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Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Santa Barbara's L.A. Road Trip: Rhône Varieties

Living in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is "our" wine region. A mere two hours north of L.A., Santa Barbara wine country offers nearly 200 wineries producing truly world class wines. We take a lot of road trips up there to visit Santa Barbara Vintners, so it was nice of them to return the favor and come down here.

Santa Barbara County is home to the only transverse mountain range in North America, where the wind from the Pacific Ocean is channeled right across the Santa Barbara County Appellation.  The sub-appellations - Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Maria Valley, Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara and Los Olivos District are distinct and varied. The region is also home to an unrivaled growing season with the aforementioned coastal influences giving great grapes a place to thrive.  Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and more are found in Santa Barbara County.

Santa Barbara Vintners brought their best to Los Angeles for four days in May. Instead of overwhelming us with close to 50 different varieties at one tasting, each day was broken down into a specific wine theme for more focus. Monday was given to Chardonnay, Tuesday Pinot Noir, Wednesday featured Rhone varieties and Thursday gave us the Bordeaux grapes.


Wednesday, May 18 - RHONE VARIETALS


Doug Margerum stole the show this time. His 2015 Margerum Riviera Rosé, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara county, are a Grenache blend, bone dry and beautiful with big cherry notes. The 2014 Margerum M5 Santa Barbara County shows ripe red fruit with an herbal quality running underneath. Margerum served it chilled and showed how great this wine would be for summer BBQs.

At the Core table, Becky Corey poured for me. She poured when I visited the tasting room, too. I don’t know if husband Dave is avoiding me, or what. Their wines are riddled with lovely floral, lavender and clove notes. The 2008 Core Mister Moreved is 94% Mourvèdre and 6% Grenache from Santa Barbara County.  It’s smooth, dark and musky.

The Fess Parker table is always a great stop. The 2013 Fess Parker Viognier, Santa Barbara County shows some fantastic earthy tones. The 2012 Fess Parker Rodney’s Vineyard Syrah, Santa Barbara County is smokey, earthy.

Ross Rankin's Imagine Wines have a non-vintage Melange that is awesome, full of spice and red fruit. The 2007 Imagine Winged Paradise Mountain Syrah, Santa Barbara County got a one-word explanation in my notes: "Silky!"

Jaffurs Wine Cellars' Craig Jaffurs poured his 2015 Viognier Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley, displaying grapefruit and flowers. The 2013 Jaffurs Syrah Santa Barbara County is elegant.

The Central Coast Group Project is headed up by Scott Sampler and he has produced a very pretty 2012 Santa Barbara County GSM and a 2012 Names Syrah from White Hawk Vineyard. He produces his wine at a collective in Buellton, the Buellton Bodegas.

Andrew Murray again has scored with his Esperance GSM. It is extremely elegant.

The 2013 Foxen Syrah shows a funky nose, and a palate that is excellent and very smooth.


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