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02.06.08

home | metro=20 santa cruz index | features |=20 santa=20 cruz | feature story

Photograph by Felipe = Buitrago

Pinot Country for Odd Men

A journey to Santa Cruz Mountain = pinot noir=20 territory.

By Stett Holbrook

The slog up to the Santa Cruz Mountains was no = drive in=20 the country. The storm that dropped several inches of snow = on=20 Skyline Boulevard downed power lines and resulted in several = road=20 closures. As I climbed up the mountains from Highway 17, = Black Road=20 was barricaded to traffic, and I had to take a meandering = back road.=20 But as it intersected with Skyline, it too was blocked off. = Screw=20 it. I've got wines to taste. I ignored the unmanned = barricade and=20 drove gingerly down the slushy highway, passing snow covered = cars=20 left in driveways and PG&E crews working to secure = arcing power=20 lines felled by heavy winds. =

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As I continued on and headed down Alpine Road, = low-hanging, dense=20 fog enveloped my car and slowed my progress to a crawl. = Headlights=20 were of little use in the waning light of the afternoon. But = at last=20 I made it to the black metal gate behind which rose Rhys' = hillside=20 Alpine vineyard.

Snow. Downed power lines. Blinding fog. Icy roads. These=20 conditions aren't what most people call to mind when they = think of=20 California wine country. But the rugged Santa Cruz Mountains = aren't=20 your typical wine country. And the wines, especially the = pinot noir,=20 aren't typical either.

The Santa Cruz Mountains are not the place you're likely = to=20 encounter tour buses filled with gulp-and-run day trippers = hopping=20 from one tasting room to the next. It's not easy to travel = the steep=20 and winding mountain roads to get from winery to winery, = with or=20 without a wine buzz.

Because of the size of the winegrowing area=97it covers = three=20 counties from Half Moon Bay down to the hills above = Watsonville=97the=20 Santa Cruz Mountains are suitable for growing a variety of = grapes=20 including cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah, = cabernet franc and even heat-loving zinfandel. Yet because = of its=20 jagged topography, there are only some 1,200 acres planted = to vines,=20 a pittance for an area the size of Napa Valley=97which grows = more than=20 45,000 acres of vines.

But it's the region's distinctive pinot noir, a wine that = at its=20 best can leave one speechless with its inscrutable beauty = and depth=20 of character, that is earning the Santa Cruz Mountains = international=20 acclaim. In an oft-repeated phrase, Wine Spectator = magazine=20 called the Santa Cruz Mountains the most underrated wine = making=20 region in the world. But don't take their word for it. March = 28 and=20 29 the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association will = host its=20 fourth annual "Pinot Paradise," a popular event that = showcases pinot=20 noir from more than 30 local wineries.

Standout Santa Cruz Mountains pinot noir like that made = by Rhys=20 Vineyards, Mt. Eden Vineyards and Windy Oaks Estate = demonstrate the=20 singular focus on creating wines that fully express the=20 terroir=97essence of place=97of this one-of-a-kind wine = country that=20 rises above Monterey Bay on one side and Silicon Valley on = the=20 other.

Mt. Eden Vineyards
Driving up two miles of dirt = road=20 above Saratoga to Mt. Eden's mountaintop vineyards and = winery is a=20 trip into America's winemaking past, present and future. = Maverick=20 winemaker Martin Ray established Mt. Eden in 1943. While = Martin Ray=20 isn't a familiar name to people outside the wine business, = it should=20 be. Ray, a stockbroker turned winemaker, was a prot=E9g=E9 = of Paul=20 Masson and spent his summers as a child learning to make = wine from=20 the Frenchman at his mountain winery that overlooked = Saratoga. In=20 time, he bought Masson's winery and then sold it to purchase = land on=20 an adjacent mountaintop that became Mt. Eden.

Ray's goal was to produce the best pinot noir and = chardonnay in=20 America. That sounds like any number of contemporary = winemakers, but=20 back then it was unheard of. Wine was cheap and not very = good.

Instead of carrying varietal designations like pinot noir = or=20 cabernet sauvignon as is the practice now, wines were = labeled with=20 place names like chablis and burgundy, names that had little = meaning=20 since winemakers put whatever they wanted into their wine. = Ray,=20 described as both a visionary and an opinionated pain in the = ass,=20 was way ahead of his time as he sought to take on the = supremacy of=20 European wines by making great wines=97that carried equally = great=20 prices=97in California.

"In 1943, nobody put their eggs in that basket," says = Jeffrey=20 Patterson, who now owns the winery and makes its wine. "He = was so=20 far ahead of his time."

Today, Mt. Eden boasts the longest lineage of pinot noir=20 production in America, and Patterson carries on in the = tradition of=20 Ray.

Patterson and his wife live in one of the homes Ray built = atop=20 the 2,000-foot peak of Mt. Eden, a house with a wide deck = wrapped=20 with grape vines and stunning views of Silicon Valley. When = I came=20 to visit Mt. Eden, venison stock was bubbling away in the = kitchen,=20 the savory remnants of a deer Patterson killed nearby.

Sitting in the living room where Ray used to party=97with = guests=20 like John Steinbeck, Herbert Hoover, Alfred Knopf, Burgess = Meredith=20 and Prince Vasili Romanoff, nephew of Czar Nicolai = II=97while I gazed=20 out the window at the valley below, drinking pinot noir made = from=20 grapes grown just outside in a vineyard planted by Ray, it = was hard=20 not to be moved by the spirit of the late great vintner.In = spite of=20 its storied past, Mt. Eden is on the cutting edge of Santa = Cruz=20 Mountains' pinot noir producers.

Patterson, an energetic 55-year-old with curly blond = hair,=20 apparently knows a good thing when he finds it. After = graduating=20 from Berkeley, he developed a keen interest in wine. He took = a few=20 courses in winemaking at UC-Davis, and thanks to a bit of = luck and=20 knowing the right people, he landed a job as assistant = winemaker at=20 Mt. Eden in 1980. He never left and now owns the company. He = recently purchased Cinnabar Winery's vineyards and winery, = another=20 Saratoga mountain winery.

Rhys Vineyards
Rhys Vineyards, a relatively new = winery=20 whose first vintage was 2004, is one of several in the Santa = Cruz=20 Mountains appellation that embody the spirit and promise of = the=20 region. The winery makes wine from five different mountain = vineyards=20 and specializes in pinot noir, but also produces first-rate=20 chardonnay and syrah.

Kevin Harvey, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist with a=20 deep=97some might say obsessive=97love for pinot noir, = founded the=20 winery with one goal in mind: spare no expense to make the = world's=20 best pinot noir. After researching climate, soil types and = other=20 factors critical for the production of pinot noir grapes, he = settled=20 on the Santa Cruz Mountains. In a region that's already made = a name=20 for itself with its pinot noir, some say Rhys' wines have = raised the=20 bar and will attract even greater acclaim for Santa Cruz = Mountains=20 pinot. And after walking the vineyards and tasting the = wines, I=20 firmly agree.

A mountain vineyard is a beautiful sight, and the Rhys' = steeply=20 terraced, 13-acre Alpine Vineyard located near Portola State = Park is=20 almost painfully gorgeous. The leafless vines stand like = individual=20 sculptures as they trail down the hill in neat rows while=20 greenish-blue hillsides dense with redwood and pine frame = the=20 west-facing vineyards. Wisps of fog drift in deep-set = valleys as=20 Butano Ridge rises up like a rampart to keep the brunt of = wind and=20 rain at bay. In the distance, the clouds part for an instant = and=20 send a thick ray of sunshine over the Pacific Ocean as it = flashes=20 sapphire blue. While the vineyard is only 10 miles from the = hubbub=20 of Silicon Valley below, I can only see one house in the = distance.=20

The rocky, fast-draining soils force the vines to dig = deep for=20 nutrients, factors that produce wines of uncommon complexity = and=20 expression. The vineyard is planted with 16 different clones = of=20 pinot as part of an ongoing experiment to find the best = grapes for=20 the different vineyards.

Jason Jardine, 30, lives in a house on top of the = vineyard with=20 his wife and two young children. Harvey recruited Jardine = from=20 Oregon's Willamette Valley, another winegrowing region = renowned for=20 its pinot noir.

Wearing rubber boots and a black beret, Jardine barely = represses=20 a smile as he trudges through the vineyards that have become = his=20 home.

"The weather is just perfect here for pinot noir," he = says. "I=20 wouldn't pick any other place in California." Or the world, = I expect=20 him to say.

Jardine, who works with Harvey and winemaker Jeff = Brinkman, says=20 the secret to making world-class pinot noir is doing as = little as=20 possible. The popular wisdom on pinot noir is that's it's=20 notoriously fussy in the vineyard and in the cellar. The = grape's=20 thin skins are sensitive to extremes of temperature, and in = the=20 barrel that wine can swing through several changes that can = leave a=20 winemaker reaching for a quick chemical fix that can = ultimately=20 degrade the final product.

But Jardine's approach is to get out of the grapes' way = rather=20 steer them in one direction or another. The grapes are = farmed=20 organically and biodynamically. He doesn't trim the leaves = to=20 increase sun exposure. Goats and sheep graze the land to = keep weeds=20 in check. When it comes time to crush the grapes, they're = thrown in=20 as whole clusters, stems and all, a typically Burgundian = technique=20 that's less common here. Because wild yeast favors pinot = noir, no=20 commercial yeast is added.

"We're looking for the ultimate expression of the = vineyard," he=20 says. "We really just throw it in a vat and let it happen = and let=20 our grapes do their thing."

And that they do. When I tasted the 2006 Alpine Vineyard = Pinot=20 Noir, it sent me into a reverie. Because of its subtlety and = finesse, sipping a premium pinot noir is like falling under = the=20 spell of a poet or philosopher who induces dreamy thoughts = of=20 beauty, lost love, fleeting time and even eternity.

The wine is built to age, so it was tightly structured = yet=20 offered flavors as deep as a well. The wine is full of = chalky,=20 earthy spice, with black fruit in the background. It's built = around=20 intense, taut tannins that somehow weave together a wine of = finesse=20 and graceful intensity. I could have pondered my glass for = hours and=20 continued to discover nuance and subtleties. Currently, the = winery=20 makes only about 2,200 cases each year. The wine is sold = directly to=20 a rapt group of wine drinkers through a mail order list. = It's not=20 available in stores or restaurants. They don't sell through = a=20 distributor and don't advertise. There's currently a waiting = list to=20 order their wines, so basically someone has to die for you = to get a=20 bottle. "The only way that works is to think you can make = the best=20 pinot possible," says Jardine.

I'd say they're doing just that.

Windy Oaks Estate
As a large appellation, the = Santa=20 Cruz Mountains are all about microclimates. The eastern = slope is=20 warmer and gets less rainfall, while the ocean moderates=20 temperatures on the western side. The endless grinding and = uplifting=20 of tectonic plates mean the soils of one ridge can be = totally=20 different from the next one over. In between are all sorts = of nooks=20 and crannies that favor one kind of wine grape over another. = Winemaker Jim Schultze believes he's found his slice of = pinot=20 paradise in the hills above Corralitos between Aptos and = Watsonville=20 in Santa Cruz County.

Schultze was a management consultant living in Australia = and=20 Europe, where he developed a deep interest in wine, = especially those=20 made in Burgundy. He and his family moved back to the United = States=20 and ended up buying his father-in-law's house in Corralitos. = Schultze and his wife, Judy, who runs the winery's office, = wanted to=20 start making pinot noir somewhere, and when adjacent land = came up=20 for sale, they turned the former apple orchard and cattle = pasture=20 into vineyards, and Windy Oaks was born. "We thought it = would be a=20 good place to grow pinot noir," he says. "It turned out to = be."

From the entrance to the winery, the vineyards slope = uphill until=20 they reach a crest that opens to a staggering view of the = ocean that=20 sweeps all the way to the Monterey Peninsula. Sea breezes = and great=20 dirt coax layers of subtlety and finesse from the wine. = Fourteen=20 acres are planted to pinot noir and one acre to chardonnay. = They=20 also farm four acres of vines in Aptos.

Although the first vintage was only released in 1999, = Windy Oaks=20 wines now sell out weeks after they become available. = There's=20 currently a waiting list to buy them, though they are = available at=20 local restaurants like Soif in Santa Cruz and Forbes Mill = Steakhouse=20 in Los Gatos. Last year, the Los Angeles International Wine=20 Competition awarded Windy Oaks two gold medals for its pinot = noir.=20

Schultze, whose tightly bunched, bushy eyebrows and black = beret=20 make him look every bit the Burgundian gentleman farmer, is = a strict=20 minimalist when it comes to making wine. The grapes are = grown=20 organically. His doesn't till the soil. Wine is moved from = tank to=20 barrel via gravity rather than pumps that can degrade the = wine. The=20 wine is unfiltered and unfined.

"A lot of winemaking techniques interfere with the = expression of=20 the fruit," he says. "[My goal] is to produce a wine that's = very=20 specific to this place."Schultze makes different wines drawn = from=20 different sections or "blocks" of the vineyard. In the case = of his=20 2005 Henry's Block pinot noir, one of several wines I tried, = his=20 efforts produced a beautiful, feminine, well structured wine = that=20 leads with fine flavors and aromas of rocky earth and spice = backed=20 by delicate notes of strawberry and plum with a soft, almost = creamy=20 finish that goes on for miles. After the first sip, I = started=20 imagining this wine with grilled salmon or roast duck. = Delicious.=20

It's clear that he's onto something here at the southern = end of=20 the Santa Cruz Mountains. While he was the first winemaker = to set up=20 shop in the area, several other wineries have followed, and = there's=20 talk of applying for designation as a subappellation to the = Santa=20 Cruz Mountains.

Schultze could try to expand and sell more wine, but he = likes=20 being able to run the winery himself and maintain the = quality of the=20 wines.

"This is as big as I want to get," he says. "I'm enjoying = what=20 I'm doing now. I don't want it to become work." =

Send= =20 a letter to the editor about this story.

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