At the 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, we were honored by the presence of Randall Grahm and Joel Peterson, two iconic American winemakers.
Randall Grahm, founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, received the American Wine Society Award of Merit. Ever since I bumped into Randall in San Francisco at the Opera House, I have been in touch with him through various channels, also because he loves German wine and his wine cellar is stocked with old Rieslings. Of course, he spent quite some time at our German Wine Booth at the Showcase of Wine Tasting.
Joel Peterson, founder of Ravenswood Vineyards, regularly comes to the American Wine Society National Convention and we have developped some rappport over time.
Annette Schiller, President of ombiasy PR and WineTours and member of the American Wine Society, led 2 wine tastings - "Renaissance of Terroir in Germany: Back to the Roots" and "Syrah and Shiraz: Is there any Difference, do they Taste the Same?" - at the 2019 Annual Meetings of the American Wine Society. In addition, Annette and Christian Schiller poured a selection of German wines at the Showcase of Wines event during the second evening.
The tastings were sponsored by ombiasy WineTours and the wine producers whose wines were presented or their US importers.
The 2019 American Wine Society Annual Meetings took place at St. Pete Beach in Florida, on Oct. 31 – Nov. 2, 2019.
More than 600 members from all over the USA came to this 3-day event, filled with tastings, seminars and presentations.
I have already provided an overview of the event her: The 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens
Postings on schiller-wine
This is the fourth in a series of postings related to the American Wine Society National Conference 2019 in St. Pete Beach, Florida:
The 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens
VDP at AWS: Tasting Premium German Wines at the Showcase of Wines of the 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, with Annette and Christian Schiller
Renaissance of the Terroir in Germany: Back to the Roots - Seminar at the 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, led by Annette Schiller
Syrah and Shiraz: Is there any Difference, do they Taste the Same? - Seminar at the 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, led by Annette Schiller
Dry Riesling From Around the World - Seminar at the 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, led by Janie Brooks Heuck, President, International Riesling Foundation
Two American Icons: With Graham Randall, Founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, and Joel Peterson, Founder of Ravenswood Vineyards,at the 2019 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA
Ombiasy WineTours Booth
One of the about 15 booths at the conference was Annette Schiller's ombiasyPR & WineTours booth, where Annette and I presented her 6 tours to Germany (East, South, North) and France (Bordeaux, Bourgogne, Rhone).
Randall Grahm Earns Top Consumer Honor
American Wine Society Press Release: St. Pete Beach, Fla. –Randall Grahm, founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, received the American Wine Society Award of Merit at the organization’s national conference in St. Pete Beach, Fla., earlier this month.
In an acceptance speech, Mr. Grahm humbly and humorously discussed several particularly vivid career failures over the past 35 years, as well as plans for the future at his estate vineyard in San Juan Bautista, CA. But the audience of 600 applauded him for his decades of innovation and successes.
The AWS’s Award of Merit is the highest consumer honor conferred on individuals in the wine industry, recognizing contributions that have enhanced wine appreciation and enjoyment. Since 1974, the AWS has presented this award annually to leaders in winemaking, viticulture, marketing, journalism, or merchandizing.
“Mr. Grahm has influenced wine styles, packaging, and marketing in enduring ways,” said AWS Executive Director David Falchek, citing Mr. Grahm’s pioneering experiments with Rhone grape varieties, his early embrace of Stelvin closures, and his innovative marketing, as with his flagship Rhone-style blend, Le Cigare Volant.
“Randall Grahm has been at the forefront of introducing new grape varieties, hastening the adoption of alternate closures, and marketing wine in fun, innovative ways,” Falchek said. “He is known as one of the industry’s great characters, but he has also been a force in shaping the wine industry for the better.”
When asked for a comment on this, his most recent accolade, Mr. Grahm said, “I am greatly honored by this acknowledgment from the AWS, but respectfully suggest that the real hard work is still yet to be doon. I look forward to many more productive years in this industry.”
Born in Los Angeles, Randall’s serious introduction to wine was at the Wine Merchant in Beverly Hills where, when he was not sweeping the floors, he was trying fine wines with the staff. He switched schools, dropping out of a liberal arts program, and attended UC Davis, studying plant science. He went about planting grapes, founding Bonny Doon Vineyards near Santa Cruz and setting out to make great pinot noir. But Burgundy magic proved elusive. Fortunately, Bonny Doon’s experimental vineyards and their resulting wine trials of Rhone varieties showed great promise. Mr. Grahm’s pioneering work led to a series of creative wines based on Rhone varieties, best known among them Le Cigare Volant. He embraced Stelvin (screw cap) closure early on, holding all-black “Death of the Cork" funerals in New York City and San Francisco in 2002, with a eulogy given by Jancis Robinson. Today, like a vinous Sisyphus, Mr. Grahm continues to challenge the conservative wine world, with an ambitious grape breeding program and new Popelouchum Vineyards, where he seeks to create a New World Grahm Cru.
The American Wine Society is the oldest and largest organization of wine consumers in the United States.
Randall Grahm
Randall Grahm might be the USA’s most influential wine voice since Robert Mondavi. Like the late Robert Mondavi, his wine journey was not a straight one.
A Los Angeles native and philosophy major at UC Santa Cruz, Randall Grahm became interested in wine while working in a wine shop, while he was studying philosophy. He moved on to studying winemaking at UC Davis and worked at the Smothers Brothers winery after graduation. In 1983, he started his own winery – Bonny Doon Vineyard – near Bonny Doon in Santa Cruz County, which became one of the USA’s largest wine producers. At its peak, in 2006, Bonny Doon sold some 450,000 cases of wine.
These days are over. Randall Grahm has abandoned making mass-market wine and is now en route to make a vin de terroir in small quantities - high-end, boutique wines.
The U-turn has also allowed him to spend more time with his partner, Chinshu Huang, and their young daughter Amelie, following a health crisis, a bout with osteomyelitis ( a rare bone infection). The surgery kept him from attending the opening of his own 2004 rock opera - Born to Rhone.
Pacific Rim – German Style Riesling
Pacific Rim is in Washington State now and produces 190,000 cases of wine, almost all of which is Riesling made from Washington grapes. Only Chateau Ste. Michelle and Hogue Cellars make more Riesling in Washington State. It is owned by the Banfi family.
Randall Grahm founded Pacific Rim in 1992. His Pacific Rim Dry Riesling quickly gained a loyal following among Riesling lovers, for its fresh and bright characteristics. When Randall Grahm decided in 2006 to downsize and reorganize Bonny Doon Vinyard, including Pacific Rim, he started to spin off his Pacific Rim wines as a standalone winery in Washington State, where the US Riesling grapes came from. He worked with the Den Hoed family, longtime grape growers in the Yakima Valley, to create a winemaking facility in the shadow of Red Mountain. In 2011, Pacific Rim was purchased by the Banfi family, which owns an important wine import company in New York and a famous winery and vineyard in Italy.
One of the Rieslings Randall Grahm used to produce was an Organic Riesling. According to Randall Grahm,” it was sustainably produced from vine to bottle --- 99.2% of all components for our Riesling are organic. We even use native — not commercial — yeast to best present the natural character of our vineyard. We use no pesticides and every element within our sustainably-farmed vineyard is native to the vineyard. Our winery is centrally located within fifty miles of all our vineyards, reducing freight and therefore reducing our carbon footprint. Skylights offset demand for electrical lighting. And energy-efficient alternatives are employed throughout our wine making process. Additionally, the package is 100% recyclable. For all our wines, we exclusively use stainless steel tanks to preserve the complex character of the Riesling grape. No oak barrels or malolactic fermentation are used in our wine making.”
Another Riesling was sold as a non-vintage. This wine was a very unusual wine. It was an intercontinental blend, made from grapes from Washington State and grapes from the Mosel area in Germany. 80 percent of the grapes come from the Columbia Valley in Washington State and 20 percent from the Mosel Valley, selected by the German wine maker Johannes Selbach. Because it was an intercontinental blend, the wine had to be labeled as a NV. Randall Grahm stopped using German grapes in 2008.
For more, see:
German American Wines: (1) Pacific Rim Dry Riesling, (2) Eroica, (3) Woelffer and his Schiller Wine
Visiting Winemaker Steven Sealock at Pacific Rim Winemakers in Washington State, USA
Pacific Rim Riesling #1 of Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Best Buy List 2011 - Meeting Founder Randall Grahm and Winemakers Nicolas Quille and Steven Sealock
Bonny Doon Vineyard – A Phenomenal Negociant
Bonny Doon began with Pinot Noir, became a leading voice in promoting Rhone grapes, and then touted Italian grapes. Randall Grahm promoted screwcaps and truth in labeling. Bonny Doon is known for its untraditional labels, including illustrations by Ralph Steadman, Grady McFerrin, and Gary Taxali.
After the vines in its own vineyard were destroyed by Pierce's disease in 1994, Randall Grahm switched to a negociant approach and supported its wine production by purchasing grapes from other California vineyards, as well as in Oregon and Europe. Wine production expanded significantly in this period.
At its peak, in 2006, Bonny Doon sold some 450,000 cases of wine, when Grahm Randall decided to change course. He sold the Big House wines and Cardinal Zin labels in 2006.
Production has dropped to 35,000 cases today. The lineup of 35 different wines has been reduced to around 10.
Vin de Terroir – Back to the Roots
Over the past several years, Randall Grahm has acquired a number of properties, where he is going to make a vin de terroir in small quantities.
He brought in 1,000 goats to eat away the dense underbrush. The vineyard will be dry-farmed and head-pruned (no wires, just a single stake per vine) - a style of farming more in tune with the 19th century. At least half the vines will be planted on their own roots. If he is lucky, the vineyard will provide a modest 8,000 cases of wine to sell.
“I don’t want to rely on winemaking tricks anymore,” he said in an interview, enumerating aroma-enhancing yeasts, enzymes and spinning cones among the modern techniques he’s used to change the composition of a wine. Instead, he dreams of growing vines from seeds, unheard of in this post-phylloxera era of rootstocks and cuttings and grafts. He is intrigued by wines made in amphorae.
Joel Peterson - The Godfather of Zin
Always a vino-revolutionary, Joel Peterson took his first big steps toward personal independence in 1976. Educated as a clinical laboratory scientist with a degree in microbiology, the Oregon State University grad was working full-time in cancer immunology research at a San Francisco hospital and dabbling with wine on the side. The two single-vineyard Zins the longhaired winemaker made from the 1976 vintage would be the first he unveiled to the world.
The son of two chemists, Joel grew up on Point Richmond on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Mom was a nuclear chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project; she used her scientific training to become an excellent cook who tested recipes and helped edit Alice Waters’ first cookbook. Dad was a physical chemist specializing in high-temperature lubricants used in industrial machinery.
Walter Peterson also was a wine lover and serious student of the grape who organized twice-weekly gatherings of the San Francisco Wine Sampling Club (today’s San Francisco Vintners Club) at the family home. Joel’s oeno-education began at the age of ten when he sat in on his first tasting session, with stern instructions to “Shut up and spit.” (Afterward, his father carefully measured the wine in the boy's glass and in his spittoon to make sure everything was expectorated.)
Back then, California had a dearth of fine wines; most of the bottles the club tasted were from France, Italy and Spain. By the time he was a teenager, Joel had a working knowledge of European vineyards and vintages. He not only learned how to judge wine, he learned how to talk about it (to the delight and consternation of everyone’s who’s met him since).
During his early career as a medical researcher, Joel made extra money through wine writing and consulting. Eventually it dawned on him that he had the background (not to mention strong opinions and the confidence to stick by them) to be an actual winemaker. He apprenticed with Joseph Swan — one of California's outstanding craftsmen of fine Zinfandel — to learn the art of traditional winemaking as practiced in Bordeaux and Burgundy. “From Joe, I learned to pick grapes by taste and to farm for less fruit, not more. That using wild yeasts may be tricky, but makes for more interesting wines. To ferment long and warm, and age in French oak.” Ravenswood still uses these same basic techniques to make its wines today.
In 1976 Joel founded Ravenswood in partnership with fellow wine lover Reed Foster, a Harvard MBA who handled the green stuff while Joel oversaw the red stuff. In the ensuing years, Joel had dual careers, working nights and weekends in the lab as he built the winery during the daylight hours. In 1977, he’d left his job in San Francisco and moved to Sonoma to work in the clinical lab at Sonoma Valley Hospital. He didn’t quit that job until 1992, a few years after the winery turned its first profit and Robert Parker pronounced Ravenswood wines “first class – bold, dramatic and complex.”
Today, Joel works with 100+ northern California growers who provide grapes for Ravenswood, consulting on irrigation methods, cultivation practices, cropping levels and a slew of other vineyard management issues. This attention in the field, coupled with the fact that Ravenswood is one of the few wineries that has had the philosophical and winemaking skill of one winemaker for over 30 years, contributes to a consistency of quality and style rarely found in California.
Joel is a current member and former president of the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance (S.V.V.G.A.) and is on the Board of Directors for the Sonoma County Vintners. He is a founding Board member and former two-time President of Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (Z.A.P.). Joel is also a Senior Vice President with Constellation Wines US.
A rakish raconteur (and provocateur) whose erudition and down-to-earth enthusiasm make him an articulate spokesman for the winery (and sometime-heckler of the wine industry), Joel is a stylistic trendsetter who helped make Zinfandel the runaway phenomenon it is today.
Along the way, the raven maven (dubbed “the Godfather of Zin” by one media wag) has built a legacy of enjoying wine with grins and gusto
Annette Schiller's Presentations at the 2018 American Wine Society Annual Meetings in in Buffalo, New York State
The 2018 American Wine Society National Conference in Buffalo, New York State, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens
VDP at AWS: Tasting Premium German Wines at the Showcase of Wines of the 2018 American Wine Society National Conference in Buffalo, New York State, with Annette and Christian Schiller
"Abbey Wines”: The Importance of the Monasteries for the Development of Viticulture - Seminar at the 2018 American Wine Society National Conference in Buffalo, New York State,USA, led by Annette Schiller
Burgundy Pinot Noir and German Pinot Noir: Differences and Similarities - Seminar at the 2018 American Wine Society National Conference in Buffalo, New York State, USA, led by Annette Schiller
A Journey through the Rhône Valley - Seminar at the 2018 American Wine Society National Conference in Buffalo, New York State,USA, led by Annette Schiller
Annette Schiller's Presentations at the 2017 American Wine Society Annual Meetings in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania
The 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens
Showcase of Wines at the 2017 National Conference of the American Wine Society: Annette and Christian Schiller Present German/ VDP/ Loosen Bros. USA Wines
A Journey through the Vineyards of Alsace - A Tasting Seminar at the National Conference 2017 of the American Wine Society, led by Annette Schiller (ombiasyPR & WineTours)
Burgundy: What makes it so Special? - A Tasting Seminar at the 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, led by Annette Schiller (ombiasyPR & WineTours)
German Wines in the 21st Century - A Tasting Seminar at the 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, led by Annette Schiller (ombiasyPR & WineTours)
Annette Schiller's Presentations at the 2016 American Wine Society Annual Meetings in California
The 2016 American Wine Society National Conference in California, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens
The New Germany: Red, Sparkling and Dry - Tasting at the American Wine Society 2016 National Conference in Los Angeles, USA, led by Annette Schiller
The New Classification of German Wines: The VDP Classification - Annette Schiller Conducting a Seminar at the 2016 National Convention of the American Wine Society in Los Angeles, USA
The Insider’s View of Charles Krug Winery - Peter Mondavi Jr., Co-Proprietor, Charles Krug Winery
Château Climens, Premier Cru Barsac and Savory Dishes…who knew? - Bérénice Lurton, Owner of Château Climens and Tony Lawrence, Global Food & Wine Pairing Specialist
schiller-wine: Related Postings
UPCOMING Tours/ Wine Dinners/ Tastings - Annette and Christian Schiller/ ombiasyPR & WineTours/ schiller-wine, Germany, France, USA (Issued: November 1, 2019)
Announcement: Upcoming ombiasy Wine Tours 2020 - (1) Alsace and Germany South, (2) Rhône Valley, (3) Bordeaux
Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA (2019)
Bumping into Randall Grahm in San Francisco, Owner of famed Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz in California, USA
Visiting Winemaker Steven Sealock at Pacific Rim Winemakers in Washington State, USA
August Kesseler’s Pinot Noir and Richard Wagner’s Ring der Nibelungen in San Francisco, USA
Pacific Rim Riesling #1 of Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Best Buy List 2011 - Meeting Founder Randall Grahm and Winemakers Nicolas Quille and Steven Sealock
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