by Scott Casper–

As you read in my article in last month’s newsletter, our Napa Valley-Sonoma Valley October wine vacation that I spent months putting together, didn’t happen. Driven by 50 MPH winds across very dry terrain, huge wildfires were sweeping down the mountains destroying tens of thousands of acres and thousands of homes and other structures in Napa and Sonoma Counties. For the first time in California’s history, a wild fire swept into a sizable city. Most of Santa Rosa’s northside was completely devastated. Upon arriving at the Phoenix airport, we saw that our flight and all flights to Santa Rosa were cancelled so we had to stay in Phoenix overnight. The Santa Rosa airport was closed with heavy smoke across the runway and no electricity or water. It was going to be closed for a week or more. One nearby Hilton hotel burned to the ground. The Hilton where we were supposed to stay was evacuated. Santa Rosa and the Napa-Sonoma wine country were gone from our travel plans.

The next morning, my wife and I knew we had to come up with another location. My wife said, “why don’t we fly to Medford, Oregon and see the wine country there.” We decided to run and catch the afternoon flight (only one a day) to Medford in southern Oregon. Medford is the largest city and the center of the Rogue Valley; make that Rogue Valley AVA. Also, right next door is the Applegate Valley AVA. American Airlines changed our Santa Rosa tickets for Medford and we got there that afternoon.

The Rogue and Applegate Valleys are warm weather appellations, so unlike the cool climate north Willamette Valley where you will be sipping huge amounts of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, we had lots of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling, Roussanne, Viognier, Sangiovese and Tempranillo, as well as some Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. With no tasting room reservations required in this area, we were able to visit twenty-seven different wineries there with two visits to two wineries making the final visits’ tally twenty-nine. They were all great! Our favorites were Eden Vale and Dancin in the Medford area (Rogue Valley AVA) and Troon in Grants Pass (Applegate Valley AVA).

The Rogue Valley and Applegate Valley AVAs saved our wine vacation!!

by Scott Casper

My wife and I were really looking forward to our Sonoma-Napa wine vacation; nine days of tasting some of the finest wines our country has to offer. We had our tickets to fly out of HIA on Tuesday, October 10 and get to Santa Rosa, California late that night. I could imagine walking past the huge figure of Snoopy going into the Charles M. Schulz Airport. He was the creator of the world-famous cartoon “Peanuts” and was the most famous resident in Santa Rosa’s history.

The morning before our flight I went online to see the day’s news. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. An extremely large wild fire came down the mountain and struck the north side of Santa Rosa. I said to my wife, “the airport and the Hilton where we were going to stay are on the north end of Santa Rosa.” Then, I saw the headlines for the next news story, “Hilton in Santa Rosa burns to the ground.”  Whoa!! I read the story and it was the Wine Country Hilton. I was going to make a reservation there but changed my mind. We were staying at the Airport Hilton Garden Inn instead. But our hotel was only one mile from the one that was completely destroyed. The raging wild fire was out of control and ravaged much of northern Santa Rosa. The fire was fed by very dry terrain and strong winds gusting up to 50 MPH. Tens of thousands of residents evacuated and were literally running for their lives; some were not successful.

We left HIA, got to Charlotte for Phoenix and then on to Santa Rosa and lots of great winery tastings. Well, that was our plan but it didn’t happen.  We got out to Phoenix with no problem. But our flight to Santa Rosa was cancelled. The Charles M. Schultz Airport was closed. It had no electricity, no water and heavy smoke covered its runway. It’s reopening was nowhere in sight. Our hotel in Santa Rosa was evacuated. We were spending an unplanned night in Phoenix. The next morning, we had to decide what to do.

Some of our favorite wines come from Tuscany so we wanted to take a wine tour of the region. The appellations we visited were: Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico. The appellation we looked forward to visiting is one of the most prestigious in the world, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. Of the wineries we visited in the Brunello zone, our favorites were Altesino and Val di Suga.

We wanted to visit Altesino because we drank more of their Brunello than any other and really liked it. Altesino has a good working relationship with the PLCB that over the years has benefited the winery and Pennsylvania wine consumers. The winery staff was pleased to hear that we were from PA. We had their 2012 Brunello that was very good AND it is currently available in the state system. But the “show stopper” at the tasting was their Montesoli, their single vineyard, estate flagship wine. That was excellent! It should be. It costs over $100 a bottle!

Val di Suga produces three single vineyard, estate Brunellos. Each vineyard has a very different type of soil; therefore, the three Brunellos taste and smell completely different. That made for a very special tasting. I particularly looked forward to this winery visit because I have a 1999 Spuntali Vineyard Brunello. The Spuntali soil is very interesting because it’s ocean floor with lots of seashells. It’s not something you would expect in southcentral Tuscany but the ocean receded from this area millions of years ago.

The gracious and knowledgeable woman who conducted the cellar tour and tasting was astounded that I had a Spuntali from 1999. She asked, “where did you ever find it?” I told her I found it in a “magical place” called the West Shore Plaza Wine and Spirits Store in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania back in 2007. I said, “They even had a special name for it. They called it a Chairman’s Selection.”

The first appellation we went to in Tuscany was Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG. The famous winery Poliziano was our first stop. The winery secured a reputation for consistently producing fine wines for many years. After the cellar tour, we went to their modern tasting room where the winery manager conducted the tasting. We had five of their wines. All of their wines were spectacular! Our next stop in the appellation was at Gattevecchi. Instead of having their wines in a tasting room, we had them with lunch on their small outside deck high up in the mountains. We had four of their wines with as many courses and they were all perfect pairings. The view, the wines and the food were “trifecta” winners!

The last appellation we visited in Tuscany was Chianti Classico DOCG. The Classico region is different from Chianti DOCG. Chianti Classico produces the best wines overall compared to Chianti, Chianti Rufina or Colli Senesi. You can easily identify the Classico wines with the symbol of their DOCG, a black rooster, on the upper label of every bottle produced there. We went to five wineries in the Chianti Classico zone. Our favorite was Vecchie Terre di Montefili. This is a small production winery that makes fine artisan wines. It was formerly a monastery high up in the mountains. The monks planted the vineyards and started to make the first wines here. They later sold the estate and it became a commercial winery.

Vecchie Terre di Montefili is a beautiful place. The views were breathtaking due to its elevation. It has two ponds among its vineyards with tall, full shade trees at the winery building. Both the winery and house had abundant plantings of beautiful flowers in full bloom. We had five wines including a thirteen-year old Super Tuscan. They were all stellar. Tuscany is remarkably scenic and the wines of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino (see last month’s newsletter) and Chianti Classico are among the best in Italy and the world!