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sonomA CoUntY| Wine CoUntrY tHis WeeK56The tasting room is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.10295 Westside rd, Healdsburg, CA 95448(707) 433-5499 | www.moshinvineyards.comTours are available by appointment.Tasting fee $10, waived with purchase.visit moshin vineyards for a tour of the uniquegravity-Flow system for making Pinot noir!There are four-tiers built into the slope of the land – utilizing the powerof gravity for moving the wine through each stage of production.for more information, call Julia Lander at (707) 433-5499, ext. 104or email julia@moshinvineyards.com .WinemAKer ProFiLeriCK mosHinMoshin VineyardsBY MIKE HYLANDRick Moshin’s winemaking style reflects much of hisinherent personality traits – attention to detail, dedicationand integrity. His goal is to gently guide sustainably farmedfruit though the winemaking process to produce a wine thatexpresses an unadulterated view into the heart of the vine.In 1977, Rick Moshin began making wine as a hobby.He had already become an avid brewer, acquiring numerousaccolades and awards for his various beer recipes. Employedas a math instructor by day, Rick began making wine athome during his off hours. A friend once inquired about themany wine barrels stored in Rick’s garage to which hereplied, “Well I can’t afford to buy the wines that I like todrink, so I guess I’ll just have to make them.”To enhance his accessibility to quality grape sources,Rick worked part time as a grape broker from 1979 to 1994,matching up winemakers with grape growers throughoutCalifornia. To this day, Rick still purchases grapes from someof the sources he discovered outside of Sonoma County.With a goal to attain perfect fruit, Pinot Noir in particular,Rick decided that he should be farming the grapes himself,and in 1989, with the help of his family, Rick purchased aten-acre lot of Pinot Noir in the heart of the Russian RiverValley and set to work farming his new vineyard onweekends to perfect his Pinot Noir grapes.And so began the story of Moshin Vineyards. For the firstfew years, some of the fruit from Moshin Vineyards was soldto local Pinot Noir producing pioneers along Westside Road.With the remaining grapes, Rick made about 300 cases of hisown Pinot Noir each year, which he sold in between teachingmath classes in San Jose. During summer breaks, he wouldgo to France to learn more about the Burgundy region andthe secrets behind the elegance and finesse of the Pinot Noirgrapes coming from there. The plans for his own winerybegan forming, and in order to make the type of timelesswine he dreamed of, he would have to build a winerycapable of creating Pinot Noir using a gentle touch byutilizing “gravity-flow.”The gravity-flow method was commonly used in Europefor moving wine through the winemaking process, but not atechnique readily found in America. So, the mathematicianbegan searching for a property close to his vineyard alongthe Russian River. The land needed to feature a slopesuitable for gravity-flow wine production as well as terroirthat would be optimal for an additional planting of PinotFollow us on twitter @WineCountrytW