RAVENSWOOD

As Francis Ford Coppola might tell you, there should only ever be one Godfather, and when it comes to the Zinfandel grape and California, that's Joel Peterson. Established in 1976, Joel's Ravenswood winery was one of the very first to take on the production of big, bold Zinfandel wines from Sonoma County and introduce them to the world. Robust and red are the two terms that define Ravenswood; the pre-prohibition vines are old, low cropping and dry farmed. Ravenswood strive to celebrate these venerable vineyards with their soulful wines, one of the few wineries that has benefited from the philosophical and winemaking skills of one person for more than 40 years, contributing to a consistency of quality and style rarely found in California.

Joel Peterson

Joel Peterson took his first big steps toward personal independence in 1976. Educated as a clinical laboratory scientist with a degree in microbiology, the Oregon State University grad was working full-time in cancer immunology research at a San Francisco hospital and dabbling with wine on the side. The two single-vineyard Zins the longhaired winemaker made from the 1976 vintage would be the first he unveiled to the world.

The son of two chemists, Joel grew up on Point Richmond on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Mom was a nuclear chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project; she used her scientific training to become an excellent cook who tested recipes and helped edit Alice Waters’ first cookbook. Dad was a physical chemist specializing in high-temperature lubricants used in industrial machinery.

Walter Peterson also was a wine lover and serious student of the grape who organized twice-weekly gatherings of the San Francisco Wine Sampling Club (today’s San Francisco Vintners Club) at the family home. Joel’s oeno-education began at the age of ten when he sat in on his first tasting session, with stern instructions to “Shut up and spit.” (Afterward, his father carefully measured the wine in the boy's glass and in his spittoon to make sure everything was expectorated.)