Most Underrated AVA in California

[H_Wallace_Jr]

@Ian Brand

I’ll second Hardy’s endorsement of Chalone and expand it. The Gabilan Mountains have some of the most interesting terrain out there, starting with Chalone and Mount Harlan, and continuing into the Lime Kiln Valley (Enz Vineyard) and the Cienega Valley on the East side. There’s also the Coastview Vineyard, which has quietly produced some epic wines over the last decade. But Chalone, with its mix of limestone, granite and volcanic soils from the old Pinnacles Volcano, with a kiss of fog and wide diurnal swings, should be an internationally regard terroir like a Monte Bello or Mount Eden

[Mike_Francisco]

@Ian Brand

San Benito County/Paicines, Monterey outside of the SLH, the Santa Clara Valley, have some incredible blocks, and the remainder compares pretty well with places like Santa Barbara, and is at best ignored even locally, not to mention on the state or national level – which gives us the trump card, Larry

+1
These and several other AVAs are producing great wines of relative obscurity to the rest of the world, so are far more underrated then any of the fairly well know areas listed above. So I would vote Other if it were a choice.

[Ken_Zinns]

@Wes Barton

Flywheel also gets Naylor. Does Loring still get Naylor PN?
Cellars 33 and Testarosa also get Brosseau.

Forgot about Flywheel and Naylor. I don’t believe Loring gets it anymore. Not sure whether Cellars 33 still gets Brosseau either.

[Peter_Simpson]

@larry schaffer

Nick,

First off, I would not recommend my own wines - that’s not why I post around here

The quality of the wines from our entire area continues to get better and better as new sites are explored, as new winemakers come to town, as vineyards begin to mature, and as everyone finds their firm footing in terms of ‘style’ they are after.

Where to begin . . .

Like Rhones? You cannot go wrong here - a few to consider:
Jaffurs
Beckmen
Stolpman
Larner
Qupe
Kaena (for Grenache)
Refugio Ranch
Ojai Vineyard

Like Pinots?
Melville
Babcock
Kessler Hawk
Clos Pepe (for now)
Chanin
Au Bon Climat
Whitcraft
Pence
Fess Parker
Byron
Crawford Family

Chardonnays?
Same list as above but plenty others including Liquid Farm, Tyler, Presquile

Iberian Varieties
Verdad
Kenneth Volk
Cinque Stella
Crawford Family (killer Albarino)

Sauv Blanc? - Some of the best coming out of the state, especially for the price:
Dierberg/Starlane
Dragonette
Brander
Presquile

The list of varieties and producers and truly go on and on - lots to discover up or down here, depending upon where you’re at.

Cheers!

Larry, you are taking two bites from the cherry here. Many of these wineries are in the Santa Rita Hills, or maybe the poll is flawed and Santa Barbara County should be split up into Santa Maria, Los Alamos, Santa Ynez etc etc

And if you are going to list great Pinot producers in the SRH, how about Arcadian, Loring, The Hilt, Lutum, Sea Smoke to name just a few? And by the way, Ojai is in Ventura County.

[larry_schaffer]

Peter,

I certainly know all of the producers that you’ve mentioned, and I’m aware that Ojai Vineyards has their production facility outside of the county. That said, Adam continues to get most of his fruit from within the county.

And yes, you’ve mentioned too many other producers. In all honesty, there are over 200 wineries in Santa Barbara County, so a potential list is nearly endless.

I would rather not have a sub Ava broken out but instead would suggest the county as a whole. But heck, that’s just my two cents

Cheers

[Eric_S_n_y_d_e_r]

Given that the question isn’t which AVA is “best” or “most diverse” my vote goes to SCM, which gets almost no love outside the nerd webs. Ill bet most people associate Ridge Monte Bello with North Coast.

[Wes_Barton]

I think, by definition, the most underrated will not get the most votes as the most underrated…

[H_Wallace_Jr]

@Ian Brand

The Gabilan Mountains have some of the most interesting terrain out there, starting with Chalone and Mount Harlan

And on that note, Duckhorn Wine Co. Buys Calera…

Duckhorn Wine Co. buys Central Coast Pinot pioneer Calera

They must have been reading this post

[M_Dildine]

@H Wallace Jr

Chalone

Chalone is underrated and underutilized. The “old” Chalone winery demonstrated the potential years back.

Hardy and Ian nailed this IMO.

[larry_schaffer]

How many planted Acres of vines are there in the chalone AVA?

[Nathan_Smyth]

1. Arroyo Grande

2. Monterey*

*Listed second simply because it’s much better known than Arroyo Grande.

[Barry_Paul_Price]

@Wes Barton

I think, by definition, the most underrated will not get the most votes as the most underrated…

Totally right! But he probably means it’s more generally under-appreciated by the broader public, as opposed to we wine nerds.

Presumably.

Or maybe he means even on WB… but then you’d be right.

[Nathan_Smyth]

@Barry Paul Price

@Wes Barton

I think, by definition, the most underrated will not get the most votes as the most underrated…

Totally right! But he probably means it’s more generally under-appreciated by the broader public, as opposed to we wine nerds.

Presumably.

Or maybe he means even on WB… but then you’d be right.

My reply was meant for WB, not for the broader public.

There are outstanding QPRs from Arroyo Grande, and Monterey has produced both QPRs and absolutely world-class wines.

[Wes_Barton]

See? And only a subregion of Monterey is an option (I wouldn’t call SLH underrated in the least). There have been kick-ass Cabs from Carmel Valley since the '70s. Same for Pinots and Chards from Arroyo Seco - and certainly other varieties are excelling there nowadays.

[Loren_Sonkin]

On this Board it is probably Napa.

[Blake_Brown]

Santa Barbara County- See Larry Schaffers list of producers to verify. Theres no equal in any of the other AVAs IMHO.

[Ian_Brand]

Larry
Chalone Estate ~280
Brosseau I think is 25-30
Rodnick (nee Antle, nee Graff) 20 ish
Michaud is 30-40 I think
Boer, Graff, Naylor about 10 between the three

Total: 370 acres +/-. Not large in acreage, but it bears saying that the top end of Chalone is on par with probably anything else on the west coast excepting Monte Bello in my experience in the winery and in the glass, so it’s not really size that matters.

Ian

[Drew_Goin]

@Ian Brand

I’ll second Hardy’s endorsement of Chalone and expand it. The Gabilan Mountains have some of the most interesting terrain out there, starting with Chalone and Mount Harlan, and continuing into the Lime Kiln Valley (Enz Vineyard) and the Cienega Valley on the East side. There’s also the Coastview Vineyard, which has quietly produced some epic wines over the last decade. But Chalone, with its mix of limestone, granite and volcanic soils from the old Pinnacles Volcano, with a kiss of fog and wide diurnal swings, should be an internationally regard terroir like a Monte Bello or Mount Eden.

Really, the whole area I ‘cover’ in my winemaking enterprises are pretty drastically underrated, with the exception of the Santa Cruz Mountains, which I think are finally becoming fairly properly rated as one of the handful of best appellations in North America. The rest, San Benito County/Paicines, Monterey outside of the SLH, the Santa Clara Valley, have some incredible blocks, and the remainder compares pretty well with places like Santa Barbara, and is at best ignored even locally, not to mention on the state or national level – which gives us the trump card, Larry

+1

[PeterH]

After reading this thread, I realized I had a 2010 Bailiwick Pinot Noir, so I popped it for tonight’s dinner of grilled chicken thighs with rosemary and sage. My recent experiences with the wines of the eponymous Chalone lead me to expect ripe cherries and vanilla. What I got was dusty fruit, good acidity, no apparent wood, and a general impression not unlike a good WV Pinot in a moderately ripe year. I’d drink this wine any time, and that is not something I’d say about 99% of California Pinot Noirs.

P Hickner

[Dan_Kravitz]

Santa Cruz Mountains has the most votes and no comments.

OK, so I’ll say it’s the best Appellation in California, not just the most underrated.

OK, you don’t agree.

So please do a blind tasting of 20 - 40 year old Cabernet Sauvignon from Mount Eden and/or Monte Bello against any other California Cabs.

So please also do a blind tasting of 10 - 30 year old Chardonnay from Mount Eden and/or Monte Bello against any other California Chards.

And those two are not the only producers to try. Just the easiest to find.

Dan Kravitz