Simi Winery: A Slice of Sonoma History

Let me take you through a scenario that I know you've been through before. You go visit a friend or a family member. You've traveled via plane or taken a long car trip and haven't brought any wine with you to give to your host. So on your way to the person's house, you stop off somewhere to grab a bottle of wine. As you're heading to the grocery store or the bottle shop you're thinking of all the possibilities. Should you bring them something from Spain -- maybe a Ribera del Duero to wow the crowd? Or maybe a New Zealand Pinot Noir? Maybe you'll do a Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc) from the Loire Valley to match the goat cheese you plan to buy? Ah, the possibilities.

Then you hit the WOW (wall of wine) and the reality hits you -- you're out of your element and you're out of luck. All that's available is big brand names. All the alternative stuff you so meticulously planned to buy just isn't there.

Well s*&t. Now what? Bring liquor? Beer? Snickers bars or Twizzlers that stare at you temptingly from beneath the register? Nah, you can still go for wine but you've got to have some ideas of which big name brands make solid wines that you can feel good about bringing.

And that's where Simi comes in. I visited the property 6 weeks ago and had a great experience courtesy of my dear friend MP, who works for the company and who rolled out the red carpet to show me and M.C. Ice what the longest continuously running winery in Sonoma County had to offer. And it was good.

Simi is a beautiful property located just outside of the main square in Healdsburg, my personal favorite little town in wine country (if you ever can swing it, stay at the Hotel Healdsburg, which has the most insanely comfortable beds you will ever sleep on. The Hotel gets so many compliments on the beds and linens that they actually sell the linens and tell you how you can buy the bed. I have the former, when I make it big the latter will be my first splurge : ). Simi is a great first stop out of Healdsburg if you're staying there, and it's well worth the visit -- it's a very old and beautiful property.

Just to give a quick background, two Italian immigrants -- Pietro and Giuseppe Simi -- came from Tuscany to San Francisco to strike gold. And they did find gold and they also found a wealth of something else -- sunshine and plentiful, ideal land on which to grow grapes. In 1876 they started the winery.

Their project was a huge hit and they planted roots in Healdsburg where they built an underground stone cellar, that still stands today. Sadly, the brothers died within 4 months of each other in 1904, but waiting in the wings was Giuseppe's daughter, Isabelle. She couldn't even vote and barely had rights, but she took over the management of the winery at age 18.

The Winery was a huge success until 1919, when Prohibition exerted its evil grip, but Isabelle and her banker husband Fred Haigh had a "devil may care" attitude. Although illegal, they continued to make wine throughout this ridiculous time in US history, storing it in their stone cellars (and I'm sure selling a bunch on the sly). Unfortunately, they had to sell most of their vineyard land to keep the winery operational (they've since reacquired 700 acres in Sonoma so don't feel so bad for them). They managed through the dry years and then led the way in helping the wine industry recover after the repeal of this dumb law in 1933. Isabelle ran operations at Simi until 1970, when she sold the property and retired at age 84.

If you decide to go to Simi, don't just stay around the tasting room -- walk the grounds as much as you can. The event spaces are beautiful and the old winery, which lies just across the semi-functioning railroad tracks (I think MP told us only a rare train makes its way down the track but look before you cross anyway!), is a very cool piece of history itself.

One thing to look for -- where the old winery ends and where expansion began. How can you figure it out? Italian immigrants, with great attention to aesthetics and visual detail meticulously built the first part of the winery. The expansion, which took place decades later, was built by very efficient and "get-it-done" Chinese laborers who made a solid product that is a slightly less attractive to the eye. I thought that was a very neat feature. Rarely do you get to see heritage, history, and cultural shifts so well defined in stone craft!

To get off the history and into modern times, today Simi is owned by the mega wine corporation, Constellation, but it's still run pretty autonomously. This is not a boutique winery, but on the flip side, it's a good example of a place that's gotten pretty big but managed to uphold quality. You can bring a bottle of this wine to a friend and feel good that you're bringing something solid. We tried 5 wines. I'll give you a very quick rundown of each...

The Wine: Simi Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc
Where It's From: Sonoma County, California
The Grapes: 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Semillon, 5% Viognier
Vintage: 2009
Price: $15

Color: This wine was more golden than I had expected. It's fermented in stainless steel tanks, so it wasn't color from oak, as I initially thought. Both the Viognier and Semillon are richer in color than Sauvignon Blanc, so that may have been the reason for the darker than expected color. The legs on this wine meandered slowly down the glass -- it had some good alcohol on it.

Smell: A simple but refreshing nose of grapefruit and a bouquet of white flowers. It reminded me a little of the Honig Sauvignon Blanc, but less aromatic.

Taste: This is a super straightforward wine -- tasted just like it smelled. It had nice acid but the addition of Semillon and Viognier made the wine soft and round. It was more mouthcoating than I expect from a Sauvignon Blanc but nice for this style.

Drink or down the sink: Although my rule for Sauvignon Blanc is the more acid the better, I can appreciate the softer style. This is a great starter Sauvignon Blanc -- for people getting into the variety but who aren't used to the mouth puckering acid you'll find from New Zealand, Sancerre in the Loire Valley, and even sometimes in white Bordeaux.
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The Wine: Simi Russian River Valley Chardonnay
Where It's From: Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California
The Grapes: 100% Chardonnay
Vintage: 2008
Price: $30

Color: This wine was the right color for a Russian River Valley Chardonnay -- a rich golden yellow, from the ripe grapes that went in and from the barrel aging that lends a darker tinge to the wine.

Smell: Again, kind of "banker's style" for a Russian River Valley Chard -- with bright apple and light pineapple, underscored by a rich burnt sugar, caramel note from the barrel aging.

Taste: I have voiced this before and I'll say it again, I'm not a huge fan of Russian River Valley Chardonnay, but I have tasted so much of it (when I worked for the hulking winery I worked on a large Sonoma brand and did a lot of comparative tastings!) that I am very familiar with the typical style. This is a straight arrow for Russian River Chard -- tons of tropical fruit and baked apple, but then a salty mineral quality (that reminds me of edamame) to underlay the fruitiness and counteract the rich toasty caramel. The acid was fairly low and it was very soft on the finish.

Drink or down the sink: Because I'm not a fan of this type of wine, I wouldn't choose to buy it for me. HOWEVER, it's well made and if you like the Russian River Valley style, this wine will be up your alley. Winemaker Steve Reeder, who I met briefly while visiting, did a great job of not going too crazy with the oak -- you can still taste the fruit and minerals from the grape, which is my standard gauge for whether or not the wine is in balance and made well. ______________________________________________________________

The Wine: Simi Pinot Noir
Where It's From: Sonoma County, California
The Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Price: $25

This is Simi's first vintage of Pinot Noir in its history. It was neat to taste this historic wine!

Color: The wine had a ton of color. This was not a light-handed Pinot Noir. Lots of color was extracted in the winemaking process, or the grapes were left on the vine for a long time, giving the skins a chance to thicken and impart lots and lots of color to the grape juice.

Smell: Similar to the Russian River Valley Chardonnay, Simi didn't take many chances on the style of this wine. It's very typical in style for Sonoma County -- great raspberry, cherry, and strawberry fruit were underscored by a mineral note that reminded me a little of an salty oyster shell. The nose was super-fruity and direct -- not much complexity, but nothing to offend either.

Taste: Just like the nose, the taste was really direct -- no surprises, no weird angles, no complex undertones. There were great berry and sour cherry notes to the wine, and fruit was the reigning force in the wine. Although it was simple and straightforward, it had good acid to clean out my mouth so it wasn't at all flabby or overly fruity. The alcohol was certainly noticeable at 14.5%, but the cherry and berry flavors were a good balance to that slight burn.

Drink or down the sink: Here is a great example of a wine you can feel good about bringing as a gift to your host if you are in a scenario where you're in that shop I mentioned above that carries only national brands. It's a solid, typical style Pinot Noir that will be a good match with food and people with a variety of wine preferences will like. ______________________________________________________________

The Wine: Simi Landslide Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Where It's From: Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California
The Grapes: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Tannat
Vintage: 2007
Price: $35

Color: This was a huge wine -- dark purple and almost opaque in color and it stained the glass when I swirled it. The Landslide sat with the skins for 34 days according to MP, so it picked up a ton of color in the process. This was going to be a big arse wine.

Smell: Although it had a green pepper and green herb note to it, the over powering aroma was of violets and dark flowers. It was a very pretty nose with some warm cinnamon and mocha in the background.

Taste: Similar to the others in the line, the wine delivered on the nose but it also had a rich candied black currant flavor to it and a stronger cinnamon component that was really interesting. This wine was good now, but texturally it was a little tannic and tight -- too young or needed a good dose of decanting. I think in a year or two this could be quite a wine.

Drink or down the sink: This wine was my favorite of the line and it's a great value for a Sonoma Cabernet (although I must snarkily comment that it is more of a Bordeaux blend with all the grapes that are included than a straight Cabernet, but that's US labeling law for you -- it only has to be 75% of the grape for it to be labeled as such). This wine has depth, dimension, interesting flavors, and potential to age for up to five years. Certainly the standout of the day, and it's a great price. ______________________________________________________________

The Wine: Simi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Where It's From: Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California
The Grapes: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot
Vintage: 2005
Price: $65

Color: Like the Landslide Vineyard Cabernet, this was black-purple in the center with a crimson rim. It stained the glass just like the previous wine.

Smell: The wine had the vegetal notes of green pepper and freshly picked mint leaves, but it was also rich with ripe plum, black cherry, tobacco, and roasted coffee bean smell. There was a warm, toasted oak note too. A great aroma!

Taste: Typical of the Simi style, what you smell is what you get! The flavors were multi-faceted, but exactly as I smelled them. Another really direct, straight-shooter from this winery. The wine had strong tannins and noticeable acid, but it was so fruit forward that the textures were mellowed by the fruit.

Drink or down the sink: A solid Cabernet although, to me, not quite as interesting as the Landslide Vineyard Cab, which I really thought was quite unique and special. This wine is made from a few select and excellent vineyard sites in the warm Alexander Valley, which is great for Cabernet, and it's a solid and delicious wine. It's a wine club exclusive so you'll have to order it or buy it on site to check it out for yourself! ______________________________________________________________

Sincerest thanks to MP and to Simi -- great hospitality, a fabulous tour, and solid wines! Definitely head there when you're in Sonoma next to see a slice of history and taste some good wine!