The story of the wine industry in 2007 continues to be one of old-timers and newcomers, new ideas and new wines and a couple of legislative efforts — one finished and one that will continue into 2008.

Legislation, sponsored by state Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, changed the rules of the Alcohol Beverage Control to allow holders of certain wine licenses the ability to donate and pour wines for nonprofit organizations.

The story began when three Napa Valley vintners, Bill Wolfe of Eagle Eye Wine, Claudia Sansone of StoneFly Vineyards and Ken Nerlove of Elkhorn Peak Cellars, donated and poured their wines at a May 2006 benefit in Tiburon. ABC agents attended the event and photographed all the holders of 17 (wholesaler) and 20 (retailer via the Internet and direct to consumers) wine licenses pouring their wines. The ABC cited and fined those who violated the terms of their licenses, including Wolfe, Sansone and Nerlove. Instead of paying the fines, the three decided to fight.

They appealed the fines, lost that appeal and their licenses were suspended for 10 days. They also enlisted Evans’ help, who introduced AB 323 and shepherded it through the Assembly. After its passage in the state senate, the governor signed it in July.

Evans honored the three vintners in December, at the formal opening of the Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.

The second legislative effort, to create an American Viticultural Area for Calistoga, began more than four years ago by Calistogan Bo Barrett, who is winemaker for Chateau Montelena. The effort gained steam in July when the Calistoga City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the creation of a Calistoga AVA. At that time, Barrett said the resolution would send a message to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in Washington, D.C., the agency in charge of creating AVAs.

It makes sense for Calistoga to have its own AVA, so that it matches the rest of the Napa Valley, which is split into 14 AVAs, ranging from Howell Mountain in the north to Los Carneros in the south. But, two Calistoga wineries, Calistoga Cellars and Calistoga Estates, have objected to the formation of the AVA, because they would have to source at least 85 percent of their wines from the Calistoga area or change their names.

In August, the TTB suspended action on all applications for AVAs nationwide, apparently in response to the Calistoga controversy.

The issue will continue into 2008, because last month, the TTB proposed several changes to its regulations. One of the suggested changes is one that would allow “grandfathering” any brand names that were submitted for certificates of label approval five years prior to the date when a petition for a new AVA was submitted. Under the proposed rules, Calistoga Cellars would be “grandfathered” in, and Calistoga Estates would not.

Written comments on the changes are due by March 20 and may be sent to www.regulations.gov.

‘Going green’

Ideas that struck our fancy this past year — whether they be new or old — included “Fortune Corkies” — fortunes printed on corks — by Duane and Susan Hoff, proprietors of Fantesca Estate & Winery on Spring Mountain Road, St. Helena.

Many winegrape growers made efforts to “go green” by farming organically, cutting out fertilizers and pesticides and restoring creek habitat. A related trend is wineries installing solar panels to get their electricity from the sun.

Vintners Hall of Fame, established in the historic barrel room at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, honors founders, legends and key players of the Napa Valley winegrowing community and a bronze likeness of Robert Mondavi was unveiled in December marking the formal opening of the Vintners Hall of Fame.

Another new idea that is liable to pay big benefits is the efforts of Ron Rosenbrand and UC Berkeley researchers to control vine mealybugs by releasing more than a million beneficial bugs, including ladybugs, green lacewings, mealybug destroyers and others. Rosenbrand, who is vineyard manager for Spring Mountain Vineyard, said vine mealybugs had infected parts of a 10-acre vineyard on the huge property.

Memorable stories

Tthe wine industry also saw a number of people making wine, opening new facilities or renovating old ones. Memorable stories included the following:

• Jess and Chris Madrigal opening their new winery building on Highway 29 and Larkmead Lane. After a four-year effort, which included getting county approval for the winery, the father-and-son team opened their family winery this past spring. The family has produced a dozen vintages of their own wine.

• In February Carl Doumani, a long-time Napa Valley grapegrower and vintner, opened his whimsical Quixote Winery, the only building designed by Vienna designer Friedensreich Hundertwasser in the U.S. The building features irregular shapes, brightly-colored mosaics and columns, gently undulating floors and walkways, curving rooflines and golden turrets. The roof, covered with soil, is designed to grow grass, bushes and trees.

• Daryl Sattui created a stir when he opened his 120,000-square-foot Tuscan-style, medieval castle to the public in April. It took more than 13 years for artisans to build the castle, which is called the Castello di Amorosa, located about three miles south of Calistoga on Highway 29. Although the castle is fantastic, during a tour, Sattui wanted to talk about the land, its vineyards and the 15 wines being made under the Castello di Amorosa label. Many of the wines are made from Napa Valley grapes, while others are from Anderson Valley and Mendocino County.

• Kathryn and Craig Hall of Hall Wines unveiled a model of their new hospitality center designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, along with the rest of their updated winery designed by the Lail Group. The unusual design of Gehry’s building caused comment throughout the wine world.

• Two stories detailed the efforts of two families to make wine.

In July, the story of the three Rios brothers and their second cousin, who make up the Rios Wine Company, was told. The first vintage of their wine, named after their grandfather’s horse, was released early in 2007. The Rios Wine Company includes three brothers, Rafael III, Manuel, Albert and their second cousin, Jesus Hernandez.

The second story includes four generations of determined St. Helena women, who grow grapes on eight-tenths of an acre surrounding two family homes. The four generations are: 100-year-old Lillian Harrison; her daughter, Carolyn Lawrence; Harrison’s granddaughter, Donna Lee Lawrence and 19-year-old Erika Lawrence, Harrison’s great-granddaughter. Their 2005 Leo Joseph Cabernet Sauvignon, and their wine company, is named after Harrison’s late husband.

• The story of the renovation of the historic buildings on the Charles Krug property, just north of St. Helena, was told in May. The winery is now run by Peter Mondavi Jr., who is the third generation of the Mondavi family to run the historic property. The family is two-thirds of the way through a $21.6 million effort to replant its vineyards and is in the middle of a $4 million project to seismically retrofit two historic stone buildings on the property. Construction is expected to be finished in mid-2008.

• On the other side of the Mondavi family, Dina and her father Michael, opened what has to be the smallest winery in existence: 80 square feet in Napa’s Oxbow Public Market. Joining Dina as founder of Folio Enoteca & Winery is Ed Maass, who is partner and director of customer relations.

• Finally, the efforts of St. Helena High School students gave hope for the future of the Napa Valley. They harvested zinfandel grapes from a vineyard owned by the Salvestrin family, crushed and fermented them at Rombauer Vineyards under the direction of Rob Lloyd, associate winemaker, and then put the wine in a barrel. The finished wine will be sold at a future auction to raise money for the school’s FFA program.

St. Helena High School student Jaime Medina spent nearly a year learning to detect 2,4, 6 trichloroanisole (TCA) in wine and corks, with the help of Eric Herve at St. Helena’s ETS Laboratories and Judy Miles at Beringer Estates. His FFA project, which won first in the state FFA competition, was featured at the national FFA competition in Indianapolis. Medina said his project gave him the “motivation to be a winemaker” and stay in the Napa Valley.