Quick Take
Wine expert Laurie Love bids readers adieu in her final regular column for Lookout, with a look back at highlights of her coverage of the Santa Cruz County region's wine industry. She also urges readers to support that industry in a challenging time and looks ahead to upcoming local wine events.
Dear Gentle Reader … a fond farewell
In the words of Lady Whistledown on Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” “Dear Gentle Reader”: I want to share with you that I will be stepping aside as the biweekly wine columnist for Lookout Santa Cruz. With my proverbial plate overflowing with professional and personal commitments, I made this difficult decision after much consideration. So, this is my last regular column for Lookout. But not to worry. I will still be very active in the wine community and writing about it, too. I will be covering our wine scene in my wine blog, Laurie Loves Wine. You can also follow my local wine news and updates on Instagram at LaurieLoveOnWine. And I look forward to continuing to write occasional wine stories for Lookout in the future. (Lookout’s food and drink correspondent, Lily Belli, will resume covering wine for Lookout as she did before my wine column launched.)
Since September 2023, it has been my honor and pleasure to write about Santa Cruz Mountains wine for Lookout Santa Cruz in this column. I truly love our local wine community and all the people who work tirelessly in the vineyards, in the cellar, and at the retail level to bring us fabulous wines, adding joy and pleasure to our lives and our tables, and to make our great wine region what it is. The Santa Cruz Mountains American Viticultural Area is a special place unlike any other in the world, producing outstanding wines across a spectrum of styles and varying terroirs within the boundaries of our majestic mountains. It is always an honor to bring attention to our AVA and its people. And I intend to continue to do so in my work.
Over the past year, I have enjoyed every moment of connecting you to our local wine community. I reported from local wine events and tastings from all across our AVA, such as Gourmet Grazing on the Green in Aptos, Premier Cruz high above Cupertino and Wine & Roses in Watsonville.
I interviewed local winemakers and winegrowers, including Wells Shoemaker of Salamandre Cellars, Prudy Foxx of Foxx Viticulture and Ken Swegles of Rhizos Viticulture. I delved into local wine news, like the recent opening of Rosscienda Winery in Corralitos, the opening of Kissed by an Angel’s tasting room in Santa Cruz and Bargetto Winery turning 90 years old. I highlighted some excellent local wines for Wine of the Week, everything from Ser Winery’s 2022 Dry Orange Muscat to Sandar & Hem’s 2021 Bald Mountain Vineyard Chardonnay to Kathryn Kennedy’s 2014 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. I even brought in a little wine education in Wine 101 (hope you enjoyed learning about fermentation in this piece), while scouring the region for wine events to recommend.
Everywhere I have gone in the past year, I have been delighted and humbled by Lookout readers enthusiastically and warmly greeting me (at wine events, on hikes, at local farmers markets, at the gym, at the grocery store) to offer their praise for this column, sharing how much they enjoy reading it and learning from it. Likewise, winemakers and growers and sellers have shared their appreciation for the work I’m doing in highlighting our region and lifting it up for the wine world to see. I will continue this important work in my blog, for the Slow Wine Guide USA, in wine classes, at tastings, on social media and the many other wine-related projects I am involved in.
One final but important note: The wine industry worldwide is weathering several big challenges right now as consumers are buying less wine. These challenges are disproportionately impacting smaller family-owned wineries like those in our AVA, with some cutting back on their production (for example, some wineries did not make any wine this year), reducing staff and hours, and dealing with the expenses of storing more wine than they are selling. So, as wine enthusiasts and locals who are engaged in our community yourselves, it is more important than ever to shop locally for wine, to buy local wine directly from wineries or locally owned retail outlets, to gather your friends and neighbors and visit tasting rooms and tour local vineyards, to buy a passport from the Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains and visit tiny wineries that are open only on Passport Days. The Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains organization hosts many fun events throughout the year; be sure to sign up for all of these too. Get out there and patronize and support our local wineries as much as you can.
I’ll see you out and about in our local wine world. In the meantime, please stay in touch here. Here’s to many more vintages of Santa Cruz wine!
LAURIE’S PICKS: UPCOMING WINE EVENTS
Roberts Ranch Vineyard Harvest Party (875 Roberts Rd., Ben Lomond) celebrating the 2024 harvest with wine, charcuterie and live music from Sugar by the Pound on Saturday, Oct. 26, 3 to 5 p.m. Tickets here.
Wine & Roses Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley annual fundraiser highlighting local agriculture with a walk-around tastings of local wine, beer, small plates from local restaurants, beautiful rose bouquets and auctions, at Crosetti Hall, Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, Saturday, Nov. 9. Details and tickets here.
Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains Premier Cruz “Mountain Cabernet” experience at Vidovich Vineyards (18101 Montebello Rd., Cupertino), high above Silicon Valley, featuring a walk-around tasting of new releases and library selections of world-class local cabernet sauvignon wines, Sunday, Nov. 10, from 2 p.m. Tickets are selling fast.
Until we meet again …
Cheers,
Laurie