TN: 2018 Solminer - Grüner Veltliner Spear Vineyard (USA, California, Central Coast, Los Olivos District)

2018 Solminer Wines Grüner Veltliner Spear Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Los Olivos District (4/8/2020)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over a few days –

NOSE: beer wort; hay; yeast; really odd, and simply not good.

BODY: medium-light to medium maize color; medium-light bodied.

TASTE: hay; medium to medium+ acidity; something medicinal/anti-septic tasting; underbrush; maybe some light pear mixed with quinine, if I try really hard to find something resembling a fruit flavor; not “bright”; little-to-no fruit; lots of mineral flavor; alc. not noticeable (13.2%); I would have no idea what to call if this were served to me blind; maybe some skin contact a little? … I don’t know … really weird wine, and, to put it gently, I just don’t get it. Nearly flavorless. It didn’t strike me as flawed, but perhaps there’s something going on that shouldn’t be. No meaningful change over a few days.

50, 5, 5, 12, 4 = (76 pts.)

Ouch . . .

I will offer that their GV wines have been stellar in my experience and compare favorably with the best Austrians. So not sure what happened here and hope it’s an off one off.

Yyyyep. And I gave it every chance I could — tasted over multiple days, different glasses, different serving temps, with and without food. Hell, I still have some in the garage fridge (just noticed it an hour ago when I retrieved a beer) … I’ll try a sip later, and will report back with any positive surprises.

I find that the solminer wines are quite polarizing most folks - their tasting room is just down the street and I recommend it to plenty of folks, with the caveat that they are more acid and earth and less fruit driven.

Cheers.

I’ve tasted wines from that vineyard but as a general rule don’t post notes if I don’t like the wines, unless it’s something like To Kalon Vineyard Company . I’d chalk it up to growing pains and given the location and people I’m sure they’ll work it out. I’ve got to say it’s a world class facility and worth a visit and short tour. I really look forward to tasting Angela O’s grenache and other winemakers from that vineyard.

A couple of things to point out:

First off, this vineyard is in the Sta Rita Hills, NOT in the Los Olivos District. His own vineyard is in the Los Olivos District, but not this one.

And as far as the quality of the fruit goes, I don’t think anyone should question that. This vineyard was laid out by the team of Greg Brewer and Coastal Vineyard Care, one of if not THE top viticultural company in our area. They are making a name for themselves with their own wines and many have purchased from them.

I made a grenache from the vineyard in 2018 that I’ll be releasing shortly - and it’s quite different than any other grenache that I’ve made. Can’t wait to share with all of you soon.

Cheers.

And just to be consistent, Cellartracker SHOULD have this listed as:

USA / CA / Santa Barbara County / Sta Rita Hills . . .

That’s two grenaches I look forward to!
I don’t understand why the winery itself would put “Los Olivos District” on the bottle of their own wine? Is this a silly labeling rule, or something else? Seems sort of like saying “2001 XYZ Cab, To Kalon Vineyard, Spring Mountain District”.
I see maps list and shade out the two and clearly define them as different AVAs in SB County.
I tasted a Spear chard, a syrah, and probably a pinot. I thought they were good, but at the time there were nearby alternatives at that price point I wouldn’t hesitate to buy instead.
Also love Solminer and if the wines aren’t your jam the high IQ dog might keep you entertained.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We had a bottle with bluefin poke a few months ago and had a completely different experience, it was a pretty brilliant pairing. A lot of lime and apple in our bottle.

Re: the classification of the wine: the errors are likely the result the [mis]information input into CT by whichever CT user “created” the wine in the CT database. The CT admins can be contacted regarding this, and any other, such error. There is also a way in CT to propose an EDIT to any wine’s definition, which includes the grapes’ place of origin.