STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The wine industry is shifting as young people move away from wine and beer to White Claw Hard Seltzer and ready-to-drink canned cocktails spiked with sugar. At the same time, those in their 40s are moving away from the bar scene to drinking wine at home.

So says Mike Kobler, one of those involved in the Sun Valley Museum of Art’s 44th Wine Auction event.

“We’re small enough, nimble enough that we can make the changes we need to in order to keep the new trends from affecting us,” said Kobler, as he poured samples of his Burgundy and Rhone varietals.

Kobler, whose Kobler Estate Winery is located at an 1870s Victorian estate in the Russian River Valley of Napa, was among 24 vintners pouring samples of their best vintages this week during SVMoA’s 5th Annual River Ranch Wine Walk, an afternoon wine tasting along the Big Wood River.

Dozens of wine lovers wandered through three beautiful back yard gardens as servers with the Sun Valley Culinary Institute served up a selection of appetizers, including watermelon gazpacho with basil oil and a peppered beef wrap.

The wine tasting gave wine enthusiasts a chance to chat with the vintners on a relaxed basis as they were introduced to new wines and learned about old favorites.

Michaela Giunchigliani told how her Kamen Estate Wines in Sonoma was discovered during a hike through the rugged Southern Mayacamas Mountains by screenwriter Robert Kamen in 1979 after he’d just sold his first screenplay.

The property had no roads, no water, no electricity. But that didn’t stop the writer of “Taps,” “The Karate Kid,” “Colombiana” and the “Taken” series from envisioning what it would look like with mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

Now a certified organic vineyard overlooking town, it’s known for its Cabernet. But those attending the river Ranch Wine Walk couldn’t stop raving about its Writer’s Block Red Blend with its hints of black current and black raspberries.

Bricoleur Vineyards started in May 2020 just after the world had shut down due to the COVID pandemic. The vintner stuck with it and produced a Cabernet Sauvignon the owners call “liquid gold,” serving it up in a horse barn that’s been converted into a tasting room.

Some of the wines had memorable names that tasters won’t likely forget.

Take Benevolent Neglect, based in Napa and Sonoma.

“Our winemaking style is to let the grape do its own thing with minimal intervention,” said Jeff Warden. “We use very little new oak, no oak substitutes, no industrial additives. We don’t add acidity or water, which would add sugar to the wine. We just let it grow and you get what you get, which is a wonderful wine.”

On the other side of the naming spectrum was the Canihan Family Cellars’ Exuberance wine made from grapes grown in certified organic vineyards in the southern end of the Sonoma Valley.

Canihan Family Cellars won a gold medal for its syrah as one of 4,600 wines in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition organized by the editor of Bon Appetit.

“We were so exuberant we named this wine Exuberance,” said Bill Canihan. “We make just 1,500 cases a year, growing our grapes on a hillside overlooking the ocean, so it’s a small batch.”

While some of the wines have been around 25 year or less, Mauritson Wines was started in the Dry Creek Valley of California in 1868—three years after the Civil War. The vintners came from Sweden, which isn’t known for wine. But they copied what their Italian neighbors were doing and sent the wine back to Sweden.

The Army Corps of Engineers acquired 3,300 acres of the land to develop Lake Sonoma in the early 1960s, leaving most of the historical homestead under water. But in the mid-1990s Clay Mauritson began making wine from grapes grown on the 700 remaining ridgetop acres known as the Rockpile.

Just slightly younger was William Cole Vineyards started in 1873 in Napa Valley. The estate was turned into a residence during Prohibition. Family members started making wine again after Prohibition and today the family involved in the entire process from wine to bottle as they produce such wines as Cuvee Claire Cabernet Sauvignon and Cuvee Jane Marie Chardonnay, their 1997 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon ranking No. 30 on the Wine Spectator’s list of The Best 100 Wines in the World.

Among those in attendance was David Seelos, who helped organize the SVMoa’s Junior Patron dinner to get younger generation involved in SVMoA’s three days of fundraising centered around wine.

“It’s a common belief that this is something only older people do,” he said. “Yet there are a lot of young people here, and they have the money to give and they should. And I support the Sun Valley Museum of Art because it does most of the art education in the valley.”

Also making the rounds was Stephanie Altobellis of Kentucky. She met winemakers James and Caitlin Holesinsky while in Sun Valley for the 2025 Audi FIS World Cup Finals, and the three hit it off. The Holesinskys joined her in Kentucky for the Kentucky Derby and Altobellis returned this week for the Wine Auction.

She helped them chat up their Purple Sasquatch Cabernet Sauvignon and their Gruner Vetliner made with an Austrian grape varietal from Sunnyslope that offers a crisp summer taste. It’s one of 10 new varieties the vineyard near Buhl is rolling out this summer, said Caitlin Holesinsky.

Some of the vintners were looking beyond the River Ranch Wine Walk, trying to entice wine enthusiasts to go on a European river cruise with a focus on wines or a trip to places like Mendoza, Argentina; Patagonia and South Africa.

“Our club members love to travel the world with us because they know we have good taste,” said Chateau Potelle Winery’s Matthew Regan. “We take them places like Chateau Margaux, Chateau Pontet Canet and Chateau Beychevelle in the Bordeaux region of France where you can’t get in unless you’re with someone like us. And we offer experiences, too, such as a helicopter tour of vineyards in South Africa. When you fly over the great white shores and Cape Town, it takes your breath away.”