321: Why is Chardonnay the Winemaker's Grape + What a Family Brand Means with Chris Benziger

Why is Chardonnay the one grape that is equally made in the vineyards and the winery? What’s the difference between biodynamic and regenerative farming? What does it mean to be part of a family brand of wine? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Chris Benziger, winemaker with the Benziger family wines in Sonoma, California. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks   Giveaway Three of you will win one of three bottles of the superb Benziger wines. This is open to Canadian residents because shipping alcohol across borders is still bound-up with prehistoric laws. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at [email protected] and let me know that you’ve posted a review of the podcast. I’ll choose three people randomly from those who contact me. Good luck!   Highlights How does the Benziger family’s "flaming hoops" program help to ensure family members are a value add if they work at the winery? How did the 2017 Sonoma County wildfires impact the Benziger Family Winery? Which features can you expect from Benziger California Chardonnay, and how does it best pair with food? What makes the Benziger Running Wild Chardonnay unique and more personal for Chris? What is the concept of regenerative farming, and how does it relate to biodynamics? Why is the Benziger Tribute so versatile, and what’s the story behind the name? What does it mean to Chris to be part of a family brand of wine? In the Museum of Chris Benziger, what three objects would be in the central display? If Chris could share a bottle of wine with anyone outside the wine industry, who would that be?   Key Takeaways Chris observes that most grapes or varietals are made in the vineyard. With Chardonnay, you can choose whether it’ll be a beautiful, unoaked, austere, minerally Chablis-style, or a big butter kiss, butter bomb, or anything in between. The Renziger Chardonnay is right in the middle of the teeter-totter. Biodynamic has some baggage to it, whereas regenerative farming takes the farming part of biodynamics, which is incredible. Organic farming is simply the elimination of chemical inputs. All it does is replace all that biological capital back into the soil. So the land never goes fallow. It's constantly being fed back. Farming is resource intensive. Regenerative farming means giving back so the land is not just restored, it’s better than before the farming started. What does it mean to be part of a family brand of wine? Chris calls critter brands and concept brands that are developed by market research whiteboard wines. A family brand is inherently tied to a family and its name. Chris notes that his father burned the boats in the Roman tradition so to speak when he sold his business and uprooted his family and traveled 3,000 miles to start the winery. In developing the winery, all they had was each other and had to lean on each other through all the challenges from tough finances to wildfire. But they stayed together and as Chris notes, he was hosting Christmas dinner with 50 family members this year.   About Chris Benziger Chris Benziger was still in high school when he and his family moved from White Plains, New York, to California wine country. He went on to earn a degree in marketing from the University of San Francisco, while spending summers, weekends and every spare moment working at the winery as a child laborer. He officially, he officially joined the Benziger family winery in 1993 Chris oversees the home ranch and is dedicated to the thriving biodynamic ecosystem of the estate, shepherding the Benziger flock of sheep, tending to the estate vegetables and fruit trees, and producing biodynamic preparations for his vineyards.       To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/321.