Far up a narrow and beautiful winding mountain road in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Gilroy is Fernwood Cellars‘ simple barn and winery.  Katya, Lidia, and I stopped by during the last Santa Cruz Mountains Passport Saturday in January and tried their wines.

Fernwood Cellars in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gilroy area

The winery folks were cheery and gracious.  The pours were generous and the wines were full of flavor with much nose, body, and finish to explore.

We tasted in the working winery next to the barrels and equipment so they have true winery ambiance. The location feels like you are out in the boonies because you are.

While we enjoyed all of their wines we loved the 2006 estate Cabernet Sauvignon best.  This is a medium body but robust wine with lots of nose and finish to explore – just the way we like our wine to be.

Big robust wines are typical of the Gilroy and Santa Cruz Mountains regions.  There are soft wines available at some wineries for those who prefer them but big wines are our favorites.  Fernwood is more than worth the drive and adventure.  BEAUTIFUL up there!  And Martin Ranch Winery is just down the road – another small winery with full bodied wines and excellent hospitality.

- 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!

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