Lynmar Estate Wines winemaker Pete Soergel

California Wine Country

Dan Berger and Pete Soergel

Pete Soergel, winemaker for Lynmar Estate Wines, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today.

Dan Berger has brought another bottle of wine from his gigantic cellar. Recently he has brought in a lot of well-aged Sauvignon Blancs. But this is a 2019 white Pinot Noir from Aniello in the Patagonia region of Argentina. This wine is four and a half years old. It was made to be consumed earlier and is still good. To make white Pinot Noir, you get the juice before the red skins can give the juice color. It’s also reasonably priced at $15.

Lynmar Estate is a family owned winery located in Sebastopol in the Russian River AVA where the Goldridge soil is. Dan mentions that it is a very cool region and you have to plant the right variety for the right location. The family began with one parcel in 1980 and now has about 100 acres where they grow the grapes, make wine and live in Russian River AVA. The Lynmar website’s Vineyards page (please scroll all the way down) describes their “…full-time crew of benefitted employees that work year-round to cultivate each block’s individual growing cycle. This level of expertise has a direct impact on the quality of Lynmar wine, and our ability to produce a portfolio of unique and nuanced wines.”

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Pete Soergel grew up in Pittsburgh, PA on an apple farm and wanted to try making wine after getting a degree in Horticulture at Virginia Tech. He did his first internship in 2006 at Landmark vineyard. After that, he got a job at Kosta-Browne in Sebastopol in around 2007, which led him to Lynmar in 2012.

Burgundian Character in Russian River Valley

Dan describes how the southern part of Russian River Valley seemed very cool for grapes, and it took some risk to plant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which have done very well there. Other varieties like Syrah and Riesling may also do well there. As the climate gets warmer, you might have to adapt and plant other varietals that like a warmer climate.

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More wineries are putting vineyard names on bottles of Pinot Noir, says Dan. The AVA and the vineyard are both important.

Lynmar wines are primarily available through the wine club. They make about 12,000 cases per year and 90% goes to the wine club. They are also in a few local restaurants and have been in Bottle Barn occasionally. Their tasting room is open from Thursday to Monday, by appointment only for hosted tastings at 11am and 2 pm.