Bites and Bolts

Foley vineyard, originally uploaded by jmayer1129.

Built next door to the winery building in 2005, Foley’s large tasting room and event center is built with the consumer in mind. Don’t let the gravel parking lot fool you; everything here is polished and new. The front patio and lawn area offer a breezy spot to stop for a lingering lunch. The tasting room houses a substantial collection of culinary goods and gifts hoping to appeal to wine-drinking clientele.

The bar is an elongated U-shape that juts out of the right side of the airy room. The bartenders were generous with their pours, starting off the tasting with an off-menu 2007 Pinot Gris. Aged seven months in stainless steel, it had a very slight gold color and very thin veins. The nose was equally as light as the hue-a hint of mango and a very soft sweet citrus taste with a tiny short kick of spice to finish it off.

Another stainless steel fermented selection, the ’07 Chardonnay with a release date of March 2008 and was made completely from Clone 76 of their Rancho Santa Rosa vineyard. Light shown through the subtly gold wine and had a bit more flavor than the Pinot Gris. It started with a peach nose and quickly moved into a somewhat liquorish citrus zest and a continuing burn.

The 2006 Rancho Santa Rosa Chardonnay was released in October 2007 after 10 months on French oak(39% new) and malolactic fermentation. This wine was made from a mix of clones 4, 76, and 96. This Chardonnay exhibited a genuine gold color and a citrusy fragrance that disappeared from the main light toasty taste in my mouth and was followed by a prolonged dry finish.

Up to this point, all of the wines were produced with grapes from Foley’s estate Rancho Santa Rosa vineyards. Winemaker Alan Phillips created a fresh tasting dry rosé with equal parts Syrah, Grenache, and Cinsault. The Syrah came from Foley’s vineyards, while the Grenache and Cinsault were sourced from Fess Parker’s Camp Four Vineyard in the eastern Santa Ynez Valley. The color was beautiful-a lucid peach with a dash of rose. A peachy nose displays touches of ripe strawberries and juicy watermelon and these diluted flavors play for an instant on the tongue only to disappear into a short crisp finale.

Two reds were left to finish off the tasting menu. First up was the 2006 Rancho Santa Rosa Pinot Noir. A medium cranberry, this selection contained a few small strands of yeast floating about. The nose was quite light with hints of cassis and oak mixed in with ripe berries. Once in the mouth, the bulk of flavor circles around a jolt of peppery spice with a cascading short finish.

The 2006 Syrah, also from Foley’s Rancho Santa Rosa vineyard exhibited a bright blood red color. Aromas of oak combined with dark plum and black cherries with a touch of fresh churned butter. The wine had dense mouth feel as a rush of fresh cracked black pepper was prominent throughout, lingering after the liquid was gone.

The Foley property certainly is new and spacious offering up a selection of wines typical for the region. I felt that their wines were easy to drink and might pair equally well with a variety of foods. For the casual drinker looking for citrusy whites and lighter reds, Foley may be a good option.

My tasting was: $10 including a Riedel logo glass

Foley Estates Vineyard & Winery

6121 E Highway 246

Lompoc, CA 93436

http://www.foleywines.com/

It was the first weekend of June and my appetite for wine-tasting was whetted by my recent Los Olivos Wine Trail trip. I decided to venture up a bit along the Santa Rita Hills area. The first stop on the itinerary was Dierberg & Star Lane Vineyards. The winery signs in Santa Rita Hills aren’t always the biggest or most well placed, so after a safe U-turn, I was headed up Drum Canyon Rd towards a large forest green and red accented barn. With a well-trimmed green lawn in front and the title, “Dierberg * Star Lane” underneath their star logo on the face of the structure, I knew we had arrived.

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Picture by littleREDelf

The Arthur Earl tasting room is located off Grand Ave almost hidden from view by its partner room Alexander & Wayne in front. There is very little to the space other than a large tasting room with square U-shaped bar. The room feels a bit dismal relying on overhead lighting to illuminate it.

At present, Arthur Earl offers 2 dry white wines, 9 dry red wines, and 1 dessert wine for tasting. Guests are given a choice of 5 of these wines. Their wines focus on mainly on Rhone Valley and Northern Italy varietals. Arthur Earl sources all of their grapes and produces at their winery.  

I started off with the 2006 Viognier from Vogelzang Vineyard which was similar to chardonnay. It had a very oaky aroma which was barely present as fresh fruit flavors swirled in my mouth. The ending was quite dry with a strong burn of alcohol.

Also from Vogelzang was the rosy peach ’05 Grenache smelling strongly of sugar with spice and ripe berries. Heavy tannins mixed with hints of cocoa gave way to a harsh finish. From the Stolpman Vineyard the dark, almost amber colored Nebbiolo emitted sugary sweet aromas. Once on the tongue, caramel and strawberry flavors washed down to a dry mouth feel and a short sharp ending.

Up to this point, all the wines I tried were grown in the Santa Ynez region. The next wine-a 2005 IL RE from Santa Barbara was a blend of 43% Barbera and 57% Nebbiolo. It had a light red color with a spicy aroma and a touch of sugar. The body tasted mainly of dark berries with light tannins and a short ending.

The last wine from the tasting, a deep red ’05 Zinfandel from Paso Robles, was my only favorite. The nose was made up of soft dark plum with sweet accents, a smooth full body, and a pleasant finish.

Overall, I wasn’t that impressed by the selections sampled. Arthur Earl does have 3 Syrahs on the menu that might be favorable to try. However, given the highly alcoholic taste of most of the wines I tasted, I’m not chomping at the bit for more. The bar-tending services were simple and almost stifled by the dull silence. Additional information beyond the tasting notes was hard to come by.

My tasting was $6 with a choice of 5 wines and a logo glass.

Arthur Earl

2922 Grand Ave

Los Olivos, CA 93441

http://www.arthurearl.com/

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