Interview with Craig Senders MD

How do Senders Wines differ from other wines?
“Our philosophy for making wine is simple; let outstanding fruit mature under California sun and produce wines that tastes great at release and age with grace. We want our wines to balance fruit with acid and tannin. We do not want to produce wines that have so much fruit and alcohol that they are heavy, compete with food and do not age well.”

When did you start making wine?
“I think I began making wine before I physically made wine, in that I was always analyzing what I liked in a wine and what the winemaker did to make it that way. In 1997 I began to help long time friend, Henry Spoto, who had been making wine for 30 years. He has won many awards and was feature in the June 30, 2003 Wine Spectator article on Home Winemakers. Through and with him I began making wine myself in 2000. With each successful vintage and some structured education I became more confident. Finally in 2005 we made our first commercial vintage.”

What varietals did you make?
“We began in 2005 with our first commercial vintage where we made Pinot
Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Whether it is luck or skill, we are extremely pleased with our first release, Pinot Noir, Carneros 2005. It has been well received and was sold at David Berkeley in Sacramento, Capitol Cellars in Roseville and the Bounty Hunter in Napa. The Pinot sold out relatively quickly at the winery. Some merchants may still have a bottle. It is definitely worth the effort to find a bottle.”

Why Pinot and Cabernet? They are such different wines.
“Making Cabernet is like making a wine dressed in a large baggy sweatshirt; making Pinot Noir is like making wine dressed in a negligee. With Cabernet the fruit and structure cover subtle flavors, whereas, with Pinot every nuance shows through. I love making Cabernet as it is the classic red wine, but making Pinot Noir is truly exciting.”

Tell us more about your philosophy as a winemaker.
“Perhaps, it is my academic background, as I am naturally experimental. I have had the pleasure to visit and be influenced by Burgundy where I have visited a number of winemakers. I have had the pleasure of learning from jean-Eves Bizot in Vosne-Romanee on two occasions. He is a naturalist. He crushes his grapes with his feet, relies on natural yeast and ML bacteria and uses no SO2 until bottling. He uses gravity flow, does not rack and bottles each barrel individually by drilling a spigot hole in the front of the barrel and fills each bottle by hand. I do not do any of those things………. I am, however, doing a trial of whole cluster fermentation, which he also does. Whole cluster fermentation adds delicate volatile fruit aromas and so ” brown tea flavors.”ft

How is the 2008 harvest?
“2008 was a challenging year. There was a late freeze after bud break which severely damaged some vineyards. The freeze hurt two of our Pinot Noir vineyard sites. The De la Montanya vineyard in Sonoma Coast was severely damaged. We chose to delay a Senders Wines offering from this magnificent vineyard until 2009. Fortunately, the Las Bresas vineyard in Carneros was less severely damaged. Our yield was reduced by a third, but this may make more intense wine.

Our Cabernet sites did not suffer from frost damage, but the yields were 25% below normal. As each vine had fewer grapes to ripen we would expect more intense flavors. Fortunately, we had a cool late summer and harvest. This allowed for full ripening of the fruit without dehydration. This may be an exceptional year.