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+--- Thread: Santa Barbara County Part Two (/thread-15251.html)
- wondersofwine - 10-24-2008
After Fiddlehead Winery in the town of Lompoc, I drove along Highway 246 to visit Melville and Babcock Wineries.
I didn't take notes at either place so later confused whether I had the "Nook and Cranny Syrah" at Melville or Babcock (it's from Babcock.) I liked some of the wines at both stops and purchased three bottles from each. At Melville I tasted three Pinot Noirs, the Estate Pinot Noir Verna's, and two vineyard-specific Pinots--Carrie's and Terraces. Carrie's is from dijonnais clones 114 and 115 (832 cases.)
I prefered the Terraces which is from five clones (Swan, Mt. Eden, 115, 667, and 777.) 772 cases of Terraces produced. Both come in at almost 15% alcohol and are $52 each from the winery. Although the Terraces was my favorite, I thought for the price the Estate Pinot Noir Verna's (Los Alomas Estate), ($26) was a better buy and went with it. The Verna's is composed of clones 2A, 667, 777 and Merry Edwards 828. It is labeled 14.5% alcohol. It's fun to read the tasting notes on the Melville website--it describes a number of aromas and flavors that eluded me: http://www.melvillewinery.com/currentreleases.html
At Babcock (next door and up the hill from Melville) I purchased one bottle of a Pinot Noir but splurged on two bottles of Nook and Cranny Syrah at $50 per bottle (beyond my usual spending limit.) Obviously I was impressed. I also tasted "Under the Radar" Syrah, a much less expensive ($18) but unimpressive wine. The "Identity Crisis" Syrah was sold out so I didn't sample that one. From Bryan Babcock's website: Winemaker’s Notes:
"Syrah grown west of Highway 101 in the Santa Ynez Valley can be extraordinary. The trick is in getting it thoroughly ripe. Our vineyard is under a heavy influence from the ocean, and like the rest of the Santa Rita Hills, it’s very cool and breezy through out the growing season. In fact, most of our ranch is too cool to consistently
ripen Syrah. But, as luck would have it, we have a couple of small sites that do accommodate this noble Rhone varietal.
With the exception of Burgundy, the prevailing wisdom says that great vineyards in the northern hemisphere ideally face west or south, so as to insure that their vines get plenty of sun. But with Syrah we have found it necessary to plant on east facing hillsides, out of the wind, where it is actually a couple of degrees warmer throughout the day. With 95% of our vineyards facing the wrong way, we are only talking about a couple of tiny adjacent
hillsides. Making it even more extraordinary is the fact that their soils are a matrix of gravelly loam and shattered sandstone, the kind of stuff that intimately governs the vigorous nature of Syrah, while still allowing it to ripen. What we have are two little viticultural sweet spots, indeed on our ranch, the NOOK & CRANNY for
the growing of world class Syrah. The downside is that we can’t make very much of this stuff. The upside is that 95% of our ranch is Mecca for growing Pinot."
I had in mind to visit Sanford Winery on Santa Rosa Road but after lunch in Solvang was running out of time since the tasting room closes at 4:00 PM on Saturdays. I did drive along the scenic Santa Rosa Road which has other wineries as well as Sanford but didn't stop. I was meeting John and Cindy Tomasso from WLDG forum for dinner at the Hitching Post II in Buellton. (Also a landmark in "Sideways" movie.)
I had a delicious sirloin steak and shared appetizers of grilled artichoke and mushrooms in a red wine reduction with the Tomassos. John ordered a German Pinot Gris which I liked and a 2001 Hitching Post Fiddlestix Pinot Noir. He also brought a late harvest Rousanne made by an acquaintance. All the wines were excellent.
(On the small world front, Thursday I dined at Chef's Touch in Solvang. The chef was mentored by Gernot Leitzinger who used to be owner/chef of one of my favorite Monterey Peninsula restaurants. I dined many times at his Old Europe Restaurant in Pacific Grove and once at Gernot's Victoria House when he relocated a block away. Gernot was from the Kitzbuhel, Austria area and some of his specialities were lightly breaded and fried button mushrooms, rabbit and boar.)
Sunday I made a leisurely drive back to Ontario, CA to turn in my rental car and stay overnight near the airport. I stopped for lunch in Ventura where an Art Walk was underway. I dined on the top floor of a building called W20 with a backdrop of bright landscape canvases and a trio called Sunshine Brothers providing music. I wanted to try the Andrew Murray "Tous Les Jours" (every day) Syrah but they were out of it so I had a Mimosa instead.
Tasting rooms and wineries I did NOT get to (too little time) include Andrew Murray, Longoria, Kalyra, Epiphany, Blackjack Ranch.
Also Foxen which I did not spot when tasting on Friday. How am I going to manage to return to Sonoma, Oregon, Washington and now Santa Barbara as well?
Left out of yesterday's report--a stop at Heather Cottage in Los Olivos to taste Daniel Gehr's wines. I purchased a Pinot Noir which I will report on when opened. (A shout out to Dananne.)
[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 10-24-2008).]