California Central Coast Wine Recommendation: What is One Central Coast Wine Worth Seeking Out?
IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts their recommendation for one California Central Coast wine worth seeking out (but which won't break the bank):
Tucked into the sun-drenched hills of Paso Robles, the vineyards and winery of L’Aventure continue to impress. Directing the project from the soil up is Stephan Asseo, a ‘renegade’ vigneron who understands that incredible wine must be and can only be a truthful expression of place. Never short on sensibility, Asseo planted his warm Central Coast vineyards to Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot in the late 1990’s and has since been reaping the benefits. Find L'Aventure WinesDuring a recent visit to the estate, I had the pleasure of tasting the 2006 L'Aventure Optimus, a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Syrah, 5% Petit Verdot. This is a big, big wine that is as friendly and approachable when young as it is soft, supple and voluptuous while it ages. If you can find it, try it. This wine frequently sells out and is highly sought after. (About $45) - Benjamin Spencer, a diploma student with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, writes for IntoWine.com about wine from a winemaker's perspective.
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Find Bonny Doon SyrahNot too long ago a friend and I took a day trip down to the new Bonny Doon tasting room in downtown Santa Cruz. I have been a longtime fan of these wines, and fondly remember drinking many a bottle of Pacific Rim Riesling with sushi back in the early nineties. What a pleasure for me to discover that these folks are still making deliciously pleasurable and even more profound wines some fifteen years later. Although I tasted through a range of delicious (some biodynamically produced) wines, a real stand out for me was the 2005 Bonny Doon Bien Nacido Syrah. Intensely concentrated with all the good stuff I love so much about young syrah is here in spades, with Violets, blueberry, a bit of pepper and a hint of moist earth up front. However great acidity and a fine tannic stucture (think of a perfect steeped cup of black tea) ensure that this wine will age gracefully as well. What an absolute delight to discover this Central Coast syrah. I believe that this wine might only be available via the Bonny Doon website or tasting room, however I certainly think it’s one delicious wine worth seeking out! - Mulan Chan, Rhône and French Regional Buyer, K&L Wine Merchants
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Find Beckman SyrahCalifornia’s Central Coast spans three counties and well over 500 wineries, therefore it’s difficult to select a single wine that outshines the majority. But in Santa Barbara, Beckman Vineyards has consistently produced an excellent array of wines. Their 2006 Purisima Mountain Syrah Block Six ($50) is another stellar syrah coming from Purisima Mountain, one of their well-known sites that is farmed entirely biodynamic. The nose is pure sweet cherry and rich blueberry with oak and plum filling out the background. The plush wine hits the mouth and instantly there is the jammy fruit and acid up front, but with a strong mid and back palette that hugs the mouth and lingers like a lonely kid at a birthday party. Then the complexity hits you, and flavors of paprika, pomegranate and a wisp of tobacco charm you. The Beckman team has long made a strong portfolio of wines and their syrahs are becoming increasing difficult to beat. - Michael Cervin, Wine Judge, Restaurant Critic, and IntoWine Featured Writer
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Find Tablas Creek WinesAny of the Rhone-style wines offered by Tablas Creek Vineyard near Paso Robles. We especially like the Esprit de Beaucastel red and white blends, and their less expensive siblings, the Cote de Tablas red and white blends. The bottlings from this producer have demonstrated the virtues of producing Rhone-style wines in California’s Central Coast. - Suzanne Reifers & Alfred Judd, IntoWine Featured Writers
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Find Jaffurs SyrahMy favorite wine region in California is not Napa or Sonoma. It is the Central Coast and more specifically the Rhone varietal wines (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, etc.) made there. One of my favorite producers is Jaffurs Wine Cellars. Run by Craig Jaffurs, they make a variety of wines. His team including Dave Yates and Matt Brady are some of the nicest people in the wine business. That’s fine, but if they didn’t make great wine, so what? These days, I keep telling all my friends about Jaffurs Syrah. The 2007, available for around $25 or less is phenomenal and better than many wines at two to three times the cost. This is just another in a long line of great values in their basic Syrah. If the 2007 is sold out, then wait for the 2008, I am sure it will be good too. For a few dollars more, their single vineyard Syrahs (as well as their other wines) do not disappoint. The chance to recommend such an outstanding wine at this price point is rare. - Loren Sonkin is an IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder/Winemaker at Sonkin Cellars.
The California Central Coast, identified as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo (and its main wine region Paso Robles) and Monterey is California the way it used to be, or at the very least, California the way people want it to be: small towns, charming architecture, varied history of Missions and Indians, and coastlines for miles; a slow pace, clean air and a belief that no one real really works very hard. But the area has been home to grape growing since the Spanish brought vine cuttings from Spain via Mexico in the late 1700s and winemakers and vineyard managers have been working hard ever since. To celebrate this beautiful region IntoWine.com offers these 50 wines that represent the diversity of the California Central Coast.
In my last article, I listed the Top 75 French Wines to Try Before You Quit Drinking . In this article I look at the “non-dump bucket” list for wines from California. This proved to be a different task. First, very few wineries have a long track record of making great wine. Secondly, while California is diverse, it does not have the diversity of climates and terroir and grape varietals of France. Still, it does produce some of the best wines in the world and any wine lover should make it a point to try as many of them as they can. Here is my list: 1. Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon – It’s hard to pick the first wine. This one is a great wine in every vintage and has been for a long time. Expensive but still possible to afford and made in large enough quantities to be found in grocery stores. Every lover of Cabernet should try this once.
The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we discussed the white Rhone style wines offered at the 2008 Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco on March 18. This month we turn to the reds, of which we tasted 50. Among those we tasted were some old favorites and some wineries or bottlings with which we were not yet familiar. We don’t pretend that we tasted a representative group of wines, because our sample was skewed to wines we have loved in the past and others about which we have heard positive comments.
The winding, tree cocooned Redwood Retreat Road in Gilroy, California, snakes its way alongside Little Arthur Creek and steadily climbs up 600 ft. toward Mount Madonna. Once home to the widow of famed writer Robert Louis Stevenson, this southern neck of the Santa Cruz Mountains continues to lure day trippers, adventurers and cyclists. For two weekends each month, wine enthusiasts heed the call to likewise abandon their GPS and take this less travelled path to experience the award-winning wines of Martin Ranch Winery .
Bien Nacido is not only the most well-known and respected vineyard on California’s Central Coast, but is has the distinction of being one of the major viticultural nurseries in California for certified, varietal budwood. In addition to Bien Nacido, the Millers operate two other vineyard sites, French Camp east of San Luis Obispo, and Solomon Hills in Santa Maria, with well over 2,500 combines acres, as well as two custom crush facilities in Santa Maria and Paso Robles. Bien Nacido was called on of the top 25 vineyards in the world by Wine & Spirits Magazine, and Food & Wine Magazine called them one of the ten best vineyards. The Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast routinely award over 90 point scores to wines made from Bien Nacido fruit. Bien Nacido is the most widely sourced vineyard on the California Central Coast. Certainly with 800 planted acres it produces a lot of grapes, but beyond that, why is Bien Nacido so sought after? Bien Nacido seems to have that magical formula of making wines with a sense of place. Long term customers, such as Jim Clendenon of Au Bon Climat say they can pick a Bien Nacido Pinot Noir out of a blind tasting. Whether it’s cool climate Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or another varietal, our winery customers enjoy receiving product that is uniquely Bien Nacido.
