Anthony Beckman was a dogged newspaper man before he became an invincible winemaker.
Stubborn tenacity is a job requirement for both.
Beckman is the winemaker behind our wine-of-the-week winner — the Balletto, 2010 Russian River Valley Sonoma County Pinot Noir at $28.
"I started as a daily newspaper reporter in Missouri (Columbia Missourian), in Washington D.C. (correspondent for the Galveston Daily News), and in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer) before moving out to San Francisco," Beckman said. "While in the city, I would spend all my free time (and money) in Sonoma County tasting wine and eating local food."
The more wine he tasted, the more he cultivated a curious palate.
"Being green as could be, I had to knock on quite a few winery doors before I was hired for my first harvest at Quivira in Dry Creek Valley making zinfandel," Beckman said. "And I was hooked from day one."
Beckman went back to school for a second bachelor's degree at UC Davis and eventually joined Balletto Vineyards & Winery in Santa Rosa in 2007. This is his fifth harvest.
"The most challenging part of making a great pinot is growing a great pinot grape," Beckman said. "It's a finicky grape that has a narrow window between when it's ready to be picked and when it's over-the-top ripe and raisin-y. We're fortunate at Balletto that we own and farm all of our own vineyards and maintain complete control, so we can make it as perfect as possible."
What makes the winning wine a standout is its balance, from its flavors to its structure.
"This wine is still a baby and it will be exciting to see how it develops in the bottle during the next five or six years," he said.
The pinot is one of Balletto's flagship wines.
"It has become a staple in many of the restaurants and wine shops in Sonoma County," Beckman said. "We're one of the few wineries in full release of their 2010 pinots, and the main reason is that the 2009 sold out in nine months and we were forced to release the new vintage early. It's a great problem to have."
Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.
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