Quick Take
In her biweekly column, Lookout wine expert Laurie Love talks to local viticulturists about how this year's wine grape harvest is shaping up, reports on next steps for Equinox Wine after the death of owner Barry Jackson and previews a new Aptos winery.
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.
Santa Cruz Mountains harvest 2024 wraps up “fabulous vintage”
Harvest 2024 is wrapping up in the Santa Cruz Mountains with some of the best quality wine grapes the region has seen in years. That is the assessment from every winemaker and winegrower I’ve spoken with recently, including local viticulturists Prudy Foxx, of Foxx Viticulture, and Ken Swegles, of Rhizos Viticulture and partner at Madson Wines.
Compared to last year, when the growing season stretched well into November with one of the longest hang times for wine grapes in recent memory, this year our region is seeing a more normal harvest in terms of timing, with most vineyards completing harvest last week, and the rest wrapping up next week. And thanks to a consistent growing year weather-wise, “The quality is beautiful. It’s a fabulous vintage,” said Foxx.
Read more here from Foxx and Swegles on this year’s harvest.
Update on Equinox Wines tasting room and production
In my previous column, I reported that Barry Jackson, founder and winemaker of Equinox Wines and its second label, Bartolo, died unexpectedly Sept. 13. For those of us who knew him, he would have had a good laugh about that timing. As the sparkling wine king of Santa Cruz, his death leaves a huge gap in the wine community. His family is working out next steps and caring for the many bottles of sparkling wine aging in the Equinox production cellar.
Luckily, his daughter Ashley Jackson, inspired by her father’s passion, is a fine traditional-method sparkling winemaker in her own right. Having worked in the industry for 15 years, she is currently the assistant winemaker at Nostra Vita Family Winery in Lodi, which specializes in traditional-method sparkling wine. “I am stepping into my dad’s boots to keep his legacy going,” Ashley told me via email, “at least for now, and I am taking on the existing projects that were in process at Equinox.”
And good news for those who would like to taste and buy Equinox and Bartolo wines: The tasting room (334 Ingalls St.) will now be open every weekend through at least mid-November. The tentative hours are Friday and Saturday 1 to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. For now, sales will be primarily through the tasting room (not via the website). You can stock up on your local bubbly or some Italian reds and take advantage of their case discounts: 15% off for the general public and 20% for wine club members. Also, club members can pick up their wines during the tasting room hours or call to make arrangements to have their wines shipped to them.
The Jackson family has started a GoFundMe page where you can donate to help with end-of-life expenses and winery operating costs. Here’s the link if you’d like to contribute.
For the latest tasting room hours and info, the team suggests you call during current tasting room hours (831-471-8608), email them or follow their social media posts on Instagram and Facebook.
New! Rosscienda Winery grand opening Oct. 19
As I reported in August, a new winery is opening in Aptos. On Oct. 19, Rosscienda Vineyard is celebrating the grand opening of its tasting room from noon to 5 p.m., part of the Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains Passport Day Celebration that day. It will be offering wines for tasting and purchase at the special price of $25 per bottle, with an additional 20% discount for wine club members. Food will be available for purchase.
Rosscienda (rhymes with hacienda) Vineyard is a small, 4-acre vineyard at 1172 Redwood Heights Rd. in Aptos, approximately 5 miles from Monterey Bay at 600 feet elevation. It produces a miniscule 400 cases per year of premium chardonnay, pinot noir and other varietals from its beautiful rolling hills estate in the Corralitos area. The pinot noir vines were planted in 2015 (first vintage is 2018), while chardonnay was planted in 2018 (first vintage 2021). They farm sustainably using regenerative practices that support soil health.
Rosscienda Vineyard is owned by Doug and Jenny Ross. Prudy Foxx is their vineyard consultant, Nick Pisano is their vineyard manager and Dave Moore is the winemaker. Go for a tasting, buy some bottles and support a new local family-owned winery.
Cru Night at La Posta
Last week, La Posta Restaurant held its quarterly Cru Night featuring Barbaresco wines of Cantina del Pino. Barbaresco is a premium growing region in the Piemonte region of Italy known for wines from the nebbiolo grape variety. Barbaresco, along with neighboring Barolo, are widely considered as some of the best red wines in Italy. And Cantina del Pino, one of the oldest wine estates there, has been owned by the Vacca family for 100 years.
It’s always a fabulous, educational and rare experience to taste older wines from storied vineyards in Europe, especially when they are poured from large-format bottles, and this evening was no exception. It was a warm fall evening, and the place was packed, with sommeliers Jim Kennedy and Alexis Carr pouring out the goods.
We tasted a flight of three Cantina del Pino Barbaresco wines: 2016 Barbaresco normale poured from 3-liter bottles, 2016 Barbaresco Ovello (vineyard designate) also poured from 3-liter bottles, and the 2013 Barbaresco Albesani (vineyard designate) poured from 1.5-liter bottles. The normale showed good fruit qualities with moderate to high softly structured tannins, still pretty young but showing great potential. The Ovello revealed more tertiary notes like earth and potpourri, a more elegant and restrained wine than the normale. But the 10-year-old 2013 Albesani stole the show for me. A still-vibrant medium garnet in the glass, the wine’s tannins were well-integrated and soft with good acidity and lovely depth of flavor and complexity. The wine offered evolved floral and earth notes and dark plum, licorice, and the tell-tale tar and roses, varietal markers for nebbiolo from this area. With a nice long silky finish, the wine was perfect on its own but equally sublime with fresh grilled anchovies.
Other Cantina del Pino bottles were available for glass and bottle sales (including to-go sales), such as older and younger vintages of Ovello, a 2022 Dolectto d’Alba, and 2021 Barbera d’Asti “Bricco Gallinetta.”
It’s so special that La Posta, one of our local restaurant gems, does this every quarter. Sign up for its email updates to be among the first to know about the next Cru Night event at La Posta.
LAURIE’S PICKS: UPCOMING WINE EVENTS
Cooper-Garrod Winery (22645 Garrod Rd., Saratoga) Annual Harvest Party with live music, dinner catered by Oak & Rye, and wines available for purchase on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $65 and are available here.
Uncork Corralitos, the annual garden party at Alladin Nursery & Gift Shop (2905 Freedom Blvd., Watsonville), a Freedom Rotary Club fundraising event benefiting Pajaro Valley Middle School students, with wine and beer tastings, food trucks and live music from the Joint Chiefs, Saturday, Oct. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets and info here.
Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains Passport Day with over 50 participating wineries celebrating Harvest 2024 and offering special tastings, flights, food, experiences and more on Passport Day, Saturday, Oct. 19, from noon to 5 p.m. Too many to list here, so get details from individual participating wineries’ websites (easily accessed here), and more info on the passport program here.
Mount Eden/Domaine Eden Harvest Celebration – meet the production team from these acclaimed sister wineries at the Domaine Eden patio (23000 Congress Springs Rd., Saratoga) with wine and appetizers, Sunday, Oct. 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. Get info and tickets here.
Burrell School Harvest Celebration at the winery (24060 Summit Rd.) with wine, food, live music and tasting of freshly pressed wine juice, Saturday, Oct. 26, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets available here.
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Until next time!
Cheers,
Laurie
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