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 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!