RIVERBENCH PINOT NOIR ROSE 2009

With the weather unseasonably cool in Southern California recently, it seems almost a shame to crack open a nice Central Coast rosé.  Part of me feels I should wait until a warm, sunny day when I can lounge about on the deck and soak up the Laurel Canyon quiet.  Another part of me feels that if I open the rosé, summer will come.  Of course, someone on the east coast may have tried that, and look what happened.  Triple digits.  I'm throwing caution to the cool ocean breeze and opening a rosé from the Santa Maria Valley.

Opening the Riverbench  '09 Pinot Noir Rosé is a little more difficult that opening most wines.  They have sealed the top of the bottle with a beautiful, pink wax enclosure.  Inside the clear bottle they have placed the beautiful, pink wine.  It's a rich-looking pink - not quite red, but not pastel, either.   This pink wine is produced in the saignée method, in which the juice is bled off from the skins. It's all stainless steel and rather full-bodied for a rosé.  It's 13.8% abv.

The Pinot Noir grapes for this wine come from the Riverbench Vineyard.  The nose is lovely, with cherries and rose petals.  A slight earthiness shows up on the palate, but the fruit does not hide.  Fun flavors of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and citrus abound.  The bracing acidity may take you by surprise.  The wine is nice and dry, and it finishes that way - for a long time, the way it should.

SATURDAY IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

It looks like the upcoming weekend may just be the kind of Southern California summer day that makes people want to head to the Santa Barbara County wine country.  If so - and maybe I don't mention this enough - please either designate a non-drinking driver or make liberal use of the spit bucket.  Wine tasting will no doubt be doing a booming business this weekend at all the wineries.  There are a couple of special events you may want to check into as well.
Buttonwood Farm Winery and Longoria Wines will combine for the Red, White and Blues Festival Saturday June 26, 2010 in the vineyard at Buttonwood in Solvang.  It's an annual affair offering a celebration of wine and music.  Saturday from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. you can bring a chair or blanket and a picnic and spend the afternoon with the blues sounds of Zac Harmon, who Blues Revue calls "latter-day Eric Clapton or Robert Cray with shades of Luther Allison and B.B. King."  I'm sold.  Tickets are $35 and proceeds benefit People Helping People.  Call 805.688.3032 for tickets.
Up around Santa Maria, Riverbench  will offer barrel tasting with winemaker Chuck Ortman Saturday June 26, 2010 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.  Also on the menu is a cooking demonstration with Chef Brian Stein which will focus on products made with grape flour.  The cost is only $15.  
If your plans don't allow you to venture past the city, try the Santa Barbara Wine Festival at the Natural History Museum Saturday June 26, 2010 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.  75 wineries will pour and treats to eat will also be available.  Tickets are $95 at the door, but you get a price break if you order before Friday at 5:00.  Hit this site for info on the location and parking.

Whatever you decide to do, in whatever wine country you visit, please taste responsibly and get back safely.

RIVERBENCH VINEYARD AND WINERY

The Santa Maria wine country can look a little under-populated as you drive through all the vineyard land.  It's a rarity to see signs of people, in fact, and a pleasure when hospitality suddenly appears.  Located in a pretty little house on the estate, theRiverbench Vineyard and Winery tasting room sits at the northern end of the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail which winds from Los Olivos to Santa Maria.  It is one of those welcome oases of hospitality.

The Room

The tasting room was quite busy for my Saturday afternoon visit, and the staff seemed a bit harried.  There were plenty of them to go around, however, and they were very helpful and forthcoming with information about the wines they were pouring.  The pouring was handled by whoever was close-by at the time my glass was empty.  That is expedient, but I prefer to have the same person pouring all my samples.  I find it more streamlined that way and I get a better feel for the information I am given.  That said, I do understand the pourers were trying to accommodate a big crowd in the best way possible.  I do appreciate being served so quickly for each taste, even if it was by a different person each time.

The Pink

The Riverbench '09 Pinot Noir Rosé was the leadoff hitter.  This is a new release, a pink produced in the saignée method, in which the juice is bled off from the skins.  It's all stainless steel and features fun flavors of strawberry, raspberry and citrus.  It is rather full-bodied for a rosé and finishes dry, the way it should.

The Whites

The Bedrock Chardonnay 2008 was a medal winner in a couple of Southern California wine competitions.   It is an unoaked Chardonnay, but the mouthfeel is so full and round and there are so many luscious spicy notes the vats must have been made from "I Can't Believe It's Not Wood."  The tropical aspects are somewhat subdued in this Chablis-style wine and there's a guava profile that I mistook for vanilla at first.  It's a really lovely wine.  The Chapel View Chardonnay 2008 is entirely Clone 4 Chardonnay.  It has a full complement of soft, buttery wood notes and tastes tropical with a nutty edge.  The 2007 Estate Chardonnay has a light tropical flavor with a bit of toast and the best acidity of the three Chards I tasted.  You'll want to linger on the interesting finish where the guava shines.

The Reds

I really liked the 2007 Estate Pinot Noir.  The nose reminds me of Christmas, full of clove and cinnamon.  The palate features dark berries and spices.  It has a good, smokey finish, too.  TheMesa Pinot Noir 2007 brings lavender and clove to the nose and has a really soft mouthfeel.  It's a special wine.  I was given a taste of a Pinot not on their tasting menu, the One Palm Pinot Noir 2008.  This had a much earthier texture than the other two and would normally jump to the top of my list, but I honestly would have a hard time choosing one favorite from these three.