Community

Davis pours it on this spring

6/16/09, 12:58 pm, By Andrew Pridgen

Tahoeticker sits down with - Russ Jones of Truckee River Winery

By Andrew Pridgen -

Every Wednesday, Tahoeticker sits down with a member of the basin community who's doing something new, or old, or interesting — or similar ...to me and you. Enjoy. And if you have any suggestions about who you'd like to see us sit down with — click here.

Truckee's wine-making district lies just south of downtown across the river.

Drive past the bend on Brockway Road — the one with the Northstar billboard— and you've gone too far.

Instead, just after crossing the river's overpass leaving town, make a right on South River Street.

Pass the pink and white house with the antlers above the garage, watch out for the old black lab in the middle of the road — and, if you've reached the end of the cul-de-sac, you've gone too far.

10061 is a little red house with white trim. The single-story rancher sits on a half-acre lot. Behind it is a little red barn with white trim.

Oak barrels line the driveway and a small sign etched with the word "wine" just emerged from hibernation.

You've arrived at the Truckee River Winery.

But don't enter through the home's front door. If you make it that far, you'll see a small sign pointing you toward the back — and a barn.

Once there, chances are after a couple knocks on the sliding door, you'll be greeted by Russ Jones — winemaker and proprietor.

Jones's tasting room/wine-making epicenter is less than 1,000 square feet, but no space of the concrete-slab/former horse barn waits to be filled.

Take two steps inside and immediately notice 800 or so cases stacked with Tetris precision.

In front of that, a wood-slatted table with a handful of bottles, glasses and corkscrews — along with a couple stools. It's real-life still-life.

To the immediate left, a pair of vats and a bottling machine — beyond them a stack of oak barrels 10 high; walk through a second doorway — and more barrels.

And that's it. Neat. Symmetrical. Efficient.

"That's the tour," Jones said. "Really hasn't changed much since '89."

That's right — 20 years.

Jones, a Truckee native, left town for UC Davis in the late '70s to earn a degree in fermentation science and wine-making.

Post-grad in the early '80s, he cut his teeth in Oregon's Willamette Valley working for Sokol Blosser, a winery founded in '71 specializing on the then-relatively undersold Pinot noir.

Creston Vineyards in Paso Robles was next. In '83 — Jones, tall, ruddy complected with red hair whose movements are the swift yet efficient kind of a nordic athlete, decided he missed the snow.

"There just wasn't enough skiing in Paso Robles," he deadpanned. "I needed to be back here. Most wineries, they're not estate wineries — so, if you get good grapes, you can make good wine."

1989 was Truckee River Winery's debut vintage — a Pinot noir.

The winery has turned out Merlot, Zinfandel and Pinot at the rate of 1,000 cases a year since then. The house red at Truckee's Zano's Pizza and Family Italian is Truckee River Winery — and his '06 vintage is featured at Moody's, Dragonfly, Sunnyside, Pianetta and Cottonwood — among restaurants/wine bars in the basin.

Jones said for his 20-year-anniversary vintage he "plans to do something special" but doesn't know what yet.

Consequently, there is a new leg of the Jones estate tour. He crosses his street to a vacant lot that fronts the Truckee River.

It is there a half dozen young vines sit; still browned into dormancy. Jones planted them two years ago in the Truckee soil using only grape pulp as an enhancer.

The vines are called Lacross and are Michigan-bred.

They're a heartier varietal and, if they should bear fruit next year — Jones will eventually produce a few bottles of icewine — a dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine.

"You pick them frozen, pres them right away and press out the sugars," Jones said. "The ice crystals stay behind creating a really, really sweet juice.

"It's good stuff — the Canadians love it."

So, to answer the question: Yes, you can grow wine in Truckee — and as the planet continues to warm, Jones may not be the only one.

Below an excerpt from a recent morning tahoeticker spent with Truckee River Winery's Russ Jones:

Tahoeticker: So, let's talk about growing wine in the Sierra.

Russ Jones: (Laughs) Yeah, I've actually got 20 vines planted here on an experiemntal basis and am looking to plant more up towards Sierraville. Up there, we'll be able to grow some reds right on the edge of town.

TT: What about freezing?

RJ: The biggest problem (growing) in Truckee isn't the winter — it's those unexpected frosts in the middle of summer. We've had a hard time (planning) for that. The rest of the time its decent. Vines can survive some pretty low temperatures. The trick is to make the vine a little more cold-hearty.

TT: Care to explain?

RJ: Sure. A young leaf has that lime-green color when it matures a little it gets that dark-green color. You have to kind of trick the leaves to get to that point a little faster. Once grapes are on the vine, they'll be frost-resistant — but you can't lose leaves.

TT: The Sierra Nevada has increasingly become known for its wines especially in places like Placerville and down 80 towards as Auburn; and you're saying you could start to grow up here?

RJ: I've got my eye on a couple of cold-hearty (vines) that could grow well in Sierraville. I'm going to see if I can do it. With global warming, it's hard to say what could happen. But, you've started to see them going some pretty good grapes down in Reno and Carson City – I get some of my (grapes) from Colfax and Port Chicago. The vines I'll use (up here) are from the East Coast.

TT: You said you topped off at about 1,000 cases in the early '90s and have been there ever since — any chance you'll ever up production.

RJ: No, probably not. Right now, I do about 450 cases of Pinot; the rest Zin and Pino gris. That's where I want to be.

TT: Any vintage you're especially proud of/happy with right now?

RJ: Right now I've got an '05 Pinot which is looking great; '06 shows a lot of promise — it just hasn't been released yet.

TT: What's your rule of thumb for opening a Pinot?

RJ: I usually tell people five to 10 years. I've got a 2001, basically, I'm sold out of it — but it tastes pretty darn good (Jones reaches for an '01, opens it, swishes it around and takes a sip....) ...yeah, not bad. I've got about five cases of this left.

TT: You've been at this for two decades now — what kind of feedback to you get?

RJ: I rarely get any negative comments — everyone seems pleasntly surprised with the wine. Any negativity comes before they taste it — you know, 'you can't make wine in Truckee'. But I have my loyal followers too. I use Garys' Vineyard (for the Pinot) and there's a big cult following for those grapes.

TT: Let's say I'm a family up here for shoulder season, after the resorts shut down but before the Memorial Day crunch...

RJ: (Laughs) ...We do tastings by appointment. People can all ahead (530) 587-4626 and we'll sit down and have some wine and talk about it.

TT: Anything new coming out soon?

RJ: We've got the Pino gris — I've always wanted to do one and it's looking pretty good so far — this will be its first year — it will release sometime this spring.

Click here to visit Truckee River Winery ...and learn about the 20-percent-off a case for the 20-year anniversary.

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