2006-06-30
by Millie Howie
Travel is something Steve Reeder knows a lot about. As a young member of an Air Force family, he had traveled extensively before he was even out of his teens, and now, as vice president/winemaker at Simi Winery, he is still earning frequent flyer miles and this summer will be sailing on the high seas, presenting seminars, tastings and a glamourous Winemaker Dinner on a cruise that starts in Venice, visits ports in Greece, Italy and France, and concludes its journey with a stop at Barcelona.
“I never wear jewelry,” says Steve, touching a multicolored bracelet on his right wrist, “but this is an exception because it marks my support of the rebirth of New Orleans and serves as a reminder of the presentation Chef Eric Lee and I made at the Mardi Gras festival. We are also scheduled to travel to Colorado for the Aspen Food and Wine event and back at home we’ll be helping the winery staff and public celebrate Simi’s 130th anniversary this fall.”
Steve’s trips are carefully scheduled so that he will be out in the vineyards and in the cellars at all the crucial moments. This year, because of the unusually wet spring Steve notes that things in the vineyards are running about two weeks behind, but with a few warm weeks they should catch up pretty fast.
Thanks to the addition of several new pieces of equipment, three new blending tanks and a new press, Steve feels the quality of the Simi wines is constantly improving and the winemaking team has the tools to move in new stylistic directions and make better use of some of the fruit from its own vineyards.
“We try to make a few wines every year, to be offered exclusively in the tasting room, and this year we have spent considerable time on wines with an emphasis on grapes from specific appellations. We have recently released a Rosé of Syrah. For us, this style of wine is a great use for our Syrah which is grown in a warm area and matures earlier than other varieties. Our assistant winemaker, Brian Wavernek gets all the credit for this beautiful dry Syrah, and our associate winemaker, Susan Lueker, who loves Zinfandel, showed her talent with the 2004 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel which we released on Valentine’s Day.”
Visiting hours in the Simi Winery tasting room, at 16275 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, are daily from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. There’s additional information about what is going on in the vineyards, cellars and on the PR trail at Simi’s website: www.simiwinery.com. Wines may be purchased on-line and there is even an application for the Simi Wine Club so you can become an instant member.
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