Penn Valley, California
The Sierra foothills has become a haven for artisanal producers, largely thanks to the pioneer work of members of the New Age group Renaissance who, under the guidance of Gideon Beinstock tested the compatibility between the terroir and slope exposures of the land with different varieties. Alder of Vinography explains this initial stage of viticulture in the area in this article of his. When I visited the vast compound of the Fellowship of Friends (named Apollo) in 2006 (story here) I didn't foreview that I'd come back so often in the area, but the Fellowship's work and Gideon's skilled
vineyard
management and planning opened the way for a cohort of artisan-minded vintners vinifying naturally
(beginning with Gideon Beinstock's Clos Saron), putting this little-known wine region on the map. While vines were planted already there during the gold rush in the late 19th century, the revival of viticulture and winemaking can be credited to Renaissance and Beinstock, and the region got its own AVA in 1987. For one thing, what I like in the region is there's no endless expanses of vineyards covering the hills, it's very fragmented in a ranch country with a hilly landscape of woods and prairies, another world when you see Napa and other intensive agricultural regions.
Bryn and Jeffrey of Ellsworth Wines started their wine operation in 2019 near PennValley, a small community located near the charming town of Nevada City (main street pictured on left). Both of them were previously living in Washington D.C. and worked in restaurants (around 9 years of experience in the field), that's where they met, Bryn was at the service and Jeffrey was a cook. He knew the wines of Gideon Beinstock and then heard about Frenchtown Farms, the winery operated by Aaron and Kara, and came here to do the harvest with them in 2018. On her side, at the same time, Bryn travelled to Spain to do the northern part of the Camino de Santiago along vineyards (she walked some 700 kilometers in one month !) and she was impressed by the small communities of a wine region, she loved the life style. At the time they were knowing each other but not really living together, so it was interesting that their separate experiences somehow merged on a common awakeness that would result in starting this winery together. At first they worked with the help of Aaron and Kara of Frenchtown Farms, who tend vines and make wine not far from here.
Jeffrey and Bryn had the luck to find land owners who could rent them a small surface of vineyards and a nice little house (pictured above right) plus a small outbuilding they could use as a facility (picture above). The owners, who raise horses and themselves live in a house a few yards away, were pleased I guess to rent the lot including the parcels to someone who wouldn't use pesticides, and for Jeffrey and Bryn it was a rare opportunity to find a house to live, a building for thye winemaking and a couple of parcels all together. They of course also complement their own production with fruit they buy elsewhere. The equivalent surface for the wine they produce is 6 hectares today (it was recently 7,7 hectares but they lost a contracted vineyard recently). They’re not looking to become a big winery but they just aim at having the right volume of grapes to work with in order to make a living and have time to tend themselves the vines, not only near the house but also on the contracted vineyards, they already do it and it’s a lot of work, mowing, spraying, pruning, trimming. They get help from friends for that, but mostly for harvest. Pruning takes 3 months for the whole surface, starting in early february until early april. They once had to prune with one meter snow, that was something !
Bryn had hurt her ankle the very day we showed up (a few hours before) while putting the bird protection nets on the vineyard rows. Her ankle was swollen, and this came at a bad time, when the soon-to-come harvest would need hard work, but she was aware it was important to let her ankle recover with the needed time in order not to have lasting problems...
The cellar or facility is not very large (like a bit more than 60 square meters) but they manage to do their winemaking and storage there, they keep the humidity at 72 % when outside it's 37 %. Usually they move wine out before the harvest for space and have it shipped. before, they were doing the sames work themselves but now they decided to have a distributor for California.They can maximize the use of the space, with shelf level.
They used to have a bladder press but they sold it to Dani (Dani Rozman of La Onda is another outstanding producer with vineyards in the are whom I want to visit, worked a long time with Gideon Beinstock and he now vinifies in Richmond, in the Bay Area). Here inside they manage to have a few barrels, the wine waiting shipment and a few tools. Asked if they could find second-hand tools when starting their winery, they say yes, there's now good opportunities if you look around classifieds, not around here in the Sierra Foothills but in Napa, Bryn says virtually all their tools were find this way, including the barrels which are easily found in California for 50 $ each, they used 2 or 3 channels and also Craigslist or Marketplace. The only thing Bryn regrets it's not findable here are fiberglass tanks. Stainless steel are not only reductive but there are issue relative to electrical conductivity and the related unwanted impact this can have on the wine. Jeffrey says they are protective of the wines, they're making wines during the primary fermentation in a very oxidative capacity, meaning the wines and juices get no sulfur at crush, the white juices for example turn brown, and then the wines get into barrels which they top up often because here it's quite dry, then after when they're ready to bottle they rack into stainless steel which is reductive but on the whole their wines have been raised in order to be accustomed with oxygen, allowing the wine to express itself with having the tight feel stainless could yield.
For the barrels of course they source them from wineries who work well, and if they buy, say, a 2017 barrel, they avoid having to go through the first, very oaky years of use.
Here is the press they use now, Jeffrey says he's very happy with it. they had already used it for their 2019 wines, it belonged then to Aaron and Kara, who then sold it to someone in Los Angeles, and Jeffrey and Bryn bought it back from there. They had sold their initial bladder press because at the time they were buying Chardonnay and thus used direct press (no skin contact) for which this press was useful, but they lost this vineyard contract and didn't need the bladder press anymore. This was a German-made Willmes made in the 1970s, they were very happy with it, Jeffrey says they didn't see a lot of them in France, the only place he spotted one was at Dard & Ribo in the Rhône. the basket press here on the picture is very good, for whites, reds, everything, it incorporates a lot of oxygen and also offers some natural filtration because all the juice is coming through the grapes. On the whole they're excited to work with a very simple winemaking set up like they have now. Bryn says that in the busy harvest days it's very hectic, there's so much going on, you're supposed to overlook all these fermentations, find time for a little pigeage or wet the cap. They're still learning and the way they operate without money, without things written down makes them vulnerable to contracted vineyards being take away from them. They operate through trust and community for these grape purchases and it's nice if unsecure to work outside the corporate business model, it's radical on a way.
It's while jumping from this ATV pickup that Bryn hurt her ankle, she had been standing on the flatbed to hand the bird protection nets over the rows and when she jumped back to the ground, she didn't see a rut in the uneven soil...
Speaking of their vineyards quest, Jeffrey says that the vineyard here on the surface they rent with the house is kind of a saved vineyard as it had been neglected for something like 5 years. Elsewhere for example their friend Dani of La Onda found a parcel which is maybe 120 or 130 years old, obviously unrooted, no grafting, all planted with Pais, or Mission like they grow in Chile, and the parcel remained something like 15 years without pruning, but happily there was a horse staying in the vineyard and it kind of pruned the vines by eating fruit, leaves and shoots every year...
The vineyards here near the house are something like 27 years old and have been dry farmed (no irrigation) for 7 years now, starting when Gideon Beinstock was in charge of this parcel with which he did one vintage. Then Aaron and Kara made one vintage here too and then introduced Jeffrey and Bryn to the owners. the vines are very high and the reason is the hot weather down here, commonly between 90 and 100 F in summer (32 to 38 C). If the vines and fruit are low and close to the ground they get more heat and can actually burn, that's why a higher trellising can alleviate this problem. It is pretty normal for California to have high standing canopy. The altitude here is something like 500 meters and the highest vineyards they work with sit at an altitude of a bit more than 1000 meters. this vineyard near the house, while not being the smallest surface they work from, is still pretty small (slightly more than 0,5 hectare), but they have a good range of varieties here and it also nice to be there just outside of the house, you get immediately among the rows in a morning if you have one hour to spend and work on them.
It is very easy to farm naturally here, the only application they do on the vineyard is sulfur, and it's elemental sulfur. They don't use copper. And they choose to use less sulfur and spend more time with their hands, opening the canopy, removing shoots, leaves, and really, if they do that well, they have no problems. The only problem they have is powdery mildew, and the balance they have is if they remove too many leaves the grapes can burn. So to keep the balance they spray 1 kg sulfur per hectare for the whole year, they typically don't have any rain from may to october, so the whole growing season is dry. They tend to manage well the canopy to avoid having too many leaves, which could bring problems with the dew in the early morning : Temperature goes at times in summer from 37 C (98.6 F) down to 12 C (53.6 F) in the early morning, it's good for the grapes but asks for careful handle because of the dew. Speaking of their organic vineyard management they refrain to use certain organic-certified products because although supposedly organic, these products kill indiscriminately all the bugs and insects, and Bryn says they want to keep this diverse insect life on the vines.
Bryn says that when they first started farming this vineyard, it was trained Cordon, with thick arms the whole length and so they came with a saw and cut the arms off so they could reshape, remodel the vines. Because of years and years of bad pruning there was dessication in the wood, so no sap flowing. the amazeing thing is that already the first year the vines responded with good results and volume. They rely on these branches that start from the lower part (but it's still above the graft) and which bear lots of fruit because the sap flows direct and smoothly, and while these one-year-old canes/arms look thin and young you're still having grapes from a 27-year-old vine because of the root system, that's important. The main trunk of the vine looks thick and big (should look skinnier for 27 years) and Bryn says that's how you see it's been watered many years. Some vines show signs of disease (probably Esca) and they retrain the vines before they gety to this stage.
For this Sauvignon Blanc the mother plant came from a vineyard in Sonoma which was planted in 1945 and they were told the original cuttings came from France. Most of the Sauvignon Blanc in California comes from Sauternes, Jeffrey regrets the trend, and in the natural wine community here they'd prefer it to be sourced from Sancerre, but there's no choice here, UC Davis (also home of the viticulture school in California) controls what you can access to in terms of cuttings, that's why some growers bring back undeclared some from a trip abroad, adapting afterwards an official explanation for the origin of the cuttings or the resulting baby vines.
Some bunches are very low because of the new cane starting from almost the ground level, and the rabbits (which are a threat here with the birds) can reach them. On the picture above you can see (if my notes are right) a bunch of Merlot which is just reaching the veraison stage. Bryn says that some of the vines show too much energy and vigor because there's not much concurrence around, they're alone and so they try to devogorize them by using the layering technique (known as marcottage in France), putting a cane underground and thus getting another vine connected to the first one, it will calm down the vine with taking its energy away, and after 2 or 3 years they'll cut the link as the new vine will have its own roots.
Bryn says that Syrah has a very long flowering season, and this year they have bunches that already turned red while others are still green, this means that this year they'll make multiple passes to pick what's ready each time. The nets are not yet put in place here but they'll cover these rows as well down to the ground. Another threat is also the foxes and raccoons, they could theorically make a hole in the net to reach the grapes but Jeffrey says they're actually very lazy and if the grapes are not at easy reach they'll give up...
Speaking of lab analysis for their grapes they don't rely too much on them, beyond checking the sugar : With the soil, dry farming, climate and low yields, acidity, which would be the biggest thing, has never been a problem. Bryn adds that it would be beneficial to understand the analysis in the science, but not too much. For example they don't test the pH and some people think it's crazy, but they're fortunate that for them it has never been an issue anyway. Also, Jeffrey says that they're not in the business of making the same wine every year, they just want to make good wine, wine that they like every year. If one year they had like 50 % of the wine that went bad, then they'd look for answers with lab analysis, but they'd rather look in the vineyard first to see what could have gone wrong, because the way they follow and tend the vines, the wine gets on its tracks by itself, from what I understand.
Here are thet nets being put in place, they first put them on top of the rows and then gradually will tie them down more securely to the ground. they sigh in relief while evoking this new tool of theirs, it changes the whole experience of harvest : before that they had every year the anguish of watching the fruit gradually vanish day after day while they waited for the right moment to pick. In some instances they were forced to pick earlier than they'd have wanted because the only alternative was to have virtually nothing to pick. Now at last they can relax and decide with peace of mind, without stress, when to pick, and this makes a big difference for them.
They thought also to get nets for their contracted vineyards elsewhere but these nets are very costly, and for example they had considered buying them for a vineyard they eventually lost (the owner sold the grapes to a weed grower…) and it's a good thing they didn't do the investment because it was in the range of 7000 $. These nets are resistant enough to endure tear, heat and UVs, so they'll be using them a few years, given they're careful when putting them in place and packing them away.
Here is Chardonnay, I taste a couple of berries, that's pretty sweet already, but I'm told that's the case in late afternoon but if you come back to the same bunch the following morning it's way more acidic. Jeffrey also says that birds oddly don't go for whites, it's a color thing with them, when they see the Syrah they don't hesitate.
They also planted hybrids this year (Seyval Blanc), 50 vines, in addition to 150 Sauvignon Blanc vines, they're happy to do this experiment with the hybrids and that Arvin, the owner here, followed them in this project and gave them the green light, they're curious to see how hybrids grow here, what is the pressure of pests, water stress and so on. Jeffrey says that Didier Grappe in the Jura has been growing this hybrid for 10 or 15 years with a lot of success and the hybrid can yield wines that taste something between Melon de Bourgogne and Chardonnay, with very low alcohol and good acidity. They're still grafted, in California the rootstock is chosen for the soil type and also to be resistant to nematodes, which are a threat here.
We also look at Zinfandel with very tight bunches, they're still green but turning red, Bryn says that this Zin is not like a "real" Zin for the region, it's a very low-yield Zin compared to what you see with Zinfandel in California where growers usually ask for a lot more, and Zinfandel vines can give it. Asked if they've cut the leaves they say yes, a bit. Speaking of these vines of Zinfandel (which are two years longer) compared to the other rows behind us Bryn says they have never been as happy as the rest of the rows, you can see it on the trunk size, it may be because of the rootstock, the grafting or another factor like a big rock underneath but that's the way it is, I understand that this is because of the much lower yields and anyway if they struggle that's what makes a better wine at the end.
We chat also about something that surprises me, it’s that today, Los Angeles is hot in terms of natural wine market, I thought New York was the hot place for that. Jeffrey says that while it ‘s still a good market for these wines, in Los Angeles any place, restaurant or bar that is opening there, they’ll have natural wine because that community is fast on catching a concept, the young people push on this, and it fits well with its fitness tradition. I think maybe it has to do
also with the fact that many people moved from San Francisco and from New York to Los Angeles during/after the pandemic when remote working allowed it and possibly also because the quality of life/lodging conditions was suddenly better in L.A.
We talked about L.A. also because they used to travel there to sell their wines, but that’s far from here, 6 and a half hours by car, it’s expensive to sleep there, then you have to keep the wine cold, that’s why they switched to finding a distributor instead, who will be in charge of this task.
At the very beginning in 2019 (for this first vintage they made 6 barrels total), to find their buyers they got the help of Aaron and Kara who had already places in the region buying their wines, cavistes or restaurants who were interested in natural wine from the Sierra Foothills. Also through Fabien Rety whom I met in Oakland a few years ago (story here, he's pictured on the 4th & the 12th picture). I now remember having had a long conversation with him, he knows a lot of things, amazing, and was offering to help when I'd be around again. Fabien had been working in the restaurant/bar sphere for years around San Francisco, and he now runs a cave/bar north of San Francisco in Mill Valley, Eddy Bar and Bottle, and he's the wine director at the nearby restaurant Watershed as well. Fabien loves the wines of Gideon Beinstock and follows this area, he has a very good palate and he's a rare caviste who takes the time to come and visit the winemakers, it's something not very common in the States, Jeffrey says. Fabien comes now and then, tastes the new vintages, shows some genuine interest. He (an other people like him) paid attention to Jeffrey's and Bryn's development over the years and communicates well about their work, and not only while selling.
The first wine I taste is Viognier 2020 spring Frost, grapes sourced from Dunnigan Hills (purchased grapes), the cuvée was named so because there had been frost here that year. They made one puncheon from this Viognier, or about 5 hectoliters. 100 % stainless steel. Unfined & unfiltered, 648 bottles total, 20 ppm so2, no pump used. 12,5 % alc (actually less than 12 %). Refreshing white.
Jeffrey says that one of the great thing here in California is that while obviously very hot and ripening comes very fast, you can still harvest early and have good fruit, like in Champagne from what he knows, there are many people who harvest early, too early, so they don't have the phenolic decelopment, there's not a lot of fruit, and sure you can get this way a nice acidity, nice bubbles, texture maybe, but it's very nice to see the grapes get ripe, which helps in his opinion in the stability of the wine, more antioxydants coming from the grapes.
The 2nd wine is labelled as White Table Wine 2021, Nevada County. Estate grapes, they come from here, near the house : 80 % Sauvignon Blanc, 20 % Chardonnay. Destemmed grapes with maceration, together even though Chard is picked a bit earlier. One month on the skins in stanless steel. After one month, pressed and into barrel (only one, this is a small cuvée). No added sulfites. Super exciting color. Nice grip in the mouth and on the palate; nice concentration that lasts. 12 % alcohol only. On a regular year they make 5 cuvées, and in spring there's usually no frost, that's not a threat here. Thev small volume for this cuvée is because they have few vines here of these varieties, and thus a small volume of fruit. Only sulfur was sprayed in the vineyard, no copper. They destemmed because with their white through previous experime,nts they found that with skin contact if they keep the stems they loose the freshness and get into dry, jammy white wine style with apricot notes. They rather like to destem because then they have more tropical notes, mango, passion fruit even though it's only 12 % alc.
__ Barbera rosé 2022, Dunnigan Hills, purchased grapes, same vineyard as the Viognier, the cuvée is also dubbed Spring Frost. Foot stomped then basket press and then in stainless steel. These two wines are basically made the same way. Unfined and unfiltered like everything. When they need to rack they just wait, letting the wine settle for clarity. 20 ppm so2. Mouth and swallowed : lovely wine ! Liquid food. Only 12,7 % alcohol. Speaking of the labels they're made by a woman friend they worked with when they were working in restaurantsq in D.C. she came up withy something between American Gothic and vibrant abstract, they have his stainglass style as well which catches the eye. Jeffrey says that the similar style of the labels help people who liked a particular cuvée but didn't memmorize the details and name reconnect with bottles they spot.
__ Zinfandel 2021, Nevada County, Estate grapes but contains also grapes from the vineyard they lost to a weed-growing company. 100 % Zinfand"el, whole clusters and 30 % direct press. 11,2 % alcohol !! Super low indeed. This is their largest cuvée here with 18 hectoliters, 12 barrels. 14 months in barrels and then 6 months in stainless steel. They had to wait for the malolactic. Nice tannic grip. Chalky notes on the 2nd sip, very nice wine.
Speaking of the "contains sulfites" words on the labels, there's a new allowance here in the States in regard to sulfites warning : It been in place for about 2 or 3 years, and after doing some relatively easy check procedure (sending one bottle for analysis), if you didn't add sulfites you can print on your labels the words "Contains Only Naturally Occuring Sulfites" like you can see on the picture above (a wine from a great winemaker they love). They may add this mention on their own labels whenever they don't add any, But Jeffrey says they want to be free to decide small so2 addings for the sake of the wine, and of course even if they then add small amounts, they can't print this sentence.
We tasted a few other cuvées including during the dinner in the kitchen :
__ Chardonnay 2022, grapes from Mendocino, 10 % alcohol. Destemmed on a board destemmer. 14 days on skins in stainless steel. Magic golden color. Crisp mouth.
__ Zinfandel, Sadie Upton 2022, made from 99-year-old vines, the vineyard is 2 hours south from here. Whole clusters, no destemming. 2-week maceration. Probably 12 % alcohol. Super intensity in the throat ! Zero so2.
__ Syrah 2020, Home Vineyard. Foot stomped (usually 30 % to 40 % of the grapes), 17-day maceration, then pressed and put into 500-liter barrel. 10 hectoliter volume for this cuvée. 13 % alc. Super good ! Lovely juicy wine, unfiltered of course. Stayed 2 years in barrel and one year in bottles. 10 ppm so2.
__ Red Table Wine 2021, blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (with a little bit of Cabernet Franc). Half direct press (rosé) Cabernet Sauvignon. More alcohol feel here maybe.
I learned something very interesting from Jeffrey, it's the early mapping and border creation of Nevada County, which was incorporated in 1851 along the name of the gold-rush mining town of Nevada City (nothing to do with the State of Nevada which didn't exist then__ it got its statehood status in 1864). It's been said that the county was voluntarily shaped like a gun (the most popular gun used at that time, the Dickson Pepperbox - inset) pointing in the direction of Washington D.C.. In order to do this, they didn't hesitate to let aside land that they could have added easily in the county like the land along Tahoe. The reason behind this was the mounting anger against new regulations and taxes that the Federal Government was putting in places against these flourishing mining regions. The locals were viewing this as a gross overreach and hostile money grab, and it's no coincidence that in 1850, one year before the incorporation of Nevada County, the village of Rough and Ready (which is 4 miles from Penn Valley), also a gold-rush mining community, had gone as far as secede from the United States in protest, creating The Great Republic of Rough and Ready. No need to say it touched a chord with me, I love these rebellion moves...
Another thing about Nevada City : This is the hometown of Alela Diane. The folk singer now lives in Portland, Oregon.
After this visit (thank you both for your welcome !) we then resumed our road trip and the following night we camped at Perry Riffle along the Sacramento river a few miles from Red Bluff, it's part of the Sacramento River Bend Area on BLM land (Bureau of Land Management), a quiet campground with only amenities being dry toilet and tables, but we bathed in the cold and revigorating Sacramento river...
I still dream of their Chenin blanc….!
Posted by: November_9th | December 03, 2023 at 03:20 AM