Tablas Creek Vineyard – The Rhones, the new Adelaida AVA, natural fermentation and the use of foudres.

June 5, 2015

While on the Central Coast in April we were lucky enough to meet with Jason Haas, General Manager of Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles. Jason graciously took time out of his busy schedule to spend a couple of hours with Michael and I in the vineyard and the winery.

Tablas Creek Vineyard is the collaborative effort between the Perrin Family of Chateau du Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape in France’s Rhone Valley and the Haas Family. Vineyard Brands, the wine import company founded by Robert Haas had been the exclusive importer for Beaucastel wines. In 1989 they founded Tablas Creek Vineyard in the west side of Paso Robles to grow Rhone varieties.

In our 3rd segment, Jason tells us about all the Rhone Varieties that Tablas has brought in to the United States, we discuss the new Adelaida AVA, he tells us the intricacies of native yeast fermentation and we discuss Tablas Creeks use of 1200 gallon Foudres for aging wines. Here’s the video, but you can read below for the details

The Rhone Grapes at Tablas Creek Vineyard

Tablas Creek brought in classic Rhone varieties directly from Chateau du Beaucastel. These original cuttings went through the mandatory 3 year quarantine and were grafted onto rootstock. These were; Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache, Counoise, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Grenache Blanc. Soon after they also added Picpoul. They planted 1/2 acre of Picpoul and this increased the amount of Picpoul planted on the planet by 50! In 2003 they decided they might as well bring all the rest of the Chateauneuf du Pape grapes. Many of these were the first new plantings of these varieties in a decade. Clairette Blanche and Terret Noir were added and both have been made into single varieties wines in 2013 and 2014. Picardan was planted and they expect to have a small crop this year for the first time. 3 others Vaccarese, Cinsaut and Bourboulenc are out of quarantine and they expect to be able to plant these this winter. Poor Muscardin is still in quarantine and may be released next year. Tablas Creek has wonderful information on their site about all of these varieties Tablas Creek Vineyard Grapes

The Adelaida AVA

Paso Robles Wine was one of the largest unsubdivided AVA in California spanning 40 miles East to West and 30 miles North to South. This immense area varies from 350 to 2700 feet in elevation, rainfall in different areas can run from 6 to 35 inches and temperatures from one area to another can vary by 15 to 20 degrees. In November of 2014 this area was broken into 11 new AVAs (American Viticultural Areas). Tablas Creek is located in the Westernmost AVA known as the Adelaida District. This is one of the AVAs to be noted by their calcareous soil, which is one of the reasons Tablas Creek chose this location. How these new AVAs will change the area is yet to be seen. For Tablas Creek Vineyards, all of their Estate Wines will now list “Adelaida District” on their label.

Native Yeast Fermentation

I have always been fascinated by native yeast fermentation. Many winemakers find it to be too risky, so I took this opportunity to ask Jason about the native yeast fermentation at Tablas Creek and how they might handle a “stuck” fermentation. Jason mentioned that often native yeast fermentation is described as “hands off” wine making. He looks at it more as “fingerprints off” wine making because the process actually makes you more “hands on”. During fermentation they are closely monitoring each lot and testing to be sure it is perking away. If a lot is not fermenting well or looks like it is getting stuck, they have options. They can mix the lot with another lot that is fermenting well or pump it over the lees of something that is fermenting well. They can build a culture from a tank that is doing well and release it into a tank that isn’t. So they don’t get “stuck”, they just have to work harder. Using only native yeast is another way of expressing the uniqueness of the site or the “terroir” which is something that Tablas Creek is passionate about.

Use of Foudres

There are few places in California that you will see foudres used. Foudres are 1200 gallon barrels (as opposed to a typical wine barrel that holds 60 gallons). When you walk into the Tablas Creek Vineyards tasting room you can see these beautiful large foudres through the glass windows that surround the tasting room. As Jason explains it, when you are aging a wine you must determine how much oxygen and how much oak you want. As they follow the Chateau du Beaucastel style they are looking for very minor but consistent oxygen and very little oak. As a result, large wood it the way to go. With a 1200 gallon Foudre you have 20 times the wine and just 4 times the surface area compared to a normal 60 gallon barrel. This gives you more volume to surface area. The staves in these larger barrels are thicker also, which makes the penetration of oxygen slower. This is perfect for protecting Grenache which is prone to oxidation and for Syrah and Mourvedre which are prone to reduction which can cause them to go funky. The large foudres give a balance allowing the wines to age gently and still progress.

While this concludes our formal interview with Jason, we did continue with a vineyard walk and winery tour which concluded with a great conversation about how they blend their wines. So watch for more videos and blog posts.

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Cold Heaven Cellars – Rhone Scent-ual Experience

September 10, 2014

Founded in 1996 by winemaker Morgan Cledenen, Cold Heaven Cellars creates cool climate Viognier. Her Viogniers exhibit balance, finesse and bright acid.

In addition to her Viogniers, Pinot Noir and Syrahs, she also produces “Domaine de Deux Mondes”. This is a wine made from Santa Barbara grapes but done in the style of Yves Cuilleron from Condrieu. These wines are a completely different style from the Cold Heaven wines. The Domaine de Deux Mondes is oaky and riper than the Cold Heaven wines showing the versatility of this grape and Morgan’s winemaking skills.

One of the greatest things about the Cold Heaven Wines is that the wines have great depth and dimension, which….made them perfect for the Rhone Scent-ual event planned in her tasting room for the Santa Barbara Vintners Key to Wine Country Weekend event.

Kara and Liz had the Barrel room set with two tables one set for white wines and one for reds. Each had aroma wheels, a sheet for notes and lots of little blue mason jars filled with wonderfully scented stuff.

We began with the 2012 Le Bon Climat Vineyard Viognier. This wine has peaches on the nose and a background of white flowers, you also get an earthy minerality which you could match with the diatomaceous earth that Kara and Liz had set on the table.

It was amazing all the fragrances that you could find in the wine. It soon became a little bit of a frenzy with all of us reaching for jars and then wanting to share the fragrance with everyone else. It was a sensory awakening. I think many people are intimidated by tasting notes, thinking that sommeliers just make up all those aromas they say they get on the wine. When you actually have those scents right there to compare, it’s amazing. And then you are adding to your scent memory catalogue for future experiences.

Sanford & Benedict Vineyard

We moved on to the 2011 Sanford and Benedict Viognier, coming from Sta. Rita Hills this wine comes from Western most AVA in the country and one of the coolest growing regions. There is more spice on this wine, and our noses got stuck in the ginger jar, there was also white pepper and grapefruit peel in there.

The third wine was the 2009 Saints and Sinners Viognier. These grapes are also from Sanford and Benedict, but this wine is made in the Yves Cuilleron style. The 30% new oak adds a warmth to this wine. It’s like peach or apricot cobbler with baking spices and toasted nuts.

When we got to the red wine table we smelled the 2008 Domaine de Deux Mondes Syrah and right off the bat I got olives on the nose and I could pick up the jar of olives and confirm this. There were jars with leather, with spices and peppers with red and black berries, cinnamon, chocolate and even habanero sauce (which would burn your nose hairs if you stuck your nose in too far!). You get woods and twigs on this wine, “Sous la Foret” which is under the forest floor in French, that bit of rich decaying leaves. There were dark berries, and cinnamon, and coffee, but the olives were the most surprising. The olive scent comes from stem inclusion. This wine was done in a full cluster press, which means the grapes did not go through a destemmer before pressing. Often this will give you a green pepper note, if the stems are not ripened. When the stems are ripe, you get a wonderful black olive aroma.

Kara and Liz were there all along the way to answer questions and point you in directions you might not have thought about. This was an interactive event that broke down barriers. People got involved and excited and will walk away with a new understanding of these wines, of tasting notes and of their own senses. Thanks to everyone at Cold Heaven Cellars for a great event and some great wines! If you are heading to Santa Barbara and want to nerd out on wines…this is the tasting room to come to!

Cold Heaven Cellars

92 2^nd Street, Buellton (behind Andersons Pea Soup)

805-686-1343

The tasting room is open Friday to Monday from 12-5 (until 4:30 in the winter)

You can find them online at

http://www.coldheavencellars.com

The “Key” to Wine Country – an inside perspective on what Santa Barbara Wine Country is all about.

June 28, 2014

The Key to Wine Country event in Santa Barbara was created by the Santa Barbara Vintners to give you a chance to get to know a little more about the wineries. More than just discounted tastings, many of the participating wineries set up unique events to give you an insiders perspective on their wines, vineyards and styles.

Riverbench Vineyard

Our Key Weekend began in the Santa Maria Valley at Riverbench Vineyard with a vineyard walk on Friday morning with Rawley Hermreck the Vineyard Manager. Rawley walked us into the vineyard and explained the planting and trellising techniques that they use.

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We were able to see the new vines that would be planted the next day in the front block (watch for some pictures of this process!). Laura the tasting room manager set us up to learn how to dip their pinot bottles in wax for the beautiful wax closure, and then we enjoyed lunch on the back patio with Rawley and his dog Sadie complete with a tasting of the Riverbench wines. They have a sparkling program and the Blanc de Blanc was really lovely. Of course I left with that bottle of Pinot I dipped!

Bottle Dipping

We had some free time before our next event and spent a little time wandering in Los Olivos, ending up in the tiniest tasting room and enjoyed the casual laid back atmosphere at Carhartt.

Carhartt Tasting Patio

Our next event was the Larner Winemaker Dinner at the Ballard Inn. The Ballard Inn is a beautiful spot just south of Los Olivos. Chef Budi Kazali is also the owner of the the Inn, purchasing it in 2004. He blends Asian and New French styles with fresh local ingredients to create some captivating dishes.

Ballard Inn, Ballard CA

The evening began at 6 pm with Michael Larner pouring his Rose as well as the Malvasia Bianca and guests relaxed in the parlor or on the porch, watching the sun start to dip and the trees start to glow. Passed hors d’oeuvres kept our stomachs at bay as we waited for the main event. The pairings were beautiful and the intimate dining room made for a singular experience. Watch for the full blog post on this incredible evening as well as our series of conversations with Michael Larner.

Presquile Wine Event

Saturday our day began with a unique event at Presqu’ile Winery in the Santa Maria Valley. Presqu’ile gathered 4 winemakers, including their own Dieter Cronje, to taste through wines made from grapes from the Presqu’ile Vineyards.

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On hand were Ernst Storm of Storm Wines, Kevin Law of Luceant Luminesce and Ariki Hill of Labyrinth. We tasted through 9 wines doing side by side comparisons and listening to the winemakers discuss their winemaking techniques and unique aspects of each vintage. The event took place on the crushpad of the winery, high above the tasting room in this gravity flow space. Matt Murphy, President of Presqu’ile is warm and welcoming and kicked off the event with an introduction and welcome. This was a fascinating journey to taste the differences in these wines and search for the underlying commonality that the soil and the site bring. It was truly an amazing event for a wine geek! I was in heaven and took page upon page of notes! Of course the atmosphere was stunning as you looked to the panel sitting next to the railing that looked down on the winery floor, the glassware, the charcuterie laid out with such care and the attentiveness to warmth and hospitality… it was a beautiful event.

Coldheaven Winery

We had to dash out sooner than I would have liked so that we could make it to Buellton for another unique event. Cold Heaven Cellars was holding a “Rhone Scentual” event. We arrived at the Buellton tasting room and were greeted by Kara and Liz.

Coldheaven Rhone Scent-ual Experience

In the barrel room they had 2 tables set with tasting wheels, sheets for notes and lovely blue mason jars each filled with a different item to spark your aromatic senses. We began with the white wines (Viogniers of course!) and while we were all a little shy at first, this quickly became a case of grabbing for jars and then wanting to share the fragrance with the people around you. Conversations were animated and we all found that we were smelling things in a new way and with much more thought. It was a discovery each time you opened a jar. Kara and Liz had samples of diatomaceous earth, white pepper, white flowers, fresh peaches, grapefruit peal and so many others. For the Reds at the other table they had chocolate, leather, fresh berries, cinnamon, just to start, I can’t remember them all! This was really a wonderful experience and Kara was there every step of the way encouraging you to make more discoveries and talk about other fragrances that you found in your scent memory. This event, broke down those barriers of intimidation from tasting notes. You may think that you can’t smell the habanero on that wine, but once you dip your nose in that jar, your memory is sparked and you can find it! Those tasting notes aren’t really as crazy and out there as people sometimes think. It’s just a matter of creating those scent memories and keeping them active!

Industrial Eats

With a little time to kill before the evening event, we headed to Industrial Eats for lunch. Mention Industrial Eats to anyone in the valley and you will get the same response. People will often close their eyes briefly, envisioning the last thing they had there, and then will animatedly tell you about the amazing things you should order there. We had attended the Sta. Rita Hills AVA dinner here back in April and were excited to go try some wood fired pizza for lunch. The tables are long community tables allowing large groups to sit together or smaller groups to make new friends. The food here is phenomenal and the service is great. Don’t miss stopping here!

Ross Rankin, Imagine Wine Maker

Our last event of the day was in Santa Ynez at Imagine Wine. They held an evening of Music, Art, Food and “Blogging”. I’m blushing a little, the “blogging” was added since we were attending. Located on the corner of Numancia and Edison this tasting room is also an art gallery that is flooded with natural light from 2 sides. For this event they featured the work of Robert Karl Vogel, as well as music from Jim Campbell and then of course the wines. Ross Rankin, the owner and winemaker had barrel samples out on the corner of the porch and took guests through the stories of each wine. Jim

Jim Campbell

Campbell performed “every song you know by heart (almost).” (really, I could sing along with everything!). Lyndee Rankin had great food set out to accompany the wines and you could wander and sip as you enjoyed the “En Plein Air” paintings by Robert Karl Vogel, landscapes and cloudscapes of California and the Sierras. Also sculptures by Blake Rankin, (son of the winemaker) dotted the tasting room. The centerpiece for the gallery is a sculpture called Wings, which is the inspiration for one of his father’s wines.

Ross’s wines are unique in that he believes in aging his wines before release. We did get to taste his new (Barbera)? which he created specifically to have a wine for a quicker release. It was a lovely evening with the art, music and wine inspiring great conversations among the varied guests. Watch for a video blog with insights from Ross on his wines!

I unfortunately had to fly home to Vegas, so Michael enjoyed the Sunday Vineyard Hike and Farm-to-table lunch at Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard without me. So here…I’ll turn it over to him.

Buttonwood Wine Tasting with Karen Steinwachs

It was a great weekend for wine tasting and a beautiful morning. I was looking forward to seeing the Farm and tasting the wines. We had stopped by their booth at the grand tasting during the Spring Vintners Weekend event and their wines were amazing. After tasting them again that still held true. Karen Steinwachs, their winemaker told us during the tour, that they try to keep the wines affordable. This is possible because they do everything in house, but the wines really could sell for twice the amount they sell them for. When you drive in you only see the tasting room and the surrounding farm, that is because the vineyard and winery are up on the plateau. So we drove up the hill and started out the day at the winery at the top of the plateau where Karen poured our first wine a 2013 “Zingy”, a Sav Blanc, and told us stories about how it was named. She then gave us a tour of the wine making and storage facility, followed by a walk around the picturesque views of the vineyard. We made our way back to the winery tried another Sav Blanc, the 2011 Devin, we then made our way back down the hill to the picnic grounds below,

Pascale Beale, Salad Demo

Salad with Grenache

where we were treated to a chef Demo by Pascale Beale and tasted various wines with fresh from the farm Salads. We will have a more complete Blog post and video on this adventure at Buttonwood. This is a must stop, to see the combination of Farm and Vineyard. If you can visit this Fall while they are doing their Harvest Tour, it should not be missed.

Stay Tuned, in the next couple of weeks we will be Posting Blogs and Videos on this amazing Weekend. We will also be launching a Ballard Canyon Series, with Interviews with Michael Larner of Larner Vineyard & Winery, and Steve Beckmen of Beckmen Vineyards. This will be a 4 week Series starting July 7th 2014. We will also be at the Wine Bloggers Conference in July to talk to with more winemakers and hear more stories from Santa Barbara. So you can expect more information on this incredible region for wines.

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A Conversation with Michael Larner of Larner Vineyards & Winery

May 19, 2014

Larner Los Olivos Central Coast Wine Country

While we were in Santa Barbara for the Vintners Spring Weekend, I had the opportunity to speak with Michael Larner of Larner Vineyards and Winery. He graciously took time to speak with us while he was setting up for the Grand Tasting.

So we are here with Michael Larner of Larner Winery and you are in the new Ballard Canyon AVA right? That’s right. We formed last year. At harvest in October we were certified and approved. We are very excited.

Michael Larner was actually instrumental in the creation of the AVA. After a visit from a group of Sommeliers sent by Sommeliers Journal in 2010 to taste Ballard Canyon Syrahs, he rallied the vineyard owners and contacted Wes Hagen who had put together the Sta Rita Hills AVA to get the ball rolling on creating this new AVA.

What wines are you making with your winery? We are what we call Rhone Valley varietal specific, so we have Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Viognier, a little bit of an outlier of Malvasia Bianca. Of the 34 acres we have 23 planted in Syrah and that is really our champion of Ballard Canyon. Essentially all of us, Rusack, Jonata, Beckmen, Stolpman we are all really specialized in Syrah more than anything, so that really becomes the champion as well as also becoming the face of Ballard Canyon. We are actually going to do something unique creating a bottle mold that is specifically made for Ballard Canyon producers that says Ballard Canyon on the shoulder and that will be something we can take to the market. The only Caveat is that it has to be A. an estate and B. is has to be Syrah. So we want to go out into the market putting our best foot forward with Syrah. Because the AVA is 7600 acres with about 600 acre planted and over 300 in Syrah, it is definitely our Champion definitely what we want people to know about when we go out into the market.

Larner Winery

The day before we had taken a vineyard hike at Beckmen’s Purisimo Mountain Vineyard which is North of Larner in Ballard Canyon. I had an opportunity to speak with Steve Beckmen about how he had chosen to layout his vineyard. The decisions on where to plant different varieties are based on so many variables, including soil, water, temperature, sun and even wind. So I asked Michael about how he had made these choices for his vineyard.

Michael: At Larner Vineyard our slopes are south facing slopes and our Syrah is kind of in the middle section. We actually put our Grenache on top. We are always worried about ripening so we put it at the higher elevation to push it a little, and then on the lower elevations we do more of our whites. Most of our site is sandy compared to Beckmen, so because of that we match soils a little differently than they do. That is probably why we have more of our Syrah in the middle. We are on any given day maybe a degree or two cooler than them. The main thing for us is that Ballard Canyon is defined by the presence of chalk or limestone, and up at Beckmen, Stolpman it’s limestone, you come down to me on the south side and we are more chalk. It’s still the same material it’s just a little more friable in my neck of the woods, where it’s a little more compacted up on the north side. It’s still rendered from the same foundation of bedrock, but ours is basically overlaid by sand so it allows the vines to be stressed enough to produce low quantities, high concentration, but then there is a nice underlay of chalk in our case that also brings a minerality.
I think that was sort of the unique thing about Ballard, the way it formed was essentially 6 of us producers that were pouring wine for Sommelier Journal we tasted through all the wines and looked at each other and thought wow there’s a lot of similarities. We all have our different fingerprint in terms of oak use etcetera, but there was definitely a lot of very characteristic minerality, that we all picked up on. Then when we did the Q & A with these sommeliers, they said “Why aren’t you guys an AVA” and we said okay no brainer, why aren’t we an AVA. So we started forming it in 2010.

We let him get back to setting up as it was closing in the time to open the gates for the Grand Tasting and later came back to taste the wines. His “Elemental” is a gorgeous GSM blend that is a favorite in many restaurants. They also have a 2012 Viognier that is brand new and a lovely GSM Rosé.

We also met his wife Christina later in the day. She had a booth with her Wine Art and I picked up one of her stunning paintings of a cluster of Viognier on the vine, painted in Syrah.

They have a tasting room in Los Olivos attached to the Los Olivos General Store, right behind the classic Gas Pump! You can stop in there and taste all of their wines.

Larner Wine 2900 Grand Ave, Los Olivos, CA 93441

The 2014 Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend – My highlight reel.

April 17, 2014

Our trip to the Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend was absolutly amazing. The weekend was filled with events to suit any wine lover, and while there was no way that we could attend everything, I’ll give you the quick run down on the amazing events we did attend. This is just the quick version; you can look forward to more detailed posts on each of our adventures as well as photos and video.

Industrial Eats in Buellton CA

Our weekend began Thursday night with the Sta. Rita Hills AVA Dinner & Wine Pairing. This event was held at the new Industrial Eats restaurant in Buellton. The dinner included hors d’oeuvres, 3 courses plus dessert, and included 10 wines. On hand to explain and discuss the wines and pairings were Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe, Ken Brown of Ken Brown Wines, Jeff Connick Assistant Winemaker at Dierberg Star Lane and Laura Roach, Enologist at Sanford. The evening was filled with great food, great wine, great people and great conversation. For a brief view of our evening, check out the video here.

Friday morning we took a drive out Santa Rosa Road to explore the vineyards in this part of the Sta. Rita Hills. The drive begins just south of Buellton of the west side of the 101. You pass Mosby where they primarily do Italian varieties and then come to Richard and Thekla Sanford’s Alma Rosa.

Alma Rosa in the Spring

It was picturesque with the sign and the orange poppies blooming all around. Unfortunately the tasting room is currently closed as they do some expansion work. But never fear they have a temporary tasting room open in Buellton on Industrial Way. Past Alma Rosa you come to Lafond, and then finally to Sanford.

The Beautiful Sanford Tasting Room

The property here is stunning and the tasting room made of reclaimed wood from a Washington sawmill and adobe bricks made on premise is beautiful, yet understated. After a tasting here we headed back to do the vineyard hike at the Beckmen Purisima Mountain Vineyard.

Hiking to the top of Purisima Mountain with Steve Beckmen

The Purisima Mountain Vineyard is located in the new Ballard Canyon AVA. This area lies along the winding Ballard Canyon road. This vineyard is not located with the Beckmen Winery, which is one canyon over, but is their larger vineyard with 125 planted acres of world class Rhone varieties. The vineyard reaches 1250 feet at the top of Purisima Mountain and that is where we were headed. With Steve Beckmen as our guide we walked the vineyards, learned about the soil, the grapes, the viticulture…it was fascinating. We did make a few stops along the way, two for food and wine and one for the view (that was from the top). Steve was an unending resource of information and it made for a spectacular day. I will share more of the wonderful insights I gleaned from him in another post, but for now, you can enjoy some of our hike here.

Following our hike we headed back to do one more tasting in Los Olivos.

Sandhi Wines at the Watering Hole at Matteis Tavern

Located in The Watering Hole at the historic Matteis Tavern, is Sandhi Wines tasting room. You will find it next to the tavern, over the lawn, under the water tank and in this lovely little cottage. Rajat Parr, Charles Banks and winemaker Sashi Moorman founded Sandhi in 2010. They wanted to produce wines of balance and the wines here are stunning with brilliant and elegant character. And…the fact that they are served in the exquisite Zalto glasses doesn’t hurt a bit! Sarah was a wealth of knowledge and was kind enough to stay late to answer all of our questions. Be aware, they will be moving into the old Epiphany tasting room around the corner soon. While they are moving (beginning May 1^st) they will be available by appointment only. Visit their website for Sarah’s contact information to set up an appointment to taste these amazing wines.

Now what we needed was big and easy food and we found Chomp in Solvang. This place is diner style with burgers, fries and shakes. They do serve local wines and have some good beers on tap, but we opted for a shake to split. The place is comfortable and modern and was bustling when we got there. Aaron the owner found us a seat at the bar, which was perfect. The food was outstanding, the service really good.

Panorama of the Grand Tasting at River View Park in Buellton

Saturday was the day for the Grand Tasting located at the River View Park in Buellton. The tastings were set up around multiple tents with all the wineries conveniently in alphabetical order so you could easily find the wineries you were looking for. Interspersed among the wineries in each tent you would find a restaurant station where you could grab a bite. They also had Artists Alley where you could find wine inspired artwork, a massage station, a silent auction tent and Alan Hancock College had a space where they had information on viticulture and they were giving out wine grape cuttings. This year you could purchase wine at the festival and at the entrance was a large tent where wines could be picked up as you left. The event was a wonderful opportunity to try some amazing wines from this area and to speak with many of the winemakers themselves. It was a very enjoyable day spent with lots of other wine lovers!

For dinner Michael was inspired by some delicious meatballs he had at the festival and we drove to Santa Ynez to have dinner at Trattoria Grappolo. It was busy but they found us a spot at the pizza bar. Dinner was delicious and watching the incredible staff work together seamlessly and so fluidly to create these beautiful plates of food was truly inspirational. If you are in the area, go…and request a seat at the pizza bar!

Relaxing at the Au Bon Climat & Qupe Open House

Sunday was all about Open Houses. I believe there were 61 different winery events happening in the valley. We headed to the twice annual Au Bon Climat and Qupe Open House, which was way north in the Santa Maria Valley at their winery which is tucked way back down some back roads. If you want to find their tasting room…Au Bon Climat is in downtown Santa Barbara and Qupe is in Los Olivos. Cheese, crackers and olives and the lunch table filled with home cooked food and Barbeque done by Jim Clendenen himself were found in the front room by their offices. The barrel room was dotted with tasting stations for the 8 or so labels that Jim Clendenen and Bob Linquist have between them. There was plenty to taste and it was all available for purchase on site, at least until it sold out. After a bit we took our glasses and some cheese and headed out to the dock area outside and sat down at a barrel to enjoy the atmosphere and the view.

But of course, there was another open house to get to and it was in Lompoc!

Wes Hagen pulling Chardonnay from a barrel for the Clos Pepe barrel tasting

Clos Pepe has its winemaking facility in Lompoc outside the Wine Ghetto. We made the trek from Santa Maria for their open house and for a barrel tasting. Wes Hagen, as always, was full of fascinating information and was pouring delicious wine. We had the lovely Sparkling Pinot and tasted through some Chardonnays, Pinots and his Rhone blend. Then came the barrel tastings, with Wes coming around and filling glasses and explaining each wine and where it was in its journey. Watch for another detailed blog post and movie on this. Really, someone should just follow Wes around recording him, he is an encyclopedia of wine knowledge and he imparts his knowledge in the most entertaining way.

Fiddlehead Cellars in Lompoc

After the Barrel Tasting we headed to the Ghetto for some corned beef sliders. Oh…and some amazing wine and more inspiring wine knowledge from Fiddlehead’s owner and winemaker Kathy Josephs. Fiddlehead does Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Noir. She had two stations set up in the winery and got you moving back and forth between the two. They were of course pouring 728, their Pinot from the Fiddlestix vineyard, which is at mile marker 7/28 on the Santa Rosa Road and the Doyle, which is their reserve Pinot that they do not make every year. The wines were fantastic, we met great people there, and…yes we closed the place. We were there to watch Kathy turn up the music and start dancing as cleanup began.

The historic Matteis Tavern

So our tastings for the day were done, now it was time to enjoy our last dinner of the trip, so we headed to the newly renovated Matteis Tavern. We had eaten at this historic venue a couple years ago and had a great meal. It had since closed and then reopened in July of last year. The Tavern itself has been around since 1886 and is a historic Stagecoach stop. Our dinner here was spectacular. The food, service and surroundings all made for the perfect end to a day. We will entice you with a photo here, but watch for a full blog post on this historic location.

Red Trout and Creme Corn Brûlée

Presqu’ile Vineyard Tasting Room

The View from Presqu’ile

Our last day was just a partial day and we had a couple places we wanted to get to. We began with a drive north headed to Presqu’ile North in the Santa Maria Valley. I often speak of beautiful properties, but…you know when you go to a parade of homes and get to the most beautiful house…well Presqu’ile is the winery equivalent. “Presqu’ile” means “almost an island” in French and was the name of the Murphy Family property in Mississippi that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The family looked for a place to rebuild their family gathering spot and came upon this property in Santa Maria.

The wines are unique and delightful and the place…well, let the pictures speak.

Our last tasting in Santa Barbara was at the tiny Larner Tasting room in Los Olivos. They are located in the Los Olivos General Store (you will see the old gas pump out front).

Larner Tasting Room in Los Olivos

The Larner Vineyards are in the new Ballard Canyon AVA and Michael Larner was the person who got the ball in motion to create the AVA. We spoke with Michael at the Grand Tasting and did some tasting there, but wanted to see the tasting room and pick up some wines to take home. Their entire selection is exceptional and the people are genuine and wonderful. This is their inaugural year of Larner Wines being produced, they grow Rhone varieties: Viognier, Grenache, Mouvedre & Syrah as well as Malvasia Bianca. We will post our full discussion with Michael Larner in another post shortly.

With our tasting done, it was time to have some lunch before the drive home. We had spoken earlier about trying the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café. (photo of the restaurant) As Michael said, the patio is always full and that must be a good sign! Emily from Larner had recommended the Beets and Burrata appetizer and the Mykonos Pizza (with pesto, oven dried tomato, tapenade, feta, cucumber & four cheeses). This 12” pizza was more than enough for the two of us. The menu here is local, delicious and a little unexpected. This is definitely a place that we will return to.

Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe

So…that was our weekend and it doesn’t even begin to cover all the events that were happening with the Vintners Spring Weekend! This area is producing astoundingly good wines and the fact that they are so laid back and you have so many opportunities to speak with winemakers makes it a truly exceptional place to visit if you are a wine lover. Clear your calendars for October 10-13 and head up for the Celebration of Harvest Weekend! Or visit anytime! You can find information on the entire Santa Barbara region at the Santa Barbara Vintners website.

Sta. Rita Hills, the Burgundy of Santa Barbara

April 4, 2014

Vineyards of Sta. Rita Hills as viewed from Hilliard Bruce

The Sta. Rita Hills AVA lies on the west side of the Santa Ynez Valley closest to the ocean. The Marine layer and ocean breezes coming through the transverse valley make it the perfect growing region for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Here between the Purisima Hills and the Santa Rosa Hills the growing season is long and cool with heat spikes typically in late September and October. A typical day here sees early morning fog that disappates around 9:30 am, things warm up and then the wind comes up at 12:30 or 1:00 allowing the grapes to be left exposed without frying them.

Sta. Rita Hills AVA map

20 million years ago this land was under the ocean. The techtonic plates moved and the mountains were shoved up out of the ocean in a North South direction causing the Mountain ranges we are familiar with in California. Over the next 12 millions years the mountains in the Santa Barbara area broke away from the plate and began their gradual clockwise turn bringing the mountain ranges here to an East West orientation. They are continuing their move today. You can check out some cool animated footage of this 12 million year move on the Sta. Rita Hills website at:

http://www.staritahills.com/appellation/ to get a better picture.

The first vineyard was planted in the Sta. Rita Hills in 1971, by Richard Sanford. Richard Sanford was a Navy officer who was on a destroyer during the Vietnam War. On his way home from the war he went to Nepal and began a spiritual quest. Coming home to California he sailed competitively for a bit and this allowed him to meet people who were interested in a vineyard.

He studied Burgundy and it’s weather reports and began driving California with a thermometer looking for property with a similar climate. He noticed that the area between Buellton & Lompoc rose by a degree for every mile inland you drove and the possibilities were wide ranging.

He teamed up with Michael Benedict, who was a botanist and they purchased 473 acres in Rancho Santa Rosa. In 1971 they planted the now famous 120 acre Sanford & Benedict Vineyard on Santa Rosa Road. They planted Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir & Riesling. They had open top fermenters, that Gary Gordon, a hot tub pioneer in Santa Barbara, helped them construct. Their first vintage was 1976.

Today Richard Sanford and his wife Thekla own and operate Alma Rosa.

Richard Sanford got this all started and soon others followed, like Rick Longoria, Adam Tolmach and Jim Clendenen. In the 1990’s Clos Pepe, Fiddlestix, Melville, Fe Ciega and other vineyards were planted with Pinot and Chardonnay.

Clos Pepe Vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills

Balance here is easier. The soil and climate combine to give you fruit that has lower sugars when fully ripe. That gives you great acidity and lower alcohol.

The Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance was formed in 1997, when the area was simply known as Western Santa Ynez Valley. Wes Hagen and friends spend time gathering soil samples and checking elevation levels and temperatures. Richard Sanford, Bryan Babcock, Rick Longoria and others spent time studying maps, gathering data and then discussing boundries. AVA status was achieved in 2001. Sta. Rita Hills AVA has a total of 30,720 acres with over 59 vineyards with 2,700 acres planted.

Now about that name, “Sta. Rita Hills”. Well this story will tell you quite a bit about the area and it’s winemakers. The original name was Santa Rita Hills AVA. A very large Chilean wine producer “Vina Santa Rita” was concerned about this AVA name diluting its brand value. Richard Sanford and his wife, Thekla, were at the London Wine Trade Fair and marched right over to the Vina Santa Rita booth. Here Sanford’s spiritual journey is shown in action. He simply suggested that they talk about the problems and try to find a solution. So he flew to Santiago, spoke with the owners and the Vina Santa Rita folks flew out to Santa Barbara for a visit and they ultimately decided that the AVA would use the common abbreviation for “Santa” which is Sta.

Picking Pinot Noir at Clos Pepe

Michael and I had a wonderful opportunity last year to be part of the top of harvest at Clos Pepe. Check out our great harvest video here. The grapes we picked, early in the season were for a sparkling wine to be made by Norm Yost at Flying Goat Cellars. I am very excited to get back out for the Vintner’s Spring Weekend and pick up a few bottles of that! We also had a wonderful tour of the Hilliard Bruce Vineyard with John Hilliard and Christine Bruce. You can see our video of their gorgeous property here. I am looking forward to seeing their new winery that they have been building on the property.

The reservoir at Hilliard Bruce

To really enjoy the area, drive the 34 mile loop that links Santa Rosa Road and State Route 246. I would suggest taking the curvy mountain road first. Head south on the 101 from Buellton and turn west onto Santa Rosa Road. The first stop is Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards tasting room, located on their El Jabali Ranch. Here you will get the history of wine in this area. This winery is organic and sustainable. Being good to the planet is important here. Further on you will come to Lafond. You can also taste their wines at the Wine Bistro in Santa Barbara. As you continue on you will come to Sanford Winery. Now owned by Terlato Famiy Vineyards, this was the original vineyard planted by Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict. The stunning winery here was the vision and dream of Richard Sanford. The winery is a beautiful stone and adobe design and the views of the vineyard are amazing.

The vineyards here are noteworthy names that you will see as vineyard designates on fine bottles of wine from this area. From the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard if you look north across Santa Rosa Road you will see Fiddlestix. Slightly east of of there is Sea Smoke, to your west is La Rincontada and Northwest lies the tiny Fe Ciega Vineyard.

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Continue down to Lompoc and visit the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. Here you will find a gathering of many of the Sta. Rita Hills winemakers, including: Fiddlehead Cellars, Flying Goat Cellars, Jalama, Longoria, Morretti Wine Co., Pali Wine Co., and Zotovich. Outside the Ghetto don’t miss Brewer-Clifton and Transcendence Wines.

Now you can head back into the Sta. Rita Hills via 246. Plan ahead and call and schedule tastings at Hilliard Bruce and Clos Pepe. They are appointment only, but well worth the visit. Melville where Greg Brewer is the winemaker is just a little further east, along with Babcock and Huber. Closer to Buellton Dierberg Starlane Vineyard will have tastings of their wines, both from the Santa Rita Hills and Happy Canyon. Back in Buellton stop by and try the Viogniers at Cold Heaven. Do check with the wineries, many are only open for tastings on Weekends. Visit the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance for a list of the wineries with links to their sites.

I’ll say it again…the Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend is right around the corner on April 10^th-13^th and is a great opportunity to taste wines from all of these vineyards and wineries.

In addition to the Grand Tasting, there is the Sta. Rita Hills AVA Dinner & Wine Pairing on Thursday night. There will be a Vineyard Hike with Wine at Hilliard Bruce on Friday. Flying Goat, Clos Pepe, Brewer-Clifton, Zoltovich and Fiddlehead Cellars will be represented at the Wine Education Seminar Series at the Hotel Corque in Solvang on Saturday. Brewer-Clifton, Longoria, Pali and Zotovich will be pouring at the 90+ Points Wine & Dine Event on Saturday night.

Brewer Clifton is having a Wine and Cheese Pairing Seminar on Friday and Flying Goat will hold their Winemaker Dinner at La Purisima Mission.

On Saturday Night Diergberg Estate, Fiddlehead Cellars and Sea Smoke will be pouring at the Grassini Family Vineyards Dinner Event.

Longoria will be tasting their New Releases and Library wines on Saturday, and Sunday and then they have their Annual Winemakers Dinner Saturday night at the Ballard Inn.

On Sunday Brewer Clifton has a Vineyard Tour an Picnic at Machado Vineyard as well as a Winery Open house that day. Lafond will be having an open house also.

Flying Goat Cellars has a Open house & Vintage 2014 Multimedia Installation happening on Sunday.

Visit http://www.sbvintnersweekend.com for all the Spring Weekend Events or http://www.sbcountywines.com for anything you want to know about the Santa Barbara County vineyards or wineries.

Ballard Canyon, Santa Barbara’s newest AVA

March 30, 2014

Windmill on Saarloos & Son's Windmill Ranch Vineyard

Ballard Canyon is the newest of the AVA’s in Santa Barbara County, established in October of 2013. This relatively small AVA encompassing only 7,800 acres sits at the center of the Santa Ynez Valley with Los Olivos to the North East and Solvang to the South. It produces Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Roussanne, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Viognier. Syrah accounts for almost half of the planting.

ballard canyon ava

Ballard Canyon runs North-South, which protects it from the winds coming through the transverse valley than runs through the Santa Ynez Valley. Happy Canyon is thought of as the warmest part of the region with daytime temperatures of 102, but it also drops to 48 overnight. Ballard canyons highs are a little lower, but their nighttime lows are also a little higher, this allows the grapes to stay warmer over night and warm up more quickly in the morning.

There are 18 Vintners and growers in the Canyon and 6 wineries: Larner, Stolpman, Rusack, Saarloos & Sons, Jonata & Beckmen.

The first vines were planted in this area in 1974 at the Ballard Canyon Winery. Today this property is Rusack Vineyards. The 17 acre estate was replanted in 2003 with varieties of grape that would capture the character of Ballard Canyon. It is now planted in Sangiovese and Syrah primarily with bits of Savignon Blanc, Semillon and Petite Sirah. Everything is farmed in small lots.

The Rusack’s bought this property in 1995 and in 2013 hired Steven Gerbac to be their winemaker. In addition to their Ballard Canyon property, the Rusack’s have a newly planted vineyard on Santa Catalina Island (but that story is for another day).

The winery is set back in on the property and you follow the winding drive through the old oaks to their tasting room. They have a lovely redwood deck on the front of the tasting room with tables and great vineyard views. It is shaded by the oaks so it makes the perfect spot for a picnic.

Larner is on the southern end of Ballard Canyon. When Michael and Christine Larner purchased the land in 1997 it was nothing but sage and chaparral with Texas Longhorns on the property. Now the 34 acres of vineyard include 23 acres of Syrah, 6 acres of Grenache and smaller plots of Viognier, Malvasia Blanca and Mourvedre. For a number of years they sold fruit to wineries, but in 2009 they began making their own.

Michael Larner is also the instigator behind the Ballad Canyon AVA. In 2010 the vintners in Ballad Canyon gathered to coordinate an event on Syrah. Michael got them together again after the event and recruited Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe to help them develop plans for creating the AVA.

You can visit the Larner Tasting room is located in Los Olivos. They hope eventually to have a beautiful tasting room on their property in the old Ballard General Store. (again, another story for another day)

Tom Beckmen purchased a 365 acre hillside property in 1996 that is now Beckmen Vineyards. With elevations of up to 1250 feet, this property would become the Purisima Mountain Vineyard. Tom & his son Steve farm this property and they are certified biodynamic. They vineyard is planted with seven clones of Syrah that fill 18 blocks, five clones of Grenache that fill 8 blocks and smaller plantings of Counoise, Grenache Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rousanne, Marsanne, Mourvedre and Sauvignon Blanc. The soils here are clay and clay loam with a limestone subsoil, which while typical of the soil in Rhone, is a rarity in California.

Their tasting room is at the winery and is south of Los Olivos. Take a picnic and enjoy the views from one of the three gazebos at the duck pond after your tasting!

Stolpman was founded in 1990 by Tom & Marilyn Stolpman. This vineyard in the limestone hills was turning out fruit for cult wines like Sine Qua Non & Ojai Vineyards, until in 1997 they started producing their own wines. Their winemaker Sashi Moorman (who also works with Sandhi & Evening Land) joined them in 2001 and works closely with the Vineyard Manager Ruben Solorzano. They have experimented with high density plantings and dry farming. They produce Syrah, Roussane, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc with limited plantings of Grenache, Viognier, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay which they mostly use for blending. Today Tom’s son Peter manages the vineyards and winery.

Stolpman’s Little Red Cottage tasting room in Los Olivos

You can find their tasting room in Los Olivos on Alamo Pintado, in their little red cottage. The cottage has fables. One says it was moved here from Arroyo Grande in the early 1900’s. Another claims it was built from scrap lumber from an old military barracks. Regardless the Stolpman’s have filled it with a great staff and designed a Tuscan inspired bar. Plus they have a picnic area under the persimmon tree out front. In the summer they even have a farm stand with local produce.

Jonata (pronounced Ho-na-ta, which is the Chumash word for “live oak”)has an 84 acre vineyard with sandy soil planted in Syrah, Sangiovese, and Sauvignon Blanc.

When they originally bought the property the French vineyard expert they brought in found only 5 acres of land on the 600 acre property that he felt were suitable to growing grapes. Matt Dees joined them in 2004 as their winemaker and Ruben Solorzano is their vineyard manager.

Here there is extreme detail in the growing. Each shoot and cluster is individually manicured. Lots are separately pulled from each distinct part of the vineyard and put into different barrels or tanks before blending. Well known French wine expert Michel Rolland comes in to check aging potential before bottling. As a result of all of this extra attention and the fact that if a vintage doesn’t live up to their standards, they simply won’t produce a wine from it, these bottles can run up to $125 per bottle. Their 2010 La Sangre de Jonata Syrah was given 97 points by Wine Advocate.

A little back story. This winery is owned by Stanley Kroenke, a real estate developer who owns the Dever Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche. He is also one of the leaders of the consortium that purchased Screaming Eagle.

Wines here are only sold through the mailing list. http://jonata.com

Windmill on Saarloos & Son’s Windmill Ranch Vineyard

Last but not least I will mention Saarloos & Sons. Their Windmill Ranch Vineyard lies within this AVA.

Saarloos & Sons is a family business that is 4 generations in the making. Each of their releases is unique and is never duplicated. Their goal is to capture the year in a bottle and bring you a high quality wine that they name in honor of a family member. They have a 250 year plan, thinking not just for the next generation but for the next 50. Their goal is “Honoring + Preparing” and their wines are heartfelt and unique. Their winemaker and resident chronicler is Keith Saarloos. Check out the blog for amazing vineyard videos and for philosophic posts on life, family and farming (amongst other things).

And head to their tasting room in Los Olivos. If you are lucky, Brad will be there and will fill your glass and your spirit as he passionately talks about the wines and his family that made them.

And…have to mention, if you are there on the weekend, try the cupcake pairings!

Saarloos & Sons tasting room in Los Olivos

Over the upcoming Vintners Spring Weekend you will be able to taste many of these wines at the Grand Tasting on Saturday April 12^th. In addition, Steve Beckmen will be leading a Vineyard Hike with with wine at the Purisima Mountain Vineyard on Friday Spril 11th. Larner will be pouring wines at the Barrel Toasting Seminar and Tasting at the Buellton Bodegas on Friday evening. Also Friday evening Beckmen and Larner will be pouring at the 90+ Wine & Dine event at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara. Beckmen will also be pouring on Sunday at the Farm-to-Table Picnic at the Fess Parker Ranch.

2013 Spring Vintners’ Festival at the Mission Santa Ines

Visit http://www.sbvintnersweekend.com for all the Spring Weekend Events or http://www.sbcountywines.com for anything you want to know about the Santa Barbara County vineyards or wineries.

The varied and amazing wines and wineries of Santa Barbara County

March 22, 2014

It’s no secret, I’m in love with the Santa Barbara County Wine Region. It is laid back with an incredible range of variety. “Sideways” got it right. This is the best up and coming wine area in our country. Up and coming actually seems a little silly, the wineries and winemakers here have quite a history. There are giants of winemaking here including: Richard Sanford, Jim Clenedenen, Bob Linquist, Richard Longoria & Bill Wathen. And the list of amazing winemakers continues to grow and the wines they are producing are varied and amazing.

Clos Pepe in the Santa Rita Hills

Santa Barbara lies in a unique area that separated from the plates along the coast. Over the past twelve million years this little section shifted and created a Transverse valley. This means that the valley here runs east west as opposed to north south like all the other valleys on our coast. The transverse valley and the microclimates within it lead to a place where you can grow an amazing variety of grapes in a relatively small area. On the western edge the valley is cool and is perfect for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. As you move east the valley warms by a degree a mile! This makes the middle section perfect for Rhone varieties like Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Roussanne and as you continue to the east side where Happy Canyon lies you have enough heat to support those Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc.

So if you are a wine geek like me…this is a great place. But if you are not a wine geek and want to avoid the intimidation of wine talk and just enjoy a glass…well this is the right place too.

So…make your first stop in the Funk Zone near the beach in Santa Barbara on the Urban Wine trail. Stop into one of the many great tasting rooms there. Maybe hit Municipal Winemakers first and soak up some of the funky atmosphere. Sit down at the picnic table and enjoy a glass of rose.

AVA Santa Barbara Elkpen Mural

Then if you are feeling like learning a little about where these wines come from head up the street to AVA Santa Barbara. Here you can taste wines from all the different regions in Santa Barbara County. The entire wall over the tasting bar is a huge chalk mural by Elkpen that shows the regions soils, microclimates and topography. The wines, by Seth Kunin of Kunin Wines are lovely and deliberately varied to feature the microclimates in this incredible area.

If you head further North into downtown, you will find Grassini, Au Bon Climat & Margerum to choose between for a tasting.

Bistro Dining and Sunset Tasting at Deep Sea

Head back through the downtown shopping district and stop at Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro for lunch. Then take a stroll on the beach and finally enjoy a nice glass of wine at Conway Family Wines – Deep Sea Tasting room on the Santa Barbara Pier while you enjoy the sunset.

Saarloos & Sons & Cupcakes

Oh, but my friend, you are just getting started in Santa Barbara County. Tomorrow drive into Solvang, the adorable little Danish town and get some aebleskivers for breakfast at the Solvang Restaurant. You can then stroll this town and taste at several tasting rooms that you can walk to, or drive a little further into Los Olivos where you will find over 35 tasting rooms to choose from! And…I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a great place to dine at Side’s Hardware & Shoes. Don’t miss Saarloos and Sons for a pairing with cupcakes from Enjoy Cupcakes.

Carhartt Patio Tasting Area

They are there Thursday thru Sunday from 11-5 (or until they run out of cupcakes, so go early!) and one of my favorite tasting rooms, the tiniest one on the planet is across the street from Saarloos and Sons at Carhartt. Carhartt stays open an hour later than the others and this often becomes quite the gathering spot on the beautiful but tiny back patio.

Are you overwhelmed yet? There is more…I highly recommend Terrravant Winery Restaurant in Buellton for dinner and pairings. They have an Enomatic wine dispensing system set up so you can try small tastes of many of the amazing local wines. And the now World Famous Hitching Post II is also here in Buellton, made famous by the movie “Sideways”.

Avante Tapas & Wine Bar Front Entrance

Tomorrow morning you have more wine country to explore! There are amazing wineries outside of Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley like Buttonwood Farms & Beckman. Or travel up to Santa Maria through Foxen Canyon and enjoy the morning Vandenberg Fog. Stop at Zaca Mesa and try their Rhones. This place has been around a while and popped out some pretty amazing winemakers! Further up the road, you can’t miss stopping at “The Shack” at Foxen.

Zaca Mesa Patio with the oversized chess set

And…then there is the Sta. Rita Hills. If you love Pinot or good Chard you want to drive through here. Make an appointment and stop by Clos Pepe. Wes Hagen has more vineyard and wine knowledge than you can imagine and a tasting with him is amazing! Just past Clos Pepe is Hilliard Bruce. John and Christine have an incredibly beautiful landscaped property and their vineyard management is state of the art.

Clos Pepe and Hilliard Bruce

Keep driving down 246 to Lompoc and top into the Wine Ghetto. Filled with small wineries working out of an industrial park you will find Flying Goat Cellars, Fiddlehead & Palmina as well as a host of others. Check the hours though, because they are often just open on weekends for tastings. Further into Lompoc you will find Brewer-Clifton, which again brought out my geeky side as we talked about stem inclusion and how they thin the vines to ripen the stems!

Lompac Wine Ghetto

Have I covered it all? Not even close. There is so much exploring I look forward to going back to do. But…if you are short on time…The Grand Tasting at the Santa Barbara Vintners Spring Weekend will have all of these great wineries and winemakers in one place on April 12^th.

Or at anytime for information visit Santa Barbara Vintners

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Shopping for wine…..

March 20, 2014

I spent the afternoon at Total Wine. I know…it’s a big corporate wine store. But I find I am lacking on small wine shops on my side of the valley. Khoury’s, you know I love you, but you are on the other side of the planet. And Marche Bacchus..well, I wasn’t planning on lunch and I can’t resist that if I stop by.

So, I’m wandering the aisle at Total Wine. This is because I need a bottle of wine to enjoy tonight. Michael is working and I can’t just pop a bottle from the cellar! That wouldn’t be fair. So I am off to find something else, something meaningful, but not so expensive that I feel guilty drinking it without Michael. I find myself drawn to the domestic wines. I really want to be a “buy local” kind of girl! So I stroll though and find myself only looking at the top shelfs. Well, there are two things about this. First, those are the more expensive wines. But second, that is where you find the smaller vineyards and wineries. I’m looking to avoid the giant consumer conglomerate wines. No Constellation or even Terlato for me! I look for names that I know or recognize as smaller vineyards. I found a Tablas Creek wine over in the Alternative reds today! I was drawn to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay today, because of my current infatuation with the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. There was a Sanford Chard and Pinot, but…they are owned by Terlato. I found a Grgich Hills Chardonnay and Fume Blanc (the Fume Blanc came close to hitting my basket!). On the Pinot Noir aisle I look longingly at a Trisae Pinot Noir, as well as a Monkey House from Argyle, both vineyards I love in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

I was looking for a smaller winery. Who I support is important to me. I must admit a little disappointment in the recent Wine Enthusiasts Awards. Barbara Banke, Rodney Strong and Paso Robles….well, this is a little establishment based. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy Kendall-Jacksons wines as well as Rodney Strong and I have spent quite a bit of time in Paso. But this seems extraordinarily mainstream. There is so much more out there! My current infatuation is with Sta. Rita Hills and the entire amazing Santa Barbara County. And I do love Paso…the Adelaida district has my heart….But I’m looking for more. Yes, I am a sucker for the story. I am not a wine reviewer. I don’t need blind tasting. For me the experience is part of the tasting, the atmosphere, be it restaurant, winery or home, has alot to do with how I enjoy the wine. I return to my favorite wine quote: “I like drinking wine made by people I like!” (this fabulous quote I got from John Hilliard, as he repeated a comment by a winemaker he met at a major tasting…forgive me for not remembering her name…I’m sure she is very well known and I should!). This is the bottom line. I don’t like or dislike varieties or wines by their alcohol percentage, they just need to be balanced. But I do like wines better when I like the people who make them. If I have a bad experience in the tasting room, the wines won’t taste as good (keep this in mind when you hire tasting room staff!) and an educated winemaker who is passionate about what he or she is doing will always make the wines taste better to me. I cannot separate these things.

I left with a Chenin-Blanc Viognier blend from Pine Ridge in Napa. They were the last vineyard we tasted at on our trip that way and a favorite of my friend Kathy. I remember pulling up at the end of the day and strolling through their demo gardens out front, then wandering in to the lovely tasting room and having a pleasant tasting. Not the best ever, but quite pleasant and knowing how much my friend Kathy and her husband love this place has warmed my memories of it. I had a pasta with shellfish blend in a red sauce planned to curl up with for dinner with a side salad, so this should be perfect. I ended up with Orecchette with the shellfish blend in a marinara sauce with a little lemon zest and some chipotle dusting to kick in a little spice. This went beautifully with the wine. I ended up skipping the salad…no one was home to see me enjoy two bowls of just the pasta, and you won’t tell, right?

Shale Oak – a holistic sense of sustainability

August 26, 2013

In researching for our trip to Paso, I came across CellarPass. Cellar Pass provides online reservations for tastings at wineries. I found Shale Oak through them and scheduled a 10 am tasting.

This stunning tasting room is off of 46W on Oakdale road. The winery released it’s inaugural vintage in May of 2011, and opened their tasting room later that year. This winery was built to be sustainable and the building is LEED certified. At least 1/3 of the wineries energy needs are supplied by the solar photovoltaic panels on the building. The redwood used on the building is 100 year old reclaimed wood from Vandenburg. All the items in their gift shop are repurposed items.

The owner Al Good was raised in Virginia and is an entrepreneurial farmer. He has developed a holistic approach to the agriculture business. The sense of land stewardship is what drives Shale Oak. Their winemaker Curtis Hascall is in his early 30’s and grew up in Watford England. He graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in food-science. He worked with Consulting winemaker Kevin Patrick Riley before coming on board with Shale Oak. Consultant winemaker Kevin Riley is well know in Paso and consults for several wineries as well as owning and running Proulx with his wife Genoa. His adventure style shows in the wines.

Before we began our tasting our pourer got us each a small glass of a palate cleanser called evo that was developed by a couple for their senior project at Cal Poly. The pH is the same as wine, so it is better than crackers or water. Our tasting began with the 2011 Sui. Sui is the second element in Japanese philosophy and represents water, fluidity, magnetism and suppleness. This blend of Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Albarino, Pinot Grigio is bright and clear with honeydew melon and a nice minerality. We next moved on to the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. I know…Cabernet as the first red on a menu? Seems a little out of order doesn’t it? But this is a lovely approachable soft cab with just a little petite Verdot. The Cab has a very interesting nose. It is deep rich and smoky. On the palate it is lighter bodied almost with a Pinot Noir mouth feel, but still a very deep nose.

The 2009 Syrah had berries on the nose and was meaty and smoky on the palate. This is a fruit forward new world style wine.

The 2009 Petite Sirah has a sense of caramel, this is a bigger wine, but very approachable. You get violets on the nose. Unlike many Petite Sirahs this is not heavy or inky. It has great aromas and flavors but is lighter on the palate. They once did a pairing of this with an ice cream with a caramel ribbon (yum).

The 2009 Petit Verdot is dry but not as dry as a typical Petit Verdot. You get a burst of raisin with this. This one sits at 16% alcohol but is not hot.

The Cabernet and all of their whites are grown on their Pleasant Valley Vineyard on the East side. Here on the property by the winery they grow Syrah, Grenache and Zinfandel. The Zin is young and not producing much yet so they supplement their Zin by buying fruit from Willow Creek Farms right down the road. Willow Creek is owned by Kevin Riley.

Their white wines are aged in stainless, and the reds in oak. Their 2012 Zin is currently aging in New Oak.

The tasting room is stunning with vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows on the front, clean lines and a sense of peacefulness.

They have a beautiful patio where they have music on the last Sunday of each month. They sell wine by the glass and encourage people to bring their lunch and enjoy the patio.

Really this place is stunning and the wines were really wonderful.

If you need a little Zen time, this is the place to come. Bring a snack, get a glass of one of their wines and relax and rejuvenate on the serene patio with the beautiful water features.

Sculpterra Wine & Art – Roaming the sculpture garden

August 22, 2013

Sculpterra is located on the East side of Paso off of Linne Road. This unique winery greets you with a magnificent sculpture garden. Surrounded by gorgeous iron fencing by master black smith Robert C. Bentley the garden itself is filled with the beautiful sculpture work of John Jagger.

Dr. Warren Frankel bought this property back in the 1980’s and moved his family there in 1990. Paul his son is the winemaker, a graduate of Cal Poly in Viticulture and Enology. Paul is more than just the winemaker, he also manages the vineyards, deals with fruit and juice sales and occasionally can be found pouring in the tasting room.

As we were here on a Saturday, the winery was busy and had an accordion player playing live in the tasting room. In addition to making their own wines, they also sell bulk fruit and juice to small independent winemakers. They do a wide variety of wines here, including Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay, Grenache, Pinot Noir, Primitivo, Mourvedre, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wines are lovely and it is a wonderful place to come grab a glass of wine and wander the sculpture garden for a little art fix.

Enjoy a virtual stroll through their amazing sculpture gardens…you’ll have to provide your own wine, I recommend a rose.

It’s a Viognier kinda day (with a little Chard on the side)

June 6, 2013

It was Thursday and our night for pairings, so I pulled out Sid Goldstein’s book “The Wine Lover’s Cookbook” and pulled together a menu that will pair a little with Chardonnay and a little with Viognier.

We are having Chilled Corn and Sundried Tomato Chowder, Crab Jicama and Mango Salad with Lemon-Curry dressing and Chicken Paprika with dried apricot and almond relish. The Chowder will pair with a 2007 Miramonte Chardonnay, the Crab salad will pair with both the Chardonnay and a 2010 Zaca Mesa Viognier (Happy 40^th Zaca Mesa!), and the Chicken Paprika will pair exclusively with the Viognier.

Farmer’s Market vegetables

So this morning I got up early, hit the gym and headed to the Molto Vegas Farmers Market at the Springs Preserve to pick up the produce!

As you can see I scored fresh desert corn, butter lettuce, garlic, onion, a Meyer lemon, a mango, and two regular lemons. I raided my pantry and freezer for chicken stock (we had some frozen that I Michael made), cumin, coriander, paprika, olive oil, honey, turmeric, chili powder and tarragon. Hit the garden for chives and green onions and made a trip to Whole Foods for the rest. I figured Whole Foods would be a one-stop shop for the varied items that I needed. We picked up organic chicken breasts, blue crab meat, sour crème, dried apricots, sweet paprika, caraway seeds, sliced mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and pasta. I picked up slivered almonds from the bulk area since I just needed 3 tablespoons, season croutons for the soup and jicama. So I have seen sliced jicama in the produce section but they didn’t have any so I had to have someone come and help me find it! It is a bulbous root that runs around $1.49 lb. and the one I picked ran me $2.79. I only used about 1/3 of it.

So I started with the soup since it needed to chill for 3 to 4 hours. Olive oil, onions, tarragon, cumin, turmeric and lemon zest get going in the soup pot then you add the corn, corn cobs, chicken stock and white wine. I used a Viognier that I had already opened. This boils, and then simmers a bit then you pull out the cobs and add the roasted garlic, lemon juice and sour crème and then process it in the blender or food processor. Add the rough chopped sundried tomatoes and toss it in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours.

While that is chilling I jump onto the crab salad. Crab meat, diced mango, diced jicama and then a dressing with Meyer lemon juice and zest, champagne vinegar, mayo and a homemade curry powder with cumin, turmeric, chili powder and coriander. Mix it all up and pop it in the fridge for 2 hours. (there is a chillin’ theme here!)

On to the relish for the chicken. Dice the dried apricots; add champagne vinegar (it called for raspberry, but I wasn’t buying a whole bottle for ¾ teaspoon!), honey, green onions, caraway seed, lemon zest and toasted almonds. Then chill this for an hour!

Finally the chicken. I pound out the breasts season with salt, paprika, sage and lemon zest and brown them in butter and oil then drain them on paper towels. Then cook the onions add the mushrooms, marjoram, sweet paprika, caraway seed and roasted garlic (I had this left over from the previous recipe and it gave a sweeter flavor to the dish). Once this is cooked up I added the chicken stock and sour cream and then put the breasts back in. I cooked up some buttered noodles to serve this on.

Now for the pairings. The Chardonnay was beautiful with the Chowder. And this chilled soup just develops more flavors the longer it chills. (I enjoyed it for lunch for several more days!). The salad was fine with the Chard, but the jicama really came to life with the Viognier. The Chicken and the Viognier were spectacular on several levels. The earthiness of the mushrooms and the sauce were really lovely creating a new depth when paired with the wine and then the apricots and the relish really popped.

All in all, I was pretty impressed with myself. Thanks Sid for the help! I look forward to cooking my way through this book!

Crushed Grape Chronicles

Adventures in Wine Exploration

Viognier

Tablas Creek Vineyard – The Rhones, the new Adelaida AVA, natural fermentation and the use of foudres.

The Rhone Grapes at Tablas Creek Vineyard

The Adelaida AVA

Native Yeast Fermentation

Use of Foudres

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A Conversation with Michael Larner of Larner Vineyards & Winery

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Sta. Rita Hills, the Burgundy of Santa Barbara

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Ballard Canyon, Santa Barbara’s newest AVA

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The varied and amazing wines and wineries of Santa Barbara County

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Shopping for wine…..

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Shale Oak – a holistic sense of sustainability

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Sculpterra Wine & Art – Roaming the sculpture garden

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It’s a Viognier kinda day (with a little Chard on the side)

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Viognier

The Rhone Grapes at Tablas Creek Vineyard

The Adelaida AVA

Native Yeast Fermentation

Use of Foudres

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