I first became familiar with the Ron Rubin Winery during the pandemic (See story from June 2020) as I sipped and savored his wine in my local park. I was impressed with the wines and enjoyed getting to know his story, as he pursued his lifelong dream of making wine.
More recently, I was introduced to Ron’s latest venture: Blue Bin, which builds on his commitment to sustainability, verifiable performance, transparency and accountability. This initial effort was codified with the achievement of BCorp certification in August 2022 (presently one of only 33 Certified B Corporation wineries in the world and 1 of 5 in California). For those less or unfamiliar, “B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.” (For more details on B Corp Certification, please see the organization’s website.)
Blue Bin’s claim to fame is that it is “The first premium wine bottle made from 100% recycled material in the United States”. More specifically, the fully recyclable is a hybrid of plastic, lined with Plasmax, an ultra-thin protective layer of glass. The result is packaging that is both lighter and shatterproof.
Admittedly, the switch from glass to plastic might make the wine look unusual (and interestingly, when I brought a bottle to a holiday party, there was some concern that the bottle could be mistaken by the children present for a bottle of soda), but it is worth changing your perspective on what a bottle of wine should look like. In fact, one third of a wine’s carbon footprint is attributed to the glass bottles in which it is usually packaged. While glass is an excellent option for storing wine, it is also a heavy one and thus impacts shipping. Moreover, glass bottles are not always recycled in the United States, further complicating the problem.
Despite the unique packaging, Blue Bin’s wines are still well made wines and good examples of their respective grape varieties. At the moment, there are four wines made under the Blue Bin label: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Rose, all produced with fruit sourced from California, utilizing sustainable growing practices.
So, in the end, the wines might look a little different, but there is no impact on the taste; only a positive impact on the environment. They taste like…wine (and good wine, at that)!
TASTING NOTES
Blue Bin Pinot Grigio 2022, California, USA, $15.00 Aromas and flavors of smoke and citrus, with a dry palate, bright acidity, medium body, culminating in long length.
Blue Bin Chardonnay 2022, California, USA, $15.00 Pear and honeysuckle greet the nose, this dry wine has nice acidity, ripe red apple and pear fruit and is medium bodied with good length.
Blue Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2022, California, USA, $15.00 An intense nose of herbal and citrus notes, this dry wine offers up bright acidity, medium+ body and long length.
Blue Bin Rose 2022, California, USA, $15.00 Redolent of cherries and melon, this wine is slightly off dry, with medium acidity, medium body and flavors of ripe watermelon and berries, with long length.
It’s the duck days of summer. It’s been super hot and then…not! But, if you are a lucky duck, you’ve got Duck Pond Cellars’ wines in your glass. In particular, their Natural Path Production wines perfectly hit the spot whether it’s 70F or 90F.
The Dundee, Oregon-based winery was founded in 1993 and has always been committed to sustainability. Its grapes are organically farmed and hand-harvested, with continued attention to detail once they reach the winery. More recently, they have become involved in the Clean Label Project, a non-profit organization “whose mission is to bring truth and transparency to food and consumer product labeling.”
Launched under the Natural Path Production line, Duck Pond’s first wines were certified by this organization with the 2020 vintage, making them the first wines in America to receive this certification.
In adherence to the certification program, the ingredients are clearly stated on the label. Additionally, they testify to low sulfite use (<=100 PPM), vegan-only fining agents and the non-use of Glyphosate and Neonicotinoid pesticides.
Equally important to Duck Pond’s focus on natural production, is that these wines are well made and well-priced, ranging from $15-$19 per bottle (winery prices; might be higher at your local wine shop). As of now, there are four wines in the Natural Path line up: Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Rose (not tasted) and Pinot Noir.
Duck Pond Cellars Natural Path Production Pinot Gris 2022, Willamette Valley (OR), USA, $16.00 On the nose, this wine displays notes of tangerine and smoke, which persist on the dry palate. The wine is quite luscious, with bright acidity, medium body and long length.
Duck Pond Cellars Natural Path Production Chardonnay 2021, Oregon, USA, $15.00 This wine offers up melon and butter aromas and flavors, and an oak undercurrent, with medium acidity, medium plus body, and long length. It was a crowd pleaser at a recent gathering of friends.
Duck Pond Cellars Natural Path Production Pinot Noir 2021, Oregon, USA, $19.00 Fresh aromas of cherry and raspberry greet the nose. The dry palate provides ripe black cherries, herbs, and an earthy undercurrent, with medium plus acidity, medium plus body and medium plus length. Really lovely.
What’s your vice? For Malek Amrani and his wife, Tori Greenberg, the answer is wine. A former sales professional for Moet Hennessy and Diageo, Malek has a keen understanding of the wine world and consumer preferences. He also counts pizza and triathlons among his “moral faults”, while Tori’s other vices include fashion, sleep and rose.
The pair always dreamed of owning their own winery and now they do. In fact, while they launched The Vice several years ago, they recently opened a permanent location in St. Helena in the Napa Valley, further cementing their dream.
On the joint holidays of National Wine Day and National Chardonnay Day, Malek hosted a virtual tasting with members of the media to celebrate the opening as well as the release of their 100th wine. As a self-defined “luxury wine brand,” the wines are produced in small, numbered batches.
Primarily focused on Napa Valley terroir, The Vice’s mission is to make exceptional wines accessible. In pursuit of this goal, Malek currently works with 18 different varieties, sourced from 14 of Napa’s 16 AVAs. Their white label wines are their house tier, while the black label is reserved for single vineyard wines.
Among the most recent batches is the aforementioned 100th wine. Aptly named The Napa Dream (and also referred to as Batch #100), it is a Chardonnay sourced from a Certified Napa Green vineyard situated “at the far eastern edge of Los Carneros AVA”. It spent 30 months in new French Oak barrels.
TASTING NOTES
The Vice The Napa Dream Batch #100 Chardonnay 2020, Los Carneros (CA), USA, $46.00 This wine is deep golden yellow with nutty, butterscotch aromas that persist on the dry, rich full-bodied palate. It has bright acidity and flavors of roasted nuts, caramel, citrus and minerality, culminating in long length. Lovely and complex.
The Vice Orange of Viognier ‘Brooklynites 6.0’ 2022, California, USA, $33.00 With Viognier grapes sourced from Napa’s Oak Knoll District and Brentwood, Contra Costa, this wine brings together two different climates and thus a diversity of expression. It offers up floral and peach aromas, which persist on the palate with fresh acidity, medium body and long length. It is really refreshing, easy to drink (too easy!?!) and food friendly.
The Vice The OG, Cabernet Franc 2021, Los Carneros (CA), USA, $54.00 As Malek shared at the event, Cabernet Franc is fast becoming the hottest grape in Napa Valley (more so than Cabernet Sauvignon). Leafy and cranberry aromas greet the nose, with a dry palate, bright acidity, medium+ body and flavors of wet leaves and plum, with long length. Powerful, yet balanced.
I’ve sung the praises of Domaine Bousquet in the past (See this article and that) and its wines continue to impress. Among the top export wines of Argentina, Domaine Bousquet continues to be the country’s leader in organic wines.
More specifically, Domaine Bousquet has been dedicated to organic viticulture since its very beginning. Today, there continues to be a clear and significant commitment to such activities.
These are well-made wines, available at a reasonable price, and are definitely great go-to wines you can feel confident to serve at your table or to gift to friends and family.
Tasting Notes
Domaine Bousquet Reserve Certified Organic Chardonnay 2021, Uco Valley, Argentina, SRP $18 It was fresh and unoaked, with apple and citrus aromas and flavors, bright acidity, medium + body and long length. Overall, it was simply lovely and a big hit at our condo’s holiday party.
Domaine Bousquet Reserve Certified Organic Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Uco Valley, Argentina SRP $18 With its intense nose of blackberry, pepper and oak, this wine displays good acidity, medium tannins, medium body and a slight woody note before culminating in long length. It is easy to drink and very enjoyable.
Domaine Bousquet Reserve Certified Organic Malbec 2021, Uco Valley, Argentina SRP $18 Lush dark berry fruit greets the nose, with a fresh palate, medium body, ripe tannins and a hint of spice in the finish, with long length. This was the perfect pairing with bison (our freezer is stocked with tons of bison thanks to a Costco delivery courtesy of my mom).
These wines may be purchased online or at a retailer near you.
As a pioneer of the Russian River Valley (in Sonoma, CA), Gary Farrell kicked off his wine career in the late 1970s with an emphasis on cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Working along with fellow vintners including Davis Bynum, Joe Rochioli and others, together they helped put this (now) prestigious area on the map.
The Gary Farrell label itself was launched in 1982, with the first wine produced with fruit from the Rochioli Vineyard. This set the stage for what was to follow – crafting wines from other people’s grapes. In fact, to this day, Gary Farrell doesn’t own any of its own vineyards; all of the fruit is “contracted” from various vineyards throughout the Valley – many with a simple handshake agreement. In this regard, Gary Farrell Winery has worked closely with many winegrowers for decades, currently sourcing grapes from about 36 vineyards, most (if not all) of which practice certified sustainable farming.
Sold in 2004, the winery is presently owned by Bill Price and a group of industry investors, keeping the same focus on pure expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Since 2012, the winery’s winemaking has been under the direction of Theresa Heredia, a California native with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
Heredia initially sought to leverage her love of science and her desire to share her knowledge through the pursuit of a Ph.D. However, during her graduate studies, she became fascinated about the research being conducted on the chemistry of wine by her fellow grad students. With a love of drinking wine already firmly entrenched, the discovery of wine science now called to her, and she transferred into the enology program three days later. She eventually left U.C. Davis to become a winemaker.
Over the next several years, Theresa gained experience at Saintsbury and Joseph Phelps’ Freestone Vineyards and also
developed a Burgundian approach through her work at Domaine de Montille. Thus, she came to her current role with a solid background in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as single-vineyard wines.
Thus, it is not surprising that upon Heredia’s arrival at Gary Farrell, the company shifted focus from one, single vineyard wine to 36 single vineyards, with the intention of showing the full expression of the Russian River Valley’s various vinous neighborhoods. In this regard, Heredia tailors her winemaking to the vineyard at the time of harvest. As she notes, her philosophy is to always respect the fruit.
A recent tasting provided an in-depth look at several of Gary Farrell’s single vineyard wines in an effort to compare and contrast the differing “neighborhoods” within the larger Russian River Valley. And, while the vineyards are not technically sub-AVAs, they do act as such, with distinct soil compositions, microclimates and clonal types, all of which impact the style of the resulting wine.
The wines tasted were all from the 2017 vintage, which sport new, blue labels to more easily distinguish these single vineyard wines from the company’s Russian River Selection wines. More specifically, the blue label designates a single vineyard. Two of the single vineyards have national distribution; the others are only available through the winery.
TASTING NOTES CHARDONNAYS All of the Chardonnays are 100% malolactic fermented, thereby converting the sharper, malic (think apple) acid into the creamier lactic (think milk) acid. The wines were barrel fermented in lightly toasted barrels about 30% and then aged for 8 to 9 months in oak barrels, 35% of which was new oak. The puncheons undergo a long, light toast, which imparts creaminess and richness, while minimizing oak influence. The overall goal is to accentuate the fruit, not mask it with wood.
Gary Farrell Winery Olivet Lane Vineyard Chardonnay 2017, Russian River Valley, U.S. (CA), $45.00 The Olivet Lane Vineyard is situated within the Santa Rosa Plains a unique, flat area with cold air that settles at night yielding wines with concentrated fruit, texture, and vibrant and juicy acidity. The vineyard was planted in 1975 with the Wente clone, which clone produces small berries. The wine offered up aromas of apple and well-integrated oak, which persist on the dry palate, along with baking spices. The elegant wine displays medium+ acidity, medium+ body and long length.
Gary Farrell Winery Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay 2017, Russian River Valley, U.S. (CA), $60.00 The Ritchie Vineyard hails from Laguna Ridge, which is located in the center of the Valley, thereby taking on characteristics of each adjacent area. The wines are generally packed with flavors, tremendous intensity and are more opulent and less acidity driven. The legendary Ritchie Vineyard was first planted in 1972. The selection of Chardonnay planted here develops hens and chicks (grapes of uneven sizes in the same bunch), which requires careful pressing. Aromas of apple, citrus, smoke and oak greet the nose. The dry palate shows medium+ acidity, medium+ body, and flavors of golden apple, citrus/orange and very long length.
Gary Farrell Winery Rochioli Vineyard Chardonnay 2017, Russian River Valley, U.S. (CA), $65.00 The history between Rochioli Vineyard and Gary Farrell dates back 38 years, a vineyard found within the Middle Reach area. This northern part of the Russian River Valley, up near Healdsburg, is adjacent to the Russian River, which pulls fog and keeps nights cool. Meanwhile, the days are much warmer. Consequently, the resulting wines are typically riper with more tropical fruit. This wine provides notes of citrus and stone fruit on both the nose and dry palate. Richer and riper than the other two, this wine displays juicy acidity, fuller body, with flavors of citrus and wood, culminating in very long length.
PINOT NOIRS
Gary Farrell Winery Bacigalupi Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017, Russian River Valley, U.S. (CA), $65.00 Also found within the Middle Reach area, the Bacigalupi Vineyard was established in 1964 when Helen and Charles Bacigalupi planted it to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and later claimed fame as the growers of the grapes used by Chateau Montelena’s winning wine in the Judgement of Paris in 1976. Pinot Noir from Middle Reach usually offers up notes of cherry, rose petals, floral, raspberries, and a general supple expression of fruit and earthiness. With aromas of red cherries, smoke and dried flowers, this wine is dry, with medium+ acidity, medium body, and flavors of spice, earth, cherry, giving way to long length.
Gary Farrell Winery Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017, Green Valley/Russian River Valley, U.S. (CA), $55.00 The Hallberg Vineyard takes its name from its previous owners and sits within Green Valley, which is actually an official sub-AVA of the Russian River Valley. Thanks to the Green Valley’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean, it is drenched in fog from the afternoon until the following morning. Resulting wines most frequently display an earthy backbone with bright acidity and darker fruit such as cassis and huckleberry. Aromas of black raspberry, blackberry and earthiness persist on the dry palate, along with bracing acidity, medium body and very long length.
Gary Farrell Winery McDonald Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017, Russian River Valley, U.S. (CA), $70.00 Situated within Sebastopol Hills, the McDonald Mountain Vineyard is at the southern tip of the Russian River Valley, with exposure to the Petaluma Gap. Known as the “heartbreak vineyard,” yields are very low and there is natural desiccation due to lots of wind, fog and cool weather. Additionally, the clonal selection results in tiny clusters. The key characteristic of these wines is an acid backbone, with less fruit, more earth character. The nose offers up notes of earth, black tea, cassis, raspberry and exotic spice, with a dry, angular palate, vibrant acidity, medium body and long length.
Gary Farrell Winery Martaella Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017, Russian River Valley, U.S. (CA), $65.00 Another vineyard who calls the Santa Rosa Plains home, the Martaella Vineyard is planted similarly to those in Burgundy with vines trained low to the ground to keeps the vines warmer overnight. The vineyard is planted to a blend of an heirloom selection of grapes. An opulent wine with high acidity and good fruit concentration, it is elegant, rich and complex, with dark fruit flavors of blueberries, cherries, floral and spice, culminating in long length.
This moment in time continues to be challenging for us all as the world grapples with both the pandemic and protests. The uncertainty for what it will all mean in the future is unsettling, but I am choosing to find hope amidst the pain.
Last week found me on a socially distant, “Pandemic Playdate” in the local park with my friend. She supplied the colored pencils and I brought a bottle of wine. The page I had selected to color that day read:
It is at this moment, when things appear so bleak that we must redouble our efforts and not give up. We must believe that we can remake the world in a more peaceful reality. ~Cynthia McKinney
I was in a dark place that afternoon, but this quote touched me deeply.
As we move forward to remake the world, I am holding my hopes and dreams in my heart and in my mind even though I don’t know when they will come to fruition. Along these lines, while some people leap straight into pursuing their passions, others wait patiently for their dreams to come true.
Ron Rubin first dreamt of having his own winery while a student at UC Davis. That was back in 1971. But life had other plans for Ron. In 1972, he returned home to Illinois and entered the family business, Central Wholesale Liquor Co., bringing innovation and expansion over his 22 year tenure with the company before moving on to become a top seller of Clearly Canadian Sparking Water.
Yet, he never forgot about his dream.
Forty years later, Ron parlayed his success into the purchase of River Road Family Vineyards and Winery, in the Russian River Valley’s Green Valley, renaming the winery Ron Rubin Winery. He had finally manifested his dream!
Not one to rest on his laurels, Ron threw himself into his new venture, earning himself the honor of Innovator of the Year Award from the North Bay Business Journal in 2016.
And, interestingly, while wine continues to be an important passion, his love of beverages is quite broad. In this regard, Ron was so inspired by the book The Republic of Tea that he made an offer to the authors (and owners of The Republic of Tea), Mel and Patricia Ziegler, to purchase their company back in 1994.
Beyond beverages, Ron’s other guiding passion is philanthropy, giving both his financial support and business acumen to numerous causes including serving on the Board for Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute; donating to Wine Spectator Learning Center’s state-of-the-art education complex; funding The Maynard Amerine Wine Label and Menu Collection, at U.C. Davis; and establishing the Ron Rubin Winery TRAINED FOR “SAVING LIVES” program.
This latter program was launched in 2017 in collaboration with the American Red Cross and ZOLL Medical Corporation, with the Ron Rubin Winery covering the cost of supplying qualifying California wineries with a ZOLL AED PLUS (Automated External Defibrillator) unit.
In keeping with his life-long pursuit, Ron’s top wines are part of his Dream Series and include two Chardonnays and a Pinot Noir.
TASTING NOTES Ron Rubin Winery Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2018, $20.00 A bit shy on the nose, but really lovely on the dry palate with medium acidity, medium+ body and complex flavors of melon, apple, a slight woody note and vanilla, culminating in long length.
Ron Rubin Winery Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2017, $25.00 With berry and cherry aromas on the nose, this beautiful wine offers up good acidity, fresh cherry fruit, slight leafy notes and long length on the palate.
