Santa Barbara Winery
Santa Ynez Valley 2007 Riesling 1.7
The nobel grape Riesling is enjoying a well earned resurgence of popularity in America as increasing numbers of writers and chefs become enamored with the wine’s flavors and suitability for pairing with a wide range of foods.
Peer through the fog of history and remember Riesling was really one of the first grapes that showed the promise of the Santa Ynez Valley for fine wine growing back in the middle 1970’s. Pierre Lafond planted the first block of Riesling in our Lafond Vineyard in 1972 and winemaker Bruce McGuire has crafted several styles of this wine since his arrival to finish the 1981 harvest.
Recognizing that residual sugar (r.s.) marks the style of each Riesling we produce, either the word “dry” or a number representing the amount of r.s. in the wine appears on the label under the AVA designation.
The amount of r.s. in each style may vary slightly from year to year as Bruce balances this sweetness with the natural acid level that a particlar vintage achieved. The “1.7″ style happens to be the most versatile style of Riesling we make.
Very good for sipping by itself on a warm day (though we would have a plate of light cheeses and nectarines handy) it is also a great choice for Pacific Rim cusine featuring spicy curry, much of the cuisine from India, and pork sausages, especially when served with a German sensibility.
Because of the firm acidity, our Riesling also rewards ten years of aging to gain that special “aged character” good Riesling attains.
Suggested retail 18.00/750ml
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Rising in the middle of the western Santa Ynez Valley, the SantaRita Hills are the distinguishing feature of our AVA, home of Lafond Vineyard and a wonderful area to grow Pinot Noir. The long, very cool growing season of this area is exemplified by February budbreak and September harvest, a long period for vine physiology.
We feel this long growing season is what imparts the complexity of flavor and fruit intensity to our Pinot Noir A tremendous amount of effort has gone into fine tuning the vineyard to coax this fickle grape into producing the exotic, elusive flavors only pampered Pinot Noir will reveal.
Winemaker Bruce McGuire chooses very specific sites in the vineyard for each of his Pinot Noir selections. Several different Pinot Noir clones, some planted as early as 1983, add to the palette of flavor and texture from which to craft each Pinot Noir. In 2006, Bruce chose 6 clones from 16 vineyard lots (Lafond Vineyard and the nearby Arita Hills Vineyard) picked at ripness over a four week period.
Vintage 2006 saw crop yields a little lighter than 2005, with very good fruit concentration. The Pinot Noir harvest was also exactly a month later than in 2005. The wine was aged in French oak from Burgundy (25% new oak) and bottled in August 2007. The complexity of flavor found in Pinot Noir from Lafond Vineyard is a wonderful match with savory foods and a classic with grilled salmon or mushrooms.
Suggested Retail 26.00
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Lafond Winery 2006 SRH Syrah
The ‘SRH’ designation on the Lafond label signals Winemaker Bruce McGuire’s intent to blend a selection of vineyards located in the Santa Rita Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area). Located in the western end if the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Rita Hills is a cold climate region where grapes benefit from a very long growing season.
After the bountiful 2005 harvest, the Syrah vines rested a little. Between the smaller harvest and Bruce’s strict selection criteria from within our vineyard and the neighboring Hill Top Ranch Vineyard, the production of the 2006 was down by 550 cases. The wine shows the beginnings of being a big Syrah needing time to integrate in the bottle to show off the concentrated fruit and intense flavors.
Bruce’s selection of seventeen vineyard lots from multiple Syrah clones has really paid off in a powerful expression of fruit from aroma to finish. He then aged the wine in a blend barrels to give the wine layers of complexity and texture. This Syrah shows the “cool-climate” character found in Syrah grown in the Santa Rita Hills. Flavors are marked by forward dark berry, violets, and terrific white pepper spice intensity.
This wine will nicely integrate in the bottle before early 2009 and will continue to be very impressive into 2012. One of our favorite wines for pairing with hearty fare and grilled foods, this wine is also fun to match with cheese such as Taleggio.
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Located in the western Santa Ynez Valley, the Santa Rita Hills AVA is an ideal environment for growing intensely flavored full-bodied Chardonnay.
The AVA is distinguished by the very cool and long growing season created by a convergence of unusual geography in this part of California. Our southerly latitude means that frost danger is usually behind us in February of most years.
This leads to early bud break, which can start the growing season as much as a month earlier than growing regions to our North. During the summer, heat rising from the Mojave Desert 90 miles inland and the eastern boundary of our unique east-west system of mountains and valleys draws in cold air from the Pacific Ocean 15 miles to our West.
This guarantees cool days and chilly nights during the long growing season of the nine-mile length of the Santa Rita Hills AVA.
A blend of four neighboring vineyards, the 2006 Chardonnay SRH is winemaker Bruce McGuire’s selection to showcase the ripe, concentrated Chardonnay for which the Santa Rita Hills is known. Bruce had each vineyard block picked as the fruit ripened about three weeks later than average to the late date of Nov. 5th.
This wine is a good choice to pair with many cows’ milk cheeses such as Brie or Camembert and, as a nice surprise; the fantastic washed-rind triple-creme Cow Girl Creamery Red Hawk. Richer foods such as roast chicken or whole, farm raised striped bass are also ideal pairings.
This bottling will reward aging through 2012 and promises to be quite showy through 2116.
Suggested retail price 22.00
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This limited bottling of Chardonnay is grown in a two acre, low vigor section of the Lafond Vineyard’s 6 acre Wente Clone Block that was planted in 1976.
The age of the vines and the difficult growing conditions (low nutrient marine sand and gravel that retains very little water) combined with one of the world’s best micro-climates for Chardonnay sets the stage for a powerful expression of depth and fruit intensity.
The grapes were picked on September 30, just over two weeks later than average. 2005 was finally a harvest of bountiful grape yields and we able to harvest a more normal amount of fruit from this vineyard section where yields are always meager.
Not only is this a vineyard selection, but it is also winemaker Bruce McGuire’s selection of barrels showing the greatest flavor intensity from our Wente Clone Block. The wine was aged 10 months in eleven barrels, uncracked and sur lees. Chardonnay showing the depth and richness of this wine is a special treat with rich foods such as pork roast, lobster or salmon. Also try it as an appetite inducing pre-meal delicacy.
This wine should show full development in 2009 and be a delight through 2011.
261 cases produced. Retail 40.00(750ml) To order
Winemaker Bruce McGuire jumped at the chance to make his first Nebbiolo back in 1998 when a small amount became available from the Stolpman Vineyard out in Ballard Canyon. Bruce did not get a chance to make a second edition until this 2004 vintage when a small amont was available from this vineyard, a vineyard rapidly gaining a good reputation for Italian varieties.
Nebbiolo is a true vintners challenge.Often described as the noblest grape of Italy, it is fond in the northern Piedmont region and is most familiar when bottled as Barolo and Barbaresco. One of the most finicky grapes to grow, Nebbiolo will reward careful site selection with big beautiful wines. Should the soil, exposure, or climate be less than perfect the vintner is handed truckloads of frustration in the form of under ripe grapes and thin, uninteresting wines.
The very high tannin and acid found in this grape meant a long time in the barrel (bottled in June of 2006) and then almost a year and a half of cellar time in the bottle before Bruce deemed the 2004 Nebbiolo ready for release. The tannins will continue to resolve and flavors will further develop through 2011. Try this beauty with a big dish of white truffle pasta or experiment with a variety of artisan cheeses from the Piedmont region.
2004 Stolpman Vineyard Nebbiolo: Suggested Retail 30.00 (750ml)
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2006 Reserve Chardonnay
The Santa Rita Hills of the western Santa Ynez Valley is an area were local geography influences the climate to create conditions unusually well suited for growing world class Chardonnay. We give this wine a “reserve” designation because these grapes are harvested from distinct soil types and Chardonnay clones that yield the greatest flavor concentration and fruit intensity. The resulting wine is full-bodied and richly textured with complexity of flavor further enhanced by barrel fermentation.
Three to five years of bottle aging allows the wine to open up and show off well-integrated flavors. In 2006, Winemaker Bruce McGuire honed in on the Wente Clone blocks from our Lafond Vineyard our neighbor, Hill Top Ranch and the old Sanford and Benedict Vineyard just down Santa Rosa Road. Planted thirty years ago, one of the Lafond lots is 30% of the total blend and contributes aromatics and texture.
The other two vineyards were planted in the 1970’s in sand and gravel. These low vigor lots afford the wine great concentration and fruit. We find this full-bodied style to be an ideal match with hearty, rich foods like salmon, pork roast, and of course, lobster.
1321 cases produced
Suggested Retail 22.00
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