Solid new producers discovered at the Kick Ranch Tasting

Last Saturday was the first Wine Blogger Conference held in Santa Rosa. Day One included a lunch at the Kick Ranch Vineyard featuring nearly a dozen wineries creating wine from this increasingly important site on the eastern slopes of Sonoma County. I first became aware of this site from Shane Finley of Shane Wines  who uses it in one of his trio of exemplary small production Syrah, including Jemrose and The Unknown, a blend of several sources.

The visit opened my eyes to the realization that several well established producers like Bayard Fox of Renard, Kent Rosenblum of Rosenblum and Les Behrens of Erna Schein have began using the site established in 2001 by partners, Dick Keenan and Kathleen McNamara. 

With a short amount of time to taste I stopped by a few new projects. The first was Silent Morning, wines produced by Siduri Cellarmaster, Tim Lesko:

I first met Tim a couple years ago after I purchased the Siduri barrel at the Hospices of Sonoma barrel auction and he became my liaison to the barrel. The 2007 Silent Morning Syrah Kick Ranch was delicious even under the 80 degree weather where many high alcohol wines would wilt.  Tim doesn't have a website yet but can be reached at silentmorningcellars@gmail.com

Morgan Peterson (son of Joel) has come on the scene like gangbusters this vintage with his new wines under the Bedrock Wine Company. Morgan's no stranger to the California wine scene literally born into it. Be sure to visit his blog on his site. 

The image above is not Morgan's official label. It was affixed to a gallon jug he was pouring from at the tasting. The wine was rich and concentrated brimming with smoothly textured fruit. He also had a tank sample of what should turn out to a sensational Sauvignon Blanc once it is bottled. He split the parcel with another top producer of this variety. 

Both Tim and Morgan are producing excellent wines and deserve a look. Contact them directly and tell them you read about them on the dougwilder blog.