#WineStudio: I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends

If you’ve followed my blog for any time at all, I’m sure you’ve heard me mention Pedroncelli, a winery that has had a great relationship with #WineStudio and all of its participants. However, this time around we viewed this winery through the lens of the women owned wineries of Sonoma County. As a twentysomething woman, it’s encouraging to see wineries owned by other women that both produce good juice and are supported by the community. It’s even better to realize that as a woman who is not only someone passionate about wine, but also as someone who believes that women should have a strong voice in all industries.

Julie Pedroncelli St. John is the 3rd generation owner of Pedroncelli, a winery which originally was started by her grandparents in 1927, and we learned that she has opinions about the wine, growing it, and how she wants to continue to promote the winery. She isn’t just standing on the sidelines and letting her husband make all the decisions (although her husband seems great!). As far as the actual wine goes, about half of the grapes used are farmed by the family and its employees, while the other half are sourced from within 12 miles of where they make their wine. Not only is this winery run by a woman, it is also focused on locally sourced grapes. It’s a hipster millennials dream.

The 2015 Mother Clone Zinfandel, which clocks in at a reasonable $19, was the perfect wine to open all the way back in February. The dark cherry colored wine was full of those dark fruit flavors. I picked up on blackberries and cherries as well as some smoky, peppery notes. Another blogger, Dezel who tweets from @myvinespot, also mentioned black tea, which I totally understood. Each sip had that slightly bitter, intense, and drying taste that I associate with my morning cup of tea. Despite all these aphotic words I’ve thrown out, this wine still had a fun brightness of acidity to it that balanced out all of the depth. Buy a few bottles now and open them all at different points over the next 5 years to enjoy everything it has to offer.

When I first opened the box housing these wines and saw the Friends. White, the White Stripes song “We’re Going to Be Friends” popped right into my head. I’m not one who often associates wine with music, but every time I think of this wine now, it’s immediately what I think of. It’s my inspiration for the title of this post, and I suggest you click the link above to listen to it after reading. The wine itself is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurtztraminer. It was incredibly aromatic on the nose and very heavy on the tropical notes. Pineapple, mango, white peach, and some white flowers were the flavors that immediately came to mind.

Considering I was sipping this during a long, oddly warm weekend at our beach place, I could have just been imaging those notes, but wine is almost always influenced by the way in which you experience it. I’m sure this was no exception as my sister and a few of us duked it out over a monopoly board with the waves crashing in the background. The SRP of $13 makes it one of the most approachable and affordable wines that I’ve opened this year. It’s the kind of wine to share with friends, pour into whatever glass you have on hand (as you can see I did above), and just enjoy without thinking too much. It’s aptly named and if you doubt that, all you need to notice is the cheeky winky face on the screw cap to change your mind.

I have had a lot of encounters with Pedroncelli wines through #WineStudio and it is consistently one of the best affordable wines that I buy. It’s also the first one I recommend to my work friends, most of whom are looking to spend $10 to $20 on a bottle. Their inventory is diverse enough to appeal to many drinkers, so the price is certainly not the only selling point. On my list to try are their vintage port and their petit sirah. What’s on yours?

These wines were kindly provided to me by the wineries/importers listed above, but all opinions are my own.

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