Author Archives{jamesknight}

As well as contributing the wine-of-the-week pick to inside-sonoma, James Knight writes the "Swirl 'n' Spit" column for the North Bay Bohemian, Sonoma, Napa, and Marin County's alternative newsweekly. As well as developing an appreciation for aromatic nuances in the genteel atmosphere of the tasting room, he's dragged hoses and traversed vineyards for wineries in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lodi, and Rheinhessen, Germany.

A 5th generation Sonoma County resident, Mr. Knight grew up among visits to wineries, which he thought would make excellent redoubts in the aftermath of seemingly immanent thermonuclear war. Although he first studied wine-like beverages under the tutelage of Bartles and Jaymes, he did not get serious about wine and spirits until, in Portland, Oregon, a freak flu left him with the temporary inability to enjoy beer. Armed with a dog-eared copy of Idwal Jones' Vines in the Sun, he left the rain-sodden city in a '63 Chevy, determined to get back to the land, and grow... potatoes. Several misadventures later, he started a vineyard, in a contrarian gesture to the customary pattern of professional success followed by an easygoing wine country lifestyle.

Mr. Knight has permanently reserved spaces in his heart - or on his palate - for amazing Zinfandel, good Riesling, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, and persists in believing that Syrah and Grenache and blends thereof may provide some of the more exciting wines of the near future, or the one after that.

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Sonoma Valley Reserve

4 days ago in Wine.0 Comments

A wine-tasting jaunt to the Sonoma Valley may seem straightforward enough. Head north on Highway 121 to the town of Sonoma, the historical birthplace of California’s fine wine industry, and continue on Highway 12 up a narrow, rustic valley dotted here and there with the signposts of better-known wineries. But the long and gentle road belies the complexity of its {…}

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Jordan Turns 40, Throws Party for Charity

6 days ago in Wine.0 Comments

When speaking of a winery that dates back to 1972, we often use terms like “historic” and “venerable,” no matter which side of 40 we find ourselves on. That’s because the 1970s saw a wine boom unlike any since the 1870s, and the wineries that stuck around are, at age 40, the veritable graybeards of the industry. Take Jordan. In {…}

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Freestone Vineyards 2009 Fogdog Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

2 weeks ago in Wine, Wine of the Week.2 Comments

I was several miles along the Kortum Trail, passing by fog-scraped spires of rock, when, for no reason, I looked to my left. It wasn’t that I sensed something, although I’d been walking on the right hand side of a double-track worn in the grass, the width of two swinging arms apart, musing on who it was that was not {…}

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Iron Horse Vineyards 2006 Ocean Reserve

1 month ago in Wine, Wine of the Week.0 Comments

I AM GIVING. I AM SPARKLING. I AM LIMITED. I AM THE OCEAN. No, it isn’t the new menu from embattled raw food chain Café Gratitude, whose options from side salad to smoothie are famously upbeat and first-person: “I AM THRIVING, and, “I AM SUCCULENT.” Somewhat anomalously appearing on the label of Iron Horse Vineyards’ Ocean Reserve cuvée, this would {…}

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De Loach 2008 Green Valley Pinot Noir

1 month ago in Wine, Wine of the Week.0 Comments

Is it possible that this wine would taste so good if it wasn’t from the specifically sub-appellated region, “Green Valley of Russian River Valley”? Taste is a matter of opinion, so sure, why not? Is it possible that it could taste the same, or similar? Life is full of surprises, and I’m not keen on going on the record as {…}

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Explore Bouverie Preserve

1 month ago in Insiders Guide.0 Comments

Have you ever had the experience where you find yourself walking, instead of driving down a street, which up until then had been but a blur through the windshield? You see a hundred things you’d never noticed before, register nuances about the people and the businesses there; discover an enigmatic old house that you don’t recall ever seeing before. We’d {…}

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Truett Hurst “White Sheep” Pinot Noir

1 month ago in Insiders Guide, Wine of the Week.0 Comments

The White Sheep is not a little lamb, anymore. When Virginia Lambrix sent me off from the tasting room last August with a bottle of her just-released Pinot Noir, it was with this admonition: Don’t open until February! The 2010 was tasting just fine back then: bright raspberry and vanilla, a fitting contrast to the Black Sheep Pinot’s duskier hue {…}

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Vote Now on Cline Pinot pairing

2 months ago in Wine of the Week.0 Comments

Many a shopper has prowled the wine isle, frowning and furrowed of brow, trying to find the right wine for dinner. White with fish, right? What about seared Red Snapper? And isn’t that red-listed by Seafood Watch, anyway? So, what if the wine is certified Fish Friendly Farming, does that help? Why not just start with the wine? It’s much {…}

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Barrel taste or bunker taste

2 months ago in Wine of the Week.1 Comment

What’s the best time of the year to taste wine in Sonoma County? Clearly, it’s not a question of getting it fresh and in season. The wine is fine any time of year, so let’s move on to the visuals. Some folks like fall colors, when the vines turn yellow and red. In the summer, they’re lush and green under {…}

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Windsor Oaks Vineyards 2007 Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon

3 months ago in Wine of the Week.8 Comments

Smack dab in the middle of the county, this vineyard estate is like some kind of equal-opportunity wonderland for grapes: From each according to their abilities—Windsor Oaks sells tons of the mountain-grown grapes to area wineries; and to each according to their needs – Pinot Noir gets the cooler spots in the Russian River Valley corner of the estate; Cabernet {…}