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By: Cecile Isaacs
DRY CREEK VALLEY PICNIC TO RAISE MONEY FOR LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS
“Amateur Zin Taste-Off”’ event at Dry Creek Winery in Healdsburg
Arch-rivals, the Taylors and the Micallefs, will face off again at 5 pm on Sunday August 16th at the Dry Creek Winery, Lambert Bridge Rd, Healdsburg, in the annual Zinfandel Taste-Off competition for Dry Creek Valley amateur winemakers. Eight to twelve competitors will put a bottle of their best wine into the tasting which is judged by all picnickers. Each picnicker will use a chip to vote for their favorite. Among the picnicking judges are many of the valley’s finest winemakers as well as local market gardeners. Proceeds from the Taste-off benefit the Association’s scholarship fund for local students.
Paul and Barbara Micallef make a small Italian field blend zinfandel including petit sirah and carignane with the zinfandel. Paul said, “When wine contains 60% or more zinfandel grape it’s called zinfandel, but no one uses that little. The zin component is usually in the 90% plus range.” They make at least a barrel a year from their four rows of terraced, hillside grapes.
Paul grew up in San Francisco where his European-born dad made wine at home for the family. Paul and Barbara started making wine in Dry Creek Valley in 1990. Although they had no grapes of their own that year, their neighbor, Patty Opatz, offered grapes and helped them with the first fermentation. The next year, Peter Balbi, whose vineyard is farmed by Rafanelli, had extra grapes called “second crop” since they are picked late. Many clusters stayed on thanks to the long “hang time” of 1991. Peter gave the Micallefs four rows to pick which made more than a barrel.
In those days they fermented in food grade trash cans and made wine in their garage in Walnut Creek. Because 1991 had an unusually cool fall and fermentation wouldn’t keep going in the garage, they brought the fermenting brew into the dining room to keep warm. Wrapped in electric blankets, with aquarium heaters inside the vats, the cabernet finally finished fermenting. Barbara said, “I thought the dining room would never smell normal again!” Surprised by the wonderful smoothness and depth of the wine, for a lark, they bottled some up in an old Mouton-Rothschild bottle and offered tastes to the chef and waiter at a famous San Francisco restaurant. The praise they heard that evening encouraged them to plant their own grapes, study wine making at UC Davis and keep making wine.
From then on, they always searched out second crop zin. Paul said, “It takes a lot of time to pick the small late clusters --15 times as long as first crop bunches. One year back trouble kept me from collecting from the usual sources. Barbara and I cruised the valley looking for unpicked vines. A man was just coming out of his barn with a glass of wine in his hand. It was Doug Stout, Healdsburg Literary Laureate, who offered all his zin grapes to us. The resulting wine was so high in alcohol, it needed to be diluted with water. We called it ‘The Loaves and Fishes’ wine.”
The Micallefs have won quite a few ribbons and corks from the taste-off. Pat and Ivor Taylor, their arch rivals, have won most of the rest. A bronzed wooden bung on a colorful ribbon is placed around the neck of the winner. The Taylors make wine as well as a highly regarded port made from zin. Pat is a serious farmer who sells grapes commercially. He and his wife, Ivor, also make an assortment of wines for home use.
Zin tasting will kick off the benefit followed by a 6 p.m. lamb and chicken barbecue dinner, raffle and dessert sale then the awards presentation. Wines from Dry Creek Valley wineries are sold for only $4.00 a glass. The barbeque is open to members and guests of the Dry Creek Valley Association. New members are welcome to join at the picnic.
Entries for the Zin Taste-Off include two bottles of homemade wine. For more information, contact Richard Kagel at 707-433-8364.
Tickets for the Picnic are $20 in advance or $30 at the door. For more information, or to volunteer, call Lisa Henson at 707-431-7878.
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