{"id":122,"date":"2009-05-25T02:14:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-25T02:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/?p=122"},"modified":"2009-05-25T02:14:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-25T02:14:00","slug":"all-aboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/?p=122","title":{"rendered":"All aboard!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sometimes public wine tastings are all about the wine. Sometimes it\u2019s the event itself that takes center stage. This past month,\u00a0Your West Coast Oenophile<\/span>\u00a0has attended two tastings put on by the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association (SCMWA<\/span>); both gatherings proved to be impeccable.<\/span><\/div>\n
I waxed rather eloquently in a previous posting about their trade tasting at\u00a0Trevese<\/a>\u00a0in Los Gatos. My most recent encounter was for their annual\u00a0Wine with Heart<\/a>\u00a0benefit, held for the second time at\u00a0Roaring Camp<\/a>\u00a0in Felton. The afternoon could not have been more pleasant.<\/span><\/div>\n
I suspect I am not alone in having climbed Highway 17 from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz innumerable times since the late 1970s without ever veering off near the summit and discovering a vibrant community nestled in the hills. Perhaps this semi-clandestine location is what has allowed Felton to retain its quaint charm. In any case, Roaring Camp features a recreation of a turn-of-the-century whistle stop and still operates a Southern Pacific rail line that runs to the boardwalk far below.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Many wineries gave both time and tastings quite generously to this event; their contribution to the medical research this event helps sustain is quite laudable. But, like a good\u00a0Lothario<\/a>, I compulsively seek out that which I have yet to conquer.\u00a0Ahlgren Vineyards<\/a>\u00a0started me off with a stark contrast the understated\u00a02005 Ahlgren S\u00e9millon<\/span>\u00a0and a boisterous\u00a02004 Ahlgren Cabernet Franc<\/span>. From Campbell,\u00a0Pinder Winery<\/a>\u00a0(not to be confused with Pindar, a\u00a0meretricious Boeotian lyricist<\/a>\u00a0from the 5th century BCE, as well as a\u00a0modern-day\u00a0Long Island winery<\/a>)<\/span>\u00a0displayed their Rh\u00f4ne-style virtuosity with their\u00a02006 Viognier<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a02004 Mourv\u00e8dre Contra Costa<\/span>.\u00a0Aptos Creek Vineyard<\/a>, a decidedly boutique affair, offered a\u00a02004 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz County<\/span>\u00a0that made one wish it were not such a rarity. The same could be said for the\u00a02007 Chardonnay<\/span>\u00a0from\u00a0Bruzzone Family Vineyards<\/a>. A third micro-producer, formerly known as Dragonfly Cellars but transitioning to their taxonomic equivalent,\u00a0Odonata Wines<\/a>, sampled the remainder of their 65-case special\u00a02006 Durif<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Keeping things local,\u00a0Hunter Hill Vineyards<\/a>\u00a0resonated with a\u00a02005 Estate Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains<\/span> and a\u00a02005 Estate Merlot Santa Cruz Mountains<\/span>.\u00a0Fernwood<\/a>\u00a0this afternoon<\/span>\u00a0(not to be confused with\u00a0Fernwood 2Night<\/a> <\/span><\/span>(nonetheless made mirth with their\u00a02006 Central Coast Petite Sirah\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a02006 Il Cane Sangiovese<\/span>. Not to be outdone in the pun department,\u00a0Burrell School<\/a>\u00a0brought a wide selection of their academically-themed wines, the standout being their aptly-named \u201cSpring Break,\u201d the\u00a02005 Syrah Estate Pichon Vineyard<\/span>. Handcrafted Pinot Nor from\u00a0Clos T\u00edta<\/a>\u00a0included their eminent\u00a02005 Pinot Noir Cuv\u00e9e, Santa Cruz Mountains<\/span>. In keeping with the Santa Cruz aura, two organic wineries were showcased:\u00a0Silver Mountain Vineyards<\/a>\u00a0with their\u00a02003 Alloy\u00a0<\/span>(a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot)<\/span> and\u00a0Zayante Vineyards<\/a>, whose\u00a02007 Santa Cruz Mountain Estate Clos du Z\u00a0<\/span>combines\u00a0Grenache, Petite Sirah, and Syrah.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\"\". This highly-coveted designation has to be resuscitated for the amazing\u00a01997 Blanc de Blanc M\u00e9thode Champenoise Sparkling Chardonnay<\/span>\u00a0from\u00a0Equinox<\/a> <\/span>. A one-man sparkling operation,\u00a0this 100 percent Chardonnay spent nine years en triage<\/span>, and was bottled with no dosage. If only he had brought his\u00a02006 Bartolo Fiano\u00a0<\/span>as well!<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
But regrets were not to be had on this gloriously sunny afternoon. After the tasting portion had closed down, guests were treated to a ride on Roaring Camp\u2019s\u00a0Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway halfway down the mountain toward Santa Cruz. It reminded me of the train ride\u00a0Dr. Zhivago<\/a>\u00a0and his family took from Moscow to Yuriatin. Only it was warm here. And the train cars were open-air. And these were not the Urals. And I don\u2019t recall wine freely flowing in the movie. Several of the wineries brought their leftover bottles along, and generous glasses from\u00a0Naumann Vineyards<\/a>,\u00a0Byington<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Cooper-Garrod Estate<\/a>\u00a0and Bonny Doon<\/a>\u00a0kept everyone well-oiled for the ensuing 1\u00bd-hour trek.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Of course, all good things must come to an end. Back at the camp, the Ginkgo Girl and I took in the lingering rays of sunshine before heading back to San Francisco. Even she had to agree, it had been a most splendid afternoon.<\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes public wine tastings are all about the wine. Sometimes it\u2019s the event itself that takes center stage. This past month,\u00a0Your West Coast Oenophile\u00a0has attended two tastings put on by the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association (SCMWA); both gatherings proved to be impeccable. I waxed rather eloquently in a previous posting about their trade tasting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4,16,151,60,7,18,12,10,14,36,13,37,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cabernet-franc","category-cabernet-sauvignon","category-chardonnay","category-durif","category-fiano","category-grenache","category-merlot","category-mourvedre","category-petite-sirah","category-pinot-noir","category-sangiovese","category-semillon","category-sparkling-wine","category-syrah","category-viognier"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}