Wine
This last weekend Hannah and I went up to Santa Barbara (thanks to Megan's parents who so generously gave us their condo for the weekend) and had a wonderful time. We walked to the beach, strolled downtown, ate some good food, watched Golden Girls reruns on Hallmark, and fawned over a surprisingly diverse array of animals (cats, dogs, mice, snakes and even a sea otter).
The highlight though was going up every day to the Buellton/Los Olivos area and visiting a ton of great wineries. Normally when we go up there we go to the same old favorites but we both wanted to explore a new area. So on Saturday we went up the Foxen Canyon Trail and visited the wineries there. We hit 5 - Rancho Sisquoc, Foxen, Tres Hermanas, Zaca Mesa, and Curtis. There are many more in that area, we hit the ones recommended to us by a friend with extensive knowledge of the region. They were all quite fine, although Rancho Sisquoc, Foxen and Curtis stood out the most. It was interesting that they grew such a variety of grapes in this area. A lot of Syrah, a lot of Sauv Blanc and Riesling, not so much Pinot (although the Pinot they do have is quite nice). The region was not as poetically perfect as the Santa Rita Hills we know and love, but it was a lovely day filled with new discovery and a surprisingly high variety of good wine. At the end of the day we came home with many bottles, and my only regret was that I didn't buy a bottle I wanted to but ultimately decided against (the Foxen Volpino).
The next day we decided to do our more familiar run - eat at Pea Soup Andersen's and then go to our old favorites Babcock (where I proposed to Hannah), Melville, Sanford, and Alma Rosa, all within the Santa Rita Hills appelation. It's an absolutely gorgeous area with a lot of soul in it, beautiful views, and absolutely exquisite wine. It's mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a touch of Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc, but what they lack in variety they make up for with exceptional quality.
We actually started the morning just outside the Santa Rita Hills at the Gainey vineyard, which we had heard so much about and wanted to visit for a while. Gainey was truly great, each wine was consistently good and tasty and balanced. They also had a teeny tiny label called Evan's Ranch which was singularly spectacular (only available to buy by subscription to the club - exclusive!). We ended up joining the club at Gainey because of the overall consistency of the wine and the variety in the shipment. I would have loved to join the Evan's Ranch club too but I didn't want to go too overboard and be burdened with all these shipments. 2 clubs (we're members at Babcock and are VERY happy with their selection) is enough.
Gainey also had a little tour where you can see the machines that make the wine and the tanks where they house it, and you can even taste the grapes that go into the wine. Very interesting tasting wine grapes - almost all skin and juice and seed with next to no flesh. Cab Sauv is very grassy while Merlot is very sweet. All of them look just stunning. And it was cool to see how different grapes have different trellises that they grow on - some are completely vertical while others spread out more.
Babcock was the same old same old, but still consistently good. We got a few bottles of their Wine Cask Cuvee blend, which is a blend of their Grand Cuvee and their Ocean's Ghost Pinot Noirs. Those are two exceptional bottles, so I'm really excited to try this one, which is very rare (they're never going to make it again) and we got a great deal on it by being club members (50% off!).
Melville is still my favorite winery in California, if not anywhere (I haven't visited Tokaj yet, so the jury is still out). The wines they produce are so consistently excellent, and new vintages bring out new flavors and there's usually a bottle I've never tried before waiting for me. In this case I was really wonderfully surprised by the Inox Chardonnay they were pouring. Normally I don't go all that crazy for Chardonnay, but this was an incredibly well-balanced and complex wine. Melville has often trumpeted the acidity and fruitiness of their Chardonnays (they notoriously don't use any oak), but this one was far beyond the sour fruit bombs we tried in their other Chardonnay selections. We had tried other really interesting Chardonnays at Gainey (particularly the Evan's Ranch one) but this one was not only good, it was unique and memorable. And cheap, compared to what Melville typically charges. We bought a bottle of it, and a bottle of the brand new Verna's Vineyard Pinot Noir. Past years at Verna's are generally very light and silky, a delicious wine that's great to drink without food. This new 2008 version is bold and deep and complex, it rivals the Estate and even the Terraces Pinot Noirs that Melville makes (the Terraces is my all time favorite), and at 24 a bottle it's a STEAL. We bought one of those and I look forward to buying more. At that price there's no reason not to stock up on them throughout the year. It's a fairly common wine available in many Socal wineries.
Then we went to Sanford and Alma Rosa, two wineries we had been neglecting for a while - Sanford because it's quite corporate, and Alma Rosa because for their quality they're about 10-15 dollars overpriced. But we were done buying bottles for the day, so we just wanted to taste and enjoy. Sanford has an absolutely DYNAMITE tasting room, with an epic view of their entire vast vineyard that is so gorgeous. It's worth the trip there just to see the view. We did buy one final bottle there, a late harvest Chardonnay that was irresistable (I'm a sucker for dessert wines). Alma Rosa is laid back and casual, the pourer sits next to you at a communal table and talks about his health issues. It's much more conversational and relaxed. We enjoyed all their wine but nothing really stuck out at me there.
When we got back to the condo in SB we took a picture of all the wine we had bought - 21 full bottles and four half bottles (desserts):
So now it's all sitting in my office where the temperature is constant and controlled and where it can beat the summer Station fire heat. Yeah we went a little overboard but it was worth it, because now we'll have a ton of great wine to share with friends and bring to restaurants for a while. My suspicion is that it's going to go by quite quickly though, knowing how eager I am to pour for friends at parties and such. I'm going to try to be disciplined, because this is really enough wine for several months.
Wedding post will be the next post. I'm quickly losing the window of opportunity.
Edit to add: Station fire-wise, we are fine. The air is hazy and we can see the smoke, but other than being closer to the fire than most people are, everything is a-ok. It's not moving towards us and we're good to go.
The highlight though was going up every day to the Buellton/Los Olivos area and visiting a ton of great wineries. Normally when we go up there we go to the same old favorites but we both wanted to explore a new area. So on Saturday we went up the Foxen Canyon Trail and visited the wineries there. We hit 5 - Rancho Sisquoc, Foxen, Tres Hermanas, Zaca Mesa, and Curtis. There are many more in that area, we hit the ones recommended to us by a friend with extensive knowledge of the region. They were all quite fine, although Rancho Sisquoc, Foxen and Curtis stood out the most. It was interesting that they grew such a variety of grapes in this area. A lot of Syrah, a lot of Sauv Blanc and Riesling, not so much Pinot (although the Pinot they do have is quite nice). The region was not as poetically perfect as the Santa Rita Hills we know and love, but it was a lovely day filled with new discovery and a surprisingly high variety of good wine. At the end of the day we came home with many bottles, and my only regret was that I didn't buy a bottle I wanted to but ultimately decided against (the Foxen Volpino).
The next day we decided to do our more familiar run - eat at Pea Soup Andersen's and then go to our old favorites Babcock (where I proposed to Hannah), Melville, Sanford, and Alma Rosa, all within the Santa Rita Hills appelation. It's an absolutely gorgeous area with a lot of soul in it, beautiful views, and absolutely exquisite wine. It's mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a touch of Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc, but what they lack in variety they make up for with exceptional quality.
We actually started the morning just outside the Santa Rita Hills at the Gainey vineyard, which we had heard so much about and wanted to visit for a while. Gainey was truly great, each wine was consistently good and tasty and balanced. They also had a teeny tiny label called Evan's Ranch which was singularly spectacular (only available to buy by subscription to the club - exclusive!). We ended up joining the club at Gainey because of the overall consistency of the wine and the variety in the shipment. I would have loved to join the Evan's Ranch club too but I didn't want to go too overboard and be burdened with all these shipments. 2 clubs (we're members at Babcock and are VERY happy with their selection) is enough.
Gainey also had a little tour where you can see the machines that make the wine and the tanks where they house it, and you can even taste the grapes that go into the wine. Very interesting tasting wine grapes - almost all skin and juice and seed with next to no flesh. Cab Sauv is very grassy while Merlot is very sweet. All of them look just stunning. And it was cool to see how different grapes have different trellises that they grow on - some are completely vertical while others spread out more.
Babcock was the same old same old, but still consistently good. We got a few bottles of their Wine Cask Cuvee blend, which is a blend of their Grand Cuvee and their Ocean's Ghost Pinot Noirs. Those are two exceptional bottles, so I'm really excited to try this one, which is very rare (they're never going to make it again) and we got a great deal on it by being club members (50% off!).
Melville is still my favorite winery in California, if not anywhere (I haven't visited Tokaj yet, so the jury is still out). The wines they produce are so consistently excellent, and new vintages bring out new flavors and there's usually a bottle I've never tried before waiting for me. In this case I was really wonderfully surprised by the Inox Chardonnay they were pouring. Normally I don't go all that crazy for Chardonnay, but this was an incredibly well-balanced and complex wine. Melville has often trumpeted the acidity and fruitiness of their Chardonnays (they notoriously don't use any oak), but this one was far beyond the sour fruit bombs we tried in their other Chardonnay selections. We had tried other really interesting Chardonnays at Gainey (particularly the Evan's Ranch one) but this one was not only good, it was unique and memorable. And cheap, compared to what Melville typically charges. We bought a bottle of it, and a bottle of the brand new Verna's Vineyard Pinot Noir. Past years at Verna's are generally very light and silky, a delicious wine that's great to drink without food. This new 2008 version is bold and deep and complex, it rivals the Estate and even the Terraces Pinot Noirs that Melville makes (the Terraces is my all time favorite), and at 24 a bottle it's a STEAL. We bought one of those and I look forward to buying more. At that price there's no reason not to stock up on them throughout the year. It's a fairly common wine available in many Socal wineries.
Then we went to Sanford and Alma Rosa, two wineries we had been neglecting for a while - Sanford because it's quite corporate, and Alma Rosa because for their quality they're about 10-15 dollars overpriced. But we were done buying bottles for the day, so we just wanted to taste and enjoy. Sanford has an absolutely DYNAMITE tasting room, with an epic view of their entire vast vineyard that is so gorgeous. It's worth the trip there just to see the view. We did buy one final bottle there, a late harvest Chardonnay that was irresistable (I'm a sucker for dessert wines). Alma Rosa is laid back and casual, the pourer sits next to you at a communal table and talks about his health issues. It's much more conversational and relaxed. We enjoyed all their wine but nothing really stuck out at me there.
When we got back to the condo in SB we took a picture of all the wine we had bought - 21 full bottles and four half bottles (desserts):
So now it's all sitting in my office where the temperature is constant and controlled and where it can beat the summer Station fire heat. Yeah we went a little overboard but it was worth it, because now we'll have a ton of great wine to share with friends and bring to restaurants for a while. My suspicion is that it's going to go by quite quickly though, knowing how eager I am to pour for friends at parties and such. I'm going to try to be disciplined, because this is really enough wine for several months.
Wedding post will be the next post. I'm quickly losing the window of opportunity.
Edit to add: Station fire-wise, we are fine. The air is hazy and we can see the smoke, but other than being closer to the fire than most people are, everything is a-ok. It's not moving towards us and we're good to go.