Wine events flocking to Santa Barbara... and good inexpensive Pinot Noir

Holy Goleta! The wine events are rolling into Santa Barbara County in 2014.

This month, it's been announced that the 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference will be held July 11-13 in the Santa Ynez Valley. I've attended two Wine Bloggers Conferences, and if there's a strength to the event, it's in its showcasing of compelling wine regions. With Santa Barbara's unique east-west traversing valley and variety of terroirs, it's going to be a great insider's view of the region for wine bloggers. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to delve deeper and to learn even more about my "home" wine region.

Also, the 2014 World Of Pinot Noir event is moving from Pismo Beach to the illustrious Bacara Resort in Goleta. This is a premier event for a premier varietal, featuring seminars and tastings of Pinot Noir from around the world. Maybe not so coincidentally, 2014 is the 10 year anniversary of the Sideways film...

If you're on the Central Coast and looking for a wine event this summer, Santa Maria Valley's annual Chardonnay Symposium happens July 19-21. In its fourth year, the event brings over 50 California Chardonnay producers together to enlighten and educate on the variety and quality of Chardonnay being produced throughout the state. Educational panels, celebrity chef events, wine dinners, and a grand tasting will all commence.

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If you need an inexpensive, simple, and most importantly, good Pinot Noir for summer barbecues, hanging out by the pool, or sitting in your sweat box - 24 Knots is a Pinot Noir brand producing a balanced and lively inexpensive Pinot Noir from Monterey. The 24 Knots Pinot Noir, Monterey is notable for its fig, earth, pine needle and spice; along with nicely integrated flavors and good texture, acid, grip and presence for its price point. Serve it with a slight chill. It's around $16 and shouldn't be too hard to find. (I received this as a press sample from the winery)

Quick highlights- World of Pinot Noir Grand Tasting

The connection to Arcadian Winery served as my ticket to the World of Pinot Noir Grand Tasting. Friend and fellow blogger Liz D. and I were the friendly faces proudly pouring 2007 vintages of Arcadian Pisoni and Arcadian Fiddlestix Pinot Noirs to the masses - great wines to set the bar for my opportunity to get out from behind the table to taste.

Armed with my phone (camera), a pen, scrap pieces of paper and a WOPN pinot glass, I set out to rapidly taste the chosen producers that I could get to. I tend to prefer the balance/lower alcohol/higher acid/stemmy style of Pinot, so many of the favorites reflect these preferences, however I did try to get to a variety of regions and styles.

Starting with Sta. Rita Hills, Raj Parr was offering a preview of Sandhi's 2011 Pinot Noir Wenzlau, Sta. Rita Hills from magnum. The south-facing vineyard is located high in the hills overlooking the Santa Ynez River, between the Sea Smoke and Mt. Carmel vineyards. The wine is completely whole-cluster fermented, aged in mostly neutral barrel, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The stems were alive with pine-forest and fennel notes along with bright cherry, anise and mineral notes through a long fine structure. As the stems integrate and weave their complexity within the wine this will be one to love.

Paul Lato action shot!

The vaunted Pisoni Vineyard of Santa Lucia Highlands was wonderfully represented by a pair of divergent Pinot Noirs. While his lineup centered around Santa Barbara County, the Paul Lato 2009 Pinot Noir Lancelot Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands amazed with its incredible depth and elegance along with seamless layers of earthen spice, florals and bright berry notes throughout. On the other side of the coin the Pisoni Estate 2010 Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands brought a huge profile with pipe-tobacco, black tea and cherry cola over a deep foundation of earth and spice. The tannins were ripe, the acid was integrated and the finish was huge - an epic wine. 

I was quite smitten with two wines from the new Fort Ross-Seaview AVA in the far Sonoma Coast. Flowers 2010 Pinot Noir Sea View Ridge, Sonoma Coast was seamless in its deep layers of dark earthen spice and dried cherry and fig. The wine comes from soils of schist, sandstone and shale and is grown at elevations upwards of 1875'. Fermentation employs partial whole clusters. Failla's 2011 Pinot Noir Whistler, Sonoma Coast is similar in its deep notes of dark earth and spice and fig with firm acids and fine long tannin.

Copain's 2010 "En Haut" Kiser Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley comes from the cool "deep end" of Anderson Valley. The upper parcel of the Kiser Vineyard is notable for the schist and sandstone soils. This was showing beautiful earthy mineral, floral, savory spice and tea notes throughout, highlighted by sharp red cherry and laid out on a beautifully elegant frame. Awesome stuff.

Oregon was well represented with a couple of standouts from Soter & Bergström. The Soter 2010 Pinot Noir Mineral Springs Ranch, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton is grown in sloping south-facing siltstone soils and destemmed prior to fermentation, with the resulting wines aged in 30% new French oak barrels. The profile showed a melange of savory spice notes to go along with sous bois and bright fig, stitched with a tightly-wound elegant structure. The 2011 Bergström 2011 Pinot Noir De Lancellotti, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains in contrast highlights a bright minerality of chalk and limestone to go along with rich fig fruit and great depth of violet, mushroom and spice notes wound in a silky rich structure. 

These highlights represent what was on balance a fine grouping of exciting Pinot Noir producers that I tasted through. Click here for notes on all of the wines I tasted.

Tasting highlights- Garagiste Festival, Southern Exposure

Southern Exposure, the Garagiste Festival previewed last month, was an exciting and eclectic mix of Santa Barbara County wineries. Ranging from the small and well-known to the smaller and more obscure, the festival grand tasting provided a one-stop shop opportunity for exposure to new Santa Barbara wineries and vineyards.

Among the new and interesting favorites were Altman Winery. The winery is so small that the website is a Wordpress blog and I had to manually input the wines on Cellartracker. Proprietor Mike Altman produces a pleasant and inexpensive Santa Ynez Valley Chardonnay and Rosé, but what really shined was a pair of Petite Sirahs from the Sunset Ridge vineyard in Paso Robles. Both the 2008 and 2009 Altman Petite Sirah Sunset Ridge showed bright wild blue fruit, violet, and tangy mineral notes - with the 2009 adding firm complexity to the structure.

Baehner Fournier Vineyards is located in the eastern hills of the Santa Ynez Valley. The Baehners decided to plant Bordeaux varietals on their property and are now bottling quality Santa Ynez Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot from hillside fruit. Their 2010 Baehner Fournier Estate Merlot is grown in gravely clay on sloping northeast-facing blocks. The wine is cold-soaked and fermented in small open-top fermenters with aging for 19 months in 20% new French oak. It's got a pleasing leathery cedary blueberry nose, with balance and layers of flavor, and lingering polish on the finish.

Living near the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, I often drive by the Kessler-Haak vineyard. Planted in 2005 and next to Clos Pepe, it's an organically farmed vineyard on rolling hillsides and sandy loam soils. I had yet to try their wines, but it's a no-brainer that the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnay would be as good as they were. I enjoyed the entire lineup, with the highlight being the 2010 Kessler-Haak Vineyards Pinot Noir Clone 2a. It towed the line between brooding dark fruit & earth, with brighter mineral and floral notes building tension and complexity- a very nice wine. With the vineyard at only 8 years of age, it will be fun to watch these Pinot Noirs develop complexities in future vintages.

Josh Klapper's La Fenêtre Wines come from multiple vineyard sites throughout Santa Barbara County. The specialty is bright and elegant Burgundian Varietals, along with Syrah. Josh's Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah from Santa Maria Valley were shining on this day. The 2010 La Fenêtre Chardonnay Bien Nacido shows beautifully bright lime and slate notes that counter a subtle toastiness. The 2010 La Fenêtre Pinot Noir Presqu'ile shows depth with rich dark fruit notes complimenting the floral earth and cherry elegance. One of the biggest and baddest Syrahs that I tasted at the event was the 2009 La Fenêtre Syrah Z Block Bien Nacido, showing wet-earth, sandalwood, cured meat and black currant, highlighted a bright mineral-acid streak and stitched together with huge structure- epic stuff.

Long a key vineyard in the new Ballard Canyon AVA, Larner Vineyard began producing its namesake wines in 2009. Ballard Canyon is known primarily for richly elegant Syrah and other Rhone varietals grown in the moderately cool hillside slopes in the center of the Santa Ynez Valley. The 2009 Larner Vineyard Elemental, a Grenache/Syrah blend, is hugely deep and expressive with mint, cherry, blueberry, earth and spice notes - quite a beautiful wine. The 2009 Larner Vineyard Syrah shows beautiful mineral, earth and floral notes that compliment the spice laden dark fruit. 

These aforementioned highlights capped off an enjoyable day of new Santa Barbara wine discoveries. Click here for a full list of 33 wines tasted at the event.

Quick impressions from the 2013 Pasadena PinotFest

Happening annually in February, the Pasadena PinotFest is surely a highlight on the Los Angeles-area wine lover's calendar. Benefiting local charity, the events run for several weeks before culminating with a Grand Tasting held at the Altadena Town & Country Club overlooking the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains - a beautiful setting in which to showcase new and top producers of California Pinot Noir. Like last year's tasting the producers in attendance were mostly Central Coast, although there were a few North Coast producers represented. I worked the event for Arcadian Winery, but a few moments in the crowd provided highlights and exciting new discoveries.

A trio of 2011 Sonoma Coast beauties from Sojourn Cellars. Impressive for their opulent balance- rich and pretty. The Sangiacomo vineyard bottling was my favorite.

Gypsy Canyon's estate vineyard is located in the northwest corner of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. The 2011 Trois was filled with intensity of fruit, florals, and earth. The amazing packaging is a lightweight hand-blown glass and is capped with beeswax.

Randy Rozak's wines come also come from the western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills. Deep and brooding with tons of earthy complexity, wines such as the Rozack 2006 C Block from the Rozak Ranch are notable for their youthfulness as well as value.

Other highlights included 2009 Zotovich Estate, 2010 Alma Rosa La Encantada, and 2008 Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Julia's Vineyard. Click here for tasting notes on all of the above wines.

Highlights In Pictures- 2012 Pasadena Pinotfest

I had the pleasure yesterday to pour wines for Arcadian and Bratcher in beautiful Pasadena, CA at the 2012 Pasadena Pinotfest Grand Tasting at the Altadena Country Club.

When I wasn't pouring and talking about wines to the masses of humanity, I sampled new (and a few library) releases from some of the great names of California Pinot Noir. The participating wineries skewed towards the Central Coast and Santa Barbara, but there were a few North Coast wines in the mix as well. Still new on the left coast, I'm not sure exactly where this event registers on the meter... but there were a ton of people, cool producers, and some notable media (including Burghound.com).

The home table- Arcadian & Bratcher Wines. We were bringing the goods!

Beautiful and complex with a dark and brooding side- 2008 Clos Pepe Estate Reserve. All that and more- 2000 Clos Pepe Estate!

New discoveries... La Fenêtre. Pretty Santa Maria Pinot Noir with nice depth from winemaker & proprietor, Josh Klapper

2009's from Brewer-Clifton. Electric fruit on the Mt. Carmel Chardonnay and dark, dense and complex Mt. Carmel Pinot Noir.

2009 Longoria Fe Ciega- rich and silky and opulent- a classic beauty.

A couple of other enjoyments not pictured- Cargasacchi 2008 Estate Pinot Noir- classic bold SRH notes of dense dark elegance; Cargasacchi's 2010 Point Conception Chardonnay- cool, creamy & crisp fruit; and a pair of Williams-Selyem Pinot's- 2009 Russian River and 2009 Sonoma County, both accented with just hints of spice along with pure red fruit and savory notes. 

The High Museum Trade Tasting

Today was the first day of the High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction, the 4th largest wine auction of its kind in the US. Proceeds from the auction benefit the High Museum. Kicking everything off was the Thursday afternoon tasting for those in the trade... With a connection to the wine business in Atlanta, a $15 donation got you an afternoon of tasting and a nice Riedel glass. Proceeds from the tasting go to assist Metro Atlanta Public Schools' access to the arts.

Between the crowds and the sheer number of wines that I was trying to taste, I decided to forgo writing any tasting notes. However I did have a few favorites- Au Bon Climat, Brewer-Clifton, Melville, Peay, Russian Hill, and Van Duzer (the 2007 making up for the 2006!) topped my list in Pinot Noirs... I was stoked to try the new 2008 Melville small lot Pinots- Terraces and Carrie's. Peay was new for me as well- loved their Sonoma Coast trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah- all from the 2008 vintage. They had great balance along with vibrant fruit. Their Syrah was awesome, balancing the full gamey and spicy fruit with cool climate finesse. Speaking of Syrah, K Vintners and their 2007 Walla Walla Valley Morrison Syrah was pretty special... full on waves of black fruit, savory spice, and earth- fully balanced with precision. I guess this is one of the entry level Syrahs from K and Charles Smith... pretty heady.

I tasted a fair amount of big Napa Cab's and Merlots from the 2005 - 2007 vintages, most of them needing time to mellow out and settle in. Caymus, Kathryn Hall, Pahlmeyer, and Pride all were pretty dark, loud, and brooding wines- intense on the palate with all the components fighting for airtime. I'd need to sit down with these and either give them time, or a lot of air to get a fair assessment. A few of the Cabs that were already showing nice refinement were the 2005 Grgich Hills (awesome 2007 Chardonnay as well), the 2006 Ramey Claret and Napa Cab, and both of Silver Oak's 2005 Cabs.

The biggest disappointments were probably Kosta Brown's 2008 Sonoma Coast and Russian River Pinot Noirs- good wines but didn't impress me as much as the Pinots mentioned earlier; some of the aggressive Cabs listed above (like I said, they need more time with me or I need more time with them...), and some high alcohol mashers from Martinelli- a Russian River Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that were both north of 15%, along with a Zin that came in at nearly 17%! Too much body and sweet gnarly fruit, they were like drinking fruit splinters and cotton candy.

There weren't too many imports, a few Australian and Chilean wines that I didn't get to. Maisons Marques and Domaines were pouring some of their portfolio- a beautiful Domaines Ott Rosé from Provence and a 2006 Pio Cesare Barolo. Very nice indeed.

So there you have it, a layman's view of the High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction trade tasting all from memory, shoddy note-taking, and wine-stained brochures. Here's to next year!