The Tasting Panel magazine

July 2010

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Todd Arterburn is President and Chief Operating Officer of Foppiano Vineyards. Lou Foppiano hired Winemaker Natalie West in June 2008 and then brought Todd on in the Fall of ’08. “We’ll be steering the direction of the winery for the next 100 years,” Arterburn advises. Reinvention Fifth-generation family winery member Paul Foppiano greets us, along with winery President Todd Arterburn and winemaker Natalie West. The trio represents the new phase of Foppiano. Louis M. Foppiano was one of a small group of vintners and wine- growers who set about establishing official AVA status for the Russian River Valley in the late 1970s. Now, 114 years after its founding, Foppiano Vineyards is ready to redefine its place, producing all-estate fruit from its land: the Russian River Valley. “We’ll be all-estate from here on,” declares Foppiano, who is responsible for the farming and viticulture that will drive the 140-acre winery’s new direction. The 35-year-old rejoined his family business in 1999 after working at Sausal Vineyards, owned by a family who, like his own ancestors, emigrated from Genoa, Italy. “Our impetus for change is to make world-class wines,” he tells THE TASTING PANEL. Two years ago, Natalie West came on to the scene, and Paul Foppiano had his doubts. “She looked so young,” he notes, adding, “but now there is no question. She has shown all of us how talented she really is.” The 30-year-old winemaker earned her Bachelor of Science degree in viticulture and enology from U.C. Davis. Her stints at Ferrari-Carano, J Winery and Clos La Chance in California, along with her work in New Zealand, were admirable; perhaps just as important, she was actually raised in nearby Dry Creek Valley, where she was later engaged on a project that New Foppiano winemaker Natalie West overlooking estate Pinot Noir vineyards, just 150 yards from the Russian River. While early morning fog defines the AVA and acts as a natural air-con- ditioner, “Pinot Noir and Chardonnay speak the language of the Russian River,” she says. 74 / the tasting panel / july 2010

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