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Barbara Barrielle
Barbara Barrielle, publicist, writer, actress and producer, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. She writes about travel, wine, food and entertainment and she also works for Anderson Valley Winegrowers, promoting the International White Wine Festival. Her documentary film about Anderson Valley wines features Dan Berger.
The Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association is putting on the International White Wine Festival. The festival used to be called the Alsatian Wine Festival because it focused on Alsatian aromatic whites that grow in Anderson Valley. The valley is also known for Pinot Noir now. The new name of the festival opens the door to other whites that are also growing in Anderson Valley. Dan Berger will be in charge of the Rieslings. There will also be Pinot Gris, Gewürtztraminer and lots of others.
As an example, Dan has brought a dry Riesling from Ra Ra Wines. Ra Ra wines is run by winemaker Kara Groom who was on this episode of CWC last year on Feb. 16. 2024.
Cole Ranch grows the best Riesling in California
The fruit comes from Cole Ranch, which grows the best Riesling in Mendocino County. They have a total of 81 acres and only four and a half of Riesling. Riesling and Cabernet Franc are selling well, but all the other California varieties are down. This is in the context of a huge downturn in overall wine sales.
Anderson Valley also produces fine sparkling wines. The best known brands are Sharffenberger and Roderer. In about 1980 the Roderer company in Champagne, France, decided to look for property in the US. Their agent hired the Foppiano family to take him around to different properties. They found a ridge where the influence of marine air flow was arriving. They decided to plant a couple of acres of vines as a test, which went well. To this day, Roderer is making the best sparkling wines in the US. They compare well to Iron Horse, the best American maker. Lichen Estate also makes excellent product. There are small producers like Pennyroyal Farms and Navarro that also have sparkling wine production.