Taste The Generations

Dry Creek Valley Remains Family-Owned in an Era of Consolidation

HEALDSBURG, CA, August 22, 2007-The Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley hosted the Eighth Annual Insider's Exploration of Dry Creek Valley in early August, featuring a panel discussion at Seghesio Family Vineyards entitled, "Taste the Generations." Bucking the trend of corporate consolidation, all but one of the 62 bonded wineries in Dry Creek Valley are family owned and 48 produce 10,000 cases or less. An appellation defined by its 137-year winemaking history, Dry Creek Valley continues to be farmed by families from generation to generation. This shift from one generation to another continues to take place in the small picturesque valley in northern Sonoma County, California.

Clay Mauritson, president of the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley and owner of Mauritson Winery welcomed the group of more than 140 media and trade with a personal account of his family's legacy in Dry Creek Valley: "I am a sixth generation grape grower in Dry Creek Valley," said Mauritson. "I am the first of my family to make wine from my family's grapes and am doing so at our Mauritson Winery built in 2004. The histories and stories behind the Dry Creek Valley wines are what make them special. Today we will discuss the generations of the Valley and how the evolution is reflected in Dry Creek Valley wines."

"Our three panelists are Ed Seghesio, patriarch, Seghesio Family Vineyards; Rashell (Shelly) Rafanelli-Fehlman, winemaker, A. Rafanelli Winery; and Fred Peterson, owner, Peterson Winery."

A Patriarch's Evolution from Bulk to Fine Wine
In his introduction of Ed Seghesio, Mauritson commented: "I think Seghesio Family Vineyards is one of the great pioneers in the Zinfandel category. The winery has been through some amazing twists and turns in the wine business, ultimately producing some of the best Zinfandels coming out of Sonoma County."

Ed Seghesio began with the story of his grandparents. "My Nonno (grandfather) was born in the little town of Dogliani, in the Piemonte area, close to Alba. A single man, he arrived in Sonoma County in 1886 at 24 years of age. He went to work at Italian Swiss Colony which had started in 1881." Seghesio's grandfather married and bought 50 acres of land in 1895; planted grapes and built a home that is still standing today. Seven years later, he built a winery. It was a bulk winery; the wine was sold to Italian Swiss Colony. "I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, churning butter and packing wood," he reminisced. "In 1949, I married and my family and I purchased a winery and 11 acres of grapes for $75,000. I was in charge of operations; grapes cost $45/ton. At the time, we were crushing about 20 percent of the grapes in Sonoma County. We were a cash family. We paid cash. There were no written contracts with growers. Agreements were made with a handshake."

Seghesio went on to explain how the bottom fell out of the bulk wine market in the mid-70s. "We had to let our growers go. We had no outlet for our product, and we flopped along until my son, Ted, came back from college." At that point, the Seghesio family had to decide which direction to take-to put a label on the bottle or sell the winery. "Ted had the gusto to move ahead, and that's what we did. Ted has a very good palate, and I kind of moved back out of the way and let him take over in the 1980s. When Cousin Peter came in 1986, things changed even more."

"We decided to focus on Zinfandel, dropping our production from 100,000 cases to 35,000 cases. Our head-trained Cortina Vineyard in Dry Creek Valley is where our top-of-the line Zinfandel comes from. The clone is from the vines my Nonno planted in 1895. We hired a world-renowned viticulturist to work with us. My son-in-law runs the vineyards, Ted makes the wine and Peter sells it. It is the new generation-the third and fourth generation Seghesios-who are now the nucleus of the business."

A Small Dry Creek Valley Winery Stays Small
Another long-time winery in Dry Creek Valley is A. Rafanelli Winery. "I think it would be hard to argue that Rafanelli isn't one of the first cult wines, not only in Sonoma County, but in California in general," prefaced Mauritson in his introduction to Winemaker Rashell (Shelly) Rafanelli-Fehlman. "The winery has stayed small and dedicated to quality. It is one of the great success stories in Dry Creek Valley."

"I'm very lucky to be here and to have had the opportunity to join the family business," commenced Rafanelli-Fehlman. "Our Dry Creek Valley heritage began with my great-grandparents, Alberto and Leticia, coming over from Italy. They settled here in Healdsburg. It was my great-grandmother who brought the wine and grape knowledge with her from the Old Country." At Leticia's urging, the family moved to the country, settling in an area that reminded them a lot of Italy, their home country. The first winery and vineyards were established in 1911 where the Healdsburg High School is located today. Later, Rashell's grandfather, Americo, purchased the ranch in Dry Creek Valley where the new generation is making wine in the old redwood workhorse barn built more than 100 years ago.

"When my father, David Rafanelli, joined my grandfather, he had to convince my grandfather to start a Cabernet Sauvignon program," continued Rafanelli-Fehlman. "When I graduated from college, I had to convince my dad to let me start a Merlot program." She has also made changes to the way the business is run. For example, the winery mailing list is now on computer. "My dad used to say that computers were just a fad," she remarked. "To this day, he still doesn't own a computer."

Other challenges facing the new generation at A. Rafanelli are labor, the longevity of the 90-year-old Zinfandel vines and the health of the Cabernet vineyards. "Fortunately, I am not alone. My husband is our vineyard manager. It's a unique opportunity, as we taste the wines together with our vineyard practices in mind," she explained.

"The uniqueness of Dry Creek Valley is that it consists of a lot of family-based wineries," continued Rafanelli-Fehlman. I can speak for a lot of the other small wineries in the Valley-it's about quality, not quantity. We make the wines that we like in the style that we like. We are not conforming to current trends. We are not expanding nor selling out to the corporate world. It's family based, and I believe there is a passion here that drives us both as farmers and winemakers. It's not really about the money, but a way of life. We want to preserve the Valley because we are here for the long run. At A. Rafanelli, we are proud that 100 percent of our wines are from Dry Creek Valley."

A Relative Newcomer Celebrates his 25th Year in Dry Creek Valley
"Fred Peterson describes himself as still a newcomer even after a quarter of a century in the Valley," said Mauritson in his introduction to the owner of Peterson Winery. "Fred followed a different path to Dry Creek Valley, but he represents the same passion and dedication to family and quality as the rest of the old timers and other members of the panel. In fact, right now, Fred is transitioning his business over to his son. I am sure that they have felt many of the challenges in the transition that the rest of us have experienced."

"I first came to Dry Creek Valley in 1971," commenced Peterson. "I was in the Navy, stationed at Treasure Island, waiting to get reassigned. I was hitchhiking up to see a buddy in Fort Bragg. A gentleman picked me up in Santa Rosa, and said he was going out to the coast but had to make a little detour to get some wine. I said, 'cool, I like wine.' And he went to A. Rafanelli Winery. It was Shelly's granddad, Americo-we used to call him 'Am'-at the winery with a bottle of wine on a barrel. He poured us a taste. It was pretty good stuff, and the fellow who was giving me a ride said: 'Well, what do you want for it?' And Am said, 'Well, it's a buck a bottle, but if you buy it without the label, it's 90 cents.'"

It was a circuitous path Peterson followed until he finally made it back to Dry Creek Valley, years after this first encounter. After leaving the Navy, he spent a couple years at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Taking a semester off from school, he went to work at a friend's vineyard in Mendocino County. He took classes in agriculture and decided he wanted to make a living growing grapes and making wine. Peterson returned to school at the University of California, Davis in the viticulture degree program in 1976, after working in New Zealand, France and Napa Valley. He worked at various wineries throughout California as a vineyard manager and winemaker, until he formed a partnership with Bill Hambrecht and moved to Dry Creek Valley. "I came here at the end of 1982," said Peterson. "I doubt if there were even 12 wineries producing wine in Dry Creek Valley at the time. I managed and developed 650 acres of vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. In 1987, I talked Hambrecht into letting me make wine in our little red barn on Lytton Springs Road, and eight years later I purchased the majority interest and went from the frying pan into the fire."

What has always attracted Peterson to Dry Creek Valley, besides his love for Zinfandel, are the people and the setting. "It's a special place. The family tradition always appealed to me," he explained. "My son Jamie is now the winemaker."

Other Dry Creek Valley wineries that are currently going through a transition from one generation to another include Nalle, where Andrew is working as winemaker with his father, Doug Nalle; Mill Creek Winery, where Jeremy Kreck has taken over as winemaker; and Hawley Winery, where sons Paul and Austin are working with their father, John Hawley. There are also a number of long-time Dry Creek Valley grape growing families that have recently established wineries. Mounts Family Winery, where third-generation grape grower David Mounts is the first generation to make wine from his family's grapes. Sbragia Family Vineyards, Rued Winery and Passalacqua Winery are other examples of this movement from grape growers to wineries.

Peterson concluded: "As I see the Valley evolve, I think the challenge for all of us is to embrace our success and inevitable changes without losing our unique connection to the traditions of winegrowing and family that make the Dry Creek Valley such a special place.