Mad River Union, June 24, 2021
Crab Gab By Janine Volkmar
“I’ve been going to Humboldt Crabs games all my life,” Trinity River Vineyards winemaker Wil Franklin said. Now Franklin can share the passion of his life with Crabs fans – wine. And it is wine grown from “the oldest vines in Humboldt County still producing wine,” according to the website (www.trinityrivervinyards.com).
Franklin is the owner and winemaker of Trinity River Vineyards in Willow Creek. Trinity Rivers offerings at the ballpark are a red wine, Coho Red, a white, Kingfisher Sauvignon Blanc, and a rosé, Merganser Rosé. The wines are named, appropriately, after local fish and birds.
These wines come from the Willow Creek American Viticulture Area of Humboldt County. Established in 1983, it is one of the oldest and smallest of all the AVAs of California. All grapes used in these wines are organically grown.
The wines will be sold at all the Arcata ballpark beverage stations including the Right Field Beer Garden with the beer and cider offerings, as five ounce pours in plastic cups because glass is not allowed in the park. Wine Wednesdays are a new Crabs special event with wine selling at a discounted price of $5.
“I got my start in the wine industry during harvest,” he said, “when they take anyone with a pulse. I ran a night lab even though I had never worked with wine before. I fell in love.”
Trinity River wines are available at Murphy’s Markets, Wildberries Marketplace, the Northcoast Co-op, Eureka Natural Foods and at local restaurants and pubs. And now at the ballpark!
It’s a chance, according to local Cal Poly Humboldt Extended Education’s wine educator Pam Long, to find out “what Willow Creek tastes like.”
Franklin, she explained, knows the winemaking process “from soil to roots to vine to glass.”
“He knows everything about that plant, that soil, that terroir, so that he is in total control of that grape. And you’re only as good as your grape,” Long said.
“I’m so grateful to do this,” Franklin said. “My kids are of the age that I can take them and their friends to games.””
So, whether you prefer a red or a white or a rosé, raise a glass of Trinity Rivers wine to the Crabs. Cheers!
Check the Humboldt Crabs Baseball special events schedule on www.humboldtcrabs.com to view all the Wine Wednesday games and dates.
