Day 2. Santa Rita Hills
Foley – I was in the area a year ago on business and got to make a few stops of which Foley was one and a number of others that I will note. Very enlightening to make return visits. When I visited Foley last year, I really liked the wines they were pouring (largely 2007 vintage) and felt the tasting room staff was very friendly. What a difference a year makes. First stop of the morning (~1030) and already slammed. Place is noisy, tasting staff is friendly but comes to pour and give their speech and then off to something else. Worst of all, I found none of the wines exciting and all overpriced. Really disappointing as this was largely 2009 vintage which should have been a Curran vintage.
Babcock - The opposite of Foley. When I stopped last year, I was underwhelmed by the wines. This time, top to bottom liked everything they poured. Plus the zoo that was Foley did not appear to know about Babcock. Best bargain of the trip was the Chardonnay that had threw tartrates in some bottles and was being sold only at the winery for half price which made it an amazing bargain at just under $10. Great acidity is what sticks in my mind, reminds me of a Chablis.
Melville – Melville must be doing well as was told many times by folks in the industry (but not at Melville) that Melville was almost out of wine. Solid lineup but I continue to be impressed with the 2009 Estate Pinot Noir for $32.
Taste of Santa Rita Hills – Harvest priorities resulted in a cancelled appointment at Clos Pepe so headed here as it’s the only official tasting room for them. Unfortunately they were not on the days tasting list of five wines Three stood out. Moretti makes a great white blend called Bianchetto that is inspired by the wines of northern Italy. The Seagrape Wine Co. Pinot Noir was our favorite of the three that was poured. The Huber Dornfelder was interesting but I could not decided if I liked it enough to purchase any. In hindsight I wish I had bought at least one bottle.
Loring – The original plan was to go to Loring immediately after Clos Pepe to give my wife a feel for the different ends of the spectrum of SHR Pinot. Loring is not my style preference and wife liked more than I did. My favorite was the Cargasacchi Pinot.
Samsara – Not sure if I am palate fatigued by now but I found Samsara solid and liked everything but did not get really excited about a single wine yet noticed other tasters loving everything. I did think the Grenache was the best Grenache of the trip and preferred the Santa Rita Hills PN to any of the vineyard designates.
Palmina – I like Palmina but generally prefer the basic bottling to the higher priced wines. Same holds again. Tasting here was difficult as the place was a zoo and the individual who started to help us appeared to forget we were there. Lucky for us, another tasting room staff member noticed the situation and took over our tasting.
Alma Rosa – OK, a little rant here. Alma Roaa was a letdown. To me it felt like there were trying too hard to be “back to nature” and “not commercial”. I respect Richard Sanford and generally like the wines but could not enjoy the tasting as if all felt fake.