Past/Present/Future/Davis Bynum/Winemaker Greg Morthole

I was up early yesterday,and headed into the beautiful town and wine hub known as Healdsburg,California.before I get into town I'm going to stop and visit with winemaker Greg Morthole . Davis Bynum was one of the pioneers of this region,.and yes the winery name is also a real and distinguished winemaker/winery owner. Originally distinguished as the first winery on Westside Road in Healdsburg, California, Davis Bynum was first to produce a single vineyard Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. The vintage was 1973 and the grapes were from Joe Rochioli's now prized vineyard. Today, more than forty years later, the heritage of Davis Bynum lives on through the hand crafted creation of single vineyard wines grown exclusively in Russian River Valley.. these are facts from the website,and let's explore the site more.When Davis Bynum started making wine in the Russian River Valley, Pinot Noir was not commonly produced in the region -- in fact, this delicate and often fickle varietal was largely ignored in favor of the more robust merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes. But in 1973, Davis Bynum became enamored with the Pinot Noir grapes from Joe Rochioli vineyards. The wine produced from that year’s grapes were, as Davis says, “really good, surprisingly good.” Spurred by that early success, Davis Bynum continued making Pinot Noir, experimenting with techniques including whole-berry fermentation, cold soaking, dry ice and extended maceration. Davis Bynum first flirted with winemaking at his home in Berkeley in 1951. Then, he was a young reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, first working as a copyboy and then as a special editions reporter for This World Magazine. Spurred by his father’s love for wine -- Lindley Bynum was an esteemed wine judge at the Los Angeles County Fair and then at the California State Fair -- Davis Bynum bought a single box of petite sirah from Robert Mondavi for all of $1.80. Astoundingly, the the three and a half gallons of wine yielded from that first box of grapes -- made using the most rudimentary home-fermenting methods -- turned out well. Bynum tried again a month later, with five boxes of Cabernet Sauvignon. “It just turned out lovely, a lovely wine,” Bynum recalls. “We were still drinking it 10 years later.” Greg Morthole Winemaker Raised in Sacramento, Greg Morthole attended the University of Wyoming, where he earned a B.S. in Natural Sciences. He entered the wine industry as a Laboratory Analyst at Vinquiry in Windsor, California, then moved to Chalk Hill Winery in 2003 to become an Enologist. Greg joined the Rodney Strong Vineyards team in 2005, when he accepted a position as Lab Director. His innate acumen for wine making became immediately clear to his peers, and he quickly ascended to an appointment as Associate Winemaker in late 2007. In the spring of 2010, he was promoted to Winemaker, overseeing all aspects of operations and wine making in our “Winery Within the Winery.” With a quiet demeanor and a determined attitude, Greg’s energetic style illustrates how enjoyable he finds wine making to be. “Making the Reserve and Single-Vineyard wines here is an honor,” he says.Greg has been part of the great team at Rodney Strong and Davis Bynum for a long time and the wines are world class.All this talk of food and wine has made me thirsty...and "I Could Eat"... Please join Greg Morthole and I,as we open this beautiful Chardonnay from Davis Bynum. There is a rumor that food is on the way...CARRY ON! Click here and join us we saved you a seat.