December 20, 2001
Reflections On 2001!As we wrap up the first year of the new millenium, it's quite appropriate I think to reflect for a moment. Bob Lindquist of Qupe told me the 2001 harvest was as good as it gets in every respect. And it's comforting to hear some news like this after the horrific events of September 11!
In this reflective moment on 2001, I offer you the wine of the year, the wine news of the year, and the hero of the year!
WINE OF THE YEAR: First impressions count!
The Stolpman Vineyards 1998 Santa Ynez Valley Nebbiolo Riserva is my pick for wine of the year. Nebbiolo is a noble red Italian varietal, the chief grapevine of Piedmont. According to Alexis Lichine's "Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits", both the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco, appellations in the Piedmont, are made from nebbiolo, and according to the author, "Both are big, strong, enormously robust wines with powerful depth and a heavy pungency." This aptly describes the Stolpman reserve.
When I first tasted this nebbiolo from Stolpman on its release some months back, I was immediately impressed with the structure of the wine-the tannins, the intense perfume in the nose, the intriguing complexity and exquisite finish. Estate grown, the wine is a blockbuster with 15.3 percent alcohol by volume. It retails for about $30.
I wanted to confirm my first impression so two weeks ago, I bought a bottle and tasted it with turkey pot pie, rice pilaf with some leftover Honey Baked Ham added to it, and some fresh Sweet 100s I am still harvesting off several tomato plants. (When I mentioned the long hangtime of this fruit, analogizing it to hangtime in the vineyard, a friend and wine rep Terence Livingston suggested I try making some late harvest bloody Marys-not a bad idea I think!) I was still getting some Sweet 100s on Pearl Harbor day last week too!
And it's important to taste and evaluate wine-especially Italian varietals-with tomatoes, because they are such an important ingredient in Italian cuisine.
I think the future of the Santa Ynez Valley is Italian varietals and Rhone varietals such as syrah. I would particularly recommend the 1999 Vandale sangiovese (made by Sanford Winery's Bruno D'Alfonso who also produces his own di Bruno sangiovese), the 1998 Stolpman estate grown sangiovese, both retailing for about $25, and Santa Barbara Winery's 1999 Santa Ynez Valley syrah which retails for $22, and three quarters of the fruit was harvested December 1 and 7, 1999, veteran winemaker Bruce McGuire told me.
Wine News of the Year
The Santa Rita Hills appellation was approved by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms in July 2001, 20 years after the Santa Maria Valley appellation was approved by BATF. Climatically, the Santa Ynez Valley appellation was gerrymandered and goes all over the place. The east end, in and around Los Olivos and Santa Ynez, is warmer than the west end in the environs of Lompoc. The east end (east of US 101) where you find vineyards like Vandale and Stolpman, you will find a growing environment perfect for Italian and Rhone valley varietals like nebbiolo, sangiovese, syrah, grenache and mourvedre. In the cooler, western end-now approved as Santa Rita Hills-you find a great growing environment for the noble burgundian varietals such as pinot noir and chardonnay.
There is a glitch though. The large Chilean winery Vina Santa Rita doesn't like the fact that Santa Barbara County producers have Santa Rita Hills as a government approved appellation and has gone to court. The name is what it is historically, Santa Rita Hills, and the U.S. regulator of the wine industry, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms has given its blessing to the marque! For once it seems, the government is on our side. If I were to get hassled for using the name on my label if I were a winery, I think I would tell Vina Santa Rita it needs some F16 and B52 action when we get through with the Taliban.
A hallmark moment! I just had my first Santa Barbara County pinot noir with the "Santa Rita Hills" appellation on the label. It was absolutely delicious and from a new producer-Loring Wine Company. The fruit came from Clos Pepe Vineyards. It's a big, bold, beautiful wine and I would highly recommend it-quintessential pinot noir! And it is a strident example of why the pinot noir from this part of the world is so exceptional and right-on. It retails for $40 and 135 cases were produced.
Hero of the Year
Three puffs go to grape grower Kevin Merrill, president of CCWGA (Central Coast Wine Growers Association), for quickly and pro-actively organizing a pickup of the Sharpshooter-infested rose bushes offered in Los Alamos and replacing them with "clean" and certified roses from a nursery in the Santa Ynez Valley. (By the way, "three puffs" [95-98 points] would be a near-perfect rating in a wine publication called The Connoisseur's Guide.)
Bob Senn writes The Independent's monthly wine column, "Grapevine," lives in the Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
