Eve’s Wine 101: Santa Rita Hills Tasting

Santa Rita Hills Tasting: It’s a great day job, that some would kill for, but take a contract on someone else, the wine has made me bulletproof. Dear Eve, The Sta. Rita Hills is best known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay but there are over 20 wine grape varieties planted and produced in our AVA. We invite you to join us at palate for this Sta. Rita Hills AVA focused tasting, meet with our producers, taste the wines and learn more about our distinctive growing region. Come Meet with Our Wineries, Old and New Cargasacchi  ~ Clos Pepe ~ Cold Heaven ~ D’Alfonso Curran ~ Demetria ~ Dragonette Cellars ~ Fiddlehead Cellars ~ Flying Goat Cellars ~ Gypsy Canyon Winery ~ Hitching Post Wines ~ Ken Brown Wines ~ Kessler-Haak ~ Longoria Wines ~ Pali Wine Company ~ Prodigal ~  Seagrape Wine Company ~ Sweeney Canyon ~ Weber Wine Company ~ Zotovich Cellars

I’ve had a few of these wines before at the Family Winemakers and Pinot Days events.  But a media tasting in Glendale, at Palate Food and Wine, was a new venue for me – and much closer than the events I go to in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.  The parking was ample, and the two rooms were not filled to capacity and plenty of ice water and cheese and friends and friendly winemakers and the weather was good and there wasn’t any traffic between the 12-3 event, and and and and…

Once again, I barreled through the tasting, one sip per Pinot gal that I am, but also because I was due at Valencia Wine Company’s new CLASSY HOUR at 5 p.m. and back again at 7 p.m. for our monthly Grape of the Night “study group”.  And, in true wine 101 fashion, I really wanted a nap in between each one…

Of the wines listed above I made a special note, though not enough room for full tasting notes (unless the area is otherwise noted, majority are from the Santa Rita Hills) of: Caragasacchi 07 and 08 Pinot Noirs (And winemaker Peter Caragasacchi’s wicked sense of humor paired very well.), D’Alfonso-Curran 06 Rancho Las Hermanas and Rancho La Vina, Badge 09 “Blue Steel” Chardonnay Sierra Madre, Di Bruno 09 Pinot Grigio Sanford and Benedict, Demetria Estate 07 Pinot Noir, Dragonette Cellars 09 Pinot Noir, Fiddlehead Cellars 07 Pinot Noir Cuvée “Seven Twenty Eight” Fiddlestix Vineyard, Pali Wine 08 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard, Seagrape 07 Pinot Noir Huber Vineyard and Sweeney Canyon 2000 Chardonnay and 08 Pinot Noir.

Three from Longoria: 08 Pinot Noir “Lovely Rita”, 07 Pinot Noir, Fe Ciega Vineyard, and 07 Tempranillo Santa Ynez Valley.

Another three from Prodigal Wines: 09 Pinot Gris Sierra Madre Santa Maria Valley, 08 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix and 07 Pinot Noir Appellation Cuvée.

Okay, so is it too late for a nap now?

http://www.staritahills.com/appellation.html

HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS

Grape of the Night at Valencia Wine Company:  The next one will be the study, and drinking of, Mourvedre (85%).  Every person/couple, brings and/or buys a bottle to share with the group. There is no “charge” to attend.  We have found that drinking a single varietal allows us to discover what we like, or don’t like, in each.  The next one is Monday, May 2, at 7p.m.

The Vine 2 Wine CLASSIC is Sunday 6/12.  I’m very excited about working with the Circle of Hope people, but, truth be told, working with the Wine Chair of the former SCV Wine Classic, Jeff Jacobson, is an education.  His wealth of knowledge and experience is making the Vine 2 Wine Classic – a new Classic!  Please join us and purchase a $50 ticket by calling 661-254-5218.

Yours, in wine and out,

Eve Bushman- Commentary

Eve Bushman is a local writer that specializes in writing about wine. You can find great articles by Eve on her blog at http://www.evewine101.com or email her at [email protected]. Her commentaries represent her own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization she may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon. Eve also writes at http://scvelitemagazine.com and you can follow Eve’s Wine 101 on Facebook and Twitter!