Bottle Barn Rosé wines are the subject of this episode of California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. It’s Rosé all day with Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Bottle Barn has more Rosés than anyone in Sonoma County and may stock more than any store in the whole country. They have at least 90 different ones, which is not quite as much as […]

Taft Street Winery co-founder Mike Martini is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Taft Street Wines is family owned and operated since 1979 including their time as home winemakers. They started officially as a bonded winery in 1982. Mike tells how his friends liked their wine so some of them decided to form a winery. They are bringing in grapes now on their forty-first harvest. Today, instead of a […]

Miro Cellars owner and winemaker Miro Tcholakov is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Miro was on this show exactly 5 years ago, on this episode of August 16, 2017. The last time he was on was 2 years ago, on this episode of September 2, 2020. Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn also joins the show in the studio. Born in northern Bulgaria, Miro got his first wine glass from his […]

Al and Lisa Brayton of Thirty-Seven Wines join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Their winery is located in the Petaluma Gap, the new AVA in southern Sonoma County that is characterized by its windy conditions. When they chose their winery’s name, they wanted to give it a sense of place and since they were located on Highway 37, they chose that number. They also chose a logo, an ancient symbol called the […]

Kevin Bersofsky from Montagne Russe Wines is our guest in the studio and Randy Bennett from Sojourn Cellars will be calling in later. Petaluma Gap is a fairly new appellation and it is becoming famous for quality wines, and for wines that are distinctive. The Petaluma Gap Winegrowers is promoting the Wind to Wine Festival on August 13, 2022. It will be a celebration of Petaluma Gap featuring 25 wineries from this new AVA. Many smaller […]

Steve Situm from Carol Shelton Wines is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Steve Jaxon begins by reading the story from Carol Shelton’s website, about how her mother played a game with her where she had to identify spices by their scent. She has been making wine for forty-two years and was the winemaker for Rodney Strong who made all of their award-winning wines. Since she did not get […]

Dehlinger Winery winemaker Darryl Miller is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. The Dehlinger Winery vineyard is located in the area of Goldridge soil in the western part of the Russian River Valley AVA, not far from Sebastopol. The last time Darryl was on California Wine Country was this episode of August 26, 2020 and Eva Dehlinger was also on this show in October 2018, on this episode. The Dehlinger family […]

World Winery winemaker Darek Trowbridge is our guest on California Wine Country with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Darek founded Old World Winery to practice natural winemaking. He is also featured in a documentary on natural wine called Living Wine, being released this month. Dan Berger has brought another cellar dweller this week, from Dan’s deep, dark and dangerous cellar. He thought the 2019 Jim Barry Watervale Riesling would be good […]

Winemaker Niki Williams of Chateau St Jean is back with Alexandra O’Gorman of Foley Family Wines on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. They were here a month ago on this June 8, 2022 episode which was cut short by an impending NBA broadcast. So now they are back for a full show. Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn will also join us. Alexandra O’Gorman tells about Foley Family Wines, which has purchased several family […]

Joseph Phelps Vineyards, an iconic Napa Valley winery with holdings in Sonoma County, has new ownership. Dan Berger is in the studio today for a special edition of California Wine Country, to talk about the deal with Harry Duke. Moët-Chandon is the new owner. It is the champagne brand that is part of the French LVMH portfolio of companies. That company was created from a merger between them and Hennessey, the cognac company. Then they acquired […]

Acorn Winery co-owner Bill Nachbaur is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. First, Bill tells about buying the vineyard that had been planted decades ago as a field blend. This means different varietals are planted side by side in the same vineyard, unlike most vineyards today. As a teenager in the 1890s Bill’s grandfather worked in vineyards in the area. The whole story is on their website. Field-blended wines are […]

Piemonte wines are on the table today as Don Chigazola is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He has brought some wines from Piemonte (the region in northwest Italy located south of Switzerland and east of France). His company Chigazola Merchants imports unique wines produced in the various regions of Italy. They travel back roads in Italy and meet the local people in order to find the best long-established producers. They […]

Rosé Season is here at Bottle Barn and Barry Herbst is here to tell all about it on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. First, Dan Berger’s Cellar Dweller wine this week is a 2010 Chardonnay from New Zealand, from Peregrine, located in central Otago. Michelle Richardson was the winemaker there for that vintage. “Very much alive, still,” says Barry Herbst at the first taste. The season of Rosé wine is here and Barry […]

Chateau St. Jean winemaker Niki Williams and Alexandra O’Gorman from Foley Family Wines join Steve Jaxon, Harry Duke and Tom Simoneau on California Wine Country today. Dan Berger is away this week. Alexandra O’Gorman’s title is Senior Director of Luxury Sonoma Estates at Foley Family Wines. Niki Williams is the winemaker at Chateau St. Jean winery. Alexandra tells how the company has invested in many family wineries and they have also acquired Chateau St. Jean. They […]

Alicia Sylvester, the winemaker at Banshee Wines, is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke. Banshee Wines got started among three friends in a bar. It was, “very whimsically put together.” They wanted to make an affordable Pinot Noir of quality from Sonoma County. The name banshee emerged almost accidentally at the last minute. The cockatrice on the bottle is their symbol but they didn’t have the name until […]

GLF Wines owner Greg La Follette (“la-FOLL-et”) is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, to talk about his label GLF Wines, and more. The Drive co-host Harry Duke is also in the studio. Greg has been on CWC a few times before. The first was this episode on April 12, 2017. We heard about his previous label Alquimista Cellars in his next episode on November 21, 2018, then again on June 17, […]