It should come as no surprise to anyone on this board that I am a big ‘homer’ for the Santa Barbara County area in general - and have been so unabashadely for quite some time.
I continue to be amazed that folks here, on other boards, and every reviewer tends to ‘lump’ Santa Barbara County in with Paso to ‘generalize’ the area . . . . and I want to start a trend for people to separate the areas more often than not when discussing the region. (and I’ve even seen the Santa Lucia Highlands lumped in with Santa Barbara County as well - and even Livermore in the latest Wine Institute publication - this is just WRONG!)
My easiest ‘argument’ here is to look northward - and ask if people generlly lump ‘Napa’ in with ‘Sonoma’ . . . and from what I’ve seen, the answer has to be no. Why not? Because the areas are very different climate-wise, winemaking-wise, history-wise, etc . . .
I’m certainly not as eloquent as many others on this board, so I will leave it there to begin the discussion . . .
Actually, I tend to lump Napa and Sonoma together more (I call it ‘The Valley’) than I do Central Coast and Santa Barbara County. Perhaps it is because of the many trips I’ve taken to Santa Barbara County winemaking regions, but I don’t see them at all as similar - Paso and SBC are vastly different in climate, to me, and really not that close in proximity - surely not as close as Napa and Sonoma. The styles of wine are markedly different as well, in my opinion.
I agree with you 100% about the styles of wines being different in the different regions - yet the two seemed to be joined by the hip when the region is discussed, which is my main point here . . .
You could brand Santa Barbara County as “South Central” and pull in all the rapper/hip-hop business that Louis Roederer so carelessly tossed away for their Cristal brand.
I think an easy Napa/Sonoma distinction is Cabernet Sauvignon vs Pinot Noir & Chardonnay. Obviously while all varieties are grown everywhere for many wine drinkers of varying enthusiasm this distinction is readily understood.
While The SRH are really known for Pinot Noir I think for many The Central Coast gets generalized as a Rhone region, with a fair amount of Cab in Paso Robles.
Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending upon how you look at it), these ‘generalizations’ aren’t holding as true now as they did before. The ‘Central Coast’ is historically more well-known for Pinot and Chard than the other varieties (thanks not only to Sideways but based on what was planted here first). That said, a place like Santa Barbara County, in addition to have excellent Pinot, Chards, and rhone varieties, also has great Italian varieties being grown here (see the recent reviews of Palmina wines), Spanish varieities (Verdad/Rick Longoria leading the way), and be on the lookout for ever-better Bordeaux varieties out of both Happy Canyon and the Ballard Canyon areas . . .
To me, there is just that much more going on here than in Paso, and so to lump them together does not do the area justice . . .
And as far as the other statements, many on this board would look at the SRH and think ‘Syrah’ these days with the stuff coming out of Garys and Sleepy Hollow, for instance. And as far as your Napa/Sonoma distinction goes, where does that leave Alexander Valley Cabs?!?!?
I was just trying to provide a glimpse of what I hear from folks interested in, but not fascinated by, California wine.
While we obviously feel these ideas and generalizations don’t hold true any longer (if indeed they ever did) they are nevertheless regurgitated still.
Alexander and Knights Valleys have long suffered from being neither Napa nor Sonoma. They do however provide some of California’s best riding and I dig the Zin.
Too many, including those in the press continue to brand the Paso and SBC regions as such.
What about WS proclaiming their top wine for 2010 from Paso? Also a favorite here at WB, the Saxum JBV which is a GMS blend.
And, what about those winemakers in Happy Canyon quietly setting the stage for some highly rated Cabs and predominately Cab Bordeaux styles…maybe SBC will soon lose the moniker of a non-quality Cab producing area?
So many terrific, truly distinct regions just in between SBC and Paso (aka North County) to lump them together as the “Central Coast.”
Hmmmmmm…“soon”??? I think that reputation has fallen by the wayside a number of yrs ago, Eric. Those days of weedy Firestone Cabernets
are well behind us I think.
As to Larry’s original query, methinks he’s just a bit.
When people lump together SantaBarbaraCnty/EdnaVlly/PasoRobles; I just think it’s a lazy way of characterizing “South of Napa/Sonoma/NorthCoast”
winegrowing areas. Anybody w/ any knowledge would no more lump together SBC & PasoRobles than they would Napa & Sonoma.
Tom
Because Californians will plant such a wide variety of grapes in any region, CA doesn’t get the kind of clear regional distinction as you’d get in France or Italy. Even on this board, there is a habit for some experienced Francophiles to consider California (or indeed “New World”) as a single region.
In CA, the level of generalization it seems to me to be all about one’s experience. With little experience, the entire state is one region.
When my sister was coming out to visit us, she said we absolutely had to visit Napa. When I pressed her for what wineries were on her list, it turns out she just wanted to go wine tasting. Anywhere would do. This is the average grocery store wine consumer’s level of thinking on this subject.
Very early in my wine drinking days, when I lived back east and just starting to get serious about wine, I found myself taking a trip to the Bay Area on business and mapped out some of my favorite wineries. It was the first time I realized I had a preference for Sonoma. The distinction is obviously clear to me now, but it takes some wine knowledge and some geographical knowledge to get there, and there’s no substitute for visiting the place.
To lump in Paso with SBC is nonsense, throw in Livermore and the issue I think becomes clear: The distinction here goes no farther than “not Napa or Sonoma”. So how do these places put themselves on the map?
Napa has a clear identity in Cab which probably begins gaining real traction with The Judgement of Paris in 1976. Sideways surely helped SBC establish an identity in Pinot. Something like Saxum JBV getting WS#1 will help Paso distinguish itself. It’s events like this that I think allow regions to begin distinguishing themselves outside the realm of true wine geeks, although the “Wine Institute” I’m not sure who they are but the seem oddly out of touch.
What strikes me most about the original question is how such generalizations are made with respect to California, when compared to Burgundy or Bordeaux, for example.
How often do we hear about a gravel road eight feet wide in Burgundy that cuts two parcels in two, yet we also hear about how completely different the resulting wines from those two parcels can be.
SBC and the central coast are two different places, and most often IME, the wines reflect that difference.
You are absolutely correct - the inherent quality of the wines makes them stand out from where they come from. The problem, as I see it, is the over-gernalization across the board with the use of the term ‘Central Coast’ to encompass too broad an area.
It’s amazing to me how many folks here, on other boards, and even professional reviewers say again and again that they realize that SBC and Paso, for instance, are quite different in terms of wines produced/styles/etc . … YET these areas are constantly lumped together by all . . .
Not trying to ‘stir things up’ - just trying to make a point . . .
And Larry, you are correct that certain ‘events’ such as Judgement of Paris, Sideways, and winning the Top WS wine of the year do help create people’s visioins about a specific area . . . and I’m NOT trying to say that SBC does not deserve the praise we’ve received for PN’s post-Sideways . . . but the diversity of actual wines being produced, and microclimates that exist here, show that the area has so much more to offer - and is more aligned with Sonoma, IMHO, than Paso . . .
Isn’t there a Central Coast Appellation? It may be good for nuthin’ aside from a geography lesson. But there is a Sonoma Appellation that suffers the same fuzziness.
The answer to Larry is that, to Americans, terroir is not an especially useful marketing tactic. Within a small niche of collectors, the distinction between these Central Coast districts means something. But once you get too specific with geography, you hit a literacy problem. So consider the audience when this type of confusion prevails.
Geography is a huge problem. Do you know how many people are unaware that LA is closer to San Diego than San Francisco? Let alone where SBC is in relation to Paso. You gotta live in the area or be a wine geek to know.
You are correct in the Georgraphy is a huge problem in general. For me, the issue is that the Santa Ynez Valley is close to Santa Barbara, yet most folks, even in CA, don’t know this . . .
I’ve run across too many people both North and South of us that ask what side of HWY 46 the Santa Ynez Valley is on
Folks from San Francisco seem not to have those issues with Paso but they do with us . . . .
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