Catching up with veraison.

Entertaining out of town guests gave me the opportunity to capture a couple of veraison pictures in Santa Barbara wine country. The top picture is Pinot Noir at Melville in Sta. Rita Hills. The bottom is Pinot Noir at Cambria along Tepusquet Rd in Santa Maria Valley. The Melville picture is valley floor fruit and the Cambria is benchland fruit. I suspect the sloping and higher elevation vineyards, especially in Sta. Rita Hills, are a little further behind.

The 2012 vintage in Santa Barbara County has been sunny, dry and cool. In Sta. Rita Hills it's been mostly under 80 degrees in the afternoon with cool foggy mornings. It will be interesting to see if things remain on such an even keel the rest of the season.

On a side note, I visited Sanford Winery for the first time today. I've respected the history of Sanford, but figured I'd missed out on its heyday. What I found was an exceptional lineup of wines showing bright full fruit along with elegance and balance. The trio of single vineyard Pinot Noirs were outstanding. I found them overall to be pure, deep and balanced. They were the 2009 La Rinconada Pinot Noir, the 2009 Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir and the 2009 Dominio Del Falcon Pinot Noir.