Here's a couple of interesting older labels from the Santa Clara Valley. They were opened at a recent party by Wes Barton, who has a great knack for finding interesting local wines. I didn't get the chance to take proper notes, but I managed to rescue the empty bottles and remove the labels.

Congress Springs was founded in the 1970s by Daniel Gers. He discovered a derelict vineyard in Saratoga with head pruned Zinfandel vines dating back to before prohibition. Together with his wife Robin they restored the vineyards and launched a successful winery. Around 1990 Daniel sold the winery and it became Savannah-Chanelle winery. The head-pruned Zinfandel vines are still producing today.

Congress Springs was well known for their San Ysidro Chardonnay, which often gained 90+ ratings from Spectator. The wine was still in very good shape despite its age; an amber colour and nice mature flavours.

Fortino was established in 1970 in Santa Clara's Hecker Pass, and is still going 40 years later. They make around 15,000 cases, mainly sold from the tasting rooms and local stores and restaurants.

Ruby Cabernet is a cross developed at UC Davis in the 1930s. The aim was to to produce a vine combining the quality of Cabernet Sauvignon with the heat and drought tolerance of Carignan. An acre was planted at Ridge in the 1950s, and the winery produced a series of rather good Monte Bello Ruby Cabernets from the late 1960s through the mid 1980s, but overall it wasn't a great success and is now mainly planted in the central valley, where around 6,000 acres are grown as a blending grape for bulk wines.

So a 30 year old wine made from an unremarkable grape by an unremarkable winery? It turned out to be surprisingly pleasant, still having a fair amount of fruit left as well as a little tannin. The colour was a nice red brown.

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I recently became curious as to just how many acres of vineyards there are in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara Valley AVAs; surprisingly it's not an easy question to answer. Mapping county figures to the AVAs is tricky, as the AVAs cross county lines. According to the official figures from the National Agricultural Statistics Service there are just 377 acres of vines in Santa Cruz County, with 358 producing fruit in 2008. Similarly in Santa Clara County there are 1462 acres planted, with 1432 in production.

There are approximately 300 acres of vineyard in the Santa Clara AVA which lie inside the San Benito County border, and there is probably a similar amount of vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA that lie within Santa Clara or San Mateo Counties. So at a rough estimate, there are probably around 700 acres of vines in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA and at least twice that in the Santa Clara Valley AVA.

There are few large vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains; the rugged terrain isn't easily farmed. Anything over 20 acres is considered to be extensive. The largest, and most famous, is Ridge's Monte Bello Vineyard. This is in fact a number of smaller vineyards located at different elevations, giving a total of 108 acres. Other well known vineyards include Mount Eden and the Regan Vineyard owned by Bargetto, both of which are over 40 acres.

In Santa Clara Valley, most of the acreage is concentrated in a few large vineyards, several of which are located along Highway 152 in the San Ysidro District and Pacheco Pass AVAs. San Ysidro District lies to the east of Gilroy on Highway 152. While the AVA may be small at just 2,340 acres, it is home to two of the largest vineyards in the area. Mistral Vineyard and San Ysidro Vineyard sit side by side to the north of Highway 152.

Mistral is slightly the larger of the two, with 260 acres planted from a total of 375. It is understood to contain mainly Chardonnay and Merlot which is sold to large producers, though there is a small amount of the port grapes Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cao and Tinta Madeira. Until its sale in 2007 the vineyard was owned by Millbrook Wine of New York, through their Pebble Ridge Vineyards subsidiary. (I have yet to determine who the new owners are.) Millbrook also own the highly regarded Williams Selyem winery in Sonoma, who have produced a port-style wine from the vineyard. The San Ysidro Vineyard has around 250 acres planted. A little over half is Pinot Noir with the remainder being Chardonnay and a small amount of Merlot. It is owned by the San Ysidro Corporation, the parent company of United California Citrus.

Further along, just before the 152 meets the 156 is the Dunne Ranch Vineyard, the largest in the AVA. As the road rises towards Pacheco Pass the vineyards are to the right, in the valley below. This 1000 acre ranch is owned by the Blackburn family, who also own the Pietra Santa winery in nearby Cienega Valley, but if you have $20M to spend it's understood to be for sale. Pietra Santa use only a fraction of the fruit; the majority is sold. The vineyard has around 300 acres of Chardonnay, 66 acres of Gewurztraminer and 10 acres of Pinot Gris; this alone makes Chardonnay the most planted variety in the AVA, and also makes Gewurztraminer the second most planted white variety. The western portion of the vineyard lies within the Pacheco Pass AVA. Further still, and also within the Pacheco Pass AVA, lies the San Felipe Vineyard; it covers some 122 acres and is evenly divided into Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It is also owned by the San Ysidro Corporation.

Between them, these four vineyards account for over 1,000 acres of vines, yet their names rarely appear on any labels. It's understood that much of the Chardonnay goes to large producers such as Kendall Jackson, Au Bon Climat and Beringer; the owners don't like to talk about who their clients are. Some fruit is used by local producers; Storrs, Picchetti and Cronin have all produced Merlot from San Ysidro, and Calera use Chardonnay from the San Ysidro and San Felipe vineyards.

I would be interested in any additional information about any of these vineyards; if you can help please contact me.

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Storrs winery is based in an industrial estate just off River Street in Santa Cruz. Founded 20 years ago by Stephen Storrs and Pamela Bianchini, the winery has gone from producing 1200 to 12,000 cases a year. They are perhaps best known for their Zinfancel and Chardonnay, but they make a wide range of wines from fruit sourced mainly from the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara Valley.

2006 Annamaria's Vineyard Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains ($30)
The 5-acre vineyard is located in the foothills between Scotts Valley and Soquel. It was planted in the 1970s by Bob and Annamaria Roudon, and was part of the Roudon-Smith estate. Following Annamraia's death and Bob's retirement the vineyard was sold to long-time employee Cesar Ramirez who now maintains it. This is a rich, buttery chardonnay with good fruit and crisp acidity.

2007 Sauvignon Blanc San Lucas ($18)
Unusual to pour a Sauvignon Blanc after a Chardonnay, but it seemed to work. Fermented in 100% stainless steel. Very crisp and refreshing, with flavours of grapefruit and melon. I typically only buy Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand these days, but this was worth a purchase.

2005 Two Creek, Santa Clara County ($25)
A rich Rhone-style blend of Carignane, Syrah, Grenache and Grand Noir - a cross between a cross between Aramon and Petit Bouschet.
This newly opened bottle wasn't showing much fruit, just earth and tannins.

2002 Merlot, San Ysidro ($18)
A dusty nose. On the palate it showed plums and earth. Nice finish.

2004 St Clare Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains ($22)
A Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot from another fresh bottle. Once again the nose is dusty and the wine is tight and tannic. Notes of liquorice.

2005 Rusty Ridge Zinfandel, Santa Clara County ($30)
Storrs make two Zinfandels from Santa Clara County. The Rusty Ridge is a rich, fruity Zin with a long finish. There's no obvious heat from the 15.2% alcohol. The fruit is sourced from a series of old vine vineyards, head-pruned and dry-farmed, located on the eastern edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

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