One of the newest wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains is Dancing Creek. They released their first wines - little more than a barrel of each - at the end of last year. Though they only plan to make around 400 cases a year they have their own winery as well as a half-acre Chardonnay vineyard that is not yet producing. The fruit comes from several local growers including Bargetto's Regan Vineyard, Zayante and Nicholson. Zinfandel, Syrah and Pinot Noir are not yet released. You can follow them on Twitter: DancinCreekWine


2008 Dancing Creek Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains
Sourced from the Nicholson vineyard.
Nose is slightly musty, with notes of lemon thyme. A lighter bodied wine; crisp, with green apple and grapefruit, and a note of burnt sugar on the finish. 86

2008 Dancing Creek Merlot, Santa Cruz Mountains
From the Regan vineyard. A nice deep garnet colour, though hazy from being unfiltered and shaken in pouring. Nose shows smoke and some tart fruit - cherry?
Earthy plum flavours, good tannin & acidity, dry finish 86

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A few local wine enthusiasts got together recently for dinner in Los Altos. One of the guests was Ian Brand; a former assistant winemaker at Big Basin and now consulting for several local wineries including Nicholson in Corralitos and Coastview in Monterey. He brought several of the wines he's been making (my notes were brief due to the dinner and a lack of power in my iPhone), including a 2008 Albariño from Pierce Ranch (Floral and fruity, but unfortunately served a bit too warm), a 2008 Nicholson Arroyo Seco Viognier (Light floral nose, with briny and biscuit/ice-cream wafer notes), a 2007 Coastview Syrah
(Meaty, savoury, smoky bacon on the nose. Good currant fruit, nice acidity and his personal label, a 2005 Le P'tit Paysan Meritage (Nose of roast meat, elderberry, smoke. Tight berry fruit - cranberry and boysenberry. Smooth tannins.)

As we left he handed me a couple of wines that we didn't get around to. One of them was an as yet unreleased Chardonnay from Coastview Vineyard. Coastview is located in the Gavilan Mountains at an elevation of 2300-2600 feet, possibly the highest vineyard in Monterey County and as high as Muns in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Coastview has similar limestone and granite soils as the Chalone AVA, but with a cooler microclimate.

The wine shows a lot of tropical fruit, both on the nose and the palate; particularly mango, nectarine and pear. Although it's smooth and rounded there's very little oak influence. (The wine sees only 20% new French oak, 80% neutral.) It reminded me of Michaud, which I haven't had in a while. The finish is long and rich. Since it's so young I had planned to save some to try the following day, but before I knew it the bottle was empty.

The release date is unconfirmed, as is the price, but it'll probably be in the same range as Michaud. 91 Recommended

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Corralitos is a village on the west side of the Santa Cruz Mountains at the southern end of the appellation. The valley landscape creates a microclimate that's ideal for Pinot Noir, and is home to four wineries and several more vineyards.

The four wineries: Windy Oaks (see previous entry), Pleasant Valley Vineyards, Alfaro Family and Nicholson Vineyards are close to each other and have got together to promote the area via the Corralitos Wine Trail. They hold periodic promotional events; the next one is on Saturday May 9th, with the opportunity to try barrel samples and local artisanal foods.

As well as the four residents, several other wineries use fruit sourced in the area. One of the main vineyards is the Lester Family Vineyard (previously known as Deer Park) which is managed by VASCM president Prudy Foxx. Fruit is used by Martin Alfaro, Picchetti, La Rochelle and Pelican Ranch, among others. Most of the Deer Park wines I've tasted have been young and showed a great deal of structure and aging potential, though I've yet to try one with any significant bottle age.

Loma Prieta and Soquel vineyards each make Saveria Vineyard Pinot Noirs; both won Gold medals in the recent Chronicle tasting.

One Corralitos vineyard has gone by several names. Currently owned by the Woodruff family, it was the source for Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard's "Matteson" and "Ciardella" Pinots, as well as Hallcrest's "Terra Belle". It's also been used by Salamandre and Stefania.

Storrs own a 50 acre estate in the area. It was planted in 2007, so has yet to produce its first vintage.

Several other small family vineyards exist in the area; the fruit generally makes it into appellation designated blends from larger wineries such as Clos LaChance or Sarah's vineyard.

Overall the area is producing some excellent, distinctive wines. The Corralitos Wine Trail event is a good opportunity to sample some of them, but if you can't make it then the wineries are open for tasting most weekends and also participate in the SCMWA passport program. Check them out.

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