Adam Lee from Siduri Wines and Sam Lando from Lando Wines join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today, Barry Herbst is also in the studio. Adam begins by telling how he and his wife started Siduri Wines in 1994 with $24,000 and produced 107 cases in their first year. They took a sample to a wine writer who liked the wine and got them some press. They grew the winery from there up to about 25,000 cases per year, with grapes coming from as far north as Oregon and as far south as Santa Barbara. He had never studied winemaking. He had worked in wine retail but had no experience when he started. He took one class to learn his lab techniques.

Sam tells that Lando Wines have been around since the 2012 vintage but he has been in the wine business for more than 20 years. They only sell wine twice a year for three weeks, in the Spring and again in the Fall.

They are one of the unfortunate winemakers who had his entire 2016 vintage “sleeping gracefully” up at Paradise Ridge, which was heavily damaged in the October fires. He tells the story of how much solidarity he gets from the other winemakers in Sonoma County after the fires. He sent an email to about 18 of his closest colleagues, asking to buy some barrels of wine from the region, which he would use to make a special edition bottling, in commemoration of the lost vintage. He would call it the “Phoenix Blend.” He heard from everyone in a few hours and they all had 2 or 3 barrels for him. The discussions about Rise Up Sonoma soon followed.

Speaking of Siduri and Lando, Dan talks about how the greatest development in the last 15 years in Sonoma County has been the emergence of Pinot Noir as an iconic variety of the area. Sonoma County has done so well with it. Napa County produces great Cabernet Sauvignon and they make some good Pinot Noir in the Carneros regions. But Pinot Noir is Sonoma County’s claim to fame. Siduri has done such a good job of capturing the flavors of the whole west coast, with all of his vineyard designates. Dan is impressed with the Pinot Noir coming from this county and Siduri and Lando are at the pinnacle of that production.

Adam brought a sparkling wine of her production, called Flaunt. IT’s half Pinot Noir, half Chardonnay. It is brut style, very dry, with some wonderful flavors.  Dan says it will age beautifully, as it has great structure. It is really dry. “It’s going to be fabulous in about 5 years,” says Dan.

Steve describes Rise Up Sonoma, https://www.riseupsonoma.org/ a special fund raising event to be held at the Jackson Theater at Sonoma Country Day School, Sunday Dec. 3 at 4pm, a few days after this show aired live. There were 30 exclusive dine and wine stations at the event featuring the best chefs in the Bay Area. They will raise money for relief efforts after the October fires in Sonoma County and nearby areas.

Sam talks about how it came together. 2 years ago they did a similar charity event. When they get to enjoy a good experience and have contributions go to a positive cause, it is very satisfying. To bring this caliber of chef and wineries together is a big deal and doesn’t happen very often. These are James Beard and Michelin rated chefs from San Francisco who will be working with their friends in the wine business who are of the same caliber of fame and accomplishment. They also have musician Donovan Frankenritter performing and there are also 30 farmers who will be at Rise Up Sonoma. And it has been organized in a few weeks. The Green Room, the VIP room, will have special musical talent and a hosted caviar and foie gras station, with exclusive wines. He can’t talk about the other celebrity chef who will be there.

Steve mentions that he knows that his friend Guy Fieri will be there, and another major celebrity chef as well. (Steve has known Guy since ‘96 when he opened Johnny Garlic’s next door to KSRO,