanni Balistreri from Russian River Vineyards and Wendy Hilberman from the Russian River Valley Winegrowers are our guests today. Wendy Hilberman is executive director of the Russian River Winegrowers Association. They will be putting on a Paulée Dinner which is a traditional Burgundian event, a dinner that celebrates the end of the harvest. (The word comes from a Burgundian dialect term for the last skins that are put in the press.)  In France they do it […]

Devin Ruddick of Hook and Ladder Vineyards and Winery is today’s guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. The Hook & Ladder Winery is in the most gorgeous area in Sonoma County, with a lot of great neighbors and organizations that keep them busy and popular. The De Loach family still owns the winery and Cecil De Loach was a San Francisco fireman, who was a “tiller” who steered a hook and […]

Jason Schneider and Ken Tominaga are our guests on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Jason Schneider is the GM, spirits buyer and sake buyer at Bottle Barn and Ken Tominaga is owner, founder and chef at Hana, a fine Japanese restaurant in Rohnert Park. Today’s show is a much-awaited episode all about sake. Dan Berger remembers when Hana opened in the area. Steve remembers when he was on a radio station in […]

Jesse Katz of Aperture Cellars and Devil Proof Vineyards joins Steve Jaxon and Tom Simoneau on California Wine Country this week, while Dan Berger is still on vacation. Jesse Katz’s father Andy Katz is a very famous photographer in Sonoma County and his pictures are on the labels of Aperture Cellars wines. Jesse grew up in Colorado and spent time in Tuscany, Burgundy and Bordeaux, as he grew up. His family had the European habit of […]

Guillaume Bodet, associate winemaker at Hyde de Villaine Wines, is our guest today. Tom Simoneau is in, so is Barry Herbst, while Dan Berger is on vacation this week.  First, Guillaume tells about HdV in Napa, created in 2000. The Hyde family is from Carneros in Napa and the de Villaine family have been making high quality wine in Burgundy for many generations at the renowned Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, known as DRC. The families are related […]

  Pat Henderson, winemaker from Kenwood Vineyards is back with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today on California Wine Country. First off, Pat begins with the Kenwood story, which started in 1906, and this is their 112th vintage. They have been called Kenwood since 1970. They were one of the pioneers that changed from making jug wine to fine wine in bottles meant to be enjoyed with good food. Dan Berger goes on to tell about […]

Bernadette Byrne, Executive Director of the Mendocino County Wine Growers, is our guest on California Wine Country today. She joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Barry Herbst to talk about Mendocino County grape growers and vintners and to taste several examples of their production. Dan Berger describes the Mendocino County as having a series of sub-regions regions such as Anderson Valley, Redwood Valley and Potter Valley. Each one has very different characteristics that come out in […]

California Wine Country is on vacation for Independence Day today, so here is a reprise of our March 22, 2017 show featuring Tim Bell from Dry Creek Vineyard. We will be back next week with a new show. Cheers! Today’s guest is Tim Bell, winemaker at Dry Creek Vineyard. First we taste a very interesting Rosé from Bonny Doon Vineyards in Santa Cruz, then Steve and Dan talk to Tim Bell about Dry Creek Vineyards as […]