California is known for creating rock stars out of our winemakers. It’s a strange phenomenon to much of the rest of the world, but many wine drinkers can name off a single winemaker’s multiple projects without much thought-as opposed to a vineyard specific mindset that is seen elsewhere. Anyway, that winemaker centric mindset made me ask myself: who is in the next wave of great winemakers?Anthony Yount: Anthony does his day work at Denner Vineyards in Paso Robles. Denner is known for their Syrah program as well as their location. Their estate vineyard is located an entire golf cart path away from the famed James Berry Vineyard next door. Anthony also has a white wine label of his own named Kinero which was founded when he took over Denner’s wine production and they didn’t have a white wine program at the time. These are typically dense and interesting offerings and Kinero is a nice purchase if you’re a guy who doesn’t drink red wine. You’ll drink these.Matt Duffy: Matt helps to manage Vinify the warehouse production facility in Santa Rosa by day, but he does craft his own wines as well. Named Vaughn Duffy as a nod to his wife’s name and his own, Matt crafts some of the most simple wines I’ve ever tasted in California. So many winemakers talk about wanting their fruit to shine through and that they simply want to express what the vineyard gives them, but then how can you explain the wines tasting the same year after year after year? That’s not the case here where Duffy creates a crisp refreshing Rose which is starting to gain wide consumer acceptance in the Bay Area and a Pinot Noir which I don’t think will be far behind.William Allen: So the list of former wine bloggers who have turned into winemakers is one gaining length by the day, but the subsequent list of those bloggers turned into star winemakers might only include Allen and his 2 Shepherds label. A classic one man shop, these Rhone wines are crisp, refreshing and true to the cool weather vineyards from which they are sourced. Even given all the hype surrounding Rhone grapes and even cooler climate sites in California, these are among the most unique wines I have found in quite some time. Really worth a look, if you can find them, 2 Shepherds is also under pricing themselves given the high quality of what is being produced.
