Joe Breen talks to Joel Peterson, founder of leading Californian winery, Ravenswood, famous for making wines that aren’t "wimpy"
"Let’s just say I was very entrepreneurial." Joel Peterson, the very picture of a Californian winemaker, is reflecting on the business which he started almost 30 years ago and which has grown to become one of the leading labels in California, especially renowned for its championing of the state’s great grape, Zinfandel.
"I started a wine company with no money, no reputation but with a great deal of passion and desire. And I lived in a wine world that had a lot big hitters around me. So to be the little tiny guy trying to elbow your way in does mean that you can’t be shy."
Peterson, the son of two wine-loving chemists, grew up in San Francisco, protested against the Vietnam war and generally behaved "in counter-cultural ways" before becoming a scientist and working in immunology research. But the wine bug bit him and although he had no formal training, he apprenticed himself to Joseph Swan, an artist and pilot turned winemaker. In 1976, he made 300 cases of Zinfandel under Swan’s supervision. And he has not looked back.
He still has that passion and desire to spread the news about his wines. "There’s no doubt about it. A selling proposition these days has to be making an identity for your wines, giving people a reason to try your wines, and there probably is no better motivating factor than people meeting other people.
"I’m learning more about the people who are drinking my wines. And that’s really valuable. And I get to meet some of the greatest people in the world. It is remarkable. It seems only nice, educated, interesting people drink wine. In terms of the winery, of how I express myself with my wines, the answer is no, I don’t really change my approach. I have an idea of what I am trying to produce, so that is essentially the Ravenswood house style, and if I diverge from that style then no-one is going to know what they’ll get when they buy a bottle of Ravenswood.
"Ravenswood stands for wine that comes from a definitive place, and is made to a very high level. Simple as that." Peterson makes what he calls "non-wimpy" wines. "A non-wimpy wine is a wine that is expressive, that is not mucked up with too much sugar, too much oak and is not processed."
Peterson has seen many changes in his 30 years in the business. "When I got into it, it was relatively provincial. I’m not saying there weren’t the Gallos of this world, because there were, but there were a lot of small companies and they were all very supportive of one another. In some ways that’s still true, but with the advent of wine companies like Kendall Jackson, wine has become big business. That shift has continued. Instead of wine companies being looked upon as wineries, they are looked upon as brands. And sometimes there isn’t even a winery there. There are just 17 brands coming out of one large tank essentially, with variations on a theme, and they pass them off with marketing sleight-of-hand as something unique and wonderful."
Ravenswood is now part of the giant Constellation stable. The problem was that to grow his company Peterson needed money, but then, a few years later, his investors wanted to cash in their investment and he had no choice. However, he did get to choose who bought Ravenswood. "As it worked out, Constellation, which is probably the largest wine company in the world, turned out to be the best choice. They just said we love what you do, just keep doing it. I still run Ravenswood as I did, and they provide marketing and sales support and they also provide money for development whenever we need it."
As for what is happening in California today, he believes there is a distinct return to "handcraft wines, to smaller formats, to organic formats, and the rise of biodynamics.
"Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted planting the wrong grapes or planting the right grapes in the wrong place. And I think the time is also coming when we are going to see focusing of certain varietals. The obvious example is the Napa Valley, which is going to become the Cabernet centre of California. And that’s because the Cabernets which come out of there are very good. And the area around Monterey is focusing on Pinot Noir because that particular location with its daytime/night-time temperature variations is perfect for developing and preserving the delicacy of Pinot Noir.
"I myself am going in a totally different direction from anybody else," he says. He is "looking at the possibility of doing a Californian claret which would be a Zinfandel, Cabernet, Merlot and Carignan blend, without one of those varietals being dominant." He doesn’t believe that the best wine California can make is always varietals – "the Bordelais realised that a long time ago." He says that perhaps in a given year "my best wine would not be 100 per cent Zinfandel, but Zinfandel with other varietals blended in."
The Ravenswood Wines available in Ireland are: Ravenswood Vintners Blend Chardonnay (€11.99-€12.99). From: Dunnes, O'Briens, Spar, Londis, Next Door; Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel (€11.99-€12.99). From: Tesco, Dunnes, O'Briens, Spar, Londis, Next Door; Ravenswood County Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi County (€12.99-€13.99). From: O'Briens, Londis, Next Door; Ravenswood County Old Vine Zinfandel, Amador County (€14.99-€16.99). From: O'Briens and selected off-licences; Ravenswood County Zinfandel, Mendocino County (€16.00-€18.50). From: Selected off-licences.