Clos Pepe, Cold Heaven and Longoria

CLOS PEPE, COLD HEAVEN AND LONGORIA - Santa Ynez Valley

Since we were due to pick up our first Longoria shipment of the year, we decided to make a full day out of the trip to Los Olivos. At first we were thinking about heading to the beginning of Foxen, but at Larry Shaffer's (of Tercero and Fess Parker) suggestion we scheduled a tour at Clos Pepe, then worked back towards Los Olivos.

Clos Pepe Vineyard

Bar none, this was the most interesting, thorough and hospitable vineyard tour and tasting I've had the chance to enjoy. Wes Hagen, winemaker and grower at Clos Pepe, leads the tour and is a fountain of information. Tours are only given once a day, at 10:30 AM, and for good reason: it's thorough. We started off with a quick introduction to the sheep, dogs and even chickens on the estate. The sheep are used to mow down the cover crop between rows, which is important for nitrogen fixation. To protect the sheep, a mastiff stands guard against any intruders such as coyotes.

Next we moved onto a brief tutorial on pruning and general background on the vineyard. The vines are cordon trained, meaning there is a permanent, lignified, thick piece of vine running horizontally. The previous vintage's canes are then clipped down to the cordon leaving behind only a spur with a bud on it. On each cordon there are about five spurs, and each vine had two cordons. The vineyard as a whole is oriented with rows running from north to south. Wes Hagen commented that while in the Old World south-facing vines are more typical to encourage ripeness, in California there is ample sunshine. Thus the orientation is chosen to limit exposure such that the fruit can hang longer before it reaches sugar maturity. Wes joked that whenever he comes back from France, he has to forget everything he learns about viticulture. Of course, there was mention of the transverse (east-west running) mountain range due to the peculiar tectonic action in this corner of the world as well the the diatomaceous earth that provides the soil with silica and calcium.

The tasting took place in the Pepe's home--incredible hospitality if you ask me. Wes provided a cheese course--Gouda, (real) Cheddar, Camembert and goat cheese--along with the five wines. Notes are below. All the while Wes provided commentary on a variety of topics. On sulfites, he noted you can't fear them as a winemaker. And while Clos Pepe is farmed organically, he had strong words along the lines of "organic is BS" in terms of the organic movements as a whole. For him it appears organic farming is a means to an end--better wine. But it's not reasonable in his mind to demand all types of farming pursue organic techniques at this point. He also suggested that often it's good to let go as a wine drinker. Geek out when appropriate, but just enjoy it otherwise: "drink like a 5 year old." Another nugget was wine is a craft, not art, like making a chair. This was one of those times where it was great just to sit back and absorb while listening to a very entertaining and informative lecture.

The tour and tasting wrapped up at about 1 PM.

• 2009 Clos Pepe Estate Chardonnay Barrel Fermented - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Very fresh, citrus and white stone fruits. Clean (precise), dry with a long finish. Minerality. Pears on the nose. Took a few minutes to open up--sulfites blowing off, perhaps?
  
  Fermented in neutral oak, goes through ML and aged on lees. But also has rippin good acidity. I love this style that gets the body and richness with balancing acidity and light-handed oak influence.


• 2009 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Primary, but open. Plummy, red fruits, perfumed, sage. Some smokey flavor, integrated structure. Complete wine--beginning, middle and end--long finish. Tightly wound at present, though showing well.


• 2007 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Cherry jam, spice, sage and ginger on the nose. More open than 2009. Structured with integrated oak. Pretty ripe on nose and by flavor, though not heavily extracted or alcoholic.
  
  Wes Hagen suggested 3-4 years further aging to bring out earthier characteristics.


• 2006 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Favorite of tasting--seems to be at a really good spot right now. Earthy, mushroom, truffle, floral (rose) and mild spice. Good acidity and core of fruit. Integrated structure, fine tannin.
  
  Interesting to compare to the '06 Ojai Clos Pepe tasted a few months ago. The Ojai had a more extracted, baked fruit quality to my palate. Supposedly Ojai's was all Pommard clones, but I'm not sure if it was harvested later or treated differently otherwise.


• 2008 Axis Mundi Syrah Sleepy Hollow Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
  
  Meaty/bacon aromas, lavender, round fruit and zippy acidity. Very fruit-driven wine. Tannins not noted, but acidity gives it balance.

Cold Heaven

After the atypically long and interesting tour and tasting--plus lunch by the pond in Clos Pepe's vineyard--the Cold Heaven tasting was a more typical format. However, the wines are anything but typical. Cold Heaven's tasting room is a tasting bar at the front of their winery in Buellton. And by winery, I mean utilitarian space in a small industrial park. Exactly my style!

While Cold Heaven is best known for its Viognier from a variety of SBC vineyards (Le Bon Climat, Sanford and Benedict, Curtis and formerly Vogelzang), Morgan Clendenen's collaborative efforts with Condrieu vintner Yves Cuilleron and the remarkable Syrah should not be missed. Jeb Dunnick's Rhone Report totally nails it when it comes to Cold Heaven's wines, IMO. I'm just a 2nd assenting opinion here. If you like Syrah in a lower octane mold, this is the one to pursue. The 2004 is pretty funky, though, in an old world farmyard sense. The 2003 and 2005 are more spicy, floral and garrigue-laden with a core of fresh fruit.

• 2008 Cold Heaven Sauvignon Blanc Strangelove - USA, California, Central Coast
  
  Peaches on the nose, fresh, high acid mouth watering sort of wine. Grapefruit pith on the finish. 50% stainless, 50% neutral oak.


• 2008 Cold Heaven Viognier Le Bon Climat Santa Barbara County - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Continues to be favorite in Cold Heaven Viognier lineup. Perfumed, honeysuckle, great balance, medium body with med/high acidity. Combines the honeyed aromatics with unreal freshness and precision. Finishes with a bit of pith. World class stuff, IMO.


• 2009 Cold Heaven Viognier - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
  
  Bigger bodied, lower acidity than Le Bon Climat--from Curtis Vineyard in warmer heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. Floral, spicey and a notion of toast--maybe some SO2? Solid wine, just isn't as racy as the Le Bon Climat.


• 2007 Domaine des 2 Mondes Viognier Saints and Sinners Sanford & Benedict - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Floral, broadly textured yet finely woven, big, serious and tropical. This is the Viognier if you like Cali style Chardonnay--it's a white wine for red wine drinkers. But it is not overly oaky or toasty, just creamy, and the acidity is really lively underneath it all.


• 2004 Cold Heaven Syrah Second Sin Santa Barbara County - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Smelling this immediately takes me to France--leathery/horsey aromas, earthy, tar and herbs. The palate is lively with good fruit and tannin. Definitely of a certain style, let's say just a wee bit Bretty. I suspect if poured side by side with some expensive French N. Rhone Syrahs or S. Rhone CdP it would more than hold its own due to the funk. Alas, I'm looking for something a bit cleaner from CA Syrah.


• 2005 Cold Heaven Syrah Second Sin Santa Barbara County - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  The Syrah counterpart to the great Le Bon Climat Viognier. Very similar to the '03 vintage which was flat out one of the best Syrahs I've tasted. Elegantly styled, more fruit driven than the '04. Perfumed with spice and pepper. Firm tannin, lively acidity, creamy texture. Cold Heaven is known as a Viognier house, but the Syrahs are a hidden gem. 13.6% ABV, by the way, and not at all underripe in flavor.

Longoria Wines

This is our only wine club (or mailing list). The commitment is minimal--8 bottles per year--and we get to participate in the various open houses and special events. Plus, the wine is uniformly good to great. Definitely of the fruit-forward style, but with plenty of structure and acidity for larger framed wines. The Pinots are my favorites, and that's the overall consensus as well. Just another bandwagon for me to joyfully hop on, I suppose!

Richard Longoria is pretty old school. He's one of the originals in Santa Barbara County of the same generation as Jim Clendenen, Adam Tolmach and Richard Sanford. He's also very proud to have learned under Andre Tchelistcheff early in his career. But he's a quiet, unassuming sort of vintner, so he tends to fly under the radar, especially with the rapid growth in the post-Sideways era.

• 2009 Longoria Pinot Grigio - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  See previous note. Varietally on-target, and priced fairly. One for sipping on a hot day or with the right food pairing.


• 2009 Longoria Pink Wine Cuvee June - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Same experience as with my previous note. Watermelon and strawberry. But doesn't have the gum numbing acidity I look for in a rosé. Plenty of juicy fruit, just feels a little flat to my taste.


• 2008 Longoria Pinot Noir Rancho Santa Rosa - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Loved the '07 vintage of this cuvee; this is just as good. A bit more acidic and lighter in weight with cranberry and cherry flavors. Mushrooms on the nose. Medium body, fresh, structured with fine tannin.


• 2007 Longoria Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills
  
  Seems to be opening up. Shows mushroom and a definite spiciness. Full bodied and rich. Complex with firm structure. Plenty of fruit here, but not showing the baked edge to it I found in the '06. This looks like it'll get really good soon.


• 2008 Longoria Tempranillo Clover Creek Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
  
  Big ripe fruit, but also tannic and tightly structured. This needs several years to unwind.


• 2007 Longoria Syrah Alisos Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  Huge structure! Tannic and acidic with dark fruit (berry, cassis) and complexing pepper and licorice aromas. Alisos isn't a truly cool climate vineyard, but isn't hot, either--this sits in that middle ground between the two poles. Big and ripe, yet structured and savory. Needs 3-5 years to unwind, I'd wager. Sometimes this bottling has a slightly porty feel to it; this is really chiseled. 6.9 g/L TA, 3.57 pH, 15.1% ABV.


• 2009 Longoria Albariño Beso del Sol Clover Creek Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
  
  Delicious dessert wine with honeyed aromatics. The real quality here is lively acidity with a lighter texture than a typical sticky. 11.9% ABV, 12% RS (~120 g/L RS) and 6.6 g/L TA with 3.36 pH. Apparently the result of a heat spike roasting the fruit, but only enough so that it raisined a bit then developed with further hang time. A fortuitous accident of nature it seems, and just the sort of dessert wine I like.

All in all, a great day in the valley. I'll miss it when we move!

Tasting Tablas Creek at East Beach Wine

I've been a fan of Tablas Creek since visiting their tasting room almost two years ago. From both a business and stylistic perspective, I love their approach. They've had a long-term model when it comes to building the brand. I've heard their plan was to become profitable in 15 years. Meanwhile, their winery, portfolio and prices seem to have grown incrementally, but modestly over time. This is a refreshing approach when so many producers seem to expect instant gratification despite huge overheads. Tablas Creek has earned its price points over time, not just from a big score in one vintage or another.

The wines seem to display California sunshine and a relatively arid climate, but within a classically structured (i.e. French) style. They are not all fruit, and they are not all earth, either. For me their top wines represent the best of what California producers can do. They are rich, full bodied and flavorful, yet complex, structured and ageworthy. My only criticism is that the Cotes de Tablas wines seem very front-loaded for early consumption without much structure to frame the fruit. Perhaps this is more a demand of the domestic market, but at the $20-$25 price level the depth is not there. There is plenty of exuberance, though, so it may come down to taste.

The Esprit cuvées, both in Blanc and Rouge form, were revelatory. I believe I've tasted 3 or 4 Esprit Rouge bottlings and the remarkable quality is that each vintage shows so very differently. While one might think blending tends to blur difference, the differences in each variety seemingly are summed--think of the vintage difference = (a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + d^2)^(.5) summing in quadrature. Here the 2008 seemed quite feminine and approachable, which Sales Manager Tommy Oldre said was a result of Tablas Creek letting the vintage express itself instead of trying to re-create the rich, powerful 2007 version. The 2006 in contrast seemed a bit more burly and recalcitrant, though no less character-filled. The Esprit Blanc, meanwhile, was simply one of the best full-bodied whites I've tasted. It often seems to me that barrel toast overwhelms many rich, barrel-aged whites, but here aging in foudre (large wood containers) seems to have reduced the negative impact while achieving the positive effects of aging in wood. These are expensive wines, but wines I would not hesitate to buy when shopping in this price range.

• 2009 Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas Blanc - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  
  45% Viognier, 28% Roussanne, 20% Marsanne, 7% Grenache Blanc. White stone fruit, toast. Viscous, fat and a hot finish. All up-front flavor and very full bodied, but flabby on the back end.


• 2008 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  
  65% Rousanne, 30% Grenache Blanc, 5% Picpoul Blanc. Aged in foudre. Major step up from the Cotes de Tablas Blanc. Savory nose with apple cider and seaweed (yes, as odd as it sounds). Tight structure, refreshing acidity, cleaner flavors than Cotes de Tablas. Long finish. Creamy texture. Has mouthfeel of a red wine with grace of a white wine. Best white I've yet tasted in a full bodied style, though I don't drink many of these to be fair. Worth the price IMO.


• 2008 Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  
  42% Grenache, 21% Syrah, 20% Counoise, 17% Mourvedre. Good, noticeable acidity, mild tannins, herb, cherry, funk. Not much finish. Seems front loaded like the Blanc to be fruit-forward and early drinking.


• 2008 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  
  38% Mourvedre, 30% Grenache, 26% Syrah, 6% Counoise. Again, a massive step up from the Cotes de Tablas Rouge. Perfumed aromas with kirsch and mild gaminess. Big bodied, creamy, yet seemingly weightless. Sweet fruit, ripe tannin, medium acidity. Very pleasurable to drink now, almost seems a feminine style, though it is a large scaled, full flavored wine.


• 2006 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  
  45% Mourvedre, 28% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 5% Counoise. Seaweed, olive, eucalyptus, kirsch and dark fruit. Grippy tannin. Seems a bit rustic, in the best possible sense, compared to the 2008.


• 2007 Tablas Creek Syrah - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  
  With 10% Grenache. Gamy with cherry fruit. Big, full body, tons of ripe tannin. A very backward wine, though with lots of raw material and structure. I wouldn't touch this for some time.

Basically, this tasting confirmed my prior impressions. Tablas Creek is a benchmark producer for Paso Robles. And yet their prices are very fair for what they offer. Usually I'm left unimpressed by wines cracking the $40-$50 range because they seem to be chasing some fashionable style or are simple products of ego. Not so with Tablas. This producer is the real deal and even produces its top cuvées in moderate quantities such that they are not terribly hard to find.

A Day Trip to Amador County: Part II

The second stop on our visit to Amador County was Noceto, conveniently located just around the corner from Terre Rouge/Easton. Other than a rather pedestrian and semi-sweet Pinot Grigio, this was a great stop as well. These folks are Sangiovese specialists covering the full spectrum from modestly-priced table wine up to single vineyard bottlings. While I did go through the full lineup of single vineyards, the tasting was rather rapid fire and from small glasses. So it's probably not worth trying to differentiate from my notes, though they all had specific character and tended to be more rounded than the "normale" Sangiovese. I liked their 2008 Nutz! ($12), a Barbera-Sangiovese table wine, the 2008 Sangiovese ($18) and the 2007 Riserva Sangiovese ($20, normally $24) most given the price points. All had the acidity and leathery character I expect from Sangio, with darker and more rounded fruit moving up in price. Their 2007 OGP Zin, from the Original Grandpère Vineyard planted in 1869, was my favorite of the trip. Dark and big, yes, but also spicy and peppery with sufficient lift. The Vernaccia (dry, with melon, pineapple and minerality) and Mistura (a dark blend of Alicante, Syrah, Petite Sirah and port varieties) were also excellent. Really nice values here as well as the sub-$20 wines were spot on as pairings for pizza and pasta, not just the funky and/or flabby leftovers that didn't fit anywhere else. Probably more varietal character here than compared to Central Coast Sangios, and cheaper, too. Another producer that started in the 80s, still going strong.

Morse/Il Gioiello was up next. It's a drive out a good ways on narrow, patched up roads, but oddly enough it is gated, has a bocce court, and appears to be thoroughly modern including a Tuscan-styled tasting room. Maybe it was just the power of suggestion, but the wines here seemed to be more fruit-driven with more obvious oak, slicker and more modern in a New World mold. Definitely reminded me more of what I find towards Santa Barbera in terms of Italian and Rhone varieties. Instead of the attractive, precise rusticity and character of Terre Rouge and Noceto, these are highly polished wines. I was most pleased with the 2007 Mourvedre which still showed lots of its feral and tannic character. I suppose the Shenandoah Valley works quite well for this variety. The various other wines--Barbera, Sangiovese, Cabernet, Viognier, Zin, Montepulciano--were good, sound wines at fair prices ($20-$30), just more jammy than I like when it comes to expressing varietal and vineyard character.

The last stop was Karly, largely a Zin producer. I'm not a big Zin fan, and several of their wines epitomized the style I just can't understand. One was all raisins. Another was certifiably sweet and roasted, though it seems that was intentional. One was more spicy, though, so one out of three ain't too bad. Their 2008 Mourvedre, named "El Alacran" (The Scorpion), was good fun, however. Definitely unfined and unfiltered, it's a cloudy purple-red in color and a chewy mouthful of ripe Mourvedre character (albeit $35). Their Marsanne was oxidized and volatile, while the Sauvignon Blanc was candy-sweet, which I struggled to wrap my head around. My guess is they sell to less European-influenced palates, hence the cloying sweetness and uber-ripe fruit in certain wines. But it makes it very hit or miss even if you just want a (reasonably) dry New World styled wine.

All-in-all, a nice 4 hours in a different wine country. Much more down to earth than most wine regions without the insulting stratospheric pricing. Terre Rouge's Rhone varietals were among the very best I've tasted from California, yet were priced very reasonably given that most had a bit of age on them. Same story for Noceto, except younger wines based mostly on Sangiovese. I was not expecting as much old world influence in a region known for big, ripe Zins. I'd bet though more producers are like Karly, while Terre Rouge and Noceto are the outliers. Given the style and pricing, I'd be tempted to join Terre Rouge and Noceto's wine clubs if I lived in driving distance.

A Day Trip to Amador County: Part I

While visiting my girlfriend's family in Davis, California, we took a day trip to Amador County--or alternately the California Shenandoah Valley--to visit a few wineries. Davis is about equal distances from Napa City and Plymouth, but the price differential made the choice pretty easy. Tasting is apparently free everywhere in Amador, and it seemed each winery went through nearly a dozen wines. Napa seems to run $15-$30 just to taste several wines. I'm accustomed to the relatively high prices for tasting in Santa Barbara, usually around $8-$12 to sample a producer's portfolio. But going much higher is a bit too "price gougey" for my taste. Amador fit the bill for a budget-friendly afternoon.

The Shenandoah Valley is perhaps known best for its old vine Zinfandels, with some vineyards dating back to the pre-Prohibition era and beyond. The regions sits at the base of Sierra Nevada mountains, hence the broader designation of the region encompassing Amador, El Dorado and Calaveras as the Sierra Foothills. Although this is a warm region, likely a Region III on the Davis heat summation scale, producers tout the variety of soils and elevations at their disposal. This isn't a region for light acidic wines, but the diversity of vineyard sites appears to allow for an interesting mix of warm-climate grapes to be grown. Heat is an important part of the picture, but it's not the only the part.

I actually was not all that surprised to find a handful of noteworthy wines. Those poured at Terre Rouge/Easton were especially good. Terre Rouge is the brand used for the producer's Rhone-style wines, while Easton covers other bottlings like Cabs, Zins and Barberas. When I say Rhone-style, I definitely mean it. I'm used to the ultra-ripe, melted style of Rhone varietals from Santa Barbara and Paso Robles. Terre Rouge tastes like it came from the Old World. Their current GMS blend, the 2007 L'Autre, is a dead ringer for a cru-level Rhone if not a Chateauneuf du Pape. Red fruit, garrigue, meat, earth and heavy tannins all point to an Old World wine. Their 2004 Mourvedre--also the current release--is gamy with tar, herbs, pepper and firm tannins, like a clean Bandol. The only potential concern might be that most of the wines are very tannic, perhaps to the point that the tannins outlive the other components of the wine. But many of their wines are released with some age, so that helps bring the style into better focus. If you like earthy, structured wines that should be long-lived, this is the place for you. I also enjoyed their 2006 Barbera, which is less structured, but more polished. The Syrahs are quite good as well, though it seems we visited only a couple of the many versions they produce. Their Zins were the only disappointment since I found them tipped a bit to the raisiny side instead of the spicy, peppery side. Prices were very good values in the $15-$30 range. In terms of pricing and overall quality, this blows away the vast majority of Central Coast producers. There's a reason why a producer who began in the mid-80s is still going strong today.

Notes from the rest of the visit will post tomorrow.

Tasting Notes from Ojai: Old Creek, Vino V, and The Ojai Vineyard

Following up on my last post on Vino V Wines and Old Creek Ranch, here are a few highlights of what we tasted. This is not a comprehensive list. Just a few favorites and noteworthy wines.

We also visited The Ojai Vineyard's tasting room in downtown Ojai on this trip. This is an historic producer whose winemaker and owner, Adam Tolmach, was among the first handful of winemakers to help realize the potential of Santa Barbara County. Generally speaking I liked the Santa Maria wines more, and the warm climate Roll Ranch wines didn't have the lift and complexity of the cooler climate wines. A few notes are included here as well.

Old Creek Ranch

2008 Grenache Blanc - Decent, but middle of the road. Winemaker Michael Meager commented he wasn't terribly excited about this one, either.

2009 Loureiro - Aromatic, peaches, honey, but very acidic and mineral driven flavors. From Estelle Vineyard.

2009 Albarino - Refreshing, good body, lemon and citrus aromas. From Paragon Vineyard in Edna Valley.

2008 Carignane - Earthy, tobacco, floral, medium body, medium acid. From Camp 4 Vineyard in Santa Ynez.

2007 Cabernet Sauvigon - Very fruity, kirsch, from Branham Obsidian vineyard between St. Helena & Calistoga. Warm climate, fruit-driven Cab.

2007 Santa Barbara County Syrah - Deep fruit & lavender, earth, tannic, long finish,

2007 White Hawk Vineyard Syrah - Meaty, floral, structured, supple, elegant, currants and cherries.


Vino V Wines

2009 Confundida - Floral aromas, nice texture and acidity, unique and brimming with character. 100% Albarino from Estelle Vineyard.

2004 Syrah - Great cool climate Syrah aromas, dense and tannic. From White Hawk Vineyard in Los Alamos.

2006 Syrah - Again, great cool climate Syrah aromas, but a bit more supple. Also White Hawk.


The Ojai Vineyard

2006 Clos Pepe Chardonnay - Santa Rita Hills AVA, intense, mouthwatering, apples, lemons, not super oaky or tropical, a more restrained style.

2006 Solomon Hills Pinot Noir - Feminine Pinot, spicy, red fruits, med body, some earth.

2006 Clos Pepe Pinot Noir - Heavier, earthier, raspberry, meaty/smokey, more tannic, mushroomy, but a distracting raisin aroma is present.

2007 Santa Barbara County Syrah - Pepper and floral aromas, good structure and tannin.

2005 Bien Nacido Syrah - Spicy aromas, dark fruit, tannic, concentrated, great Syrah, should age.

2005 Roll Ranch Syrah - More jammy, fruity, seemed less concentrated, a bit of heat and roasted fruit.

2008 Roll Ranch Viognier Ice Wine - Harvested at 22 Brix, frozen, then crushed. 9% ABV, sweet but still fresh, aromatic with honey, very nectar-like, cryo-extraction seems to capture freshness and intensity (i.e sugar, flavor and acidity).

A Visit to Vino V Wines & Old Creek Ranch

A weekend back I had the opportunity to talk with winemaker Michael Meager and taste through both his label Vino V Wines and the Old Creek Ranch label, for whom he also makes the wines, at the winery just south of Ojai. Michael started at famed producer Mount Eden in Santa Cruz after finishing school before moving on to work under the famed (but modest and shy) Adam Tolmach of The Ojai Vineyard. In 2004, he started producing wines for his label at Old Creek Ranch. Then in 2007 when the winemaker position opened up at Old Creek, he took that position over as well.

Ojai isn't the best known of wine regions. While I learned there are 58 vineyards in the Ojai area, most of which are not commercial, there are only a handful of producers in the region and most of the fruit is sourced from the north in Santa Barbara County. In fact, Pierce's Disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by leaf hoppers, killed off most of the vines in the Ojai area within the last decade or two. So what's a guy with Michael's pedigree doing here in Ojai? Making damned good wine. (Though it's worth noting between The Ojai Vineyard and ultra-cult Sine Qua Non he's in rather rarefied company.)

The winery is located off of Highway 33 at the end of a residential road that crosses a small creek. It's pretty unassuming, and in fact we discovered the winery by accident last spring when driving back from a day hike in the Ojai back country. I was half expecting wines with 'Central Coast' if not 'California' appellation designations. What we found, though, was a treasure trove of small-lot wines from excellent vineyard sources. (A lesson: never prejudge a wine or winery!) After tasting an aromatic yet refreshingly acidic Portuguese variety named Loureiro that wasn't yet available for sale, we resolved to return later. Michael Meager made it even better by offering to give us a tour and tasting of his wines.

Michael's over-arching philosophy is to produce wines with light-handed intervention and little new oak that are expressive of variety and place. In fact, the red wines are generally allowed to start malolactic fermentation spontaneously, without inoculation. Most wines are aged in neutral barrels, including some whites. The main difference between the two labels is sourcing of fruit, with Vino V being focused more on what Michael terms as "strawberry, chocolate, vanilla," i.e. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah--not the flavor profile. Old Creek tends to source a diverse mix of varieties in addition to the 'meat and potato' wines like Syrah, Cab and Chard.

Tasting notes will follow in the next post, but it's worth highlighting a few wines with a bit of context. The Old Creek Ranch 2009 Loureiro is an aromatic powerhouse, brimming with floral aromas, yet tart and mineral, even a bit austere, in flavor. The Vino V 2009 Confundida, which is 100% Albariño, has a similarly floral impression which I've never encountered with this varietal. It was a bit richer in flavor than the Loureiro as well. Both wines were made from grapes sourced from Estelle Vineyard in the warmer eastern portion of Santa Ynez, though they were harvested at a fairly low sugar level by California standards. That was a bit of a surprise as I generally haven't liked wines from this area as they often seem a bit jammy and boozy. Yet these two wines stood out for their freshness and aromatic lift.

Another important observation came by way of tasting a few barrel samples. We tried two samples of the 2010 Albariño, one from neutral oak barrel and the other from a stainless steel vessel. Both were milky in color due to the suspended lees and a bit tart like lemonade as they have not gone through malolactic fermentation--nor are they intended to. But the barrel aged version was incredibly aromatic with a bright lemonade-like flavor, while the stainless steel was much more closed, albeit seemingly deeper in flavor with more grapefruit pith. Indeed, it seems that neutral oak is an important part of aromatic wine's development. Michael noted via email,

I think the neutral oak does accentuate the expressive aromatics, while the [stainless steel] tends to accentuate more of the flavor/acid/core profile in the mouth. The combination ends up being pretty neat.

Tasting of a 2010 and a 2009 Barbera proved instructive as well. The 2010 has yet to undergo malolactic fermentation and was a bit edgy and sharp in acidity as a result. The 2009, while still showing Barbera's characteristic freshness, was considerably more rounded as the tangy malic acid had been converted to softer lactic acid. But you know what, barrel samples almost universally taste really good. The freshness of the fruit and chunky, unfiltered texture is always enjoyable.

I'd be remiss if I didn't end by mentioning the various Syrahs we tasted. There were the Vino V 2004 White Hawk Vineyard Syrah, the Vino V 2006 White Hawk Vineyard Syrah, the Old Creek Ranch 2007 White Hawk Vineyard Syrah, and the Old Creek Ranch 2007 Santa Barbara County Syrah all available to taste and purchase. White Hawk Vineyard is nestled in the cool Los Alamos region of Santa Barbara County, and all of these wines showed the spicy, peppery and floral nuances of cool-climate Syrah, though vintage and age of the wine differentiated the wines. These are not light wines at all, but they have a clarity of flavor on top of the structure. At around $30 give or take a few dollars, these are first-class wines, which qualifies as a value in my book.

Tasting Justin Wines

Justin Winery held a tasting at East Beach Wine a couple weeks ago, and since they make a well-received Cab Franc blend called Justification, it was a tasting that was of particular interest. When Jeff at Viva la Wino raves over a premium California wine, well, you know it has something special. Beyond that aspect, though, I was curious to see what Justin had to offer over its full spectrum of wines. From their glossy website, it's evident these folks are bringing a Napa-style tasting resort and Napa-level capital to their Paso Robles winery. Usually Napa-level prices follow, and the question is then whether the wines deliver what the price demands.

Here are my notes:

2009 Sauvignon Blanc - $16. Crisp, very acidic, lemon, tangerine, creamy (sur lees aged), angular, a little bitter, weak finish, food wine

2009 Chardonnay - $18. Toasty, flowers, acidic, crisp (no ML), buttery with barrel flavors, toasty finish, angular, oak barrel flavors/aromas

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon - $27. Currant & cherry, a bit medicinal, vanilla & toast, mild tannin and acidity

2007 Justification - $43. Cherry & currant, spice, cinnamon, a little savory, layered, long finish, great balance, great acidity, mouth-watering, 65% Cab Franc, 35% Merlot

2007 Isosceles - $65. Dark fruit, very ripe but not pruney, good acid, structured, red fruit freshness, sweet oak, chocolate, 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cab Franc, 4% Merlot

2008 Obtuse - $25. Fortified port-style wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, very sweet, raisin and bell pepper aromas

Although this sounds a bit paradoxical, the better values in the lineup are the more expensive wines. The first three wines were not especially interesting to be blunt. While they weren't flawed, they didn't offer anything special to differentiate themselves from the rank and file at their price points. The whites in particular had sharp acidity--both are listed around 8 g/L TA on their tech sheets--which is not something I usually rag on. It's possible 2009 whites are still bottled shocked, though, so perhaps these will come around. The Cab, meanwhile, tasted simple and generic. At $25-$30, there should be excitement, and there are Cabs at half that price that offer what one gets here. This is the wine for people who want to say "I'm druhinking the Juh-stin Cah-bur-ney" in their stuffiest New England accent while wearing one of those sport coats with patches on the elbows and khakis.

The tasting turned around with the Justification, however. It's a rather elegant, layered wine with plenty of fresh, ripe fruit. I'm with Jeff on this. It's really good and justifies (ha!) its price quite well. The Isosceles is not necessary better, though it's different. It's a manly, dark wine. And I can understand the $65 price, though it's not going to win any awards for value and I personally wouldn't spend that much. The port-style Cabernet was not especially interesting--it tasted like an overripe Cab had alcohol dumped into it. That's what it is, of course, but it's not greater than the sum of its parts as one might hope.

So, that's about what I expected. High prices, but with commensurate quality about half the time. Knock about $5 or $10 off the price of each bottle and the value would be much more attractive. I think to some extent you are paying for the name here. However, one could do worse when it comes to boutique California producers, though Justin's production really is above true boutique levels at about 45,000 cases per year. This is definitely a producer where you need to cherry pick exactly what you like given what you'd be paying.

Franc Fest 2010

A Saturday in late September marks the highlight of the Santa Barbara County Cabernet Franc calendar. That day is Franc Fest, a tasting at Buttonwood Farm Winery featuring Cabernet Franc from a dozen or more local vintners. I attended the 2008 edition, but missed the 2009 tasting. Fortunately, I was able to attend the 2010 Franc Fest, and having a better sense of the producers I like, selectively tasted producers of interest.

I'll be honest. I took notes, but I wasn't dumping or spitting. So take everything with a large grain of salt. Looking in chronological order, the notes go from detailed, to sparse, to non-existent. Take what you will from that little nugget of info. Additionally, it was about 100 degrees out, and not every winery did a good job keeping the wines chilled. Only Longoria had ice buckets and others seemed to be swapping bottles in and out of coolers.

Going from memory, the following producers were present: Sforzando, Longoria, Foxen, Buttonwood, Happy Canyon, Silver, Sunstone, McKeon-Phillips, Lucas & Lewellen, Brander, Daniel Gehrs and Alexander & Wayne. I suppose we did pretty well in retrospect, though Sunstone and Alexander & Wayne we missed completely, while Lucas & Lewellen we caught only in passing. On top of that, we also tasted a couple of old wines made by Antonio Gardella under the Companeros label from Buttonwood fruit in the mid-1990s. Comments and notes by producer--when available--are below. A key distinction to keep in mind is the location of vineyard sources. In principle Santa Barbara County is quite diverse and complexity can be achieved by blending different vineyard sources. Here's a quick run down of the climates for different zones.

Los Alamos-cooler, but not really cool climate like Santa Rita Hills

Santa Maria Valley-also cooler, but not truly cold, though this does vary a fair amount depending on micro-climate

Santa Ynez-warmer, though again it varies from west to east, south to north from cooler to hotter due to the faster burn-off of the marine layer as you move inland

Happy Canyon-this is the hottest zone and makes riper, bigger, jammier wines

Foxen Vineyards

Foxen had two Cabernet Francs, one from the historic, dry-farmer Tinaquaic Vineyard of the Santa Maria AVA, the other from Rock Hollow Vineyard in Santa Ynez. Tasting these side by side, there was little doubt which was the old vine, terroir driven wine and which came from sourced grapes. Foxen is apparently increasing production, and while the Rock Hollow Cab Franc is a nice varietal wine, hopefully it's priced significantly less than the justifiable $40 tag of the Tinaquaic. The Tinaquaic Cab Franc really has that essence of the grape and the earth, like a serious Chinon. It's earthy and somewhat vegetative on the nose, yet concentrated with intense dark fruit on the palate. It has that California cool-climate complexity as well as the body and fruit. But it's not nearly as acidic (think pomegranite or cranberry) as a Chinon. One of the best wines there without a doubt, and I'm glad I have a 2006 in my cellar that I purchased on faith.

2008 Rock Hollow Cabernet Franc: Santa Ynez Valley, earthy, tobacco, vanilla, medium acid, medium body

2008 Tinaquaic Cabernet Franc: Santa Maria Valley, earthy, raspberry, more tobacco and herbs, tannic, concentrated with a core of fruit

Longoria Wines

OK, this is a personal favorite, so it's hard to be objective. They poured an older Cab Franc as well as their current releases of two Cab Franc-based blends. For my palate, the 2002 Cab Franc, a blend of fruit from Vogelzang, Gainey and Alisos Vineyards, was the real winner. These vineyards span the county from the hot Happy Canyon, to the warm Santa Ynez, to the cooler Los Alamos, respectively. Add in some bottle age, and that's a recipe for complexity. Interestingly the higher-end bottling, Evidence, was least interesting. It just seemed riper, oakier and more tannic without the complexing earthiness I like. I suspect the larger dose of Happy Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon might be to blame here.

2002 Cabernet Franc: Santa Barbara County, evolved slightly sweet roaster fruit aromas w/ dried herbs, mellowed fruit with firm tannins on the palate, very nice

2007 Blues Cuvee: Santa Barbara County, 31% Cab Franc (Alisos in Los Alamos), 27% Merlot (Alisos), 24% Syrah (Clover Creek in Santa Ynez), 18% Cab Sauv (Estelle in Happy Canyon), herbs and dark fruit, tannic, sweeter fruit but with fresh acids

2007 Evidence: Santa Barbara County, 40% Cab Franc (Alisos in Los Alamos), 35% Cab Sauv (Estelle in Happy Canyon), 19% Merlot (Alisos), 6% Malbec (Rancho Sisquoc in Santa Maria), richer, oakier, less herbs, more tannins

McKeon-Phillips

This producer operates out of an industrial park in Santa Maria, sourcing their Franc primarily from Los Alamos, though they also mentioned they have a source in Santa Ynez. Whatever the difference, be it vintage or vineyard, their 2006 and 2007 Cab Francs were wildly different. The 2006 is a simple fruit and oak bomb. Good, but simple. The 2007, however, takes those ingredients, dials them back a bit, and adds a layer of depth and complexity. This was one of my favorites of the day.

2006 Cabernet Franc: Santa Barbara County, vanilla, dark fruit, fat, oaky, simple, a bomber

2007 Cabernet Franc: Santa Barbara County, more complex, earthy, spicy, vanilla, full bodied, dark fruit, mild tannin, very good

Silver Wines

Benjamin Silver tells it like it is. In fact, he's a "straight shooter with upper management written all over him." Except he already runs his own wine label, so I guess he is upper management. While tasting his 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2008 Cab Francs, Silver lamented the impossibility of Cab Franc fetching Cab Sauv prices, even when just as good. Silver also discussed his preference for larger framed Cab Franc, which is why he blended Cab Sauv into his older bottlings, which incidentally were holding up quite well. Other topics covered included aged Loire Cab Franc--he says they age really well--and creating a great Santa Barbara Cab Franc--he says the way to go is blending from a variety of vineyards.

2000 Cabernet Franc: concentrated, still tannic, mildly earthy, has aged well

2001 Cabernet Franc: under 'Ojo Rojo' label, VA, w/ bell pepper, similar to Bedford's 2001 CF, also from Thompson vineyard

2008 Cabernet Franc: Tierra Alta Vineyard in Ballard Canyon (Santa Ynez), light, fresh, mouthwatering, pepper and floral aromas, like a Pinot Noir with Cab Franc flavor profile

Other Wines and Wineries

The rest of the producers I didn't follow up on as closely, but there are still a few comments and tasting notes to be added.

Buttonwood 2007 Cabernet Franc: A complete Cab Franc with plenty of structure, fruit and earth. I tasted this a few months ago and didn't get much from it, but this is a very good wine that seems much cleaner than older Buttonwood releases.

Happy Canyon 2007 (?) Piocho: I'm not 100% certain on the vintage, though 2007 is their current release. This was one I didn't get. Seemed rather flabby with both earthy and jammy aromas. Just not a fan of the Happy Canyon area, it seems.

Daniel Gehrs 2005 Cabernet Franc: Plum jam, low acid, not much earth, light tannin, a fruit bomb.

Sforzando 2005 Cabernet Franc: Plummy, band aid/horse sweat, medicinal, full bodied, spicy pepper finish. They also had 2009 barrel samples from a neutral and a new oak barrel. The new oak sample seemed attenuated, but more structured, while the neutral oak sample seemed more direct in its peppery, fruity expression. I liked mixing the two together to get a nice blend.

In sum, I tended to prefer the cooler climate versions, though the blended Cab Francs utilizing multiple climates also fared very well. Then again, it was hot as hell there, and the serving temperature didn't exactly flatter many of the wines. So that's a huge grain of salt to take with these comments.

Southern France vs. Santa Barbara Rhones at EBW

Local wine shop East Beach Wine hosted a tasting of Rhone blends from Southern France and Santa Barbara County recently with wines in the $15 to $30 range. So nothing super cheap, but nothing really high end, either. I won't mince words: France dominated the tasting. There weren't any bad wines, but the French wines had that elusive structure and complexity to complement the fruit. And, amusingly, the only really Bretty wine was a California one.

Here's the lineup with my guesses and the reveal:

Wine #1: Kirsch, cherry jam, wet dirt smoked meat, fairly fresh
Guess: Inexpensive French wine, mostly Grenache
Actual: Guigal 2006 Cotes du Rhone, $16, 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre

Wine #2: Dark fruit, meaty, vanilla, spice, sweeter, some heat
Guess: California, Syrah and Grenache, probably Beckmen Cuvee le Bec
Actual: Beckmen 2008 Santa Barbara County Cuvee le Bec, $18, 51% Grenache, 27% Syrah, 16% Mourvèdre, 6% Counoise

Wine #3: Eucalyptus, smokey, more tannic, earth driven, minerality
Guess: French, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre (in that order)
Actual: Chateau La Rouque 2008 Pic St. Loup Rouge, $18, 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 15%, Mourvèdre

Wine #4: Reductive/funky, toe jam, fruit up front, herbs on finish
Guess: California, Grenache
Actual: Qupe 2008 Santa Ynez Valley Los Olives Cuvee, $21, 53% Syrah, 25% Grenache and 22% Mourvedre

Wine #5: Funky, animal sweat, medicinal, sweet, hot, less structure
Guess: California, Syrah with Grenache and Mourvedre
Actual: Kunin 2005 Pape Star, $24, 50% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre and 25% Syrah

Wine #6: Garrigue, lavender, eucalyptus, tannic, sweet fruit then tannins clamp down, bitter chocolate
Guess: French, Syrah then Grenache
Actual: Perrin & Fils 2007 Vinsobres Cotes du Rhone Villages Les Cornuds, $29, 50% Syrah and 50% Grenache

I guess I did well in some respects, not so well in others. Guessing the county of origin, good. Even got one wine completely right as I'd tasted it before. But figuring out the blend was only sporadically on target.

As for the wines, Santa Barbara County did poorly. Wines #6 and #3, the Perrin Les Cornuds and the Chateau La Roque Rouge, were clear favorites, with #4, the Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee coming in a distant 3rd. The Qupe probably was a bit young given that it seemed reductive, so that didn't help it out much. But the other two California wines just lacked structure and the Kunin Pape Star was borderline flawed depending on how much Brett you can tolerate. Chateau La Roque has been a favorite on this blog, and the 2008 base-level blend was as good as the several different wines I tried from the 2007 vintage. Great value producer.

Day 2: Labor Day Weekend in Edna Valley

All in all, day two was a much better day than the previous one. Sharing tastes and dumping saved the day! I have to say the variance in quality in this region seems incredibly wide. I guess we hit more places since we weren't tempted to drink the wine at several wineries, but being prolific isn't exactly a goal of mine.

As far as the overall feeling, the Pinots and Chards are good to excellent, but depend on the style of the producer. A fair number are oaked into oblivion which is annoying. Bdx blends (sourced from Paso or warm areas of SB County) ranged from average to poor with most displaying one dimensional roasted, porty, jammy fruit. A few wineries were producing rather rustic wines in the sense they were fruity, unstructured and seemed to have a sweet-sour quality consistent with unevenly ripened fruit.

Bottom line, Kynsi and Stephen Ross (see below) are hitting it out of the park for New World Chard and Pinot. Claiborne & Churchill has a niche, and they're killing it in that niche, too. The larger producers like Laetitia and Talley (see the notes from Day 1) seemed a bit obsessed with making what I can only assume are wines meant to please critics judging by the various combinations of oak flavors, very ripe fruit and deeper extraction. Their pricing is a bit ambitious on the upper level as well, though some of their wines hit the right combo of style, price and quality. As for the small rustic places, sometimes I was hoping for a Brett bomb instead of a fruit or oxidation bomb.

Kynsi: Probably the best producer on the trip top to bottom on the trip. The Bien Nacido Pinot Blanc was exotic and refreshing with excellent flavor intensity. The Chard was everything Chard can be--rich, full bodied, but fresh and balanced. At $18, superior to Chards double the price. Then the Pinots, lovely stuff! Some are more leathery ('07 Edna Valley), others are more mushroomy ('06 Stone Corral), while some are more spicy ('07 Bien Nacido). The '07 Stone Corral was the best of all worlds, and well-priced at $48. We left with the '07 Edna Valley at $32 as it was a slightly better value. Both Syrahs, a Bien Nacido and their Edna Ranch, were superb, with the Bien Nacido showing silky dark fruits and peppery spice and the Edna Ranch showing more herbs and red fruit. Bien Nacido only sources to producers that do their fruit justice; it's a tacit stamp of approval when any winery is allowed to buy Bien Nacido fruit repeatedly. These guys and gals are on the ball.

Claiborne & Churchill: Mostly Alsatian style blends. The Gewurztraminer was exotic and in your face as it should be. The Pinot Gris was more restrained, but just as refreshing and not watery as often seems to be its varietal stamp. The Riesling, which seemed just a hair off-dry, hits with a full dose of petrol and floral aromas. Their Edelzwicker, a blend of Riesling, Gewurz, Pinot Gris and Orange Muscat, gets the best of all worlds in an off-dry package. All nice values under $20 if not $15. The reds were less exciting, though the Pinot was a good value with typicity under $30. Their Rhone blend was simple, fruity and very ripe.

Cerro Caliente: I hate to be hard on these folks who seem like great all around people, but the wines were beyond rustic. The Viognier on the 1st pour was brown and smelled of butterscotch--oxidized beyond recognition. Each red--varietal wines no less--followed suit. All were porty smelling and oxidized. They made a point of stressing they make varietal wines to express the unique qualities of each grape. But you can't do that if the house style obliterates the grapes' intrinsic qualities. The proprietor is essentially a hobbyist who makes wine on the weekends when not working as a mechanic, so it's not some kind of snobby pretentious operation. But it was rather frustrating to visit after seeing an interesting list of varietals and finding every wine to be identical. I was expecting some rustic wines and a hit or miss scenario with each wine. This was a complete miss, unfortunately, though maybe someone likes this style. I dumped nearly every wine after a smell and a sip.

Tolosa: A large scale operation with soundly made varietal wines at typical prices points. Whites $15-$20, reds $25-$30 and some reserve level wines at $40-ish. The tasting room has a view of their fermentation tanks. Some are probably 3 or 4 stories tall! Seeing the scope of the production facility which stretches on and on reminds me of the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Anyway, the wines were sound and showed typical varietal character, but didn't excite me in particular. I did like the Petite Sirah, which had insanely powerful vice grip tannins and needed years to unwind despite the dark fruit on the nose. A big plus for a producer not whitewashing the character of the grape!

Stephen Ross: Competing with Kynsi for top producer of the trip. The Chard, sourced from Talley's Oliver's Vineyard, hit all the right notes. It's stainless steel fermented and sur lees aged, but without the ridiculous oak Talley applies to its Chardonnays. It has the tropical, apple and lemon character of the grape, yet also has body and depth from aging on the lees. I have a feeling this producer is friends with Kynsi; aside from the fact they share the Stone Corral Vineyard, they also have similar stylistic approaches. The Pinots are very pleasant, New World, of course, but displaying that earth-funk and Pinot perfume typical of the elegantly styled versions of the grape in this region. The 2006 Aubaine Pinot Noir, from a vineyard in Nipomo in the southern portion of SLO, was especially good compared to their Edna Valley bottling which seemed simple in comparison. The big winner, though, was their '06 Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel. It comes from 60+ year old vines in the Templeton Gap, a cooler section of Paso Robles. While quite ripe and full bodied, it was deliciously peppery instead of porty. The 15.2% ABV was well-integrated. I'd drink much more Zin if I came across Old Vine Zins like this that had a degree of elegance to complement the full bodied fruit. I tend to like Syrah from Pinot producers, and it appears Pinot skills also translate well to Zin.

Day 1: Labor Day Weekend in Edna Valley

I took a trip to San Luis Obispo and the associated wine country for Labor Day Weekend. While I didn't take comprehensive notes, I'll include a few highlights from each winery. Tastes were all in the $5 to $10 range with most closer to $5. A lot of wines were dumped along the way here, to be honest, except at Wolff, which had a 100% success rate. Not that the wines were great--they just were not abusive to the mouth as some earlier in the day. But dumping is a good policy anyway, and I suppose a little help from less compelling wines is a good thing!

Laetitia: Should have stuck with just the sparklers and Pinots here. The Roussanne was fat and oily with a seeming surfeit of oak. The Pinot Blanc had a fresh nose, but was light on flavor. The '06 Nadia Red, a Bdx blend, smelled like cherry liqueur and was simple and super-ripe. Tasted the Brut Blanc and Cuvée M sparklers and true to form, the blanc de blancs was higher in lemony acid while the Cuvee M was a bit rounder in apple and toast flavors. Both were fruit forward in CA fashion. Five Pinots, five impressions. The '08 Reserve was a bit oaky and extracted, but had good typicity and depth for a fair $35 price. The single vineyard Pinots each displayed a specific character; I enjoyed the 2007 La Colline most for its freshness and purity. La Coupelle and Les Galets were both more masculine and extracted, albeit it good in their style. At $60 per bottle, though, they're about $10-$20 above the competition per my experience. A clone 115 Pinot was also tasted, which seemed more fruit-forward.

Phantom Rivers: This was an underwhelming tasting. I did like their 2007 Larner Vineyard Mourvedre enough to buy it as it had gaminess and dark fruit, but the wines seemed otherwise lackluster. Their Pinot showed a sweet-sour quality with very ripe fruit but also some obvious green aromas and flavors. The Cab and Zin both had that liqueur-like quality and were simple, fruit-forward wines. Whites were typical--oaky Chard, feline Sauvignon Blanc.

Talley: Another disappointing tasting, albeit more due to style. The Chards were uniformly oaked into oblivion. It wasn't just butter from ML and body from sur lees aging, but overwhelming toast and splintery flavors. One of the higher end single vineyard Chards (Oliver's, perhaps) was better balanced, albeit by higher acid, better flavored fruit than a reduction in the oak regime. I did like their 'basic' Estate Pinot, though it seemed a bit attenuated aromatically to justify the $35 price. The higher end Pinot, '07 Rosemary's, was more extracted and oaky, albeit reasonably good for the style. At $70, though, easy pass. I ended up enjoying their $10 '06 Rock Sold Red the best. It smelled like roasted bell peppers, jalapenos, tobacco and more generally a vegetable recycling bin. Quite drinkable, and reminiscent of a cheap Chinon or Bourgueil in the excessive herbaceousness. By far the wine with the most character in Talley's lineup despite its severe imbalance.

Wolff: Small winery with a fairly large vineyard. Again, a fairly rustic style in general. Chard and Riesling both seemed a bit off-dry despite being listed as dry. The reds were fairly nimble and acidic. Not a ton of depth, but good qualities as tables wines. The $20-ish price point is just within the acceptable range for food wines like this. The Syrah and Pinot were both keepers (and quite light in color for their respective varietals), though the Pinot hinted at an unexpected bell pepper quality. The Petite Sirah is a cool climate one and quite distinctive. It needs years to unwind, though the cigar box quality on the nose is quite intriguing.

Day 2 to follow in my next post.

Acoustics of Tasting Rooms

Here's an observation for wineries with large tasting rooms. When you get a room full of mildly intoxicated visitors, having four mostly bare walls and a stone floor leads to a very loud enclosure. This is all too common--Curtis Winery was the latest bad experience along these lines--in wine country. It's not something that is likely a top priority. But it matters.

The solution is pretty straight forward, though. Get rid of the hard, flat surfaces. Put in carpets. Add some kind of tapestries, fabric hangings or even canvas paintings on the walls. Even bookshelves or pictures might help as long as they have some angled surfaces. The big thing is getting some acoustic damping in the room, even if it's hidden fairly well.

I suppose if you're looking for a bar-like atmosphere, then loud noises are the way to go. I'm looking at you Fess Parker and Zaca Mesa. But for a more relaxed, upscale feeling, bring it down a few dozen decibels.

San Benito County--the Languedoc of CA--Plus Lots on Kennth Volk

I came across some interesting wines from San Benito County yesterday at Kenneth Volk's tasting room in Santa Maria. His Negrette from Caleri Vineyard in San Benito County is fairly well known in the wine nerd world--apparently the variety is only grown in San Benito County in CA (maybe a few other places?) and near Toulouse in France. I've had this before, but yesterday came across some even more fascinating esoterica.

There's an 85 year old vine Mourvedre from Enz Vineyard in Lime Kiln Valley (pictured left), a sub-AVA in San Benito. I didn't take careful notes--I was too excited by all of these interesting wines--but it definitely had the concentration, spice and funk of a good Mourvedre. Mourvedre isn't that rare, but vines this old are! Volk also has Cabernet Pfeffer from Siletto Ranch in San Benito County, which to me had a very peppery if not tobacco-y aromas. Supposedly this is actually the varietal Gros Verdot, though an alternate explanation claims it's a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and another grape variety by a guy named Pfeffer. I have no idea on the age of the vines though. Made me think of a Chinon perhaps or Blaufrankisch.

Another interesting one is his Touriga Nacional from a vineyard in the Templeton Gap in Paso Robles, Pomar Junction. Definitely young vines. This is by far the most floral and spice laden red wine I've encountered next to Lacrima di Morro d'Alba. Touriga I suppose isn't that rare, but finding it is a varietal wine isn't something you see every day.

As a side note on Kenneth Volk, the guy is clearly driven to explore these rare grapes. I don't think every wine he makes works. His is Viognier was bordering on raisined flavors, for example, though that will have appeal to others and it's probably too hard to get all these disparate vineyards exactly as he'd like. But the majority really express unique character. Too often CA vintners simply take an unfamiliar varietal and turn it into another ripe, oaky wine with a different name. It's also pretty compelling that many of these "heirloom" varietals are not produced in any quantity anywhere in the world. Often times wineries use an important grape less known to CA consumers and make an overpriced, inferior young vine version compared to the old vine, old world equivalent. Volk is finding vines and grapes so unique that there aren't any equivalents anywhere. I don't even think Bandol has 85 year old Mourvedre vines as it was largely replanted in the mid-20th century after Phylloxera wiped out most of it.

OK, so this is turning out to be more about Volk than San Benito County. But it seems he's a big advocate for this region. I'd like to dig deeper on this area as it appears to be a very old region that's recently been rehabilitated, much like Languedoc. Surely there are some areas best for bulk wine, but given some of the old vines, the limestone soils in some areas, and the adjacent mountain range, there must be terroirs with stunning raw materials. And not just that, but unique and essentially indigenous grapes. The location at the top of a valley even sounds promising as it should be warmer than Monterrey, but still get cooling influence from the Pacific.

Tasting Palmina Wines at East Beach Wine

A lot of California wineries say their wines are made to be food friendly, are balanced, and have sufficient acidity. But few actually pull it off. Palmina, Steve and Chrystal Clifton's Italian-inspired winery, is one of those few that makes genuine food wine. I don't mean that in the sense that the wines are unbalanced and need food. Rather, they have higher acidity and less new oak, and thus have an affinity for food.

Local shop East Beach Wine hosted a Palmina tasting last Friday, and both Steve and Chrystal Clifton were pouring their wines and chatting with customers. Not that it matters with respect to the wine, but Steve and Chrystal were very affable and took the time to discuss their wines in detail. I suspect that at this point Palmina is reaching quasi-cult status (as much as balanced table wines can do this), but it's still nice that the proprietors take time to hand sell their wines. As mentioned previously, the wines tend to be higher in acid with less new oak than most in California. Additionally, the alcohols are lower and there's a certain Old World influence. The wines nonetheless are Californian given the fullness of the fruit. They aren't going to blow people away with power; instead they are expertly made in a fashion that can't be ignored.

Here are my notes and comments:

2008 Arneis - Good citrusy acidity, mouth watering, mineral/iron, apricot and vanilla aromas. $19.

Additional commentary: This wine definitely has more phenolic bite than a typical white, suggesting it gets a bit more extraction than most. There's a hint of tannin and excellent depth.

2008 Botasea Rosato - 50% Dolcetto, 30% Nebbiolo, 20% Barbera. Creamy mouthfeel, watermelon strawberry, good earth, medium acid. $18.

Additional commentary: Not much else to add other than this is a fine dry rosé.

2008 Dolcetto - Santa Barbara County bottling. Pinot-like spice on the nose, earth, some heat. Red fruit, mild tannin, somewhat astringent. $18.

Additional commentary: This is my least favorite in the lineup as it's a bit awkward and alcoholic without the stuffing to handle the heat. I felt the same way about the '07 SBC bottling as well.

2007 Alisos - 80% Sangiovese, 20% Merlot w/ ~1% mat-dried Sangiovese. Macerated cherries, tobacco, mild mouthfeel and tannins. Slight dried fruit quality. $25.

Additional commentary: A small amount of Sangiovese dried on mats for use in a dessert wine is blended into this. Named Alisos based on vineyard sourcing.

2007 Barbera - Santa Barbara County bottling. Savory, dark fruit, herbs, smoke. Cab Franc-like, with some animality. Edgy and lean. High acidity. $22.

Additional commentary: One of my favorites of the tasting. Seemed the most Old World with brooding complexity and no extra fat. It definitely reminded me of less rustic, well-fruited Chinon.

2004 Stolpman Vineyard Nebbiolo - Dried red fruit, petrol/tar, red currant jelly, good acid, drying tannin, well structured. Long finish, a sipping wine. $40.

Additional commentary: My favorite of the tasting. Definitely on the riper side based on the nose, but much of the fruit character derives from the age. The structure is superb as it's not overwhelming, but gives the wine a real spine. One of four (?) Nebbiolos Palmina produces.

2006 Savoia - 50% Nebbiolo, 25% Barbera, 25% Syrah. Good tannic structure and acidity. Dark fruit. Seems young. $50.

Additional commentary: This one had a tough act to follow after the previous wine. Clearly has the structure and raw material, but seemed very primary.

2006 Osare - Port-like quality, but not fortified. Made from mat-dried Sangiovese. Raisins and milk chocolate, long finish. $39.

Additional commentary: This is the dessert wine where the mat-dried Sangiovese ends up. I didn't write it down, but I believe I was told this is aged for 3 years in neutral oak.

WBW #61: A Meta-Post "At the Source"

Having just noticed there's an applicable Wine Blogging Wednesday this month concerning tasting at a winery titled At the Source, I've decided to make a meta-post to fulfill the assignment. Below are links to my posts about wine tasting trips in 2009:

Santa Ynez
Paso Robles #1
Paso Robles #2
Santa Barbara County #1
Santa Barbara County #2
Russian River Valley/Dry Creek/Alexander Valley #1
Russian River Valley/Dry Creek/Alexander Valley #2a
Russian River Valley/Dry Creek/Alexander Valley #2b

I apologize if this seems a bit lazy, but trust me, taking notes and writing the posts required both time and effort. It would certainly make me happy if someone who hasn't seen them yet found them helpful, insightful or just plain entertaining.

Upon Further Review, Not So Great

My girlfriend and I re-visited a tasting room was had patronized well over a year ago. We've both become more adept at tasting wines since then and have tried a broader array of wines as well. The results were instructive. While I don't want to go out of my way to knock this place--it's a tasting room in Solvang that sources most if not all of its fruit from outside of Santa Barbara County--it's pretty remarkable how mediocre the wines were. And most of them were priced close to $30 per bottle, if not higher.

The whites were somewhere between off-dry and sweet, which we'd noticed on the previous visit. I think we actually skipped most of those since we didn't want to taste sweet wines, but this time we gave a few a try. The thing with sweet wines, which for me is anything with 10 g/L of RS or more, is they almost always taste good. But unless they have acidity and complexity like a Riesling to back it up, the nectar-like qualities tend to dominate everything else and hide flaws that would be apparent in a dry wine. This yummy and sweet flavor profile is something you can come by pretty cheaply, though. And that's what really got me on these wines. A couple were decent with nice blowsy, super-ripe aromatics, but there was nothing to them that really justified a $20 to $30 price tag.

The reds, which we'd liked previously and noted as tannic and powerful, turned out to be equally disappointing. There are certain aromas and flavors I''ve become adept at picking out: bell pepper, vanilla, cherry, barrel toast, barnyard and a few others I'm probably missing as well. Bell pepper, I like. Excessive toast, I dislike. Yet there's one other thing that I loathe, raisin and prune aromas. Unfortunately, just about every red here was exceedingly raisiny. I like fresh fruit flavors, but can tolerate some jamminess if there's other stuff going on. Once it reaches the raisin point, there's just nothing I can like about the wine.

The thing that really gets me about this place is that they're located in a tourist town and seem built to cater to that mentality. It's easy to trick a novice looking for a souvenir into spending too much on an overripe wine. Quite simply, their wines are overpriced for what they offer, even if some taste pretty good. It's all the more frustrating when one sees where they sourced the grapes. Their Petit Verdot is made from Sierra Foothills grapes, while several others simply bear a Central Coast or California appellation. That's not to say that good grapes only come from well-known regions, but chances are they're not paying very much for the grapes they put into the $30 bottle of wine.

If they're not paying much for the fruit and the wines are nothing special, then why is the customer paying a high price? Because the sell "premium varietals" in a tourist town where a lot of people who drop in for a tasting will likely associate the high price of a luxury good with quality. One to avoid if you know what I'm talking about.

Paso Robles: Day 2

This post is long overdue and my notes have been sitting out here for quite a while. Well, here's my wrap up on Paso Robles that began some several months ago.

Stop 1: Denner Vineyards

To be honest, I didn't get a positive impression of this producer from the very start. Their tasting room and winery facility is one of these brand new McChateau style buildings on a hilltop. My most fun tasting experiences have been in smaller, rustic places or even warehouses (think the Lompoc wine ghetto) where the magic actually happens. In an unassuming atmosphere, the wine takes center stage and the servers if not the winemakers take time to engage the customers. Everything else is a facade, a lifestyle being sold at $40 per bottle.

So yeah, that's the Denner experience. You drive up and walk into a gigantic room with a high ceiling and zero acoustic damping because it's all stone and wood--you'd think they'd catch on how loud these places get with a few intemperate imbibers present. But to be fair, their wines are uniformly very good. They're Rhone wines that shade towards the more elegant direction, all with a pronounced minerality. The wines are also spot-on correct, from the hint of gaminess of their Mourvèdre, to the smokey, porky notes of their Syrah, to the oily viscosity of their Roussanne. As much as I appreciate the style, I have to knock their prices, which I have trouble separating from the ostentatious winery complex as one likely pays directly for the other. All the whites are around $30, while all the reds are around $40. If a winery can price its top wine at $40+, fine by me, but there's a bit of gouging going on if they can't offer a solid entry level wine or two in the $20 to $30 range. The quality is there, though, to make $40 seem not completely outrageous if you really like a particular wine.

Wines of note:

2006 Mourvèdre: Floral, red fruit aromas, gaminess. Minerality, smooth, velvety.
2005 Syrah: Tar, crispy bacon and blueberry. Minerality and good tannin balance.

Stop 2: Villa Creek

Villa Creek was more my style. It was at the end of a country road tucked into a canyon. More importantly, the tasting room was a home-bar setup in the shade outside of their winery, which was a functional sort of metal barn/warehouse. Expensive wines, yes, but at least you're not paying for some vanity project. Moreover, they had wines covering a range of price points from the affordable luxury level up to the unaffordable level. Cool, gotta make a livin, right?

As for the wine, best of its style I tasted on this trip and probably in Santa Barbara as well. The majority of their wines fall into the showy 16% ABV with creamy oak camp. As far as I'm concerned, these get expensive for what they offer over $30. But when it comes to quality with this type of wine, the key in my mind is developing that ultra-rich texture without turning the nose into alco-vanilla and truncating the finish with alco-burn. From this point of view, Villa Creek absolutely nailed this style. But their one red that veers furthest from this approach, La Boda, a 50-50 blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre, was my favorite of all the wines tasted on this trip. The oak and alcohol are dialed back down to levels appropriate for a table wine, while the freshness and earthiness are dialed up several notches. It sounded like whole cluster fermentation and less ripe fruit had a lot to do with this, as this was a willful excursion from their crowd-pleasing style more for the winemakers' own edification. Well, they nailed it (again). They made a superior wine in a superior style, while also making top exemplars in the popular, but ultimately less serious style. Win-win!

Wines of note:

2007 La Boda: Complex perfumed, floral red fruit nose with a little earth. Strong minerality with an amazing infinite earthy finish. Good tannin level. 50-50 Grenache & Mourvèdre.
2006 Vulture's Post: 80% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah, 5% Grenache. Earthy berry nose, gamey. Full round fruit, tannic finish. Thicker than La Boda.
2006 High Road: 50% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre from James Berry Vineyard. Floral, blueberry and slightly meaty nose. Tannic. Full Syrah flavor, lot of berries and round, creamy mid-palate.

Stop 3: Tablas Creek

Another Creek-named winery, another big winner. While Tablas Creek does feel a bit more corporate--it is a piece of the Perrin wine empire after all--the experience is so educational and well organized that I must give credit where it's due. In fact, it seems we were so enamored with Tablas that every picture on this post is from Tablas Creek! It certainly helped that the herbs and olive trees intermingled with the vines gave a certain Provençal feel to the winery.

In terms of the wines, your best bet it to share the tasting with a friend or significant other because they will pour anything and everything they have open. By my count, 14 wines came up to taste, and strategic dumping even with two tasters became a matter of survival. Not surprisingly there's something here for everyone. Their entry level Cotes de Tablas wines offer very decent values. If blends aren't your things, there's every Rhone varietal under the sun: Vermentino, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Syrah and even the non-Rhone tannat. Last but not least are their Esprit de Beaucastel wines, which are their Paso Robles version of a Chateauneuf du Pape. They poured the '06, '05 and '04 vintages of the rouge in succession, which was a real treat. The wines are a deft cross between California opulence and French depth, and the Esprit wines in particular seem built to age into wines of stunning complexity and elegance.

This is simply a must-visit in Paso. The grounds are lovely, the tasting has great breadth, especially if you read the notes about the varietals you're tasting, and the wines deliver across various price levels.

Wines of note:
2006 Grenache Blanc: Green apples. Crisp, clean and fairly round.
2008 Rose: Watermelon, strawberry and grapefruit. Long finish with good acidity.
2005 Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge: Leather, red fruit, a little Brett, floral. More elegant with minerality.

Stop 4: Carmody McKnight

This visit was oddly disappointing. Carmody McKnight produces primarily Bordeaux varietals and most of their wines are priced competitively in the $20 to $35 range. We arrived at the end of the day as they were preparing for a wedding on their idyllic estate. Unfortunately, the servers seemed distracted and the wines were served warmer than I would have preferred. Since we arrived mid-Sunday afternoon, I also wondered how long some of the wines had been open. Regardless, the wines uniformly offered red fruit aromas and hefty tannins on the palate. Whether it was the wine, the serving temperature or the provenance, the wines came across as pretty one-dimensional.

I had tried one of their Bordeaux blends previously and really liked it. So this experience was perplexing. No wines really stood out, and there's nothing I can recommend based at the very least on how warm the wines were served. I can't really give Carmody McKnight a pass, but I'm not ready to write them off, either. Their prices are not unreasonable and I suspect their wines could have shown better.

Stop 5: Caparone Winery

Two words: old school. You drive up a gravel driveway that ends in front of a very utilitarian building that resembles a really big garage. Once inside, you're greeted by a friendly, knowledgeable old winemaker by the name of Dave Caparone. Dave and his son produce Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Aglianico, Nebbiolo, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in a classic style. Extracted, yes, but not overripe or manipulated. They offer the sort of attractive rusticity and character that's all too often missing in Cali wines. In fact, if you've every read Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route, Dave Caparone is exactly the type of winemaker who seems like he wouldn't be at all out of place in a rural French cellar, except that he's of Italian descent and plies his trade in Paso Robles.

It seems the big thing in blogging these days is getting PR hacks from subsidiaries of wine conglomerates to send you their products as a bribe to write nice things about them. Well, this is what blogging should be about. Multi-million dollar corporations have plenty of mouthpieces already. It's the Caparones of the world that folks need to hear about. And you know what, you don't need to get a free sample, anyway, since each and every one of their wines is $14. Instead of wasting money his money on a McChateau, Dave Caparone puts it into the wine. That's why you taste at a little bar next to the barrels in the over-sized garage/small winery.

I didn't take notes while tasting at Caparone. My bad. But their style is traditional and age worthy with tons of stuffing, good acidity and lively character. No ultra-smooth new oak here, it's just fermented grapes showing what they got. Caparone may well top my beloved Loire for red wine QPR. This is a must visit if you appreciate authenticity.