TN: Cimarone 2007 3CV Bank

Cimarone is a new producer in the recently created Happy Canyon AVA located in the eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley. The Cimarone 2007 3CV Bank is their entry-level wine made with estate fruit from Three Creek Vineyard. Based on the blend of 47% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Syrah, 4% Merlot, 3% Malbec, and 3% Petit Verdot, this wine looks like it consists primarily of the fruit that didn't maker the cut in their luxury cuvée, Le Clos Secret. Regardless, I like to try the lower level wines to get a sense of a winery's style, and this wine also provided a good chance to re-visit something I tried previously.

The bouquet reflects the contributions of both Cabernets with cedar, dried herbs and currants front and center. Barrel aromas of toast and caramel, fortunately, are secondary and not too distracting. Tasted blind, I might well have pegged this as a Chilean Carmenere based on the nose. The flavors are typical of an oak aged Bordeaux blend with dark fruit and moderate weight on the mid-palate. Unfortunately, the finish is poor. It's harsh, somewhat medicinal and a little hot. While the wine is not overly tannic, I can't help but think it's over-extracted because of the bitter, herbal flavors that linger.

I really liked this wine when I tasted it a few months ago. I think this confirms what I've always thought: a small taste is very different than a full glass or two. A taster can only pick up several aromas at once, thus more than a few sniffs are required to unlock all of a wine's aromas. Moreover, the harshness of a highly extracted wine usually becomes more pronounced with more sips. Upon further review, this just isn't more than an average wine despite the lovely earthy aromatics. Many $15 to $20 Chilean wines offer similar qualities, but simply taste better.

Pros: Earthy Aromas, Dark Fruit, Moderate Tannins
Cons: Harsh Finish, Some Obvious Oak, Over-extracted (?)
Decant: Yes, mainly to avoid sediment
Price: $22 from Tastes of the Valleys
QPR: Poor/Mediocre (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

TN: Buttonwood 2002 Cabernet Franc

The Buttonwood 2002 Cabernet Franc is 100% varietal Cabernet Franc, labeled at 13.6% ABV. Sounds like a nice combo in theory, and it also works out well in practice. Buttonwood is a Santa Ynez producer primarily of Bordeaux varietals, and what makes them interesting is a unique attractively rustic "house style" combined with the majority of wines priced at under $20. Their reds receive extended aging in older barrels, which imparts a character to their wines that most producers with their 18 months in 50% new oak sort of regimes don't achieve. I think they do lose some varietal character due to their "house style," but the wines are nonetheless individualistic.

This wine opened up with the "Buttonwood funk" as I call it based on tasting a variety of their wines. I'm guessing it's some form of Brett or microbially produced aroma, but it's definitely not your garden variety barnyard smell. Once the wine opened up herbs and currants were also noticeable, but the house style funk remained most prominent. Middle-weight blackberry flavors backed by appropriate acidity showed on the palate. What I liked most, though, were the coffee and earth flavors on the lingering finish and the copious, mature tannins. This is not an overly complex or elegant wine, but it's true to itself and its age has rounded off a few of the rustic edges.

I purchased this wine as part of a vertical including the 2001, 2002 and 2003 vintages for $14 per bottle. This was my favorite bottle of the three, and taken individually or together they represent a great value. The only caveat is that they're bottled with synthetic corks, and I know these aren't good for long-term aging. Buttonwood expects you to drink their wines on release, basically.

Pros: Rustic House Style, Pleasingly Bitter Finish, Mature Tannins
Cons: Not Complex
Decant: Yes, develops with air
Price: $14 from Buttonwood Winery
QPR: Excellent (out of Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good or Excellent with Fair denoting expectations were met for the price point)

Cabernet Franc from Eastern Santa Ynez

I've been a big fan of Cabernet Franc from Los Alamos in the western portion of Santa Barbara County. But I hadn't come across a decent Cab Franc (at least in my price range) from the eastern reaches of Santa Ynez. The sub-region known as Happy Canyon reputedly is well-suited for Bordeaux varietals, though, and thus should produce Cab Franc more in line with St. Emilion than Chinon. However, my only prior experience was with the unsatisfactory Happy Canyon 2007 Chukker.

A few tastings from last weekend offered a much better picture of what Happy Canyon is capable of producing. In fact, the Happy Canyon Vineyard 2008 Chukker, which I learned is styled after a youthful and fruity Beaujolais yet made primarily from Cab Franc instead of Gamay, showed much better than past vintages I've tasted. Part of it was probably tasting it closer to its spring release since it's not built to age, but it's simply much fresher and less cloying than previous versions. It's a definite success as a wine to be consumed much like a rose during the summer. The price is fair around $15.

I also enjoyed the 2006 Piocho from Happy Canyon Vineyard. It's a blend of 50% Cab Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% each of Merlot, Malbec and Petite Verdot. While the aromatics are a bit simplistic and tilted towards the jammy red fruit end of the spectrum, there's a good hint of roasted herbs and peppers in the background. There's also robust tannic structure that could use some age to resolve. While the pro critics aren't fond of pyrazines, a wine as fruit-driven as this is enhanced by a little green from my perspective. Although it's a round, crowd pleaser, I'd hope with age the fruit would recede a bit to show more of these secondary qualities. It's fairly priced at $30 for the '06 vintage if you're a fan of the style.

Happy Canyon Vineyard is owned by the Barrack family, who also own the Second Growth Chateau Lascombes in the Margaux district of Bordeaux. Their winemaker Doug Margerum is involved in several other projects in the Santa Barbara area, including another Happy Canyon producer, Cimarone. I tasted two Cimarone wines, the 2006 Clos Secret and the 2007 Three Creek Vineyard Bank. The Clos Secret is essentialy the same blend as the Piocho, but with a larger proportion of Petit Verdot and no Merlot. Thus, it's not surprising given the same winemaker and similar blending practices that Cimarone's Clos Secret shows many of the same qualities as Happy Canyon Vineyard's Piocho. It did seem less structured, however, and the $40 price tag, reduced from an eye-popping $60, is rather optimistic for a new producer in this economy.

The 2007 Three Creek Vineyard Bank provided my favorite variation on the Happy Canyon Cab Franc blend theme. It's 47% Cab Franc, 35% Cab Sauv, 8% Syrah, 4% Merlot, 3% Malbec, and 3% Petit Verdot. Made in an approachable style, it provides a nice mix of fresh fruit flavors with enough structure to hold its own as a serious red wine. Perhaps it's a function of vintage, but it's less jammy and shows more delicate floral and plum aromas. The flavor arc is what I'd think of as "classic," with lively fruit complemented by good acidity evolving into a supple finish. I'd love to see if the '07 Clos Secret goes in this direction as well, supplementing balanced fruit with the structure to age. Regardless, the '07 Bank is a good value at $22.

In sum, Happy Canyon Cab Francs show no lack of ripeness, though it seems complexity and overall balance are still a work in progress. I don't think Happy Canyon will displace Los Alamos as my preferred local Cab Franc enclave, but there's plenty going on with the varietal that's worth following. With a little less in the way of ultra-ripe fruit qualities, the Piocho and the Clos Secret could be stunning wines. This might just be a case of nature delivering the goods in a given vintage.

Another Santa Ynez Trip

I haven't followed up with notes from Paso Robles despite there being some truly worthwhile words to be written with respect to producers like Villa Creek and Caparone. And yet I'm already out tasting again. This time it's another run through Santa Ynez.

We hit Foxen Vineyards for a second go-round, this time before the Happy Hour hordes descended. The initial impression stands: ripe, generous and well-made. Their 2006 Block 8 Bien Nacido Pinot Noir was the wine of the day due to its curiously French aromatics juxtaposed with rich California fruit flavors. The aromas were a mix of floral and funky "forest floor" smells with just a bit of ripe red fruit showing through as well. Good acidity produced a suitable balance and a long finish. Although there's no subtlety, this is just an alluring wine that I'd even dare suggest is worth its $54 price tag if you have the means. I suspect we tasted from an especially great bottle of a very good wine, but those are indeed the most memorable wines.

Foxen also managed to put together a rare 16% alcohol wine that held together, the 2006 Williamon-Dore Syrah. While there's no mistaking the viscosity of the ethanol and the depth of extract, it's not a hot or awkward wine. In fact, it's effusive in its bouquet and seamless on the palate. I'd still classify this as a cocktail wine, but it's one of the best entries in the genre I've encountered. I do wonder, though, if there's any point to aging a wine that is so youthfully exuberant and delicious. Meanwhile, their whites were wonderfully crisp and their Mourvedré rose showed a layer of earthiness that's not often found in pink wines. There's a real diversity of wines being produced by Foxen, all of which are well-made.

While I'm impressed with Foxen and their Bien Nacido Pinot Noir topped my list on the day, I once again have to come back to Longoria Wines as my personal favorite. Top to bottom, Longoria is the best I've come across in Santa Ynez. I can only hope that the Sea Smoke band wagoners don't learn of Longoria's Fe Ciega vineyard, because Longoria is just toeing the "affordable luxury" line as it is. With Longoria's multi-cuvee approach to his various Pinot Noirs, I get the sense he has a certain French ideology towards terroir and his wine in general. There are blends for early drinking, and there are blends for aging. And virtually every wine has a good acidic backbone leading to a fresh juiciness that leavens the fruit and alcohol in his larger framed wines. Where Foxen's wines lean towards the Parker style of excess, Longoria's always seem to hit that magic balance between California fruit and European structural balance. All of Longoria's 2007 Pinot Noirs in particular are superb, and the 2006 Fe Ciega Pinot Noir seems structured enough to evolve from its current embryonic state into a wine of tremendous nuance and complexity.

Although Foxen and Longoria differ stylistically, there is one commonality worth noting: they've both been making wine in the region for quite a while. That's always something to keep in mind with so many wealthy hobbyists jumping into the wine making game with much enthusiasm, but little experience. There's something to be said in terms of evolution, both of the individual sort via experience gained over decades and survival of the fittest.