Back In December of 2007 I wrote about a then emerging AVA in the Central Coast area of California, the Santa Rita Hills. In that article we featured Alma Rosa as a wine to watch… Fast forward almost five years and on my most recent visit to California, I decided to check-in at a handful of Santa Rita Hills wineries and see how they were progressing. We circled through the area on a near-perfect summer day and stopped at five wineries. The following is a report on the findings:

First up we stopped in at Mosby Winery (www.mosbywines.com), a lovely property situated about one mile south of Buellton on Santa Rosa Road. The winery was started in 1976 by Bill Mosby, who is also the winemaker and currently has approximately 46 acres under vine, planted mostly to Italian varietals. The literature states that the property “provides a perfect growing site for the various vines due to a multitude of microclimates.”  Louise Smith, our perfectly gracious host in the tasting room was an absolute joy. We tasted through the current offerings of wine and Louise happily shared her passion and insight. The winery produces approximately 4,000 to 5,000 cases, almost all estate grown. While we were not able to taste any of the grappa and brandy produced at the winery due to legal issues, we were able to bring one back with us and it was simply lovely with layers of delicate fruit essence and a remarkably smooth finish. The good news for my fellow Massachusetts readers… Gilbert Distributors in Boylston, MA carries the wine – the bad news is that only the Lucca (not tasted), Pinot Grigio, Dolcetto and Sangiovese are in the Beverage Journal… worth a call to find out about the other wines…

2011 Cortese (Estate)
Floral, perfumed nose. Light bodied firm acidity. Citrus palate, crisp. Moderate length, clean and refreshing. $18/per bottle **

2010 Pinot Grigio (Estate)
Pretty, citrus nose. Light bodied with firm acidity. Minerally with citrus palate, hints of grass. Short, refreshing finish. $18/per bottle **

2010 Rosato Di Canonau (Estate)
Red berry nose, bright and floral. Medium bodied with firm acidity. Sour cherry, lightly floral. Crisp and refreshing. Very nice. $12.00/per bottle ***

2007 Sangiovese (Estate)
Lovely cherry nose, violets and vanilla, leather. Medium bodied with firm acidity and moderate tannin. Dark fruit core with cherry, anise and vanilla. Moderate length, complex. 2 to 3 years aging. $28/per bottle ***

2006 Primitivo (Paso Robles)
Spicy, lively nose. Bright red berry fruit with fresh herbaceous hints. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Bright red berry fruit with spice and vanilla notes. Moderate length with layered complexity. Very nice. $26/per bottle ***

2006 La Seduzione (Paso Robles Lagrein)
Dark fruit aromas. Black cherry and spice. Pretty. Full bodied with firm acidity and dry tannin. Dark fruit core with plummy fruit and spice and dried herb. Long finish. Nice. $28/per bottle ***

2007 Sagrantino (Estate) (4 acres – first in the state)
Bright lively nose, cherry, spicy very pretty. Medium to full bodied with moderate acidity and firm tannin. Dark fruit core with rose attar and allspice. Moderate length with layered complexity. Very nice. $28/per bottle ***

Sofia (20.5% alc)
Bright raspberry aroma, perfumed. Medium bodied with firm acidity. Sweet but not cloying. Lovely finish. $18/per bottle ***

 

Next up, we traveled further up Santa Rosa Road to Alma Rosa Winery (www.almarosawinery.com), the winery featured in our 2007 piece, owned by the lovely Richard and Thekla Sanford. I won’t go into all the gory details of the history behind the winery, for that you can read my original piece from 2007 (www.musingsonthevine.com/MusingsNewsletterV6_4.pdf). That said, the winery has a reverence that belies the humble, rustic surroundings. Chris Burroughs was our host in the tasting room – little did we know that we were amongst Hollywood royalty (the web site notes “Chris is of Sideways fame”) – Chris is down-to-earth and quietly passionate about the Alma Rosa wines… Our original love for the wines in 2007 continues forward into 2012 – you cannot visit the area without stopping in a trying these wines. To me they represent the great potential for Pinot Noir in the Santa Rita Hills, long ago originally envisioned by Richard Sanford himself…

2008 Sta Rita Hills
Bright floral nose with red raspberry fruit – pretty. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Red berry fruit. Moderate length. $32/per bottle **

2010 Sta Rita Hills
Soft nose with light floral hints. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and supple tannin. Jammy red fruit. Long finish. $32/per bottle ***

2009 La Encantada Vineyard (Clone 115)
Bright raspberry nose, violets. Medium bodied with firm acidity and dry tannin. Dark fruit core, floral and herbaceous. Long finish. $43/per bottle ***

2010 La Encantada Vineyard (Clone 115)
Dark, almost brooding fruit. Medium to full bodied with moderate acidity and dry tannin. Dark fruit core with anise. Long finish. $43/per bottle ***

2009 El Jabali Vineyard (Mt. Eden Clone)
Bright, red berry nose, some floral hints. Full to medium bodied with moderate acidity and dry tannin. Dark cherry with herbaceous notes. Long finish. $43/per bottle ***

 

Next we stopped a little further up Santa Rosa Road at LaFond Winery and Vineyards (www.lafondwinery.com). Lafond has a lot going on with a Bistro and Marketplace in Montecito, another winery in Santa Barbara proper, as well as connections to an Upstairs Art Gallery and a Clothing Line (Wendy Foster). Kathleen, our hostess in the Santa Rita Hills tasting room, a transplant originally from New Hampshire was friendly and congenial. The wines were nice and in Massachusetts they are distributed by Atlantic Importing Company, although the Beverage Journal only lists the 2008 SRH Pinot Noir.

2010 Sta Rita Hills Riesling
Citrus nose, perfumed. Light bodied with firm acidity. Lemony palate with minerality. Moderate length. $20/per bottle **

2009 Lafond Vineyard Chardonnay (33% new oak 100% ML) (Estate)
Tropical nose with creamy, vanilla hints. Medium bodied with moderate acidity. Citrus, apple apricot notes. Moderate length with cream and oak. $38/per bottle **

2009 Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir
Red berry, floral and spicy. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Dark fruit core with mint and dried herb. Long finish. $27/per bottle ***

2007 Lafond Vineyard Pinot Noir
Dark fruit nose – black cherry and anise. Medium to full bodied with moderate acidity and moderate, dry tannin. Long finish. $38/per bottle ***

2010 Sta Rita Hills Syrah
Bright spicy, jammy black berry. Full bodied with moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Dark fruit core, herbaceous earthy. Moderate length. $23/bottle ***

2007 Lafond Vineyard Syrah
Spicy, peppery nose with black cherry. Full bodied with moderate acidity and firm tannin. Sour cherry with mint. Moderate length with pepper and allspice. $40/per bottle ***

 

We decided to head up towards Santa Maria where we planned on staying the night (I’ll be blogging about the historic Santa Maria Inn shortly…) and we stopped at Foley Estates Vineyard and Winery (www.foleywines.com) on Highway 246. The winery is situated on the beautiful Rancho Santa Rosa vineyard, featuring a thoroughly modern tasting room and events center that offers truly spectacular vistas of the neighboring mountain ranges, coastal oaks and contoured hillside vines. On our visit a lovely couple that was scoping out wedding venues tasted alongside us, captivated by the surroundings as much as the wine. Susan Pratt was our wonderful hostess, providing great information about the wines, as well as the surrounding area. Susan was such a warm and inviting ambassador. The winery actually precedes the establishment of the Santa Rita Hills AVA (2001), with two major vineyards (Rancho Santa Rosa and Rancho Las Hermanas) providing the grapes for all of their wines.

2009 Rancho Santa Rosa Chardonnay (75% ML) (16 months in oak 50% new/50% used)
Lightly fruity nose, creamy with oak hints. Medium bodied with firm acidity. Citrus, apple and apricot – tropical. Moderate length. $30/per bottle ***

2009 Barrel Select Chardonnay (75%ML) (21 months in oak 40% new/60% used)
Woody with smoky hints. Medium bodied with moderate acidity. Woody, some fruit. Creamy finish. $50/per bottle **

2009 Two Sisters Las Hermanas Chardonnay (50% ML) (20 months in oak 100% new)
Lightly fruity nose, lightly creamy. Medium bodied with moderate acidity. Woody with apple and lemon curd. Moderate length. $55/per bottle ***

2009 JA Ranch Pinot Noir (clone 115/113)
Bright red berry fruit. Spicy with floral hints. Medium bodied moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Fresh cherry and roasted game notes. Long finish. Nice. $45/per bottle ***

2009 Rancho Santa Rosa Pinot Noir
Lightly earthy, saddle with nice red fruits. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Dark fruit core with light roasted game notes. Long finish. $40/per bottle ***

2009 Two Sisters Las Hermanas Pinot Noir
Lightly fruity with elegance and restraint. Medium to full bodied with firm acidity and firm tannin. Dark fruit core with rose attar and cherry notes. Long finish, peppery with saddle. $75/per bottle ***

 

Our last stop for the day was Babcock Winery and Vineyards (www.babcockwinery.com ) located on a picturesque hill overlooking well-manicured rows of vines on highway 246. The vineyard property goes back to 1978, with the winery following in 1983. The web site boasts of selling fruit to well-known vintners Rick Longoria, Fred Brander and Jim Clendenen during the early days of growing. John was our affable host in the tasting room, taking us through their Terrior Tasting.

2010 Identity Crisis Syrah (Rose)
Strawberry, bright. Medium bodied with firm acidity. Fruit forward, red berry fruit. Short, clean, floral. Nice. $12/per bottle **

2009 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay (Wine Diamonds) (100% ML)
Tropical, apple nose. Lightly floral. Medium bodied with firm acidity. Apple, peach. Moderate length. (This was a wine that had the presence of tartaric acid crystals (i.e. wine diamonds) in the bottle, so they marked it down and are selling it off, hence the price) $9.75/per bottle **

2011 Sauvignon Blanc (Estate Grown)
Gooseberry, grassy, asparagus. Medium bodied with firm acidity. Grassy with flinty finish. White pepper and gun smoke. $20/per bottle ***

NV Red Table Wine
Spicy, peppery with red fruit. Medium bodied with firm acidity and supple tannin. Fruity. Not for aging. $9/per bottle *

2010 Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir
Dark cherry fruit, floral. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Dark fruit core. Simple and supple. Not for aging. $20/per bottle **

2010 Precocious Pinot Noir El Camino Vineyard Santa Barbara County(187 cases)
Floral with red berry fruit. Gamey. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and supple tannin. Dark fruit core. Long finish. $60/per bottle ***

2010 Déjà Vu Pinot Noir Rabbit Ridge Vineyard Paso Robles (214)
Bright, red berry fruit. Medium bodied with moderate acidity and moderate tannin. Ripe red cherry fruit. Moderate length. $60/per bottle ***

2009 The Loin Cabernet Sauvignon Estellle Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley
Dark fruit aroma, black cherry vanilla – jammy. Dark fruit core. Black cherry. Long fruity finish. $50/per bottle ***

Cheers!

Corsican Wines

I was in a local wine store – Martignetti’s Fine Wines in Brighton, MA on Soldier’s Field Road and spied a new display… a curious collection of Corsican wines… My attention was piqued for several reasons: one, Corsica is the birthplace of Napoleon I, someone who I have spent countless hours studying; and two, I have had only one Corsican wine in nearly thirty years of tasting, so an opportunity to taste another seven seemed like a fun learning adventure!

First, a bit about Corsica, the most mountainous island in the Mediterranean Sea, located about 55 miles west of Italy and 105 miles south of France. Politically, Corsica belongs to France, but its wine tradition belongs to Italy. The island is believed to have been settled in 570 BC – by Phoceans traders, Greek colonists from the west coast of Anatolia. Among the many things the Phoceans brought in their travels was cultivation of the vine. Vines thrived until the late 7^th and early 8^th Centuries AD, when Corsica fell under Islamic rule, a culture that banned the production and drinking of wine. With the turning back of the Islamic incursion, Corsica came under the control of Pisa in Tuscany around 800 AD. With Tuscany came a return of the vine and the grape flourished. In around 1200 AD the Genoese took over from the Pisans and continued to highly develop viticulture on the island, introducing a Sangiovese clone to the island that would become the Nielluccio grape. Corsica continued to thrive as a Genoese state, when in 1769 AD the island was ceded to France. It was in that same year that Napoleon I was born in the town of Ajaccio. With France, cultivation of the vine continued to thrive, and the French sought to bolster the sagging island economy with a strongly promoted wine industry. The Phylloxera epidemic of the mid 19^th Century crippled the wine industry on Corsica, and eventually the poor economic conditions forced mass depopulation of the island as Corsicans sought refuge elsewhere. Life ebbed on the island until Algeria finally gained independence from France in 1962 and many French pieds-noirs immigrated to Corsica and began planting new vines. Vineyard plantings grew four times during this period, but it was a case of quantity over quality, with gallons of cheap, low end wine flowing out of Corsica and into the burgeoning European “wine lake.” Like many wine regions across Europe, in the 1980’s subsidies were provided to reduce low quality vineyard plantings, as well as invest in more modern wine making technologies. The result of these subsidies is a new era in quality wine production on the island, which has piqued the interest of such noted wine importers as Kermit Lynch.

The climate and geography of Corsica are well suited for grape cultivation. Corsica is warmer and dryer than France, with very little diurnal variation, which means even and quick ripening of the grapes. The lack of rainfall during August and September contributes to rot-free harvests. The soils on the island are widely varied with the northern island (Cap Corse) consisting primarily of schist; the mid island (Patrimonio) consisting of limestone, chalk and clay; the west island consisting of granitic soils; and lastly the east island consists largely of marly, sandy soils. The mountainous terrain can make vineyard management challenging, but the elevation keeps temperatures moderate.

The principle red grapes grown on Corsica are Nielluccio, Sciaccarello, Barbarossa and Aleatico. Nielluccio is thought to be a clone of Sangiovese as noted previously and is found primarily in the northern regions of Corsica. The grape likes limestone soil and can produce wines with great finesse and structure. Sciaccarello is a native grape that is found primarily in the southern regions of Corsica. The grape prefers granitic soils and has a powerful nose and a widely-varied flavor profile, making wines that are very much like French Pinot Noir. Barbarossa is another native grape that is widely planted in the southern regions of Corsica and tends to produce light, fruity wines. Aleatico is a grape of Italian origin and is believed to be related to the Muscat grape. Aleatico is grown primarily on the eastern side of the island, as well as in the Cap-Corse to the north, but it is only allowed as a blending grape delimited as Vin de Pays de l’Ile de Beauté. Aleatico is also the basis of the fortified red Vin Doux Naturel produced in the Cap-Corse named Rappu.

The principle white grapes on Corsica are the Vermentino, Bianco Gentile and Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains. Vermentino is a well-known grape planted throughout the Mediterranean, likely originating from the Iberian Peninsula. The grape is planted across Corsica and yields wine of great personality with perfumed, head aromas. Bianco Gentile is a native variety that is quite rare and only rediscovered during the 1990’s. The grape is capable of producing wines of great finesse with layers of fruity complexity. Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains is primarily planted in the northern Cap-Corse region where it is used to make Vin Doux Naturel wines.

The wine regions of Corsica are defined by the French AOC. There are nine specific AOC regions and one Vin de Pays region on the island. The regions breakdown as follows:

• Patrimonio
• Ajaccio
• Vin de Corse
  • Cap Corse
  • Calvi
  • Sartene
  • Figari
  • Porto-Vecchio
  • Muscat du Cap

The only island-wide region is the Vin de Pays de l’Ile de Beauté, which accounts for almost 70% of the island’s wine production.

The wines that were tasted recently are the following:

2010 Domaine Maestracci E Prove, Corse Calvi AOC

Lovely perfumed nose with a lightly, fruity palate and a firm, refreshing finish – well balanced and very nice. Average retail $19.99

2011 Yves Leccia, Ile de Beauté IGP

Lovely nose with a nice mix of fresh fruit and mineral hints – light on the palate with a crisp finish – well balanced. Average retail $29.99

2011 Yves Leccia Biancu Gentile, Ile de Beauté IGP

Soft, floral nose with a somewhat tart palate. Crisp finish, but a bit non-descript. Average retail $39.99

2011 Domaine Comte Abbatucci Cuvée Faustine, Ajaccio AOC (100% Vermentino)

Delicate nose with lovely apricot, pear and peach hints – finessed. Beautiful on the palate with citrus and nutty notes – well balanced and very nice. Average retail $42.99

2008 Domaine Maestracci E Prove, Corse Calvi AOC

Peppery, spicy nose with lovely cherry fruit. Medium-bodied with good structure and balance. Very easy drinking and pleasant. Average retail $23.99

2010 Yves Leccia Domaine d’e Croce, Patrimonio AOC

Funky nose that eventually blew off. Dark fruit with mint, anise and dried herbaceous notes. Average retail $39.99

2010 Domaine Comte Abbatucci Cuvée Faustine, Ajaccio AOC (70% Sciaccarellu; 30% Niellucciu)

Perfumed nose with some bright fruit. Moderate structure with an odd resiny, herbaceous note. Average retail $42.99

;

My overall impression – I liked most of the whites and the first of the reds, but generally I did not think that the wines were worth the price… It was still a worthwhile exercise!

Cheers!