Central Coast rebels with a winemaking cause “We’ve been growing

Central Coast rebels with a winemaking cause

“We’ve been growing it the same way we grow Chardonnay, fermenting it the same way.”

ALBARIA’O and GrA1 4ner Veltliner from the Central Coast? Edna Valley vintner John Niven believes that these white wines — most commonly associated with Spain and Austria, respectively — are the new frontier for California wine. And like a true frontiersman, he’s out way ahead of the pack.

Niven, 35, with his cousin Michael Blaney, 42, members of the third winemaking generation of the Niven clan, owners of Baileyana Winery and Paragon Vineyard, has planted the largest AlbariA o vineyard outside of Spain’s Galicia region: 50 acres of prime Edna Valley AVA real estate, half of all of the acreage planted to this grape in California. His 10-acre GrA1 4ner Veltliner plot is one of only two in California; the other is a single acre on Napa Valley’s Diamond Mountain planted by Rudy von Strasser of Von Strasser Winery. Read more