Board member Robert Feinberg spoke with Greg Gonnerman, owner of Laramita Cellars.
Transcript
Robert Feinberg: My name is Robert Feinberg and I’m pleased to host today’s episode about one of my favorite subjects: wine. And to this end, let me introduce the First Press Wine Festival. It’s a wine and music festival at the MIM that will be occurring February 20th, 2027 from 1:00 to 4:00, sponsored by Friends of Public Radio Arizona. And our featured guest today is from Laramita Cellars in Willcox, Arizona. And we have the owner, and it’s our privilege to introduce Greg Gonnerman. Greg, introduce yourself.
Greg Gonnerman: Well, I’m Greg Gonnerman, owner of Laramita Cellars. Our vineyard is located just outside of Willcox, Arizona in the southeastern part of the state in Cochise County. I started my vineyard in 2012; 2013 is when I planted my first vines. Started the winery in 2016; the rest is history. We’ve now participated in KJZZ’s First Press for four years and 2027 will be the fifth year.
Robert Feinberg: That’s wonderful. Greg, tell us a little bit about the philosophy behind your wines.
Greg Gonnerman: Well, I do like to showcase the unique terroir and the environment. And terroir is a French word which means “sense of place”. Wine grapes can grow in a wide variety of circumstances and conditions and I think Arizona, the high deserts of Arizona, have a lot to offer and we can make some remarkable wines. And I also like to make wines that people enjoy drinking. So, we are making a wider variety of wines. We’re also doing a second label now called Jumping Cholla. That’s our label for our less expensive, our fun, our everyday wines.
Robert Feinberg: I understand that you make every effort to produce Old World style wines. Tell us about that.
Greg Gonnerman: Well, we do have many influences. I got into this because I love making wine. I got into making wine as a hobby, but I knew initially I would need some assistance in the winery because I couldn’t be down there—I was still working my day job when I got started at this. So I reached out to Rob Hammelman, formerly of Sand-Reckoner Vineyards, and he became my winemaker. What was intended to be a two- to three-year working relationship has turned into a much longer-term business relationship with Rob being my primary winemaker. I make the big decisions on wine, but Rob handles the day-to-day winemaking decisions. And where I’m going with this is Rob certainly has more of an Old World influence. He studied in Australia, he did his apprenticeship in France, he has more of an Old World hands-off approach which can produce some fantastic wines. As a home winemaker, as a hobbyist, I’m a little bit more New World in my style and more willing to embrace modern winemaking techniques. And I think our wines reflect a little bit of his influence and a little bit of mine.
Robert Feinberg: Greg, when we talk about Old World versus New, let’s explain for the listeners what you mean by that.
Greg Gonnerman: Well, the French, more broadly Europeans, have more of a hands-off approach. They are willing to let the wine sit on the lees—the dead yeast cells—and you can get some fantastic flavors and aromas from that. The wines can become somewhat reductive. I don’t want to get too much into the chemistry because I think people would fall asleep, but basically when we’re talking about reduction in winemaking, we’re talking about how the wine ages in the absence of oxygen. New World winemakers tend to embrace a more active, more involved winemaking style where they’re transferring wine off the lees into new vessels and you get less of that reduction. So, I’d say the biggest contribution, the biggest influence Rob’s approach would have to our wines is this more hands-off approach, this more Old World approach. And we can end up with some fantastic gamey, a little bit feral quality to some of our wines, especially our Syrah. The Syrah tends to get a bit more reductive in that way. But I’m sensitive, too, to consumer preferences and we do incorporate a little bit of new oak. New oak is more of a New World thing than an Old World thing. And we’re now exploring how new oak barrels impact some of our wines. We’ve embraced it in the past a little bit, so you see a little bit of both approaches in our winemaking styles.
Robert Feinberg: Is your winemaking organic in the way you do things?
Greg Gonnerman: My vineyard is not certified organic, but we do lean as much in that direction as possible. I grow almost all of my own grapes. Last year we had a light harvest, so I had to buy some grapes from Golden Rule Vineyards and from Sam Pillsbury. But generally, we make wine only from my own grapes. And although my vineyard is not certified organic, we lean as heavily in that direction as is practical in that environment. Also, I’m very sensitive about using any products in the vineyard that would be more broad-spectrum, that would negatively impact the insects in the area. And I really believe that the healthiest vineyard is going to be one that has the lightest touch with chemicals, whether they’re organic or synthetic. So, if you go through my vineyard in the summertime, you’ll see ladybugs, robber flies, praying mantises, and the occasional spider. And there’s a certain balance that can be achieved with a lighter touch with these types of products.
Robert Feinberg: I understand you have a number of grape varietals. Some vineyards focus on, let’s say, Chardonnay or Pinot, but it sounds like you have a pretty wide reach in terms of the grapes that you grow. Tell us about that.
Greg Gonnerman: A surprisingly broad reach, and I don’t want to go through all of them—it’s quite a long list. But we grow Petit Manseng from France, Vermentino which originates in Italy, Malvasia Bianca also from Italy. On the reds, we do very well with Sangiovese. I love Sangiovese; Arizona Sangioveses are wonderful. I think Sangiovese is happier here in Arizona than it is in Italy, and I’m going to get a fight started at some point with an Italian over that, but I do believe that’s true.
Robert Feinberg: That was my next question, because the Italians are known for Sangiovese and it’s quite good. But I think you’re doing some really great things with that grape. And, you know, how would you compare the two when you’re dealing with the terroir, as you mentioned earlier? You brought up the idea of the land and the sense of place. How do you differentiate your grapes from what the Italians are doing?
Greg Gonnerman: Right. So, I can’t really speak to the Italian winemaking practices and styles; I only have the knowledge of what I’ve read about the winemaking approach. But I can tell you that with Italian Sangioveses—we’re talking primarily Chianti, but there are some nice single-varietal Italian Sangioveses—they’re fantastic wines, but they tend to be a little bit more rustic, more earthy, a little bit more serious. I think Sangiovese when produced here in Arizona can be such a fun, light, fruity, refreshing, food-friendly wine that really can be very approachable and very consumer-friendly.
Robert Feinberg: What’s the name of your wine that has the Sangiovese grape?
Greg Gonnerman: Well, when possible, I do stick with the varietal name, so our Sangiovese is labeled as Sangiovese. But we also make Tres Caballeros, which is a blend of Montepulciano, Sangiovese, and a little bit of Sagrantino. Sagrantino is an obscure Italian red which originates in Umbria.
Robert Feinberg: Sounds like a wonderful wine. What would you pair with it for food?
Greg Gonnerman: Well, I think these Italian reds, both the Sangiovese and the Tres Caballeros—obviously any sort of Italian cuisine, any pasta dish, pizza. But more broadly, Sangiovese, being a lighter-bodied red wine, is a very versatile food wine and it would pair well with anything from grilled tuna, duck or any fowl, or pork. It’s just a fantastic food-friendly wine.
Robert Feinberg: You’re making me hungry by the second. Tell us—let’s switch gears a bit to what you’ll be pouring at the First Press Festival.
Greg Gonnerman: Well, I’m still making the decision there, but I will definitely have our Tres Primas, which is our light aromatic white wine. It’s a blend of Malvasia Bianca, Viognier, and Roussanne. And I’ll bring our rosé. Our rosé is primarily made from Cinsault. If you’re not familiar with Cinsault, it’s a red variety from southern France, from Rhône. We’ll have a couple of reds; I’ll bring at least one of our lighter reds, probably Sangiovese, maybe the Tres Caballeros. And I want to finish with a big red. We’ve certainly created a lot of excitement with our Reserve Syrah, and I’m expecting to have the next current vintage labeled and ready to share at that event. And that’s more a bigger, chewier example of Syrah with a little bit of oak influence. Really excited about that.
Robert Feinberg: Sounds lovely. While we’re on the subject of the First Press Festival, tell us about your prior experiences there and how you’ve found both the people and the experience.
Greg Gonnerman: Oh, it’s been fantastic. This upcoming event will be our fifth First Press event, and it has been a fantastic event for us. Of course, it’s great being able to support public radio in the Phoenix area, but this event attracts such a wonderful group of people. The guests are all hyper-focused on food and wine, lovely people, lovely feedback we get on the wines, so it’s always a lot of fun. I tell you, it’s great getting a little bit of a mention on public radio, too. That’s a huge thing.
Robert Feinberg: Well, I share your sentiment in that regard. Last year’s festival was absolutely spectacular. And not only do you experience some fantastic wines from all over Arizona and food, but music as well, because it’s at the MIM. And it’s an absolutely beautiful event, and the weather is always nice that time of year in February in Phoenix. So, let me ask you a personal question about wine: do you have a favorite?
Greg Gonnerman: No, it’s like asking what’s your favorite child. You know, I really enjoy Pinot Noir. Arizona is not the greatest place to grow Pinot Noir; Pinot Noir needs cooler weather to show at its best. And the cooler weather is important because you need a long, slow ripening period to get the tannins fully developed with Pinot Noir. We use a technique called crop forcing, which allows us to delay fruit set and harvest later in the year. We typically harvest our Pinot Noir in late October or early November. This crop forcing is a multi-step pruning technique which convinces the vines to set fruit much later in the year. And I tell you, that’s the wine I really geek out on, not only because I love Pinot Noir, but I love this technique and what it allows us to do. We produce a cool-climate Pinot Noir in a warm climate, basically.
Robert Feinberg: Exactly. And I think that was really well said with regard to Arizona wines generally. Myself, I’ve seen it grow by leaps and bounds, and the winemaking keeps getting better and better, not only from your vineyard, Laramita Cellars, but others. What trends have you noticed in Arizona over the last, say, decade, and what do you project forward into the future for Arizona wines?
Greg Gonnerman: I was first introduced to Arizona wine around 2006 or 2007, and what I understand from people who were following Arizona wine longer than I was, back in the ’90s there were some great wines being made. Kent Callaghan was certainly making some fantastic wines back in the ’90s, but generally the quality was hit-and-miss. What we’ve seen the last 10 to 15 years has been a tremendous dedication to improvement, to quality. And, you know, I was just telling a friend the other day about a recent trip, I won’t mention the area, well, I went to Paso Robles with some friends and we had a lovely time. The wines were consistently good, they’re technically well-made, but in almost every case I was saying, “You know, this is a great Viognier, but I’ve had some better Viognier in Arizona.” I’m not slamming Paso Robles—they make marvelous wines. What I’m saying is that our best wines in Arizona now, I think, are world-class. And that’s the trend I’ve seen over the last 10 to 15 years has been a tremendous devotion to quality, to improvement, and we’re generally making a lot better wines, and I’m really excited about that.
Robert Feinberg: I couldn’t agree more, Greg. I’ve noticed the same trend, and I’m so pleased to be a part of it and see it change and evolve as winemakers become more specialized and more interested in developing the specific terroir that we offer here in Arizona. I want to thank you, Greg, for attending today, and particular thanks to having Laramita Cellars as part of the Arizona fabric of wine. As we continue to evolve, we need winemakers like you who are doing big things. And for all you listeners out there, you can meet Greg in person at the First Press Wine Festival. I would encourage you to remember the date: February 20th, 2027, and it’s from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Details are available at fpraz.org. You can simply Google, if you like, “First Press Wine Festival” and all the details will unfold before you. And we’re very pleased to have hosted Greg today, and we’re very fortunate to have him here in Arizona. Laramita Cellars, ladies and gentlemen. And look forward to seeing Greg and catching up at the First Press Wine Festival.
Greg Gonnerman: Well, thank you very much for having me here today, Robert. I’ve enjoyed the discussion.
Robert Feinberg: It’s been our pleasure.