Quick Take
In her biweekly column, Lookout's wine expert has news on Santa Cruz Mountains wineries recognized for sustainability practices, checks in on the wine grape harvest with viticulturist Prudy Foxx and picks out events you'll want to check out.
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.
Slow Wine Guide features Santa Cruz wineries embracing sustainability
For me, summer means writing about Santa Cruz Mountain wineries for the Slow Wine Guide USA, and I’ve just wrapped up my work on the 2025 edition. Slow Wine USA, an extension of Slow Food USA, exists to highlight wineries and winegrowers that are using sustainable and ecologically sound practices both in the vineyard and in the winery.
Every year, a team of industry-leading contributors visit wineries, assess their farming practices and review their most outstanding wines. As a contributor myself, I am proud to work with wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains to increase the visibility of those that prioritize stewardship of the land. Read more here.
Harvest watch 2024: A “sensuous year”
As we approach wine grape harvest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, I checked in with local viticulturist Prudy Foxx to get her take on how the 2024 vintage is looking so far. According to Foxx, we are looking at what she calls a “sensuous” year. “In the berries, the fruit is juicy, and they have nice skins. Clusters are midsized, really well formed and well balanced. They’ve been doing their yoga,” Foxx said.
Harvest in the Santa Cruz Mountains started last week for sparkling wine, at the Mountain Winery and others. But the main harvest looks to be about a week after Labor Day, according to Foxx. This timing is similar to what Ken Swegles told me earlier this month. How does this timing compare to previous vintages? “Timing-wise it seems to me to be what we would call a relatively normal year,” Foxx said. “It’s not significantly early and not significantly late, like last year was.” Read more here.
MORE WINE NEWS
Santa Cruz County Fair Amateur Wine Competition winners
Did you know there are dozens of home winemakers in Santa Cruz County? A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of once again participating as a judge at the annual Santa Cruz County Fair Amateur Wine Competition at the county fairgrounds in Watsonville. With 108 entries, the competition this year represented a wide range of winemakers and wine styles, from sparkling to rosé to white to red to dessert wines.
An amateur or home winemaker makes wine for personal consumption. Legally in California, a single-adult household can make 100 gallons of wine per year, or 200 gallons of wine per year for a household with two or more adults.
My first year judging this competition was 2022. As before, I was again struck with the overall quality of the wines and the excellent organization of the competition. Check out my blog article for a behind-the-scenes look at judging this competition.
Top double-gold winners this year included a 2021 cabernet franc from Rob Marani that won Best of Red Wine. The Best of White award went to a 2023 picpoul from Ken McKee, and his 2023 rosé of pinot noir also won the Best of Other Wine award. Other double-gold awards went to wines made by Alaga Cellars, Dennis Bassano, Stephan Demmer, Mark Eastus, Sanjay Khandelwal, Nick Jouras, John Justice, Matt Marani, Martin McQuillan, Plymouth Court Cellars, Todd Scallan, Silver Fox Cellars, George Tyson and Kendall Willis. Congratulations to all the winners!
If you are a home winemaker, consider entering your wines in the competition next year. It doesn’t cost anything to enter, just a sample of your wine, and it’s a great way to meet other winemakers, share techniques, and get connections for equipment and grapes. “We take entries from five counties: Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Clara, San Benito and San Mateo,” said Debbie Yakulis, chair of the Amateur Wine Competition Committee. “People interested in entering their wines should check the SCCF website starting in June each year to find out the specifics.”
Windy Oaks Winemaker Dinner @ Persephone
It’s another wine-food pairing triumph for chef Cori Goudge-Ayer and her team at Persephone Restaurant in Aptos. Happening the last Sunday of every month, Persephone’s winemaker dinner this month featured the highly acclaimed wines of Windy Oaks Estate. Owners/winemakers Jim Schultze and his son Spencer were in attendance, proudly pouring six of their wines to the sold-out group.
Through six courses, Goudge-Ayer showcased her food and wine pairing prowess, starting with a memorable baccalau (salted cod), fennel, apple, Buddha’s hand starter with Windy Oaks 2018 Sparkling Albariño, and finishing with an orange blossom cheesecake paired with Windy Oaks 2021 Dry Muscat, aged for two years in old chardonnay barrels.
One of my favorite pairings of the evening was the plum and melon salad with prosciutto and mint — a contemporary twist to prosciutto and melon — paired with Windy Oaks 2021 Old Vine Pinot Blanc. This is a grape variety you don’t often see in California, but it is widely planted in Germany, Alsace, Italy, eastern Europe and Oregon. The wine had a soft mouthfeel from 16 months sur lie (on the lees, or dead yeast cells) in used French oak barrels, and fresh fruit flavors of apple and pear melded with savory notes like saline. Those soft fruit qualities were a great counterpoint to the salty meat and the salinity in the wine balanced the fruitiness of the salad.
I also loved Goudge-Ayer’s play on beef stroganoff paired with Windy Oaks 2021 “Henry’s Block” Estate Pinot Noir. The wine is an outstanding example of a fine pinot noir, with lovely fruit and floral aromas of cherry, cola, plum, licorice, violets and earth. And its fresh acidity complemented the rich mushroom cream sauce of the dish. Stunning!
The next winemaker dinner at Persephone will feature wines from MJA Vineyards on Sunday, Sept. 29. For more information and to make reservations, check its website here.
Still time to register for Cabrillo wine classes
The fall 2024 semester just started this week, but there is still time to register for Cabrillo College wine classes. This semester, Fred Swan is teaching the semester-long California Wines, and Deborah Parker Wong is teaching Wine & Wine Service and Sensory Evaluation of Wine, both eight-week courses. You can take the courses for non-credit, or take them as part of the new associate degree in Wine Studies. Get more info and sign up here.
LAURIE’S PICKS: UPCOMING WINE EVENTS
Wineries of Santa Clara Valley 4th Annual Vine to Wine in downtown San Jose at Three Sisters Patio in San Pedro Square Market, Sunday, Sept. 1, 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets and info here.
Chaminade Vine to View Dinner Series continues with Alfaro Family Vineyard on Friday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m. Info and tickets available here.
Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains’ Taste of Terroir Dinner Series 2024 concludes with “Into the Fog” Salon & Dinner at Thomas Fogarty Winery, Friday, Sept. 13, at 5 p.m. Tickets sales close this Friday. Buy tickets here.
Capitola Village 41st Annual Art and Wine Festival, Capitola Village, Saturday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 15, 10 a.m. To 5 pm. Get tickets here.
Bonny Doon 21st Annual Art, Wine, and Brew Festival at Crest Ranch, a fundraiser for Bonny Doon Elementary art and science programs, Saturday, Sept. 21, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets and info here.
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Until next time!
Cheers,
Laurie
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