April 18, 2002
New Century-New Kids on the BlockEaster was a feast at my house in Los Alamos. I cooked and my friends brought a lot of wine. In the process, I got turned on to some great new ones from Santa Barbara County. Let's call them the Magnificent Eight! Brewer-Clifton, Clos Pepe, Kahn, Katabasis, Kunin, Loring Wine Company, Silver, and Tensley. I made notes and I'm spreading the word. What follows is some background on the eight producers and how to get in touch with them.
- Brewer-Clifton, based in Lompoc is doing great things. Greg Brewer got his start in the business apprenticing under Bruce McGuire at Santa Barbara Winery. He is now winemaker at Melville, near Lompoc in the new Santa Rita Hills appellation. Steve Clifton, when I first met him, worked over at Rancho Sisquoc. Later he kept things in order over at Brander. And now, with Greg Brewer, is performing magic in winemaking-so much so, wine writer Robert M. Parker Jr. listed them as one of only three great North American winemakers (along with John Alban and Brian Talley) in his December, 2001 issue of "The Wine Advocate." By the way, the wine I tasted was their Blanc de Noir, a sparkling wine made from Santa Maria fruit. (805) 452-5609. As an aside, the label Palmina is produced by partner Steve Clifton. You can reach Palmina at (805) 331-1940.
- Wes Hagen is the vineyard manager and winemaker at Clos Pepe Vineyards. The property on Highway 246 east of Lompoc is located in the new Santa Rita Hills appellation of Santa Barbara County. It specializes in the great cool climate Burgundian varietals: chardonnay and pinot noir. Wes is producing hard-to-find seminal quaffs; it's thanks to winemakers like him that Santa Barbara County wines are considered the best in the New World. Wes Hagen, the impassioned wine geek that he is-by his own admission-will be Santa Barbara County's second generation international wine ambassador. (805) 735-2196.
- Kahn Winery has a tasting room that flanks the north end of Los Olivos. It's located at 2990A Grand Avenue, and the sign out front says it's "the county's smallest tasting room." It's cozy, eclectic, and charming-much like Andy Kahn's wines that you can taste there. Kahn is dedicated to producing high quality Rhone and Italian varietal wines. The wine I is a real standout: their 1999 Cuvee Jacques, a 50-50 blend of viognier and marsanne. Delicious! Visit their tasting room. (805) 686-2455.
- Among the new wines I tasted at Easter were two Katabasis wines a friend found in Los Angeles. One was a 2000 Sisquoc sylvaner; the other was a 2000 Alisos gewurztraminer. Both were delicious! George Fakinos of Santa Barbara Winery told me Graham Tatomer makes the wine. He previously worked for Melville, Brewer-Clifton and Santa Barbara Winery. The wines are produced in Lompoc. (805) 570-7513. Hard to find for sure-21 cases of the gewurztraminer were produced!
- Another Easter treat was one of Seth Kunin's wines-his 1999 viognier made from grapes grown at Stolpman Vineyards. I have known Seth for quite a few years. He managed the Wine Cask restaurant for a long time, worked in the cellar at Gainey, was the oenologist at Central Coast Wine Services in Santa Maria, and produces his stunning offering of handcrafted wines-hard to find and wines to look out for! (805) 689-3545.
- Winemaker/software engineer Brian Loring of Loring Wine Company has an obsession-it's pinot noir. He makes his wines near Santa Maria at Cottonwood Canyon. Loring Wine Company is so named as an hommage to Josh Jensen at Calera Wine Company "since he was the guy who first showed me that great pinot noir could be made in California," reads his press material. I've had two of his vineyard-designated pinot noirs, the Clos Pepe and the Gary's Vineyard from the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County-both peerless! 1-877 LWC WINE.
- Benjamin Silver is producing exemplary wines of note. His nebbiolo from Sanford & Benedict Vineyard and cabernet franc from Stolpman are wines to search out. Benjamin was the "glue" that kept the winemaking going at Zaca Mesa for many years. (805) 963-3052.
- Another guy to watch is Joey Tensley. His wines are hard to find. I had one several years ago at the Paradise Cafe with Bob Lindquist of Qupe. Joey produces some outstanding syrahs. For Easter I served two magnums of his vineyard-designated wines-a 2000 Purisima Mountain Vineyard, and a 2000 Colson Canyon Vineyard syrah, from a vineyard east of Byron. He produces the wine in Lompoc.
Got Your Checkbook?By the way, speaking of Byron, Robert Mondavi who owns Byron is selling off the old building, the original winery (on the road up toward Colson Canyon Vineyard) and about 1,000 acres of vineyard land here in the county-for just a song-$38 million.
Restaurant Scene
Looking over my last column, South County and Santa Barbara dominate the restaurant scene; north county-Lompoc and Santa Maria-dominate the winery scene (except for Santa Barbara Winery and Jaffurs).
While the wineries up here are cutting edge, the restaurants in north county still just don't get it, except for the few you can always name on one hand- the Buellton Hitching Post, Casmalia Hitching Post, Chef Rick's Ultimately Fine Foods in Orcutt, and Brothers, soon to be re-opening at historic Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos.
And there's a few other restaurants I like, that don't have winelists to speak of, but don't rip you off with outrageous corkage fees either-like Jocko's in Nipomo (corkage fee about $3) and the Swiss Chalet in Santa Maria, very rustic and probably a bit like the Casmalia Hitching Post was about 30 years ago (corkage fee around $4). I just ate at the Swiss Chalet for the first time last month-the rib eye was awesome, and I brought my own wine, a Turley 1999 Pesenti Vineyard zinfandel from Paso Robles. Four bucks to cork it-what a deal!
A Toast to Good Attitudes!
Kudos go out to KEYT's Gabe Saglie, the guy who does the "Grapevine" radio program Saturdays at noon on the radio station. He's an asset to the wine scene-enthusiastic and always learning and communicating. (The day I think I know it all, or the day Gabe thinks he knows it all, we may as well hang it up and go back to Coors Light and vodka tonics.) Enthusiasm is always good, and I still get excited when I feel some enthusiasm, after writing about wine for close to 20 years. Gabe shows his enthusiasm well, but best of all, he is neither pompous nor pretentious. Very refreshing! Keep it up, Gabe!
Bon appetit!
Wine lover Bob Senn lives in the Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
