I had a prominent grower in the SLH AVA reach out to me today to pick my brain about varietals to consider grafting to (other than Chardonnay and Pinot Noir). I shared Gamay and Aligote could be really interesting. I figured Wineberserkers is better than AI so any courageous recommendations I can relay to a grower friend of mine, appreciate it. Ideally nothing so fringe that most wine consumers have never heard of but rather your recommendation is coming from a place of “I would be jazzed to taste more of X varietal from the SLH region.”
for my tastes, the best syrah fruit in america is grown in the SLH.
i guess you could do what Santa Barbara is doing and expand to the burgundy-adjacent grapes like aligote and gamay. and also sparkling wines.
i’d personally love to see malbec, tempranillo, lagrein, cabernet franc and the like for reds. grapes with good color and aromatics that can benefit from the diurnal swings and put on a little weight if desired
I second Syrah! But perhaps Graciano or Tempranillo after that.
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Yeah, unfortunately not enough Syrah lovers out there in the marketplace. Wish things were different. Garys vineyard was one of my favorite syrahs from the region and now there is no more (all grafted to Pinot). Hahn tried the Bordeauxs but never quite broke out. I suspect unsuccessful due to over-watering and conventional farming along with high cropload.
Good call. thanks
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That’s a bummer about Garys’.
On the subject of Bordeaux varieties, I suggested CF because there’s no real “home” appellation for it in California. Could have potential in SLH with dark fruit, good acidity and receptivity to barrel. No offense to Hahn but wouldn’t look to them to realize the full potential of any variety with the way their program is structured.
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Good gamay is spectacular. Oregon has some great gamay.
The market? Humm…
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Have you had Ed’s Cortada Alta Syrahs? (August West and Masfield-Dunne.) Also, Roar’s Rosella’s Vineyard Syrah were getting really good last i tried them, but haven’t kept up. (Made by Scott Shapley, who was the longtime Halcon winemaker.) Have had good ones from Kirk Williams from various winemakers (and Rhys and Big Basin made good ones from there when it was Fairview Road Ranch).
I’ve heard Riesling was much of the early SLH planting. Dunno. But, when I tried the Waxwing version from Tondre Grapefield it hit me that’s what should be growing there.
Albariño. Its selling well and there isn’t nearly enough quality Albariño acreage in California.
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I was going to say Godello but don’t think there is enough market. Albariño is a much better idea.
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Godello is a pretty awesome a just unknown grape. I think it could have a market potential.
I like the Tempranillo idea.
What’s the climate like? I’m guessing on the cooler side given Chard/PN/aligote/Gamay being mentioned?
If so, maybe Cab Franc as its popularity seems on the rise and it’s absolutely in the mainstream. '#leanintoleafy
Grk
Did not see that one coming!
Would need sandy soil and has to be co planted with another varietal. Grk is female only.
Roar does a very small amount of Grenache and Viognier out of Sierra Mar. I feel Grenache could be a candidate for expansion, and I do like the Tempranillo idea as well.
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I got a sample taste of Roar Grenache, I think from the first vintage, about a decade ago. That was fantastic.
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Vermentino?
Thanks all for the great ideas. I think if you split the AVA into low vigor spots (higher altitude/ lower water holding capacity and high vigor spots (deep loam soils), I think any of these recommendations could be a fit if positioned thoughtfully. As well, as your travel south in the AVA, it gets warmer (Sierra Mar which can do well with Grenache). Rosellas is pretty cool with deeper soils so I would be nervous ripening the Grenache there (unless dry farmed and careful with yield control) since they barely get Syrah ripe in cool, wet years. AFA riesling, I think Riesling would do well on more acidic soils (I believe the soils in Germany are more acidic than SLH) in a cooler climate than SLH. I’m actually working on a small trial block less than a mile from the ocean on the Monterey peninsula that has acidic soils rarely gets warmer than 75F. I’ll let you know how it goes as I am probably nuts for trying this.
I’d love to see more Vermentino, too. There isn’t currently as much demand for it, but that could change
I think vermentino would be harder to move. I love the grape but there is just so much imported from Italy that is serviceable (up to very good) at reasonable prices that I don’t see it working domestically given the prices needed for a new planting. It would have to perform phenomenal, which seems to me to be quite the gamble.