Anderson Valley: In Boontling It’s Bahl

If one were to define Anderson Valley of Mendocino County in a few words, it might be best to say “cold, isolated, little known and once best known for great apples, pears and berries.”

It still grows those crops, but in the last decade the narrow valley that stretches northwest nearly to the Pacific Ocean has also produced a wide array of wines, some of the best being made anywhere in America and for which it is gaining a following.

The cold climate here, which once seemed more suited to fruit trees, was thought to be the bane of fine wine, but as growers learned more about growing the vines here, the wines slowly gained a measure of recognition among a tiny coterie of collectors.

Even though the wines improved, small production and the remoteness of the area combined with a reticence on the part of the winemakers to hamper Anderson Valley’s fame.

Also, it didn’t help that many consumers confused this place with the better-known and much warmer Alexander Valley of northern Sonoma County, which has had success with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay and few other varieties.

Anderson Valley, however, has recently shown it can grow a wide range of grape varieties to greatness. Here there are dry Gewurztraminers as successful as those from the Alsace, Pinot Noirs rivaling Burgundy, Sauvignon Blancs to make a Sancerrean proud, sparkling wine not far removed from real Champagne and often better, Chardonnays that emulate Chablis, and incredible, luscious late-harvest Rieslings.

Yet for all its local successes of the last few years, this small, cool valley in southwestern Mendocino County, protected from coastal winds by a range of hills, remains to most people a mystery--and it is destined to remain that way because getting here ain’t easy and the people are so laid back and soft-spoken you’ll not likely confuse them with the voluble Robert Mondavi and his promotional rhetoric.

The drive to Anderson Valley from Highway 101, west toward the Pacific, careens, rises and dips past gnarled oaks, verdant swales, stands of redwoods and ancient farmhouses. The first real civilization is here in Boonville, where the local lingo “Boontling” is as much an attraction as anything.

Here you can get a horn of zeese (a cup of coffee), you can call home on the walter levi (telephone), and have a shattaquaw (long chat) with the locals, who’ll tell you Boontling is dying out. The kids don’t want to learn it any more. Then you can mosey on down the road to join with other seep horners (wine lovers) at some of the tasting rooms at Philo and discover how truly bahl (top quality) the wines are.

Boontling sprang up about 1880 in Bell Valley, a small community just east of here. Residents were very private and wanted to have a lingo all their own that outsiders couldn’t understand.

“It was symptomatic of how isolated the area was,” said Deborah Cahn of Navarro Vineyards, adding that even residents of the coast, just a few miles west, were called abalonites , and considered foreigners.

Many words stem from people’s names. A man named Frattey was a winemaker, so frattey became wine. Today some wineries use Boontling terms in their titles. Handley Cellars, for instance, makes an attractive blended wine called Brightlighter White. A brightlighter in Boontling is a person from the city--where there are bright lights.

Driving through Anderson Valley, you’d never realize such sublime wine is made here. There are no billboards proclaiming this is wine country, no neon-lighted chamber of commerce offices. The most visible attraction is Gowan’s Fruits, a stand where great apples, pears and other fruits are offered.

The only way to learn about the wine people is to visit the properties. Many are escapees from big-city life.

Ted Bennett and his wife, Deborah Cahn, of Navarro moved here in 1974 to escape metropolitan pressures. Ted, a founder of the Pacific Stereo chain of hi-fi stores, sold them and moved here, planting vineyards on a hillside. Ted, the official winery tractor driver, and Deborah, who runs the tasting room, live in an old farmhouse that, because of their two children, is now wall-to-wall with computers.

Hanns Kobler was a waiter and maitre d’ at the venerable San Francisco restaurant Jack’s before he and his wife, Theresia, “retired” and planted vines here in 1973. Today Lazy Creek Vineyards is, as its name implies, a no-promotion operation that simply makes great wines and sells them reasonably.

Allan Green had been a graphic artist when his family planted vines in the 1970s. In 1980, Green decided to build a modern winery on adjacent land, calling it Greenwood Ridge Vineyard. Good wine was made until 1989, when Van Williamson was hired to be the winemaker, and quality then soared.

John Scharffenberger, who had earned a degree in biogeography, was content growing grapes on his family’s ranch inland until he decided great sparkling wine could be made here. In 1979, he planted a vineyard and his first Scharffenberger Cellars sparkling wines were widely praised.

Winemaker Milla Handley’s father, Ray, was a vineyard owner in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County. Milla decided to make wine on her own, under the Handley Cellars label, opening her winery here, not in Sonoma.

The wines here today are significantly better than a decade ago, when just a handful of wines were good. Only in the last five or six vintages, since the mid-1980s, has Anderson Valley really hit it, and with wines whose prices are fair, a result of the lack of recognition.

It was about then that growers learned tricks about training their vines to capture grape-ripening sunlight; it was then that winemakers began to hew to a hands-off style of winemaking that allowed the fruit to dominate the wines. It’s a style in which the technique isn’t visible in the wines; so few of them are overly oak-y or thick with tannin.

What Anderson Valley does best is make wines that are more graceful, fruity and lean, with a crispness that matches well with food. There are deep flavors here. And the wines are not as high in alcohol as wines from other regions because the grapes simply don’t ripen as readily.

Pinot Noir is the variety with the best chance to gain international fame here, many exhibiting a cherry and sandalwood character, with less of the herbal scent found in Pinot Noirs from Santa Barbara and with at least as much fruit as many from the Carneros region in the south of Napa and Sonoma.

The best of a group I tasted recently was the 1991 Lazy Creek ($11.50), which has a Burgundian cherry and spice character and a sweetness on the tongue. However, the 1990 Husch Vineyards ($14) is even more Burgundian, though with less fruit; the 1989 Navarro “Deep End” (a Boontling term for the north end of the valley) ($18) is deep and rich, a rare occurrence in 1989; the 1991 Greenwood Ridge ($15) is quite aromatic with a delicate sweetness on the tongue; 1991 Handley ($12.50) is wonderfully scented with cherries and has an elegant finish, and 1991 Pepperwood Springs Vineyards ($15) is seasoned with cinnamon notes atop strawberry aromas.

Sauvignon Blanc has also recently become a star wine here, though little of it is made. I love the two distinctively hay-like and honeyed 1991s from Greenwood Ridge ($9) and Navarro ($9.75).

Riesling also does well here. In the off-dry style I really love the 1991 Greenwood Ridge ($8.50), which has amazing spice and notes of honeysuckle, fresh apples and melons. A great aperitif for hot-weather patio sipping. Navarro is one of the best producers of late-harvest Rieslings and Gewurztraminers.

I also tasted three great 1991 Gewurztraminers, from Navarro ($8.50) (amazing depth and grapefruit-y concentration of spiced fruit); Husch ($8.50) (tropical fruit and lichee nut aroma and a classic sweet-sour finish), and Lazy Creek ($7.50) (fairly spicy and mouth-filling). All were just about dry, with only a trace of sugar for balance.

Sparkling wine has achieved more fame in Anderson Valley, notably the wines of the two largest bubbly makers in the valley, Scharffenberger Cellars and Roederer Estate, both owned by French conglomerates and both of which produce wines of finesse from the classic varieties Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Roederer searched for three years for a place to locate its American wine company, finally discovering what Scharffenberger had learned nearly a decade earlier-that the cool climate here ripens the two varieties slowly and gives them good flavor at low sugars, perfect for sparkling wine.

The latest release of Roederer’s non-vintage Brut ($17) and Scharffenberger’s 1989 Blanc de Blancs ($20) show this delicacy handsomely. Handley ($15) and Navarro ($16.50) both make small amounts of top-rate Brut sparkling wine, too.

Chardonnay from these soils leans toward the delicate apple-lemon side of things, with the latest good ones being 1991 Lazy Creek ($9.75), 1990 Navarro “Premiere Reserve” ($15), 1990 Husch “Special Reserve” ($18) and 1991 Greenwood Ridge ($16).

Once, California wine was leaner, more complex and crisper than it is today. In the last decade, Americans have learned to like a bolder, more powerful style of wine, and many wineries have accommodated them with fatter, blowsy and simpler offerings.

This means that the more delicate wines of Anderson Valley may not be for everyone. But for those who prefer wines of grace and elegance, wines made in a more classical style, Anderson Valley may provide a haven in a sea of sameness.

Wine of the Week

1990 Simi Winery “Sendal” ($15)-- This proprietary blend of Sauvignon Blanc with a small amount of Semillon has an intriguing pine/herbal quality to it. The texture of the wine is lovely--creamy and still tart. A marvelous new wine from winemaker Nick Goldschmidt.

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Splurge of the Week: 1990 Mommessin “Clos de Tart” ($90)-- A powerful, exciting wine that will hold its own with any wine made in Burgundy. The wonderful flavor includes anise, smoke, dill and powerful cherry/currant notes. Despite richness of fruit in the mouth, the wine is still truly graceful. A deeply complex wine, built for the next decade.