Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/992999
54 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2018 flavors," he explains. "It's like using a tool from a spice box, except realizing a little can go a long way." The end result is a more sophisticated Pinot Noir style with layers of deep fruit flavors, bright acidity, and a gracious finish. "I like the fact that it has more of my thumb - print on it," says Beloz. "The finished wine is so much cleaner and has more focused extraction, complex flavors, and balance." This focus on working with fruit from high-quality sites carries over to the other segments of the Gehricke red wine program. The Zinfandel, for instance, is made with fruit from gnarly, head-trained old vines grown in the Russian River Val - ley's Ponzo Vineyard, which Beloz jokingly describes as a "weed patch." To add more depth, flavor, and color, Beloz typically blends in 8–10 percent from equally gnarly Petite Sirah grown at the vineyard. "You almost have to cover your eyes when you look at the clusters," says Beloz. "One part is ripe and the other part is raisin-y, and that's just one cluster. But anyone who works with Zinfandel has a stomach for it. In the end, it's really good fruit, so if you have a great site and farm it right, it's bulletproof." Getting from Grape to Bottle By contrast, the Gehricke Cabernet Sauvi- gnon sources fruit from the Bavarian Lion Vineyard in Knights Valley. As a sub-appel- lation of Sonoma County located east of Healdsburg, this area features gravely soils; they benefit from the hot days and cool nights, allowing flavors to develop slowly. To fill out the mid-palate, Beloz adds a small portion of Malbec from Arrowhead Mountain Vineyard in Sonoma Valley to produce an elegant wine with distinctive notes of blackberry jam, ripe blueberry, mulberry, fresh mint, and baking spices. Finally, the fruit for the Chardonnay program comes from the Chalk Ridge Vineyard in the eastern segment of the Russian River Valley. Hand-picked, pressed cold, fermented in barrel, and kept on the lees until the finished blend is made, the end result is a sophisticated white wine with class and style. "It's classic California winemaking, but with more of a light touch and not too much new oak," Beloz says. "For these reasons, the emphasis is put on preserving the freshness of flavors and making sure there is plenty of firm acidity to keep the wine lively and not an over- oaked–style Chardonnay." In the end, as Sebastiani tells it, 3 Badge's recent evolution in the winemaking sphere has been "about building the narrative and sending messages through [its] wines that [the brand] is committed to producing premium wines from this point forward." "As a negociant, you do everything to get from grape to bottle. In some cases, it's about buying in bulk or buying shiners," he adds. "But thanks to the help of Alex, this brand is more about getting our fingers purple and looking three to five vintages ahead. Equally important is the fact that it's not just about the Pinot program either : It's about spreading the world-class quality across all the wines in the portfolio." Yet, as a fourth-generation member of a family wine business, Sebastiani is well aware that his brands' legacy extends far beyond the reception to Gehricke's latest vintages. "It's also providing an opportunity for our next generation to step in and start telling stories about the brands that we started and to fill the sizable shoes from the gen - erations before me through my dad, his dad, and his dad as well," he says. August Sebastiani and Alex Beloz have a bit of fun between shots. August Sebastiani, a proud Sonoma native.