Santa Cruz: a plea for drinkability

T

Thor

Thor Iverson
OK, yes: Storrs, Ridge.

Anyone other wineries worth visiting in the greater Santa Cruz area? I'll be there in a week or so (well, actually San Jose), and amongst endless guided tours of office parks I'll need something to drink.

Mount Eden?
 
Forgot about Grahm's madhouse. Arjun, thanks for McHenry, who I've never heard of. Style?

And I'm smacking myself for not thinking of Rhys.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Arjun, thanks for McHenry, who I've never heard of. Style?
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Well, you can see through them; what else do you need to know?

Elegant, light-bodied, high-acid, plenty of forest-y notes. Someone on another board compared them to Eyrie, and I wouldn't disagree with that. Also, they're seriously cheap.
 
Guided tours of office parks! What could beat that?

Who else is up in Woodside? Seems to me that Ellenbogen has had a couple of things on the list over the last couple of years that could be traced up Woodside Rd. (very convenient to 280 and the office parks, but be sure to keep to the speed limit in town).
 
SFJoe can bite...

Oh, wait, no. That was helpful. Sorry, I fall into habits.

...helpful to an extent, that is. What's on Woodside Rd.? Cronin? Woodside? Thomas Fogarty? I looked at the current online list, and while it's shockingly laden with California wines (Marin County. Huh.), nothing pointed me south of there.

I promise to keep to California traffic customs and drive 20 mph in the left lane.
 
I don't know anything about visits, but Varner is another one of the good guys in terms of style. (Pinots, anyway. The chardonnays are pretty buttery.)
 
Bring your own wine and food and enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery the left coast has to offer. From the empty beaches with the constant crashing Pacific (A real ocean) to the majesty of the redwoods, the 70 or so miles between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, from the coast to Highway 17 and 280 to the East, still endures as a national treasure. Enjoy.
 
Duane Cronin passed away in January of last year after a lengthy illness.

His inventory was closed out and I do not know if the winery still exists.
 
Thanks for the additional recommendations.

Jason, I've already done that. Hence the guided tours of office parks. Always with the exciting new horizons...
 
originally posted by Thor:

Mount Eden?
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I beg your pardon?!? You wanna do what?

Ahem.....

Randall Grahm is doing some really interesting things, out-geeking even the Gravners and Jolys of the world. Some of his efforts are brilliant, other not-so-much-so but they're all interesting, particularly his efforts with Italian varieties (I know, this is sounding more enticing with each sentence, isn't it?)

Why not see if you can you get an appointment at Rhys Vineyards? And the Mount Eden tasting room has a new attraction where you sit in sort of this orgone box and you get to channel Martin Ray. The good thing is that you instantly opinionated as to what wine should taste like. The downside is that you become dismissive of everything else and abusive to people who don't agree with you. I think Martin Ray was either ahead of his time or that he'd fit in really well here at Wine Disorder. Or maybe both.

-Eden (whose first wine exposure occurred at the age of 7 while being dragged along by my parents on a visit to the Paul Masson winery in Saratoga)
 
originally posted by Thor:
Thanks for the additional recommendations.

Jason, I've already done that. Hence the guided tours of office parks. Always with the exciting new horizons...
Click to expand...

There's something about the out gassing of new nylon carpet and catalyzed lacquer that always makes my mouth water...
 
McHenry's sells their wine from Davis, California, which is not close to the Santa Cruz Mountains. Is there something else I don't know about?

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www.mchenryvineyard.com
I disagree with Keith on Varner Chardonnay. I like them a lot.
I haven't tried Bonny Doon wines recently but people whose judgment I trust said Grahm has pulled his head out of his butt and has started making serious wine again instead of focusing on slick marketing.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Forgot about Grahm's madhouse.
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I'm gonna reiterate the new interest to be found at BDV.
With all the vineyards transistioning to Biodynamics (like everyone else in the world, I know), the exclusive use of wild yeast, and most importantly a severe cut in production (from 450,000 cases to 35,000 cases, still not small) as well as number of products - there's something worthwhile going on at Bonny Doon again.

I'll second (third) the rec on Varner - especially the chardonnays.

Santa Cruz Mountain Winery is totally worth checking out as well.

After a year of working at the base of those hills, I came to really appreciate the SCMt AVA - it's probably the most overlooked in all of CA.

PC
 
I don't love Varner chardonnay, but they were OK, and that's going a long way for me. I have only had them at big trade tastings, so I can't opine too seriously.
 
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