December '14 Santa Barbara Trip - Funk You Very Much

This is actually the third leg of a our holiday journey. First we explored the Sierra Foothills, then made a brief stop off in Monterey when visiting friends, and finally getting back to our home region, Santa Barbara. Actually, this final leg was it was a work day for my wife, and a kick it with friends day for me. Since my wife had to stop in Santa Barbara for work purposes, I was joined some LA friends to explore a few of the tasting rooms in the Santa Barbara Funk Zone. I've dropped in on the Funk Zone a few times before, but had never dedicated a full day to it, so I was excited to spend some quality time with friends while exploring. Needless to say, my wife was less than excited that she had to work while all this was going on.

Riverbench Vineyard (tasting $12, wines $24-$48)
'13 "Bedrock" Chardonnay, '13 Estate Chardonnay, '11 "Chapel View" Chardonnay, '11 Reserve Chardonnay, '12 Estate Pinot Noir, '11 Reserve Pinot Noir, '12 "Mesa" Pinot Noir, '11 "One Palm" Pinot Noir
Riverbench has a good reputation. Their winemaker, Clarissa Nagy, is highly considered in the area. Her husband is the winemaker at Byron, and I get the sense that they have a collaborative partnership. The primary focal points for Riverbench are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and bubbly wines made with Chardonnay and/or Pinot Noir.
Since their actual winery is way up on the northern edge of the region, I was glad that they opened a new tasting room in the Funk Zone, making it a bit easier for us to access. The tasting room was chic and sleek. The staff were fine, though not terribly engaging. There were a handful of different tasting options, we chose the "Chardonnay, Up, Up and Array" and the "Pinot Noir All Star" flights. The Chardonnays were all enjoyable and they had nice diversity from one another. The Bedrock was 100% fermented in steel tanks, while the other three were aged in varying amounts of new French oak barrels.The Reserve was my favorite of the four that we tried, and at $32, a decent price point for a quality Chardonnay the region. The Pinots were also nicely varied - there were some neat flavor characteristics such as green olives in the Estate bottling and pencil shavings in the Reserve. The "Mesa" and the "One Palm" were a little too fruit forward for my tastes.
Experience: B- / Wines: B+

Whitcraft Winery (tasting $12, wines $40-$60)
'13 Sierra Madre Chardonnay, '13 Pinot Noir - Pence Ranch, '13 Pinot Noir - Presqu'ile, '09 Pinot Noir - Morning Dew Vineyard (Anderson Valley), '09 Syrah - Stolpman, '12 Syrah - Clover Creek
There are a handful of Santa Barbara urban tasting rooms that predate the Funk Zone. Whitcraft is one of those old timers, having been established in 1985. Their tasting room isn't too far from the Funk Zone, though it was a little bit more of a walk than I expected. They are in a strange little industrial nook close to the ocean, but kinda distant from most stuff.
Whitcraft was recommended to me by Wes Hagen, formerly of Clos Pepe. Since Wes suggested it, and I sort of worship Wes, I made damn sure that I visited it when I had the chance. The tasting room was quite small, and nothing at all fancy, pleasantly not image-conscious. The tasting room guy was super friendly and proud of the wines that he was pouring.
Like Wes Hagen, Drake Whitcraft does his own thing. His wines are made with as little intervention as possible - not fined or filtered, light use of sulfur and uses no other chemicals. All of the red wines are made with whole-cluster fermentation, meaning that the stems and skins are included during the fermentation process, leading to rich and full-bodied flavors.
And these were definitely some big bad wines to drink. The one white that we tried, the Chardonnay, was quite bright and textured. All three Pinots were flavorful and fun. The Sierra Madre was lightest in body, though still masculine. It was my favorite of the three, the other two were good but a bit too much bombast. I enjoyed both of the Syrahs, probably the Stolpman more as it was a bit more restrained. Across the board I thought that the wines were adventurous and enjoyable. However, they were too pricey for me to purchase.
Experience: B / Wines: B

Municipal Winemakers (tasting $10, wines $25-$50)
'13 "Bright Red" (Grenache/Cinsault/Counoise/Syrah/Mourvèdre), '13 Grenache, '13 Pinot Noir - Santa Rita Hills, '13 "MCS" (Mourvèdre/Carignan/Syrah), '10 "The End" (Grenache/Syrah)
I had  visited Municipal once before, just over a year ago when in town for a wedding. The first time I was intrigued by the place, though I thought the wine was just ok. But, I dug the feel the first time, so I wanted to give in another shot.
I won't go into detail about the decor, just imagine a winery designed by Wes Anderson. So that's to be enjoyed. However, the two shortcomings of the winery the first time that I was there was the service and the wine. And in this visit, the same two things were lacking. Once again the folks working at the tasting room were indifferent about what they were doing there, which is kind of a bummer. And once again the wine was not great, actually in some cases, hard to enjoy - and it makes me very sad when wine isn't enjoyable to drink. The "Bright Red" and "The End" were quaffable, but that's about it. The Grenache was my least favorite, too syrupy, sharp and overt.
Experience: B-  / Wines: C-

Kunin Wines (tasting 10?, wines $26-$45)
'13 Sauvignon Blanc - McGinley Vineyard, '13 "Pape Star" White Rhone Blend (Grenache Blanc/Roussanne), '13 Viognier - Camp 4 Vineyard, '13 Carignan - Camp 4 Vineyard, '13 "Pape Star" Red Rhone Blend (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre), '08 Syrah - Alisos Vineyard, '13 Zinfandel - Paso Robles
Wine is obviously a yuppie pursuit, especially so when actively going to taste wines. However, I still find it off-putting when I come across wine tasting rooms that are overly pretentious. I know that it's ridiculous to be surprised by  stuffiness at wineries, but there are times when I am honestly caught off guard by it. Kunin was definitely haughty, perhaps one of the haughtiest joints I've ever visited. I think it was more the customers than the staff, though the staff weren't all that warm or down-to-earth either.
I was a bit mixed about the wines. Most had good aspects, but most also had less-enjoyable aspects. The Sauvignon Blanc reeked of cat pee (I acknowledge that's considered a positive aspect in some white wines but in this instance it was too heavy to be enjoyable), but was nice and simple on the palate. The Viognier was too syrupy and sharp. The Carignan had a very interesting aroma - rainforest - but was overly sweet. The red Rhone blend flavors came off too juicy and just inauthentic. The Zinfandel was the most interesting - celery and white pepper nose, juicy though balanced, maybe too much heat, but interesting tartness.
Experience: C / Wines: C+

The Funk Zone is definitely it's own animal in comparison to the further afield Santa Barbara wine region. It's definitely seeking to attract folks, and given the quick growth that it's experiencing, it is likely succeeding. I think what's working for it is it's diversity. We went from the quietly confident Riverbench, to the brassy Whitcraft, to the absurd Municipal, and finally to the haughty Kunin, all within a square mile. When it comes to wine, the Funk Zone probably has you covered. And if the first three places that you visit aren't a fit, there's another place for you to check out right across the street.

October '13 - Santa Barbara Trip - Sneaking Off

Weddings are a beautiful thing - especially when the weddings take place in a wine region, and you're able to slip away from the festivities to check out a few wineries. This particular wedding involved a close friend, and a handful of old friends that came into the area to be a part of the wedding. On Friday we managed to slip off with the groom for a visit to Santa Barbara's "Funk Zone" before the wedding rehearsal. On Sunday we had a pickup to make at Ampelos in the Wine Ghetto, and were accompanied by friends who'd never been wine tasting in the region before.

Municipal Winemakers ($12 tasting, wines $27-$38)
'12 Pinot Noir, '12 "Bright Red" (Grenache/Cinsault/Counoise/Syrah), '12 Counoise, '11 "Dark Red" (Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon), '11 Grenache - Fox Family
This was the first visit that I'd made to the Funk Zone. It's in a converted industrial sector of Santa Barbara - artists, builders, restaurants, and a handful of wineries. Specifically I was interested in going to Municipal - I first heard about it from Wes Hagan when we did a tour at Clos Pepe. We were hanging out with the groom, just biding time before the wedding rehearsal so we headed over to check Municipal out.
Municipal is definitely going for a different feel, it's skewing toward a younger audience. The tasting room is in former dive shop, and they've kept some of the old signage around. They've also got a lot of funky decor - goofy paintings, mismatched chairs, re-purposed shelving, etc. It's a fun kind of silly, not an annoying needy kind of silly. The woman who attended to us in the tasting room was limited in her knowledge about the wine, but was extremely friendly and super stoked about the fact that our friend was getting married. Our visit was a bit short, we had to book on out to make sure that we didn't miss the rehearsal.
Across the board the wines had a nice organic flavor, with enjoyable vegital notes. However they were a bit simple, cluttered and at times the acid was too prevalent. The Pinot was slightly too high on the acid. The Bright Red blend was quite zippy as well - curiously a mix of two contrasting experiences: licks off of a battery and light pillows. The Counoise was fun and simple. The Dark Red Blend was very flavorful with jumpy acid. Finally the Grenache was quite sharp, overtaking other aspects.
Experience: B / Wines: B-

Piedrasassi / New Vineland Winery ($10 tasting, wines $22-$42)
'12 "P.S." White Wine - Sauvignon Blanc, '10 White White (Sauvignon Blanc/Roussanne), '12 "P.S." Rosé (Sangiovese), '12 "P.S." Syrah, '10 Syrah
Visiting the Wine Ghetto with friends that have never been before creates a tricky situation: what
wineries do you choose to take them to? There are many great options. With our friends from Chicago with us, we knew we needed to make stops at Ampelos and Stolpman to make pickups. Those two places are always good, solid choices. Since I've written positively about that places several times, I didn't write up notes for the blog. The third and final choice was a tricky one. Go to one the few places that we'd never been to that may or may not be good? Go somewhere we'd been many times already and really enjoyed, like Samsara or Jalama? Or go somewhere that we had only visited once, intrigued us on that visit, and deserved a second tasting to see if it held up? Obviously that's the choice that we went with.
Since our last visit almost two years to Piedrasassi ago, they're now making bread in the back of the building. Since we entered from the back, the baker pointed us through to the tasting room in the front, but also offered some bread samples. Melissa Sorongon was handling the pouring duties, so it was neat to get her input on how she and Sashi Moorman (her husband and winemaker for Stolpman and Sandhi) made choices regarding the Piedrasassi wines. Early on in the tasting we were able to have an in depth discussion about the wines and breads that we were served, but soon a few large groups arrived, and the room became much more loud and tight.
Regardless the wines were very enjoyable. The "P.S." wines are more budget focused, but stand up on their own merits. The P.S. White had a very nice profile - crisp with pineapples, a smooth ending, medium bodied. The Piedrasassi White was very reminiscent of Stolpman's flagship white - L'Avion - with a bit more kick. The Rosé was made with carbonic maceration, weighty compared to other rosés, with very crisp acid and strawberries. The P.S. Syrah was a kick in the pants, big ass black pepper and green vegetables that calmed down really nicely midway through to the end. It was a great price so we picked up a few bottles. Randomly I was at our favorite wine shop here in LA a few weeks later and there was a dude buying a half case of the P.S. Syrah. I chatted with him for a bit about how great the wine was, and we basically convinced each other to split up the last four bottles that the store had left in stock. The Piedrasassi Syrah was a little bit more of a quiet storm compared to the P.S. It's pepper and acid was neatly restrained, but it had a lot of juice. Probably one to open a while before pouring to allow it to breathe.
Experience: B+ / Wines: B+

We're getting quite sneaky at integrating winery visits into our trips. This time around our visits were nice little breaks from the bigger event of the weekend. It was nice to break free during the hubbub to take the groom out. It was even nicer to share our new obsession with old friends on a lazy Sunday.

August '12 Santa Barbara Trip - Slightly Off the Beaten Path

We headed up for the Ampelos member party. We've been members for a few years now, and they know how to put on an excellent party. Great food, good atmosphere at their vineyard, and of course, lots of wine. In addition to the party, I was interested in checking out a few wineries that we hadn't been to yet. Brewer - Clifton and Transcendence are two wineries that I've heard great things about, but every time that I was in Lompoc, I was at the Wine Ghetto, and didn't feel like heading a few blocks over to their tasting rooms. But we were able to swing over their this time. Also, we decided to stop in Santa Barbara on our way home for dinner, and were able to check out Au Bon Climat finally.

Brewer - Clifton (wines $30-$56)
'10 Chardonnay, '10 Chardonnay - Sea Smoke, '09 Chardonnay - Gnesa, '10 Pinot Noir, '10 Pinot Noir - Machado, '10 Pinot Noir - Cargasacchi, '10 Pinot Noir - Mount Carmel
Brewer - Clifton is a partnership between Greg Brewer, who is the winemaker at Melville, and Steve Clifton, who owns and runs Palmina. We've visited both of those wineries in the past and really enjoyed them, so we figured that their partnership label should be good as well. The tasting room is sleek and artful, though a bit chilly because it's connected to their storage area. They pour two different varietals of wine - Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Each type had a Sta. Rita Hills bottle (grapes came from a handful of vineyards), and then a few vineyard specific bottles. The wines were all excellent, but pricey. I'd say that the Gnesa Chardonnay is the best Chardonnay that I've had in the Central Coast, but at $52, that's a steep cost for one of my least favorite wine types. In their defense, my aversion to Chards is the "fat, buttery, caramel" style, since Brewer - Clifton only uses neutral oak barrels, the wines aren't sloppy bastards. They were quite tasty in fact. We definitely enjoyed the Pinots as well - but were once again cowed by the price tags. We were completely enamoured with the Cargasacchi Pinot. It was intricate and floral. As young as the Pinots were, they tasted excellent already. Cool place, quality wines, moderately high prices.
Experience: B / Wines: B+

Transcendence Wines (wines $16-$45)
'11 Chardonnay - Zotovich, '09 Pinot Noir - Babcock, '09 "Parea" (Grenache/Syrah) - Larner, '09 Syrah, Kenneth Crawford '07 Syrah
Transcendence is the philanthropically-minded winery from Joey Gummere, formerly of Kenneth Crawford Winery. Each year, Transcendence designates one of their wines as a fundraiser and donates 100% of the sales of that wine to a chosen non-profit. Being a career non-profiteer, I totally dig this model. The tasting room conveys a yoga/eastern thinking vibe - peaceful and welcoming. Our host - Steve - was an awesome dude. He was very mellow, friendly and excited to share wine. He was even kind enough to have us sample some young Grenache from a barrel that was aging in the warehouse connected to the tasting room. The wines themselves varied from pretty good to very good for me. The Chard and Pinot were solid, and I definitely enjoyed the two Syrahs (especially considering the $16 and $28 price points). The Grenache/Syrah blend ("Parea") was not for me - though everyone else in my group loved it - so I'm not sure what happened there.
Experience: A- / Wines: B

Au Bon Climat Winery (wines $30-$45)
'08 Chardonnay, '04 "Hildegard" (Pinot Gris/Pinot Blanc/Aligote), '09 "Knox Alexander" Pinot Noir, '07 Pinot Noir - Nielson, '01 "Reservatum" (Sangiovese/Cabernet Franc/Merlot), '06 Petit Verdot - Bien Nacido
Jim Clendenen and his winery, Au Bon Climat, are an early institution to the Santa Barbara region. Jim's been involved in the wine industry since 1978, and created Au Bon Climat in 1982. Since then he's racked up numerous international awards and acclaim. The tasting room is in the busy State Street shopping area of Santa Barbara. We visited on a hot Sunday afternoon, and there was a weird vibe in the place. There were a lot of folks there, and I think that the staff were interested in bringing an end to the weekend. The place was very well decorated - hip and funky. I did not enjoy the wines very much. The whites tasted over-oaked to me, the reds were more preferable - especially the Pinots.
Experience: C / Wines: C+

There were interesting little hitches to this trip: such as getting bumped from our hotel and one of our friends having bronchitis on the trip, bad traffic, but that only seemed to highlight the brightness of the rest of it. Au Bon Climat was not as good as I imagined that it would be, but it was a gorgeous weekend and we really enjoyed Brewer - Clifton and Transcendence. It's my plan to continue to check out wineries that we haven't been to in the area, and I'm a bit afraid that we're going to have less quality experiences. Though this trip might be emblematic of future experiences - pretty darn good more often than not.