A fascinating read in Alder Yarrow's Vinography blog about the RennaissanceVnyd up in YubaCnty of the SierraFoothills:
RenaissanceVnyds
I, of course, followed this wnry from the very start but soon lost interest in it because of the variability of their wines. Some of the early Rieslings and LateHrvst wines were pretty good, but the reds tended to be a bit funky.
I had completely forgotten about the legacy of Dr.Karl Werner. A refugee from Germany (SchlossGroensteyn), he helped get RobertMondavi off the ground, was founding winemaker for CallawayVnyds in Temecula, and founding winemaker at Reniassance for a short time.
Following Werner, Gideon Beinstock became the winemaker for a fair number of yrs. Another fact I had forgotten. He, of course, went on to found Clos Saron.
The new winemaker, as they try to resurrect Reniassance, is taking the wines in a new direction that Alder decries. So sad.
Alder offers up a lot of TN's on the old Renaissance wines.
Anyway, a great read of a piece of history I had forgot much of and a good trip down memory lane.
Tom