Biodynamic French Trio

I visited The Winehound in Santa Barbara looking for a good Languedoc Red under $20. I left with three recommendations- each under $20, from a different region and each produced from biodynamically grown grapes.

2010 Domaine de la Louvetrie (Landron & Fils) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sue Lie
The first label of famed Muscadet producer Jo Landron. Landron's wines are farmed biodynamically, hand plowed and hand harvested. Fermentations begin naturally. The Domaine de la Louvetrie is a blend from several sites and diverse mineral-laden soils.

Tasting notes- Rocky, floral and sharp lime notes through the bouquet. Tangy acid and brine greet the palate and then washes away through a wave of citrus. Sharp but balanced with broadening lingering fruit on the finish. (I really like!).

Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine is not a wine that I drink everyday, so when I decide to pick one up I want it to be special. This definitely fit the bill. Excellent all the way around, and at $15.99 I thought it was a great buy. Sadly I couldn't make an oyster pairing work, but a caprese sandwich filled in quite nicely.

2010 Marie-Pierre Plumet Côtes du Rhône La Cabotte Colline
Grenache and Syrah. From clay and limestone soils in the Uchaux district in the Côtes du Rhône. Farmed biodynamically and aged in vats.

Tasting notes- Blackberry, bread dough and cracked pepper on the bouquet with plenty of black cherry and dried herb on the bouquet. Red fruit and mineral emerge with air and food. Medium body, chalky grainy tannins and a savory medium finish (I like!).

Another good recommendation- outperforming its price point of 11.99.

2010 Borie La Vitarèle Saint-Chinian Les Terres Blanches 
Grenache and Syrah. This is from the Saint-Chinian AOC in the Languedoc. Borie La Vitarèle's estate is on limestone, clay and gravel soils. The wines are biodynamically farmed, de-stemmed, foot crushed and fermented with natural yeasts. The Les Terres Blanches spends a year in barrel and a year in tank with lees disturbance.

Tasting notes- Garrigue, wild oats, rocks, violets and blueberry bouquet. It picks up a hint of dark chocolate on the palate to go along with its savory fruit. Nice focus of flavors with a bit of silkiness to the feel. Fine grainy tannins a finish of mineral fruit. (I like+!)

I really like the depth and breadth of this wine for the price (17.99). Nice focused flavors- a great value. I'll look for more Languedoc reds like this.

Lompoc Wine Ghetto- Day 1

Nothings evokes wine country images quite like an industrial park behind a Home Depot store. Just beyond the tranquil vineyards and rolling hillsides of Sta. Rita Hills is the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. It sits at the edge of Lompoc, CA and houses a plethora of great Santa Barbara County producers -- both well known and emerging.  It's primarily tasting rooms, although there are a few winery operations there too. You could literally spend days tasting through all the wines.

I'm spending my Sundays there now working in the Arcadian tasting room. It's just a little part-time job as a hobby... Having worked hectic full time schedules in the wine business in my past life, it's a real pleasure to swoop in one day a week to talk about and taste wine with people who are there for that reason. I look forward to meeting people in the area and getting to know more about the wines.

An awesome lineup at Arcadian- as good as the Pinot Noirs were, the 05 Stolpman Syrah was stupid good. All the Syrah concentration and savory fruit with a Pinot Noir-like supple elegance.

A great lineup of 2009 Pinot Noir from Evening Land. One from Edna Valley and two from Sta. Rita Hills.

Santa Barbara County- The Arrival

It's been a hectic few weeks. A cross-country move by car was followed by work training and travel -- with temporary housing thrown on top. I'm in the Santa Barbara area, but circumstances have barely given me time to get to know the area -- much less unpack and enjoy wine. 

My final destination is 45 minutes north in the Santa Ynez Valley. I've spent a few days driving from one side of the valley to the other looking for a place to live. It's been a little surreal. Having traveled there for wine tasting it's now becoming a place of real life and responsibility. One thing that's striking is how much bigger the area seems when you're not breezing through for wine tasting. Visiting in May I visited wineries in Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley all in a single day. That seems a little crazy to me now. 

It's easy to understand some of the climatic and geographical differences of Santa Barbara's AVA's on a surface level. Starting a new life here however is a full realization of the enormity and diversity of the area. It's little things like making the drive from Lompoc to Solvang; along the way watching the thermometer in my car change, or watching the landscape and vegetation change. Or realizing that it might actually take me a half hour if I want to take the alternate route of Santa Rosa Road through the heart of Sta. Rita Hills. I'm fully realizing and respecting the uniqueness of the each wine region. I haven't even had time to get up to Santa Maria Valley yet -- it seems like a world away.

It's been a dry winter this year in Santa Barbara County. The dormant winter vineyards and dry landscapes of the hills and mountains show like a beautiful sophisticated face -- the projection changing with sunlight and mood. Poignant moments behind the wheel to and fro. 

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This past weekend was the first chance to get out and actually do some wine tasting. I visited the Tercero tasting room in Los Olivos, Rusack Vineyards, and Brewer-Clifton's open house. 

The Tercero Wines tasting room is located in the town of Los Olivos; amongst the plethora of tasting rooms, restaurants and shops. Tercero is the brainchild of Larry Schaffer, who switched mid-career from the publishing industry to wine. His focus is on Santa Barbera-grown and mostly Rhône varietals with a style that marries pure opulent fruit to balanced elegance with added subtle depth. The wines are focused and purely enjoyable. My favorites were-

 -2009 TerceroGrenache Blanc Camp 4 Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley- Aromas of pine and eucalyptus stand out, accompanied by lemongrass and slate. Lots of slate and citrusy flavors on the palate with nice feel and balance. Pure flavors. Medium finish. (I like+!)

-2007 Tercero Grenache Camp 4 Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley- Darker fruit profile on the bouquet than typical Grenache- chocolate-covered cherries, plum & anise. Flavors of black cherry, plum, cocoa and cracker pepper. Nice feel and weight. The tannins are firm and fine leading to a nice full finish augmented with spice notes. (I really like!)

-2007 Tercero Syrah, Thompson Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley- Meaty aromas of blueberry and cassis. Opulent on the palate with blue & black fruit along with savory notes highlighted with white pepper. Pure flavors with nice balance. Drinks with a nice roundness and fine tannins- finishing full. Pure enjoyment. (I really like+!)

The Rusack Vineyard tasting room is located along beautiful Ballard Canyon Road in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. This is a prime location for Syrah- which Rusack grows there in their vineyards. They also make the Bordeaux blend Anacapa from Santa Ynez Valley grapes as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley. Rusack is also launching a really cool project producing wines from Santa Catalina Island. The tasting room was crazy busy when I was there, but I managed to taste through their current releases. I found the wines to be enjoyable and balanced overall, albeit without anything that blew me away. The favorites were-

-2009 Rusack Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley- Black cherry, rhubarb, licorice spice on the nose. Layered fruit and mineral spice on the palate- red raspberry & cherry with an added note of tea. Silky fine tannins and a medium finish. (I like!)

-2009 Rusack Reserve Syrah Ballard Canyon,Santa Ynez Valley- Aromas of vanilla, cracked pepper, eucalyptus and blue & red fruit. Streamlines into blueberry, coffee bean and baking spice on the palate with a rich feel and round tannins. Medium finish and more notes of baking spice. (I like!)

The final stop was in Lompoc for Brewer-Clifton’s annual open house. The event featured current releases and library wines, as well as a meet and greet with Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton. I’m a big fan of their wines, which are vineyard designate Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (if you’re not familiar). All wines are vinified in the same manner, leaving the individual vineyards to speak for themselves. For example- all of the Pinot Noir is whole cluster fermented, inoculated with neutral yeast and aged in neutral French barriques. Favorites of the lineup included the 2010 3D Chardonnay, 2007 Rancho Santa Rosa Chardonnay, 2010 Gnesa Chardonnay, 2010 Machado Pinot Noir, 2010 3D Pinot Noir and the 2006 Rancho Santa Rosa Pinot Noir. My favorite overall was-

-2006 Brewer-Clifton Lindsay’s Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills- Really cool dank and rustic notes on the bouquet- earth, floral, red fruit and mineral. Bright raspberry & strawberry flavors with slate and earth- accented by briary spice notes toward the back of the palate. Silky fine tannins and a full breathy finish. (I loved!)

Camped Out In Cucamonga

A Cucamonga Valley vineyard near I-15 and a shopping center

This past week, I've been spending an inordinate amount of time in the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles. City after city -- Ontario, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, et. al -- with tons of people (most with 100k-200k population), endless miles of shopping centers & bright sunshine and huge surrounding mountains. Despite its relative proximity to Los Angeles, the IE is its own entity -- as evidenced by three international airports and its own Craigslist page (the true mark of area sovereignty!).

I wasn't necessarily thinking about vineyards and wine when I rolled into town for the first time. I'd heard a little bit of old head-trained Zinfandel vineyards in the Cucamonga Valley (the valley that houses Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga), but I didn't realize that the entire valley was once covered with vineyards to the extent that it was. Nor did I realize the historical significance of the valley's viticultural past -- it was a leading wine-producing area in California at the onset of Prohibition. Signs of the past can now be seen in the form of gnarly old vineyards oddly mixed in with highways and shopping malls. Grape clusters are the on the city seal and the road signs of Rancho Cucamonga as well. 

The Cucamonga Valley was granted AVA status in 1985. It's marked by a hot climate for viticulture and by sandy alluvial soils. Its historic wines would be Zinfandel and Mission, but today there is Cucamonga Valley Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre to go along with Zinfandel. Groups like CucamongaHeritage.org work to preserve vineyard land and viticultural history. 

I visited the Joseph Filippi Winery & Vineyards to get a sense of the wines of the valley. Joseph Filippi dates back to 1922, and is one of if not the area's largest producers at approximately 40k cases per year. The tasting room is an expansive space- it has a large wine bar for tasting and by the glass service, a large retail area, and what amounts to a museum of Southern California wine history. I tasted through a lineup of locally produced dry reds -- 2008 Cucamonga Valley Sangiovese, 2009 Cucamonga Valley Tempranillo, 2008 Cucamonga Valley Cabernet Franc, 2008 Five Estates Red Blend, 2007 Cucamonga Valley Petite Sirah & 2009 Estate Zinfandel.

If there was a flavor marker I picked up among these wines, it was notes of mineral and eucalyptus along with ripe but mellow blue fruit. The wines ranged in price from around $10 for the everyday drinkers to upwards to $30 for their flagship wines. The wines I liked from the lineup were:

-'09 Joseph Filippi Tempranillo, Cucamonga Valley- earthy fruit and minerality with smooth tannins.

-'08 Joseph Filippi Five Estates (Petite Sirah, Syrah, Mourvedre, Zinfandel & Grenache)- nice red fruit with floral, mint & crushed stone and a smooth feel.

-'07 Joseph Filippi Petite Sirah, Cucamonga Valley- brambly fruit with rock, coffee & eucalyptus with a firm structure.

-'08 Joseph Filippi Estate Zinfandel, Cucamonga Valley- coffee, maple, leather and peppercorn notes along with currant and blueberry finishing with firm tannins. 

Link to all of the above wines

This piece of California wine history will likely continue to diminish over time. Check out the story and the wines if you get a chance...

Tasting in Verde Valley, Arizona

This past New Year’s weekend, I found myself passing through Northern Arizona and I decided to devote a few hours tasting Arizona wines in the Cottonwood/Jerome/VerdeValley area. A cursory plan took me to Alcantara Vineyards, mostly because I wanted to visit an actual vineyard in the area. I also visited two winery tasting rooms in the Maynard Keenan-owned group of Arizona wineries -- Arizona Stronghold and Caduceus. These properties, along with Stronghold partner Eric Glomski’s PageSprings Cellars, seem to represent the vanguard of pushing the Arizona wine movement forward. Their wine projects are profiled in the  2010 film Blood Into Wine.

I started at Alcantara. The vineyard and winery are located in the Verde Valley – an area about 75 or so miles north of Phoenix. This area is just below the southern edge of the Colorado Peninsula, so it has warmer temperatures than the cold/higher elevation areas of Northern Arizona, but sits at about 2000 feet in elevation above Phoenix with more moderate heat and cool nights. Its soils are sandy loam. Alcantara’s vineyards are on slopes near the floor of the valley, beside the Verde River.

I tasted wines in their tasting room at the vineyard. Somewhat disappointingly, many of their wines were either sourced entirely or partially from California (Paso Robles) fruit – a trend that I would see throughout the area visit. From talking to the tasting room pourer, it sounds like their estate program is still a work in progress, with a focus toward varietals that can potentially thrive in the warm arid climate of the area – Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Mourvedre and Sangiovese. All of the wines that I tasted were well-made and drinkable wines, albeit with optimistic pricing mostly in the $30 range. The estate-grown 2009’s Mourvedre and Zinfandel were the standouts- with ripe but mellow fruit and soft supple nuances from neutral oak aging. The Mourvedre had a marked mineral note to compliment juicy black cherry and blueberry as well as round approachable tannins. The Zinfandel more herbal than a brambly California Zin, featuring black pepper and dried herb notes going along with open blueberry and red apple notes.

Next was a stop on Main Street in Cottonwood at the Arizona Stronghold Vineyards tasting room. The vineyard and winery are a partnership between Eric Glomski and Maynard Keenan. They have two estate vineyards in the Southeast portion of the state – the Arizona Stronghold Vineyard in Coshise County and to the norththe Bonita Springs Vineyard. Both vineyards are farmed sustainably, on high elevation sites at roughly 4300 feet above sea level, with soils of sandy loam and sub-soils of clay loam. The elevation moderates temperatures with diurnal variations as much as 50 degrees during the growing season. Some vines at Stronghold are as much as 27 years old.  A surprisingly full range of varietals are grown there, with an impressive production of 80,000 cases.

I came away from the tasting impressed by the quality, depth and breadth of the production at Stronghold. Furthermore, the wines were the most fairly priced of the wines that I tasted that day. The 2010 Tazi -- a white blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Malvasia Bianca, Pinot Gris and Riesling was fresh and rich with bright tropical fruit notes. Interestingly, Malvasia Bianca (a white grape known primarily as a minor blending grape  in basic Chianti and one of the grapes of Madeira) is seen as a specialty of the vineyard. It makes up a substantial portion of the Tazi. There was also an excellent dry rosé, the 2010 Dayden -- primarily Zinfandel. It was clean and refreshing with pure mineral and spicy fruit notes. On the red front, from their “Site Archive” series, the 2009 Bonita SpringsCabernet Sauvignon offered nicely balanced fruit, mineral, and leathery spice notes, while the 2010 Stronghold Mourvedre showed pure blue fruit along with nutty and peppery notes. The reds tend to be aged with small percentages of new French oak barrels and otherwise in neutral oak.

The last visit was to Maynard Keenan’s Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards tasting room. The location was in a hip spot on Main Street in the funky mountainside town of Jerome. Compared to Arizona Stronghold, Caduceus is designed to feature wines grown in the high elevation Merkin Vineyards in Verde Valley. Among the Merkin sites, elevations range from 4200 to 4800 feet and varying soils. The wines are made in smaller lots, with longer aging in higher percentages of new oak. The wines are pricier than their Arizona Stronghold counterparts, in sleeker silkscreened bottles. Also, while the Merkin vineyards are maturing, many of the wines are still coming from the Stronghold & Bonita Springs vineyards as well as from estate sites in Paso Robles, California.

Disappointingly, none of the wines available for tasting when I was there were from the Verde Valley sites. There was the 2010 Dos Ladrones, Bonita Springs Vineyard – a Malvasia Bianca and Chardonnay blend not dissimilar to the Arizona Stronghold Tazi, albeit pricier. The red offerings included the 2009 Primer Paso from the Arizona Stronghold Vineyard – a Syrah with small percentages of Malvasia Bianca. It’s a nice wine with lots of leathery and gamey notes to go along with full dark fruit and approachable tannins. Also available for tasting was the 2009 Nagual de la Naga from Paso Robles – a Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blend with nice mulled spice, black cherry, tea and mineral notes with good structure. These were very nice and well-made wines. The pricing was definitely on the optimistic side though ($40 for an Arizona white wine!).  In fairness, there is definitely significant investment in the vineyard and cellar programs, coming from a famous rock star with a rabid fan base, and pretty stunning packaging. I’ll watch this program with interest as it develops – especially the Verde Valley wines – but I’m not yet a buyer.

For that I’ll look to the Arizona Stronghold label. In my quest to taste Arizona wines that were solid and sound in quality and value, and that hinted at terroir, Stronghold was the clear winner. I’ll look for them in the market while looking forward to following the progression of all of these wines in the future. 

Vineyards at Alcantara