Welcome, Joseph Swan!
By David Keck
We are extremely excited over here at VT Wine Shepherd to announce the arrival of our first California wines!
The state of California has a tremendous winemaking history and tradition that spans well over a hundred years, and yet it is also a state filled with innovation and new ideas in wine.
For one of our first producers from the state, we are honored to introduce the great wines of Joseph Swan. Joe Swan was the son of teetotaling parents in North Dakota. Obsessed with fermentation at an early age, he started with some Rhubarb wine in his parents’ attic. Later as a pilot, instructing the Army Air Corps in WWII and flying for Western Airlines, Joe began experimenting again.
In 1967, Joseph Swan purchased 13 acres of Zinfandel in the Russian River Valley (along with fruit trees and an old farm house). Within a few years he and Joe Rocchioli would plant the first Pinot Noir in that region that is now famous for the grape variety. The wines were made in the basement, then the barn, then the ‘tin shed,’ along with the help of such iconic wine figures as Joel Peterson (before he started Ravenswood), and the most famous of California wine consultants, Joe’s friend André Tschelistcheff.
Rod Berglund and his wife, Lynn, now own the winery and make the wines. Which is appropriate, as Lynn is the daughter of Joseph Swan. And Joe always said that a winery should be small enough that one family could run it. Joe’s last vintage was in 1987 before he passed in 1989. Rod, a.k.a. the Rodfather, has been making the wine ever since. I met Rod a number of years ago when he visited my little wine bar and we started tasting. Rod’s the sort of winemaker who always has something up his sleeve. You’ll try the wines that you knew and expected to taste, but then there’s something else in the bag—either crazy old, or weird, or something he’s just trying out. There’s a love of playing with wine that is infectious and awesome.
SO. What are the wines??? Well, we’ve got some very sexy stuff coming in to start, and expect to see more as we keep working with Rod and Lynn. The wines age exceptionally well by any standards, and Swan always releases a little bit late, so it’s fun to try wines from CA with a little age on them. By the middle of next week, Joseph Swan Winery will be in Vermont, and we’re excited to drink them. I mean sell them. Sell them.
Incoming:
2017 Catie’s Corner Grenache Blanc
2014 Hawk Hill Vineyard Chardonnay
2012 Trenton View Vineyard Pinot Noir
2015 Cuvée de Trois Pinot Noir
2016 Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot Noir
2015 Trenton Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir
2011 Trenton Estate Vineyard Syrah