June 20, 2002

The Grapevine!

by Bob Senn
 
The First Santa Barbara County Fair Commercial Wine Competition!

Last month at Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn in Los Olivos, the first-ever commercial wine competition took place for Santa Barbara County wineries. Fifty-one wineries entered wines. Two hundred wines were entered covering a ten year span of vintages: 1991 to 2001.

The competition was organized by Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe Estate-a prominent vineyard and winery out near Lompoc in the new Santa Rita Hills appellation. Wes Hagen, named Grower of the Year recently by California's Central Coast Wine Growers Association, is the new international ambassador of Santa Barbara County wines. Wes is a passionate grower and winemaker, a great guy, and a master organizer. Wes should receive a double gold medal for his organizing talents and steadfast work in making this first commercial competition such a resounding success.

The 200 wines were judged in five panels of four. I chaired one panel. Other judges included Dan Berger, former wine columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and Doug Margerum, owner of the Wine Cask in Santa Barbara. Our panel included Kirby Anderson, winemaker at Gainey, and Mark Horvath, associate winemaker at Babcock.

Winning wines can be sampled at the Santa Barbara County Fair which will be held at the Fair Park in Santa Maria July 10-14.

The Best of Show red was the 1999 Gainey Santa Ynez Valley Merlot. Although our panel did not judge this wine, all of the judges had to vote for sweepstakes winners. I know when I tasted this wine, I was blown away by it. I will probably have to rethink the decades of disparaging remarks and slurs I've made about merlots in this column. After all, merlot is the noble grape of Pomerol in Bordeaux. Gainey's winemaker Kirby Anderson did one hell of a job making this wine!

The Best of Show white went to Foley for the 2000 Foley Estates Winery Santa Barbara County Barrel Select chardonnay, again a remarkable wine. This wine is a testimony to the greatness of this noble Burgundian varietal here in Santa Barbara County.

The Best of Show blush went to pioneering wine producer Zaca Mesa Winery for their 2001 "Z Gris" Santa Ynez Valley Estate-a delicious quaff of red Rhone varietals made as a dry rose wine, and a wine perfect for summertime consumption.

What I find noteworthy as both a judge and wine writer is that no pinot noirs or syrahs walked away with the top honors. Santa Barbara's reputation is for it pinot noirs and syrahs, and to have a merlot walk away with the top honors is very noteworthy and quirky, I think.

Interestingly enough, too, no cabernets entered by wineries from the county did better than a bronze medal, except for one older vintage (1997) Buttonwood Farm cabernet sauvignon which got a silver medal.

Reviewing my notes, the pinot noirs and syrahs entered were all pretty disappointing-pretty lackluster wines across the board.

Of the entries, eight golds (including one double gold) for reds were given, five golds for whites (four of which were double gold) were given, and one double gold for blush was given.

As judges we were instructed to look for wines that gave you pleasure. The judging was all blind; we did not know what wine we were tasting. And each panel had lively discussions affixing medals (if any) to an entry. A double gold, Wes told us, is a wine that would "knock your socks off."

GOLDS - Red Wines


GOLDS - White Wines


Covering the commercial wine competition was KEYT reporter, Gabe Saglie. Gabe is on the cusp of celebrating the first anniversary of his own radio program which he calls "Grapevine." It airs Saturdays at noon on KEYT AM 1250.

And A Toast To Good Attitudes!

Kudos go out to Gabe! He's an asset to the wine scene-always 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. Extremely refreshing! Certainly no wine geek. Keep it up, Gabe! And happy First Anniversary for the show.

In Memorium

And finally, a sad note. Dr. Jim Carey, one of the three founding "J's" in J. Carey Cellars passed away on May 8, 2002 of a brain tumor. He was preceded in death by his father, Dr. J. Campbell Carey, and is survived by his family, his mother, Mary Louise Carey of Solvang, and his cardiologist brother, Dr. Joe Carey.

They broke ground, planting the vineyard in 1973. Late in the decade, they were pioneering great wine in the county made by Rick Longoria.

By the late 80s, J. Carey Cellars was bought by the Firestones who kept the name for some time, then changing it to Curtis. The property is now the home to Foley Estates, and is located between Solvang and Los Olivos on Alamo Pintado Road.
 

Bob Senn lives in the Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
 

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