Welcomed Addition : Mendocino County’s Renown Is Growing With Wines Such as Scharffenberger’s

WHEN IT COMES to wine making, Mendocino County’s fine reputation continues to expand. John Parducci’s stalwart pioneering of quality wine; the Fetzers; the newcomer, Jepson Vineyards; plus a few small wineries such as Husch, Navarro, Lazy Creek, Handley Cellars, Christine Woods and Greenwood Ridge all are contributing to the growing reputation of Mendocino County and the Anderson Valley in premier wine-making circles.

One such wine, the Scharffenberger Summit Cuvee, currently marketed in Southern California as Scharffenberger Cremant ($16), was served as the toasting wine at a dinner attended by President Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Cremant is a French term defining a sparkling wine with slightly lower effervescence, more eloquently described by John Scharffenberger as “creamy and rich,” which it truly is. The wine is worth looking for. By all means, when you’re tracking down the Scharffenberger Cremant, see if your wine merchant also has some of Scharffenberger’s Eaglepoint 1985 Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon ($14). The grapes come from the Scharffenberger family ranch in the hills east of the Anderson Valley, nearer to Hopland but equally hospitable to the vine. It’s a memorable Cabernet with tongue-wrapping, rich velour softness--a claret of stunning character that already can be ranked among fine wine of positive longevity. The French would call it a vin de garde (a keeping wine), but it tastes so good right now that it will be difficult to put it away when you do find it.

Last month, another signal wine from Mendocino County equally worthy of attention made its debut. Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut Sparkling Wine ($16) had simultaneous tastings at the opening of the winery and also at luncheon and dinner celebrations in Southern California.

Why Mendocino County? Why not Napa or Sonoma or one of the Central Coastal regions? Jean-Claude Rouzaud, chairman of Champagne Louis Roederer of Reims, chose the 580-acre Anderson Valley site in 1982 because of the cool climate and well-drained soils, which, he believed, would be most likely to produce a sparkling wine comparable to the Roederer wines, notably the famous Cristal.

“We wanted a county with poor soil, bad climate, cold nights, hot days, and we found it,” Rouzaud said.

The long-awaited wine brought smiles at the first pourings. It is a most accessible wine, of good clean fruit, kindly rather than biting on the palate. It is another brilliant ornament for the Christmas festivities.

Also from Mendocino County: the Navarro 1986 Premiere Reserve Chardonnay ($14). Fermented in new French oak barrels, it’s buttery rich, beautifully balanced, round, long and complex, mingling hints of vanilla, anise and cardamom. Fabulous wine.