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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Pleasant Valley Vineyards is a small producer located in Aptos, close to Windy Oaks and Alfaro Family. They make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from their 2 acre estate vineyard.

I've tried the Pinot Noir a few times and although it's a nice wine I found it difficult to justify the price tag - at $85 it's one of the most expensive wines made in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It doesn't have the obtrusive tannins and sharp acidity that scream "Cellar Me!", it just seems like a pleasant, well made wine.

Then last night I tasted the 2004 Dylan David Pinot Noir. This particular bottle had been opened a few days earlier for a tasting, but was not used, so it had been recorked and kept in the fridge. The difference was remarkable. The nose suggested a tart raspberry syrup along with the oak. On the palate there was an assortment of flavours; raspberry and cherry combined with sweet spices - cinnamon and nutmeg. The finish was lovely, though not particularly long. We took a break part way through dinner to go see the fireworks. When we returned, almost two hours later, the wine hadn't faded at all.

So it seems there's a lot more to this wine than I originally thought. It doesn't show all that well in the "pop-and-pour" context of a wine tasting, but give it time and it shines. While $85 is beyond my personal spending limit, at least now I can see how it's justified.

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Yesterday saw the fourth Pinot Days event at Fort Mason in San Francisco. This very well organised event seemed larger than last year - the full list of participating wineries is here. There were a lot of new wineries that I'd never heard of before. However the number of participating wineries from the Santa Cruz Mountains was way down; several well known names were missing, such as Windy Oaks and Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard. Overall nothing really excited me; there were very few "wow" wines and no real revelations. Here are a few brief notes from the event - I would be interested to hear what you thought if you were there.

Richard Alfaro was pouring four 2006 wines from Martin Alfaro and Alfaro Family.
The Deer Park vineyard shows good fruit with earthy notes.
The Garys' vineyard was very rich, as is typical from that property.
The Schultze vineyard was delicious, my favourite of the line-up.
The Lindsay Paige is very structured; lots of tannin and acidity. Needs at least 3-5 years to really show.

Cathy and Craig Handley of Pleasant Valley Vineyards were pouring the 2005 and were previewing the unreleased 2006 Dylan David. The 2005 is light with an earthy finish. The 2006 was also light, showing much more fruit. The 06 seems good to go (though it won't be released until September); the 05 probably needs a year or two.

Craig informs me that for 2007 they also sourced fruit from the nearby Deer Park vineyard. They will have about 125 cases available, and it will be priced somewhat lower than the Estate, probably around $60. If all goes well they hope to make 250 cases in 2008.

Silver Mountain had the 2004 Miller Hill vineyard. This is from the land next to the winery and technically meets the criteria to be classified as Estate. It had a nice raspberry flavour to it, with good acidity. They were also pouring the 2005 Tondre's Grapefield (which I tasted but neglected to make a note) and the 2005 Muns Vineyard. This highly structured wine comes from the highest Pinot vineyard in the appellation at 2600 ft above sea level. It needs 5 years in the cellar to really show.

In contrast, at the next table Tony Craig was pouring his Sonnet 2006 Muns Vineyard. This is somewhat richer than the Silver Mountain and was generating something of a buzz - at least four other people asked me whether I'd tried it. Give it another year to let the oak integrate properly.

Sonnet also had three other Pinots from other regions, but unfortunately I neglected to taste them. Close by, Savannah-Chanelle were also pouring a couple of their wines, but neither was from the Santa Cruz Mountains and I neglected to take notes.

Brandon Brassfield was pouring the 2005 and 2006 Heart O' The Mountain releases.
The 2005 is excellent as I've said before, though it seemed more tannic than the last time I tasted it at the Vintners Festival. There are around 20 of the 180 cases left. The 2006 is scheduled to be released in September. It's a little softer than the 2005, but still very good. 500 cases were made. So far only half of the six acres are producing; there are two more acres suitable for planting, but the rest of the 150 acre estate is canyons and wilderness. They expect to be producing around 1200 cases in a few years.

Thomas Fogarty were pouring three wines:
The 2006 Corda vineyard from Marin County showed distinct notes of cherry cola.
The 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains is a blend from 5 vineyards of which 2 are part of the Fogarty estate. Very good value at $25, it had plenty of fruit and nice acidity.
In contrast the 2005 Michaud Vineyard had lots of tannin and not as much fruit.

Hallcrest were pouring a pair from 2004.
The 2004 Belle Farms has good dark berry, bing cherry and cranberry flavours. The fruit is sourced from a small family farmk in Watsonville.
The 2004 Barrel Select is a blend of 5 different vineyards. Though it has plenty of tannin it's rich and surprisingly easy drinking.

The sole representative of the Santa Clara valley was Sarah's Vineyard. Tim O'Kelley was pouring the 2005 Estate and Reserve. Both are rather good, with spicy cherry flavours. They also will be producing a Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot soon, from purchased fruit.

As I noted earlier, there were many others from outside the region, too many to name. David Dain Smith continues to produce beautiful wines on the Dain label. Freeman and Kanzler were both pouring great stuff. And Flying Goat had a very nice estate Pinot that was new to me.

If you're on a tight budget, there wasn't much for you, but I did enjoy 42 Degrees South from Tasmania that was being poured by The Jug Shop, and the 2006 Carmel Road from Monterey - both under $17.

Overall a very good event. Mark your calendar for next year.

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