Von Holt Wines Should Be On Your Radar

When a former Secret Service agent, having served for over 20 years, retires and starts making wine, people are going to notice. Having a unique story helps creates authenticity, which in turn helps garner respect. Of course it goes without saying that the wine (in this case) must also be good. Von Holt Wines, started by Chris Von Holt and Pamela Miller, is garnering respect, due in part to their authentic wines.

Von Holt Wines is a new player in San Francisco's urban winery scene. Chris sources grapes from the coolest regions of the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast with the goal of creating wines that are textured, compelling, and authentic. Sure, that sounds like old hat, every producer makes those claims, but not nearly as many follow through. I got the chance to see if the Von Holt lineup was truly living up to it's claims, and after the fold I'll explain my findings.

I was sent three bottles of the current Von Holt releases, a couple of 2008 syrahs from Hoppe-Kelly Vineyard and Old Lakeville Vineyards, respectively, as well as the 2009 Suacci Vineyard Pinot Noir. Hoppe-Kelly is located in the Russian River Valley and Old Lakeville is in the enormous Sonoma Coast appellations. Suacci Vineyard is also in the Sonoma Coast AVA. I should also note that those are the first ever releases from the Von Holt label.

To emphasize how small Von Holt Wines' production is, here are the numbers; in 2008, the Hoppe-Kelly syrah was at 75 cases, as was the 2008 Old Lakeville. The Suacci pinot noir was producer in greater numbers, all of 225 cases. Not a lot of wine, to say the least.

2009 Von Holt Suacci Vineyard Pinot Noir: From the much-heralded 2009 vintage, this pours a beautiful ruby color that lightens towards the edges of the glass. It's got a mouthwatering bouquet of strawberry Jolly Rancher, earth, baking spice, and black tea. I noticed that the more this pinot sat in my glass, the better it smelled. On the palate, the Von Holt impresses with it's balanced flavors of red fruit and earth. There is ample acidity, creating a beautiful structure that should support the wine over the next ten years. Perhaps one of the most enjoyable pinot noirs you can buy right now. 13.3% abv. Price: $42.

2008 Von Holt Hoppe-Kelly Vineyard Syrah: This vintage is often cited as a great one for thicker skinned grapes like syrah, cabernet sauvignon, and zinfandel. I couldn't agree more. This 2008 pours a ruby-garnet, paling towards the edges of the glass. The bouquet is typical cool-climate syrah, with lots of peppery spice and black fruit, tar, and oak that threatens to dominate. That said, the oak will recede with time in the glass and/or more bottle age. On the palate, a well balanced mix of ripe blackberry and blueberry flavors bounce off earth and pepper notes. There's acidity in abundance, helping restrain all that ripe fruit. This is really good California syrah, especially considering the price. 14.2% abv. Price: $20.

2008 Von Holt Old Lakewood Vineyard Syrah: Pours a more consistent dark-garnet in the glass compared to the Hoppe-Kelly Vineyard bottling. Aromas of fresh baked pie, oak, and black peppercorn. The palate is bursting with cherry and blackberries that only get pulled back by that effective cool-climate acidity. A fine-grained tannin is present but never becomes bothersome, rather, it integrates well with the finish, creating a nice tapering effect that I love. When people rag on California syrah, this is what I wish they'd drink. It's a mind-changer, with the balance needed to pair beautifully with food. 14.3% abv. Price: $30




After tasting through the Von Holt wines I was struck by how delicious they were, for one. Also, I noticed that the wines exhibited a sense of balance and completeness. To explain, that means that while the ripe fruit flavors are present, each bottling possess enough acidity to prevent them from developing into fruit bombs. This is especially appreciated in the syrahs, which too often are overripe, sweet concoctions. Each wine had it's own personality, lending further credibility to our question of authenticity.

By sourcing good fruit combined with the skills of winemaker John Fones and adviser Ed Kurtzman, Chris Von Holt and Pamela Miller have created some outstanding examples of cool climate California red wines. Each wine I reviewed gets my highest recommendation, and I urge you to act fast. When last talked to, Chris said that all three of these bottlings were running out quickly. That's not surprising though, given the level of quality.

Oh, and check out those alcohol levels. That, folks, is how you make wine that's both full flavored AND balanced.

Von Holt wines is on Twitter: @VonHoltWines and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vonholtwines

These wines were received as media samples.

Happy Easter!

Beau Carufel

2009 Von Holt Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

**BREAKING NEWS** For the next 24 hours: September 14-15th you can get FREE SHIPPING on your purchase at Von Holt Wines, just use the promo code: BBR-VHW on checkout. This is your chance to try the amazing wines including what I reviewed here. Well worth a visit, don't ya think?!

About a month ago, during the course of tweeting up about wine and specifically, California syrah, I started tweeting with the Von Holts, who own Von Holt Wines. They produce pinot noir and syrah from a small winery in Belmont, CA. After some tweeting, one of the two Von Holts, Chris or Pam, offered to send me some samples to try. At the time I was on a bit of an Oregon pinot noir kick, so the chance to sample some syrah and pinot from this state was something I jumped at..

Boy am I glad I did! After getting four wines from the Von Holts, I laid them down for a few weeks to settle down, as I usually do. Fast forward and we're already into September and Labor Day weekend. After consuming Oregon pinot noir rosé and a red Rhone the past few days, I needed something to ground me in California once again.

Von Holt Wines to the rescue! 

I opened their 2009 Russian River Valley pinot noir. It's made up of fruit from two vineyards, Suacci and Ketcham. Picked on September 19, 2009, this pinot noir almost made it two years from picking to my mouth. Neat! For us wine geeks, there are four clones present: Pommard, 828, 115, and 777. This particular pinot spent 11 months in French oak, 25% of that was new oak barrels. Alcohol is a refreshingly "low" 13.8%. Compared to the 14.7% pinot rosé and 15% Rhone I had recently, this is in another league entirely.

The color is beautiful, a light, translucent ruby red that pales towards the meniscus. It looks like pinot noir should, without the darker purple hues that come from additives like Mega-Purple or the addition of syrah or valdigue.

Aromatically I picked up ripe red cherry, some warm baking spices, and a nice forest floor component. The red fruit dominates, especially as the wine opens up. There is a touch of kirsch that seems to blend well with a hint of green grape stem. I think this is a classical Russian River Valley bouquet, elegant and fun at the same time.

My first sip brought a vibrant red cherry and pepper note, which I found incredibly appealing. The acidity is clean and pure, each flavor follows the line of acid along your palate all the way to the finish. The 2009 Von Holt RRV has a lightness of body, and the way that an earthy, truffle note takes over from the cherry flavors is almost perfect. I wish there had been a bit more of the earthy truffle note though because the red cherry is so ripe and pure that it does tend to dominate. The pinot had a wonderful finish, with the acid keeping things light and fresh while the flavors slowly faded away.

The first of four wines from Von Holt that I tasted, this set the bar high, but I have no doubt I will enjoy the rest. For a suggested retail price of $38 on the website, this is well worth the money. I suspect it would be around $8 cheaper at local wine stores, making it a screaming deal for pinot noir of this quality. It should age nicely until around 2017 or so, but is perfectly good to drink right now. A-, STRONG BUY recommendation.

I'd love to try another bottle of 2009 Von Holt with a bacon-wrapped salmon or some marinated grilled chicken, but this would also stand up to something like a rack of lamb provided you didn't go too crazy with the herbs.

Visit the Von Holts on Twitter and you can purchase the 2009 Von Holt Russian River Valley pinot noir on the website.

This wine was a media sample for review purposes.


Beau Carufel