As Ed Sbragia likes to say, he’s always had one foot in Sonoma
and the other in Napa, but during his 35-year run as Beringer Vineyard’s winemaker, he has always had his eyes on one sweet little parcel that overlooks the Valley of the Moon.
The Monte Rosso Vineyard above Agua Caliente, planted in the 1890s, holds a special place in the hearts of wine enthusiasts like Sbragia. It’s known for robust old-vine cabernets and zinfandels that, as Wine News Magazine describe them, “stand out … as something special. Their name on a label virtually guarantees a superb bottle of wine.”
“People stand in line for that fruit,” said Christopher Sawyer, sommelier at the Lodge at Sonoma. “It produces wines with such intensity that they have priceless flavor profiles. They’re what I describe as ‘10-second moments’, as in, ‘Give me a moment, I’m having an experience with my palate.’”
Sbragia retired from Beringer in January to join son Adam at the family winery that bears their name. They now make wines – five from their family’s Dry Creek Valley vineyards, four from Napa Valley vineyards and one from their family doctor’s Dry Creek vineyard. But long before leaving the job that brought him international fame, Sbragia had cemented the chance to produce one special wine from the Monte Rosso Vineyard.
Like many things in Sbragia’s life, he earned that privilege by paying his dues. For 20 years he has played rhythm guitar in a band with other wine professionals, including Mike Martini, whose grandfather, Louis M. Martini, bought the fabled vineyard in 1938. The band practiced at Mike’s house and often stayed for dinner.
“At Mike’s table,” Sbragia says simply, “we drank a lot of Monte Rosso.”
When he started his own winery, Sbragia got in line for the grapes. The vineyard still contains some of the original 100-year-old cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel vines. Louis M. Martini bought it in 1938 and named it Monte Rosso to reflect the mineral-rich, red soil and the site’s elevation, which ranges from 700 to 1,240 feet.
It’s hidden away on the side of a mountain accessed by Moon Mountain Road and identified only by one small sign and two solitary grapevines that stand sentinel at the entrance. A dirt road snakes through the 575- acre site, leading to the old stone winery, that operated until the start of Prohibition, and past one of the World-War-II-era Army surplus trucks that Martini used to farm the steep hills.
After Martini’s winery and the vineyard were sold to E&J Gallo, grandson Mike Martini saved 10 acres of 56-year-old cabernet vines for himself and his friend, Sbragia, vines he considers the best of the best.
Each fall since 2002 Sbragia has harvested between 10 and 15 tons of grapes from vines planted in 1952 by vintner Louis P. Martini Their character is formed by their difficult growing conditions. At 1,000 feet, the top soil runs off, leaving shallow soil above a layer of fractured shale. Plants work hard to sink their roots, then make smaller vines and berries than those grown on the valley floor.
The resulting fruit makes darker, heavier wines that retain some minerality from the soil but marry it with the suppleness so characteristic of Sonoma Valley wines. Sbragia and his son Adam, who serves as the family vineyards’ winemaker, say they work hard to showcase the fruit without getting in its way.
“Our goal is to let the vineyard speak and not let too much technique get in the way,” Sbragia said. “You’re less winemaker and more caretaker. You want to have as little interference as possible. If the wine shows what we tasted in the vineyard, then we have succeeded.”
Sbragia perfected that technique at Beringer. His son came to it via Los Angeles.
Adam went to school there to study acting, but said he soon realized that “acting wasn’t a handshake business. People made friends, used them and then moved on. It wasn’t how I grew up.”
He came back to the family’s Dry Creek Valley home and started learning the business at St. Clement Winery and later Château Souverain. When Francis Ford Coppola bought Château Souverain, Adam and his dad decided it was time to start their own winery.
Why? “Because this is what we do,” Sbragia said. And he had because he promised his father, Gino, that he would. He grew up helping grow and dry prunes on the family farm, then watched his father replant with grapes and tend the vineyards.
“While I was over in Napa Valley being a high falutin’ winemaker, my dad was over here growing 40 acres,” Sbragia said. Gino died in 1995, but before he did, Sbragia said he promised “I would take it to the next level, and that’s what I’m doing.”
Sbragia Family Vineyards is at 9990 Dry Creek Road in Geyserville, 707.473.2992, www.sbragia.com.
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