Visit to Sante Arcangeli Family Wines (mostly Santa Cruz Mtns. Chardonnay & Pinot)

WINE TALK
2

Ken, I envy you. You have a great wine blog, you write well, you pursue under-the-radar wineries, you are humble as can be, and you are a great contributor to this Board. Thx.

3

Also really enjoyed reading this rich report. I have only been to the town once, to that famous old restaurant there. Was a great mc ride that day!

4

Terrific post, thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

5

Thanks for the kind words, Mitch, Glenn, and Chris.

Mitch, I can’t take credit for the Grape-Nutz website myself. It’s actually Eric Anderson’s site (he’s also part of GrapeRadio) - he started it long before I had any part in it and he’s been generous enough to let me contribute my write-ups to it.

Glenn, that famous Pescadero restaurant is Duarte’s Tavern. Here’s one paragraph in the Grape-Nutz report that I edited out above:

After finishing my tasting and saying goodbye to Drew, it was time for lunch. Although the tasting room is just about next door to Duarte’s Tavern – renowned for its artichoke soup – I decided it was more fitting on this day to walk up the street to Arcangeli Grocery Company – famous for its artichoke garlic herb bread – for a sandwich. In case you didn’t get the picture, the Pescadero area is artichoke country! I ordered the chicken pesto sandwich, with sundried tomatoes and melted provolone on herb foccacia. The sandwich was delicious, and although it was enjoyable to sit at a bench in front of the store and watch people passing by, I needed to start heading back home. I did have time to take the scenic route back to Highway 1 by continuing north along Stage Road (the main street of Pescadero) through the coastal hills and the tiny community of San Gregorio and back to the highway.

6

Love the tasting room sign! That “dance to their own beat” attitude, plus your notes, definitely makes me want to try them.

7

Ken: S Cruz is one of my favorite wine areas…except for the driving!

Didn’t Milan from Thunder Mountain make a Bald Mountain chard, circa 1999? I remember he had a decanted chard at Villa Creek in Paso during Hospice du Rhone. People from other boards will remember him.

8

Bald Mountain is one of a handful of potentially great chard sites on the coast – Thunder Mountain used to get some great fruit.

Sante Arcangeli is a SCM producer to seek out. John is a friend and a great guy who’s winemaking started out solid and improves every year. Drew has been in and out of my cellar, and I would have kept him if it wasn’t for that Benedetti schmuck. Split Rail is a top site in the mountains, better by far than maybe some bigger name sites you know. John has a clearly defined focus that he is relentless in pursuing. It all lines up. And the wines are still fairly reasonably priced. If CA pinot is your thing, this is something I’d chase down.

Ian

9

That would be: http://www.duartestavern.com/

Hard to go wrong at that place…

Crab Cioppinio and Olallieberry Pie


Ken thanks for the write up. Will have to try them out as I am certainly a fan of Lester Family Vineyards

Sean

10

Good recommendation on the food at Duarte’s, Sean! For anyone planning to go there, keep in mind that the pronunciation is not what you’d expect: it’s not “dwar-tays” - it’s “doo-arts”. And don’t forget to walk up the street for some artichoke garlic herb bread from Arcangeli Grocery Company too.

11

Ken,

Any clue as to the source vineyard for the Santa Clara Zinfandel?

Thanks!

12

Being old vine, I’d guess that Zin comes from the Hecker Pass area.

1 Like
13

I didn’t note the specific source, but I can see if I can find out anything more detailed.

1 Like
14

I emailed John Benedetti of Sante Arcangeli this morning and he replied that the Zin was from Lion Oaks Vineyard, on Redwood Retreat Road near Martin Ranch. So Wes is correct that it’s in the Hecker Pass area, on the east side of Mt. Madonna. According to the Historic Vineyard Society website, the vines were planted in the 1890s. John mentioned that the vineyard was purchased a few years ago and that the new owners may have given it a new name, though during a brief web search, I didn’t spot anything about that.

1 Like
15

I really value Ken’s posts!

16

Thanks - have enjoyed a few vintages of their Split Rail pinot, good stuff. Duarte’s is awesome, as is the artichoke bread!

17

I was in a restaurant in Rocklyn CA this week for work and saw their Chardonnay on the list BTG, remembered this thread and decided to check it out- good stuff. I’ll have to check out their TR sometime.

18

Another great report as always Ken. Have to get out to the tasting room. Do you know if they have their own facility in Aromas or are making their wines at River Run?

19

Thanks again Ken!

I previously contacted Mr Phil Gregory, owner of the “Under the Mountain Vineyard”, and he stated that he sold fruit to Bedrock and to Storrs (who calls it “Lion Oaks” for its Zin and “Rusty Ridge” for its Petite Sirah).

He had this to say:

“Our vineyard is predominately made up of mixed blacks (which is about 80% Zinfandel). We have one block of Petite Sirah which contains some mix of Alicante Bouschet. And additionally we have a couple of acres of Carignane. It may be of interest to you that we are ‘clearing’ a former block of Muscat that had been let go and returned to forest. The old vines have survived in spite of sharing the acreage with oak trees. Our intention is to clear the block by hand and bring the old Muscat vines into production.”

Mr Gregory spoke very kindly of MTP, who helped identify some of the vine material and dated it pre-WWI. :astonished:

Leave it to Drew to disregard all the useful information and anecdotes of a travelogue/tasting adventure and seize upon any mention of Zin! :wink:

20

Thanks for the added info, Drew! [cheers.gif]

21

That sounds like a vineyard a friend of mine has been working on.

1 Like