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Ana Keller of Keller Estate and Ricky Stancliffe of Trombetta Wines are our in-studio guests on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell.
As Petaluma Gap wineries, they are participating in the Wind to Wine festival on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Gambonini Family Ranch in Petaluma. If you want to get to know the wines of the Petaluma Gap, this is the place to go. There is a discount code KRSH for listeners at the Wind to Wine festival site.
Ana Keller has brought their 2025 Pétillant Naturel of Pinot Noir, which has a crown cap on the bottle. This is a rare wine. It has a silvery-pinkish color. Known by the French abbreviation “pet nat” they have light bubbles. They are less effervescent than champagne and stronger fruit flavors.
Ana explains they did an early pick and cold fermentation. This is clone 667 which is fruit forward. It is a dry Rosé with a little bit of effervescence. It ls like a vin gris which is usually bone dry, although this has a little bit of residual sugar. Dan says the cool night time temperatures in the Petaluma Gap help maintain good acidity. It has a crisp aftertaste and comes in at 11% Abv. Everyone agrees that this would go well with oysters.
Ricky tells about a cruise they took down the Rhone River in 2017 on Ama. They are planning another one next May from the 14th to the 21st, on the Duoro River in Portugal. These are all-included on a boat that holds only 150 passengers. Anyone interested can look on the Petaluma Gap website. The Douro River is in the north near the city of Porto. It is home of many long standing port producers.
Trombetta Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
They are tasting a 2021 Trombetta Wines Chardonnay and Dan reminds us of his adage that Chardonnay is like a red wine with no color, while Pinot Noir is a white wine with color. A zen koan for your tasting.
Dan calls this a concentrated version of California Chardonnay. If you like Chard you’ll like this. It has “all the bells and whistles…” the character, citrus fruit, acidity, richness in the mid palette and a strong finish. It is rich without being heavy. At this temperature, which is cool, it would work with a lot of food. They used about 33% French oak and sur-lies battonage which enhances the flavors and also acts as a natural clarifying agent. Trombetta winemaker Erica Stancliffe is also making wines at Deodora Estate Vineyards.
They also taste a 2021 Trombetta Pinot Noir from the Gap’s Crown Vineyard. The clones are 667 and 115. Ricky calls it the nosebleed section because it’s at the top of the vineyard. All of the grapes are picked at night to keep them cold when they come into the winery. Erica likes to sneak some whole cluster into the maceration. Her wines are delicious when they are young, but they age well. They are a small winery, making less than 1000 cases per year. With Gaps Crown Vineyard wines, the longer you hold them, the more the aromatics and flavors will develop. Dan detects a trace of nutmeg which is not a spice normally associated with Pinot Noir. But in this case, it comes through in the aroma and the aftertaste. That indicates the wine is going to get better and better.
As Petaluma Gap wineries, they are participating in the Wind to Wine festival on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Gambonini Family Ranch in Petaluma. If you want to get to know the wines of the Petaluma Gap, this is the place to go. There is a discount code KRSH for listeners at the Wind to Wine festival site.