Grenache 2009
About a year ago, I wrote about Barry Jackson’s Cioppino Rosso, a blend of different wines that winemaker Jackson laughingly calls Cioppino because he “throws all the leftovers in a pot.” He’s referring, of course, to his vivacious blend of several wines—just as the cioppino fish stew is a mixture of fish and shellfish thrown into a pot.

Now, on a somewhat more serious note, it’s time to write about Jackson’s Grenache. A majority of Grenache grapes (there is only 4 percent Syrah added), this wine has the typical enticing aromas of earth and stewed fruits.

Malvasia Bianca 2009

“You can’t be too rich, too beautiful or too birichino”–or so says John Locke, wine director at Soif wine bar in downtown Santa Cruz. Locke is also the winemaker of this lovely crisp white wine, and, along with business partner Alex Krause, have bottled something frisky and very drinkable. I thought it the ideal libation to try with some of Soif’s imaginative cuisine.

Meeting up with some friends on a Monday evening at Soif is a delicious way to start the week. Mondays can be a bit flat, but not at Soif. With soft “Gypsy jazz” from Hot Club Pacific playing in the background and plates of scrumptious oysters begging to be devoured, we toasted good times (and Good Times!) with a bottle of Birichino.

Chardonnay 2008

Who doesn’t love a good Chardonnay? It’s one of those wines that if you don’t know what to order, then Chardonnay is a pretty good bet. It’s a wine that’s on every restaurant’s white wine list—and, from the many inferior Chardonnays out there, when you get a good one, it stands out in a crowd.

Fernwood Cellars’ 2008 estate-grown Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, Vanumanutagi (try saying that when you’ve had a few glasses!) Vineyard, sells for $30 a bottle, but it’s worth every penny. Swirl the wine around the glass and inhale the distinct floral aromas of this beautiful wine.

Gewürztraminer 2008

I first came across Pelican Ranch Winery’s delicious Gewürztraminer at a special dinner at the Sesnon House in Aptos featuring amazing food made by the students of the Cabrillo College culinary program. The event showcased many of the wines of Surf City Vintners on the Westside of Santa Cruz–one of the easiest places to go wine tasting in this neck of the woods. Surf City Vintners now offers more than a dozen wineries located pretty much in the same area. How convenient is that! The vintners of Surf City not only offer excellent wines, but also put on special culinary, art and music events.

But back to the Pelican Ranch Gewürztraminer–made by master winemaker Phil Crews.

Lateral 2007
Although Kathryn Kennedy died in August 2009, aged 82, her winemaking legacy lives on. Marty Mathis, Kennedy’s son, has been the winemaker at Kathryn Kennedy Winery since 1981, and now runs the business. We have him to thank for continuing the tradition of making superb wines at the estate winery in Saratoga.

At the Evening of Wine & Roses event last November, a fundraiser put on annually by the Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust, I tasted the 2007 Lateral, and I well remembered the 2005 Lateral as being a well-made complex wine that was full of flavor.