November '12 Santa Barbara Trip - Near and Far

We decided to answer the siren call of Santa Barbara because we had a pickup party to go to at Ampelos - and because we just really wanted to go, and finally had some free time to do so. We went again with our excellent wine friends, and built a trip around checking out places we hadn't been to, and places we thought our friends should be introduced to.

Saturday (Foxen Canyon Rd. / Los Olivos)

foxen 7200 ($10 tasting, wines $26-$50)
'10 Sauvignon Blanc - Vogelzang, '10 Sangiovese - Williamson-Doré, '10 Cabernet Franc - Tinaquaic, '10 Merlot - Vogelzang, '09 Cabernet Sauvignon - Vogelzang

We made a plan to meet up with friends at foxen 7200. As it turns out, the tasting room is way the hell up Foxen Canyon Road, especially when there's some kind of bicycle race going on along Zaca Station Road. Foxen splits it's wines between two labels - Foxen proper is mostly Pinot, and foxen 7200 is bigger reds. As the winery became more successful, they built a larger tasting room, but decided to keep "The Shack" (which is about a quarter mile up the road from the Foxen facility) to have as a tasting room for the foxen 7200 wines.
The Shack certainly was funky, and there was a nice patio and a cool patio cat. The staff were all very happy and took care of us. Across the board, I didn't dig the wines enough to be able to think about buying any, especially considering how costly the bottles were. They were all single vineyard wines, were 100% made with the label grape, and had quality characteristics, but I wasn't a fan of the flavors. The Sauv and the Sangiovese were too tart, and the Merlot and Cab were too simple. The Cab Franc was interesting, but at $48, way too steep.
Experience: B / Wine: C+

Andrew Murray Vineyards ($15 reserve tasting, wines $16-$36)
'11 "RGB" (Roussane/Grenache Blanc), '10 Syrah "Tous les Jours", '10 "Espérance" (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre), '10 Syrah - Watch Hill, '09 "Eleven Red" (Cabernet Sauvingnon/Cabernet Franc/Tempranillo/Saniovese), '10 Grenache - Terra Bella, '10 Syrah - Thompson, '10 Syrah - Stolpman
I'd heard about Andrew Murray for a long time, he has a solid reputation in the area for Rhone-style wines. I've been wanting to visit for awhile - so when I finally was back in Los Olivos I made sure to swing by. Unfortunately, I think we chose a poor day to visit. It was busy as hell. Apparently it was the same day as the member party at the vineyard - so members were swinging through the tasting room to say hello.  The tasting room attendant was by herself tried very hard to take care of everyone, but definitely wasn't able to spend time elaborating on the wines or talking about the winery. The tasting room was very modern and chic. There were lots of things for sale - we noticed that there was a large display featuring scented candles for sale, which seemed quite odd in a wine tasting room.
The wines that we tasted were priced on a more reasonable scale than most Los Olivos tasting rooms, which is a big plus for me. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy their wines very much. They all had an artificial quality, and were too simple. The "Eleven Red" was a pretty fun drink, and at $18, well-priced. The big bummer were two wines on the reserve list - the vineyard designated Grenache and the Stolpman Syrah. The Grenache had typical charactaristics - sweetness and edge, but did not weave together well. The Syrah was big clutter of flavor. I'm well acquainted with Stolpman's 2010 Syrahs, and it's interesting to see how different winemaking practices can come up with completely different products even when starting with very similar materials.
Since our visit was so marred by the crush in the tasting room, I think we should try to swing by in the future - but it'll be on "AMV" to convert me into a believer.
Experience: C- / Wines: C+

Sunday (Highway 246 / Los Olivos)

Clos Pepe Vineyards (tour $0, wines $23-$59)
'10 Estate Chardonnay "Hommage to Chablis", '10 Estate Chardonnay "Barrel Fermented", Axis Mundi '10 Grenache/Syrah - Windmill, '09 Estate Pinot Noir, '10 Estate Pinot Noir
Holy fuck - this is a fantastic tour. Wes Hagen is a superb host. I've heard very positive reviews of the Clos Pepe tour for quite a while - and had even looked into booking one last year, but found out that Wes had put the tours on hiatus. A few days prior to heading up for this trip, I thought it might be worth a shot to check and see if the tours were back online. Thankfully they were, and Wes did indeed have an opening for the Sunday of our visit. Here's how Wes described the tour in an email to me:
"Tour usually lasts until around noon or 12:30 - very geeky, very complete. You will learn more about wine in two hours than in your previous lifetime, guaranteed." 
Perhaps not everyone gets stoked about a tour like that - but I sure as hell do!
As advertised the tour was very exhaustive. Wes is extremely knowledgeable about wine and other things - and puts tons of energy in delivering that knowledge in a conversational and entertaining way. He discussed the history of wine, the unique geology of the region, farming techniques, wine making techniques, and lots lots more. At the end of the walk we were taken up to the "big house" where the owners of the winery live. Wes had set up a tasting for us with great cheeses and fresh breads. While he poured the wine samples, we had a great chat about food, politics, and of course wine.
After such an amazing tour and hosting, it would have been a shame if the wines weren't good - but they lived up to the caliber of the day. The two Chardonnays were very well balanced and were top notch quality. It was fun to compare the steel vs. oaked Chard. The steel aka "Hommage to Chablis" was easily more in my wheelhouse and indeed fantastic, but the oaked was built as a different wine and was a star in its own right. The Axis Mundi Grenache/Syrah blend was a neat everyday drinker. Wes actually served it chilled - which while odd - was a solid choice. An easy drinker chilled or not. The Pinots were what we came for and they were hype-worthy. The '09 was a more formal and classy specimen, and the '10 was a bit more audacious. Wes, in great detail, explained that there was a big difference in the weather for those two years. '09 was a great year for wine making in the area, especially for Pinots. '10 was a lot more difficult with a huge heat spike just before harvest. So the '10 was a more plushy and bold than it's predecessor. That being said the '10 was delicious as well, though I preferred the '09 hands down.
After finishing up the tour and tasting, Wes encouraged us to picnic by the pond on the edge of the property, among the willows and ducks. It was a peaceful end to an outstanding experience.
Experience: A+ / Wines: A

Qupé Wines (tasting $10, wines $18-$45)
Verdad '11 Grenache Rosé - Sawyer Lindquist, '11 Chenin Blanc, '11 Viognier - Ibarra-Young, '10 Grenache - Sawyer Lindquist, Verdad '09 Tempranillo - Sawyer Lindquist, Ethan '09 Sangiovese - Alisos, '09 Syrah - Sawyer Lindquist, '07 Syrah - Alisos
There's plenty of discussion around the idea that people's tastes for wines change over time. What once was thought to be a great wine can years later be considered okay. I'm not sure if that explains the shift in my feelings toward Qupé,  but it may have something to do with it. Not that I hated or even disliked the wines this time around, but I wasn't blown away by it as I was on my first visit, this time around it was more pedestrian.
The tasting room was pretty calm during this visit, mid-afternoon on a warm Sunday. The staff person was nice. Lots of stuff for sale on the walls.
The wines varied for me from decent to pretty good. I didn't find the Rosé or the Viognier to be very appealing. The Chenin Blanc was a nice drinker - well balanced citrus with cream. As on our first visit, I enjoyed the Tempranillo, which is normally a wine that I dislike quite a bit. Both Syrahs were pretty good - though the '09 was preferable. The wine prices were reasonably set for the area.
Not sure what exactly fell off for me with Qupé. Certainly I've done a look more wine tasting in the last year and a half - but I can't think that my tastes have changed that much. Perhaps its a case of too high expectations. It's no longer one of my top places to visit, but still a very solid joint.
Experience: B / Wines: B-

Dragonette Cellars (tasting $10, wines $25-$58)
'10 Sauvignon Blanc (Santa Ynez Valley), '11 Sauvignon Blanc (Happy Canyon), '11 Sauvignon Blanc - Grassini, '10 "Seven" (Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre/Viognier), '10 "MJM" (Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre/Viognier)
Perhaps it's on odd numbered visits that I really enjoy wineries. My above Qupé visit was my second, and I was underwhelmed. With Dragonette, I was a huge fan the first time, not as enamored the second time, and now on the third visit - quite impressed. Hopefully I'm not that arbitrary, and and justly reviewing these places.
I'm pretty sure that the thing that bugged me about Dragonette on my last visit, was that it was extremely busy, and the staff was running around frenetically. This time, we had the tasting room to ourselves, and the staff person was awesome and knowledgeable. Dragonette is a very young winery, and it appears to me that they are doing quite well. They were all sold out of their Rosé, their Pinot, and their regular GSM blend.
The wines that we did taste were artfully built. The three Sauvs were quite good, my preference was the Happy Canyon. It had the same brightness of the Santa Ynez, but also showed some minerality, which I'm always a sucker for. The Seven didn't blow me away, but it had qualities that it exhibited that bragged that it was a well built wine. The MJM - the Dragonette flagship wine - was a rockstar, super smooth. In my notes I labeled it as a "classy fellow." Dragonette's prices for their wines is a bit steep, but after tasting the wines the costs seem pretty just.
Experience: B+ / Wines: A-

Aside from the long ass drive up to Foxen while slaloming around the bicyclists, this was a banging trip. On Saturday, we got to see some great countryside, lounged at Stolpman at the end of the day, enjoyed the Ampelos pickup party, and checked out a solid Thai place in Lompoc - Herb Home. Sunday we were treated to the fantastic Clos Pepe, enjoyed a serene picnic, and ended our trip at Dragonette.
I am a bit concerned that I'm developing a bias against older wineries in Santa Barbara. I seem to be a fan of the young, upstart wineries, such as: Samsara, Peidrasassi, Ampelos, and Dragonette. And I have not enjoyed a number of established wineries: Andrew Murray, Zaca Mesa,  Au Bon Climat, to name a few. I'm wondering if it's because I'm buying into the "startup" narrative, or if the established wineries are not making wines that are exciting to me - but for a different audience. I guess I'll have to drink more wine to find out.
According to one tasting room employee, the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving is an excellent time to visit, because so many people avoid traveling at that time. It was super mellow throughout the area during our visit, so I'll plan on trying to swing back through during this time again next year.