July 16, 2003
"No nation is drunken where wine is cheap," wrote vintner and third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. He also wrote, "wine is a necessity of life." I, too, consider it a necessity of life. Wine is food to be consumed with food, in moderation. All food, not just wine, should be consumed in moderation. Gluttony, to me, is no virtue.Good Summertime Wines
A good bet with the summer barbecue might be the 2001 "Rock Solid Red," from Bishop's Peak in San Luis Obispo County. Bishop's Peak is what Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande calls their "grower's label." Talley calls Bishop's Peak their growers label because they buy area grapes to support local growers. This new vintage is mostly syrah with some zinfandel, barbera and two percent viognier. The suggested retail price is $9.
The Talley family is three generations of farmers in San Luis Obispo County. Don Talley started planting the Rincon Vineyard in 1982. The first vintage of Talley wine was in 1986. Current production for the Talley estate wines is around 17,000 cases. Bishop's Peak production is around 10,000 cases.
Talley Vineyards is located at 3031 Lopez Drive east of Arroyo Grande. The tasting room is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Their new tasting room opened last August and it features views of the Rincon Vineyard and some of the Talley farming operations. There is a small fee for wine tasting at Talley.
David Block, Talley's sales manager, tells me the tasting room offers fresh produce from Talley Farms during the summer, sort of a mini farmer's market. (805) 489-0446.
Another good bet is Santa Barbara Winery's 2001 sauvignon blanc. Most of the fruit comes from Santa Barbara Winery's vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills appellation of Santa Barbara County. A quarter of the fruit comes from Westerly Vineyard in the warmer, eastern part of the Santa Ynez Valley.
The spicy, tropical fruit character comes from the Musque Clone that the winery has planted in its vineyard. The Westerly fruit adds additional depth and mouth feel.
Always one of my favorite wines, the current vintage is no exception and the suggested retail price is $12. For me it's actually a wine I would enjoy drinking with lunch, liking it even more than beer.
Craig Addis, the winery's marketing director, tells me the wine is a good bet with Pacific rim cuisine. I think it would be a perfect match to barbecued chicken cooked over mesquite, or fresh grilled halibut.
Santa Barbara Winery has a beautiful tasting room located at 202 Anacapa Street, two blocks up from the beach in Santa Barbara. The tasting room is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Going southbound, take the Garden Street exit off of Highway 101. (805) 963-3633. ---
Times wine columnist, Bob Senn, is always on the lookout for good value wines. He lives in the bucolic Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
