Red, White, and Wind: Wines From Petaluma Gap

My Tasting Panel column considers these terrific cool-climate wines

Petaluma Gap

“It’s all about the wind,” says Rickey Trombetta Stancliff, CEO of Trombetta Family Wines and president of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance. Sure, this region is warmed by California sunshine, but the wind and fog are constant vectors here, begetting cool nights and slow ripening.

My latest column for The Tasting Panel Magazine highlights ten exemplary Gap wines—Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah.

Read a PDF of the article or find the digital edition online.

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2 replies on “Red, White, and Wind: Wines From Petaluma Gap”
  1. says: David B

    A few things come to mind from reading your column:

    -Rodney Strong has taken real strides in recent years, and makes much more distinctive wines than they used to.
    -Griffin’s Lair is the “grand cru” of the area in my opinion
    -A number of “Gap” Pinots give a real impression of stem inclusion, even when stems are not present. I get more floral elements in these wines than from almost anywhere else in California.

    1. David, thanks as always for reading and sharing your thoughts. At a recent Petaluma Gap producer tasting, there was a table dedicated to Syrah from Griffin’s Lair Vineyard. The wines from the three producers expressed different styles, but there was an undercurrent of meatiness and feral fruit that spoke of site. And having tasted a number of Rodney Strong wines recently, I heartily concur with your assessment.

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