Vineyard Rescue; Saving Grapes
Over the last few years, Bill has devoted some money and many hours to bringing some neglected Sonoma County vineyards back from the brink.
It started in 2008 when he took over the management of Mercedes Soto's one acre of Merlot in Dry Creek Valley.
In 2009, Bill began a rehab project on six acres of Chasselas owned by the Raffaini family on Eastside Road and started helping Ray Davilla with his small mixed vineyard near Chianti Road.
2010 saw the addition of two more projects; a tiny Dry Creek Zinfandel vineyard and an old patch of French Colombard in the Chalk Hill district of the Russian River Valley.
This year Bill will personally farm about half the grapes that he will eventually turn into wine. In a world filled with highly processed products, these are wines that receive the personal touch of one person from pruning the vines through filling and labeling the bottles.
Got Wertzberger Wine?
Bill and wines
After leaving home at 18 and before becoming a winemaker, Bill Wertzberger was a medic with the U.S. Army, spent 18 years on the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange, and held part-time gigs as an insurance examiner, guitar player, handyman and wine store clerk. He is alternately funny, clever, goofy, and inspired, and stubborn enough to insist on performing every step involved in producing his wines, from pruning vines to pasting on labels.
Bill loves grilled German sausage, lasagna, pork chops and wild mushrooms. His travels have taken him from the South Island of New Zealand to the South Face of Annapurna to the southern reaches of the Sahara to the South Side of Chicago. He is a Neil Young look alike, and may be found listening to Jimmy Reed, Jerry Reed or Lou Reed while painting the oils used for his wine labels. Some call him a renaissance man, but back in his native Iowa, he is what they refer to as a "character".
People in Sonoma County, however, say that Bill's wines have character. From his deep thinking Cabernet Sauvignon to the fresh and flirty Chasselas, each wine has a personality of its own that it shows off in the glass. This is real wine made by a real person; different from the ocean of monotonous factory-produced offerings and you can taste it in every bottle.
