Saracina Winery
Geeking Out with Winemaker Alex MacGregor
story and photos by Ree Slocum
Alex MacGregor embarked upon a lifetime of wine exploration after graduating with a business degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Twenty of those years have been spent at Saracina Vineyards near Hopland, creating wines with owners John Fetzer and Patty Rock. They dry farm the vineyard, focusing on interesting varieties and old vine varietals.
From the get-go, MacGregor’s passion for the craft and Fetzer’s extensive connections among regional wineries granted him access to other vineyards in the area. “I got to taste everybody’s vineyard,” MacGregor said. He sampled their wines, bought and harvested their grapes, and crafted his own distinctive wines for the Saracina label as well as his own, Trinafour Cellars.
Three years ago, Saracina was purchased by Marc Taub, a third generation importer who was named Wine Star Person of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Alex has gained a reputation for producing some of the finest limited production wines in the county and beyond, to such a degree that Taub sees MacGregor as “… the treasure that came with the property.” And it’s a truly stunning property, with rolling hills dotted with oaks, glittering ponds, and, of course, those dry-farmed vineyards.
MacGregor and I sat in Saracina’s bright and airy tasting room tucked at the foot of an oak-topped vineyard hillside. We sampled wines while he talked about each, as well as the wider world of winemaking.
We sat down at a table in front of four wine glasses; a notepad, tasting menu, and pen; a plate with crackers and soft cheese; and, of course, a collection of wines from Saracina’s latest release. “We’re going to have a little snack and taste current releases. The snack is a breakfast Brie with honey comb. It’s delicious with this newly bottled first release 2019 Anderson Valley Chardonnay from Valley Foothills. This got 17 months on oak and it’s made with native yeast and native malolactic.” Thus was my curiosity piqued.
MacGregor then dives deep into the technical details, clearly his happy place. “Primary fermentation is yeast converting sugar into ethanol, with CO2 as a byproduct. Almost all red wines go through a secondary fermentation, where malic acid is bacterially metabolized to form lactic acid. It’s softer, increases the pH, and also gives the wine microbial stability,” he explained.
He then went into detail about the native malolactic acid: “Ninety to 99% of the world’s red wines go through [a secondary] malolactic fermentation, but not all white wines go through malolactic. None of the low pH or aromatic, snappy white wines go through it, but chardonnay is a real candidate for it.” One of the by-products of the fermentation is diacetyl, which gives it “that buttery aroma—like movie popcorn,” he laughed.
“Bottom line is, this Chardonnay went through malolactic fermentation with native malo. We don’t inoculate the wines in the winery for malolactic. It’s in barrels, in our hoses. It’s in our skin. It’s on the floors. It’s in the drains. It’s a house-strain, for sure. It’s a very low diacetyl producer, so you’ll notice the wine is not super buttery.”
And the taste of the Anderson Valley Chardonnay paired beautifully with the rich breakfast Brie with honey. The smooth and unassuming bouquet of flavors were yummy from start to finish which, I think, belied the youth of the 2019 Chardonnay. This was later confirmed when Alex said, “We’re crafting these wines so they’re drinkable right away.”
To further convey the intricacies of winemaking and wine tasting, MacGregor explained, “The idea is to have two wines that are completely different in style.” So we compared the 2019 Valley Foothills Chardonnay and the 2020 Unoaked Chardonnay from Saracina’s original Sun Dial Ranch vineyard, planted in 1981. “They’re the same grape variety and they’re 20 miles apart from each other. The 2020 is pretty straight forward. Super cold fermentation. That’s what captures all of those esters you like [the fruity aromas]. It takes a month to go dry.” He continued, “It’s crisp like a Granny Smith apple and naked with no malolactic influence. It’s done with cultured yeast, no oak, no malo. It’s full of those peach and pear and stone fruit esters and they’re very fleeting. They will dissipate in time, so drink it early for the fruitness. But if you’re looking for more nuance, secondary and tertiary compounds—the leathers, the darker red fruits, and earth and dust—then you wait. The 2018 version of Unoaked Chard is delicious right now.”
MacGregor then moved to the red blend, Winter’s Edge. The grape varieties are from Casa Verde vineyard in Redwood Valley, owned by viticulturist Peter Chevalier. According to MacGregor, Chevalier “is the top viticulturist in Northern California,” a pro farmer who likes to find and resuscitate old vineyards like Casa Verde. “These are now 76-year-old vines. Winter’s Edge is a field blend. It’s head pruned, dry farmed, CCOF Certified and is a mix of carignan, grenache, might be a little bit of old vine cabernet, and French Colombard. The wine has high acid. It’s not super tannic. It has the acidity and pH of a white wine. It’s tart: pomegranate and cranberryish and bone dry.”
The Winter’s Edge Blend is an excellent accompaniment to earthy and savory winter meals. Says MacGregor, “This wine pairs well with chicken and anything with mushrooms—a mushroom tart, a ragout, or just mushrooms sautéed on toast with parsley and butter would be good with it.”
Our conversation ranged wide, illuminating fascinating facts about the process of winemaking. MacGregor described how “stirring the lees” with a stainless-steel paddle agitates the sediment in the tank or barrel, releasing a protein that binds tannins to improve the wine’s “mouth feel.” He explained that adding chicken egg whites—their own—to wines coalesces with the sediments in the wine, clarifying and stabilizing it while making the sediments easier to remove. And he went on to break down how adding some stems to pinot noir helps shift the pH, giving a “fatter mouth feel,” adding more longevity along with a bit of tannin. That tannin “adds to the structure of the wine,” and “you get a little bit more mid-palate.” To see if grape stems are ripe enough to add, you can chew on one right in the field to taste if the tannins are ready.
When we step back to consider the big picture, MacGregor reflects that this past year has been a rough one for farmers. “My yields have been tragic this year because of the drought. It was hot, no water, and a tiny, tiny crop. This vineyard [Charlie Sawyer’s vineyard off of Redemeyer Road outside of Ukiah] typically yields six tons. We got 1.9 tons of it this year,” MacGregor said. I asked, “How much are you going to bottle?” His response: “Not enough!”
He added, “We’re going to have enough [zinfandel] for the tasting room. I have enough chard to go into the broad market and maybe sauv blanc with half the markets we’re usually in. Rosé, half, too. So not great. We just won’t have as much. But we’ll sell more direct, so our profitability will increase.” MacGregor seems to have adopted the view held by Saracina’s previous owner, John Fetzer. He reminisces how “John had a very farming attitude about it. ‘That’s farming. You take your lumps farming,’ he’d say.”
Despite these challenges, it helps that Saracina is in the unique position of having enough water, thanks to a high-water table, dry farming methods, and a savvy winemaker. They’re planting new vines and will continue dry farming. As a Certified California Sustainable Vineyard and Winery, they embrace a number of climate- and environmentally-friendly measures, safeguarding the property’s 140-year-old olive trees, tending its vegetable gardens and bee hives, and keeping a protective eye on the variety of bird and wild animal life that cohabitate there. The wine cave, dug out of solid rock, naturally cools bottles that would otherwise need a more energy-guzzling storage solution. All told, Saracina is situated within a breathtaking landscape with a talented team producing delicious handcrafted, limited production wines. For wine lovers, particularly those partial to Mendocino County, consider it essential for your tasting travel plans.
Saracina Winery
11684 South Highway 101, Hopland
(707) 670-0199 | Saracina.com
Ree Slocum is a fine art freelance photographer and writer who calls the edge of the wilds in Mendocino County “home.” She takes pleasure living with bird song, the breathing fog, and wildlife’s cast of characters when not on assignments. See her work at ReeSlocumPhotography.com.
