Shout out to a few SBC and Paso winemakers

I just returned from another annual trip to the Santa Barbara County area and wanted to give a shout out to the winemakers that were kind enough to share their time and wines with us:

James Sparks - he poured his Kings Carey and the Liquid Farms wines. First time meeting with him and we had a great time. Looking forward to seeing where his grenache goes in the future the 2017 should really be something special. The Liquid Farm chardonnays were excellent as well.

Gavin Channin - we met Gavin in passing because he was in the middle of putting out several fires, but Jennifer was kind enough to pour his Channin and Lutum wines. If you like lower alcohol chards and pinots, give Channin a try. The Lutum wines are the partnership of Gavin and Bill Price and the grapes come from a variety of vineyards in Santa Barbara County and Sonoma County.

Nick Elliott - we first met Nick when he was pouring his first vintage of Nicora when he was located in shared space in a distillery in Paso Robles. He has been in Tin City for about 5 years. His syrahs are stellar. He was named 2017 Winery of the Year by PDWR (Doug Wilder’s wine report). It was great to catch up with him.

Ryan Pease - we had a few minutes to kill before our appointment with Anthony Yount at Denner so we happened on Paix sur Terre. Ryan was manning his newly opened tasting room on Vineyard Drive. IMO, he has one of the best views in Paso. He works with some unique varieties, including Ugni Blanc, Picpoul Blanc, Clairette Blanc, Monastrell, and Mourvedre. There is also a grenache blend that was very good. If you enjoy unique white wines and Mourvedre, you should check these out.

Anthony Yount - we’ve visited with Anthony since he became Denner’s winemaker. We were there to taste his Kinero wines. He just kills it with his Grenache Blanc, Talley Vineyard Chardonnay and Roussanne. He also has a red blend in the works that we tasted from barrel and will be bottled under a different label - it should be really good.

Larry Schaffer - we met Larry in his Tercero tasting room. We tasted through his entire lineup and his current releases are some of the best wines he has made IMO. I can’t imagine there is anyone on this board that doesn’t know of Larry. He is an ardent proponent of Santa Barbara County wines It’s always great to get caught up with Larry.

Mikael Sigouin - we met Mikael at his Kaena tasting room and tasted through his entire lineup. The self-proclaimed “grenache king” has expanded from rhone varietals and he now makes chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, albarino, riesling, merlot, and a cabernet/petit verdot blend. Our group always has a great time “tasting” with Mikael.

Michael Larner - Mike met us in the barn at his vineyards. Hopefully sometime later this Summer he will have the tasting room built and open for business. Mike makes one of my favorite white wines from California - Malvasia Blanc, which we couldn’t taste because the 2017 was being readied for bottling. But we tasted through all of his current red lineup, including his estate Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, Reserve Syrah, and the soon to be released Dedicated, which is an homage to his daughter made from his best syrah barrel using new Hermitage oak. Though pricey, it is a fantastic bottle of wine nearly right out of the gate.

We missed Joe Davis when we stopped by the Arcadian tasting room, but we were able to try the 2000 Francesca pinot and 2004 Homage a Max sryah. These are both the current club release. Give both a little air and you will be rewarded. Sadly, the 375s aren’t being made any more, but we were able to purchase some of the remaining .375 stock of the 2005 Pisoni pinot - there is also some Fiddlestix pinot and Stolpman syrah left IIRC.

Our best meals were at Huarique (in Venice Beach), Pico, Industrial Eats and SY Kitchen. Kitchenette (in Templeton) and Brother’s Restaurant at Red Barn were also very good. Not a bad way to spend 3 1/2 days.

Jeff,

So awesome seeing ‘the gang’ once again, and so happy that we originally connected via the ERP Boards way back in the day! Though some things have changed, your group’s enthusiasm for food and wine had not wained one iota!!!

It was great pouring for you - and just catching up. Thanks for the kind words, but tasting with you guys, and then running into the four of you once again on Saturday night, were certainly weekend highlights for me! And Dos Carlitos didn’t make it into your top food lists?!? Perhaps it was too much of a good thing - did you do mescal or tequila flights?

Until next time . . .

Truly a rough weekend - I forgot about seeing you at the Landsby - great bar and bartender there, obviously. I hope we weren’t the highlight since you finally got some time to spend with Jill
Dos Carlitos was a bit of a disappointment They were very understaffed - the manager was waiting on tables. It took so long to get drinks that no one dared try the flights. I stuck with beer. The food was good, but not great. It did offer a nice change of pace from our other dining experiences, though.

Thanks for the report, Jeff!

I have sent a few “Mourvedre & Vineyard Questions” emails to some of the folks you visited. The Rhône grape growing in SBC has fascinated me since my first taste of the Zaca Mesa “Cuvee Z” (or was it “Z Three”?). Unfortunately, not many have replied…

The range of styles in the region’s blends and varietal wines is very fun!

I have to go ahead a pop my Tercero 2010(?) SBC Mourvedre one of these days…