Some of the wineries, winemakers, and topics we have covered over the years for Wine Tributaries often find their way as links on other wine sites. We decided to include some as a way to pay tribute to the wines and people who who have shaped the wine industry.

Sausal Winery: Celebrating a 25 Year Family Affair
by Tim Hayes & John Koetzner

If Hollywood ever decides to make a mini-series or another
television show depicting the wine country, the Demonstene family from
Alexander Valley would be a terrific one to tailor the story after,
considering their history. This weekend they will mark the twenty-fifth
anniversary of their Sausal Winery from noon until 4 p.m., but visitors
can partake in a taste of that history which stretches back to beginning
of this century when their grandfather Manuele Demostene began working on an Alexander Valley ranch in 1901.

Meanwhile, Abele Ferrari immigrated to America and landed a job at
Italian Swiss Colony in 1904. By 1906, he would purchase the Healdsburg Machine Shop and start manufacturing winemaking equipment, most notably the Healdsburg Crusher, for which he held eleven patents. That equipment is still the backbone of the winemaking process today, and the Demostenes are proud of their grandfather's role in helping shape the industry. Later during Prohibition, land values decreased and Abele bought Soda Rock Ranch & Winery in 1923.

Leo Demostene, Manuele's son, married Abele's daughter Rose in 1936,
and they began living at Soda Rock Winery, with Leo taking on winemaking chores. By 1956, Rose and Leo purchased Sausal Ranch and moved there with their four children, Cindy, Peachie, Ed, and Dave, involving them in the ranch operations.

Today, the four siblings run Sausal Winery, established in 1973, the
year of their father's death, fulfilling a dream he had for building a
family winery. "I learned winemaking from my father," Dave Demostene said, "but I also have taken some classes at UC Davis to keep up with the latest techniques." The wines definitely reflect the best of old world winemaking mixed with new age technology.

But the linchpin to the whole operation is the grapes, with Zinfandel
being the focus. Their vineyards have Zinfandel vines that are 120 years
old as well as younger plantings. But the majority of their Zinfandel
wines would be classified as coming from old vine Zinfandel. Brother Ed
Demostene is the vineyard manager, tending to their century vines, as well
as newer plantings such as Sangiovese. "We have tried some different
trellising methods over the years as the industry has matured. I've found
that we keep learning about vines, and sometimes some methods work better than others. That old Zin is great," Ed said, "and we've done some budding with it."

Rounding out the family operation are sisters Peachie and
Cindy. Peachie runs the tasting room and Cindy is the business manager.
"Each of us has specialized in making one part of the winery operation
work well," Cindy said. The result of such a division of labor has been to
create an efficient, premiere boutique winery that produces about 14,000
cases of premium wine a year.

While visiting their tasting room recently, we had the opportunity
to taste a number of the Sausal wines. It was a real treat, because
Zinfandel is one of our favorite varietals, and Sausal makes plenty of
styles to choose from for any Zin aficionado. Our favorite was the 1995 Century Vines Zinfandel ($18.00). It has a pepper, spice, and cherry nose with complex layers of rich cherry and berry fruit that leads into a long lingering finish with soft tannins. They only produced 450 cases, so this is one that will disappear soon. Next, we enjoyed the 1995 Private Reserve Zinfandel (16.00) with its deep ruby color, cigar box and cherry aromas, intense berry fruit that glides across the palate into a soft, lingering finish. Both are excellent examples of Zinfandel and would be a welcome addition to any wine cellar.

Even the Sausal general release Zinfandels are terrific wines. We
tasted both the 1995 and the 1996. The 1995 ($10.00) has a berry and
pepper nose with raspberry and blackberry fruit, soft tannins and an
excellent finish. Although it is younger, the 1996 ($10.00) is just as
nice. It has earthy and berry aromas, black cherry and berry flavors with
medium tannins. Both should age nicely over the next several years.
We also need to note a special release for Sausal Winery's 25th
anniversary. They have bottled 200 cases of a wine called Sogni d'Oro
($35.00), a blend of Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and
Malbec. It is a big, dark ruby-colored wine with a spicy, peppery nose,
intense layers of jammy berry fruit over soft oak undertones, with soft
tannins that lead into a lingering finish. Since it is in limited supply,
this one will be available for only a short time.

So don't miss visiting Sausal Winery to get a taste of Alexander Valley's history. We found a visit to Sausal was a celebration of vine to wine.