Central Coast – August 2002

This year we decided to branch out and pay a visit to the Paso Robles and Santa Barbara/Los Olivos areas for a change. A great time, as would be expected, was had by all and much good and not so good wine was tasted.

Day 1 –Just 5

Au Bon Climat
2000 Chardonnay Nuits Blanches
Mostly unclean and woody all the way through. Not enough fruit for the oak. $30.00

Ojai
2000 Chardonnay
Oak and fruit on the nose but with superior balance to the ABC. Just okay. $30.00

Cold Heaven
2000 Viognier Santa Barbara County
Smells like mineral water with some lemon and apricot flavoring. Subtle. Medium-bodied on the palate. Pleasant, not extraordinary. $30.00 We followed that up with a nice dinner at Bouchon. The food was okay, including my beet, asparagus, and goat cheese terrine. I found the highlight of my duck entrée to be the succotash, not the duck….The wine however, was stellar.

Lewis
1999 Syrah Napa Valley
14.4% alcohol. Amazing and delicious stuff. Truly a crowd pleaser. Maple syrup and lavender nose. Rich sweet blue and black fruits on the palate. Supple, lush, full-bodied. Awesome. $50.00

Outpost
1999 Zinfandel
Pringle Family Vineyards Howell Mountain Napa Valley 16.1% Alcohol. Tasted after the Lewis. Less expansive on the palate with sharper acidity, but ripe and sweet with spicy anise and clove in the nose. Nice Zinfandel. $30.00

Day 2 – About 50 degrees of tasting fun

Pesenti
NV Red Velvet Paso Robles
Balsa wood berry nose. Smells like it it Italian. Translucent rusty appearance. Strawberry quaffer. Could be much worse. Decent value. $6.00

Pesenti
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles
Cedar, cigar box, currant nose. Tannin sour pass. $12.00

Pesenti
1998 Zinfandel Paso Robles
Spicy peppery nose. Touch of wood. Zippy acidity. Short finish. $12.00

Pesenti
1999 Zinfandel Paso Robles
Rich jammy nose with some anise and chinese spice. Pleasant value Zinfandel. Acidic finish. $12.00

Turley
2000 Zinfandel Juvenile
Bottled in January - rich bramble fruit nose, bit reticent though. Rich sweet and supple on the palate. Good value. $20.00

Turley
2000 Zinfandel Mead Ranch Atlas Peak
15.7% alcohol. 97-98 year old vines. Yeasty blackberry seed syrup jam on toast nose. Sweet fruit with good acidic backbone. Yum. $34.00

Turley
2000 Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard Paso Robles
15.3% alcohol. Anise spice nose. Quite penetrating. Green pepper. Rich tight palate. Youthful. $35.00

Turley
2000 Zinfandel Old Vines
15% alcohol. Similar spice nose to the others…VA…rich but tight. The acids seem off on this…violets…decent, but my least favorite. $24.00 Next stop…Justin. They had a bad fire in June and the tasting room had been set up outside under some trees. Frankly, it was a bit too hot to be tasting wine outside. We were glad to have stopped for the extra key to the minivan so we could leave it locked and running and keep the wines cool inside.

Justin
2001 Sauvignon Blanc Paso Robles
Mostly stainless steel but with 36% neutral French oak. Light nose with some clean grass aromas. Fairly tart with lemon-lime grassy lemon cream flavors. Well put together but overall just fair to my tasters. $14.00

Justin
2001 Chardonnay Paso Robles
16% new oak, no malolactic. Almost no nose. Fairly sweet fruit without much character. Tinu hint of new French oak. $19.00

Justin
2000 Orphan Paso Robles
51% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc. Nice violet, dark berry, blackberry nose. Supple, light tannins medium-bodied. Touch of lemony acidity in the finish. Not bad, great value. This was all the leftovers that were deemed too good to just throw away. $14.00

Justin
2000 Cal-Ital Paso Robles
76% Nebbiolo, 24% Sangiovese. Nebbiolo-like color - sort of a violet brown translucent cast. Pleasant fruit, not much to suggest the varieties, though I'm not sure these two varieties are really at their best when blended together. Somewhat floral nose? Pass. $23.00

Justin
2000 Rioja Reserva Paso Robles
Ruby color. Pencil lead nose. Plummy fruit with a fairly neutral flavor, though round and fruity. 100% American, but only 4% new. $24.00

Justin
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles
4% Merlot. 70% American oak, 27% new oak - not sure which percentage includes the new. Vanilla nose. Chocolate. Soft and drinking very well now. Tannins surface some in the finish. $23.00

Justin
2000 Justification Paso Robles
57% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot. Pretty Cabernet Franc nose of violets, pencil lead. Feminine. Vanilla and chocolate flavors with a milky creamy texture. Still enough acidity to carry it though. Tight finish. Pretty good. $30.00

Justin
2000 Syrah Paso Robles
These grapes are all the Chapoutier clone. Carmelized sugar nose with some pepper underneath. Slatey soil, candied oranges. Rich and tannic in the mouth. Lots of oak. $23.00

Justin
2001 Orange Muscat Deborah's Delight Paso Robles
Skuny initially then muscat sugary sweet. Pleasant but short. $23.00

Justin
2000 Malbec Paso Robles
Bitter chocolate, coffee, lead pencil nose. Expansive on the palate with moderate acidity in the middle and a somewhat acidic finish. Decent. $24.00 We had a 2 PM appointment at Tablas Creek, and a half an hour to kill, so we stopped in to this winery we had not heard of. Basically your standard husband wife, artist-winemaker duo.

Carmody McKnight
2000 Chardonnay Paso Robles
Lemon cream with touch of toast nose. Sweet pear fruit on the palate. The palate on this was better than the nose suggested. $14.00

Carmody McKnight
2000 Pinot Noir Paso Robles
Translucent Rose color. Mostly toasty oak nose with a touch of floral and dirt thrown in. Fruity raspberry palate. $22.00

Carmody McKnight
2000 Cabernet Franc Paso Robles
Cherry cola nose. Medicinal palate. $23.00

Carmody McKnight
1999 Merlot Paso Robles
Stemmy nose with caramel. Medicinal palate. $23.00

Carmody McKnight
1999 Cadenza Paso Robles
50% Cabernet Franc, 36% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon. Coffee, lavender nose. Supple palate but a bit short. Best of group so far. $24.00

Carmody McKnight
1998 Cadenza Paso Robles
Sweeter than the 1999 but with less character. Better balance on the palate as well. This wine was apparently not filtered, where the 1999 was. $24.00

Carmody McKnight
2000 Cabernet Franc Late Harvest Paso Robles
17.5% alcohol. Liqueur nose. Turns high-octane jet fuel at the end. Sweet and rich, bit medicinal. $24.00

Our tour at Tablas Creek was unbelievable. Truly a fantastic experience. Robert (French pronunciation please, he’s Canadian) lead us all over and showed us the vineyards and their extensive facilities for grafting and selling their clones.

Tablas Creek’s first wines were made in 1997, but the operation actually dates back to the late 1980s. Chateau de Beaucastel and importer Robert Haas got together and bought the land and then started importing vines from France. The vines had to be quarantined in New York for three years before they could be released and planted. The land they chose is mostly limestone with a high Ph like Beaucastel. They ultimately planted “American Vines” and imported vines of several Rhone varieties to see what the differences between them were and to increase the complexity of the final blends.

Today they have 120 acres with about 100 planted. The vineyards are 100% organic and they seem to take these measures seriously. One curious item – they utilize 6 mobile chicken coops to dispose of the morning glory between rows of vines.

Robert first took us to the Rootstock field. It looks like someone chopped off some old vines right at the ground. About 40 root systems grow shoots out like tentacles. These tentacles. These tentacles are then harvested and used for propagating.

The grafting room is where they graft the rootstocks and wines. They have 9 or so German-made “Omega Machines” that cut tongue and groove like notches and splice the two pieces together. It’s all operated by a foot pedal. The new vines are then placed in a callous room where they are kept in sterile soil at high humidity and temperature until, you guessed it, callouses form over the joint. After some time here, the vines are removed and the joints are dipped into hot wax that includes a fungicide and a growth hormone. Then they are planted and moved into a green house to grow up for awhile. The wax is ideal because the new shoots can push through it, unlike tape. This appears to be a major portion of Tablas Creek’s business. Enough about that, on to the winery.

Tablas Creek uses only neutral French oak. They do most of their fermentation in stainless steel. They did have some interesting experimental barrels that are made using hot water instead of toasting over oak. We were told they impart no oak flavor and that the early results were promising.

Tablas Creek
2000 Chardonnay Antithesis Paso Robles
Originally came about as a result of importing vines for Sonoma Cutrer to use. After tasting the quality of the fruit, they decided to keep them and break with plan of focusing on Rhone varieties. Neutral oak. Light nose. Lemon - subtle. Sweet pear fruit and lemon cream on the palate. A very nice change of pace in Chardonnay. Lots of different and unexpected flavors. 48 Cases $30.00

Tablas Creek
2000 Clos Blanc Paso Robles
White blend of Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier (19%), Grenache blanc, and wait for it…Vermentino. According to Robert, Vermentino actually has its origins in the Rhone valley. Light apricot nose with spices. A second sample with a half-day more air smells cedary with a sweeter rounder palate. $30.00

Tablas Creek
Paso Robles
52% Mourvedre, 26% Counoise, 22% Grenache. Ruby copper color. Smells dry with cedar and earth components. Rich palate with acid lemon and orange flavors. Long finish. Perfumey. $30.00

Tablas Creek
1998 Rouge Paso Robles
Severely pruned vines. Robert told us that this wine has turned around after 14 months in the bottle. 50% French and 50% American clones. All neutral oak. Mostly Mourvedre (44%) and Syrah (20%). Deep color with no clearing and a tawny nuance. Rich cedar earth metallic nose. Tannins are sweet. Full-bodied. Tannic finish. Slight stemminess. 13.8% alcohol. $30.00

Tablas Creek
1999 Petite Cuvee Paso Robles Mostly Grenache, 70% American clones. Deep color for Grenache with vanilla and asian spices. Smells tannic with tree sap and raw wood, though it was all neutral oak. 250 cases. 15.2% alcohol. $30.00

Tablas Creek
1999 Reserve Cuvee Paso Robles
40% Mourvedre. White pepper, ink, wax, animal fur, pencil lead, lavender nose. Rich expansive blackberry and cherry fruit on the palate. Impressive. Sweet initially with a tannic finish. This seems like it could age a long time. $30.00

Tablas Creek
2000 Espirit de Beaucastel Rouge Paso Robles
Yeasty smelling initially with meaty iodine and mushroom notes. Rich sweet red and black fruits. Long finish with a spike of late acidity. Yum. Nice. Been in the bottle 2 months. Fermented in open top fermenters. $30.00

Tablas Creek
2001 Espirit de Beaucastel Rouge Paso Robles
Barret Tasting - Grapy peppery flavors. Rich. Gonna be nice. $30.00

Tablas Creek
2001 Espirit de Beaucastel Blanc Paso Robles
Young Provence white nose. Viognier. Like this…palate fatigue is catching up with me. $30.00

Tablas Creek
2000 Petite Cuvee Paso Robles
Yeasty animal iodine saline nose. Mostly Grenache (84%) and Syrah. 15.6% alchol. Sweet and ripe.

We said our thanks to Robert and headed back to Paso Robles for some much needed lunch. By this time it was 4:45 and I would have eaten just about anything. We broke cardinal rule about wine touring…have snacks in the car.

After some munchies, we headed over to Eberle, as they were open until 6. It appears that Eberle also serves as a local watering hole, judging by the crowd of people and their state of mind.

Eberle
2000 Viognier Glenrose Vineyard Paso Robles
Peachy citrus yeast butter. Well made. 14.5% alcohol. $22.00

Eberle
2001 Chardonnay Estate Paso Robles
Toasty vanilla nose. Sweet tropical fruit. No residual sugar but it sure tastes sweet. $16.00

Eberle
2001 Syrah Rose Paso Robles
Pale pink translucent color. Dry herbs nose with cinnamon. Pleasant. $14.00

Eberle
NV Full Boar Red Paso Robles
Zinfandel, Barbera, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice and spicy zinberry nose, bit like a Coffaro wine. Good value. Strawberry fruity. $10.00

Eberle
2000 Sangiovese Filipponi and Thompson Vineyards Paso Robles
Wood, cherry, dry herbs nose. Fairly rich but uncomplicated. Balanced acids. Fairly lush and supple.

Eberle
2000 Zinfandel Steinbeck Vineyard
Great nose! Jammy pepper anise, seeded blackberry. Sweet red and blackberry fruit. Enough acids to keep it light. Slightly lingering finish of acidity. 15% alcohol. $16.00

Eberle
2000 Zinfandel Sauret Vineyard
15% Alcohol. White pepper nose. Tighter and less user friendly than the Steinbeck but with similar flavors. $16.00

Eberle
2000 Barbera 58% Steinbeck and 42% Sauret Vineyards Jammy white pepper lavender nose. Rich red fruits with a hint of candied orange.

Eberle
2000 Syrah Steinbeck Vineyard 14% Alcohol. Pepper nose. Chunky rich palate. Rustic. $20.00

Eberle
2000 Syrah Reid Vineyard
Similar to the Steinbeck but less fruity smelling and with more flavor definition. $20.00

Eberle
2000 Cabernet Syrah Paso Robles
50/50 blend. Pleasant nose of cedar currant and peppery Syrah. Nice sweetness and balance. $24.00

Eberle
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Paso Robles
American oak vanilla liqueur nose. Sweet rich palate with currant and raspberry fruit. Bit short, but a nice wine overall. $24.00

Eberle
2001 Muscat Canelli Estate Paso Robles
11% Alcohol. 5% residual sugar. Peachy tropical flavors with orange peel. Very pleasant with enough acidity to keep it light.

That was more than enough for one day. We had dinner that night at Villa Creek. This was one of the best meals of our trip. The only thing we couldn’t recommend was the Tuna appetizer. Everything else was great and the wine list is thorough and reasonably priced. With dinner we had:

Turley
2000 Petite Sirah Napa Valley
At Villa Creek in Paso Robles. Returned…this wine was flat and devoid of flavor. $55 at the restaurant. $55.00

Garretson
1999 Syrah Alban Vineyard
Also at Villa Creek. Oozes blueberry and boysenberry juice. Creamy lush full bodied long and concentrated. Very Delicious. Initially we ordered the Rozet Vineyard Syrah and the restaurant was sold out. Later Mr. Rozet, who had been dining nearby stopped by our table to say hello. He has lots of admiration for what young winemakers have been doing with Paso Robles fruit. He also indicates a lot of respect for John Alban…he said they just pretty much do whatever he says and it always works. $65.00

Day 3 – 56 miles, err wines and running

Tobin James
2001 Chardonnay Radiance Paso Robles
Smells like a Sauvignon Blanc at first sniff. Lime zest, grass, tart green apples. Weird. $16.00

Tobin James
2000 Chardonnay Bien Nacido James Gang Reserve
Toasty mineral oak nose. Apple fruit. Crisp mineral and charcoal flavors. Mixture of French and American oak. Okay, but overpriced. $25.00

Tobin James
2000 Chateau le Cacheflo
Rhone blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, and a splash of Zinfandel. Fruity strawberry zest nose. Translucent ruby color. Pleasant. Some tin can flavors suggestive of Pinot Noir. $10.00

Tobin James
2000 Sangiovese Paso Robles
Translucent rose in the glass. American oak nose. Cedar cherry. Rich but one dimensional. Green herb acid finish. $18.00

Tobin James
1999 Merlot "Made in the Shade"
American oak, tin can, green angular. $16.00

Tobin James
2000 Zinfandel "Ballistic" 15.2% alcohol. Zinberry fruity nose. Similar fruit on the palate. Simple and sweet with a short finish.

Tobin James
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon "Legend"
13.5% alcohol. Cedar blackberry and tobacco nose. Black cherry fruit palate. Okay. $16.00

Tobin James
2000 Syrah "Rock-n-Roll"
Vanilla/American oak nose. Cedar and a touch of floral. Mona said "Fried Chicken?". Green pepper and sour orange juice. Blackberry. On the thin side.

Tobin James
1999 Zinfandel James Gang Reserve
15.2% alcohol. Jammy zinberry nose with toasty seeds. Rich red and black forest fruit. Acid finish. Getting somewhere. Good nose. $28.00

Tobin James
1999 Petite Sirah Ranchita Canyon
15.4% alcohol. American oak nose with rich sweet jammy fruit and spearmint, eucalyptus, floral overlays. $20.00

Tobin James
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon James Gang Reserve
Shard cedar nose. American oak. Short and boring. $28.00

Tobin James
1999 Private Stash Paso Robles
1/3 each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. Blackberry cranberry nose. Rich with good balance. Lingering toasty touch tannic finish. Best yet in this lineup. Too expensive. $38.00

Tobin James
2001 Charisma
17.4% alcohol. Rose color. Apparently made like a white Zinfandel. Reticent nose. Sweet tropical palate. Decent length and holds its alcohol well.

Tobin James
2000 Merlot Late Harvest James Gang Reserve
17% alcohol. Sweet rich chocolatey raisins. Oustanding with the milk chocolate chips the tasting staff served with it. 5% residual sugar. Harvested around 35 brix. $18.00

Tobin James
1999 Zinfandel Late Harvest
16.8% alcohol. Nice jammy zinberry spice pie filling nose. Coffee. Rich long peachy finish with a final sip of cofee. $18.00

Tobin James
2000 Muscat Late Harvest James Gang Reserve
Typical muscaty nose. Bit botrytis like. 17.1% alcohol. Sweet rich stone fruits with an acid back bone to help carry it. $18.00 As our last stop in Paso Robles, we paid a quick visit to Mat Garretson.

Garretson
2001 Viognier "Table 62" Vogelzang Vineyard Santa Ynez
Lemon apricot nose. Crisp. Moderate acidity with sweet lemons. Nice. Neutral oak, inoculated.

Garretson
2001 Viognier The Spunog Cnoc
Off-dry rich sweet balanced. Sweet orange juice. Mom might like this.

Garretson
2001 Roussanne Westerly Stolpman Vineyards Limoid Cior
Touch watery. Sweet fruit with lemon bar candy finish. Bit of cedar on the nose.

Garretson
2001 Rose The Celeidh
Deeply colored for Rose. Skunk nose. Dry but tastes sweet. Hard to pin down fruit flavors. This is pretty damn good as me and Roses go.

Garretson
2000 The Aisling
Name means "The Vision." Toasty American oak whisky barrel nose. Rich tomatoe cranberry flavors. Opens with some air. 5000 cases.

Garretson
NV Glimgrim Blue Suit Bottling
73% Syrah. Peppery briarey nose with moderate tannins. Lemon squirt finish. Yummy. Nice Value. $14.00

Garretson
NV Cuvee Ella
Brandy essentially, made from Viognier and Roussanne. High octane singe your nose hairs caramel. Intense. Fairly smooth I suppose on the finish, but I don't drink much brandy. Shame to lose the flavors of the grape and this is frightfully expensive $120.00

Heading south on the 101, we got off in Santa Maria to meet Brian Loring at Cottonwood Canyon Winery where he makes and cellars his Pinots. On the way we had some relatives from LA join us (my Aunt Lorena and Uncle Dennis). We were early so we tasted Cottonwood’s wines…

Cottonwood Canyon
2000 Chardonnay Bistro Santa Maria Valley
Tart Lemon curd nose sweet similar lemon curd palate. Pretty weak overall.

Cottonwood Canyon
2000 Chardonnay Estate
Tart green apple nose. Tart palate. Okay.

Cottonwood Canyon
1992 Chardonnay
Buttery brown butter skunk nose. Rich semi-sweet palate. Not particularly elderly and still chock full of acids.

Cottonwood Canyon
1996 Chardonnay
Battery acid-like. Given that description, its not as tart as the last few.

Cottonwood Canyon
1995 Chardonnay
Tree resin, banana, lemon…

Cottonwood Canyon
1997 Chardonnay Barrel Select
Banana flavors again - okay. 14.6% alcohol.

Cottonwood Canyon
1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Bistro
Light color. Smells oxidized. Yuck.

Finally Brian arrived to spare us the rest of that tasting… Brian is specialing in Pinot Noir. His first vintage was 2000 , when he had just three sources of fruit. By the 2002 harvest he will be up to 8 different sources. He does his fermentations in the big white picking bins and throws in dry ice to give the must a cold soak. We all found this pretty amusing and eye opening. Well, it works!

Loring Wine Company
2001 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley
Barrel Tasting - neutral French barrel. Pale translucent with a slight blue tint. This fruit came from the Rancho Antiverius Vineyard. Earthy funky strawberry sweet tomatoe zest nose. Sweet rich fruit with a spicy backbone. Pleasant, but a bit light and dry. About 500 Cases. Brian plans to produce about 1200 cases of this in 2002.

Loring Wine Company
2001 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley
Barrel Tasting - new French barrel - Seguin Morrow - same fruit as last barrel. Toasty with deeper flavors. Pretty and perfumey nose. Similar funk to the last barrel but the fruit flavors seem to be drawn out more. Richer and sweeter, but still on the light side.

Loring Wine Company
2001 Pinot Noir Gary's Vineyard Santa Maria Valley
Barrel Tasting - New Seguin Morrow barrel - much deeper color. Candied strawberry orange zest funk nose. Candied cherries. Rich sweet - acid finish. Delicious stuff. Medium-full bodied. Nice.

Loring Wine Company
2001 Pinot Noir Gary's Vineyard Santa Maria Valley
Barrel Tasting - 4 yr old barrel - Zesty with a touch of CO2 (this one was still outgassing) Same sweet character as the new barrel. Slightly metallic nose. Wonderful strawberry cherry fruit.

Loring Wine Company
2001 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe
Barrel Tasting - Neutral 2-year old French barrel. Tight green herb inky nose. Cinnamon and watermelon. Complex nose. Rich sweet candy cherry perfumed. Pretty and delicious. Good acidity. Yummy.

Loring Wine Company
2001 Pinot Noir Theoretical Blend - 50/50 Gary's and Clos Pepe
Barrel tasting of blended samples - this will not be bottled this way. Complex, rich delicious. Meaty. Awesome. Tough to separate out all the flavors but seems to capture the best parts of both wines.

Loring Wine Company
2000 Pinot Noir Gary's Vineyard Santa Maria Valley
14.5% alcohol. 50% new oak. Softer than the barrel samples, but still quite tight. Ripe red fruits, raspberry. No funk. Rich. Nice Pinot. $40.00

Loring Wine Company
2000 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe
14.7% Alcohol. Yeasty nose like baked bread. Boysenberry, blackberry seeds. Outstanding. $40.00 Brian is doing a fantastic job and we couldn’t thank him enough for the two hours he spent with us, not to mention the all the great wines we got to try. Too bad he had none to sell, as we would have been buying. We can’t say enough nice things. Thanks again Brian, it was fun and informative. Los Olivos was our next stop. Just wandering, we stopped in here, thinking it was a tasting room for multiple wineries…no such luck.

Los Olivos Vintners
2001 Sauvignon Blanc Valley View Vineyard Santa Barbara County
Reticent nose. Fruity palate with high acid finish. Serious balance problems. $18.00

Los Olivos Vintners
2001 Chardonnay Carreaga Canyon
Lemony - unclean - doesn't smell good. Swee tropical. Nothing interesting me here. $21.00

Los Olivos Vintners
2001 Pinot Noir Carreaga Canyon
Cherry cola with a hint of dry thyme and pinot funk. Bit medicinal. Sweet fruit. Okay. $28.00

Los Olivos Vintners
2000 Cabernet Franc Santa Barbara County
Medicinal smell. Tart cherry. Boring and harsh. $21.00

Los Olivos Vintners
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Ynez
Healthy color. Decent currant fruit nose. Pleasant, non descript, acid finish. Okay. $24.00

Los Olivos Vintners
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Valley View Vineyard Santa Barbara County
50% new oak. Coffee nose. Rich. Okay. $25.00

Los Olivos Vintners
2000 Gewurztraminer Carmel Vineyard Monterey County
Off-dry. Nice spicy gewurztraminer nose. Okay. $15.00 Then next door to Los Olivos Wine Merchant or something. They were close to closing and the staff was pretty surly.

Brophy Clark
2001 Sauvignon Blanc Valley View Vineyard Santa Barbara County
Nice lime zest grass nose. Sweet fruit on the palate. Decent.

John Kerr
1998 Chardonnay Reserve Bien Nacido
High octane nose. Paint thinner. Tart finish. Not much in between.

Claiborne and Churchill
2000 Riesling Dry. 12.7% Alcohol. Sweet smelling nose of asian spices, minerals, slate. Dry fruit palate. Ripe, balanced. Pretty good.

Au Bon Climat
2000 Pinot Noir La Bauge Au Dessus
Clean smelling with dry earth, cinnamon bark nose. Ripe palate. Pleasant strawberry fruit. Not bad.

Stephen Ross
2000 Pinot Noir Edna Valley
Healthy color. Metallic oxidized nose. Rich palate, ripe cherry strawberry fruit.

Qupe
2000 Syrah Central Coast
Nose? Sweet palate. No distinction to my palate. Off bottle? $14.00

Ojai
2000 Syrah Santa Barbara County
White pepper nose with dry wood. Expansive palate with black cherry and dry herb flavors.

Di Bruno
2000 Sangiovese Stolpman Vineyard
14.5% alcohol. Dry herb earth cherry nose. Not bad…good varietal character. Nice cherry fruit on the palate. Bit short.

We were surprised that there weren’t more upscale restaurants in Los Olivos, but we had heard good things about Patrick’s Side Street Café. The staff was incredibly friendly and Patrick came out and spoke to us for awhile. I had a mizzuna salad with candied walnuts that was very tasty but borderline too sweet, a mushroom soup with a nice variety of mushrooms, and a pappardelle pasta with some kind of Greek red peppers and yellow tomatoes that was very good. Mona’s duck entrée was not as successful, but I think everyone else enjoyed their meal. As for the wines…the wine list is short, and almost everything is under $40. I was hoping for something a bit more exciting, as this was vacation for us, but we fared pretty well.

Brander
2000 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Ynez
Smelled promising with limey grassy varietal character. The palate however is agressively herbal and acidic. Balance problems.

Vine Cliff
1999 Chardonnay Napa Valley
Applejuice aromas suggesting cheap Chardonnay but the palate, while sweet, shows more finesse and class. Subtle high quality oak.

Consilience
2000 Zinfandel Rhodes Ranch Redwood Valley
15.5% Alcohol. Made by one of the winemakers from Fess Parker (not Eli Parker, his label is Epiphany). Inky appearance. Pretty purple foam on the surface as the wine is poured. Solid and impenetrable. Looks like blueberry juice. Blackberry-boysenberry nose with some toasty qualities. Immense mouthfeel. Bit heavy and ponderous but overall very nice. $32.00

Day 4 – 75 tasting room glasses on the wall

Waking up the next morning we grabbed some tasty pastries in Solvang, also known as “Tourist Trap” and headed to some wineries that opened early (10 am).

Sunstone
1999 Synphonie du Soleil Santa Barbara County
71% Viognier, 29% Roussanne. Touch of skunk. Grapefruit. Yuck! $14.00

Sunstone
2000 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Barbara County
Tart lemon flavors. Okay. 50% Valley View, 50% Casa Blanca $15.00

Sunstone
2001 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County
Smells earthy and unclean, but the palate has decent sweetness. $18.00

Sunstone
2000 Chardonnay Reserve Santa Barbara County Applejuice, toasty cinnamon french oak. Pleasant pear fruit. $24.00

Sunstone
2000 Viognier Santa Ynez Valley
Skunk. Honeysuckle. Pleasant apricot peacy notes. $19.00

Sunstone
1999 Merlot Reserve Santa Barbara County
80/20 Merlot/Cabernet Franc. Pencil lead nose. Cherry fruit. Angular palate. Not bad. $30.00

Sunstone
2000 Merlot Estate
Chile pepper, herbal cherry, coffee. Soft, ripe, medium bodied. Not too bad if you don't mind the coffee and mentholish flavors. $24.00

Sunstone
1999 Cabernet Franc
Green olive, jalapeno, perfume, dust. Medium bodied. $27.00

Sunstone
1999 Eros Santa Barbara County
44% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sweet cherry fruit. Tobacco. Weedy. Medium-bodied. $36.00

Sunstone
2000 Rhapsodie du Soleil Santa Barbara County
61% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 14% Mourvedre. Sweet vanilla nose, 36% new American. Rich candy fruit. Tastes nice, but I suspect it won't last long. $29.00

Sunstone
1999 Syrah Santa Barbara County
Sweet cherry nose with a touch of white pepper. Okay. $40.00

Sunstone
2000 Muscat Canelli Santa Barbara County Fun nose of candied grapefruit. 2.5% Residual sugar. Pleasant off-dry summertime wine. $14.00

Foley
2001 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Barbara County
Pleasant oakey nose. Buttery figs. Ripe, balanced, well-made with good varietal character. In the running for best Sauvignon Blanc of the trip. $14.00

LinCourt
2000 Chardonnay Reserve Santa Barbara County
Mineralled French oak nose with charcoal, pear. Balanced and well made. Tastes refined. $22.00

Foley
2000 Chardonnay Dierberb Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Butterscotch and minerally French oak nose. Rich, unctuous. Full-bodied sweet balanced. 14.2% alcohol.

Foley
2000 Chardonnay Bien Nacido
More herbal than the Dierberg. nose of pepper and oak. Okay. Seems overoaked and way to expensive. $35.00

Foley
2001 Capri Santa Barbara County
Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon. 3% Residual sugar. Unclean tin can tomato. Sweet. Pass

LinCourt
2000 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
Healthy color. Tight initially. Light nose of strawberry and herbs with some bark. Medium bodied, straightforward fruit. Cleanly made without much complexity. $22.00

Foley
2000 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Hills Vineyard
Healthy red translucent color. Canned tomatoes, strawberry, touch of green funk, tree bark, French oak. Tight. $38.00

Foley
2000 Pinot Noir Barrel Select
Similar nose to the SM Hills but with lots of cola and a touch more fruit. Cola Cola Cola and spice. $50.00 Beckmen seems to be doing things right. All their wines were good and the prices were reasonable. The tasting staff was also friendly and unassuming. I think their location off the main path helps keep out the tourist crowd to some extent.

Beckmen
2000 Marsanne Purisima Mountain Vineyard
Fruity peachy tropical hazelnut flavors. Sweet fruit. Touch of chlorine and soap. Pleasant, well done. $16.00

Beckmen
2000 Sauvignon Blanc Estate
Gooseberry lime zest. Good varietal character. Sweet balanced fruit. Good. $12.00

Beckmen
2000 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County Light lemon curd nose. Oaky. Okay balance. About 30-50% Malolactic. $18.00

Beckmen
2001 Grenache Rose Santa Barbara County This wine spent 48 hours on skins. Ripe fruit. Okay. $11.00

Beckmen
1999 Cuvee Le Bec Santa Barbara County
Cotes du Rhone blend. 53% Grenache, 22% Mourvedre, 25% Syrah. Great nose - peppery animal fur, shoe leather. Nose is this wine's best asset. $20.00

Beckmen
1999 Atelier Santa Barbara County
63% Cabernet Franc, 37% Merlot. Jalapeno bitter cedar pencil lead dry dust licorice nose. Sweet fruit with good balance. Medium bodied. Great nose. $20.00

Beckmen
2000 Syrah Estate
Great varietally correct nose. Includes some interesting notes of candied orange. Red fruits on the palate. Bit short but nice. $25.00

Finally we found the Los Olivos Wine and Spirits Emporium in Los Olivos. Bob Senn saw me coming and had me pegged as a wine geek right when I walked in the door.

Amethyst
2000 Malvasia Monterey County
Peachy, muscaty, gewurztraminer nose. Smells sweet. On the palate the wine is completely dry and lemony. Fascinating contrast. $18.00

Alban
2000 Roussanne Edna Valley
Nutty Roasted almonds potent nose. Lemony palate - balance. Another interesting nose.

Verdad
2001 Rose Santa Ynez 95% Grenache and 5% Tempranillo. Copper salmon color. Okay.

Fiddlehead Cellars
2001 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
Balsa, vanilla cinnamon lavender nose - good complexity. Touch of whisky barrel. Good ripe fruit. Strawberry, raspberry. Good length.

Domaine Alfred
2000 Pinot Noir Califa Chamisal Vineyard Edna Valley
Sweet metallic herb fruit nose. Strawberry nose. Rich strawberry lavender palate. Candied fruit. Nicely done. 14.5% alcohol.

Golin
1999 Sangiovese Santa Barbara County
Translucent slightly rusty color. Balsa-cherry-Pinot-like nose. Maple. Not my taste.

Flying Goat
2000 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Hills Sweet candied cherry nose. Mandarin orange. Delicious. Rich palate, slightly short acidic finish. Impressive. $30.00

Alban
2000 Syrah Central Coast
Smoky tobacco nose with a hint of Brettomyces. Sweet rich smoky fruit. Nice. Good value. $24.00

Alban
2000 Oechsle Edna Valley
Late Harvest Roussanne Viognier. Rich intense stone fruit palate. Long sweet and delicious. I'd have bought a case of this if it weren't so expensive. $65.00

I’ve been a fan of Andrew Murray’s wines since he got his production up in about 1997. We are fortunate to see it at retail in Dallas, but it was still a treat to stop in the tasting room and see what the next releases will be like when they reach us. Some of his wines I’ve had have been highly erratic with elevated acidity levels and bizarre balances. These were all drinking well. A couple had noses that suggested they were high in alcohol, but all the reds are all actually less than 14%.

Andrew Murray
2001 Viognier Estate
Beautiful balance. Lighter style of Viognier with crisp ripe honeysuckle flavors. Nice. $25.00

Andrew Murray
2000 Echante Santa Barbara County 80% Viognier. Minerally soil nose. With light citrus fruit. Bit nutty. Good. $22.00

Andrew Murray
2001 Viognier Tours les Jours
Classical Viognier nose - whatever that means - pear, mineral, apricot. Ripe, full-bodied balanced. Citrus-like finish. $16.00

Andrew Murray
2000 Esperance Santa Barbara County
The name means "Hope" in French. 45% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre. Northern Rhone olive Jasmine nose. turpentine. Decent stuff. Less distinctive on the palate. $22.00

Andrew Murray
2000 Syrah Les Coteaux
Blackberry turpentine rum banana vanilla cream baked something. Rich, balanced, sweet palate. Very well done. Delicious. $25.00

Andrew Murray
2000 Syrah Roasted Slope
95% Syrah, 5% Viognier. Similar nose to the Les Coteaux with just an additional hint of honey, caramel, and more turpentine. $25.00

Andrew Murray
2000 Mon Amour Late harvest Viognier - also the grapes were frozen for one month prior to crushing. Sweet delicious maple brown sugar. 18% residual sugar, but it doesn't taste nearly that sweet. $20.00

Lunch time…one of Fess Parker’s restaurants (I think…it even has a wine shopped attached where I picked up a few bottles of Consilience and a Zinfandel from a new label to me – Brochelle)

Alban
2000 Viognier Edna Valley
At one of Fess Parker's restaurants in Los Olivos. This wine was really not distinguished or worth the money. Couldn't say exactly what was wrong…just not very interesting.

Fournier
2000 Sancerre This was the replacement for the Alban. Nice light key lime flint flavors. Tastes refreshing after a morning of tasting.

On to more tasting…Melville didn’t have much on offer but they have a nice winery and were fairly friendly.

Melville
2001 Chardonnay Inox Clone 76 Santa Barbara County
No oak, no malolactic. Leesy unclean nose with some pear fruit. Sweet green apple fruit on the palate with lots of acid in the finish. Pass. 198 cases. $25.00

Melville
2001 Chardonnay Estate
Leesy tart pear nose. Lemonade-like finish. Okay. Still pass. $20.00

Melville
2001 Pinot Noir Estate
Moderately translucent. Strawberry fruit nose with wax, dry herbs, cinnamon. Sweet, rich strawberry fruit. Spicy finish. Good.

We raced over to Sanford to see what they were like and caught them just before closing time (4 PM)

Sanford
2000 Pinot Vin Gris
Anonymous dry nose. Ripe palate spicy finish, okay.

Sanford
2000 Sauvignon Blanc Central Coast
Nice varietally correct nose with some lime and light jalapeno notes. Great concentration and fruit. Slightly too acidic, but a nice Sauvignon Blanc. $13.00

Sanford
2000 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County
Toasty French oak nose. Standard Chardonnay palate. Fine - and a decent value. $18.00

Sanford
1999 Chardonnay Estate
Rich and well balanced. Fine. Good. Boring. $25.00

Sanford
1999 Chardonnay Sanford and Benedict Santa Ynez
Buttery banana tropical flavors. Nice nose. Rich concentrated. Nice Chardonnay. $27.00

Sanford
1999 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
Green herb toasty rich strawberry tart finish. Good color. Medium-bodied. Bit too expensive, but okay. $26.00

Sanford
2000 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
Similar nose to the 1999, slightly more concentrated fruit. $26.00 As the day wound down, we made a couple more stops in the Los Olivos area to wineries we weren’t familiar with…

Blackjack Ranch
2000 Chardonnay Estate
Classical Chardonnay nose. Sweet and full bodied but rough and angular.

Blackjack Ranch
2000 Chardonnay Reserve
Similar to the above with more alcohol Similar outcome.

Blackjack Ranch

1998 Pinot Noir Laetitia Vineyard
Light translucent color with a touch of rust. Cola, fruit, acid finish. Pass. $30.00

Blackjack Ranch

1998 Harmonie Santa Barbara County
57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petite Verdot. Cabernet Franc shows itself on the nose lending a pencil lead quality. Okay. $22.00

Blackjack Ranch
2000 Maximus Santa Barbara County
Basically a Syrah. Peppery, berry, cola, lavender nose. Ripe, with a tart finish. Decent. $36.00

Blackjack Ranch
1999 Merlot Billy Goat Hill
Bitter espresso nose. Rich sweet fruit. This wine handily eclipsed most of the rest of the tasting…but look a the price, and it was still just okay. $60.00

Kahn
2000 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Ynez Valley
Fig, cream, lemon nose. Tart - Twang! $16.00

Kahn
2001 Grignolino Rose
Salmon colored. Jelly bean nose. Sweet ripe and smooth. This is pretty damn good for Rose. $9.00

Kahn
1999 Cuvee Jacques Santa Barbara County
75% Grenache, 25% Syrah. Pinot-like nose. White pepper, strawberry. Light and acidic. Nothing exciting me here.

Kahn
2000 Merlot Avelina Santa Ynez Valley
Herby nose - menthol, rich ripe fruit. Pretty good value. $18.00

Kahn
1999 Pinot Noir Casa Cassara
Earthy unclean nose - metallic - more earthy metallic. Pass. This claims to be just 43 cases from 4 acres. $32.00

Kahn
2000 Syrah Santa Ynez Valley
New leather, shoe polish nose. Pepper. Rich warm red and black fruits Good concentration. Well made, but a bit too expensive. $36.00 The Hitching Post is a steakhouse….and a winery with an emphasis on Pinot Noir. So we stopped in to taste and look at the menu. It smelled so good we came back for dinner.

Hitching Post
2000 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County
Soft Chardonnay flavors. Balanced and cleanly made with a sweet finish.

Hitching Post
2000 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
Smoky cola and red fruit. Bit funky and tight smelling. Sweet yet acidic. Decent. $24.00

Hitching Post
1999 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley
Sweet ripe nose with freshly polished shoe leather. Rich cherry cola fruit. Long. Moderate acidity. CO2 finish. $30.00

Hitching Post
1999 Generation Red Santa Barbara County
13% alcohol. 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 17% Refosco, 17% Petite Sirah. Cherry cedar fruit. Medium bodied, slightly acidic. Zesty with a hint of effervescence. $18.00 Now the Hitching Post is a strange place. It feels like a step back into the late 1970s. The food is simple, even by steakhouse standards. The décor is old 1970s ranchhouse meets ski lodge. The wine list though, was pretty good. Not very long, but fairly well represented. And the Hitching Post wines are a real bargain as restaurant prices go.

Fiddlehead Cellars
1999 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Ynez
Reserved fig nose. Great palate - ripe fruit, minerals, grass. Good.

Jaffurs
1999 Syrah Stolpman Vineyard Bien Nacido
Shoe polish, new leather, white pepper. Dense and fruity. Moderate to low acid. Corpulent. Blackberry fruit. Very nice. Hint of oxidation maybe. $30.00

Day 5 – Last day and a couple wineries we were curious about. Both Bridlewood and Gainey had big, elaborate, attractive, commercial tasting rooms. 17 wines.