Laurie Love on Wine: Locals at World of Pinot Noir, Pebble Beach Food & Wine preview and ‘Eden’ premiere

Welcome to Laurie Love on Wine! I am Laurie Love, a professional wine writer and educator based in Santa Cruz. In this column, I share my wine passion, knowledge, and experience with Lookout readers. Follow me on my wine blog, Laurie Loves Wine, and on Instagram at LaurieLoveOnWine. I love email from readers! Stay in touch: Email me at laurie@lookoutlocal.com. Join me as we journey together through the wonderful world of wine.

WINE NEWS

Santa Cruz wines land at World of Pinot Noir

This past weekend (Thursday through Saturday), more than a dozen Santa Cruz wineries headed south to the preeminent World of Pinot Noir event in Santa Barbara at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara. This prestigious annual event brought together pinot noir producers, winemakers, winegrowers, chefs, sommeliers and enthusiasts from winegrowing regions around the world (Argentina, Chile, France, Oregon and other regions of California) to attend tastings and special events featuring all things pinot noir.

This year, Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains hosted a special luncheon that exclusively featured Santa Cruz Mountains American Viticultural Area (AVA) wines, wineries and winemakers. The luncheon, moderated by Matt Kettmann of Wine Enthusiast and the Santa Barbara Independent publications, took place on Friday, and featured two vintages from each winery, one current and one older, poured by the winemakers themselves.

Santa Cruz Mountains winemakers and wineries participating in the luncheon included Ryan Beauregard of Beauregard Vineyards, Bradley Brown of Big Basin Vineyards, David Goldfarb of Clos de la Tech, Jim Cargill of House Family Vineyards, Steve Johnson (wine ambassador) of Lester Estate Wines, Cole Thomas of Madson Wines, Sophie Patterson Sharabi (director of hospitality) of Mount Eden Vineyards, Ed Muns of Muns Vineyard, Shalini Shekar of Neely Wine, Jeff Brinkman of Rhys Vineyards, John Benedetti of Sante Arcangeli Family Wines and Nathan Kandler of Thomas Fogarty Winery.

Among the oldest and rarest vintages poured were Clos de la Tech 2008 Domaine Lois Louise Pinot Noir, Muns Vineyard 2012 Estate Pinot Noir, Rhys Vineyards 2014 Swan Terrace Pinot Noir and Thomas Fogarty Winery 2014 Rapley Trail Pinot Noir.

If you love pinot noir and missed this event, mark your calendars now for early March 2025. For more information on World of Pinot Noir, check out its website.

Sneak peek at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

As I reported last time, the Pebble Beach Food & Wine (PBFW) event is coming up on April 4 through 7 at Pebble Beach Resort locations in Monterey County. This marks the first time the event will be held since the pandemic. The four-day event presents many high-end seminars, lunches and dinners, featuring world-renowned chefs, celebrity winemakers, winegrowers, sommeliers and global leaders in the food and wine industry. In addition, the signature event is the Tasting Pavilion on Saturday and Sunday, each day offering a huge variety of tastings from over 100 restaurants, 150 wineries and mixologists serving cocktails.

To learn more, I attended a media preview event at the stunning Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach. This year, the event benefits Pebble Beach Company Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Monterey County children through literacy and education. Pebble Beach Food & Wine is also partnering with nonprofit The Roots Fund, a charitable hospitality organization focused on securing pathways in wine for people of color. The Roots Fund will be overseeing the sommelier programs throughout the event.

Of the 150-plus wineries participating, many internationally known brands will be represented, including Veuve Clicquot (Champagne), Laurent-Perrier (Champagne), Vega Sicilia (Spain), Frescobaldi (Italy), Antinori (Italy) and many more. Many California wineries will be there including well-known Napa Valley brands such as Cakebread Cellars, Clos du Val, Heitz Cellars, Opus One and others.

I was curious to see what local wineries might be represented and was pleased to see several Monterey County-based wineries on the list, such as Calera Wines, Chalone Vineyard, Hahn Wines, Pisoni Vineyards, ROAR Wines and Scheid Vineyards. On the other hand, I must admit I was disappointed to see only two Santa Cruz Mountains wineries listed: Ridge Vineyards (which also operates in Sonoma County) and Testarossa Winery. Nonetheless, Pebble Beach Food & Wine is one of the top gastronomic experiences in the country and promises to deliver delicious gourmet food, excellent wines, sublime cocktails and a memorable time on the Monterey Peninsula.

Tasting Pavilion tickets are $475 each day (VIP tickets are $675), or $850 for both days (general admission)/$1200 (VIP). A schedule of all PBFW events with ticket pricing can be found here.

UPCOMING WINE EVENTS

Each column I highlight some of the wine events happening around our region. If you are a winery or organization that has an upcoming wine event, email me with the details at laurie@lookoutlocal.com.

As I reported in my previous column, this coming Saturday, March 9, at 4:30 p.m. is the premiere of the film “Eden.” The 85-minute documentary by local filmmaker Chris McGilvray focuses on Mount Eden Vineyards and owners/operators the Patterson family. The film is part of the San Jose Cinequest Film Festival and will be screened at the California Theater in downtown San Jose. Tickets are available for $14 here. Following the screening, join the Pattersons and the filmmaker at a Mount Eden party happening at the nearby Westin Hotel. At publication time, only a few tickets remained for the after-party. Tickets are available here for the after-party at $50 and include wine and appetizers. To view a trailer of the film, click here. And here is a link to the film’s website for more information.

Be sure to get your tickets for the annual Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains Grand Tasting happening on Saturday, March 24, from 12:30 to 4 p.m. at the historic Mountain Winery. Enjoy a walk-around tasting of over 150 wines from over 45 Santa Cruz wineries as you take in the sweeping views of Silicon Valley and the surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains. This is a rare opportunity to taste wines from most of the Santa Cruz Mountains wineries in one place. Prices range from $170 for a VIP and library tasting experience to $79 for general admission, and include a commemorative glass. Discount pricing is available for Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains wine club members. Buy tickets and get more information here.

Every Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m., Saison Cellar & Wine Bar in Scotts Valley hosts local food pop-ups paired with fine wines from Saison’s extensive wine list. Next Tuesday, March 12, enjoy authentic Japanese food from Yakitori Toriman. On March 19, the Pesce Veggie will serve up pescatarian and vegetarian meals. For more information, check the Saison website here.

Big Basin Vineyards is hosting a single-vineyard syrah vertical comparison tasting at its downtown Santa Cruz tasting room on Thursday, March 21, from 6 to 8 p.m. Bradley Brown, founder, will lead a side-by-side tasting of its syrahs from two single-vineyard sites — Coastview Terraces in the Gabilan Mountains and Sixty-Two Terraces estate vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This is a great opportunity to compare Big Basin syrah wines from different vineyard sites across several vintages. Tickets are $69 per person (including gratuity) or $48 for club members. Purchase tickets and get details here.

Ser Winery is hosting its next education night at Doon to Earth tasting room (10 Parade St., Unit B, Aptos) on Wednesday, March 13, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Winemaker and owner of Ser, Nicole Walsh, will lead a class on skin contact in wine. Skin contact is a winemaking practice that allows the skins of the wine grapes to macerate with the grape juice for an extended amount of time, usually during fermentation. This technique is used to produce so-called “orange” wines, among others. Curious to learn more and taste some examples? Check out Nicole’s class. Pricing is $25 ($15 for club members) and RSVP by emailing greetings@bonnydoonvineyard.com or call 831-612-6062.

On Wednesday, March 20, La Posta Restaurant (538 Seabright Ave. in Santa Cruz) will be the location for a very special “Cru Night” wine tasting. Honoring the late Italo Stupino of Castello di Neive winery in Barbaresco in Piedmont, Italy, La Posta will be pouring wines by the glass from 3-liter bottles (jeroboams) of the Castello di Neive 2004 Santo Stefano Barbaresco. Santo Stefano is a cru (top quality) vineyard in the Barbaresco region of Piedmont, Italy, where red wine from the nebbiolo grape flourishes. This is a rare opportunity to taste a perfectly aged Barbaresco wine from a large-format bottle. La Posta will be one of 50 restaurants across the country simultaneously featuring this iconic single-vineyard wine alongside special menu items paired with the wine. At publication time, the reservation window was not open yet. But you can get on the mailing list here to be the first to book your table, or email lapostarestaurant@gmail.com.

On Wednesday, March 27, from 6 to 9 p.m., the Dream Inn (175 West Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz) will present Ensemble Hospitality’s and Jackson Family Wines’ “Women in Wine,” a special wine dinner in celebration of International Women’s Month. The dinner is one in a series taking place across four of Ensemble’s hotel properties in California this month. Ensemble Hospitality owns the Dream Inn. The evening is hosted by Katie Werthmuller, Master of Wine (MW) and Jackson Family Wines ambassador, and celebrates women trailblazers in the world of wine. The four-course tasting menu features ingredients sourced from local Santa Cruz farms and special wine pairings from Cambria Estate Winery. Tickets ($119 per person) and more details can be found here.

Early-bird tickets just went on sale for the Downtown Santa Cruz Wine Walk, which this year will be Sunday, May 19, 3 to 6 p.m. Early-bird tickets are only $35 until Friday, March 8, at 11:30 p.m. Sip local wines as you stroll through downtown shops and restaurants. Purchase tickets here.

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Until next time!

Cheers, Laurie

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