Nice article by wine writer Laura Ness on Ken Burnap and Jeff Emery of Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard

[Dan_Kravitz]

I am reading this and crying in my beer. I’ve been a huge fan of SCMV almost literally forever.

I was in California three weeks ago, was going to have dinner with my friend Barry Jackson who has a winery a block from the complex that has SCMV. The idea was we would have dinner and maybe get to visit with Jeff Emery. But the plague intervened, I cancelled dinner in Santa Cruz and flew home a week early.

One of the great, legendary vintages of Ridge Monte Bello is 1984. Three times I’ve had it side-by-side with other 1984 Santa Cruz Mountain Cabernets. Every time it has been brilliant. Every time it has not been quite as good as the wines it was paired with:
1984 Mount Eden
1984 Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard Bates Ranch
1984 Ahlgren Bates Ranch

I am so very sorry that I canceled my trip to Santa Cruz, I was going down Thursday afternoon the 12th and was going to visit Rhys Friday. Just 24 hours of heaven after a business trip already battered by the plague. But it was the right thing to do.

Dan Kravitz

[JDavisRoby]

Any good stories from dinner at The Hobbit in Orange County?

[JDavisRoby]

[
He also got CS from Beauregard Ranch and Doc Miller Vyd. in Cienega Valley.

We get the Doc Miller now. It still is not in Cienega Valley. We call it Brigantino after the family that now owns it. Most goes into our P’tit Paysan Cabernet, although we will bottle a small amount as single vineyard from the 18 vintage. It’s a pretty neat site.

I was very happy to see this article. Ken and Jeff have done wonders for the local scene. I learned a great deal about how to run a winery from Jeff, and his latest batch of proteges are making some pretty mint stuff.

Ian

Care to share if 18 SV CS will be bottled under P’tit or I Brand?

[Ian_Brand]

We put our single vineyard wines under I. Brand. There will be 3 single vineyard cabs in 2018, the youngest vineyard was planted in 1982, the oldest in the late 50s, which is the Doc Miller Vineyard.

[Casey_Hartlip]

I consider Laura Ness a friend. Glad to see her get some love on this board. She does lots of wine judging competitions which is thankless work.

[Pat_K]

We had a great tasting at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard last fall. Ended up with:

Pinot Noir, 2014, Bailey’s Branchiforte Ridge
Quinta Cruz Touriga, 2013, San Antonio Valley, Pierce Ranch
Quinta Cruz Rabelo, 2010, San Antonio Valley, Pierce Ranch (Domestic Port made from some of the traditional Port grapes)

And we also have a few bottles of Big Basin. Some of which were acquired during most recent Berserker Day sales.

Thank goodness we did that trip when we did. No longer possible for foreseeable future.

And that was the trip we also visited Bonny Doon…sigh.

I wouldn’t hesitate to visit SCMV again. Worth the drive from the Monterey area. Glad this geek put it on the itinerary.