Pinot Noir 2009

Ever since Café Rio opened its doors recently – with brand new owners at the helm – this lovely ocean-view restaurant has done extraordinarily well. Restaurant news spreads quickly in the Santa Cruz area, and the word is that Café Rio has regained its reputation of old and is serving up some excellent food, including their famous and much-loved sand dabs.

Dying to check the new vibe, I finally get there with a friend for a light dinner from the bar menu  – knowing ahead of time that I would order of one of my favorites – seared ahi tuna. We also order some delicious smoked salmon and tender deep-fried calamari.

The Lost Weekend–2009 California Red Blend

At Gourmet Grazing on the Green last month—the cancer benefit held annually in Aptos Village Park—one of the wineries pouring was Beauregard Vineyards. Ryan Beauregard and his wife Rachel are always ready to donate to the community, and they had brought along a selection of their fine wines that day.
One of their wines that caught my interest was a snappy little California red blend called The Lost Weekend—which could come true if one should happen to imbibe too much!
Very reasonably priced at $18, this new release of The Lost Weekend STB (Super Tuscan-style Blend) 2009 is a blend of 80 percent Sangiovese, 16 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 4 percent Durif—and inspired by Beauregard’s admiration for the wines from Northern Italy.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Zameen Mediterranean Cuisine is a casual, inexpensive dining spot in Aptos with a focus on Persian and Mediterranean food. It’s an ideal restaurant for seven women friends to have dinner where we can share a good laugh, and not-so-subdued conversation. And food is ordered over the counter so each can pay his own bill.

Zameen owner, Ed Watson, carries a few local wines, but plans to eventually stock a whole lot more. I order a bottle of Francis Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 ($21)—part of the Diamond Collection – with fruit from various California vineyards. A hearty Cab is just what’s needed to go with robust foods such as falafel, lamb wraps, Mediterranean meatballs and spiced chicken kebab.

River Skimmer 2010 and Garden Variety Cheese

Rebecca King is a professional chef, farmer, cheese maker and shepherdess. As we arrive at King’s Monkey Flower Ranch in Royal Oaks, Calif. last month for an open house, her flock of about 100 sheep are busy grazing, and barely look up to greet us. One solitary black goat catches my eye—standing alone in the middle of a flock of his white and woolly ovine friends.

We start by sampling some of King’s fine cheeses, then taking a tour of the property—which includes the milking area and cheese-making facility—before heading to the picnic table for lunch.

Vine Hill Chardonnay 2009

Vine Hill Winery happens to be located on one of the oldest grape-growing regions in California – established by brothers John and George Jarvis and others in 1867. It is one of the most gorgeous spots in Santa Cruz County – sitting high on a hill with magnificent views of the Monterey Bay. This particular area is known for the thin sandy loam that carpets the lithic bedrock of the mountains. Add to this the cooling air of the bay and the result is prime grape-growing land.

Pinotage 2009

If you want to taste something totally smooth and sexy that’s going to knock your socks off, then try Loma Prieta’s Pinotage. The 2009 Amorosa Vineyard ($45) is so impressive that you just keep coming back for more. It’s not surprising, then, that this gorgeous wine, aged in the finest oak, has won numerous gold medal awards—two of the most notable being a double gold at the 2011 Indy International Wine Competition, and Best of Class at the 2011 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.

Pinot Noir 2008

The story goes that the Spanish explorers named the area Lucia when they came to the area around the time of the feast day of St. Lucia, celebrated in December. And now we have something else to celebrate—Lucia Highlands’ wine.

I came across Lucia Highlands’ Pinot Noir at Seascape Sports Club at the Comerica Challenger tennis tournament in July in Aptos. Local winery owners Carol and Bret Sisney had donated a couple of cases for a function at the tournament—one of Pinot Noir and another of Chardonnay—the two wines they are making right now.

The Sisneys, with their partner Gary Filizetti, purchased the vineyard in 2001, and the first bottling that same year produced 120 cases of Chardonnay. Now, with the assistance of consulting winemaker Steve Passagno, the 2009 bottling produced 400 cases of Chardonnay and 600 cases of Pinot.