Quick Take
In Part 1 of her biweekly column, Lookout wine expert Laurie Love relays what she tasted and saw at the recent Aptos Wine Wander, spotlights Margins Wine's new Westside digs and recommends some events as we head toward New Year's Eve.
Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of this week’s Laurie Love on Wine column, covering wine news and events. Click here for Part 2, with Laurie’s Wine of the Week pick and her Wine 101 lesson.
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
Wonderful Wine Wander in Aptos
Aptos Village was the scene for a vibrant, festive and tasty wine event on a sunny Dec. 9. Dubbed the Aptos Wine Wander, the event featured over 15 Santa Cruz Mountain wineries pouring a selection of their wines inside Aptos Village businesses, plus a walk-around makers market on the green. Here is a report on some of my favorite wines from the event.
On the hunt for bubbles to start, I found Steve Johnson of Lester Estate Wines (Corralitos) pouring its newly released 2021 Estate Pinot Noir Sparkling Rosé at Cantine wine pub. This delightful sparkler is 100% pinot noir from the acclaimed Lester vineyard. With flavors of crisp apple, crunchy red fruit and white raspberry, the wine was creamy on the palate with nice bubble action. I also loved the Lester 2020 Domingo Pinot Noir with its fresh, fruit-forward aromatics and cinnamon and vanilla notes on the palate.
While I was tasting there, I ran into Jim Baker, aka “Grandpa,” from nearby Aptos Vineyard. You might recall I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing him for my Sept. 20 column about the Aptos Vineyard tasting room opening. Baker tracked me down to share how excited he is about the newly revamped Cabrillo College wine program. Baker, a retired Pajaro Valley educator, said, “Cabrillo’s new A.S. degree in Wine Studies will benefit the wine industry by cultivating skilled people, which will be an asset to wineries and tasting rooms in our community and beyond.”
If you read the previous column’s Wine of the Week, you know how much I love Sandar & Hem Wines chardonnay. At the Aptos event, Robert (winemaker/owner) and Recha (owner) Bergstrom were pouring their wines inside Cantine Winepub. To start was their 2021 Mountain Winery Chardonnay, sourced from the heritage Mountain Winery Vineyard originally planted by Paul Masson in 1900. The very light color in the glass belies the riches on the nose and palate. The wine bursts with white flowers, Meyer lemon, yellow apple, Bosc pear, Key lime, sandalwood, minerality and a touch of French vanilla. This wine recently received 96 points from Wine Enthusiast magazine, and I can see why.
Sandar & Hem’s 2022 Bates Ranch Grenache Rosé was delicious as well. Nice and fruity — watermelon, raspberry, white peach — yet dry (not sweet) and fresh, the wine succeeds at the Provence style of rosé. Ending the flight was the 2021 Deerheart Vineyard Pinot Noir. Oh man, the aromatics on this wine are beautiful! Bright red crunchy fruit from partial whole cluster fermentation and terror-driven characteristics of saline and sage, reflecting the San Gregorio site near the Pacific. Sandar & Hem consistently impresses me.
My next stop was Big Basin Vineyards. Founder/owner Bradley Brown and tasting room manager Christina Barnett were pouring their wines inside the welcoming Calicoastal women’s boutique. Big Basin’s 2021 Rodnick.Farm Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Chalone Gabilan Mountains American Viticultural Area (AVA) was delightful. Bright ruby with flavors of pink grapefruit, watermelon, rose petal, herbs, cinnamon, cardamom, and a low oak footprint, the wine was made 100% whole cluster with minimal sulfur.
The fruit comes from Rodnick.Farm Vineyard located in the Gabilan Mountains AVA, which was approved by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in 2022. This new AVA requires vineyards to sit at a minimum of 1,500 feet in elevation, lies east of the Salinas Valley, and encompasses the smaller Chalone and Mount Harlan AVAs. Brown was involved in helping to establish this AVA. (For more info on Gabilan Mountains AVA, click here.)
I also loved Big Basin’s southern Rhône-like 2018 GSM (grenache, syrah and mourvèdre blend), also from the Gabilan Mountains AVA. Very aromatic with aromas of blueberry, lavender, strawberry, the wine is nicely balanced among fruit, black pepper, subtle wood notes and fine-grain tannins.
Last, at the Sante Arcangeli Family Wines tasting room, I was treated to a special taste of its 2021 “Chrysanthemum” Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir. This wine comes from three different Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards: Lester, Split Rail and DeLarDi. On the palate it “wows” with rich fruit and floral notes and a round texture that is at the same time linear in focus. A well-made pinot noir from talented winemaker John Benedetti.
Margins Wines opens Westside “wine cubby”
Margins Wine just opened its new Margins Wine Cubby in the Westside Swift Street Courtyard (402 Ingalls St., Suite 18). At 120 square feet, it’s a chic and intimate tasting space where you can taste and purchase Margins wines. Megan Bell, owner/winemaker, said, “I chose to name our tasting room the Margins Wine Cubby in hopes that potential visitors would have an idea of what to expect in the space based on the name. It is a tiny little room with very few seats – but it is a magical oasis.”
Bell sources fruit on the “margins”: those from very small, organically farmed vineyards from underrepresented regions in Northern and Central California, planted to varietals you don’t typically see. Bell specializes in “natural” wines, a term that refers to wines made with minimal intervention. She uses minimal sulfur during winemaking and does not use temperature control, fining or filtration. Her wines tend to be lower alcohol as well (in the 11% to 13% range). Bell started Margins in 2016 with financial help from a crowdfunding campaign, creating eight barrels (equivalent to about 200 cases) of chenin blanc, one of her specialties. Today, Margins produces 2,800 cases of over 20 different wines each year, each priced around $30.
The tasting flight ($20), which will change fairly often, currently includes 2022 Central Coast Rosé (a blend of 67% grenache and 33% mourvèdre), 2022 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir, 2022 Santa Cruz Mountains “Rugged Heart” (red blend comprised of 50% cabernet franc and 50% merlot from Makjavich vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, co-farmed by Bell and Larry Makjavich) and 2022 San Benito County Barbera. Melissa Russi, direct sales manager, hosts visitors in the tasting space. The Wine Cubby is open Thursday 4-9 p.m.; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Monday 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit Margins’ website.
After a long effort to bring this space to fruition, Bell is enthusiastic to finally have a place where people can taste her wines. “Having a physical place where people can gather to taste the wines and learn about the Margins story is integral to building a presence in this community,” she said. “I wanted to do this sooner, but it was just financially impossible until now.”
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.
Here’s a couple of fun wine events happening around New Year’s Eve:
Doon to Earth Winery has a luxurious happy hour on tap at its tasting room (10 Parade St., Suite B, in Aptos) on Saturday, Dec. 30, from 1-5 p.m. It will be pouring its refreshing and fun Ovni sparkling rosé of grenache paired with freshly shucked oysters by Parker Presents.
El Vaquero Winery always has lots of great live music in its event space at the winery (2901 Freedom Blvd., Corralitos), along with tasty wines. On Friday, Dec. 29, from 6-9 p.m., the band SPUN will perform ‘80s and ‘90s hits. On New Year’s Eve Eve, the Joint Chiefs will be rocking the winery from 5-8 p.m. Cover for each is $10, with wine and food available for purchase. Tickets are highly recommended and available here, although the Saturday event is now waitlist only.
And Soif Wine Merchants, which is temporarily closed as it works to reopen at a new location, is offering three new Holiday Six-Packs, available for purchase through Sunday, Dec. 31: one bubbles pack, one red-only pack and one white-only pack. Prices range from $150 to $200 for each pack. To order your pack or arrange for delivery or pickup at the old Soif location, email alexis@soifwine.com.
Tune in Friday for my Wine of the Week and a timely Wine 101 on champagne.
Until next time!
Cheers, Laurie
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FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the location where Steve Johnson of Lester Estate Wines was pouring the winery’s 2021 Estate Pinot Noir Sparkling Rosé.
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