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You are here: Home / Archives for Buena Vista

Winemaker Brian Maloney zips and dashes between DeLoach and Buena Vista wineries

September 13, 2012 by Joe Becerra

DeLoach Vineyards french open top barrels

French open-top barrels

In 2003 Jean-Charles Boisset purchased DeLoach Vineyards and quickly revamped the winery, gaining certified biodynamic status, adding new wine making equipment, and most importantly hiring a young winemaker by the name of Brian Maloney. About a year ago Jean-Charles purchased Sonoma’s historic Buena Vista Winery, founded in 1857 and, as he did with Deloach, is making major changes and restoring the winery to its former glory. Brian Maloney was doing such a fine job as winemaker at DeLoach, it was an easy choice for Jean-Charles to make Brian the winemaker at Buena Vista as well.

I met with Brian at the DeLoach winery located on Olivet Road in the Russian River Valley near Santa Rosa, CA. He says the workdays are long but rewarding. On many days he travels to both wineries, plus the Raymond winery in the Napa Valley. The Raymond facility is where some of the wine for both DeLoach and Buena Vista is made. He says he is fortunate to have skilled assistant winemakers at each location, who can take over when he is not present.

The focus at both DeLoach and Buena Vista is to make top Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines, using wine making techniques that have been around for centuries. This means large wooden open-topped tanks where Pinot Noir ferments, where workers take turns punching down the fermenting grapes by hand. After fermentation, watchful barrel aging takes place. The key is in the vineyard, where organic and sustainable farming enables the terroir to fully represent itself in the wines.

I asked Brian if there will be any differences in the way the Pinot Noir from the DeLoach Russian River vineyards and the Carneros vineyards of Buena Vista will be made. Here is what he had to say:

At DeLoach 90,000 cases of wine are made annually. A large production of entry level wines is placed in many supermarkets and wine shops, while the second tier of wines is sold through the tasting room or offered on the wine list at select restaurants. Visitors can taste wines for a $10 tasting fee. Check the DeLoach Website for other tasting and tour options. Travelers can make a full day of wine tasting on Olivet Road. In addition to Deloach, on this three mile road, there are four other small and family-run wineries: Olivet Road Wine Trail.

Filed Under: Russian River Wine Country - Sonoma Cty., Sonoma Valley Wine Country, Winemaker Tagged With: Brian Maloney, Buena Vista, DeLoach Vineyards, Jean-Chales Boisset, Olivet Road wineries

Sonoma Valley Wine Country has Four 100 year-old wineries to visit

February 16, 2012 by Joe Becerra

While the Napa Valley gets all the attention as far as popularity, few wine country travelers know that Sonoma County during the 1800’s was the star of California wine country. It all started in the Sonoma Valley wine country when the Buena Vista Winery was established in 1857.

In this first of two blog posts on Sonoma County’s oldest wineries, we focus on four wineries in the Sonoma Valley. Three of the four wineries are located in the town of Sonoma and the fourth just 10 miles away on Highway 12.

Gundlach Bundschu

We begin with Gundlach Bundschu founded in 1857 and today the oldest California winery that has been in continuous operation by the same family. The winery currently has sixth-generation family member Jim Bundschu at the helm. The tasting room is filled with amazing photos and wine bottles from Gundlach’s history. The staff at Gundlach is extremely knowledgeable and very welcoming. The winery certainly has that family feel to it. One added bonus: This is one of the best picnic wineries in all of California. There are three very different and beautiful areas one can choose from to sit and enjoy a picnic lunch. The tasting room is open daily 11 to 4:30.

Our favorite wines at Gundlach Bundschu: Tempranillo and the Gerwurztraminer

Read More »

Filed Under: Sonoma Valley Wine Country, Travel Tips Tagged With: 100 year old wineries in Sonoma, Buena Vista, Gundlach Bundschu, Kunde, Oldest Sonoma wineries, Sebastiani, The Wine Travelers

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