2016 Sandlands Mataro San Benito County - USA, California, Central Coast, San Benito County (9/26/2022)
Sandlands wines continue to confound me. They are always good, but never press all the buttons. This bottle showed both a primary juiciness, and also a tough of an earthy core. Too young? Maturing? No real clue. What’s clear is that the wines perform with the complexity of a duo, rather than a quartet or orchestra. There’s harmony, but not many layers. Pleasant drinking but not worth chasing.
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I think for what they cost, they’re outstanding most fo the time. I get things twice as expensive and half as good all the time. However, haven’t had this particular wine.
They are very well made wines and fantastic QPR. It just turns out that they do not resonate for me at all. I have been trying since the 2014 vintage to figure out what people love about these wines beyond the cool story, and can’t get there.
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IMHO, I think people love the story of the individual wines, where they come from, the history of the vineyard and their owners and that they are made in a style to reflect the vineyard rather that to appease the masses. That and there is very little of the wine made. Plus the owner/winemaker is so enthusiastic about the before mentioned that it makes it even more intriguing to try. I have never fallen out of my chair in bliss from drinking these wines, but enjoy them for all that they are. Kind of like drinking a sip of history in California viticulture. A taste of what was and is…
That makes a lot of sense. They just don’t hit my palate in the right way.
That’s OK. More for other folks.
I’m a bit of a mix of these two. For me, the Trousseau and the CC Carignane are really really nice, the CC Table Red is a no brainer purchase but maybe short of those other two, and the Amador chenin has been very good when I’ve had it.
The other wines have been more as you describe. Solid wines, relatively inexpensive, enjoyable. The only Mourvèdre I had was a 2015 and it was clearly oxidized, so not a fair showing. I tend to buy somewhere between a 6 pack and a case at each offer and friends love the back story while I actually focus on the tasting part. Two birds…