Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/11486
“When we first came up here,” says Lazy Creek co-proprietor Don Carano, “we thought, ‘What a special place.’” Don and his wife, Rhonda, were already owners of prestigious Sonoma County winery Ferrari- Carano, in Dry Creek Valley, as well as a stunning new production facility high above Geyserville, dubbed the Mountain Winery Estate, where their red wines are now made, when they got bitten by the Mendocino bug. “We were looking in Napa,” says Don, “but our agent said, ‘Don’t even think about Napa. I want to show you something special.’” When the Caranos made their first visit to Lazy Creek, they fell hard. In 2008 they purchased the 95-acre ranch. The property was planted to 40 acres of grapes, including Riesling, Chardonnay and the oldest Gewürztraminer in the Anderson Valley, grafted onto phylloxera-resistant St. George rootstock by original owner Hans Kobler in the early 1970s. But most impor- tant for the Caranos’ future plans was the property’s Pinot Noir. “This is the smallest and second-oldest Pinot vineyard in Anderson Valley,” remarks Don Carano. Not wanting to make high-extract Pinot Noirs like many of those now coming from warmer-climate areas further south, the Caranos vowed to maintain the pure, linear style that Lazy Creek was known for. “This place is ideal for Pinot Noir,” smiles Don. The current Pinot Noir releases, made before the Caranos purchased the winery, include a bright, focused Lazy Creek 2007 Pinot Noir ($38), which Griffith had a hand in blending, and the elegantly expressive 2006 RPB ($46), a “Reserve Puncheon Blend” made only from old vines dating to 1973. For sum- mer, there’s also a pink and quaffable Rosé of Pinot Noir ($18). A limited-release Syrah ($28) shows deep, sexy black fruit flavors tinged with cola and white pepper. Winemaker Christy Griffith, who gravitated to winemaking from the business side of the industry, maintains a keen balance between fruit and acid, not just in the Pinot Noir, but in all the Lazy Creek wines. “We have an Alsatian- style focus in our whites,” Griffith relates—an emphasis that makes Lazy Creek’s charming Riesling and aromatic dry Gewürztraminer ideal food wines. As the occasional visitor arrives at Lazy Lithe, elegant, Burgundian-style Pinot Noir is Lazy Creek’s main offering. The label will be redesigned for future vintages. Creek, chickens strut outside the tasting room and numerous farm cats loiter in the sun. “It’s a word-of-mouth kind of place,” says Rhonda Carano, but that doesn’t stop Northern California chefs and sommeliers from seeking these wines out for their lists. The Lazy Creek Riesling is served at The French Laundry in Yountville and the Gewürztraminer at Cyrus in Healdsburg. With new 4,000-square-foot caves dug into the rocky hillside coming on line in time for this year’s harvest and further planting to be done, the Lazy Creek project is an inviting chal- lenge for the Caranos. As Rhonda says, “It’s just like winemaking when we first started out.” www.lazycreekvineyards.com june 2010 / the tasting panel / 75 Winemaker Christy Griffith in the vineyard.