SLO County News BlogGolf, Wine, Real Estate, Business & Travel NewsSLO's Edna Valley WineriesSaturday, March 26, 2005I've been analyzing and writing about the wine business for 26 years now, and it's no secret that what maintains my interest is not the wines. Sure, the wines intrigue, and it's always a pleasure to discover a new pocket of vinous quality, a new take on an old theme, and particularly a wine that delivers both flavor and value. And yes, wine is a worthy adjunct to sensual and civilized living, and yes, wine even offers sound philosophical foundations (on subjects ranging from crafting quality to moderation in consumption).But what continues to bring me back with enthusiasm and vigor is the people - their resilience in the face of Ma Nature's vagaries, their desire to create wines that reflect both the ground in which they are grown and the personality of their producer, and their dazzling range of diversity, the one from the other. Wine people are interesting, simple enough, because they are interested. Where many folk run into shoals and shallow water when nudged from their prime area of expertise, winegrowers seem always to possess an array of interests that is as broad as that of wine-making itself, which demands diverse skills in agriculture, business, science, technology, the arts and more. One small pocket of inestimable pleasure is tucked into the southernmost aspect of San Luis Obispo County. While Paso Robles gets most of the county's accolades, it would be an egregious mistake to pass over its southern sidepocket, Edna Valley (and it's own little hip pocket, Arroyo Grande). Though demand and climate make Chardonnay this region's leading light, there remains a wide variety of varietals and styles in this limited loci, from the opulent Zinfandel of Saucelito Canyon to the oily Viognier of Alban, from Talley's stylish Chardonnay to Edna Valley Vineyard's supple Pinots, from the crisp sparklers of Maison Deutz to the memorable dry Gewurztraminers of Claiborne & Churchill. One must begin the story of this little pleasure pocket with the more than 700-acre Paragon Vineyards, the lynchpin of this viticultural region, which comprises nearly half of Edna Valley's 1,500 vineyard acres. (Compare to Paso Robles, which has more than 6,000 acres planted to vines, and Arroyo Grande, Edna Valley's hip pocket, at less than 500 acres.) The late Jack Niven, who once ran Purity Stores' 100-plus food emporiums, began planting Paragon in the early 1970s. Chardonnay accounts for more than 500 acres at Paragon today. Though Riesling and Gewurz are gone, Paragon still has 100 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon (Sutter Home is the buyer), 40 acres of Sauvignon blanc (also Sutter Home) and only 40 acres of Pinot noir. Says CFO John Niven, "Pinot noir is very much in demand down here, and we could sell what we have four times over. Still, Chardonnay is easier to grow. It's not the headache that Pinot is." Nearly half of Paragon's crop goes to Edna Valley Vineyard, a winery in which Paragon shares ownership with Chalone. In addition, Paragon has its own label, Baileyana (formerly Tiffany Hill), for a $15 Chardonnay that is forward with oak, lemon and orange rind fruit, and a fat, buttery finish. "The Chardonnays here are good because our growing season is so cool - nothing stops the marine influence coming in form Morro Bay - and extended," notes Niven. Our season typically starts two weeks earlier than Napa Valley's, and ends two weeks later! We occasionally harvest Cabernet after Thanksgiving!" Edna Valley Vineyard's history is inextricably tied to Paragon. "In 1977 Paragon had unsold Chardonnay fruit and Chalone had excess winery space," explains Edna Valley Vineyard's president/winemaker Eric Laumann, who once made Hacienda's exquisite meritage red, Antares. "After making a couple of vintages under the Chapparal label, everyone decided it was time to build a winery." And build they did, a facility that is Chalone's double (in layout, and in size). At one point the 22,000 case facility produced nearly four times that amount, though recent vintages have settled in closer to 60,000 cases (all but 3-4,000 cases being Chardonnay). Pretty much all you see at Edna Valley are barrels. "That's the (Chalone chairman) Dick Graff philosophy - "Wine belongs in barrel" quotes Laumann, who's such an art hound that he spent money on original art works before buying even a couch. He knows his way around the art of wine, too. His Edna Valley Reserve Chardonnay 1993 ($22) is redolent with French bread oakiness and fruit that ranges from orange peel and clove to sweet butter. The Pinot noir from the same vintage ($15) boasts brittle strawberry and raspberry fruit that is so tightly drawn that it's going to need a few years in bottle to best show itself off with the likes of lamb or pork. (The winery press release also suggests risotto with wild mushrooms. Yum.) One time aerospace engineer Andy MacGregor was another pioneering Edna Valley grower, starting his 65-acre planting along Orcutt Road in 1975. Today, his daughter Cathy produces fresh apple-fruiting Chardonnay from his fruit under her Windemere label (named for the small town in Scotland where the MacGregor clan hailed from). Cathy - a Davis grad who apprenticed at Grgich Hills, La Crema and Mill Creek - also produced an iodine-label Napa Valley Cab and a dense black cherry-and-cinnamon-fruited Pinot noir. Neighbors to the MacGregors are Margaret and Meo Zuech's tiny Piedra Creek Winery, where Chardonnay (MacGregor) is flush with butterscotch and pineapple and Zinfandel (Benito Dusi) is zingy with black pepper, spiced raspberry and French bread-like oak. The Beko family's Cottonwood Canyon's vineyards are in the Santa Maria Valley, but the winery presently is on Santa Fe Road in San Luis Obispo, where the Chardonnay exhibits roasted oak and ripe orange peel fruit and the Pinot noir is leathery, with strong mintiness. North county neighbor Meridian Winery has the 95-acre Davenport Creek Vineyard (planted in 1989) in Edna Valley, adjacent to Paragon and Edna Valley Vineyard. Planted entirely to Chardonnay, the fruit goes to Meridian's Edna Valley Reserve Chardonnay. The '94 vintage, released at $14, shows off toasty French oak and a mouthful of fruit, including broad clove, ripe apple, plenty of papaya, and a rich, oily texture that is quite captivating. A couple of truly intriguing operations - in a whole valley of intriguing businesses - are Alban Vineyard and Claiborne & Churchill. The former is John Alban's paean to Condrieu in particular, the Rhone Valley in general. "I was celebrating a birthday when I was at Fresno State, and people had tried to bring wines that nobody knew. I tasted my first Condrieu that day. . .and was absolutely seduced!" Alban went on to finish most of his degree at Davis in 1986 (though he didn't finish his orals until two or three years later). Working at Leeward Winery in '87 and '88 he came into contact with MacGregor Vineyard Chardonnay. "To zero in on San Luis Obispo County, I planted vines at five sites from West Templeton to Edna Valley," says Alban. "The Edna Valley had a long and well-protected growing season, with a little heat from the Santa Ana winds in late September, early October." Alban has more than 60 acres planted at the southeastern extremity of the appellation ("the 400-foot contour line marks the southeastern boundary of Edna Valley), over half of that planted to Viognier. The rest is dedicated to Rhone varieties Roussan, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. "I was lucky, I grew up with fine wines. My father was an amateur collector, and I grew up drinking Grgich, Chalone, Heitz, Hanzell and Stony Hill Chardonnays. What I love most about Viognier is its heady perfume, its pristine apricot and lemon fruit, its great body, and its lengthy finish. It's the only white that combines the aromatic perfume and that much weight of body and length in a dry white wine. All things to excess!" Claiborne & Churchill is another tiny operation whimsical enough to think that consumers will fall in love with their Dry Gewurztraminer. Which they will, if only they take the time and effort to taste this exquisite, delicate floral masterpiece. Bright apple and pear give way to grapefruit and cinnamon spiciness that finishes razor sharp (this is the '95). It's a complex little thing, with just a hint of oak vanillin, and it'll only get better with a few years of bottle age and a hearty Alsatian stew or the like. (There's also a lush and lovely Chardonnay, from MacGregor Vineyard, and some supple, filet mignon-like Pinot noir, too.) Claiborne Thompson and his partner/wife Fredericka Churchill started the business working out of Edna Valley Vineyard in 1983, when they produced 550 cases of wine (they're now up to about 4,000). "I taught ancient Scandinavian languages and literature for twelve years at the University of Michigan," notes Clay. "I had tasted a lovely Edna Valley Vineyard Chardonnay, made at Chalone, and came out there to investigate. The people were very friendly, and so refreshing in their enthusiasm and their support. In August of '81 I moved out here, working in the cellar at Edna Valley for five years. Serving my apprenticeship, as it were. I'd always like Alsatian wines." After working out of Edna Valley Vineyard, and later in an industrial park, Clay and Fredericka have a new winery out behind their home on Carpenter Canyon Road. "It's an eco-friendly, strawbale structure," laughs Clay. "No 'three little pig' jokes, please. It uses sixteen-inch thick bales of rice straw - which would otherwise be burned and add to pollution - which give us an insulation value of R-50, and when they're sealed with stucco, they're impervious to fire, water or other natural elements." Corbett Canyon, like Alban, sits right on the edge of the Edna Valley, but most of its fruit comes from Santa Barbara County, to the south. The first winery built in the southern half of the county, Corbett Canyon came into existence nearly full-grown, the flamboyant child of winemaker Jim Lawrence. He broke ground in April 1979, and crushed more than 3,000 tons of grapes that fall, producing nearly 250,000 cases of wine! What with a Nouveau Chardonnay and a pink Gewurztraminer, it was more than the market could take, and shortly thereafter Kentucky's Glenmore Distillers bought the place and brought in Cary Gott (who had previously founded Montevina and now runs Sterling) to reform the grand, Mission-styled facility and its wines. Concentrating on San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara fruit, Gott did just that. Of particular note, today, are the value-priced "Coastal Classic" wines. A pair of Reserve wines mark the upper end of Corbett Canyon's spectrum: Chardonnay (the '94 Santa Barbara County has a silky Golden Delicious apple fruit and high-toned peach in a buttery finish) and Central Coast Pinot noir (the '94 has forward berry and bright cherry, framed by an intriguing herbaceousness). "Epernay yeast is a part of our signature," suggests winemaker John Clark, who presides over the winery's 400,000 case crush. "It's a slow fermenter, and brings out more character in the wines than, say, Pris de Mousse would. Three-quarters of our production is Chardonnay, much of that from our 350-acre Los Alamos vineyard, all of which is planted to Chardonnay." Nearby is the fine Chamisal Vineyard, known for its coconut and oak-toasted Chardonnays. Planted by the late Norman Goss, which sat fallow after his death. Recently purchased by Terry Speizer, the vineyard was torn out in 1995 and replanted in 1996 to 30 acres each of Chardonnay and Pinot noir. Moving into the Arroyo Grande Valley is Talley Vineyards, built upon the soundest of foundations: diversified farming. Oliver Talley started farming in 1948, and the Talleys today farm more than 2,000 acres, only 102 of which are devoted to wine grapes. Given their early success with Chardonnay (lively pineapple and butterscotch), and now Pinot noir (supple black cherry, with brisk hazelnut spiciness), one expects that number to increase in the coming years. "We have bell peppers over there on the flat," says Oliver's grandson Brian Talley from behind his neatly-trimmed goatee (we are standing next to the ancient adobe tasting room Talley shares with Saucelito Canyon at 3031 Lopez Drive, Arroyo Grande). "Right now, Chardonnay accounts for about eighty percent of our production. We have ten acres of Pinot noir and five of Sauvignon blanc, an acre of white Riesling and nearly an acre of Semillon. We barrel-ferment the whites, which gives them a bit of character. Character is a good descriptor for the sparkling wines of Maison Deutz (correctly pronounced "duhtz"), situated just off of Highway 101, just south of Arroyo Grande. Just three miles from the Pacific, whitecaps can be spied on a clear day. Production is 25,000 cases a year and marketing is through partner Wine World (Beringer, et al). Drawing from the winery's own 160 acres (equally divided among Pinot blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot noir), winemaker Christian Roguenant produces a crisp strawberry and bread dough Brut, a lean strawberry Blanc de Noirs, a lush, plum-filled Brut Rose, and a richly toasted Brut Reserve. Bill and Nancy Greenough are proprietors of Saucelito Canyon Vineyard. Their vineyard is 20 miles southeast of San Luis Obispo, east of Lopez Lake (and 10 miles east of their shared tasting room with Talley Vineyards). "We bought the property in 1974 from the granddaughters of Englishman Henry Ditmas, who planted Zinfandel there in 1879," cites Bill. "Having been abandoned for more than thirty years, the vine tops were dead, but the roots were still alive. So I picked out one shoot from each root crown, then cut off the rest to create a new trunk." That accounted for three acres of dry-farmed Zinfandel. In 1976 an additional five acres were planted; the first wines were made in 1978. Cooler than Paso Robles ("the fog comes up from Santa Maria), but warmer than Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande, the uplifted ocean terrace (800 feet above sea level) along Saucelito Creek is cool enough to embody their Zinfandels with great depth and zest of black pepper and tar, yet warm enough to add on layers of fleshy, mature fruit in the form of black cherry and chocolate. The '94, released at $15 the bottle, show dense raspberry, sweet tar and licorice fruit that is juicy and supple, with just the right accent of graham-like oak. The biggest danger to this wonderfully diverse region is residential pressure. But that, like additional vineyard development, is contingent upon the availability of water, historically scarce in this neck of the woods. "We are concerned about the San Jose syndrome," remarks John Niven, as we tour the silent rural roads of Edna Valley's shallow natural bowl. "Land with water, for row crops, was going for fifteen to twenty thousand an acres, but the same land without water sold for maybe three or four thousand an acre." Money concerns aside, this troy little pocket of pleasure is home to interestingly interested people who, not surprisingly, produce a delightful array of interesting and distinctive wines. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Not at all. Edna Valley: pleasure, pure and simple - San Luis Obispo County Wines & Vines, Richard Paul Hinkle, 1996 Read More
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