Quick Take
In her biweekly column, Lookout wine expert Laurie Love previews "Eden," Soquel filmmaker Chris McGilvray's new work about a Santa Cruz Mountains standout, goes to Bottle Jack Winery for her wine pick of the week, and highlights a wealth of upcoming wine-related events locally and a bit farther flung.
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
“Eden” film premieres March 9
Chris McGilvray, a filmmaker based in Soquel, is about to premiere his first feature-length film. “Eden” is an 85-minute documentary about the Santa Cruz Mountains’ very own historic Mount Eden Vineyards. The film focuses on the Patterson family, who have owned and operated Mount Eden as a successful boutique family business for over 40 years, as they struggle with succession to ensure the legacy of their family and business. “It’s the story of a husband and wife reflecting on the life they have built together as they consider what comes next and the complexity of generational transition,” explained McGilvray.
McGilvray spent over seven years filming, following the lives of Jeffrey and Ellie Patterson and their children, Reid and Sophie, and documenting the life of their estate vineyard. The film started as a documentary on the history of Mount Eden and on life in the vineyard but eventually evolved to the life of the Pattersons and the story of succession. McGilvray approached Ellie at the end of 2016 with the idea of tracking the 2017 vintage at Mount Eden and documenting the labor involved in the vineyard as well as the progression of the vines throughout the year. “She and Jeffrey loved the idea, so I spent 2017 going up a couple of mornings every month and filming the work in the vineyards and the cellar,” said McGilvray.
When their son, Reid, returned home and began working in the vineyard that year, and talk began about him possibly taking over the business at some point, McGilvray found Reid conflicted about it. Running any winery is a full-time commitment, but especially so at one that has the incredible history and success of Mount Eden. The Pattersons’ daughter, Sophie, shared similar concerns. At the same time, as Jeff and Ellie prepare to pass their lives’ work to their children, they struggle with mixing family and business. “It became apparent that this story was going to take time to develop, so we kept going for seven years in order to let the story develop organically,” said McGilvray. “All of this was coupled with insights about how vineyards and wines evolve through time, constantly surprising you in their developments just like the lives of the Pattersons.”
Mount Eden Vineyards has a long and wonderful history which is carefully detailed on its website. The estate vineyard, situated at 2,000 feet in elevation, was originally planted by Martin Ray in 1943 with pinot noir, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon cuttings from Paul Masson’s vineyard next door. At that time, the estate was known as the Martin Ray Vineyard. The history of the vineyard during Martin Ray’s time is lovingly documented in an excellent book by his wife, Eleanor Ray, called “Vineyards in the Sky” (published by Mountain Vines Publishing in 1993). In 1972, the estate was renamed Mount Eden. In 1981, Jeffrey Patterson joined the winemaking team and was promoted to winemaker in 1983. He and Ellie moved into the cottage built by Martin Ray and have run the Mount Eden winery ever since.
McGilvray’s first foray into wine was via a grant he was awarded in 2015 by Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association to make a promotional video across four wineries, one of which was Mount Eden. When I asked McGilvray what inspired him to make this film, he said, “I didn’t always love wine. But during that year, I met the Pattersons and fell in love with Mount Eden. The beauty and unique character of winemaking became apparent to me. The textures of a vineyard before daybreak, the silent labor of the land, and the movement of the sun that feeds its life.”
The film “Eden” will premiere on March 9 at 4:30 p.m. as part of the San Jose Cinequest film festival at the historic California Theatre in downtown San Jose. Tickets are available for $14 here. Following the screening, join the Pattersons and the filmmaker for a Mount Eden party happening at the nearby Westin hotel. Tickets are available here for the after-party at $50 and include wine and appetizers. If you’d like to view a trailer of the film, click here. And here is a link to the film’s website for more information.
Open That Bottle Night
This Saturday, Feb. 24, is the annual Open That Bottle Night. Celebrated on the last Saturday of February every year since it began in 2000, Open That Bottle was created by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, wine journalists for the Wall Street Journal. The idea is to open and enjoy that bottle of wine lurking in your cellar or closet (or wherever you keep your stash), the one you’ve been keeping for a “special occasion” but have never opened.
The wine doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy. It’s a bottle that you have been saving because it’s special to you in some way. Maybe that bottle has a great story behind it, or a special memory associated with it, or it was a gift from a good friend, or it came from a special place. Maybe that bottle didn’t start out particularly special, but now that it’s been in your collection for a period of time, its status has changed to special. (Those of you who have been acquiring wine for some time know what I mean.) Regardless, this Saturday evening, gather with some friends and Open That Bottle.
If that bottle is an older vintage, here are a couple of tips. As it ages in the bottle, wine throws sediment. Be sure to stand the bottle upright for a couple days to allow any sediment to collect at the bottom. If you like, you can gently decant the wine into another container, being careful to leave the sediment at the bottom of the bottle. But you don’t have to decant an older wine. In some cases, it’s actually better not to decant an older wine because the contact with oxygen can prematurely oxidize the wine, making it taste flat and unappealing. For the same reason, older vintages should be enjoyed within an hour of opening. Also, the cork might not be completely stable; it could be moist or dried out, depending on how the bottle was stored. So it’s best to use an “Ah So” two-prong opener to ease the old cork out, like this one available for $10 at Toque Blanche (1527 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz).
Wine is meant to be opened, shared and enjoyed, so now’s the time to Open That Bottle. Cheers!
Update on San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition winners
In my previous column I reported that numerous local wineries won many awards for their wines at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, held the week of Jan. 15. One of the wineries missing from that list was HWY 9 Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. HWY 9 won Best of Class for its 2022 Dry Rosé ($24), sourced from Lodi grapes, and a silver for its 2020 Tempranillo from Paso Robles fruit. For a complete list of all the winners from this competition, the biggest wine competition for North American wines, visit this website. Congratulations to the winners!
WINE OF THE WEEK
Bottle Jack Winery 2019 Pinot Noir Reserve ($48)
My wine of the week this week is Bottle Jack Winery’s 2019 Pinot Noir Reserve. A brand-new release from Bottle Jack, I recently had the good fortune to taste this delicious, well-made and extremely limited-production pinot last week as I worked a Valentine’s Day event at the winery. Only one barrel of this wine was made, and most of it will go directly to Bottle Jack wine club members as part of their quarterly shipment released this month. Boy, are they lucky!
As soon as the wine hits the glass, it offers up gorgeous pinot aromas, like a bouquet of fruit and flowers. Rich, dark cherry notes along with cranberry and blood orange mingle with aromas of rose petals and chocolate. The wine is velvety smooth on the palate with a great structure of well-integrated smooth tannins, good acidity and medium body. On the palate, the wine is elegant and refined with flavors of ripe cherry, red licorice, chocolate, brown spice, mushroom and leather. The finish is long and lingering and voluptuous. A very seductive wine!
John Ritchey, owner/winemaker for Bottle Jack Winery on La Madrona Road in Santa Cruz, handcrafts high-quality, small-lot wines from local family-owned vineyards. Most of Bottle Jack’s small 1,500-case annual production is from wine grape varietals you don’t typically find in the Santa Cruz Mountains, such as sangiovese, tempranillo and viognier. In a breakout moment for Bottle Jack, Ritchey’s 2012 Zinfandel from Zayante Vineyards won him Best Microwinery Red Wine of the Year and a Double Gold (98 points) at the California State Fair in 2015. Yet, Ritchey has years of experience with pinot noir through his winemaking work at Nicholson Vineyards (12 years), David Bruce Winery and Beauregard Vineyards.
The fruit for this beautiful pinot noir hails from a small private vineyard called La Madrona Vineyard, which sits a few blocks from the winery. A few rows of the pinot noir vineyard are planted to the Pommard clone, one of the more sought-after clones of the varietal that reveals good fruit character under careful winemaking hands like Ritchey’s. It was this block of fruit that was fermented and aged separately from the other vineyard blocks harvested at the same time. Ritchey said he intended to blend the various lots back together, but as this one barrel aged, he realized he had something special on his hands. “As time progressed, that one barrel with Pommard continued to show a distinctly outstanding yumminess (for lack of a better descriptor), and it was clear that it needed to be bottled on its own. So that’s what we did,” Ritchey said.
The rest of the barrels of wine from the La Madrona Vineyard were bottled as the 2019 Pinot Noir (the “regular” version). This non-reserve wine, one of Bottle Jack’s best sellers since it was released last year, is also excellent quality, with more bright red fruit, more tart than ripe cherry, cinnamon and more tannin texture compared to the smoothness and riper qualities of the reserve. The non-reserve pinot is from sections of that vineyard that had other clones (115, 777 and 667). The non-reserve pinot was aged in 25% new oak barrels, and the reserve was aged in neutral used oak, which does not impart a heavy oak character on the wine and allowed Ritchey to showcase the terroir and fruit quality of the vineyard. Both wines aged 18 months in barrel, with the reserve aging an extra year in bottle before release.
To celebrate the release of the Pinot Noir Reserve, Bottle Jack is hosting a release party on Friday, Feb. 23, from 4 to 8 p.m. at its Westside tasting room (328D Ingalls St.). See details below under “Upcoming Wine Events.” This is your chance to taste this outstanding wine. Don’t wait!
The Bottle Jack 2019 Pinot Noir Reserve is available only to club members. Want to get your hands on a bottle? Join the Bottle Jack wine club here. It’s the best way to get Ritchey’s outstanding limited-production wines. The non-reserve pinot along with all of Bottle Jack’s other wines are available for purchase on its website, at its Westside tasting room or at the winery (1088 La Madrona Dr.).
UPCOMING WINE EVENTS
This Friday, Feb. 23, Bottle Jack Winery is throwing a new release party with wine and food pairings, featuring its stunning new 2019 Pinot Noir Reserve (see “Wine of the Week” above). Also on the menu will be appetizers paired with Bottle Jack’s popular 2022 Viognier ($35), 2018 Syrah Reserve ($38) and a special older vintage library selection in honor of “Open That Bottle Night.” The event takes place at the Westside tasting room (328 D Ingalls St.) from 4 to 8 p.m. Pricing is $30 per person ($20 for members), and reservations are highly recommended here.
Ser Winery is hosting its next education night at Doon to Earth tasting room (10 Parade St., Unit B, Aptos) Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Winemaker and Ser owner Nicole Walsh will lead a class on flaws and faults in wine. Pricing is $25 ($15 for club members) and RSVP by emailing greetings@bonnydoonvineyard.com or call 831-612-6062.
Check out Pop-up Tuesdays at Saison Cellar & Wine Bar (222 Mount Hermon Rd., Scotts Valley). Every Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m., Saison hosts different food pop-ups along with wine flights paired by founder Mark Bright. On Feb. 27, SC Eatery will cook up some modern Mexican fusion dishes, and on March 5, Pana Venezuelan Food Truck will provide traditional and authentic Venezuelan arepas. Check Saison’s website for more information, or follow Saison Cellar on Facebook and Instagram.
This year Santa Cruz wines will be well-represented at the prestigious World of Pinot Noir event, which takes place at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara from Feb. 29 to March 2. This annual event brings together the world’s foremost pinot noir wineries and winemakers along with chefs, sommeliers, wine scholars and enthusiasts for three days of pinot noir events, experiences, tastings, wine-pairing lunches and dinners, seminars and parties. One not-to-be-missed event is a dedicated luncheon for wines and producers from the Santa Cruz Mountains American Viticultural Area (AVA), moderated by Matt Kettmann of Wine Enthusiast magazine. On March 1 from noon to 2 p.m., enjoy lunch with rare and current releases from several Santa Cruz wineries including Beauregard Vineyards, Big Basin Vineyards, Clos de la Tech, Lester Estate Wines, Madson Wines, Mount Eden Vineyards, Muns Vineyard, Neely Wine, Rhys Vineyards, Sante Arcangeli Family Wines and Thomas Fogarty Winery. Tickets for the luncheon are $175 and are available here. For more information on the World of Pinot Noir schedule of events and to purchase tickets, click here.
On Thursday, March 7, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., Madson Wines (328 Ingalls St. in Santa Cruz) is hosting a fundraiser dinner for the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, a local nonprofit focused on creating a sustainable future for our oceans and coastal areas. Colectivo Felix is providing dishes for the dinner, including locally sourced seafood paella, paired with Madson wines. Tickets are $90 and available here.
A few popular events are coming up in March and April that you don’t want to miss. These are annual events that tend to sell out early, so grab your tickets while they are still available.
The annual Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains Grand Tasting is happening Saturday, March 24, from 12:30 to 4 p.m. at the historic Mountain Winery with sweeping views of Silicon Valley and the surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains. Tickets include a walk-around tasting of over 150 wines from over 45 Santa Cruz wineries and a commemorative glass. Prices range from $170 for a VIP and library tasting experience to $79 for general admission. Discount pricing is available for Wines of Santa Cruz Mountains wine club members. Buy tickets and get more information here.
And finally, the annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine extravaganza is returning April 4 through 7 at iconic locations around Pebble Beach in Monterey County. This is one of the country’s preeminent high-end food and wine events where, over the course of four days, you can taste incredible food and wine and attend curated events, seminars and tastings from over 125 global chefs, 150 wineries and a host of mixologists, sommeliers and beverage personalities. Sign up for seminars and tastings by March 1, and save 25% with code EARLY ACCESS. Pricing, tickets, and more information on this splurge-worthy event are available here.
Until next time!
Cheers, Laurie
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