2013 Von Strasser Rudy Pinot Noir (Screwcap)

Von Strasser Winery was founded in 1990 by Rudy von Strasser and his wife Rita. A decade earlier he’d been a college graduate determined to start a hard cider business in New England. With an agricultural degree under his belt and a thesis written on hard cider production, Rudy von Strasser in the early 1980s moved from New Hampshire to California where he figured a little time working in the wine industry might be helpful for his future in hard cider. But a year spent at Robert Mondavi changed his mind. He refocused his interest to winemaking, earned a degree from the UC Davis Enology program and became an intern at Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. He was winemaker at Trefethen and Newton before he and Rita found property of their own in the Diamond Mountain district. Von Strasser’s single-vineyards Cabernet Sauvignons have won numerous awards. In 2017 the Von Strassers bought Lava Vine Winery to add an “alternative varietal” portfolio to their offerings.

Central Coast AVA is a huge wine producing area that extends from Santa Barbara County in the south to San Francisco in the north. With more than 100,000 vineyard acres, it includes parts of six counties near the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 20 smaller AVAs lie within the Central Coast AVA. Central Coast earned appellation status in 1985. Included in the appellation are parts of the counties of Contra Costa, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Nearly every grape varietal grown in California is grown somewhere in the Central Coast AVA, though Chardonnay accounts for nearly 50% of the entire wine grape crop.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.