Want to be a winemaker? It sounds like a lot of fun, and of course, it can be. And to hear the rags to riches (well, not quite rags) story of how Joel Peterson, founding winemaker ofRavenswood, created an internationally famous brand is mesmerizing.

Joel was born in 1947 the son of a highly credentialed scientist parents. When Joel was four years old, his mother discovered food writer Elizabeth David, who wrote about the importance of drinking French wine with food (note the emphasis on the word French). From that point on, the Peterson family sent abroad for French wine, and by the age of ten, Joel was a member of the San Francisco Wine Sampling Club (organized and operated by his father).

After graduating from Oregon State University, Joel became a wine writer and consultant, then learned the skills of traditional winemaking from the late Joseph Swan, an outstanding craftsman of old California Zinfandel.

So if I tell you that Joel started Ravenswood with $4,000 – would you believe me? At the time, he had very little expectations of becoming famous or wealthy from his winery. He simply wanted to make a good wine from California’s “signature” varietal, Zinfandel. And to this day (his mother would approve) he prides himself on how European it is, compared to other American wines. By European I assume Joel to mean that the wine is elegant, well balanced, and no element (i.e. acid, tannin, alcohol) overwhelms any other.

Yet by its very definition, Zinfandel is a high alcohol wine. “Do you use reverse osmosis to lower the alcohol?” I ask, since this is a new common practice to lower the high alcohol of California wines. Joel is adamant against doing this, as to his mind, it destroys the integrity of the wine’s nature. And even though the alcohol is between 14 and 15 percent, it is in balance with the ripe fruit, acidity, and tannins.

Today in New York, I had the good fortune to taste through his wines, with grapes grown on many vineyards. Joel explains he likes to buy grapes rather than grow them because this is what the growers do best (and they also own the best land). First on the list was 2007 Dickerson Zinfandel, on the west side of the Napa Valley. This was one of Joel’s first vineyard contracts, and the fact they are doing business twenty years later says a great deal about Joe’s ethics. A very classic Zinfandel. Next is 2007 Big River Zinfandel, located between the Alexander and Russian River valleys. This Zinfandel is ripe and jammy with cassis, black olives, and raspberry. 2007 Belloni Zinfandel follows, and is a favorite with judges at the Orange County wine festival.

Barricia vineyard was created in 1888 and owned by several major historical figures in its colorful history dating to before the Mexican and Civil wars. The majority of Barricia is old vines, and the resulting wine is deeply perfumed with the characters of spice and cherry pie. Another single vineyard, Icon, is a blend of 36% Carignan, 27% Petite Sirah, 25% Zinfandel, and 12% mixed black grapes. The wine is dense and dark, aromatic with sweet scents of black cherries and plums tempered by hints of toast and vanilla. Teldeschi vineyard is made up of Zinfandel, Carignane, and Petite Sirah. The three varieties are fermented separately and blended to taste. The resulting wine is perfumed with scents of black raspberry, tobacco, and aromatic spices.

Old Hill is quite interesting from a taste and historical perspective. This Zinfandel has Rhone like intensity with aromas of blackberry, black pepper, vanilla, coffee, smoke, and mint. It had once been owned by the father of newspaper czar William Randolph Hearst, and in 1888 was the first vineyard to be planted with rootstocks in California. The last vineyard to taste is Pickberry, a Merlot Cab blend (74% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon) with a palate of fresh plum, red currant, mint, and cured tobacco. It got its curious name from the children of its owner, an orthopedic surgeon, as the children always referred to it as the place to pick wild berries in summer.

A fabulous opportunity to taste the nuances between the many vineyards that comprise Ravenswood wines, and a chance to meet an exceptional man with so many colorful examples of founding winemakers who lived in the Napa Valley a century before his birth.

"Now let's go for sushi!" These are the words I heard leaving a friend's party at an inexpensive diner, where the buffet table groaned over with calorie-centric, deli-style delights that few of the svelte Manhattan-ites at the party would dare eat.

Sushi is big right now in virtually every city in America. Why sushi? It's light, fun to eat, usually low in calories, and good for you. One of the newest Sushi restaurants in the Napa Valley is Go Fish, a creation  Mustard's Grill's Cindy Pawlcyn. If you've been to Mustard's Grill, you know Pawlcyn is all about ultra-fresh ingredients and exploring global cuisine.

At Go Fish, Pawlcyn has turned over her toque to Executive Chef, Victor Scargle, and Sushi Chef, Ken Tominaga. Scargle had cooked for Michael Mina at Agua, and was named one of the San Francisco Chronicle's rising young chefs. Tominga is a sushi master, recognized as one of the best sushi chefs in Northern California.

Go Fish has a gorgeous interior with big picture windows that looks out over Highway 29 and the vineyards beyond. The bright white walls and very modern looking sushi bar give the place an airy, relaxed feel. You feel good stepping inside.

Though sushi is a high priority here, the menu also offers a raw bar, sandwiches, entrees (in addition to fish, you can find pasta, chicken, and New York steak), and plenty of unique fish dishes.

For starters, a friend and I shared The Louie - a shrimp and crab salad with iceberg lettuce, cucumber, olives, caper berries, avocado, and hard-boiled eggs. This is a traditional salad, served here with ultra-fresh seafood ($29).

I enjoyed my order of Whole Black Bass, served with wild rice and caramelized onion sherry jus ($29), but I couldn't take my eyes — or my fork — off my friend's plate of Black Cod with Alaska miso marinade in a shitake broth ($26). It was impossibly delicious and highly addictive.

When questioned about what fish dish is best, the waiter did say this was a personal favorite. Though I believed him, I was thinking the dish would be like the nearly caramelized and very sweet miso-marinated cod they serve at Nobu in Manhattan. Happily, this was not the case. The dish was only subtly infused with the sweet miso marinade and so good I can still remember it weeks later. We also enjoyed the Whole Leaf Lettuce salad with avocado and pistachios in a cranberry vinaigrette ($8).

I didn't sample the sushi, but from what I saw on tables near us, it looked quite fresh and was served in a very attractive manner. Sashimi runs from $10-30 and the sushi runs from $5-20. The wine list features beer and various kinds of sake, including a sparkling sake that looked interesting. Kudos to whoever created the wine list - you will find many, many half-bottles so you can explore different varietals and wineries.

Overall, what is most impressive about this restaurant is the freshness of the raw bar, sushi, and fish, the creativity of the way the dishes are plated, and the fact that this restaurant is opened continuously from lunch to dinner. In Napa, this is a good thing since you never know when you want to break for lunch while wine tasting. We arrived promptly at five and found the restaurant already half full with diners. Many of the guests looked like locals catching up with a friend over drinks and sushi. If the locals like it, you will too.

Go Fish
641 Main Street
St. Helena, California
(707) 963-0700

... so I'm sure you've enjoyed wines from Chile. Here's a short quiz:

1) What is the up and coming grape of Chile?
2) What weather phenomenon is responsible for great wine?
3) What Chilean producer is increasingly winning lots of awards?

Because many of the wineries were started by wealthy Chileans in the last century who looked to France as a source of culture, many of the wines produced in the region are Bordeaux style blends. However, Carmenere is becoming quite the hip grape. Producer Monte Premium Wines grows it in their two new vineyards in Cochagua, each dramatically different in terms of soil and elevation and proximity to the ocean in Colchagua, Apalta and Marchigue. And the Humboldt Current is the phenomenon that swings cold air from the Antarctic to cool the ocean and provide conditions conducive to quality grapes. Montes Premium Wines,

which makes wine in Chile, Argentina, and Napa, came to NYC to showcase the wines they make in all three areas.

Today,

Aurelio Montes, an owner of Montes Premium Wines, was on hand to give a tutored tasting of the wines along with his son (sharing the same name).

NY's top wine journalists were present, including David Rosengarten and Baroness Sheri de Borchgrave (pictured here) to get an insider's look at how the grape growing and wine making process in each of the regions.

We tasted barrel samples of Carmenere from Montes' two estates in Chile (surprising differences due to elevation, climate, proximity to sea, soil), Malbec from Argentina (ditto), and their new Bordeaux style wine from the new vineyards in Napa. I personally loved the 2005 Montes from Napa, which has the kind of fruit and structure that can see it age for another ten years.

Mr. Montes is charming and passionate about his wine, and through the miracle of modern technology, you can hear him speak about it here in this online tasting seminar (quick registration required). You will hear all about the soil and climate and see gorgeous pictures of his properties in Chile, and also have the opportunity to taste along with him.

Do you like Carmenere? Have you tried Montes'?  FYI, Carmenere is considered by some to be the next Pinot Noir ... check out this thread about Montes' Carmenere on the Wine Spectator Forums.