Sandy & Tom Moller purchased a 20 acre parcel in Gilroy, just east of the 101, in 1993. The land had previously been a prune orchard, but the trees were old and diseased and had to be removed. An early plan to grow Christmas trees was eventually scrapped in favour of growing grapes. Their 15 acre vineyard is planted with Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Petite Sirah.

In common with several other Santa Clara wineries, the winery hosts an open day on the third weekend of every month, with special events every 3 months to celebrate the solstices and equinoxes. However Satori is unusual - possibly unique - in that its events are particularly family friendly. There is a large children's play area and there are activities such as face painting. One slight word of caution though; there is a pool which is not fenced off.

Starting on July 11th the winery will open for tasting only every weekend. A tasting fee of $10 may apply, which is credited towards any purchase.

2007 Chardonnay of the Pink Ray, Monterey County $18
A rose made by adding a small amount of Petite Sirah.
Rather thin and acidic, with flavours of pears and crab apples.

2006 Estate Merlot of the Violet Flame, Santa Clara Valley $25 (80 cases)
Nose of bluberries, oak and smoke. Concentrated blueberry and plum flavours, with soft tannins. Drink now.

2006 Estate Petite Sirah Ha-Ha, Santa Clara Valley $33 (185 cases)
Nose shows lots of toasty oak. On the palate there's some decent black fruits and liquorice behind some fairly big tannins. Give it cellar time and see what happens.

2006 Ta-Da Syrah, Santa Clara Valley, $25 (75 cases)
75% Dorcich vineyard, 25% Estate
Blueberry syrup on the nose. Bright, soft blueberry fruit and a fairly quick finish.

2006 Hallelujah Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley $30 (590 cases)
Fruity nose - Vimto & smoke
Rich sweet fruit - blackcurrant and toast. Soft crisp finish

2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon of the Blue Hand, Santa Clara Valley $30 185 cases
A cab for Zin lovers. Toast & berry on the nose, flavours of blackberry, raspberry, chocolate and espresso.

2006 Oh-So Zin, Fratelli Vineyard, Santa Clara Valley $25 (160 cases)
Nose of black raspberry and gooseberry. Extracted flavours of raspberry, espresso and smoke. Drinking well now.

2006 Estate ZenZin, Santa Clara Valley $28 (110 cases)
A soft, sweet raspberry nose. Palate shows strong raspberry flavours, with firm tannins on the finish. Currently rather tight, this should continue to develop over the next 2-3 years.

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Between them, Santa Clara Valley wineries garnered 45 medals at the Chronicle wine competition this year. To celebrate and raise public awareness, Jason Goelz of Jason/Stephens Winery organised a tasting in downtown San Jose. In all, 9 wineries participated. It was a very pleasant event; enough time to visit all the wineries without feeling rushed.

Many of the wineries are only open to the public on the 3rd weekend of the month. Here are my brief notes from the event.

Cinnabar
2006 Mercury Rising (SILVER)
A good value blend of bordeaux varietals sourced from several regions; Napa, sonoma, Lodi and Paso Robles. Meaty, smoky nose; balanced with nice berry fruit.
2007 Pinot Noir, Sleepy Hollow Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands (GOLD)
Nice expression of Pinot from this well known vineyard in Monterey County. Rich chocolate and cherry fruit with a lingering finish.

Clos LaChance
2007 "Glittering-Throated Emerald" Chardonnay (GOLD)
This unoaked Chardonnay shows mango and other tropical fruit dlavours. Nice clean, crisp finish. Always a bargain; watch out for it on offer in Safeway and stock up.
2006 "Black Chinned" Syrah (SILVER)
A nice fruity nose leads into good fruit and spice flavours; hints of nutmeg and white pepper. Good oak and tannins.
2006 "Buff-Bellied" Zinfandel (BRONZE)
Light nose; good raspberry fruit. Tart cherries on the finish.
2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (GOLD)
The Estate series is generally available direct from the winery. It spends over 2 years in new French oak. There's big blackcurrant fruit together with espresso and a hint of mint. It's still very young and needs time for the oak and tannins to soften.

Creekview Vineyards
2005 was the first vintage for Creekview, based in San Martin.
2007 Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco (GOLD)
Lemony nose; butter and vanilla on the palate. This is your textbook Californian oak-and-butter Chardonnay.
2006 Syrah (DOUBLE GOLD)
Sourced mainly from the Dorcich vineyard, it also contains 6% Mourvèdre and 3% Négrette.
Dark fruit and a little smoke on the nose, rich sweet fruit on the palate. A real crowd pleaser that's ready to drink.

J. Lohr
Based in San Jose, J Lohr produces over 1 million cases annually from their 3000 farmed acres, mostly in Monterey and Paso Robles. Known mainly for their Estate series found in supermarkets everywhere they also have several high end labels.
2007 Sauvignon Blanc "Carol's Vineyard", Napa Valley (SILVER)
Very aromatic, crisp nose. Peach and gooseberry flavours, with less acidity than I expected. Nice finish.
2007 Pinot Noir "Fog's Reach Vineyard", Arroyo Seco (GOLD)
Notes of sweet cherry and toffee, both on the nose and palate. Fine tannins show on the long finish.
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon "Hilltop Vineyard", Paso Robles (GOLD)
Concentrated flavours of blackcurrant and coffee, with big tannins. Surprisingly good value at $35

Jason/Stephens
First vintage for this partnership of winemaker Jason Goelz and veteran grower Stephen Dorcich.
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon (BRONZE)
Bottled under screw cap and targeted at the restaurant 'by the glass' market, this is an easy drinking, balanced Cabernet. Nice fruit; lightly oaked.
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Dorcich Estate (BRONZE)
Sourced from the same vineyard, the Estate sees more oak, which shows on the nose. There's also a lot more tannin, but there's decent fruit and nice acidity. Needs another year or so for the oak to integrate.
2006 Syrah (SILVER)
Earthy, smoky, rustic nose. Great fruit, good balance, long tannic finish.

Monte Verde
2006 was the first vintage from this husband and wife team in Morgan Hill. The estate is planted with Spanish varietals Tempranillo and Verdejo.
2006 "Villa Palma" Merlot (BRONZE)
Nose reminiscent of dried lavender. On the palate it's got nice plum fruit, if a little 1 dimensional. Soft tannins on the finish.
2006 "Muritabo" Syrah (SILVER)
A bright nose of red apples. On the palate there's black cherries and coffee, with quite a long finish.

Sarah's Vineyard
2007 Estate Chardonnay (SILVER)
The more I try this wine, the more I like it. There's a nose of green apples and pears; on the palate today it was showing a creamy caramel fudge quality. Very nice.
2007 Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains (SILVER)
Similar in style to the Estate, but with more lemon on the nose and more acidity on the palate. Long, rich finish. Two excellent Chardonnays.
2007 Estate Pinot Noir (GOLD)
Spicy nose showing cinnamon and oak; rich cherry fruit with a long finish
2007 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains (BEST IN CLASS)
Very perfumed nose; it's the Estate and more besides, with the oak showing a little too much at this stage. Give it cellar time.
2005 Syrah, Besson Vineyard (BEST IN CLASS)
For some reason the nose on this reminded me of tinned sweetcorn. A big wine, lots of ripe fruit and a long finish. A nice wine, but a touch too ripe for my personal tastes.

Satori Cellars
Another newcomer; 2006 is their first vintage. Bright, eye catching labels and a real sense of fun.
2006 "Halelujah" Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington (GOLD)
I haven't had many cabs from Washington, but what I've tasted so far has been good. Interesting nose of Vimto and smoke. Good rich, sweet fruit; blackcurrants on toast. Soft, crisp finish.
2006 Estate Zinfandel (NOT ENTERED)
Big, bold raspberry flavours are only hinted at by the light nose. The tannins are firm on the finish.
2006 "Ta Da" Syrah (BRONZE)
A bright nose of blueberries. Soft fruit on the palate and a fairly quick finish
2006 "Ha Ha" Petite Sirah (BRONZE)
It's hard to make a Petite Sirah that isn't a tannic monster, and this is no exception. Smoky, oaky nose and a hint of liquorice on the finish. There's some fruit there but it's mostly obscured by the tannins.

Sycamore Creek
Taken over in 2005 by Bill Holt and Ted Medeiros, of Uvas Creek Vineyard.
2006 Chardonnay, Vanumanutagi Vineyard (GOLD)
Nose of oak and butterscotch. On the palate it shows rich, creamy fruit, particularly honeydew melon.
2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Uvas Creek Vineyard (BRONZE)
Floral nose; violets from the Petite Verdot and some oak. Lush fruit; blackcurrant and brambles. Soft tannins on the finish.
2007 Zinfandel (DOUBLE GOLD)
Sourced from a 1 acre domestic vineyard in Coyote Valley. Bright fruity nose; raspberry and brambly, which follows through to the palate. Very nice acidity and balanced; no heat from the 15% alcohol.

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I've spent the evening recompiling a whole bunch of code and cleaning up the errors. At the same time I decided to go through and review the winery database.

I'd heard of a couple of new wineries recently and wanted to ensure my lists were up-to-date. Sure enough, several wineries that were marked as simply "Registered" last time I checked (way too long ago I admit) now have web sites and in most cases are selling wines. I'll try to dig out more information on them and hopefully get hold of some bottles to taste. But here's a few new names to look for.

GBH Vineyard is a tiny producer based in Woodside. The winery makes about 100 cases of estate Pinot which retails for around $21. GBH apparently stands for Great Blue Heron, though I suspect that part of the name is fellow British ex-pat Paul Smith's private joke. The 2006 vintage is available now; the 2007 will be released some time soon.

Regale Vineyards is another Pinot producer. Based in Los Gatos they also claim to produce a range of unspecified wines from other appellations. Their waiting list is currently open, but no indication of when the first release will be.

Big Dog Vineyards is based in Milpitas and is producing estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, together with a sweet wine based on Cabernet Sauvignon. They are also sourcing Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from Napa Valley. All are priced around $32 except the sweet wine which is $22 for a 375. The current releases are all from the 2005 vintage.

Satori Cellars from Gilroy has two 2006 Estate Zinfandels carrying the Santa Clara Valley appellation priced at $25 and $28 as well as a 2006 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon at $30. Total production appears to be around 400-500 cases.

Monte Verde Vineyards are producing estate Merlot in Morgan Hill carrying the Central Coast appellation. There's also a second Merlot and a Syrah, as well as a red blend called Tres Amigos. All of these are 2006 vintage, but the web site is "under construction" and there's no prices or release date posted.

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