Tag Archives: Santa Cruz Wines

Wine Review: Birichino Pinot Noir Antle Vineyard 2014 and Malvasia Bianca Monterey 2016

11 Tuesday Sep 2018

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birichinoFounded in 2008 by Alex Krause and John Locke, this Santa Cruz winery with a downtown tasting room makes interesting, low-intervention wines that sometimes fly under the banner of “natural” although they use a bit of sulfur to protect the wine. They look for old vineyards that are well farmed with the balance already in the grapes said Alex.

This Pinot Noir from the hot, Antle Vineyard in the Chalone AVA has a gorgeous nose—raspberry,  rose, clove, and wet stone with a touch of wild herbs. In the mouth it opens with taut, top note tension giving the wine energy right from the start. Light bodied but quite firm and sinewy, the tannins enter early giving the wine expansion as the dynamic finish launches. The finesse is on the finish which becomes playful oscillating between mineral notes and bristly textures.

Lean intensity, acerbic and tense yet engaging and playful. Finding music that was playful,  light on its feet but lean and tough was a challenge. Bonnie Raitt’s Good Man, Good Woman came through

Technical notes:  18 months in used French oak and demi-muids, sulfur added at bottling and after malo. A mix of Heritage Swan and Chalone clones, on granite and limestone soils.

Score: 91 Price: $40 Alc: 13%  Purchase Here

Malvasia Bianca

This is the wine that launched Birichino. It’s their only wine harvested by machines to crack the skins and the juice is left on the skins overnight so it’s a wine on its way to orange.

Another expressive nose. That’s a theme here. Aromas of lemon, apricot, white flowers, mint and hints of honey, are pretty and alluring. But don’t be fooled.

On the palate it’s angular up front showing grapefruit, but acquires a lovely glycerin texture midpalate keeping the surging acidity in check.  Medium weight with a soft, smooth underbelly, only to reveal a tide of bitterness, an emergent diorama of ruin at the end of the midpalate. The finish is textured, chalky, but with that layer of glycerin providing contrast. An undercurrent of apricot surfaces to play with with the bitter notes.  A distinctive, multi dimensional wine, sarcastic with its pretty nose and bitter hints on the palate, a mercurial chameleon, flamboyant, whimsical and cruel. Its Bohemian Rhapsody.

Score: 92 Price: $17     Alc: 13%  Purchase Here

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Bonny Doon Vineyards Le Cigare Volant Reserve Bonbonne Santa Cruz 2010

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

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le-cigare-volantOne of my favorite wines from the incomparable Randall Grahm.  Aromas of fresh red and blue berries with a riveting mineral undercurrent that seems to ebb and flow in waves, exchange dominance with balsamic, salami and so many earth notes its like rummaging through an attic where the smell of  old books and dust, mingle with freshly turned earth and a little barnyard wafting through an open window. With time in the glass brown sugar makes an appearance too. This is still relatively young but the nose is already developing the character of a wise man.

With all that age-induced patina on the nose you would expect an advanced palate starting to wear thin, but not so. It’s bright and and ebullient with juicy berry fruit up front and a silky texture that gives way way to a severe, almost citrus like thrust from high acidity at midpalate, before eventually resolving into an aura of relaxed charm as the tannins coat the palate with a fine powdery sheen. And then to complete this tasty journey the finish arrives clean and fresh like spice-spiked spring water. Good length that satisfies all the way.

There is paradox upon paradox here where fresh plays with developed and severity haunts silkiness—the Escher print of the wine world.

Some wines leave you with a single overall impression. This one leaves you with a prismatic explosion of colors held together with nervous energy and bursting with personality. It will keep developing; no need to drink now unless like me you can’t resist.

The blend is: 28% Syrah, 22% Grenache, 17% Cinsault, 17% Mourvedre, 16% Carignane

There has to be something different about this wine. It is Bonny Doon after all. And indeed, after some time in the barrel the wine was aged in 5-gallon glass carboys (bonbonne) sur lie for 20 months, which provides an anaerobic environment (and lots of labor for the winery staff). So much for the theory you need oxygen to age a wine.

You may never taste a another wine like this. Pick up any vintage. It’s all good.

Quirky, creative, multifarious and throbbing with taut energy like Radiohead’s Lotus Flower

Score: 94

Price: $50

Alc: 13.3%

Wine Review: Mount Eden Chardonnay Santa Cruz 2012

12 Tuesday Jan 2016

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mt eden chardChardonnay remains the favorite white wine among consumers. But among wine connoisseurs, sommeliers, and wine writers, the anything-but-Chardonnay crowd appears to be winning. The explanation for Chardonnay’s diminishing reputation is not hard to discern. We grew tired of the flabby, oaky, buttery monsters coming out of California in the early 2000s and began to search for something with more finesse. Winemakers have backed off that dated style and most Chardonnays today are  more restrained, with less overt oak, and more acidity. But the problem is that Chardonnay, left to its own devices, is not very interesting. It lacks the range of Riesling or the intensity of Sauvignon Blanc. It benefits from some careful but creative winemaking, a little oak, some resting on the lees, judicious malolactic fermentation, etc.

Chardonnay is like most of us. Naked we’re nothing special. But with a good tailor and some dressing up we can make make a good showing.

Yet every once in awhile someone strikes a perfect balance of pure Chardonnay fruit expression and the deft use of oak that marries classic Chardonnay style with a contemporary mineral-driven flair. When that happens it’s an unbeatable grape. This one from Mt. Eden comes close to some of the better wines of Burgundy.

An introduction of buttered toast, hazelnuts and roasted pear with floral highlights gives way to lemony citrus aromas exhibiting great clarity and focus. In the mouth it’s creamy elegance, soft but vibrant evolving splendidly into a burst of bright mineral matchstick tones and a long graceful finish of green apple.

Sophisticated with a toney, uptown attitude—10 months on the lees in a mix of new and 1 year-old French oak will do that. Full malolactic fermentation.

Toney, up-town sophistication. Only Steely Dan gets this right.

Score: 94

Price: $60

Alc: 13.5%

Thanks to the Sommelier Company for making this available.