Tinkering and timing create winning wine

John Bucher became a pinot zealot of sorts after tasting bottlings of Rochioli and Lazy Creek in the mid-1980s.

"I loved the wines and thought if I ever grew grapes or made wine, pinot noir would be involved," Bucher said.

Bucher and his wife, Diane, crafted an $18 ros?of pinot noir under the guidance of Adam Lee at his Santa Rosa Siduri Winery, and it won top honors in our wine-of-the-week tasting. The Bucher Vineyard 2013 Ros?of Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County is a dry ros?with tangy notes of pomegranate, cranberry and wild strawberry in the mix. It also has a touch of mineral, with a crisp finish. It's a very nice take on ros?

Creating the wine's final blend required some tasting stamina. The Buchers, of Healdsburg, tasted at least once a week during the aging to see if the wine was headed down the right path. Then they tasted through two to three blending trials before deciding on their final pick.

Well before the tinkering began, they said, the timing of the harvest was crucial.

"We harvest the grapes early enough that the natural acidity is still there," Bucher said. "If we harvest too early there is less flavor development and the wine loses complexity."

Diane said what the uninitiated don't know about ros? is that they are not necessarily sweet.

"Dry ros? with clean, crisp finishes can pair with a number of foods," she said. "It is one of the most versatile food wines."

Born and raised on his family's 360-acre dairy farm in Healdsburg, Bucher returned to the farm in 1984 after graduating from UC Davis. In the mid-1990s, he diversified into wine grapes. Today he manages the 700-cow organic dairy farm, as well as 38 acres of pinot noir and chardonnay.

Aside from being used in Bucher Vineyard bottlings, the grapes are sold to numerous local wineries including Siduri, Williams Selyem, C. Donatiello, Holdredge and Thralls Family Cellars.

Creating this ros?of pinot noir has been "a discovery wine for us," Bucher said.

"Over the last few years we have enjoyed tasting both new-world and old-world ros?to determine the style we wanted to produce," he said.

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com.