2012 Lake Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

While driving up to Ridge this past weekend I was surprised to see signs indicating that Vidovich Vineyards was open for tasting. I first discovered Vidovich and their Monte Bello Road Cabernet Sauvignon around 10 years ago. It was on the wine list at Habana Cuba, a great Cuban restaurant in San Jose (try the ox tail, it's superb). It was a rather heavily oaked wine; lots of coffee and chocolate, quite tannic but with a good fruit core. The 2001 vintage was unremarkable; rustic with chewy tannins and not much fruit, but the 2002 certainly showed a lot of promise. I managed to obtain a few cases and for a while it was my standard midweek drinker.

In 2008 I was at a trade tasting where it was being poured and finally got some background on the winery. The vines were still very young, having been planted in the late 1990s, and 2001 was the first proper harvest. Initial vintages were made by Fetzer; the winery was completed in 2004 and local wine consultant Nancy Freire, whose resume includes Kirigin, Fortino and Morgan Hill Cellars, was hired as winemaker. The winery had been in a state of flux following the death of its founder, but the family had plans to continue, had apparently secured a distributor and were confident about the future.

Ideen and Pat run the tasting room

After that, I would occasionally see wines from Picchetti or Jason-Stephens made with the fruit, but I didn't see Vidovich on sale anywhere. So I was very interested to find out what was happening at the winery.

Vidovich Vineyards is right at the top of Monte Bello Road, a mile beyond Ridge. It's an impressive property with a panoramic view across Silicon Valley. But if the 20 minute drive to the summit doesn't discourage the casual visitor then the $25 tasting fee (not refunded with purchase) might. The newly opened tasting room is currently pouring 3 wines, all Cabernet Sauvignons; two vintages of the Monte Bello Road and one of Lake Vineyard. The latter is sourced from a second property in Los Altos Hills.

2012 Lake Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, $55

Rich and tannic, with notes of blackcurrant and coffee. Quite intense; it really needs around 3-5 years to soften, but has good potential

2008 Monte Bello Road Cabernet Sauvignon $90

Very tannic indeed, with not much fruit evident. Seems rather flat and one-dimensional. One can only hope that it will improve with time.

2007 Monte Bello Road Cabernet Sauvignon $110

A beautiful nose, with lots of blackberry and coffee. Unlike the 2008 the fruit is lush and sweet, lots of bramble and currant, and the tannins are smooth and silky. It's really quite delicious. 

Panoramic view of Silicon Valley

The winery also produce small quantities of Zinfandel from fruit grown on the Monte Bello property, though I've never seen it on sale anywhere; it's mostly kept for friends and family. 

While I'm pleased to see that Vidovich is still around and wish them every success I'm somewhat confused and disappointed by the excessive tasting fee as well as the 4X price increase over the 2006 vintage.

Vidovich Vineyards
18101 Monte Bello Road, Cupertino CA 95014
650-521-3198
info@vidovichvineyards.com
Open: Sundays only, 11AM to 5PM

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Open daily/weekends: Cinnabar, Cooper Garrod, Mountain Winery, Picchetti, Ridge, Savannah-Chanelle
Open by appointment: Naumann, Mount Eden
Not Open: Fellom Ranch, Kathryn Kennedy, R&W Vineyards, Vidovich

If there's one winery on almost everyone's list to visit, it's Ridge. The views are as stunning as the wines, as the photo at the top of my blog demonstrates. The winery's tasting room is open every weekend from 11AM to 5PM (4PM in winter); midweek visits can be arranged by appointment. At the bottom of the hill you'll find Picchetti, which is open daily from 11-5PM.

Monte Bello Road is also home to several other wineries. Naumann Vineyards is open for SCMWA events and occasionally by appointment. Fellom Ranch is also a SCMWA member, but is being renovated and has not been open to the public for some time. Vidovich is not open to the public. Finally R&W Vineyards are a brand new, tiny winery producing just a few cases. They are about to open for the first time; I hope to be there and will report back.

Further south, Cinnabar have a tasting room in downtown Saratoga that's open daily from 11-5PM.
West of Saratoga on Highway 9 you'll find Savannah Chanelle open daily from 11-5.
There are three wineries located off Pierce Road. Cooper-Garrod is open daily from 12-5 and 11-5 at weekends. Mountain Winery is open at weekends from 12-5 (though hours may vary if there's an event on). Finally it's well worth making an appointment to visit Mount Eden.. Both Montallegro and Kathryn Kennedy are based in Saratoga, but neither are open for visitors.

It's easy to visit Cooper Garrod, Mountain Winery, Cinnabar and Savannah-Chanelle in any order. If you want to visit Ridge and Pichetti too that's possible, though you may be a little rushed with only 45 minutes at each stop. I recommend starting at Ridge, then Picchetti, then Cooper-Garrod.

If you manage to get an appointment at Mount Eden be warned that it's at least a two mile drive up a narrow dirt track to the winery. Expect to spend at least an hour or two there.

As always, try to arrange a designated driver as some of the roads are tricky at the best of times. When tasting it's a good idea to spit even if you aren't driving.

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Stephen John Vidovich was a prominent local real estate developer and founder of DeAnza Properties. In the late 1990s he planted 5.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon in front of his home high on Monte Bello Road and founded Vidovich Vineyards. Early vintages were made at the old Fetzer facility in Redwood Valley until the winery was completed in 2004. The vineyards are managed by Stephen Dorcich. Some of the fruit was sold to the nearby Picchetti Winery until 2005. When Mr Vidovich died in 2007 the family said that the winery would continue.

Vidovich still has no web site; sales of around 500 cases a year are direct to a limited number of trade outlets. I first discovered the wine on the list at a Cuban restaurant in San Jose and subsequently purchased some from Unwined in San Jose.

When I first tried the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon a couple of years ago I remember it had lovely fruit with chocolate notes; there was also plenty of structure that ought to repay cellaring, so I stashed a few bottles away. On Thursday night I opened one and was surprised to find it locked down tight. The nose was oak, oak and more oak; with time some herbs and lavender emerged. The palate was a wall of harsh tannin and acidity; no fruit at all. I recorked the half empty bottle and left it overnight.

On day 2 the nose had softened and hints of black fruits were emerging. The tannin wall had broken down a little, revealing some nice currant and cranberry fruit. I shall let the remaining bottles sleep a while longer. I'm not going to give a rating to this wine as I don't think it's fair. Paid $20 from Unwined, with a 10% discount for 6.

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In my previous post I mentioned that I'd attended a SCMWA trade tasting on Monday. Being trade only it wasn't anywhere near as busy as Pinot Paradise, but with over 30 wineries participating (some pouring 5 or more wines) and constantly switching between varietals it was way harder. If anything my notes are worse than last time, and I doubt that I visited more than maybe half of the participants. So what I have are more impressions than anything else.

New names that stood out for me at Pinot Paradise were Heart o' the Mountain and Black Ridge. Both were at this event too; Heart o' the Mountain are exclusively Pinot producers and were pouring the same vintage as last time, so nothing new to report there. It's good stuff. Check it out.

Black Ridge has the potential to be a much larger outfit. They have something like 20 acres planted with at least as many different clones, from Cabernet Sauvignon to Pinot Gris. The Pinot Noir is only the second vintage from those vines (the first was not commercially available) but is excellent - good rich fruit and plenty of complexity; not badly priced at $39. They were also pouring an Estate Viognier ($25) - not a common varietal in these parts. I fully expected to find a hint of residual sugar, and on the palate it was extremely fruity, but the finish was bone dry. A very nice wine indeed. It turns out that the winemaker is in fact Testarossa's Bill Brosseau, who knows a thing or two about Pinot Noir in particular.

Another little winery that I've been banging the drum for recently is Vidovich Vineyards. They are based up on Monte Bello Road, close to Ridge and Naumann. They produce a single Cabernet Sauvignon called "Montebello Road" that's a terrific value at $20. I swear that if it said Napa on the label they would be charging 3 times as much. Picchetti has been making a Cabernet with fruit from the same vineyard that retails for $45.

They were pouring the just released 2003 vintage, which seemed just as good as the 2002 that I've been quaffing by the case. Until now it was only available at certain restaurants and from Unwined in San Jose, but it appears that they have finally lined up a distributor, so I would expect it to be more readily available, and for the price to rise as more people discover it.

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At the bottom of Monte Bello Road is the scenic Picchetti Ranch, owned by the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District. This 308 acre ranch has over 3 miles of trails. It's also home to California Bonded Winery number 148 - Picchetti Winery.

Over a centuary ago Vincenso and Secondo Picchetti began farming Zinfandel, Carignane and Petite Sirah on this land and founded the winery. It had a turbulent history; following Prohibition some of the vineyards were replanted as fruit orchards, but it wasn't a very profitable enterprise and wine production eventually stopped again in 1963.

The winery was re-opened in 1982 as Sunrise Winery and in 1998 the lease was purchased by Leslie Pantling who changed the name back to Picchetti Winery. The winery produces about 9000 cases a year, with fruit mostly sourced from vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara Valley. The tasting room is open daily from 11AM to 5PM. For $5 you can taste 5 of about 15+ wines, with the charge refunded with purchase.

We called in on the way back from the event at Ridge. Personally I've always found Picchetti's wines a bit hit and miss but there's usually some good ones. We concentrated on the wines from local vineyards. I didn't take much in the way of notes.

2006 Viognier $25
Nice, floral character.
2006 White Pavone $23
A blend of Chardonnay from Santa Cruz Mountains, with Viognier and Gewurztraminer from Santa Clara Valley. Slight sweetness. Very fruity and intense. A good accompaniment to spicy food. Recommended.
2005 Leslie's Estate Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains $29
A nice, balanced wine. Quite oaky and buttery/creamy but with good acidity holding it together. Recommended.
2005 Rose of Syrah, San Benito County $20
Fairly lightweight, with a bitterness on the finish that I didn't care for. Not Recommended.
2005 Merlot, Santa Clara County $27
An easy drinking Merlot, gentle on the oak, with a dusty finish. Fruit sourced from the Dorcich Vineyard in San Martin. Recommended.
2005 Syrah, Santa Clara County $33
Didn't care for this at all. Lots of acidity overpowering the fruit. Not Recommended.
2006 Red Pavone $29
A Bordeaux blend - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, together with an Italian varietal called Lagrein. A pleasant wine with a peppery flavour but I couldn't justify the price tag.
2005 Quarry Hill Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Los Altos $33
This is a smooth, supple cab from a vineyard in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. While pleasant it's not a particularly stunning bargain; I'd go for Mount Eden's Saratoga Cuvee at around $25 every time.
2005(?) Montebello Cabernet Sauvignon $45(?)
The fruit was sourced from the Vidovich vineyard, up next to Ridge; Picchetti have been buying fruit from them since the first harvest in 2000. I've been drinking Vidovich Monte Bello Road Cabernet Sauvignon by the case since I discovered it last year, so it was interesting to compare; this had way more depth and concentration with an interesting eucalyptus/mint note on the finish. Recommended.
2004 Bellicitti Vineyard Zinfandel, Saratoga $30
I'm afraid I didn't care for this. There was just too much residual sugar for my liking. Not Recommended.
2006 Port $37
A combination of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. I'm not a huge fan of domestic Port and this didn't really do anything to sway me.

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