Ravenswood Vineyard Designate Wines

In 1982, while driving a load of just-picked fruit to Sonoma, Joel Peterson hit a pothole while turning from Adobe Road onto Stage Gulch Road. His truck turned over in the middle of the intersection, spilling four tons of grapes onto the road.

Joel didn't panic. He just dusted himself off, called Angelo Sangiacomo and pretty soon a crew was there to pick up the grapes.

Though Sangiacomo is one of Sonoma's best-known vineyardists, he hadn't grown the grapes that ended up on the pavement. But that didn't matter to Angelo. As Ravenswood's landlord in the 1980s, he served as the winery's private emergency service. For example, when Joel first moved into Sangiacomo's warehouse in the Carneros district (behind a woodworking shop that had once made toilet seats), he needed heavy equipment to move his fermenters and French-oak barrels. Since Joel couldn't afford a forklift, he borrowed one from Angelo—and would go on borrowing it for the next decade.

Joel was intrigued when Sangiacomo budded 20 acres of Riesling vines over to Merlot, so he bought half of the first crop in 1989. Surprise! It rained seven times during that harvest, one of the most difficult in California history. But because of who grew it and where it came from, the '89 Sangiacomo Merlot is still drinking well today.

Carneros has a marginal climate for Merlot, which needs a lot of hang-time for full flavor development. But that isn't dissimilar to conditions in Bordeaux, where Merlot achieves its highest expression. Raised with care by Angelo and hand-crafted with Old World techniques by Joel, the Ravenswood Sangiacomo isn't unlike a powerful wine from Pomerol: forceful, spicy and complex, with a firm backbone behind its smoky herbs and cherries. Drinking the garden variety of Merlot that later came in with the California craze, you'd never guess that the grape has so much natural integrity. Angelo must have concluded that his Merlot experiment was a success: today he farms 150 acres of the varietal, with much of it still going to Ravenswood. The picked grapes now have to be trucked about five miles to the winery, but the drivers have instructions to avoid the intersection of Stage Gulch and Adobe Road. Angelo isn't Joel's landlord any more—and besides, the Sangiacomos have other things to do with their time.

FLAVOR PROFILE:				Full, ripe, round and supple blackberry and vanilla flavors


Location				Valley, Carneros

Acreage				900 total (Kaiser block 20 acres)

Year planted				1969

Soil type				Shallow, gravel and clay loam

Climate				Cool foggy mornings, moderate days, cool breezy evenings

Elevation				15-20 feet

Exposure				Slightly rolling valley floor

Spacing				Varies

Yield				1.5-2 tons per acre Merlot, 3.5 tons per acre Chardonnay

Varietals				Chardonnay, Merlot

Rootstock				St George/110R