Riesling and Chenin Blanc were both outstanding at Durney/Massa. It’s further north than SLH, but worth considering. They aren’t the biggest sellers but neither are most of the other varieties mentioned here.
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I’d hope so. We both know Vermentino or some other fringe varietal will never pay the bills.
Chenin really feels like it is having a moment in the marketplace right now, and a cool area like SLH could be very interesting for it.
The note above about Riesling being so soil-ph dependent is really interesting, but will flag that it seems like all of the best California Riesling is coming from the same 2-3 vineyards these days. Maybe some room for more variety there.
Yeah, I agree Chenin would be great for this particular grower. Would be neat to see some sparkling Chenin blanc coming out of the SLH now that I think about it.
thanks
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Easily the best young Riesling I’ve had was from a handful of very old vines in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Twenty-something half-bottles worth. Various spots have excelled or reportedly so historically. The Vine Hill subregion was famous for its Germanic whites (later home to the SCMV Estate). The original Hallcrest made great Riesling. There was great Gewurztraminer somewhere else. In a perfect world there’d be some old vine Riesling vineyards there. At least some people are doing good things with old vine Riesling from Wirz Vineyard in San Benito County. The Tondre Grapefield Riesling vines must have some pretty good age on them. Wonder who’s getting that these days.
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I’d agree with Chenin in particular being interesting and selfishly would like more CA Chenin options. I once had an Odonata Grenache from the SLH that was fantastic. There’s a few producers who make a Gamay from Escolle already too; that seems like it would be a good option too for a sparkling wine.
I’ve tried a bunch of SLH Riesling and it’s all usually good, but not great. Morgan’s “Double L” is probably my favorite, but there are some other solid ones. Just not sure if it works as well in the SLH compared to some other locations for whatever reason.
I am very curious how that experiment goes! Some of my favorite CA Rieslings come from a site close to the coast in SLO County (Riven Rock).
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Hi Wes,
You make a great point. That part of the Santa Cruz Mtns has enough diurnal swing, slightly acidic soils and very cool microclimate depending on exposure. I have not been too jazzed with Riesling out of Salinas valley in general but I do not see many / nor tried many either. I think you need some soil struggle (Steep hillsides) imho. I cannot speak to trying Tondre Rieslings as they have rotated through some buyers there over the years. They have about 3 acres and mentioned they are not looking to plant more so tells me market is not there quite yet. Currently Odonata takes a majority of the wine. Denis is a great winemaker and neat guy if you ever get a chance to try his stuff.
I’ve known Denis from when he was assistant winemaker at SCMV.
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Demand for Aligote is somewhere around nil. If gamay, it would have to be better than the cru Beaujolais and priced lower.
I wish we had more quality Rousanne and Marsanne, but have no clue as to whether the terroir is right in that area. Chenin Blanc would probably find a good market.
I don’t believe the market needs more Grenache or Syrah. Would the plan be to undercut Paso Robles?
Chenin, Pinot Blanc, Mourvèdre (on its own or sparkling rose).
I see near zero market demand for Pinot Blanc.
It might be interesting to see how American Mourvèdre would compete against Bandol and Monstrell! Does the industry need more M for American GSM?
Hi Gordon,
Lots of people have removed Syrah recently from SLH so I don’t expect it to make a comeback in the SLH. Grenache would only do well in weaker soils imho. At Hahn where they had it in more of the SLH gentle loam soils, the berries were very big and color bleached out. I think Sierra Mar will be the rockstar for this varietal in the SLH as it has all the right terroir ingredients and talented farming team. I have Grenache at my home ranch in Chalone AVA across the valley and with the weak soils, it really tempers the berry size and over-cropping potential.
You make a good point about Marsanne as I have a little at my home ranch too that Hardy takes and could see it being a great fit there. Roussane I hear is very wind sensitive so I would discourage it at the SLH. I think areas like Santa Maria where the wind velocity is less would be a better fit or on the Carmel Coast (new AVA in the works). Also SLO coast has some really cool (pardon the pun) pockets among other spots. Roussane is a very tough varietal at high altitude where we are at as the fruit is super sun sensitive. It has really poor set so not a grower’s grape so to speak.
Paso and SLH are quite different so never expect them to really compete with each other. East side Paso has big diurnal temperature swings and West Paso gets lots more rain and less wind that we do in SLH. Both regions great but in different expressions.
I do really see great potential for Gamay as the next big red there in SLH as many of the Pinots can be too strong of intensity for the average consumer. I think Gamay helps dial back the intensity on the AVA and a very impressive rendition is the Samuel Louis Smith Gamay from Escolle if you ever get the chance.
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Hi Gabe,
Pinot Blanc could be a fit but very few wineries ask for it. I could see convincing a grower to graft 1 acre and see. Mouvedre is a very late ripener. We have it at our home ranch and there is some other producers in our Chalone AVA that have it too. It is always ripening last and if cropped a hair too high, won’t clear 18 brix. I think Pisoni or Sierra Mar could possibly pull it off as they are a touch lower in altitude than us and a touch cooler. Has to be cropped super low and water deficit to have a chance of ripening consistently in the SLH imho.
That being said, I think if we look at the sparkling front, heck yeah could be pretty neat. Great idea. I pulled in some Grenache for my sparkling program from my home ranch this year and really think both sparkling rose and Blanc de Noir has lots of potential with these two varietals in SLH and Chalone AVA.
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I love Pinot Blanc and am starting to see a tiny increase in both supply and demand in my odd market (Maine… poor, rural state with a world-class food and restaurant scene in and around Portland).
In a world lacking a shortage of Chardonnay (snort!), wines with some profile similarity can find a market.
What was the American market for Pinot Gris/Grigio a generation ago?
I think there’s a disconnect here that I’ve never seen discussed.
For the past few decades, Roussanne has become something of a geek favorite, while Marsanne gets less attention and respect.
But most of the greatest white wines of the Northern Rhone are more Marsanne than Roussanne.
Yeah when I visited years back in Tain L’Hermitage, I had the most amazing Vin De Paille from Marsanne. I am surprised nobody has tried this in CA (air dried for a few months before pressing). Pretty amazing dessert wine. I agree, I think Marsanne needs more play in CA.
Tony Truchard, imo, makes the absolute best Rousanne in the U.S.. Stolpman in Mendocino competes but can’t compare. Tony is able to sell most of his DTC, I’m guessing it’s terrior, even though Carneros, but that’s a huge hole and maybe potential for Rousanne. Issue is a meh American Rousanne might well do the market more harm than good.
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Picpoul blanc!! Let Oregon deal with Pinot Blanc.
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I loved the Truchard Roussanne. Not seen it in years.
Tablas Creek is trying with both Marsanne and Roussanne. I’m not sure the U.S. is ready for white Rhône varietals. It seems Grenache Blanc is a winemaker darling now. And Chenin seems to have come out of nowhere.
Yeah I was going to say Grenache Blanc is much more popular south of SLH but you don’t really see it in Monterey County. Not sure why it hasn’t caught on. Curious if anyone has any thoughts that has worked with GB