2008 Harvest
Due to circumstances created by mother nature leading up to the 2008 grape harvest, we at the winery searched far and wide to find quality grapes to fill our barrels. One such find was Orange Muscat.
Tuesday September 16th the first batch of Orange Muscat arrived from the Karry/Mosby vineyard in Santa Ynez. We received 4.16 tons of this curiously delicious grape varietal. Upon sampling the fruit, I was immediately taken back by the layers of sweetness unleashing on my palate. Ryan Ralston the assistant winemaker noted that the “candy” had arrived.
The flavor profile of the grape ranges from grilled pineapple covered in brown sugar to sweet peaches. The pressed juice was similar to a sugar fortified sweet tea. The Orange Muscats destiny is still yet to be determined; it could become an off-dry wine for warm summer nights or it could undergo full fermentation in ordered to process out all of the residual sugars and become yet one more delicious dry white wine in the Santa Barbara Winery line-up.
To find out….Keep reading and drink up!
Cameron Bendetsen, Santa Barbara Winery
Los Alamos’ Thompson Vineyard is where we source Pinot Gris, Petite Sirah, and some Chardonnay. I took the hour long trip up to the steep sloped vineyard to check out grapes yesterday evening and got to walk through Syrah, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Mouvedre, Grenache Blanc, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay vines. To get to Thompson Vineyard, which is planted to 37 acres, you take the 101 north from Santa Barbara to Alisos Canyon Road. They are one of the most respected vineyards in the valley and consistently produce richly concentrated wines because of their low tonnage per acre that is farmed.
Walking through the vineyard you can see that each winery who sources fruit from there farms there fruit to their own specific standards. Clusters hang from the vines like Christmas ornaments, heavy and tugging their support vines down with them. Clusters such as Grenache have berries so tightly pressed together they look like they are about to pop. Pulling individual grapes from the clusters we could see how some are riper than others at this point when harvest has started for some, but will continue through as late as November. We used a tool called a Refractometer to test brix (sugar levels) in the grapes, which increase as the grapes get riper and is a huge determining factor when winemakers are deciding when to pick. Another test is acidity (or pH). Acidity is higher when the pH number is lower. That tangy liveliness that you get from the fruit is reflective of the acidity in the fruit, which is result in a more vibrant wine. On the flip side grapes can be undesirably flabby and lacking character if they don’t develop properly.
Right now all of the vines are netted so that the birds don’t pick at the tiny berries. We found and a released a hawk that was caught inside of the nets and it calmly glided out to freedom. While Thompson got hit hard by frost damage this year, everything that remains in the vineyard looks beautiful. The Petite Sirah berries were my favorite, with skins that are thinner and softer than Syrah, yet have more tannin. If you are curious, Petite Sirah berries are about the same size as Syrah and possess a deep inky purple color.
If you ever have the opportunity to go on a vineyard trip, take it. Being able to identify the site where your wine comes from adds to the tasting experience.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
The annual Celebration of Harvest Festival will be held on Saturday, October 11 from 1-4pm at Rancho Sisquoc Winery in the Santa Maria Valley. This is a very exciting and special time for our local wineries and winemakers as they have started the laborious process of the 2008 Harvest. The Festival showcases each wineries latest wines as well as culinary treats from local restaurants, upbeat live music, and a Silent Auction. Talk to the winemakers or winery insiders to get insight into how their harvest is going, what to look out for and what to expect from Santa Barbara County’s 2008 vintage.
A Vintner’s Visa pass is offered for those who want to extend their stay in the valley for a few days. This four-day pass is accepted at 12 participating wineries (10/10-10/13). Keep your eyes peeled for special events in the area over the weekend that surround the harvest celebration.
Santa Barbara Winery and Lafond Winery will be pouring our latest collection of recently bottled wine as well as a few of our favorites. I try not to miss my chances to attend these events because, for lack of a better way to put it, they are just fun. Everybody is out to have a good time, see what is released on the local market, meet new people, and taste some great food and wine.
Celebration of Harvest, $65
Celebration of Harvest, Designated Driver, $25
Bus to Celebration of Harvest, $25 (click here for more details on transportation)
Vintner’s Visa, $35
Combination Tickets: Celebration of Harvest and Vintner’s Visa, $90
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
There was lots of Santa Barbara Winery wine going around at after hours events around town this weekend, including a private tasting for Team in Training as well as an event hosted by Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort a few blocks away.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training has been helping save lives for over 20 years. The program provides training to run or walk in marathons and half marathons or participate in a triathlon. Members help raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and since 1988 have raised more than $850 million. The Santa Barbara chapter held their recommitment event in our winery tasting room after hours last Thursday. This was the last after hours event we will have in the winery until Harvest 2008 wraps up as winemakers need access to the barrel room at all times.
Saturday evening Fess Parker’s Doubletree hosted their own mini wine event in the Grand Ballroom for the California Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery. Production assistant Cameron Bendetsen poured a selection of four wines at a table on the outside patio framed by the ocean. The selection included 2007 Pinot Gris, 2007 Chardonnay, and the 2006 Lafond SRH Pinot Noir. Other participants in the event included Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Whitcraft, Prodigal, Melville, Summerland, Carr, Fiddlehead, and Brander.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
Racking Sauvignon Blanc
Racking is the process in which a wine maker removes the settled solids from the clean juice or wine. The idea behind racking is to clean up the wine by removing settled particulates from the bulk of the wine.
With our Sauvignon Blanc, racking is done after cold settling. This is much like chilling orange juice is your fridge until the pulp settles to the bottom and then pouring off the top liquid. The result is a visually and chemically cleaner product.
Camereon Bendetsen, Santa Barbara Winery
Ryan Ralston, Santa Barbara Winery assistant winemaker, attended this past weekend’s 27th Annual Taste of the Town and poured samples alongside over 80 of Santa Barbara’s finest restaurants and premiere wineries. The event was held on Sunday, September 7 from noon-3 at the Riviera Park Gardens overlooking the ocean and all of the proceeds benefit the Arthritis Foundation. This organization is the only nonprofit dedicated to discovering the cause and cure for arthritis. While helping a great cause attendees got the opportunity to embark on an “epicurean adventure.”
Restaurants who attended included: A Piece of Cake; Bacchus; Ballard Inn Restaurant; Barcliff and Blair; Bay Cafe Seafood Restaurant and Fish House; Brothers’ Restaurant at Mattei’s Tavern; Ca’ Dario;Caribbean Coffee; Cheese Pies; Chef Karim’s Moroccan Restaurant; CrushCakes; Elements; Emilio’s Ristorante; Green Star Coffee; Los Arroyos; Louie’s; Michael Hutchings; Mondial; Neo Chase Restaurant and Lounge; OMNI Fresco; Opal Restaurant and Bar; Outback Steakhouse; Pacific Beverages; Palace Grill; Peet’s Coffee; Piatti; Pierre Lafond Bistro; Quantum Kitchen and Cocktails; Renaud’s; Santa Barbara Olive Company; Scotch Bonnet; Sesto Senso; SOhO Restaurant; Spa Cafe at Bacara Resort; Stateside Restaurant and Lounge;Sweet Buttercup Cupcakes; The Palace Grill; UCSB Faculty Club; Via Maestra 42; and Wine Cask.
Wineries included: Adelaida Cellars; Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards; Artiste; Au Bon Climat; Babcock Vineyards; Beckman Vineyards; Bedford Thompson Winery and Vineyard; The Brander Vineyard; Brophy Clark Cellars; Buttonwood Farm Winery; Cambria Winery and Vineyard; Clendenen Family Vineyards; Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard; Curtis Winery; Daniel Gehrs Wines; Edna Valley Winery; Firestone Vineyard; Foley Estates Vineyard and Winery; Geissinger Winery; JanKris; Laetitia Winery/Barnwood Vineyards; Lincourt Wineries; Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards; Mandolina Wines; Melville Winery; Mosby Winery; Nichols Winery & Cellars; Pacific Oasis; Qupe Wine Cellars; Rancho Sisquoc Winery; Robert Hall Winery ;Roblar Winery; Santa Barbara Winery; Shadow Canyon Cellars; Soleil & Terrior; Sterns Wharf Vintners; Summerland Winery; Sunstone Wineries and Tolosa Winery.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
I spent a long weekend visiting Washington DC and got the chance to enjoy the Chesapeake Bay’s signature crustacean, the Blue Crab. These beautiful crabs are native to the Atlantic, particularly in the area of Maryland and Virginia. They have electric blue claws and are known for their aggressive sharp pinches when they are alive. The whole crab experience was very unique to the area, especially when I went to the wharf to collect a dozen and a half live shellfish, which after stretching their claws upwards as if to say “pick me!” were tossed into a bag to take home to steam.
Choosing a wine to serve at a casual dinner like this doesn’t need to be over thought, especially since such a wide variety of whites work well with steamed crab. Nobody will be paying too much attention to the wine anyways when they are snapping and hammering at the legs and pulling apart the body, digging dutifully for a well worth it bite of meat. Choose a medium to full bodied white that has balanced fruit and acidity. Crisp, yet rich, French Chablis is a nice match, as well as white Rhones, Pinot Gris, a dry Riesling, or Chardonnay. If you like prefer a good amount of melted butter on your crab, California Chardonnay is a good way to good. These wines can pack that necessary balance of richness and acidity that works really well with the delicate and sweet shellfish.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
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