Ferrari-Carano

Wines & Vines, June, 2000 by Ann Walker, Larry Walker

Ferrari-Carano is within a couple of years of being an all-estate winery and winemaker George Bursick couldn't be happier.

"Every experiment shows that the best wines are made from low tonnage and the best way to control the tonnage is to have your own vineyards," he said during a recent interview at the winery in Dry Creek Valley. Bursick is completely backed in this by owners Don and Rhonda Carano. Don Carano realizes that by owning the vineyards, the winery has total control over how the grapes are grown, so that the bottom line is wine quality, not economics.

Ferrari-Carano now has 17 vineyards, with about 1,200 acres planted. From those vineyards-they are all in Sonoma except for Napa Carneros- Bursick makes about 180 different wines every year, many in five-gallon jugs. Bursick said so many wines are necessary to deal with all the rootstock experiments, matching rootstock and soil types.

The vineyards are spread over a 50-mile radius from Alexander Valley to Napa Carneros and include hillside vines, benchlands and valley floor vines.

In Alexander Valley, there are nine vineyards, planted to Chardonnay. Sauvignon blanc, Merlot, Sangiovese, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Grenache. The Napa Carneros vineyards are planted to Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet franc. In Dry Creek, four vineyards are planted to Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Malbec. Russian River Valley plantings include Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Merlot and Pinot noir.

Bursick has dropped all of the winery's Zinfandel contracts, preferring to work with the winery's own vines. "I got a lot of flack from people who didn't understand what we were doing," he said frankly. "Just because you have an old vine Zinfandel, doesn't mean it's good. It doesn't matter how old the vines are if they are planted on deep soils that produce high tonnage. Zinfandel should be on rocky soils and get maybe two tons an acre. Over-cropped Zinfandel gives wines with a light cherry character. Our estate Zinfandel is planted on very poor soil, and the wines are big and lush," he said.

Bursick is working toward a new style Sauvignon blanc. "I'm moving toward a Cloudy Bay style, but maybe not as aggressive. But the style is evolving. Our new Story Creek is going in the right direction. I'm going for what the vineyard gives me. People who like that style really like it."

Right now the new Story Creek 1998 Sauvignon blanc (from the Russian River Valley) is available only in the winery tasting room. Story Creek is one of the coolest vineyards in Sonoma County and has a very different flavor profile from Ferrari-Carano's regular Sauvignon blanc. It has the fresh, grassy aromas that, as Bursick said, are associated with the New Zealand style. The bright acidity is also similar to a Bordeaux Sauvignon blanc.

The Story Creek is even more striking if you bear in mind that the FerrariCarano Fume blanc, in both the regular and reserve style, is almost a mini-Chardonnay. Bursick cheerfully admits that the reserve wine was created chiefly for restaurant lists. "As new white wines, like Viognier, are added to the lists, we need to think about where we are going with the Sauvignon blanc program. Maybe the reserve will be squeezed Out."

Bursick is also busy sorting out the difference between valley floor and mountain vineyards. "When we first started, we got a lot of praise for our white wines and a lot of bad press on the red wines. I think it was because at that time the reds were from the valley floor. Our new policy is to move the red wines onto hillside and mountain vineyards.

"The key to grapes from the mountain vineyards is to tame the tannins. It takes some modification of the winemaking process," Bursick said. "We now have nine rotary presses and that helps with the tannins," he said.

"Whatever I make, I look for texture and mouthfeel. That's important to me," Bursick said.

That's apparent in a wine like the Sienna, a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, a wine with a silky, elegant mouthfeel. Asked to compare Sangiovese from Italy and California, Bursick said, "They are apples and oranges, really."

Bursick also makes a 100% Sangiovese from the TreMonte vineyard. The vineyard is dry-farmed with sometimes as much as one-half the crop dropped at veraison. "We cut those that don't pick up color," Bursick said. "You have to get the tonnage down on Sangiovese or you end up with something like tart lemonade," he added.

Bursick also makes a Syrah from TreMonte, which is a hillside vineyard at an elevation of between 700 and 1,200 feet. The Syrah is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Malbec and Petite Verdot. It's a wine with tremendous fruit and a huge flavor profile.

Summing up his many years of winemaking experience, Bursick said, "You have to take risks to make better wine. For example, I like to use a real wimpy yeast. I want it to take three or four months to ferment out. It's rolling the dice and you have to stay on top of it, but the outcome is a better wine. I just want the wines I make to show the passion behind them."