Daffodils, redwoods and fog define the Russian River Valley as much as its signature grape - Pinot Noir

TIM TESCONI
SAVOR WINE COUNTRY

Nowhere in Wine Country is spring so colorfully choreographed as in Sonoma County?s Russian River Valley, the vast green vale where thousands of daffodils herald the season of rebirth in the vineyards.

Like little yellow troubadours, daffodils trumpet spring?s pending arrival even if the official date is weeks away or winter decides to overstay its welcome. Soon after the sunny blooms make their debut along Russian River wine roads, the growth cycle starts anew in the vineyards. Tender green buds pop from stark, dead-looking grapevines, offering the promise of Pinot Noir, the region?s signature grape.

Pinot Noir, daffodils, redwoods and fog define the Russian River Valley, one of Sonoma County?s largest and most prestigious winegrowing regions. This is Sonoma County?s Burgundy, a cool-climate growing region where the finicky Pinot Noir grape reaches perfection in the foggy mists along the river?s edge.

Unlike the Alexander Valley, which is fence-to-fence vineyards, the Russian River Valley is quintessential west Sonoma County with a Wine Country twist. Apple orchards, livestock ranches, truck gardens and Christmas tree farms nuzzle up against famed vineyards, like Rochioli and Dutton, known to wine buffs everywhere.

?When you combine the pastoral scene of cows on a hillside pasture with the dynamic of world-class vineyards, all with a background of redwood groves, you have the makings of paradise,? says Davis Bynum, 80, owner of Davis Bynum Winery and one of the valley?s Pinot Noir pioneers.

Bynum, a former newspaper reporter, converted an abandoned hop kiln into a winery in 1973, establishing the first winery on Healdsburg?s Westside Road, now a 10-mile winery row and the epicenter of Pinot Noir production.

The world really discovered the Russian River Valley in the early 1990s, when there was a dramatic upsurge in the popularity of Pinot Noir wines. Big and small winemakers only had to taste the remarkable Pinots from Russian River wineries like Williams Selyem and Davis Bynum and the land rush was on.

Real estate agents, representing top Sonoma and Napa winemakers, knocked on farmhouse doors asking property owners to sell their orchard or cow pasture for a Pinot Noir vineyard. Joseph Phelps and Caymus were among the weighty Napa Valley wineries coming west to plant Pinot in the Russian River Valley.

Vineyards have helped the valley maintain its farming heritage. But this isn?t some bucolic agricultural backwater. The region boasts fine-dining restaurants like Zazu in west Santa Rosa, the Farmhouse Inn near Forestville and Underwood in Graton. There?s hiking in Armstrong Woods and canoeing on the Russian River.

The Russian River Valley was approved as an American Viticultural Area by the federal government in 1983. Bisected by the Russian River, the valley encompasses nearly 100,000 acres of farmland, forests and wetlands, stretching east to west from Santa Rosa to Guerneville and north to south from Healdsburg to Sebastopol. Green Valley and Chalk Hill are sub-appellations within the sprawling region, which is tied together by the river that meanders through Sonoma County to the Pacific Ocean.

?We like to say that a river runs through us,? says Rod Berglund, winemaker at Joseph Swan Vineyards in Forestville, recalling the Robert Redford film ?A River Runs Through It.? Berglund is one of the founders of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers, a trade group representing wineries and growers in the region.

Within the valley?s boundaries are 10,000 acres of vineyards farmed by 250 growers. Fifty wineries call the valley home, with names like Joseph Swan, Davis Bynum, Martinelli, Merry Edwards and Gary Farrell among those making their mark with world-class Pinot Noir.

Spring is a prime time to scout the Russian River Valley, exploring its scenic beauty, sampling its wines and smelling the daffodils. With more than 250,000 daffodil bulbs popping up in a continuous ribbon between Fulton and Forestville and spreading along rural byways, there is nothing slow and subtle about spring?s arrival here.

?The daffodils burst on the scene and offer the hope of spring even if the calendar says otherwise. Daffodils just scream spring, which is my favorite time of the year in the Russian River Valley,? says grape grower Saralee McClelland Kunde, the valley?s daffodil diva and one of its chief cheerleaders.

It was Kunde, the earthy stage mother, who orchestrated the planting of more than 25 tons of daffodil bulbs in the valley. The dutiful daffodils, returning year after year, grow along vine rows, carpet hillsides around wineries and grace picket fences of old farmsteads.

Kunde hatched the idea for the public planting campaign in the fall of 1992, using daffodils to lure tourists to the valley?s farms and tasting rooms during a time of year when everyone needs a spring break.

?Daffodils are such happy little guys, particularly when the sun shines,? says Kunde. ?When their tiny heads look up to the heavens, you can?t help but smile.?

Spring?s bloomy roadshow continues on for months with apple blossoms, wild mustard, lupines and crimson clover. Willows and cattails sprout along the river and other waterways. Swallows return to barns and wineries as part of the seasonal rhythm.

Although Pinot Noir shines in the Russian River Valley, this viticultural area also produces some of Sonoma County?s best Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs and sparkling wines. Think Kistler Chardonnay and Iron Horse Vineyards? Russian Cuvee sparkling wine. Hanna Vineyards has won the county Harvest Fair?s white wine sweepstakes award three times in the past five years for its Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc, made from grapes grown at the Hanna family?s Slusser Road Vineyard.

In the warmer reaches of the valley, Zinfandel also achieves greatness. Acorn Vineyards? 2002 Zinfandel, which won the red wine sweepstakes at last year?s Harvest Fair, is rooted in the Russian River Valley.

More than anything else, says winemaker Berglund of Joseph Swan Vineyards, it?s the general coolness of the valley that gives Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes such Burgundian character. The range of flavors in the valley?s Pinot Noir wines reflects the differences in soil type, vineyard site and prevailing fog. It?s what the French call terroir, the viticultural circumstances of a specific vineyard.

?Many factors are interwoven like a tapestry to produce grapes that express the flavor of the vineyard,? says Berglund. ?It all starts in the vineyards. That?s why we call ourselves winegrowers.?

The Russian River Valley?s regular intrusion of cooling fog during summer and fall prevents excessive heat, which zaps vital acids from the ripening grapes.

The fog rolls in almost daily from the Pacific Ocean, flowing like smoke through a geologic gap called the Petaluma Wind Tunnel and the natural channel carved by the Russian River in its flow through the coastal hills.

On most days during the grape-growing season, the dawn arrives with a cool, gray sky. The mist doesn?t lift until 10 o?clock. By early afternoon the sun warms the hillsides, but around 4 o?clock the heat subsides and the glorious fog returns. It?s perfect weather if you?re a Pinot Noir grape and your destiny is to be a great wine.

?There are few wines in the world that achieve the kind of velvety, supple texture of Pinot Noirs from the Russian River Valley. They have an incredible sensual succulence,? says winemaker Merry Edwards, one of the region?s leading winemakers.

Before grapes became the valley?s main cash crop, the soil anchored more than 20,000 acres of apple orchards. Hops also played an important role in the region?s agriculture. Old hop barns scattered throughout the valley are monuments to a colorful chapter of Sonoma County farm history.

At least three Russian River Valley wineries ? Martinelli, Davis Bynum and Hop Kiln ? are housed in old hop barns. Other wineries have been established in apple-processing plants, reflecting the shift from apples to grapes.

The history of the pioneer Martinelli family, which settled in the Russian River Valley in the 1890s, mirrors the region?s agricultural history. As farmers, the Martinellis have always raised wine grapes while also producing prunes, livestock and apples on family ranches.

Today the Martinellis, determined to preserve their agricultural heritage and keep the land settled by their Italian immigrant ancestors, are producing expensive, carefully crafted wines that consistently earn high ratings from critics.

?Before we had the winery, we grew grapes and sold them to other wineries. Then we were concerned about the grapes? reaching the right sugar levels. Now we farm for flavors,? says Lee Martinelli, 65, owner of Martinelli Winery, located on River Road west of Fulton.

Martinelli, a third-generation Sonoma County rancher, runs the family winery and vineyards with his wife, Carolyn, and their grown children, Juliana, 42, George, 40, and Lee Jr., 36. It?s their grand plan that Martinelli family members will be growing grapes and making wine for the next century. And beyond.

?Almost daily I thank my Italian immigrant grandparents for coming to the Russian River Valley to farm this fabulous land,? says Martinelli. ?It?s a very special place where our family strives to make wines that capture the valley?s beauty and flavor.?

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