3 Russian River Valley Women in Wine for Sonoma Wine Month Producing Pinot Noir: Balverne, Ketcham, Selby paired with Pate and Duck

Not only is April Earth Month and California Sustainable Wine month, and on the heels of Women’s History Month, but April is also Sonoma County Wine Month. Sonoma County vineyards include more than 60 varietals of wines and there’s over 400 wineries! There’s lots of great events in Sonoma this month including a “Passport Weekend” to Dry Creek Valley April 26 and 27 , and the Garagiste Festival in the town of Sonoma. While I thought I’d get up there this weekend and revisit Extradimensional  Wine Company to pick up wine I’d ordered, it looks instead like I’ll stay closer to home this weekend, work in my garden after the rain, and attend the Natural Coast Wine Festival  in Santa Barbara on Saturday.

To celebrate Sonoma County Wine Month here at home, we have from the Russian River Valley, three from Women in Wine producing Pinot Noir: owner/grower Renee Stein at Balverne, owner/grower Allie Ketcham at Ketcham, and winemaker Susie Selby at Selby Winery all paired with French Pate and Duck Breast. 

3 Russian River Valley Women in Wine for Sonoma Wine Month Producing Pinot Noir: Balverne, Ketchum, Selby paired with Pate and Duck

Wines

• 2019 Balverne Estate Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma
• 2019 Ketcham Estate “Allie’s Reserve” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma
• 2017 Selby Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

Menu

• Cheese Board: La Tur, Baked St Angel with blueberries, Rosemary Marcona almonds
• French Pate: Pate de Campagne with Cognac, Truffle mousse with chicken porcini and sherry wine
• Duck Breast with Blueberry Sauce
• Green Salad with blueberries 

2019 Balverne Estate Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

2019 Balverne Estate Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

ABV: 14.2%
SRP:  
Grapes: Pinot Noir
sample for my review  

In 2019, I visited Balverne and Notre Vue where we met with winemaker Alex Holman and got super geeky about soils; read about it here. Then in April 2023 the LA Wine Writers had a wine pairing lunch at A.O.C Brentwood (excellent service and food).

Grapes have been grown on the property since 1869. In 1992, Bob Stein and Renee Brown Stein entered the picture, and in 2015, re-launched Balverne as Notre Vue, a certified Sonoma Sustainable vineyard and winery since 2014, and farmed organically with certification on the horizon. Owner Renee Brown-Stein took over when her husband died. 

Notre Vue Estate Winery & Vineyards is high up in the hills straddling Chalk Hill and the Russian River Valley AVAs. They have over 700 acres with about one third in vines and one third preserved for wildlife. Much of the fruit they sell to top vintners regionally but their winemaker saves his favorites for their estate wines which he makes with native yeasts.  

At the lunch, I was quite taken by how well the Balverne Winery Sauvignon blanc paired and I loved the GSM and the red blend from Notre Vue which means “our view”. And it is quite a view! We wished we had more time there to explore and enjoy the views— but I guess it won’t be this weekend…

Appearance:  Raspberry, rhubarb, nicely translucent, mauve rim

Aroma: Raspberry, earthen, redwoods, redwood duff

Palate: Tart raspberry, mint on the finish, violets, fresh, clean, light, cherry, acidic, lots of tart fruit, cherry cola, strawberry, good fruit with nice acidity

Pairing: So nice with the blueberry brie bake the wine loves the rich creamy brie with the lovely baked blue fruit was out of this world, fabulous with the marccona almonds loving the rosemary, while nice with the country pate it was absolutely fabulous with the truffle mousse pate, delicious with the duck the sauce is perfect not too sweet and with the herbs it is perfection, the key to this dish and how it pairs with this wine is all about the herbs. While we served the duck and the salad separately on the plate this duck and the salad could have been combined into one dish. Everything works so nicely together.

2019 Ketchum Estate “Allie’s Reserve” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

2019 Ketcham Estate “Allie’s Reserve” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

ABV: 14.7%
SRP: 
Grapes: Pinot Noir
sample for my review

When it comes to wine, there’s usually a love story somewhere in there… for Allie Fuleky Ketcham, it was meeting Mark Ketcham, who introduced her to his Ketcham Estate Russian River Pinot Noir, the best she’d ever had. She fell in love with the wine, and the man, and the world of wine. They married and had two children, and then when he passed away in April 2020, she took hold of the reins with help from her crew of women, including her winemaker Tami Collins and director of happiness Renee Graves.

Allie Ketcham and Gwendolyn Alley at lunch in Montecito

I met Allie for lunch at Montecito’s Tre Luna and I felt like I’d known her for years— we have so much in common! I hiked the PCT, she did the AT, I walked the Wales coastal path, she did the Camino de Santiago, and we’ve both been to Burning Man! Plus we’re both passionate foodies and winos! I look forward to knowing her and her wines and their new sub-AVA better! Such fun to find a new friend! 

Enjoy the 2019 now!

Appearance:  Garnet, corral rim, nice translucence.

Aroma: Dr. Pepper, eucalyptus, riverside, very heady which dissipates with time in the glass, mushroom.

Palate: Dr. Pepper, cherry cola, eucalyptus, chalky texture, structurally sound, leathery texture, presence of oak, if you have a bottle of this wine in your cellar now is the time to drink it.

Pairing: Very nice with food, loves the blueberry brie bake, absolutely Devine with the Champagne country pate, also nice with the truffle mousse but so much better with the country pate, also fantastic with the camembert, this wine is so great with the rich duck fat skin, great with the herbs in the sauce, salt and the rich duck fat went so nicely with the wine.

2017 Selby Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

2017 Selby Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma

ABV: 14.7%
SRP: 
Grapes: Pinot Noir
sample for my review

This wine is still going strong! I met Susie Selby back during a stay in Healdsburg fall 2020 when she gave me a sample of her Malbec which we wrote here. We also wrote about Selby’s  Merlot here and her Cabernet Franc here.

Why Susie Selby loves Sonoma: “What I like best is the diversity and the quality of the fruit,” Susie said during my October visit to Healdsburg. From that diverse fruit, she makes fifteen different wines most years. There’s a diversity of fruit because of the diversity of soils and micro-climates, she explained.

Sonoma Wine Country also has the sweet spot of Healdsburg going for it; this where the Selby tasting room and winery is located. Why Healdsburg? “I love it. I fell in love with this town. It’s the best town in Wine Country.” Susie says she appreciates that it’s easy to walk around and that it’s very European like: “In Europe, people have always done things outside. Restaurants are open outside even in the winter months.”

Appearance:  Nicely translucent, raspberry, garnet, mauve rim

Aroma: Raspberry, strawberry, cherry, mushroom, iron, minerals,

Palate: Fresh bright fruit, cranberry, mulberry, cherry, black current tea, acidic and bright, so surprising how fresh this wine is considering the age, blood orange,

Pairing: Fantastic with the blueberry brie bake responding nicely to the lavender in the dish, very nice with the Champagne mouse, but loves the Truffle mousse pate, great with the herbs on the almonds, this wine loves the freshness of the blueberries int the blueberry duck sauce, the herbs in the sauce make the wine shine, the fruit highlights the rich fruit in the wine, the fresh blueberries in the salad are great with the wine as well as the cooked blueberries in the blueberry sauce for the duck, each highlight the wine in their own special way.

Happy Sonoma County Wine Month! 

Susie Selby in front of her Healdsburg tasting room