Tammie and Ted Medeiros

In 2005 Ted Medeiros and Bill Holt took over the Sycamore Creek winery on Uvas Road in Morgan Hill. The winery had been established in the 1970s but after a promising start (the 1978 vintage was truly exceptional) it had passed through several owners and was producing mediocre wines - they had the only Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay blend I've ever seen. Together Bill and Ted turned Sycamore Creek around; great attention to detail, particularly in the farming, meant that their Uvas Creek Cabernet Sauvignon in particular was highly prized by other local winemakers such as Stefania and Sensorium.

Around 2012 Ted and his wife Tammie decided to set up their own label, and Medeiros Family Wines was born. For the first couple of years the wines were hard to find, although well worth the search; I distinctly remember trying his 2012 Zinfandel and being impressed. Then in 2015 Medeiros joined La Vie Dansante at "Blended: A Winemaker's Studio" and now the winery has a permanent base and tasting room, open at weekends from 12-5.

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All the wines are made by Ted from grapes that he farms on behalf of several small family-owned vineyards from San Jose to Gilroy and carry the Santa Clara Valley appellation.

2016 "Naked" Chardonnay
An un-oaked Chardonnay with a beautiful nose of fresh green apples. Creamy, with some tropical fruit and a good finish. $20

2014 Estate Merlot
There's quite a lot of oak on this, but the sweet, dense black fruit is a match for it. Shows lots of chocolate on the finish. Good now, but would repay cellaring. $28

Blended Tasting Room

2014 Estate Sangiovese
The smoky nose leads in to rich black cherry fruit, with smooth tannins. Blended with a little Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. $28

2014 Estate Saudade
Saudade is one of those words that describes a feeling and doesn't translate well into English. Here it means a rather tasty wine modeled on a right bank Bordeaux; predominantly Cabernet Franc and Merlot. There's great black fruit and lovely complexity, with the oak less apparent than the previous two reds. $30

2013 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Given Ted's reputation for growing great Cabernet Sauvignon it's not surprising that this was my favorite. It has plenty of beautiful eucalyptus, blackcurrant and blackberry, with a long lingering finish. Quite the bargain at $28.

Medeiros Family Wines
3200 Dryden Avenue, Gilroy, CA 95020
(408) 427-7536
info@MedeirosFamilyWines.com

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You know how I finished my last post on Stefania saying I'm definitely going to try to hold on to the 2007s for a little longer? That may prove to be harder than I thought. I collected my latest shipment a little over a week ago and have already got through three bottles of the 2007 "Haut Tubbe". On the nose it's slightly funky, with notes of lavender, brambles and pine. With air some eucalyptus showed. On the palate the tannins first appear soft, though on the final glass they were firming up. There's plenty of acidity and a complex blend of fruit dominated by blackcurrant and with hints of mint. Just kept getting better. My guess is that this blend has a larger proportion of Cabernet than the 2006, which I think was predominantly Syrah. Terrific value at $20, and I believe there's still a little left if you haven't already got your order in. 90. Recommended

Then there's the 2007 Uvas Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, which exemplifies the kind of quality wines the Santa Clara Valley is capable of producing, and is drinking really well with an hour or so in the decanter. The nose has brambles, oak, caramel and a hint of toasted coconut. It's got bags of lush blackberry and blackcurrant fruit with enough structure backing it up. On first opening there's a hint of citrus-pith bitterness on the finish which recedes with air. Should continue to develop nicely if only I can keep my hands off it. 92 Recommended

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The Chaine d'Or winery is maybe 30 minutes from where I work, so when Paul Romero told me he'd be bringing in the last of his grapes I took a long lunch break to go up and see. By the time I arrived the heavy work was done and it was down to what may be the most important part of winemaking - cleaning up. Jerry was hosing down everything in sight (including the dog) while Stef was doing punch downs on the Syrah and estate Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as lab tests on the latest delivery.

Much of the wine is now through primary fermentation and is in the barrel undergoing the secondary malo-lactic fermentation. Since 2007 Paul has relied on wild yeasts with good results.

I got to taste my first barrel sample of the 2009 vintage - a Cabernet Sauvignon from the "Crimson Clover" vineyard. So far everything I've heard about the 2009 vintage has been positive; it was an easy year and has resulted in a larger than average crop of very good quality. The downpour in late October doesn't seem to have caused too many problems. Pretty much every winemaker I've spoken to has had good things to say about it, and before the cynics say "well they would, wouldn't they" bear in mind that they still have plenty of wine from previous vintages to sell.
The cab was a lovely dark purple colour; loads of fruit and some nice young, firm tannins - it tastes good now!

Crimson Clover is a 1.5 acre vineyard in the Santa Clara Valley near Morgan Hill. It's not too far from the Uvas Creek vineyard, from which Paul & Stef sourced some excellent fruit for their first vintages. Uvas Creek's owners now also own the Sycamore Creek winery and are using all the fruit themselves, so this will be the winery's Santa Clara Valley Cabernet from next year.

The winery has just released their fall offering; 2007 Santa Clara Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 "Haut Tubbe" and 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay. I'll post notes once I open them, but I'm particularly keen to try the Cabernet again, as the last time I had it, it was showing very well indeed. The Chardonnay is completely sold out; there may be some of the others left.

The "Haut Tubbe" is a blend of various small lots including Cabernet, Zinfandel, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. Because it's sourced from both the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara Valley AVAs it has to carry the "California" appellation. I recently opened a bottle of the 2006 Haut Tubbe (my last as it turned out thanks to an out-of-date cellar listing, bad planning that). It had good fruit backed by lots of tannin; we had a glass each and put the stoppered bottle in the fridge. On the second day the tannins had softened considerably and the dry, brambly fruit was showing nicely. On the nose it was savoury, with grilled meat, menthol and figs. Clearly this is a wine that deserves cellar time. I'm definitely going to try to hold on to the 2007s for a little longer.

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I've written about Sycamore Creek before, in particular their stellar 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon but this was my first visit to the winery. It's located off Watsonville Road, at the junction with Uvas Road. There's a narrow bridge over the eponymous creek leading into the vineyard; 10 acres of dry farmed head pruned old vines.

The current owners of Sycamore Creek, Bill and Carolyn Holt, also own the highly regarded Uvas Creek Vineyard, which is located a further mile down Uvas Road. Fruit for the wines is sourced from both vineyards and some is purchased locally. The Holts are gradually refurbishing the old vineyard and introducing new VSP trellising. All the wines with the exception of the Sauvignon Blanc carry the Santa Clara Valley appellation.

There are two tasting options; a flight of 5 current releases that is free and a flight of 5 reserve wines that costs $5. The fee is not refunded with purchase.

2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Monterey County
A lovely crisp, fruity Sauvignon Blanc. Nice herbal nose with notes of lime. Dry with mouth-watering grapefruit and lychee flavours. $17

2006 Chardonnay
Sourced from the nearby Vanumanutagi vineyard it clearly shares many characteristics with the offering from Fernwood Cellars. Rich aromas of creamy vanilla and butterscotch lead into sweet caramel and mango flavours and a long finish. $22

NV Uvas
A legacy of the previous owners, the Uvas is a blend of Cabernet and Chardonnay, with 3% Syrah added. It's an unusual combination, but it proved popular so has been continued. The nose shows blueberries and oak; on the palate there's the caramel notes from the Vanumanutagi Chardonnay combined with the berry flavours from the Cabernet. $18

2005 Syrah
The nose suggests fresh berries, smoke and English tea. Sweet flavours of blueberries and black olives, with a tannic finish. $18

2006 Mosaico
A Bordeaux blend, featuring all 5 grapes. Smoky, rustic nose with violets and brambles; flavours of brambles, blackcurrant and graphite witha good, structured finish. $25

2006 Carignane
Sourced from 100 year, old dry farmed Blake Family Vineyard on nearby Redwood Retreat Road
A smoky, dusty, earthy nose like a library or old wardrobe. Layered fruit; raspberry, sour cherry, allspice and new mown grass, with a tart finish. Nice structure; a good food wine. $21

2006 Cabernet Franc
New release. Aromas of black cherry and tobacco; Rich, sweet, silky black fruit, coffee and tobacco with racy acidity. $?

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
Nose of leather, Cedar and spice. A big, tannic wine that needs time; great flavours of, blackcurrant and spicy oak. $20

2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
A vibrant, smoky nose with berries and a hint of mint. Seemed smoother than 2004; nice cassis fruit, long finish and good structure. $28

2006 Petite Sirah
A typically inky, glass staining colour with a funky, barnyard nose. There's some good fruit backed by huge, chewy tannins. A wine to lay down and forget for a while. $20

2008 "Cabernet Blanc"
I confess I didn't get this. A rose of Cabernet Sauvignon, the label says "Late harvest"; it has 15% alcohol and 1% residual sugar. The wine was pressed after just 24 hours, giving a pale rose colour. It's got ripe, sweet flavours of wild strawberry and guava. To me a summer rose should be light with lithe acidity and relatively low in alcohol. This seems to be more of a get-your-date-tipsy kind of wine. $?

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We had guests over to dinner last night. I was making Tournedos Rossini and wanted a nice cab to go with it, then remembered I hadn't tried one of these yet. It had half an hour in a decanter by way of an aerating funnel.

It has a floral nose of violets and a little smoke, as if there was some Petite Verdot in there (but there isn't). On the palate it's rich and meaty with flavours of brambles. The tannins are smooth, leaving a good finish. The label notes say it'll keep for up to 10 years; not around here it won't.

The wine won a Silver medal at the 2009 SF Wine Competition, which vastly under-rates it in my view.

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February 23rd is the Wall Street Journal's Open That Bottle night. I wasn't going to participate; it's not that I don't have any "that" bottles, it's just that I'll open them on my schedule thank you very much, and most of them aren't ready yet.

But there's one wine that I have been putting off trying; being the cheapskate that I am I was hoping to get a taste of someone else's rather than sacrifice one of my own. It's the 2005 Stefania Uvas Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. Uvas Creek Vineyard is in the Santa Clara Valley AVA, in San Martin. Winemaker Paul Romero has been enthusiastic about the potential of this vineyard for a while, and this is his first release. Uvas is Spanish for grapes, and was named by the early explorers who discovered grape vines growing wild in the area.

I've had a number of Santa Clara Valley AVA wines, but up to now few of them have really fired me up. Cronin made some interesting Merlots in the late 90s from San Ysidro and Martin Ranch are making some quality wines from their estate vineyards including a gold medal winning Syrah, but for the most part they've been fairly uninspiring. However as I said in the introduction, I think all that is about to change in the coming years.

If this is anything to go by, we are in for some treats. It's a rich, full wine with bags of fruit and tannins. I should have decanted it, but I didn't plan ahead and there wasn't time. The only issue was a slight bitterness on the finish, like the pith of an orange, but that became less pronounced as time went on so I'm confident that with bottle age or decanting that will go away. I don't plan to open any more for quite some time. Kudos to Paul and Stef for an excellent maiden release from what was a tricky vintage.

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