Month: June 2020

Land speculation, bad luck, followed by neighborly assistance and blind luck created this premium Chardonnay vineyard located at the epicenter of the Russian River Valley appellation. Owned and farmed since 1974 by John and Phyllis Bazzano and named for John’s Italian grandfather, these 10 acres might have been a golf fairway instead of a now famous vineyard. “My father, a doctor, and some friends got wind that the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club was considering expanding. So, being pretty shrewd, they purchased land that would be in the way of the expansion, hoping for a nice sale,” recalls John, a retired high school shop teacher. “Well, the expansion never came our way. We ended up with a bunch of oak trees and an old orchard.” John and Phyllis took over the property in 1973, living part time in a trailer on the property and commuting to Novato, where they taught school. John acquired a beat up old tractor and they spent the year clearing the land, hoping to farm and eventually raise their two boys, John Jr. and Matt, and their daughter, Soo, in a house John would build himself. “We worked on a shoestring,” John says, adding that they tried various crops and even some livestock before recognizing what their neighbors already had realized: their ground possessed just the right amount of Russian River loamy clay to foster wine grapes. But which grapes? “We were clueless,” John says, chuckling to this day. “We thought Gewürztraminer sounded good. Let’s try that.” They located the varietal for sale at a nursery in Healdsburg and ordered 3,500 vines in May of 1974. John laid out the redwood marking stakes for the vines and waited for them to arrive. “May came and went; then June, and still no vines. In July we said: ‘We can’t wait any longer.’ ” A member of their newly formed potluck club located Chardonnay grapes of dubious quality, but they were for sale and there were plenty available. “Wente clones,” John says. “I had no idea what they were. But what I had instead was blind luck.” Planted in 1974-75, Lorenzo Vineyards not only features some of the oldest Chardonnay vines in the appellation, it has consistently turned out wines known for their expansiveness, their minerality, and profound acidity. “Lemon, peach, liquid slate” are some of the key descriptors accompanying the wines from this site, along with critics’ scores ranging consistently well into the 90s. Premium labels Marcassin, Turley, Landmark, Chasseur, Goldfield, Souverain, and La Follette have also processed Lorenzo grapes in their vineyard designate labels. “Sold out,” is also another term commonly associated with Lorenzo on the label. Greg La Follette has worked with John and Phyllis Bazzano for more than 10 years. “I admire the care John puts into his vineyard with his pruning and leafing practices, channeling dappled sunlight into each vine,” he says. “He’s a natural. You can always count on his meticulousness.” Alquimista is proud to count Lorenzo Vineyards among our growing portfolio of premium vineyards. We are working with the Bazzano family to produce a very limited 2015 chardonnay harvest that promises to live up to all the expectations the vineyard has rewarded over the years. Clones are Wente, and Unspecified AVA: Russian River Valley