Wine Tasting In Los Olivos - St. Avalo Wines

It was a cold and blustery day in May, the threat of rain hanging in the dark clouds above Santa Barbara County. I was looking for the tasting room of Bien Nacido Wines, but found that they had closed up their Los Olivos shop and were now pouring at the winery in the Santa Maria Valley. Fortunately, their spot was now occupied by the tasting room for St. Avalo Wines.

Their vineyards are in the Santa Ynez Valley, just a couple of miles away, but my visit to the tasting room held many pleasures. The wines I tasted were of the 2022 vintage except the rosé, which is 2025.

My host Oliver, and his dad, are co-owners of the estate. They bought the property in 2007 and went full estate with their grape selection in 2015. Their wines are delicious and the tasting experience is a fun time. 

Their Sauvignon Blanc has a funky, floral nose and a fresh fruit palate. Pinot Grigio is not a grape to which I gravitate, but the St. Avalo version was striking. A totally earthy nose brought the funk, while the stone fruit on the palate was savory.

The rosé was made from Tempranillo and Grenache grapes, grown in nearby Foxen Canyon. Light extraction brought a pale pink color. The Gamay Noir was aged for a year in neutral French oak. It presented a nose that was earthy, barnyard, even. The palate, however, was light and fresh. The St. Avalo Pinot Gamay saw 24 months in new French oak. Big cherry notes on the nose and a bright and breezy palate with an herbal touch. 

The St. Avalo Dornfelder - yes, they grow Dornfelder - has a huge nose with prominent clove and eucalyptus. The palate is tartly cherry and somewhat minty. 

Their Sangiovese was oaked for two years but still has a light cherry nose and a candied palate. The tannins are nice on this CalItalia bottling. Their Nero d'Avola shows extreme earth on the nose while displaying a sweetly herbal palate.

The Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas that range from herbal to chalky. There is a minty note on the palate here as well. Aged in new French oak for 36 months. 

The wine I was most attracted to was the St. Avalo 2022 Vermentino, Santa Barbara County, Los Olivos District. Alcohol sits at 12.3% abv and it retails for $35. The wine was aged for eleven months in stainless steel tanks, unstirred.

This wine is the color of yellow straw with a hint of green in it. The nose has the aroma of white flowers, nectarine, mango, and a salty mineral aspect. I don’t smell the ocean as I do with Sicilian Vermentino, but it’s nearly a match. The palate shows stone fruit, a touch of tangerine, and a streak of salinity. The acidity is mid-range and the finish is long. There is a nutty flavor that lingers after the sip. This is a beautiful wine. 

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Michigan Wine: Gamay Noir

The locals call it paradise on a peninsula.  Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula wine region sticks out of the northwestern edge of the state's main body into Lake Michigan.  Situated on the 45th parallel, about the same latitude where one finds Bordeaux, it's a 19-mile spit which juts northward and forms the east and west sides of Grand Traverse Bay.  It's only four miles wide at its broadest point.  They grow wine grapes there.  The blue waters surrounding the land are some 600 feet deep, which produces what they call a "lake effect."  I am told that protects the vines with snow in winter, slows bud break in spring to avoid frost damage, and extends the growing season by up to four weeks.

There's a thriving wine AVA on that strip of land, along with breweries and distilleries.  I've tasted Michigan wines before and found them to be of very high quality, so I had high expectations when the OMP reps sent some of their wines to me for review.  I was not disappointed.

Mari Vineyards Gamay Noir 2017

This wine is made from the grape of Beaujolais, Gamay, but grown on Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula.  It is estate grown and bottled in Traverse City.  The grape was first planted on OMP in the late 1980s. 

The wine has a medium ruby hue and smells of the earth.  Coffee and tea notes dance across dark fruit on the nose and palate.  Acidity is quite fresh and the finish lasts a good while.  Just another fine bottle from a state that really needs to get more recognition for its wines.

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