Anderson Valley remains a haven for remarkable white wines

Located 26 miles northwest of Cloverdale, past a relentlessly windy stretch of Highway 128, the Anderson Valley wine region in Mendocino County isn’t a hop, skip or jump from the Bay Area.

That’s part of its appeal.

Secluded enough to deter tour buses of bachelorette parties, yet a highly rewarding destination for those who commit to the journey, here is a treasure for wine enthusiasts who appreciate Anderson Valley’s intimate charm and high-quality, well-priced wines.

While pinot noir and chardonnay have come to dominate Anderson Valley in recent years, a handful of wineries still are dedicated to the region’s original varieties: gewürztraminer, riesling and other whites that thrive in the appellation’s cool, sea-influenced climate.

Location, location, location

Hugging the Navarro River, Anderson Valley has a western edge just 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. This area is known as the “deep end,” where chilly sea breezes and lingering fog are funneled upriver through the valley.

Here, temperatures can fluctuate more than 50 degrees between day and night. The region receives just enough warmth and sunlight to ripen wine grapes before the evening fog rolls in, helping the fruit retain its fresh, lively acidity.

While wine grapes have been grown in Anderson Valley since the 19th century, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the region’s modern wine industry took root.

Back in the 1940s, researchers at UC Davis came together to help the California wine industry recover from the destructive grapevine pest phylloxera and Prohibition by developing the Winkler Index, a resource that uses regional climate data to determine which grapes would grow best in a particular region. (UC Davis researchers started work in 2021 to update the index to better reflect changes in climate over the last 80 years.)

Anderson Valley, according to the index, was ideal for growing gewürztraminer, a deeply perfumed, pink-hue variety native to Germany that can range from sweet to dry. Now grown primarily in Alsace, France, the grape thrives in cool climates that preserve its distinct lychee and rose aromas and where it retains enough acidity to balance its inherent fruitiness.

In 1964, Donald Edmeades was the first person to take a leap and plant gewürztraminer in the valley. He was soon followed by others: Husch Vineyards, Lazy Creek Vineyards, Navarro Vineyards and Handley Cellars.

By 1983, the year Anderson Valley was designated an American Viticulture Area (AVA), three white varieties dominated the region: gewürztraminer, riesling (another Alsatian variety) and chardonnay (another index recommendation).

Heritage wine producers

Deborah Bennett, who cofounded Navarro Vineyards with her husband, Ted, in 1975, fell in love with gewürztraminer on a trip to Alsace. When the couple decided to buy a 900-acre sheep ranch in Philo and try their hand at winemaking, gewürztraminer was at the top of their list.

“When we started producing gewürztraminer, no one was making a dry version,” Deborah said. “A lot of gewürztraminer was being planted in areas that were too warm, so the grapes tended to develop bitterness. Winemakers would try to cover that up with residual sugar. I think that turned off a lot of wine drinkers who assumed all gewürztraminer was sweet.”

In the beginning, she said, making a dry gewürztraminer allowed Navarro to stand out among the competition, as long as she could convince customers to taste it.

“I feel like I’ve told thousands of people to just, ‘Try it! It’s dry!’” she said.

These days, Navarro tends to make more riesling than gewürztraminer, which is a grape so aromatic that it’s susceptible to bee damage. They also make a sparkling gewürztraminer and a dry edelzwiker, a blend of pinot gris, riesling and gewürztraminer.

While Navarro has replaced some gewürztraminer vines with pinot gris and pinot noir, Deborah said they are committed to their original varietal.

“We’re fortunate to have purchased our ranch 50 years ago, because it gives us the freedom to grow and make the wines we want and sell them at an affordable price,” she said. “Many of the newer wineries with expensive land can’t do that. That’s why so many people are growing pinot noir.”

Across Highway 128, third-generation proprietors and siblings Zac Robinson and Amanda Robinson Holstine operate Husch Vineyards, the first bonded winery in Anderson Valley. Husch’s founders, Tony and Gretchen Husch, were the second people to plant gewürztraminer in the region. Husch continues to produce exceptional releases each year.

“Gewürztraminer really ebbs and flows in popularity,” Amanda said. “Many people still think it’s sweet and don’t want to try it. But when we added the word ‘dry’ on the label in the 2000s, sales really took off.”

Like Deborah and Ted Bennett of Navarro, Husch’s founders purchased their land. With little overhead, they were able to sell their wines at an affordable price.

“We really benefit from having owned our land for so many years,” Amanda said. “It’s easier for us to keep our prices down.”

Demand for white varieties

As demand for premium pinot noir continues to rise throughout California, the variety has come to dominate Anderson Valley. It now makes up 70% of the vineyards in the region.

There’s no denying plantings of gewürztraminer and riesling have dwindled into double-digit acreage over the past 20 years. Even so, growers like Matt Tollini of Ordway Valley Foothills Vineyard in Philo say the interest in white varieties, like riesling, is still there.

“We’ve been getting more requests for riesling, but we don’t want to plant anymore because the (demand) for chardonnay is so high,” Tolllini said. “But we are planting more on grüner vetliner (a white grape from Austria). More people are learning about it, and it makes a really nice drinking wine.”

Norman Kobler, a grape grower whose parents, Hans and Therese Kobler, made gewürztraminer at Lazy Creek Vineyards in Philo in the early 1970s, also has seen demand for chardonnay and riesling rise.

“There are only four riesling plantings in the valley, so it’s nearly impossible to come by,” Kobler said. “Gewürztraminer has become a harder sell. We used to have 12 acres at Ferrington Vineyard, but we pulled two-thirds of it out. It’s a great wine in the tasting room when you can hand-sell it person to person. But on a store shelf, it’s much harder to push.”

Anderson Valley White Wine Festival

The region’s focus on making gewürztraminer and riesling may be more part of its heritage than its future. Nonetheless, that heritage will be celebrated with the 16th annual Winter White Wine Festival Saturday and Sunday at 27 participating wineries throughout the region.

Alsatian varietals like riesling and gewürztraminer will be highlighted, along with pinot gris, sauvignon blanc, grüner vetlimer, chardonnay and sparkling wine.

“White wine grapes are an important part of our region’s history, and this event is designed to pay respect to both our Alsatian grape heritage and the other unique grapes in Anderson Valley,” said Courtney DeGraff, executive director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association.

“We don’t have flashiness or overdevelopment or event stop signs here,” she said. “But we do have delicious wine and food, simple beauty and an amazing local community. We want people to come and experience that for themselves.”

You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com.