Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/348953
{ SOMMjournal.com } 61 WHEN THE WINEMAKING TEAM AT FERRARI-CARANO, the Sonoma County wine empire that was built on the unquenchable American thirst for a certain style of Chardonnay in the 1980s, gathers in one room, the energy is much like a teakettle about to blow. The simmer of excitement these ladies have for what they are doing is almost tangible. Over the past 30-plus years, Don and Rhonda Carano have acquired 3,500 acres of vineyards across five appellations. Poised to be making oceans of medium quality-wine by now, they have instead—and smartly—chosen to focus on single vineyards. While their flagship Chardonnay and Fumé Blanc have stayed pretty consistent over the years, today, between the Ferrari-Carano brand and Anderson Valley's Lazy Creek Vineyards, the unabashed Italian-Americans (whose sprawling estate was inspired by vis - its to Tuscany; the tasting room spills over with Italian-themed tchotchkes and housewares) make up to 26 wines, many of them vineyard-designated. Such a vast portfolio requires a dynamic and dedicated team. Led by Executive Winemaker Sarah Quider, each woman has her own winery and area of expertise. Quider's love is Chardonnay; Rebecka Deike, based at the ten-year-old Alexander Valley winery, oversees red wine production; and Christy Ackerman is the Pinotphile at Lazy Creek Vineyards. "We all care so much," says Quider "and that passion is there to show the best we can from our vineyard sites." "We share a similar philosophy in our winemaking and strive for the same things," agrees Ackerman. "Our wine shows what the vineyard gives you. We want the fruit to express itself." For Quider, that means making three different Russian River Valley Chardonnays, which Rhonda affectionately refers to as "the girls," bearing the names of sisters and mothers rather than the actual vineyards. Quider is not shy about her love of French oak and has not jumped on the unoaked bandwagon: "We do have some Chardonnay that sees only 25 percent new oak and with a little less toast, but for me, I love Chardonnay in oak. I think there is nothing like it; it marries well." And if you can stop nursing your Rombauer-inflicted wounds for a minute, you will discover that even a wine like the current Ferrari-Carano 2014 Dominique Chardonnay, a voluptuous girl indeed, can have a backbone. Some feared that when the Carano's purchased the rustic Lazy Creek Vineyards in Mendocino's Anderson Valley in 2008 they would fold the small production Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir production into the large F-C umbrella, but instead they have largely kept the brands separate and let Ackerman work her magic, in addition to making a Mendocino County Pinot for the Ferrari-Carano label. "I love Anderson Valley for Pinot Noir," says Ackerman. "It's a little more Burgundian to me; more soil and earth with floral notes. They are structured, too; I think they have a little more tannin than Russian River Valley and good natural acidity." If one's wine is an expression of one's self, it makes no sense that the tiny, athletic Deike is responsible for some of the most massive red wines coming out of Sonoma County. And while we laugh about how she has, during her tenure, tried to soften the burly masculine tannins of Alexander Valley fruit, she still refers to her hillside-grown reds—mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah—as "the bruisers." The wine this self-proclaimed acid addict seems to like the most ("the brightest wine," as Deike describes it) is Ferrari-Carano Siena (2012 is the current vintage), a medium-bodied, red fruit–driven Sangiovese blend with a modest 20 percent new oak. Made by "acid addict" Rebecka Deike, Siena is a Sangiovese blend with 20 percent new oak. "The Girls": Sarah Quider makes three different Russian River Valley Chardonnays, named for family members: Dominique, Fiorella and Emilia's Cuvée. Christy Ackerman feels that Anderson Valley Pinot Noir is "a little more Burgundian."