Foxen Pinot Noir....

I went to college at UCSB, so I was able to try a lot of the wines in the area, and IMO Foxen produces some of the most interesting pinot in the area. I was just wondering what everyone’s favorites are from the Central Coast. I’m looking to change it up, but I always go back to Foxen. Thanks in advance for the input.

I tried some Zotovich this past weekend and quite enjoyed it. There certainly are unique qualities to SB Pinot Noir that deserve recognition - Riverbench is another, along with Fiddlehead, Cargasacchi, Clos Pepe, Melville, and the mega-offerings of Brian Loring, aka ‘Mr. Scores’. I, however, am not a big fan of Foxen lately. I enjoyed their wines from the '04 and '05 vintages, but not as much the more recent vintages.

Oh wow, I totally forgot about Fiddlehead Cellars…my favorite from them is probably their Lollapalooza Fiddlestix Pinot (I’ve only had the '06), but it’s waaaay to pricey.

I really like the Santa Rita Hills so anything from there works for me, Sanford, Arcadian, Alma Rosa, SeaSmoke, Melville, LaFond. Yeah, and Brian Loring is crushing it right now.

Here’s a list of 2008 SRH Pinots:

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Sea Smoke and Julia’s vineyard are probably my favorite vineyards out there, and it’s crazy to me how different all of the producers pinot’s taste from those specific vineyards…oh yeah, did anyone else notice that the '08 Melville had an ashy taste to it? It’s still good, but it’s a little too “hot” for me. Clos Mimi is known more for their Syrah right? I’ve never had the chance to taste any of Tim’s wines, but I hear they are very good.

Foxen is very good. At the moment Talley is my favorite producer from this area.

The Foxen wines just seem to be getting better and better every year - they are on a monster run right now -

I’m a big fan of ALTA MARIA Pinot Noirs - probably my favorite of the new Santa Barbara breed -

Nice choice! Alta Maria is an excellent value IMO. I know K&L was selling it in the $20 range.

I want to try some Talley pinot too!

It was the '95 Sanford pinot noir that turned me onto the Santa Rita Hills. 16 years later, it is still my favorite AVA for pinot! Lots of great wines mentioned in this thread! My favorites: Sea Smoke, Sanford, Alma Rosa, Hitching Post, Foxen, Brewer-Clifton, Loring, Siduri, Fiddlehead, Fess Parker, Melville, Pali, Wedell, Foley, and even Sine Qua Non back in the day. Loved the '04 Covert Fingers! Probably missing a few other labels, but such an awesome AVA! Thank God for Richard Sanford and his pioneering back in the day! -mJ

I have never been a Foxen lover - nice wines but IMHO, a bit overpriced.

Some great wines from the area, and both New World and Old World styles can be found.

Good New World vintners include Sea Smoke, Loring, Dierberg, Ojai’s and Siduri’s version of Clos Pepe (Wes’ version borders between Old and New and is also quite good), Fiddlestix (some of theirs are closer to old world style), Siduri, Cargassashi, Zotovitch, Brewer Clifton and some of the Melvilles. Foley is sometimes very good as well.

Joe Davis at Arcadian is making some great SRH pinot, with an old world flair, as are Cloe Pepe, and most of the Fiddlestix line-up.

A bit of a thread drift- but had a Foxen Syrah last weekend, 2006 Toasted Rope. I found it a bit rough…but my GF loved it.

Any updates on how Foxen is doing 2010-2016? I went for a tasting in 2015 and was unimpressed with the pinot noir offerings, but they didn’t have time for us to try the pinot flight which included their higher end wines. There was also a HUGE group of people acting like it was happy hour there which probably detracted from the experience as well. Debating on whether I should go back after trying to sneak in a tasting of Paul Lato offerings in Santa Maria.

Also had a similar experience at Melville and not sure I want to buy anymore wine or visit the winery again either.

Are you up here now? You stopping in my place?

Their wines are consistently very good. They do have a couple of different levels, but they’re higher end Pinots always seem to be a hit with both wine Geeks and non wine Geeks.

We were definitely thinking of hitting up the Los Olivos tasting rooms on our way back on Saturday, May 20. I’ll try to convince my wife to try some rhone varietals (she’s mostly a pinot noir and chardonnay fan) and stop by Tercero. Will you be in town that weekend?

I`ve been a Foxen fan since inception and even was an initial barrel subscriber when the program was first offered. Billy makes consistently fine wines and his Pinots are as good over time as any of the varietals.
In addition to Foxen, my Central Coast favs are ABC #1, Talley, Longoria, Whitcraft and most recently, surprise, surprise, Qupe under the Sawyer Lindquist label.

I used to be really into the PN, but my tastes have changed a little and I find the PN a little too big for me. Not Loring or Kosta Browne big, but not my target style. Still enjoyable - when I taste them I immediately think of Santa Maria / SRH.
I still really enjoy their Tinaquaic & Williamson- Dore Syrah and Cuvée Jean Marie.

Crawford and Liquid Farms are favorites right now.

I still like Foxen, especially Julia’s, but don’t drink them as often as I used to and haven’t bought in a few years mainly due to price. I find that I don’t like Melville these days. If it were me I’d try to fit in Foxen and skip Melville.

IMHO, the most consistently good Pinot from Foxen happens to be the best QPR, the Santa Maria Valley release. $25 at most local places.

That’s the main reason I no longer buy direct. The places I buy from locally have the bottles I want if I get the itch for some Foxen.