Humble Grape and Tiger Vines Hit the Road
Last month, thanks to the California Institute, we set off with Tiger Vines on an incredible Californian road trip to visit some new and undiscovered producers and to say hello to some of our good friends and Tiger Vines’ existing partners.
Visiting 21 producers in just six days and having the hefty task of tasting some 200 wines, this epic journey of discovery took us from Ventura County to Happy Canyon, Santa Ynez, Arroyo Grande & San Luis Obispo all the way up to Paso Robles.
We wish we could talk through every sensational winemaker we visited, but we’d be here for weeks chatting about how amazing they all are. So below are just some of the producers we visited, the wines we tasted, and the places we got to explore.
A massive thank you to everyone who hosted us, we’re excited to see what the future brings for all these producers and hopefully bringing many back across the pond.
VENTURA COUNTY
Ojai Vineyard
What better place to start our trip than with a visit to see Adam, Fabien and all the team at The Ojai Vineyard.
Founded in 1983 by Adam Tolmach, the Ojai Vineyard is a true example of what great central coast wine can be. Adam has been honing the winemaking craft all these years and to this day continues to take Santa Barbara and Ventura County forward.
The 2020 vintage sees some of the most spellbinding wines we’ve tasted to date. The Syrah’s in particular shows some truly incredible terroir: gorgeous flavours, spice, and incense.
The most interesting discovery of all, was the Estate Red and White, featuring none other than Pierce’s Resistant Hybrids. Pierce’s disease is a nuisance for vine growers and winemakers in California. Bugs bring it in, flying this way and that on the Pacific winds, meaning it can turn up in any vineyard, anywhere, at any time. Ojai are helping to tackle that in a co-project with the University of California.
The vines are now 10 years old and thriving in Ventura County, nestled right next door to the winery. The wines are so interesting, savoury, delicious and approachable.
HAPPY CANYON
Dierberg Star Lane
Stone turrets and a staircase Shrek would be proud to slide down, we were asking ourselves “where do they keep the dragons?” when we walked into Dierberg vineyard.
Tyler Thomas is a unique winemaker who is passionate, insanely knowledgeable, and incredibly talented. He’s excited and connected about what they’re doing because not only do they have a long-term vision (250 years in fact), but they are also able to get to grips with all the subtle variations in soil and climate, changing things up whenever they need to.
And the result is excellent wines. Their Pinots and Chardonnays are elegant, balanced, full of terroir and with exceptional length. And the Cabernets…well they are truly something else.
SANTA YNEZ
Turning Tides
Nestled amongst some of the most impressive stables in Santa Ynez is the Turning Tides vineyard.
Winemaker Alisia Jacobson (AJ) is forging a true path towards organic and sustainable winemaking, the likes of which we’ve not seen before. Brimming with energy, intention, and vigour, AJ attracts like-minded people along her way and encourages vine growers to go down the same route… a true force of nature!
Sustainability is what she does best. She recently discovered the tin used on foil tops is so poorly mined, so she stopped using it outright. Her labels are all recycled paper, inks eco-friendly, you name it, she’s all over it. How she finds time to sleep, with all her various projects, and get time to surf (her main passion) we will never know!
A fascinating range of wines and varietals, from Chenin, Verdelho, Mourvedre, Primitivo, Picpoul and beyond.
SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Lumen
Ok, so we’ve officially been Il‘Lumen’Ated
William Henry is co-owner of Lumen Wines, a project with the famous Lane Tanner who founded the very first female winery in Santa Barbara County.
Having retired from winemaking, Will revived Lane’s passion and incredible skill for Pinot Noir, and nudged towards trying new varietals like Pinot Gris and Grenache that thrive in Santa Maria Valley.
The wines we tasted, took our breath away. ‘Freshness’ being the key word here, and with great reason. The Pinots have such unique, rich aromatics, textures, and layers as well as superb structure for ageing. They were wild, free, elegant, and seductive. Same goes for the Pinot Gris; the texture so seductive and rewarding, the orange version so precise and well crafted, it would captivate even the most ardent ‘funky’ orange winemaker.
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
Storm Winery
No trip would be complete, without paying Ernst Storm a visit at his winery on Presqu'ile estate in Santa Maria Valley.
Everything started with Ernst back in 2017, dipping into his barrels of Pinot, seeing him scale the barrels with such energy and intention, discovering something so thrilling and untouched by the UK market.
And the wines continue to sing out above the crowd. So complete, captivating, balanced and subtle, there’s beauty on the front page and on the back, should you lean in close enough. Ernst was kind enough to give us a bottle of his 2016 Presqu'ile Pinot, which was our contender for wine of the trip.
Future Perfect
You are in for a treat if you swing by Sunny Doench Stricker’s brand spanking new tasting room in Los Olivos. This is an experience like none other.
A TV and Movie actress, Sunny is sparkly, dressed head to toe in bright pink and bursting with energy. She is every bit as genuine as you secretly wished for, and her wines are sensational.
A Champagne rosé, the purity of which the likes of Billecart-Salmon would be rattling their heads over, proved a great starting point. Onto a crunchy bright Pinot Noir full of peppers, herbs, and spices, then a sensational Grenache that had us all swooning.
Sunny and her husband have worked incredibly hard to get to this point and have grafted their way to making beautiful wines. Through all the hardship and financial hurdles, the results are pure as day.
ARROYO GRANDE
Timbre Winery
Timbre was a new discovery on this trip, having heard rumours and seen some impressive scores, then discovering an approach that is all about site, balance, and elegance, we had to set off in search of more potential ‘gold’.
We met at their tasting room in Arroyo Grande, a hidden gem of a town by Pismo Beach. Bethany runs the show, tasting us through the wines before the whole gang showed up, including winemaker Josh Klapper.
Timbre is all about beautiful labels, generous fruit, top vineyard sites and one heck of a passionate winemaker, who waxed lyrical about his various influences and evolution of winemaking in the central coast.
We got to try a Riesling from Santa Maria Valley; a dry, crisp, zesty Albarino; a series of Pinots and Cabs, and the star of the show - a 2014 bottling called ‘Guest Star’, one of our combined top 5 wines of the trip.
SLO
Cadre Wines
By entering his wines into tastings in Rias Baixas and beyond, John Niven has rightfully gained SLO Coast wine the recognition they deserve and proved they can make it every bit as vibrant, fresh, and delicious as their European counterparts.
John gave us the most complete tour of the SLO coast we could ever have asked for, taking the time to drive us round the various sites to understand the variance in soils, aspect, climate. It was a crash course in excellence, culminating in a trip down to Pismo Beach for a tasting of his wines right on the pier overlooking the cool waters.
The freshness of his wines is clear to see, huge acids, wonderful bright juicy fruit, aromatics, complexity, and plenty of scope for solid evolution in a bottle.
PASO ROBLES
Union Sacre Winery
Next, we set off further up the coast to Paso Robles. Having served the domestic market strongly; making big, super ripe wines at high alcohol levels, it’s easy to come across 16%+ wines out here and pay for it with your pallet! However, find the right people, and you’re in for a treat…
Winemaker, Xavier Aranudin, has really taken Union Sacre to a whole new level in recent harvests. Staying true to his vision to make some of the best Alsatian varietals in the central coast, he combines insanely cool packaging with viable price points. This was one of our standout visits of the trip.
There are two levels of wines: distribution and reserve. Each has freshness, lip-licking fruit, precision, and balance. These are off the wall wines you could serve to quite literally anyone, and you’ll all get a kick out of it.
From Sylvaner to Pinot Blanc, Carbonic Sangiovese and Cab Franc, there’s not a bad wine amongst them, they’re all sensational.
Kinero Cellars & The Royal Nonesuch Farm (RNSF)
No-one works harder, with more passion, skill, and intellect than winemaker, Anthony Yount. He’s an athlete, consultant, father, winemaker, farmer, and grape grower extraordinaire. A thoroughly charming, warm person you just want to sit next to and absorb everything he says.
Anthony took the time out of his insane schedule to host us and take us through his Kinero and RNSF wines in barrel, which is always a thrill.
We were lucky enough to try a new addition - the ‘In Vain’ field blend white. How this blend of four varietals works is beyond me, but BOY does it work! Viognier, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc all coming together showing their individual parts in this symphony of zest, fruit and unctuous deliciousness. The labels are always that icing on the cake, and this is no exception. The perfect end to an outstanding trip!