Open Daily: Barterra, Domenico, La Nebbia, Thomas Fogarty
Open by appointment: Chaine d'Or/Stefania, Great Blue Heron, La Honda, Varner
Not Open: Clos de la Tech, King's Mountain, Martella, Orchard Hills, Rhys/Alesia, Waxwing, Woodside

The northern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains is known for Emmet Rixford's winery and La Questa vineyard. It's the coolest part of the AVA and is the source of some excellent Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

If you happen to be in Half Moon Bay there are two tasting rooms close by. Barterra is located in the town centre and La Nebbia is on Highway 92 to the east. But if you aren't in the city anyway it's difficult to justify making a special trip.

On the eastern side of the mountains Domenico in Redwood City is open from 12-5PM daily.
Thomas Fogarty on Skyline (Highway 35) is open Wed-Sat 11AM-5PM and Sunday 1-5PM.
La Honda Winery is located in Redwood City and is open by appointment. They are SCMWA members and often host other wineries on passport or Vintners' Festival weekends.
Varner are open midweek, by appointment only. The Spring Ridge Vineyard is located in Portola Valley.
Great Blue Heron is a tiny winery producing a few barrels of estate Pinot Noir from the owner's garage. Tasting is by appointment at weekends.
Chaine d'Or is located close to the junction of Highways 84 and 35. It's now managed by Paul and Stef Romero of Stefania Wine and takes visitors by appointment.

Varner, GBH, Chaine d'Or and Fogarty are all located within a half hour drive of each other. My recommendation would be to try to start at Varner or GBH, then go to Chaine d'Or and Fogarty. From Fogarty you can then go to La Honda and (if there's time) Domenico's. To get from Fogarty to La Honda the quickest way is via the 84, which takes you through Woodside. You can stop off at Roberts Market - they generally have an excellent selection of local wines. Alternatively you can head south on Skyline to Page Mill Road - that drive is around 20-30 minutes longer, but it's more scenic and fun.

Other wineries in the area:
Woodside Vineyards recently moved from their home of almost 50 years to a new facility in Menlo Park. Though one of the founders of SCMWA they don't pour on passport weekends and traditionally only open for events a few times a year, but the new premises may make appointments possible. Watch this space.
Kings Mountain are located in Woodside. Though the vineyards are visible from the road, the wine is made elsewhere. They are members of SCMWA and typically pour on passport weekends at other local wineries, such as La Honda or Domenico.
Rhys are based out of an industrial unit close to Domenico. They open a couple of times a year to allow mailing list members to pick up their wines, and they also organise a few vineyard tours in the summertime which get booked up well in advance. They are building a new facility off Skyline which is expected to open later in 2010.
Clos de la Tech are also building a facility off Skyline; the opening date hasn't been announced. In the meantime the wines are made at Domenico's facility; any tastings are by personal invitation from the owners. Domenico is also home to a number of other small producers, including Waxwing who have been known to pour on rare occasions.
Michael Martella is the winemaker at Thomas Fogarty. Occasionally one or more of his wines will be available in the tasting room. Martella is a SCMWA member and normally pours for their events at an alternate location, not at Fogarty.
Orchard Hills is based out of Atherton, though the wines are actually made in Paso Robles. The vineyards are visible from the road, but the city's rules prohibit any visitors or sales. If you want to taste the wines your best bet is Vino Locale in Palo Alto.

Share |

Saturday was the spring pick-up day and open house at Rhys Vineyards. Cellarmaster Josh Beck was pouring a selection of as yet unreleased wines at their facility in San Carlos. This will probably be the last event held here as the new winery is nearly completed.

According to Josh, they are very pleased with the way the 2008s are turning out. 2007 has been recognised as an excellent vintage, with remarkable concentration and depth, but the wines are already starting to shut down, needing a lot of air to show well. On the other hand the 2008s are more elegant and feminine; though they may lack some of the concentration they are expected to show better when young (though still to age well).

The wines had been opened the night before to check for cork taint.

2008 Alesia Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
The 2008 vintage in Sonoma was significantly weaker than 2007. As a result there will be no Alesia releases from Green Valley or Falstaff; the fruit all went into the Sonoma Coast bottling. 2008 is planned to be the last vintage for the Alesia label, since all the Santa Cruz Mountains estate vineyards are now on line.
On the nose there's cola, red fruit and some rose petals. Light bodied with good acidity and nice red currant flavours. 88

2008 Family Farm Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
Nose shows some black, brambly fruit. On the palate it's fairly rich with black cherry, firm tannins (compared to the Sonoma Coast at least) and a stemmy finish. 90+

2008 Alpine Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
This had the darkest colour of the Pinots. An interesting, complex, floral nose with some redcurrant. Rich and more intense than any of the others; still very primal but has very good structure and a long finish. 93+

2007 Horseshoe Ranch Syrah, Santa Cruz Mountains
The first vintage of Syrah from Horseshoe Ranch. Unlike most Rhys wines this was 100% destemmed. (The 2008 was not destemmed. The 2009 vintage was ruined by the rains and is unlikely to be released)
Nose is floral, with violets and some dusty oak. Much more concentrated and structured than a Fairview Ranch that I tasted recently. Lovely fruit, nice black pepper notes and a pretty, floral finish. Lots of potential; very good indeed. 92+

2008 Bearwallow Vineyard, Anderson Valley
Bearwallow is the first estate vineyard outside the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is in the process of being replanted, but already had some established vines in place Pommard, 777 and 115 clones. Those will be replaced in due course.
Cherry, strawberry nose. Lots of dry, astringent tannin; there's good fruit but it's rather in the background at this stage. Somewhat different to the other Rhys wines, but still good. 90
  

Share |

Rhys may be the closest that the Santa Cruz Mountains has to a cult winery. Their small production wines quickly sell out to an eager mailing list and often command significant mark-ups at auction. The winery was founded by venture capitalist Kevin Harvey and currently operates out of an industrial unit in San Mateo. A new facility complete with extensive caves is under construction off Skyline Boulevard, high in the mountains; completion is projected for next year and should have a maximum capacity of 10,000 cases. The first commercial vintage was in 2004.

There are two distinct brands. The Rhys wines are all made from vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains that the winery farms; the Alesia wines are made mainly from fruit sourced from outside the AVA. Although the primary focus is on Pinot Noir the winery also produces Chardonnay and Syrah, and has some Nebbiolo planted.

These wines were tasted blind in the company of a local tasting group. The notes are in the order they were poured.

2004 Alesia Kanzler Vineyard
Initially some "Pinot funk" that blew off to reveal a rich perfumed nose with good cherry notes. Good mouthfeel; rich, with bright acidity - the most acidity of all the wines tasted. Good cherry fruit and a medium length finish. My #3

2004 Alesia Sonoma Coast
Another rich, perfumed nose. A little brighter than the first, with some raspberry notes, that got deeper with air. On the palate it was sweet and creamy with good, rich cherry flavours. Tannins were more pronounced, with a slight bitterness on the finish. Seemed like it would benefit from some additional cellar time. My #2, group #3

2006 Rhys Alpine Vineyard
Sweeter nose, with dark berries/black cherry. Oak showed more prominently. A smooth, lightweight wine with some cola notes and a light finish. Some tasters called it tight, but I found it to be one of the lightest wines in the lineup. Group #2

2006 Alesia Sonoma Coast
Initially a more austere nose than the others, with a distinctly meaty, savoury hint. Medium bodied with good cherry fruit, plenty of structure and a touch of bitterness on the finish. Group #1, my #4

2005 Alesia Falstaff Road
Slightly darker in colour than most of the wines. The initial sniff showed a distinctive note that reminded me of tinned sweetcorn; that mellowed into earthy, herbal aromas with cola notes. More full bodied with concentrated cherry and earthy flavours and a very mineral finish. My #1

2005 Alesia Chileno Valley
Similar in colour to the other 2005. Initially showed a bell pepper/jalapeño nose; rustic with a touch of cranberry. Seemed to become more musty with time. A fairly rich cherry flavour with some herbal notes; the finish was earthy and quick.

2006 Alesia Green Valley
Nose of roses, smoke and cola with a hint of tobacco. Medium mouthfeel, crisp acidity with decent cherry/cranberry fruit and a mineral finish.

2006 Alesia San Mateo
Initial nose of candy and caramel, with some cherry notes. Medium bodied with rich cherry fruit and a nice mouthwatering finish. Made from declassified fruit from the Rhys vineyards, in particular the "Family Farm" vineyard, located above Sky Londa.

Overall each of the wines showed great finesse; ranking them was very difficult. With hindsight it's clear that they need time; I didn't rate any of the 2006 vintages in the top 3, though it's possible that says something about the conditions in 2006; it'll be much more interesting to try this with the 2007s.

Another interesting fact is the good showing for the two Sonoma Coast blends. I've always found it curious the way that Pinot aficionados stress the attributes of particular vineyards and the perceived superiority of vineyard designated wines; while I wouldn't argue for one moment that location wasn't important, in my experience there can be as much difference if not more between different clones grown in the same vineyard than between wines from different vineyards. Clearly not only do blends offer good value, they can be at least as good quality as their pedigree stablemates.

The only real disappointment was the lone Rhys in the lineup. To be honest I wasn't expecting a great showing; it's perhaps the 'entry level' wine of the range from a vintage that's generally acknowledged to be weaker than average; Wine Spectator rated it an 82 (which I'd say is a little low, but not far from the mark). I think that it has the potential for improvement with age - I'll certainly be letting my lone magnum sleep a while longer. It would be nice to have tried others for comparison, but as I said at the start, these are sought after and collectible wines. Hopefully the opportunity will arise with the 2007s, which by all accounts are stunning.

There's another set of tasting notes on Wes Barton's blog.

Share |