Tasting Notes from brief Santa Barbara weekend trip (Tyler/Mae, Holus Bolus, etc)

Did a brief 2-day wine tasting trip, visiting two familiar (one was Jen’s request) but 4 new-to-me wineries that I found - of all places - here on WB! I searched for reccs from the Berserkers and came up with a nice array, and found two absolute gems that I will be recruiting heavily for BerserkerDay (and I will succeed!)

Tyler/Mae Estate - tasted with Gabe Fabela who was incredibly knowledgable and helpful for the whole trip.

Mae Estate 2019 SRH Chardonnay - bright, mineral driven, great acidity, 12.8% abv, a bit sharp on citrus

2019 Tyler Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, 13.1% abv, very floral nose, using original 73 plantings from Richard, getting more malo on this, in Jen’s glass whole different style, very lemony, some chalk minerality, very nice

2019 Mae Estate SRH Pinot - all four clones, 25% whole cluster/new oak, rhubarb and bright strawberry, baking spice, fruit not terribly ripe, very bright and acidic (proximity to Clos Pepe?), nice mineral component - stony

2019 Mae Estate SRH Pinot CP - two upper blocks, clay-rich area, 50% whole cluster/new oak, big nose, rose and baked fruit pie, very spicy nose, richer mouthfeel but still similar acidity, raspberry, nice finish, really nice

2019 Tyler La Rinconada Vineyard Pinot - 30/30, beautiful expressive nose, lilac and blue fruit nose, beautiful color, slight bricking, crisp red fruits, crunchy fruit, love the energy in this wine, unique and interesting

2019 Tyler Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot - planted in 1973 - 50/50 - cherry and gravel nose, perfumed, gorgeous mouthfeel, weighty but bright, great acidity, well balanced, very long finish, excellent, more refined and polished than Rinconada

2018 Tyler Cabernet Sauvignon RSW 13.2% - wow, nice. Great tannic structure, grippy, not overly ripe, blue and red fruited, nice minerality, almost has the brightness of mountain fruit, sold out (5 barrels) - fantastic

2017 Tyler Happy Canyon Claret 12.9% - 80% Merlot - this guy must pick early, there’s a lot of brightness and acidity here, nose has a touch of baking spice and vanilla but not intrusive, (5 barrels)

I will most definitely be buying Tyler/Mae wines, but couldn’t there at the tasting as they don’t yet have license for it. Will be buying both the Claret and Cabernet Sauvignon, but the latter is allocated so we’ll have to see if I can get some.

Pence
(met Josh up at the tasting who JUST got his BerserkerDay shipments! (Saunter and Sandra and Hem) - loved that - so cool to have that happen randomly)

Blanc de Blancs - 5 barrel production, a bit on the lush side, but quite good, surprisingly so, we both very much enjoyed

2020 Estate PTG - ‘lasagna’ format, layered, one ton each layer of Gamay and PInot Noir, 4 tons total, nose is all Gamay, as is the palate, getting very little PInot in the flavor profile but there’s a bit of weight that isn’t in Gamay - typical bright red strawberry

2019 Estate Pinot Noir - 20% new oak, very lean, high acid, red fruited, bright strawberry

2019 Fugio (block specific) - 2 weeks in concrete, whole cluster 2 weeks 25% new French oak, also leaner profile, good brightness, grippy, showing the whole cluster

2018 Sebastiano Syrah - very perfumed nose (no co-fermentation with Viognier), lively and floral, dark red fruited, lighter body (typical of the region), long finish

2018 Estate Chardonnay - aged in oak barrels, citrus nose, malo softness on the palate, heavy lemon curd, (20% new oak) crushed rock, salinity, medium finish

2018 Rosa Chardonnay - 600 gallon oak barrel aged, explosive nose, floral, palate still has a huge blast of citrus, very lemon focused, really handles the oak well.

Overall not really my style

Holus Bolus/The Joy Fantastic - tasted with Peter Hunken, winemaker

2020 HB Roussanne - floral nose, seems like it has Viognier because of how expressive it is, but it has none - has a nice brightness of fruit and mouthfeel, crunchy sweet fruits - very nice at $35, purchased several

2019 The Joy Fantastic Chardonnay - bit of flint on the nose, unique spicy profile on the nose as well, with white peaches, tropical notes, more tropical on the palate as well, hint of malo at the end, nice finish

2018 The Joy Fantastic Pinot Noir - neutral oak, 20-30% whole cluster - spicy red and blue fruit nose, has the clear indication of some whole cluster, good acidity, ripe fruit

2018 The Joy Fantastic Syrah - one of the most westernmost Syrah locations in the region, cool weather, fragrant nose, energetic mouthfeel, bright edges (palate and appearance), light weight and with good structure, but a nice satiny mouthfeel, long finish

2019 Holus Bolus Syrah - much riper than TJF, red/blue fruited, a bit of minerality is nice, riper than my style

2019 Holus Bolus Syrah Franc de Pied - with Alban suitcase clone fruit - shy nose, bit of spring water, gorgeous weighty satiny mouthfeel, meaty and rich, dark fruited, long finish, grippy - very nice, excellent value at $40, purchased

Story of Soil

2021 Gold Coast Vineyard Rose of Pinot Noir - very nice, roses and jasmine, sweet strawberry and apple peel, good acid, clean and crisp, delicious

2020 Gruner Vetliner - smells a bit like that giant grape that gewurztraminer is known for, strong green apple on the palate, super bright, huge lemon citrus, mega high acid and nice long finish

2021 Martian Ranch Vineyard Gamay Noir - clean, almost soapy nose, bright red fruit but not strictly strawberry. Palate shows much more red strawberry typicity, nice silken mouthfeel, nice peppery spice as well

2020 Gold Coast Pinot Noir - no stem inclusion, making is focusing on the red berry fruit profile, planted next to strawberries, getting a bit of RRV cola on the nose (Santa Maria fruit), way too ripe/sweet, no thanks (customer favorite, probably)

2020 Chene Vineyard PInot Noir - earthy, touch of green on the nose, nice, great structure and grip, particularly at the finish - layered and interesting - ENTIRELY different style from the Gold Coast PN, nice

2019 Duvarita Vineyard Syrah - in Lompoc, clay earth, 50% stem inclusion, dark fruit, black pepper nose, weighty on the palate, sharp pepper component, nice red and black fruit, good overall structure and finish, nice

Some interesting stuff, like the Gruner, and I was intrigued a bit by the stark contrast between the two Pinots, favoring the Chene much more, stylistically.


Had dinner at Bell’s the first night, and it’s absolutely world class, stunning food, amazing value. The two ‘familiar’ wineries we visited were Peake Ranch (one of Jen’s favorites, for Chardonnay, though I think she favored the 2018’s more than the current vintage) and Liquid Farm, where I correctly identified Vogelzang fruit when taking a whiff of their spectacular 2021 Rose of Mouvedre. Smelled it and said to Jeff ‘this totally smells like Vogelzang fruit’ and he said ‘it IS Vogelzang fruit!’ and obviously I thought he was kidding…but he was not! Super strange I identified that, no clue how [cheers.gif] We purchased some of the Four (Jen’s favorite Chardonnay from the region) and that Rose, as it’s really lovely.

I have already told Tyler/Mae that they WILL be in BerserkerDay, and Peter from Holus Bolus/The Joy Fantastic seemed interested, though didn’t know much about it, and so I’ll have to give him a bit of history on the whole thing. Time to get some NEW Santa Barbara area wineries in BerserkerDay!

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We liked the Holus/Joy wines when we were down in September, too. Next time you’re in Los Olivos, try both Bar Le Cote and Nella (get one of the pinzas!). Both are worth visiting for sure.

Story of Soil is very good. I plan to get back there soon. I like their Syrah and the Gamay quite a bit. Holus Bolus is fun, but more along the lines of what I expect from the area. Don’t know the other two.

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I’m a big fan of Tyler, but their pricing pushes the limits a bit for me. They were the winery I most had in mind when I started the “which wines would you buy regularly if the price came down 25%?” thread. By shopping around at retail, I can often find better deals on their wines.

To be clear, I don’t mean that comment in the “the wines aren’t good enough to be worth it” sense, but more just they’re outside the range where I personally can buy a bunch regularly.

The cabernet and the claret, if you had a few bottles of each, when would you think to open them?

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If you want a more ‘reasonable’ bottle that Justin Willet is involved with, try the Lieu Dit wines. His cab franc is the most Chinon-like I have found domestically and usually can be found for about $30.

Cheers.

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Got my reservation at Bar Le Cote for my visit in March.

Wines are fantastic, and pricey, to be sure. If they were more ‘affordable’ I’d buy as much as I could take, as both Jen and I felt it was among the best we’ve had in the region. Funny, however, how we as wine consumers judge what is ‘affordable’ based on a number of factors, such as region, varietal, etc. Syrah from Northern Rhone, for example, can be $30 and can be $500. I find myself questioning why I spend $100 on a nice bottle of Armagnac or Rye when that lasts FAR longer than a single bottle of wine, which I have dozens of in that price range.

I found both the Claret and Cabernet extremely enjoyable right now, and have no history with Tyler/Mae to know how long they age, but Jen wouldn’t let me wait if we had them anyway. Gabe said I can buy the Claret so I’ll do that when I can, and get on the allocation list for the Cabernet, I guess. Shocking how much structure and old world quality that wine showed for Happy Canyon. Gives great hope for the region, as the prior Happy Canyon Cabernets I’ve had were all sort of soft, sweet, and uninteresting.

Larry, I was hoping to taste the Lieu Dit wines but they can’t pour them at the Tyler estate, apparently - value is always a good thing! I did check the Tercero tasting room as well when we walked by but you weren’t in it [cheers.gif]

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Well, Todd, if you LET ME KNOW you are in the area, as others often do and as you could have since you made appointments and were literally 50 feet away [swoon.gif] I would have moved mountains to be there to pour for you and Jen . . . [highfive.gif]

Cheers.

It’s not our first, nor last trip up there :slight_smile:

I’ll hit you up next time - no mountain moving needed

Anyone else read this and think, I don’t know Margo?

So why is the carpet wet Todd?

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Have really enjoyed all the Holus Bolus wines I’ve tried - would love to see them in BD next year!

While I think I prefer the FdP in 2019, the Holus Bolus Presq’uile Syrah is also a great terroir driven take on cool climate Syrah. I place it between the JF and FdP in terms of fruit-earth character, it is floral, peppery and achieves peak elegance. Since you gravitated towards the FdP and JF, you probably would have liked this had it been available to taste. The HB SRH Syrah is always the easier, dark fruited one of the group, though I find it usually has some compelling secondary components like olive or bacon fat.

From what I’ve gathered from conversations with Peter and Amy, it sounds like (a) they don’t have much margin to discount at/below wine club pricing and (b) have good direct and distribution sales. It would be great if they went in on BD–I think they might gain a cult following like Halcon–but my guess is that it’s a toss up whether it fits with their current plans.

Their cabernets (I think there is a basic one and then the RSW one) are pretty easily findable on WSPro.

I noticed Spectrum Wine in Santa Ana had the 2018 RSW for $80, available on the sales floor.

https://milled.com/spectrum-wine-retail/a-super-classic-old-school-cabernet-94-pt-tyler-cabernet-sauvignon-crushed--lEuKQAvv89R7YpXd

I don’t know how that compares to the price that Tyler releases them.

Didn’t Tyler do a 100pts Chard? Was that one of their pours?

Thanks for the tip - I think the Cabernet on release is more than $80

We were not poured that wine, that I know of

I have tried the Tyler 2019 SRH bottle. It’s available here in south Alabama so the word must be getting out on quality. It retails for $43. Is the SRH bottle from the Mae Estate?

Had a similar sort of two-day tasting weekend in SB & Los Olivos. Rolled into SB on Friday and spent Saturday in Los Olivos. Everything was terrific. Wine, weather, food, etc. I didn’t take notes while tasting, but below are the wines that I tasted (to the best of my recollection) and my thoughts:

Whitcraft

Tasted through the wines with assistant winemaker/sales director/super guy Chris. I loved pretty much everything I tasted here. Highly Recommend. Here’s what I tasted and my quick-hit thoughts:

2019 La Rinconada Chardonnay – bottle we tasted from had been opened for 4 days and was still rocking. Very lithe & acid-driven, citrusy and a bit of chalk.

2019 Pence Ranch Chardonnay – opened earlier that day. Still young but a bit richer than the Rinc chard. This is still very Chablis-esque but I preferred the Rinc.

2021 Elle’s Trousseau – served with a bit of a chill on it. It’s a blend (69% Trousseau, 19% Gamay, 17% Pinot Noir). Super light in color but plenty of flavor. A bit stemmy/peppery with a really nice punch of red fruit.

2021 Gamay – also served a bit chilled. Tart red fruit and delicious.

2020 La Rinconada Pinot Noir – this was terrific, still young but delightful. The smell of baked strawberries jumped out of the glass as soon as it was poured. This wine (stylistically, at least) reminded me of Kelley Fox wines. I’m not trying to say they taste the same, but the appearance, weight and structure of this SVD brought to mind what seemed like a similar style/approach.

2020 La Lie Fine Pinot Noir – this was a little more muscular – or harder – than the Rinc PN. Incredible value for what you get in this bottle.

2018 Lagrein – I’d never had a Lagrein before, so Chris popped this open for me to try. It’s dark, minty and herbal with some black fruit and plenty of acid. It’s also pretty tight on PNP. Could definitely use a good decant or some time in the cellar.


Piedrasassi

Wasn’t planning on getting to taste any Piedrasassi because we weren’t going anywhere near Lompoc on this trip. Much to my surprise, they had a stand and were pouring at the SB Farmer’s Market.

2019 Sangiovese (Carbonic) – served chilled. Nothing complex… it’s chilled carbonic sangiovese. Plenty of red cherry and super easy to drink. Will be excellent Vegas summertime pizza wine. At some point this summer I plan on doing a comparison with the Stolpman Love You Bunches Red.

2019 Santa Barbara County Syrah – this was a good, but not terribly complex. It had just been opened, so it may benefit from a little air. Dark plum, a bit of blood orange and smokiness.

2019 Rim Rock Syrah – I really liked this. It’s young and can use some time, but already significantly better than the SBC Syrah. Had similar dark plum and blood orange notes, but add in black pepper, leather, olive, a bit of coffee and more body.


Liquid Farm

Have seen plenty about LF on here and was really excited to finally sit down and try their wines. They were terrific and

2021 Rose of Mourvedre – it’s good. A terrific rose.

2019 White Hill Chardonnay – This is what I want in a Chardonnay. Racy. Plenty of acidity. A little saline & minerality. I loved this.

2018 Golden Slope Chardonnay – billed as an “ode” to California Chardonnay by tasting room staff. I can tell the great quality in this wine, but it’s not my style.

2019 Four Chardonnay – Seemed to me to be the middle ground between the White Hill (as far as acid-driven and lean) and Golden Slope (rich and full-bodied). I recognize the great quality in this wine and, I imagine, the ability to lay this down for a while to get the best out of it.

2019 Spear (?) Pinot Noir – I didn’t write down which Pinot was in the tasting flight. I think this was the one. It was good, earthy and complex, but young. I could taste the oak, which I didn’t love.


Story of Soil

Found plenty of recommendations for Story of Soil on here, so I had to stop by and give them a try. Brandon in the tasting room was so wonderful and now I, too, highly recommend stopping by here.

2021 Grassini Sauvignon Blanc – a nice SB. Plenty going on here. If I was going to drink SB, this would be a great one … but I’m starting to realize that I don’t particularly enjoy SB.

2021 Gold Coast Rose of Pinot Noir – another good, exemplary rose. Based on this version, I would love to see what SoS could do with a Grenache Rose.

2021 Martian Ranch Gamay – This was fantastic. Lovely red fruit, soil and violets. I just wanted to keep sipping on this.

2020 Gold Coast Pinot Noir – I thought this was good. Plenty of cherry, saline and sandy earth.

2019 Larner Syrah – As I recall, it was a good Syrah. But, apparently, it didn’t leave much of an impression on me. Probably because next taste was the Rinconada Pinot that I loved.

2020 La Rinconada Pinot Noir – Like the Whitcraft La Rinconada, I got a strong fragrance of baked strawberries. It had plenty of structure that made me think this will be good for plenty of years to come. I can’t wait to open this and the Whitcraft version over the next few years.


Stolpman So Fresh

Everything here is served chilled, which was great for an outdoor patio on a 90+ degree day.

Love You Bunches Orange – the Gewürztraminer in this blend really stands out. It’s still dry, but very floral and perfumed.

Love You Bunches Red – cold, carbonic Sangiovese. This is like cherry candy. It’s super simple but absolutely delicious and goes down easy.

GGT (Gamay Grenache Trousseau) – somewhat similar to the Love You Bunches Red, but with a little additional complexity. It’s still light, straightforward, and gulpable.

Trousseau Combe – this was far more savory/peppery than I expected. While it was served chilled, I think drinking this at room temperature might be better.

Crunchy Roastie Syrah –You get plum, black fruit, pepper and leather, but just barely. Best way I could describe this to my wife was as a Syrah, but with the volume turned way down.

Trousseau/Mondeause Pet Nat – I had hoped for more from this but there wasn’t much going on. I had thought maybe I was getting palate fatigue but the next wine disproved that.

Chenin Blanc Combe – this was one of the wines I really wanted to taste here. It’s a bit funky. There’s some pear, but then plenty of roasted pineapple and banana. Not sweet by any means. But different from plenty of CBs I’ve had, in a good way.


Holus Bolus/The Joy Fantastic

I was hoping to have extra time to stop in here and, thankfully, it worked out (though it was later in the day and somewhat abbreviated because we had to get to dinner, so my notes are a bit shorter). Just about everyone I talked to in Los Olivos recommended stopping here. Peter was around and poured the wines for us.

2018 The Joy Fantastic Syrah – this was great. To me, this is what I want out of cool climate Syrah. It’s dark-fruited but not overly ripe or jammy & savory. Lively.

2019 Holus Bolus Syrah – A bit fuller than the JF Syrah, but similar in overall flavors. Still very tasty.

2020 Holus Bolus Presqu’ile Syrah – I thought this tasted like the HB Syrah, but had an additional sandy/loamy streak running through it. Was fun to taste this next to the HB Syrah and notice the differences.

2018 Genuine Risk Cabernet Sauvignon – very fruit-forward and round. I thought it was a bit too much fruit for my tastes.

2020 The Joy Fantastic Swan Clone Pinot Noir – soft & elegant. Had plenty of red fruit, saline and sandy soil throughout.


Finished the day in Los Olivos with dinner at Bar Le Cote, which was superb. Had hoped to stop by Tercero while we were in town but Larry was busy with something far more important (congratulations on the baby girl!). Overall, it was a really great weekend.

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Nate,

Bummed we missed each other but stoked you were able to visit the places you did. You hit some killer wineries that give a nice overview as to what SBC can offer.

Glad you had a chance to me meet Peter and HB (hopefully next time Amy is there as well) and Brandon at Story is one of my favorite folks in the industry.

Thanks for sharing all.

Cheers.

And our new addition finally arrived on Sat morning at a little after 4am - Georgia Rose.

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Larry - congrats!

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