SOLVANG - Solvang, CA (4/1/2024)
This trip was organized by the crew who are professional wine tasters. Buckle up because we’re starting early. There are a few winery appointments made in advance, and the other up for debate. Mandatory stop at the ostrich farm is required as Paul has never been. Ended the first evening in a tiki bar, did not see that coming. Second night finished up in the former Taste of the Valley singing along with the musical performer and a “reading" by yours truly from the guestbook by previous visitors. I’m certain they didn’t expect their writings to be used as fuel for our entertainment.
The motto for this trip should be “Would you like to revisit anything? Yes, please.” Oye!
Sanford
Always a beautiful property to visit. Tasting out on the table in the vineyard is always a special treat. I’m not sure which level of tasting we had but it was very good with lots of single vineyard and block wines.
I haven’t paid attention to the retail prices but all the Pinot was $95+ and the Chardonnay $65. Ouch, I’m Scottish and that gives me pause. I believe the tasting was $75 but a fair value for the wines served and a couple bonus tastings like the sparkler.
It’s 10am and we have the place to ourselves so let the game begin!
Would you like to revisit anything? Yes, please.
- 2020 Sanford Brut Rosé - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Don’t have many details on this one because when I asked the person in the tasting room what’s the dosage they replied “two years”? Okay… i don’t have a comeback for that one, shockingly. Pretty sure this is all Pinot Noir, but I was afraid to ask how it was made.
Light pink color, salmon, if you will. Bubbles are very light, almost not existent after pouring into the normal stem. Aromas of white bread. Good amount of acidity, good strong back bone. Light peach, flavored, very refreshing. Dare I say, in the profile of a grower. - 2018 Sanford Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
This wine is just average and by far away the weakest in the lineup. The retail price is $100, yikes. The nose is muted with no hint of what’s to come. There’s light pepper on the attack and an earthy note in the form dry dirt. Crushed geranium leaves are interesting with a bite from the terepins. Fruit profile is cranberry and sour cherry just not enough to balance out the rest of the wine. - 2020 Sanford Pinot Noir Block 6 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Fresh raspberries, and a pretty crushed rose petals on the nose. Palate is a bright red currant with medium stem influence. I’m assuming this saw some whole cluster. - 2021 Sanford Pinot Noir Dominio Del Falcon - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
This is very interesting and stylistically different than most of the Sanford Pinot Noir. This is made from a Swiss clone and shows the lighter side of Pinot Noir. Nice strawberry aroma. Pomegranate and raspberry with a little bit of cedar on the palate make this wine feminine. There is a dry leaf note at the finish. Excellent. - 2020 Sanford Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
The nose has a very attractive, spearmint smell combined with cut hay. It’s slick on the mouth, spicy apple and medium acidity. Light vanilla adds to the body. This is very very good, in the class with Arcadian or Rhys. - 2019 Sanford Chardonnay Long Rows Block - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Unique Chardonnay because of the wet mossy nose. This has very good mineral and lemon and citrus driven. I had a star next to this one.
Ken Brown
The eight of us roll into the tasting room and Joel, the mayor of Solvang, seems to know everybody working behind the counter of every tasting room. This is no exception. Off and on Joel has purchased from Ken Brown and just about everyone thinks he’s a club member regardless. Awesome!
I look up at the clock and it’s 11am? Ready, set, go!
Would you like to revisit anything? Yes, please.
- 2022 Ken Brown Chardonnay - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Although not labeled, this comes from the Donnachadh vineyard. The wine has medium acidity and very clean. It’s citrus driven on the palate. Very good valuing $35 retail. - 2022 Ken Brown Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Interesting hint of mint, which is unusual. Spicy cinnamon and raspberry fruit OK. - 2021 Ken Brown Pinot Noir Rio Vista - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Uh, there’s VA here. Do I say something and look like “that guy?” can’t just let that bottle get served to everybody else that rolls in. So I decided to discretely say something and it was met with “I don’t think so.” Okay. Minutes later the bottle went Missing In Action from the lineup. LOL
The has very good potential. Destemmed. Wish I could visited this one under different circumstances. - 2021 Ken Brown Pinot Noir Rancho la Viña Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Good stuff more in the strawberry profile than cherry or raspberry. - 2019 Ken Brown Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
I really like the radian vineyard it seems as though everybody is making Chardonnay and Pinot noir from this location. That’s good news. The color is dark, red very concentrated. Again, a hint of spearmint. Delicious. - 2019 Ken Brown Syrah John Sebastiano Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
This is more of a cool climate style of Syrah which is fine by me because that’s what I enjoy. Typical blackberry flavors, but looking more like a Pinot Noir. A hint of dried meat, charcoal, and coconut husk. Nice.
Liquid Farm
The backstory is important because Joel had purchased an auction item at Falltacular that was donated by Jeff at liquid farm. A pandemic screwed things up but Jeff graciously made up for it multiple ways, including offering the free tasting for the whole crew. Clearly, we abused Jeff’s generosity which becomes apparent shorty!
Anthony was working the tasting room when we rolled in and proceeded to take over the place. Well, there was nobody else in there yet, but as the extravaganza took off people walking by poked their heads in and were drawn to join the festivities.
The standard tasting flight for the day consisted of one rosé, three Chardonnay, and a Pinot Noir. As you can see from my tasting notes, it got ugly in a hurry. The more you buy the more they open! We bought a lot. Ha! Actually left all of our wine purchases in the tasting room for safe storage until we finished our Los Olivos rounds. Anthony was fantastic.
Would you like to revisit anything? Yes, please.
- 2022 Liquid Farm Mourvèdre Rosé Vogelzang Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara
This is always one of my favorite domestic rosé along with Tercero. Consistently an over performer. Stylistically very similar to southern Rhône rosé. The color is light pink. Lots of peach on the nose and on the palate along with a hint of agave syrup. The mineral base with a bit of dirt screams Mourvèdre. Pink crack. - 2022 Liquid Farm Chardonnay White Hill - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Not quite as edgy and acid driven as other vintages, but still very enjoyable. This is a combination of five vineyards. Predominately pair with medium acidity lime taking over mid palate. Very long finish. - 2022 Liquid Farm Chardonnay Spear Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Never had the single vineyard bottling of this Chardonnay before. This is very nice, the nose, very expressive with yellow fruit. The wine is fruit forward, but not sweet. Predominantly yellow fruit on the attack, but immediately followed with mouth puckering acidity. Nice combination of stone fruit, pear, and topical notes. - 2022 Liquid Farm Chardonnay La Hermana - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
This may have been my favorite Chardonnay in the tasting, which is shocking because it is typically my least favorite. Actually bought a bottle because I enjoyed it so much. The nose is very tropical, enticing. The strong acid foundation reveals pineapple and tropical notes. Finishes with lime and citrus pith. Bravo. - 2022 Liquid Farm Pinot Noir SBC - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
I really enjoy single Vineyard wines, but sometimes a combination is greater than the sum of the parts and that’s the case with this wine. It touches all the bases. Excellent. Ripe raspberry flavors blended with the hint of black pepper, followed by tart cherry. There’s a light oak influence with a hint of char. - 2022 Liquid Farm Chardonnay Golden Slope - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Pear and peach flavors with a mineral seltzer base. Chalky mineral thing working here. This only sees 15% new oak but adds to the weight. - 2022 Liquid Farm Chardonnay Clos Pepe - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Fantastic wine. It’s big and expressive. Strong acid and tannins on a white wine, awesome. Big finish. This has the structure to age beautifully. - 2022 Liquid Farm Chardonnay Rita's Crown - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Pineapple and tropical fruit. I’m a sucker for the matchstick on the nose and palate. The reduction didn’t seem to blow off, that’s a bonus in my book. The wine makes my mouth water. Great wine. - 2022 Liquid Farm Pinot Noir Spear Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
This is the first time I tasted anything from the spear vineyard, and both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are excellent. This is a leaner style for the area, more burgundy, As it’s lean, red fruit, berries, tart strawberry. - 2022 Liquid Farm Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
My initial take is the structure, this is young and needs time, although it’s delicious right now. There’s raspberry razzle and strawberry towards the finish. - NV Liquid Farm Champagne Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Le Mesnil-sur-Oger - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Jeff knows champagne, so it should come as no surprise that this one is excellent. Brioche aromas are always appreciated, just champagne to me. Crisp red apple and citrus. Marzipan adds to the complexity. 2.5g/l dosage. Can’t go wrong here as there’s something for everybody.
SAMsARA
Paul gets all the credit for this discovery. He’s been a buyer of this winery for a number of years and I’ve been fortunate to taste quite a few of their bottles. I’ve never had a wine from them that I did not enjoy immensely.
Man can not survive on pretzel rods alone, although I’m willing to try but I need substance. We better get something to eat! The gals order sandwiches from across the street and we occupy a large table outside in the shade. What no music outside? No problem, they just bring a big Sonos speaker and plop it one the table next to us. Terrific!
The quality and value of these tasting notes are rapidly declining at this point. Between the combination of food deprivation, great conversation, and the Liquid Farm PTSD i’m struggling. Chicken scratches follow.
Would you like to revisit anything? Yes, please.
- 2021 Samsara Chardonnay Cuvée d'Inspiration - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
I purchased two bottles of this, it’s a poor man’s Bentrock which is fantastic.
Brilliant color in the glass. Medium plus acidity and strong, lemon and citrus notes. Bitter lemon and pith finish. Clean. - 2021 Samsara Chardonnay Bentrock Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
The last bottle was in a fluke. This is a spectacular Chardonnay. Clean and crisp with bracing acidity. One of my favorites. - 2021 Samsara Pinot Noir Rancho la Viña Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Excellent. Very good balance with light stem inclusion influence. Soft mouthfeel and pure red fruit. - 2021 Samsara Grenache Spear Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Light cherry flavors, bing and dark. The cinnamon and oak spice layers are a great foundation. I bought a bottle. - 2021 Samsara Syrah John Sebastiano Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Mocha, powdered chocolate and blackberry. Tannins are fine and approachable with some air. - 2020 Samsara Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Strawberry and cherries. Some Asian spice, maybe some clove. Definitely can identify the stem from the 30% whole cluster. Gives it a bite on the finish. - 2020 Samsara Pinot Noir Bentrock - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
This is right up my alley. Red fruited, cranberry and rhubarb. Super wine. - 2018 Samsara Pinot Noir Lotus - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
This one wasn’t available for tasting in the tasting room so Paul bought two bottles and open one at the table. This is very nice wine with a long finish. My notes are running into a headwind…
Brewer Clifton
- 2021 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay Perilune Sta. Rita Hills - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Rich and medium plus weight. There’s a clear salinity present. Stone fruit hint of sweetness. - 2021 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay 3-D - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Agree with the lemon custard profile. I like lemon custard. LOL Heavy weight, dense wine. Very enjoyable. - 2021 Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir 459 - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Spicy raspberry and very clean finish. Quality. Baking spice at the finish with a splash of citrus. - 2021 Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Perilune - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Smooth and fruit forward. Ripe dark cherry and sage brush. - 2021 Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Machado - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Fortunate enough to have a number of Machado Pinot Noir’s from Brewer over the years. This is classic Machado and Santa Rita Hills. Complex and entertaining dark cherry and raspberry. Juicy. - 2021 Ex Post Facto Syrah - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
Cool climate Syrah, Pinot like in body. Blackberry, cherry and raspberry.
It’s a long drive home, who wants to stop at Roscoe’s for fried chicken and waffles? Why not, let’s do it.
Great trip.
Posted from CellarTracker
