We usually don’t think of wine and gravity going together.  When I knock over a glass of wine, gravity causes the precious juice to fall to the floor.  Or worse yet, when the 2014 Napa earthquake struck, gravity maliciously conspired with shaking of the Earth to cause many bottles of wine to plummet to their sad demise.

Perhaps you can see why we generally think of wine and gravity as mortal enemies.  But there is a method – more common in Europe –where gravity plays a key (and useful) role in the winemaking process.  In most winery operations grapes and juice are moved around mechanically via conveyors, pumps and other machinery.  This movement can change the way in which the juice is extracted, oxidized, tannins are released, etc.  In gravity-flow winemaking, after the crush process the wine moves to fermentation, cellar and bottling all via gravity with no pumps or other mechanical assistance.

In 1989, Rick Moshin had a dream to step away from his day job – teaching mathematics at San Jose State University – and run his own winery.  He knew that he wanted to make wine using the gravity-flow method and that he would have to find a property that could accommodate that approach.   Optimally, gravity-flow operations are found on properties that are sloped.  Rick Moshin found the perfect property along Westside Road in Sonoma’s Russian River.  He purchased 10 acres and started the arduous process of building out the winery.  Gravity-flow winemaking is not for everyone: it can be more time-consuming and expensive to produce wine.  But this method is particularly appropriate for the delicate and thin-skinned Pinot Noir grape.  Below is Moshin’s diagram of their gravity-flow process (courtesy of their website).  Visitors can take a tour with a prior appointment, something we recommend simply because it is so different from tours at other wineries.

We stopped by Moshin Vineyards during a recent 3-day vacation in Sonoma (yes, we live in Napa and “traveled” the 40 miles to the Russian River to overnight for 3 days).  We absolutely loved our visit to Moshin; it punched every item on our list: beautiful location, high-quality wines, and fantastic people.  The tasting experience was quite enjoyable and, we must add, quite the bargain compared to some of our Napa Valley tastings.

During our tasting we had the opportunity to taste quite a few wines – as usual, more than are typically offered .  When the tasting room staff knows you enjoy the wine and are interested in learning more and possibly buying, they will almost always pour more.  We tasted several white wines including the Moshin Sauvignon Blanc and two different Russian River Chardonnay offerings, each from a different vineyard location.

As you would expect from a Russian River winery, Moshin produces Pinot Noir, in fact quite a few different versions from multiple locations across Sonoma as well as different vineyards within Russian River.  We really enjoyed their Russian River Pinot Noir which we found to be a classic representation of the varietal from that  region:  full-bodied, earthy, with notes of mushroom and, dare we say, forest floor.

 

At Moshin, though, the red wines are not just limited to Pinot Noir. We also tasted a Syrah and a Merlot, both of which were special wines.  We actually purchased a bottle of Merlot – a wine more often found in Napa Valley.  Moshin’s Merlot – produced from grapes grown in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley – had strong dark fruit aroma and flavor with hints of chocolate.

How do you top off a great wine tasting? If you’re lucky, with a sweet dessert wine.  At Moshin we had the treat of experiencing their luscious Moshin Potion, a late harvest blend of Gewürztraminer and Viognier.

We couldn’t resist taking a bottle of this home with us along with the Merlot and several of the Pinot Noir offerings.  We’ve added Moshin to our list of Sonoma “must return” wineries and we’ll be back soon.

John & Irene Ingersoll

August 15, 2017

 

• blogging
• Wine Tasting
• Winery Visits