History
of AmicitiA
The story of the beginnings of Amicitia is very unique. What today
has become a small wine business started in 1995 with humble roots
in various odd spaces converted into home-winemaking cellars. The
first spot was a family laundry room and later the wines were moved
to a tiny garage. In the heyday of home winemaking, Amicitia was housed
in a stone building that was built as a small replica of a nearby
historical winery.
The founders of Amicitia were young cellar hands and vineyard apprentices
who wanted to try their own hands at the winemaking craft. They found
their love of wine through the back door of the cellar not as consumers,
but as producers. They paid attention when the winemakers they worked
for waned esoteric about their wines or when they offered up a bit
of the secret of their technique. They learned from they mentors,
but the wines they went on to make were distinctively their own.
The first wines made were from traded grapes that were repaid with
finished wine futures. This way the grower could have a taste of his
own vineyard- something he doesn’t get when selling to a large
winery that blends many vineyards. In their early forays, the Amicitia
winemakers began to deeply enjoy the bottled expressions of certain
varietals and particular plots of land where they were grown. Wine
is so diverse; no two vineyards are exactly the same, no two wines
are alike and no winemaker uses the same manner of crafting his product
like any other.
As we have matured into a business, we have kept the same flavor from
our past. Friends are always summoned when there is a task at hand
or there is wine to be drunk. We maintain a purist approach to our
winegrowing. We are aggressively hands-on and use no synthetic chemicals
in the vineyard, we perform all our own winery tasks without third
parties, and we let the varietals speak for themselves in the bottle.
As a result, we have a product that is truly an expression of the
land, of ourselves and of our past. Please enjoy what we have accomplished.
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| Today
2004
Amicitia
is a small wine label that currently produces between 500 and 600
cases each year. Founders Chris and Tim personally craft the wines
and run all aspects of the business. Amicitia wines are produced under
the bond of Christopher Creek Winery in Healdsburg where Chris is
winemaker.
Chris and Tim source their fruit from a few key vineyards in the Dry
Creek and Alexander Valleys. Carignane and some Zinfandel is grown
by the hands of the Amicitia crew. Cabernet, Sangiovese and Zinfandel
is made from purchased fruit. Tight relationships with growers begun
in the dawn of its existence (home winemaking in 1995) have allowed
Amicitia to have access to extremely high-quality fruit.
State of the art processing equipment allows for the highest quality
standards to be observed during vinification, aging and packaging.
All fruit is hand sorted before processing and a combination of hand
punch downs and pump-assisted “pump overs” are utilized
to mix the must during fermentaion. Wines are fermented for 10-14
days and kept below 85 degrees during the peak of the ferment. Amicitia’s
desires to achieve a high level of extraction while maintaining key
varietal aromatics and a soft tannin profile. Wines are aged in oak
for 12-18 in mostly 1-2 year-old barrels- less than 20% is new cooperage.
Amicitia’s focus is on varietal distinction and the clear representation
of the characters of the vineyard site in the finished wine. Blending
and new oak aging is limited to allow the powerful flavors of the
vineyard to shine through. The goal is to bring a true taste of the
land and the vintage to the table with as little intervention as possible.
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| About
Us
Tim
Norvedt
Farmer/ Business Operator
Tim began in the business in 1995 pulling hoses for Murphy-Goode.
In his free time he was building a relationship with the not yet
named Katherine's Vineyard in Geyserville. His commitment toward
this vineyard grew as he took classes on grape growing and pressed
on in producing wine from the grapes. And he did it…..quite
well. In 1996 Tim went to work for a well-know old vine, head trained
Zin farmer. Over the next year he sharpened his skill and created
his own style of grape growing. In 1997 he rejoined forces with
Chris to develop Amicitia, bringing with him an intuitive understanding
of grape farming and a hands on winegrowing background. Tim is a
man of commitment and dedication, striving for quality thru healthy
living and farming. This Tim-o'-all-trades works extremely hard
to create distinction in everything he does. tim@amicitiawine.com
Chris
Russi
Winemaker
Chris Russi is one of two Amicitia partners and is the truly talented,
silver palate that creates the wines that make Amicitia possible.
Chris began in the wine business after college working a piece of
vineyard land on the hillsides of Dry Creek Valley. He later went
on to pay his dues at Geyser Peak Winery under a talented and knowledgeable
group of veterans. After a stint in Australia at Peter Lehman Winery,
Chris went back to school to and received a degree in viticulture
and enology (grape growing and wine making) at U.C. Davis in 2000.
He took the winemaker position at Christopher Creek Winery in Healdsburg
after the harvest of 2000. Chris’ passion for his trade and
his extraordinary ability have allowed him to craft excellent wines
at Christopher Creek.
His parallel passion during his ascent through the winemaking ranks
has been a desire to craft his own wines with a small group of friends.
He is a founding member of Amicitia and has driven the quality and
experience that have made it possible. Chris also has an amazing
ability to bring people together and to give a sense of meaning
to any gathering. This is a large part of why he is so integral
to Amicitia.
Today, if you don’t catch Chris in the cellar you may see
him riding the roads of Sonoma County on his BMW motorcycle. He
is a hotshot snowboarder, a “ringer” of a ping-pong
player and has a way with the golf clubs on a GOOD day. chris@amicitiawine.com
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| New
Release Wine
Purchase
Wine Online Now
2002
Alexander Valley "Katherine's Vineyard" Zinfandel
$24/bottle
The
exceptional and unique fruit characters that contribute to this
Zin come from the key location of the vineyard. It sits in hot northern
Alexander Valley, but receives an early reprieve from the baking
afternoon sun. A hill to the immediate west gives the vines a rest
late in the day, which near harvest can save the delicate Zin fruit
from becoming raisined and desiccated. We also carefully manipulate
the canopy to allow for speckled sunlight on the fruit, a key to
wine quality.
The soil is rocky–alluvial and varies considerably throughout
the vineyard. This contributes to the high degree of variability
of flavors, and we believe, complexity.
We hand-harvest, carefully sort every cluster of fruit ourselves
at the crusher and ferment in open top fermenters. Petite Sirah
and Carignane are immediately combined with the Zinfandel and all
are fermented together. We mix or “punch down” the tank
by hand every eight hours to bring out the depth of mouth feel and
fully extract the flavors from the skins.
This wine is our shining example of how refined and finessed a California
Zinfandel can be. It has subtle notes of honeyed American oak, raspberry
and strawberry fruit in the nose and a full palate of ripe red fruit.
The supporting cast of grapes, Petite and Carignane, help to make
this wine structurally sound with a backbone of tannins. 100% Katherine's
Vineyard. 50 cases.
2002
Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel
$24/bottle
Dry Creek Valley is synonymous for quality when it comes to Zinfandel.
When we were offered a small amount of fruit from this super-premium
Dry Creek benchland vineyard we could not resist. The soil here
is the classic Dry Creek clay loam that makes the area famous for
its Zins. It is dry-farmed by the Forchini family on their property
on the east side of the valley and the vines are head-pruned or,
trained without a trellis system. The small crop from these old
vines is super-concentrated and, in this case, was very high in
sugar.
When the fruit arrived at the winery, we were astounded by the sugar
content. We normally make our wines lower in alcohol and more finessed
that what we were inevitably looking at with the fruit from this
vineyard. We swallowed our pride and decided to make a Zin to rival
the best alcoholic, monster Zins that only California can be proud
of!
Our 2002 Dry Creek Zin is aromatic, fat and powerful. It has classic
Dry Creek dark and dried fruit characters of blackberry and prune
with black pepper and mild oak on the nose and a delectable, round
mid-palate. 100% Dry Creek Valley. 50 cases.
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| Current
Release Wine
Purchase
Wine Online Now
2001
Alexander Valley Carignane
$19/bottle
From the day we set our eyes on this patch of vines in the heart
of Alexander Valley we knew we were on to something. Working an
old style, dry farmed vineyard requires the farmer to be very hands-on.
We reduced our crop and focused on sunlight in the vine canopy to
get full, ripe flavors in the wine that resulted. Our carignane
is deep and structured with a great nose of toasted cinnamon, clove
and orange peel. 120 cases. 100% Tomka Vineyard.
2001
Sonoma County Syrah
$25/bottle
It is amazing how a wine from the exact same vineyard can turn out
so different in sequential vintages. The fruit came 50% from the
Alexander Valley and 50% from the south slope of Fitch Mountain
in the Russian River Valley, the same vineyard combination we acquired
in 2000. Unmistakable jasmine tea, mint leaf and raspberry on the
approach leads to a mature red fruit landing on the palate. This
is a sophisticated, structured syrah that will age very well. 72
cases. 50% Lazy Moon Vineyard Russian River Valley and 50% Katherine’s
Vineyard Alexander Valley.
2001
Alexander Valley Merlot
$22/bottle
We love buying grapes from this vineyard because Joe Ramazzotti
is such an excellent grower to work with. ‘Customer sevice’
means that we get to sample the entire vineyard and decide what
section we want for the flavors we hope to achieve. In the case
of this Merlot, ripeness occurs with high tone, red fruit flavors
of cherry, cranberry and raspberry. This wine enters with a beautiful
nose and a hint of toasted oak, coats the palate with its signature
bright fruit and finishes long and sustaining. 72 cases. 100% Ramazzotti
Vineyard Hwy 128.
2001
Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
$28/bottle
Every day that we drink our home vintage 1999 Cabernet from these
two vineyards, we give thanks that we continued receiving grapes
from the Orsi Vineyard. Alongside the voluptuous cab from the Kuimelis
Vineyard, it is sturdy and composed. Lean soil and minimal water
at both sites resulted in an intense wine that we are again proud
to offer. Roasted cocoa, cassis and a hint of jasmine paired harmoniously
with mild oak lead to a full, distinguished palate. This cab is
approachable today due to its full fruit in the mouth, but soft
tannins with just an edge of astringency will allow it to age very
well. 100 cases. 50% Orsi Vineyard and 50% Kuimelis Vineyard.
2001
Vintage Port - Alexander Valley "Katherine's Vineyard"
$25/bottle (limit 6 bottles)
We are proud to offer our first release of vintage port! We have
made port for ourselves since 1997 with great success (we have shared
it with a few lucky family members) We produce this port from a
selection of grapes from Katherine’s Vineyard that are allowed
to "hang" for up to a month more than the grapes for our
table wines. When the fruit is syrupy sweet we pick and crush and
ferment until only 8% residual sugar remains at which time we "knock"
it with high quality brandy which stops the yeast and results in
a wine with 18% alcohol. The final product is a caramel and toffee-laced
concoction of blackberry and chocolate that will be at its peak
in ten or more years! 144 bottles!
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| Purchase
Wine
AmicitiA
is dedicated to providing the highest quality handmade wines for
a reasonable price. Chris Russi and Tim Nordvedt started making
wines with their feet on the cellar floor and grounded to the soil
that produces their wines. Their love of the winemaking trade and
the people they work with is their inspiration. They hope that the
public will be able to taste the honesty and dedication in their
wines.
PURCHASE
WINE ONLINE
We gladly accept Visa & Mastercard.
We
will also be processing direct orders
via e-mail buywine@amicitiawine.com
or
phone (707) 433.3304.
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Tastings
If
you are in the Healdsburg area please contact us in advance to schedule
a tasting
(707) 433.3304.
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Links
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