1997 Kalin Cellars Semillon

Kalin Cellars is known among wine cognoscenti for small-batch, unfiltered wines that age at least a decade before release and continue to improve with age. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that Kalin “wines have incredible aging potential, and I’ve got many an old vintage of Kalin in my cellars – the Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – to attest to their ageability.” Kalin wines are made by the husband-and-wife team of Terry and Frances Leighton, two micro-biologists who in the 1970s responded to a newspaper advertisement offering free grapes from a Livermore vineyard to anyone who would take care of it. The pair started tending the vineyard and making wine. Working with very old Semillon vines the couple’s first commercial release was a 1979 Livermore Semillon, and today they also made Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, sparkling and dessert wines. The Leightons continue do all the work themselves, working with carefully sourced grapes in a small Marin County winery. They were early California advocates of unfiltered wines made with a minimalist approach, aged white wines and single vineyard wines. Kalin produces just 7,000 cases a year and has an adoring following among wine writers. In 2007 Vinous reviewed Kalin’s just-released 1997 Livermore Semillon like this:” Yes, this is a current release from the unhurried Terry Leighton. I'd love to serve this blind next to a bottle of Laville Haut-Brion.”

Sonoma County is not an AVA, but it is a commonly used informal designation for wines made outside of more specific AVAs within Sonoma, which is a large wine producing region just west of Napa Valley. Though Sonoma is often overshadowed by its glamorous neighbor Napa Valley, it has a long history of wine production. The area specialized in jug wine until the mid-20th century, when Sonoma producers took a cue from Napa and started improving quality. Unlike Napa, where Cabernet Sauvignon is king, Sonoma specialized in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, though excellent Cabs are produced too. There are at present 16 AVAs within Sonoma County, and, like much of the West Coast of the United States, new AVAs are created in Sonoma County with regularity. Some Sonoma appellations, such as the Russian River Valley, are renowned for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.