The Wrap Up: Rhône Rangers Los Angeles Tasting 2012

On June 3, 2012, the Rhône Rangers welcomed hundreds of Rhône wine enthusiasts to the historic Vibiana for the annual Los Angeles Tasting Event.  The nearly sold-out event featured more than 45 wineries pouring over 200 wines from Santa Barbara County, Paso Robles, Monterey County and Washington State.

The Rhône Rangers Los Angeles Tasting opened to the trade at noon, followed by a VIP lunch with the winemakers and local food truck favorites, Slammin' Sliders, Border Grill and Coolhaus.  At 3:30 p.m., volunteers opened the doors to hundreds of Angelenos for the Consumer Tasting.

With some many wineries present and not enough time to cover half of them, it was wise to set out with a list in hand of wineries to visit and wines to taste.  As of late, I have been enjoying more white Rhône blends and single-varietal wines, so there were ample options at each stop. It's summertime!

Earlier this spring, Alta Colina released new wines that are destined for stardom including the Marsanne-based 2010 "Claudia Cuvee" and 2009 Mourvedre.  Anglim Winery was pouring refreshing wines such as the 2010 Viognier (sourced from Bien Nacido Vineyard) and the 2011 Rosé, which was perfect for the warm weather outside.  Speaking of refreshing and succulent, Victor and Jennifer Abascal of Vines on the Marycrest introduced their new white Rhône blend, the 2011 "At Last."  This blend of Viognier, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc will quench your summer thirst during a hot afternoon in Paso Robles, with perhaps a serving of shellfish or Asian cuisine.  Better yet, grab a glass and enjoy a view of the vineyard from the deck of the new tasting room as soon as it opens to the public (fingers-crossed that it's soon!).  Ecluse Wines was also pouring quite a few new releases including single-varietal Rhône wines sourced from vineyards in Paso Robles.  The 2009 Petite Sirah was showing well and will continue to benefit from additional bottle aging and decanting.

Refugio Ranch made their debut at the Rhône Rangers Los Angeles Tasting with two stellar wines: the 2010 "Ineseño" (Roussanne/Viognier) and 2009 "Barbareño" (Syrah/Petite Sirah).  Located on 415 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley, the property is perched on slopping hillsides covered by old oak trees and approximately 25 acre plantings of Rhône and Italian varietals.  If you are interested in trying all three estate wines, visit the new tasting room located in Downtown Los Olivos at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Highway 154.

Now, the highlight of this year's tasting was Wrath Wines of Monterey County.  Although I moved on from my love affair with Syrah wines to other varietals, Wrath brought back that loving feeling with their lineup of vineyard-designated, Santa Lucia Highlands-sourced Syrah wines.  In sum, the 2009 Syrah wines are opulent, layered, well-balanced and ready to enjoy now.

Finally, no Rhône Rangers tasting is complete without the antics of winemaker Larry Schaffer (Tercero Wines).  We have lost count as to how many wines Larry now produces, but one thing is certain: he's got a wine for very occasion and every type of cuisine.  Tercero Wines is producing a great GSM blend called "Cuvee Christie," along with single-varietal, vineyard-designated wines from renowned vineyards in Santa Barbara County.  One of my personal favorites is the 2009 Mourvedre (Camp 4 Vineyard).  If you have the patience, decant it over the course of an hour or longer. 

Regretfully, I missed out on Maison Bleue Winery, Bonny Doon Vineyard, Ridge Vineyards, and JK Wine Co.  I hope you got to try these wines and many more at the Rhône Rangers Los Angeles Tasting Event in Downtown Los Angeles.  See you next year or on the road in the Central Coast.  Cheers!

RHÔNE RECOMMENDATIONS

Alta Colina 2010 Claudia Cuvee, Estate, $28
Alta Colina 2009 Mourvedre, Estate, $42

Anglim Winery 2010 Viognier, $26
Anglim Winery 2011 Rosé, Central Coast, $15

Ecluse Wines 2010 Viognier, $28
Ecluse Wines 2009 Petite Sirah, $36

Refugio Ranch 2010 White Blend, "Ineseño," $28
Refugio Ranch 2009 Red Blend, "Barbareño," $42

Tablas Creek 2010 Grenache Blanc, $27
Tablas Creek 2010 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, $40

Tercero Wines 2008 Red Blend, "Cuvee Christie," $30

Vines on the Marycrest 2011 White Blend, "At Last," $24

Wrath 2010 Syrah, "Ex Anima," $25
Wrath 2009 Syrah, Doctor's Vineyard, $39
Wrath 2009 Syrah, Fairview, $39

Victor & Jennifer Abascal, Vines on the Marycrest

Randall Grahm, Bonny Doon Vineyard

Wrath Wines, Monterey County

Winemaker Profile: Larry Schaffer of Tercero Wines

If you know anything about Santa Barbara County Wine Country and its colorful characters of winemakers, then you know the name Larry Schaffer.  A couple of things come to mind when you hear his name: "eccentric," "mad scientist," "cheerleader for Santa Barbara County wines" and "zany." Perhaps you have your own description, but remember, this is a family-oriented blog.

It all started when Schaffer left a career in the publishing business to pursue a degree in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis and his dream of becoming a winemaker.  With his degree in hand, Larry moved his family from Southern California to the bucolic Santa Ynez Valley to become the enologist for Fess Parker Winery.

During his stint on the winemaking team at Fess Parker, Larry began his quest to produce Rhône varietal wines under his new label, tercero wines.  With his winemaking and sales experience, Larry has transformed his Santa Barbara County wine label into a grassroots business built on a solid viral following and word-of-mouth notoriety.  Nobody said it was going to be easy to distinguish himself from the other well-established wineries in Santa Barbara County, but Schaffer remains focused on his goal of producing acid driven, Rhône varietal wines.

Tercero Wines offers a range of wines including Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Petite Sirah, a Rhône blend, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Rosé, and a dry Gewürztraminer.  The grapes are sourced from a numerous vineyards in Santa Barbara County including Thompson, Larner, Tierra Alta, Watch Hill, White Hawk, and Camp 4.  Be sure to ask Larry what's his favorite wine.  He'll ask you which one of your children do you love more.  Come on Larry; everyone has a favorite child.  They just don't say it front of the other children...

With six vintages under his belt, Schaffer continues to perfect his craft and expand his label with the opening of a new tasting room in Downtown Los Olivos.  You can find Schaffer and tercero wines at any of the tasting events held each year by the major wine industry associations such as the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association, where he serves on the Board as Vice President, Family Winemakers of California, and Rhône Rangers; just look for the guy with the Erlenmeyer flasks.  What better (or cheaper) way to decant wines, right?

If there is one thing Larry enjoys most, it's connecting with people and sharing his reasons why Santa Barbara County is the premier grape growing and wine producing region in California.  SBC is an amazingly diverse region with numerous AVAs and microclimates that truly produce some of the best wines in the world.  But whatever you do, don't loop Santa Barbara County in with the rest of the Central Coast and don't assume one part of Santa Barbara County is the same as all other parts. Schaffer will make sure you leave with the facts.  Don't worry Larry; we are quickly learning.

tercero wines
2445 Alamo Pintado Road, Los Olivos (entrance on San Marcos Ave. next to Dragonette Cellars)
(805) 245-9584
Open Friday-Monday, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or call for an appointment
Facebook: tercero wines
Twitter: @tercerowines

tercero wines line up

tercero wines tasting room

Schaffer pouring at Family Winemakers San Diego Tasting 2012

Harvest 2010 - New Advertures in Winemaking

Better late than never - or so goes the saying.  Harvest is well underway in Santa Barbara County and Paso Robles, albeit a few weeks behind schedule.  As the days and weeks go by, vintner's are wondering what else Mother Nature will throw at them before all the fruit arrives.  It's been a harrowing vintage for most wineries as they wait for the fruit to ripen, but it will be disappointing to some whose crops may not make it in time.  The October rains merely delayed pick dates, but as the weeks go by and the season transitions from warm days to cool afternoons and cold nights, we can only hope that Mother Nature will deliver her goods before Thanksgiving with limited rain.

After my first year working at Vines on the Marycrest during harvest, I decided to go a step further this year by harvesting some fruit of my own to produce Rosé (Tempranillo/Syrah) and Syrah wines using fruit from the highly-acclaimed Alta Colina Vineyard in Paso Robles.  I am very excited about this new endeavor into winemaking and deeply appreciative of the support I am receiving from my friends at Vines on the Marycrest (Victor and Jenni Abascal), Alta Colina (Bob Tillman) and Tercero Wines (Larry Schaffer).

There are so many decisions that go into winemaking based on important measurements such as Brix, pH and acidity.  Within the first few hours and days, we acidulated, inoculated with yeast (D254), added nutrients - all in an effort to bring it into balance.  What you add or take away in the first few days depends on what kind of wine you what to end up with.  While that sounds fairly straightforward, the winemaking process demands patience, spontaneity, and tolerance - tolerance for whatever direction the wine takes itself during the fermentation process.  Unfortunately, I have very little patience or tolerance, so this is a fun learning experience.

We'll punch down the cap at least 3 times a day until primary fermentation is complete.  I'll draw the free run from the fermentation bin and press the skins of all the remaining juice before pumping it all into barrel.  After that's complete, the wine will go through secondary fermentation or malolactic fermentation in the barrel (Tonnellerie Saint Martin, to be exact) and I will let it age on the lees for the duration of time, with the possibility of racking a year out.

Take a moment to check out my recently crushed Syrah grapes from the Alta Colina Vineyard.  Let the magic of fermentation begin!

Parker Scores the Central Coast Rhône Rangers

On August 31, 2010, Robert M. Parker, Jr. released his much anticipated tasting notes and ratings for Rhône wines from California's Central Coast (plus scores for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay).  Parker tasted hundreds of wines over a period of two months, but only scored half of the total wines submitted by vintners for this edition of The Wine Advocate.

Not surprisingly, Parker offered some rather high scores and flattering comments for the usual suspects (i.e. Alban, Saxum, Sin Qua Non). Let's get the obvious out of the way; Parker has been in the wine business for approximately 35 years.  He has tasted tens of thousands of wines over this period.  Over time, his palate has honed into a particular style of wine - ripe, concentrated and fruit-forward. We drink and rave about what we like and so does Parker.  I doubt he is immune from any bias, especially after decades of tasting and scoring wines.

Unfortunately, Parker took it upon himself to offer some less than flattering comments about a few Santa Barbara County vintners and wines, while heaping praise upon others whose wines may or may not be widely accepted by most novice wine consumers, except for the fact that they scored 90+ points.  After carefully reviewing most of Parker's tasting notes and scores for the Central Coast Rhône Rangers, it was obvious to me that the current edition of The Wine Advocate lacked copy-editing (i.e. calling Craig Jaffurs, "Greg Jaffurs") and missed the mark on a few wines, which have been widely received by wine consumers and bloggers.  There is no reasonable explanation for Parker's critiques.  Here's one example:

In describing Tercero Wines, Parker notes that "these are all relatively straightforward, one dimensional efforts."  He fails to rate the 2007 Mourvèdre and calls it "without any ripeness" and "largely a failure."  Contrast this with comments from bloggers and wine consumers at the Rhône Rangers Los Angeles Tasting, as well as other posts online and you get a far different picture about this wine, but fail to grasp how Parker came to his own conclusion.  The point is that Tercero Wines received similar scores to other wines, but Parker took it upon himself to offer a rather scathing criticism of these wines.  On top of it, Wine Spectator offered a glowing score (91 points) for the 2007 Cuvée Christie, but Parker seemed disinterested in this wine too (80 points).

Rather than add to the speculation surrounding Parker's tasting notes and ratings, I would like to point out that Parker is one of many "wine critics" in the business.  While his opinion matters for some, wine consumers can find many more accurate and reliable alternatives to Parker and the other wine critics, by searching for tasting notes from fellow wine consumers at the highly-regarded CellarTracker.  Social media and blogs are offering many other alternatives to the traditional rating system and tasting notes. This is helping consumers make better informed decisions about tasting and purchasing wines, as well as helping wineries market their wines to a broader consumer base.

I am looking to forward to tasting many of the wines that Parker scored in the recent edition of The Wine Advocate to determine for myself if they deserve these scores or come close to the descriptions provided by Parker and his scribes.  Parker's scores should inspire wine consumers to seek out many of these wines and help people plan their next wine tasting vacation to Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles.  If you interested in knowing about some of the scores, add your question in the comments section.

Raising a Glass at the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Festival 2010

For three hours on Saturday, April 17, throngs of wine enthusiasts descended on River Park in Lompoc for the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Festival 2010.  Marking its 28th anniversary, the Festival welcomed visitors from across the Central Coast, California and the United States to experience the decadent wines of Santa Barbara County.  By all accounts, this year's Festival was attended by fewer people, yet the crowd was no less enthusiastic to taste wines and meet the winemakers or the attractive blonds or brunettes hired by wineries to pour wines (Wine Marketing 101).

All the members of the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association were represented at the annual Festival, including approximately 112 wineries and 32 food vendors.  While throwing your glass between two warm bodies to the get the attention of those pouring wines seems like a worthwhile adventure, I decided to join my good friend and Santa Barbara County/Rhône wine promoter, Larry Schaffer of Tercero Wines in helping fill the glasses of hundreds of wine enthusiasts.  Sure, I was tempted to sneak away for a taste at Margerum or Jaffurs, but the booth was packed with eager wine tasters and someone needed to help quench their thirst with the Tercero Wines '07 Cuvee Christie and the '09 Outlier.  If you are acquainted with Tercero Wines, you will not be surprised with the aromatics, complexity and texture of the 2007 and 2009 vintages.  Much to my surprise, people were gravitating to the '07 Petite Sirah and '07 Thompson Syrah.  I am glad there are people out there that share my palate for bold, elegant, jammy, and meaty red wines.

There's nothing like watching Larry Schaffer talk about wine.  His enthusiasm for his wines and Santa Barbara County is contagious. What set Tercero's booth apart from other wineries was the addition of the newly released iPad.  Everyone came by the booth to check out the iPad, and they were more than eager to add their names to the Tercero Wines email list.  It was a clever marketing tool and surely one that will help him and other wineries expand their reach into the crowded wine market.  You have to set yourself apart at these events, otherwise you're just another winery with a pretty label.

Not surprisingly, some folks came to the booth saying, "oh, I am not fan of that type of wine."  Sure enough, there were hooked after a pour.  Tastings like these are meant to expose you to new wines and winemaking styles, so take the chance of trying something that goes against your own palate and prejudices.

Hopefully the Vintners' Association will move the event to the Santa Ynez Valley next year rather than have people trek all the way to Lompoc.  I know the folks in the Sta. Rita Hills would disagree, but it's good to shake things up a bit.  Up next for the Vintners' Association: Santa Barbara County "Celebration of Harvest" on October 9, 2010 from 1-4 p.m. at Rancho Sisquoc Winery in the Santa Maria Valley.