Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/859549
112 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 The blessing from all this cool air is acid- ity. Given Alexander Valley's hot and arid summers, high sugar levels in the grapes could result in potentially over-generous alcohol levels in the wines. Acidity provides a counterweight. Not only does it explain the balance in the wines we found con - sistently in the current release Cabernets, acidity is the crucible for wine longevity. "Tannins fall out over time, so the one thing that remains the same is the acidity. Wines that are tannic and alcoholic won't age as well as a well-balanced wine with good acidity," Entrikin explained. A bounty of older-vintage Cabernets provided by several AV wineries offered the proof. All the wines we enjoyed with a scrumptious barbecue lunch, home - cooked by Jake Hawkes's mom, still showed gracefully. Our lunchtime discussion on ageability included comments from wine- makers Davis and Hawkes, Rodney Strong Winemaker Greg Morthole and Francis Geologists refer to Alexander Valley's mash-up of geologi- cal history-ancient sea beds, volcanoes, alluvial deposits and tectonic plate subduction-as the "Franciscan Complex Mélange." The diverse soils provide a broad palette for winemakers but can be challenging for growers. Francis Ford Coppola Winemaker Sandy Walheim let us in on a winemaker secret: "If you want to see a winemaker sweat, ask them how long you should keep a wine. There's nothing worse than telling someone to hold on to a wine and your advice turns out to be too long. Longevity is a bonus, but you can't predict it. Every older bottle is its own little surprise." She also highly recommends decanting older wines such as this rare Coppola 2006 Archimedes. Trione Winery sits beside a landmark 1908 stone winery. Now an event center, the iconic Old Stone Building was the venue for our Geology and Soils seminar. This trench behind the winery shows the deep and fertile alluvial soils deposited on the valley floor by millennia of Russian River floods.