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Morgan Clendenen winemaker/owner of Cold Heaven
When I think of Harvest Festival, I imagine there is an autumn chill in the air and I’m sipping red wines bundled up in a cozy sweater. However, this year, the 20th year of the festival, we were in the midst of a late summer heat wave, so shorts and sandals were de rigueur. This year there were over 115 different wineries represented at the festival. Of the 115, there were many wonderful, familiar wines from Ampelos, Beckmen, Brander, Dragonette, Fiddlehead, Foxen, Margerum, Jaffurs, Tre Anelli, Stolpman, Ken Brown, Cold Heaven, Palmina, Qupé, being poured, so I a made point to seek out wines that I had not sampled before.
Bob Lindquist winemaker/owner of Qupe and his son Theo
With far too many wines to sample everything, I had to really pick and choose carefully from the offerings. Of the wines I tasted, there were a few real stands outs. Jim Vogelzang was pouring an absolutely lovely ’06 Vogelzang Cabernet Sauvignon, but his superb 2009 Sauvignon Blanc was what took my breath away. Jim took a few minutes to explain to me what they do differently. Naturally, they start with great fruit – after all you cannot make an outstanding wine if you start with bad grapes. Here is where it gets interesting. After the grapes are picked; they are put on refrigerated trucks which are driven to Napa. In Napa they delivered to renowned winemaker Robbie Meyer (of Versant, Jericho Canyon, Peirson Meyer and L’Angevin) who works his oenological magic. Jim also let me know that for the Sauvignon Blanc, Meyer uses neutral French oak barrels that have been used for Chardonnay. Another outstanding white was the unreleased ’09 Dragonette Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc which was heady with the aroma of honeysuckle and tasted of creamy lemon curd. Yes, dear reader, I know I said I was going to avoid familiar labels, but this was an unreleased Sauvignon Blanc from Dragonette, so I had to bend my own rule. It was less of a hard and fast rule and more of a guideline really, anyway. 😉
Dan Reeves of Reeves Ranch Vineyard
Even though it was a very warm day and white wines were helping me cool off, I did taste some wonderful reds at the festival. I loved the 2006 Jalama Paradise Road Syrah, which is co-fermented with 3% Viognier in the classic French Côte–Rôtie style. Young winemaker, Mark Cargasacchi is crafting some truly beautiful wines. It runs in the family; Mark’s brother is making some outstanding wine too. Speaking of Mark’s wines, he wasn’t pouring it at the festival, but his 2006 Jalama El Capitan is *really* worth getting your hands on (while you still can). It is a red blend of 47% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre and 23% Cabernet. He only made 92 cases of this rich beauty, and last time I checked they only had 8 cases left, so if you’re a fan of GSM blends, give the folks over at Jalama Wines a call: 805-735-8937 or go visit the new tasting room in the Lompoc. Tell them that Anne from Wine Nation Underdog sent you. You’ll thank me later after you’re tucking into your first glass. Overall, my favorite Syrah of the festival was the 2008 Reeves Ranch Syrah. I had heard of the name Reeves Ranch Vineyard because Kris Curran (winemaker/owner of Curran) made a Reeve’s Ranch Reserve Syrah from fruit from this vineyard a few vintages ago. It was extraordinary, so naturally I had to go investigate the source of this outstanding fruit. Boy was I in for a treat. Dan Reeves poured me some of his 2008 Reeves Ranch Vineyard Syrah and I really enjoyed the well integrated flavors of coffee, mocha and spice. Most of the fruit is from the estate which is located in the foothills above Los Olivos. The vines which were originally planted in 1989, were grafted over to Australian and French Syrah clones (Shiraz clone 3, Estrella and Clone 99) in 1994. The rest of the fruit is from Black Oak vineyard in Los Alamos. Though the grapes from Reeves and Black Oak were fermented separately, it was eventually blended together and aged for 18 months in French oak, some of which was neutral. After I tasted this wine, I thought it would be priced around $35 a bottle. Are you ready for this? The wine sells for $24 on the Reeves Ranch website and you get a discount if you order a case. Don’t you love it when you find a great wine at a really good price? I do! If you are in the Central Coast area, you can taste this wine at Avant Tapas and Wine bar in Buellton. It is also being poured by the glass at Los Olivos Café (in Los Olivos). Don’t wait too long though, because they only make 400 cases a year.
Peter Stolpman of Stolpman Vineyards
There were lots of great events over the Harvest Festival weekend, including an open house at Au Bon Climat / Qupé winemaking facility. There was also an open house event at Cold Heaven – as soon as I get my notes and snapshots organized I will post again. Until then, let me leave you with this thought. Those who abstain from alcohol die sooner than those who drink moderately (1 to 3 drinks per day)…as if you needed an excuse!
Danish visitors who are cellar ratting at Ampelos for the summer
2008 Foxen Block N Pinot Noir
Just released: 2008 Foxen Pinot Noir Block N – Bien Nacido Vineyard – just four barrels (only 100 cases) of this gorgeous wine were made. I was fortunate enough to taste it recently at an event at Foxen and fell in love. Block N is the oldest Pinot Noir block planted at Bien Nacido, which is planted with the “California Heritage” Martini Clone. The fruit was picked early in the day on the 6th of October. The whole berries were destemmed, and fermented in a small open top fermenter for 10 days. Twice daily punch-downs helped to extract color, tannins, and the classic red summer fruit qualities into the wine. It was bottled (unfined and unfiltered) in early March 2010 after 16 months in 50% new François Frères barrels.
2009 Foxen Rosé of Mourvedre with Foxen vineyard in the background
My friend Louise hosts a wonderful brown bag tasting every time she and friends feel like they need to cull their wine collections. She calls it a Winemergency. She specifies a type of wine or a few types as the unifying theme. Then attendees bring appetizers to share and a bottle or two. All the bottles are bagged, tasted and then everyone compares notes at the end just before the bottles are removed from the bags. This evening we tasted no fewer than twenty nine wines: seven Chardonnays, six Grenaches, nine Syrahs and seven blends. Needless to say we weren’t drinking the wine, we were tasting, spitting and then scribbling a few notes. I know some people feel like it is a waste to spit out wine – and I wholeheartedly agree with them. With that said, these events present an opportunity to taste many wines side by side, which is one of the best ways to train your palate. After every wine was swirled, tasted, compared and contrasted, there were a few bottles that really stood out from the crowd: 2006 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, 2008 Brewer Clifton Chardonnay, 2007 Tre Anelli Grenache, 2004 Beckmen Estate Grenache and 2006 Rey Grenache (Note: priced around $20, the Rey is a great buy though it can be hard to find – try the Wine Hound in Santa Barbara or the Bounty Hunter in Napa if you’re trying to find Rey wines), 2005 Ampelos Epsilon Syrah, 2004 Beckmen Estate Syrah, 2006 Clos Saint Michel Châteauneuf-du-Pape (blend of 40% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre), 2006 Ampelos Syrache (blend of 73% Syrah, 27% Grenache), 2008 Delas Saint-Esprit Côtes du Rhône (blend of 70% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 5% Mourvedre, 5% Carignan and a with a price of $15 a great buy). In between tasting, spitting and scribbling notes, I managed to take a few snapshots.
The brown bagged lineup of wines
After the reveal - the Chardonnays
After the reveal - the Grenaches
2006 Rey Grenache - Lots of taste for very little money
After the reveal, the Syrahs
After the reveal, the red blends
There are only a handful of days that the Margerum Wine Company is open to the public – the rest of the time it is open by appointment only. February 13th was one of those public days, so my husband and I headed on down to the winery to go taste some vino. We bumped into our neighbors Pamela and Albert who asked us to join them for dinner at the Ballard Inn. Jason and I are big fans of chef Budi Kazali’s creative and flavorful menus so this was a welcome opportunity to go there with fellow foodies. More on this later!
Here is the list of wines from the “official” tasting list of the day (which didn’t include all the surprise bottles that winemaker Doug Margerum opened) and some comments:
2008 Margerum Chenin Blanc – light yellow color, crisp on the palate, flavors of white grapefruit – perfect wine for scallops and other seafood.
2008 Pinot Gris – fermented in 75% stainless steel and 25% barrel, high acid, lean wine
2006 Grenache – my husband Jason (a dedicated Grenache fan) really liked this one. It is expressive, but not dark or big or high in alcohol. It is subtle and would complement many foods…salmon or pork loin came to mind while tasting this wine.
2007 M5 – Jason and I have been fans of Doug Margerum’s M5 blend for many years. The 2007 offering had some interesting notes of sasparilla that I don’t recall from previous vintages. I’d recommend cellaring the 2007 M5 one 3-5 more years to increase the flavor integration. While we were tasting the 2007 Doug opened up a bottle of the 2008 M5 which is scheduled to be released in mid March. The 2008 is fruitier and very approachable now. You can drink the 2008 M5 this one while you are cellaring your 2007.
2006 Syrah “Alisos Vinyard” – This is an absolutely beautiful Syrah from its color all the way the finish. The only bad part was that so few bottles were made…only 50 cases.
2006 Syrah “Alondra De Los Prados Vineyard” – This was my favorite wine of the day – which is a high compliment because I tasted some beautifully made wines. The Alondra De Los Prados Syrah or ADP as it is called for short, is actually 5% Viognier. The Syrah and the Viognier are co-planted and co-fermented. The resulting wine has some floral notes which Viognier is known for the Syrah takes center stage with its intensity and power. Margerum recommends that this one be cellared for a few more years, but I will have a hard time keeping the corkscrew away from the case I bought. Only 125 cases were produced, so I highly recommend ordering a few while you still can.
2006 Syrah “Black Oak Vineyard” – This was another great example of the fabulous Syrahs that Doug makes – mmmmm…black cherry and hints of anise.
2006 Syrah “Colson Canyon Vineyard” – Aromas of florals, cassis and anise with flavors of cherry, black plum and white pepper. I bought a few of these to cellar for about 5 years. If you’re into wine scores, Stephen Tanzer rated this one a 90.
2006 Syrah “Great Oaks Ranch Vineyard” – Wines made of fruit from Great Oaks tend to have spice characteristics that I really enjoy. This intense wine offers flavors of anise, cracked pepper, coffee and black cherry.
2006 Syrah “Purisima Mountain Vineyard” – Flavors of cassis, dried cherries, black plum, blackberries and some earthy notes. The finish was long and lovely! Wine Spectator gave this wine 90 points.
2006 ÜBER Syrah – This is an extremely well planned wine. Margerum sourced Syrah fruit from seven different vineyards, and then picked and co-fermented them over 45 days. Then he blends in carefully selected barrels of single-vineyard Syrah – resulting in a powerful, dense wine. This is one of my favorite Syrahs because there is so much going on in the glass – rich, powerful and layered. Drink ÜBER and treat your mouth to an adventure. =)
1995 Antinori Solaia
There were a few other wines that we were able to taste that weren’t on the official list. The most exciting one for me was the 1995 Antinori Solaia. This is one of the most famous “Super Tuscan” wines in the world, made by the Antinori family who have been making wine for six centuries. Needless to say it was a real treat to taste this wine! It is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese and 5% Cabernet Franc. The years in the bottle were well spent, leaving soft, well-integrated tannins. On the palate, flavors of blackberry, currant, boysenberry lead to a long and fruity finish.
The evening's lineup of wines.
After the event at the winery was wrapping up we headed over to Doug Margerum’s house to continue our wine tasting adventure. (Thanks again for your hospitality Doug!) Doug opened a number of wines from his collection including a 2001 Vieux Telegraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Châteauneuf-du-Pape happens to be one of my favorite wine-producing regions in the world. Clearly this is my lucky day!
After enjoying Doug’s hospitality and some really interesting conversations (“Hi” to Fisch and Blaine), Pamela, Albert, Jason and I headed over to Ballard Inn for dinner. We ordered most of the appetizers – *all* were wonderful, but my favorites were the “winter turnip soup with duck confit and Fuji apple salad”, the “red roast Kurobata pork belly with Napa cabbage fondue” and the “panko crusted sweetbreads with Madeira sauce”. It was hard to choose an entree because they all sounded so good. The “pan seared duck breast with sweet potato puree and balsamic reduction” is what I usually order, but the “Australian rack of lamb with creamy farro, leeks, fennel and star anise glace” sounded amazing. I eventually settled on the “crispy skin arctic char with roasted fingerling potatoes and horseradish nage”. Everything was beautifully presented and incredibly flavorful! Kazali’s food was the perfect ending to a decadent and fun-filled day!
Disco ball hung in the doorway to the Margerum Wine Company barrel room
Jason, Pamela and Tony in the barrel room at Margerum Wine Company
The aftermath of some serious wine tasting at Margerum Wine Company
Pork cracklins + sparkling off-dry German Rieslings = Strangely wonderful wine/food pairing
The text on this painting from Doug Margerum's collection reads "wine is good living". I couldn't agree more.
Wine Nation Underdog 
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