Report from Humboldt Wine University and Tasting Event

The Humboldt County Wine University and Spring Tasting event was held in Arcata CA today. The first portion of the two events featured four different educational seminars on different topics which included "Balance in red and white wines" led by John Cabot of Cabot Vineyards, Wine 101 led by Bob Hodgson of Fieldbrook Winery, Technical Aspects of Wine Tasting, and a panel discussion on "The history and future of wine in Humboldt County" with four Humboldt County winery owners and grape growers. I attended the sessions on balance in wines, and the history/future discussion.
The first session on balance was very ably led by John Cabot assisted by his wife Kimberly. We discussed quite a number of topics including acidity (illustrated by contrasting two rieslings, a 2006 Belle Pente from the Willamette Valley, and a 2009 Schloss Lieser kabinett from the Mosel), tannic structure, alcohol, aging capability, etc. Other wines used to illustrate various points were a 2007 Rascal pinot noir from the Willamette Valley, a 2006 Cabot Vineyards Syrah from Humboldt County, and an unlabelled Zinfandel blend. Here is a picture of John leading the class.


Next up for me was the history/future discussion of wines in Humboldt County. Interestingly to me, the growers seemed to believe that the southern part of Humboldt County is very similar climatically and geologically to the Anderson Valley in Mendocino county. The consensus seemed to be that ridge grown pinot noir (at around 1500 foot elevations) could do very well here. One factor holding back Humboldt as a wine making region is that there is only about 100 acres of grapes planted here between the wineries in southern Humboldt and those in eastern Humboldt (where the Cabot's grow their grapes). Here is a picture of the panel.

Finally, there was a catered food and wine tasting event where I would guess about 20 Humboldt County wineries poured their wines. I simply couldn't make it through all the wines being poured, but did enjoy wines from Cabot Vineyards, Mark Carter, Moonstone Crossing, Briceland Vineyards, Violet Green, Rosina Vineyards, and others. Here are a few photos of the event.


I was quite pleased with the good turnout, the general quality of the wines (which have improved dramatically in the last 10 years), and the chance to meet the local growers and winemakers. Jim

Hi Jim,

I see that you have the same post here as on the other site. I have been lurking here, but have not yet established a myself with posts. Hi to all who are here. Hi to those who may have seen me at the other place.

In reply to your post:

Glad you made it. Great to meet you. Thanks for your detailed notes and your kind words about the Aneis.

I have a couple of small comments. Not that it could do well, but that Pinot Noir already does do well in those southern Humboldt hillside vineyards at around 1500 feet. It is clearly a tad cooler here than AV, as evidenced by later maturation. It is worth noting that those wines have been coming out good for a while. We just haven't been sharing them much with outsiders. The area that likely needs to be improved is more consistent grape growing practices. Plus perhaps refining winemaking strategies to match the traits of the individual vineyards.

Hi Andrew, great to see you here. For those who don't know him Andrew makes wine for Briceland Vineyards in southern Humboldt county, California. I got to taste a number of Briceland's wines at the tasting event mentioned above, and very much enjoyed them. Excellent Pinot Noir, sauvignon blanc, and a rare Arneis (a white wine normally found in the Piedmont). I love this site, Andrew, because of its great participants.
You are, of course, correct in your comment. The vineyards I've tried in So Hum need exactly what you stated, but have enormous potential. Thanks for the correction. Jim

Welcome Andrew. Great to have you here, keep looking in. We all love TNs!!

Bob/Alberta.

We put 2 Briceland pinots into a blind tasting and they showed very well. Both near the top. For those of us that like Anderson Valley, I think this is great region for pinot and I hope it grows in production and exposure.

BTW, not sure that Andrew is the wine-maker.

Jason

We put 2 Briceland pinots into a blind tasting and they showed very well. Both near the top. For those of us that like Anderson Valley, I think this is great region for pinot and I hope it grows in production and exposure.

BTW, not sure that Andrew is the wine-maker.

Jason

Hi Jason,

Nice to see you here. Thanks for the welcome.

Thanks for your comments on our wines and Humboldt as a region.

My stepfather, Joe Collins is still the winemaker and has been since he and my mother, Maggie Carey, founded Briceland Vineyards in 1985. He has done a fantastic job building up the winery from scratch and pioneering a new wine region. I am just the devoted apprentice winemaker. Our family business is in the process of a generational transition. So, for the last few years, I have been involved in the winemaking process as Joe sets himself up to retire. He will stay involved in maintaining quality control as I take over day to day operations. I hope that clears up any misunderstanding.

Thanks again for bringing our wines to the tasting in OC. It was great that Rusty of Prince of Pinot was there. His review has been helpful for us. I really appreciate you introducing our wine to him at the tasting, along with the other heavy hitters who attended.

Cheers!