The Santa Cruz Mountains Passport is one of the best.  Buy a Passport and it doesn’t expire.  You can visit each winery once, and there are plenty of visit.  A mostly unexplored section of this wine region is on the southern end north of Watsonville.  This past January we decided to see what is there.

Alfaro Family Vineyards and Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Alfaro is a working winery in a big barn with a long tasting room to one side. Nothing special about the ambiance but the surrounding hills are beautiful and they have a nice little picnic area behind the barn.

Is Afaro worth your time to visit? Yep. The reason?  Pinot Noir. This is Pinot that reminds me why I like Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot. It isn’t too light like many.  Soft and refined but full nose, flavors, and a nice long finish.  Most Pinots are a bit too soft for us. This one, and the estate Pinots at the nearby wineries, are not Pinots for newbies only. They are fun and interesting to drink.

Visit Afaro as part of a tour of the southern Santa Cruz Mountain wineries near Corralitos.  There are enough wineries for a full day. Bring a picnic and enjoy the hospitality.

- jim

Bonny Doon Vineyard had a tasting room in the mountains in the town of Bonny Doon.   A few years ago Randall Grahm moved his tasting room and winery to northern Santa Cruz.  The large tasting room doubles as a gourmet restaurant with private booths in large wine vats / barrels and a counter bar with a view of the kitchen activity.

Bonny Doon restaurant within the tasting room. Counter bar with a view of the kitchen action in the distance.

The menu is outstanding and interesting but we found that this place is not a well-kept secret.  In the evenings you should have reservations.  The ambiance is unusual but the metal barn is warmed up with a creative use of wine barrel decor and hospitality.

We just finished the Bonny Doon 2006 San Benito County Sangiovese.  It nicely meets our favorite taste profile of great nose, robust body, and long tasty finish. The label describes it as an “explosively delicious cherry bomb” and we agree.  It is a delight to explore.

I find that San Benito wines tend to be a bit more flavorful than other regions. This little county about 40 minutes south of San Jose has few wineries that are open to the public but wineries in the local regions create some great wines from the grapes.

The area around the winery is loaded with other fine wineries.  While the buildings are basic light industrial they are designed with more style than usual.  The attractiveness of the property gives you more ambiance than you would normally expect.  Definitely worth a visit!

- jim

I’ve tasted at quiet little Vino Tabi a couple of times.  The tasting room is in a working winery in a spiffed up industrial building.  It is in a very nice neighborhood though.  On one side is Bonny Doon Vineyards’ tasting room and restaurant and on the other are Sones and Santa Cruz Mountains wineries.  Across the drive is Silver Mountain’s tasting room and Pelican Ranch.

Vino Tabi's winery in Santa Cruz, California

We just finished a bottle of their 2007 Syrah. It and their other wines are hardy fruit-forward treats that are interesting to explore and the finish sticks around on your palate.  The grapes are sourced on the Central Coast, not the Santa Cruz Mountains.

There is a $5 tasting fee refundable with purchase and wine prices range from $22 to $25 with one Pinot at $39.  They offer Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and a Bordeaux blend.

The tasting room has winery ambiance, yes, all that equipment and barrels, with a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

The surrounding area has 8 wineries within walking distance with 6 within steps of Vino Tabi in north Santa Cruz.  There are nearby motels for your recovery. 

- jim

We visited this winery last weekend in Santa Cruz, CA. It is a tiny working winery in an industrial park building. Nothing romantic but Bill Miiler, the vintner, is enthusiastic and the barrels are there for an impromptu barrel tasting.

This evening we are drinking his 07 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot. The nose is outstanding and complex. While the finish is softer than we usually prefer it lingers instead of dying out fast like many Pinots. We will buy his Pinot again and want to return soon.

He doesn’t have a Web site so you will have to visit his winery. It is near seven others in Santa Cruz so plenty to do there!

When Katya and I find a wine that is particularly interesting and flavorful I put the empty bottle in my office and aggregate a few to blog about.  While we like pretty much all the we pick up at wineries around California there are occasionally ones that really get our attention.  As usual I’m not going to tell you it has certain attributes because context changes taste but if you are looking for flavor and an exciting taste experience give any of these a try.

1. Ridge 2005 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay Home Ranch.  Ridge is a mountain winery with a breath-taking view of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay.  The picnic area has one of the best views in California.   Ridge has a reputation for outstanding wines and we feel their Chard is special.  Santa Cruz Mountains wines tend to have more nose and be more flavorable than elsewhere in California.  There are a few light soft wines made in this region but we find more taste adventure per bottle here and in Gilroy than anywhere else. This Chard fits that.  It is a fascinating blend of flavors that is unusual and we loved each sip.  It is worth going out of your way for.
2. Locatelli 2001 Cab Estate from Paso Robles.  This is a small family owned winery on a hill north of Paso in a rather warm zone.  The patriach arrived in 1898 from Italy and went right into the wine business. This is a classic Cab that doesn’t disappear when you swallow.  The nose is full and fun. The oak and berries and light tannins linger nicely but no burn.  It isn’t soft which is our preference.
3. Narrow Gate 2006 Petite Cuvee from El Dorado County.  Narrow Gate is a rather remote and little known mountain winery in the Sierra pines with the tasting in the working winery.  They have a nice picnic area under pines so it is like camping out in the Sierras.  The winemaker is very approachable and loves to take visitors on a tour de force.  The cuvee is a blend of Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Zin, and Viognier.  So what is special?  The nose and taste are significantly more interesting than most blends.

OK, now I can clear out the bottles and get ready for the next unusual wines.  There are several from Hahn that are merit special attention and that post is coming up sometime this month.  We have six that we captured at the tasting room so give us time to try them again after a “waiting period”. 

- jim

I taste a lot of wine all over California but rarely blog about wine.  All the wine is very good with only subtle differences.  However, sometimes I bump into a winery that crafts their wines differently.  I’m not giving a value judgment or rating but instead a heads-up that you may want to try these for a little taste adventure:

1. Rousanne 06 – slightly sweet with a dry finish.
2. Chardonney 06 – no butter and only a tiny hint of oak but soft and smooth.
3. Valdiquire 06 – heavy on the cranberry with a neutral sweet fruit and soft finish.
4. Pino 06 – strong nose with a little bit at the end of this highly tasteful and aromatic Santa Cruz Mountains wine.
5. Petite Sirah 04 – stronger flavors than most of this varietal.
6. Late Harvest Cab 06 – WOW, this is a serious treat that is only slightly sweet but without a sweet finish.

Cinnabar’s tasting room is in Saratoga, CA and we have it mapped at WineQuesters.com Santa Cruz Mountains GPS map.

Compared to the fun times we have at other regions’ passport events this Santa Cruz Mountains event sucked.  We’ve experienced better there.  We visited Ridge, Pichetti, Naumann, Savannah-Chanelle, Loma Prieta and Silver Mountain.  Two that were on the passport weren’t open which was an inconvenience.  None had interesting food.  I’m disappointed with my native wine region.

The slight advantage of buying a $40 passport is that you may find a discount here and there and you get to visit mountain wineries that are normally only open by appointment without calling ahead.  However, because some were closed anyway we had to call ahead.  Passport days are more social and that is a benefit but only if you go to the wineries that are normally closed.

The generally remote mountain wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains ARE worth visiting.  The wines are bold with lots of flavor and aroma.  You can actually taste the Pinots. They aren’t too soft.  The people are often interesting to talk to.  The views can be incredible!  The narrow winding mountain roads are a treat to drive and explore.  The redwood and oak forests are deep and beautiful.

We particularly enjoyed our late afternoon with vintner Jerold O’Brien of Silver Mountain.  This winery is remote but the people are worth the drive.  Jerold is 68, single, fit, and very personable.  We really enjoyed his wines and the interesting after-hours kitchen “tour” with a few other tasters. Definitely going back someday.

For wineries with views to die for try Loma Prieta, Silver Mountain, Burrell School, Ridge, and Byington.  Yesterday the air was clear over the SF Bay Area so the view from Ridge was perfect and the fog burned back from Monterey Bay so the view from the wineries on the west side of the mountains was outstanding!

- jim