A Peak into the Future
People get really excited about the Santa Barbara County Futures Tasting; so excited that it would be easy to mistake the massive line of wine enthusiasts outside the Wine Cask of Santa Barbara on March 10th for groupies lining up before a rock concert. As I waited in line swirling my empty glass, I was delighted to see a highly diverse crowd jammed together chattering in anticipation of the 119 wines selected for the event.
When the doors finally did open no one wasted any time approaching their first tasting of the day. I was blown away. These are futures after all. The wine is very young. The point of a futures tasting is to give wine lovers the opportunity to sample the best of what the local wineries are planning on offering in the coming year. The wines are made available at a discounted price for those that wish to preorder them based on a premature tasting. Not that I wasn’t expecting to taste some marvelous stuff, but I knew I had three hours of tasting ahead of me. No rush.
The bulk of the attendees flocked around the Sea Smoke table. Sea Smoke has developed what can only be described as a cult following for their Santa Rita Hills grown Pinot Noir, and the mob that was slowly developing around their table was an indication that there were many devotees in attendance. I had already decided to focus on Pinot Noir for the day, so Sea Smoke would be a fine place to start. Unfortunately the large mob that was developing in front of their booth was much too daunting and I found myself at the neighboring Ampelos Cellars table. To my delight they also had a Santa Rita Hills Pinot so I decided to try their stuff instead. It was my lucky day. My fresh palette enjoyed the 2005 ? Pinot Noir. The young wine had impressive red fruit flavors and just enough acid to help it dance across my palette. This is only the second year they’ve made wines from estate grown grapes, but I would have guessed they’d been doing it for much longer than that.
After a great first tasting, I walked the short distance to Costa de Oro. My father turned me on to this outstanding winery last year. He knew I would appreciate their well made moderately priced Pinot Noirs. I’ve enjoyed their award winning past vintages and was excited to see what they had to offer. The 2006 “777” Pinot Noir did not disappoint. Yes there were great fruit tones, but there the assortment of earthy aromas hidden beneath stole is what truly enticed me. Forest floor, pipe tobacco, and camp fires were the images that popped into my head. Bravo!
I then ran into a snag. As hunger pangs set in I approached the hour derves table and made the mistake of snacking on a spicy empanada. Bad idea. That spicy little snack lit my palette up! There was no way I could taste anything with fire tongue. So I set out looking for my friends that I had lost in the opening rush. I found them smiling in front of the Hitching Post tasting table. They stuffed some cheese in my mouth (which put out the fire) and coerced me to taste with them. I am not a big fan of hype and have never given much time to Hitching Post or any of the other wineries that have gotten much press because of Sideways. However, I have to say, I am very glad that I tasted their stuff, and if you haven’t already been told, let me tell you that all three of their 2005 Pinot’s were outstanding. Whether you try the elegant Burgandy styled Cargascchi, the rich, sexy and almost chewy Fiddlestix, or the expertly blended Highliner I think you’ll be persuaded to pick up a few bottles.
I still wanted to get back to the Sea Smoke table but as fate would have it I was persuaded once again to stop and try something new. To be honest with you I had never heard of Vino V, but a small group of fellow tasters were going nuts in front of their table, and I was lucky enough to notice. The 2005 Solomon Hills Pinot Noir was incredible! It was much different than all the other Pinot’s I had tasted thus far. Dark fruits mingling with creamy vanilla aroused a prominent image of cherry cola. This Pinot was off the beaten path and I loved it.
Towards the end of the day I sampled a few other varietals and enjoyed many of them. By no means did I even come close to tasting all the wines offered. However I truly enjoyed a few. The Curtis 2005 Crossroad is a blend of Grenache (75%) and Syrah (25%). This inexpensive wine sure didn’t taste that way to me. It isn’t often that one runs into Petit Verdot bottled on its own, but Clendenen Family Vineyeards was pouring their 2003 Bien Nacido Petit Verdot and I enjoyed the rare treat. Stolpman lived up to the great recent press for their Syrahs with the 2004 Angeli Syrah. Finally I wasn’t surprised at all to find that all the wines from Beckman were, tasting quite well. However, the most memorable was undoubtedly the 2006 Whole Cluster Syrah.
The Wine Cask will be hosting a second futures tasting on Saturday, April 28th. If you missed the first one I recommend you get to this second offering. Santa Barbara County produces amazing wine and this is a rare opportunity to sample some of the finest this area has to offer. Reservations are required so call ahead. 966-9463 or 800 436-9463. Tickets are $55 per person.