Winemaker Notes
Rudy von Strasser has been named by Wine & Spirits Magazine as one of the 2014 Wineries of the Year. He has received this nomination 11 of the last 12 years. Rudy began his winemaking career in 1984 at Hacienda Winery. He graduated from the UC Davis Winemaking Program in 1985, and began an internship at Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. He later worked as the Enologist at Napa’s Trefethen Winery and at Newton Vineyards as Assistant Winemaker. Rudy von Strasser began his own winery in 1990.
His winemaking philosophy centers on the concept that great wines are created in the vineyard and not in the winery. His most important winemaking tool is his palate: his ability to understand and analyze each vineyard’s wine potential through the tasting of the grapes. All of the grapes used are picked at their optimum ripeness when the flavors are peaking and the tannins have become ripe and soft. Based on these harvest decisions, the correct combination of fermentation and winemaking techniques are employed to maximize each vineyard’s potential.
The end result is wine of great extract and a tannin complex which is both huge and soft at the same time, making these hillside wines both approachable when young, yet also worthy of further development with age.
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”