A tour of the new wave

Without their own tasting rooms or vineyards, Santa Barbara’s garage winemakers can be difficult to track down. And even a truly intrepid wine tourist would find a stroll through their Lompoc and Buellton sheds a bit dull and the giant Central Coast Wine Services warehouse in Santa Maria downright unromantic.

On most nights, a couple of local winemakers are usually grabbing dinner at The Hitching Post, Buellton’s longtime winemaker hangout. The crackers come in individual plastic wrappers and the crudite plate is dotted with black olives from cans, nostalgic throwbacks to 1960s family restaurants. But the steakhouse doesn’t charge corkage, and the beef is grass-fed.

The upcoming 22nd Annual Vintners’ Festival (see Datebook) offers the best overview of the local wine scene.

Local food purveyors will display their talents, while Santa Barbara Vintners’ Assn. members pour tastes of their latest vintages.

A number of Santa Barbara area wine stores go out of their way to keep Santa Barbara County garage wines in stock.

“Deciding who to carry is really just a matter of tasting the wine,” says Lazy Acres Market wine consultant Bob Wesley, who carries a dozen or more among the store’s 250 local wines.

Inclusive wine selections also are found in the heart of Santa Barbara’s wine country at the wine stores with tasting rooms along Los Olivos’ two-block main street, Grand Avenue, just south of Highway 154.

Los Olivos Tasting Room and Wine Shop has the look and feel of a western saloon. A long counter serves as the tasting bar; you can then buy the wines you like.

One block down the street is Los Olivos Wine Merchant and Cafe, where lunch is served on white tablecloths, allowing you to taste a wine with food before you buy it.

These two Grand Avenue stores make a point of carrying wine selections that don’t overlap.

On April 24, in Santa Barbara proper, the Wine Cask restaurant and wine store will offer a unique opportunity from noon to 3 p.m., when it will host its second annual “futures” tastings. For a $45 admission fee, the just released 2002 and 2003 vintages from 30 different Santa Barbara wineries, including garage winemakers Kenneth-Crawford, Jelly Roll, Core and Kunin, will be available.

If you’d rather order one of these wines with dinner, try bouchon santa barbara, where owner Mitchell Sjerven serves no less than 50 Santa Barbara wines by the glass, including the hard-to-find new winemakers.

Corie Brown

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Tasting shows quality with some edgy details

In a tasting of wines made by Santa Barbara’s emerging independent winemakers at the Los Angeles Times last week, the tasting panel was generally impressed with the quality. With few obvious flaws, most of the wines showed promise.

Yet this is extreme winemaking: Some of the wines were over-the-top in terms of their flavor profile and/or alcohol levels.

At this point, none of them have attained the high quality of the standard-bearer for Santa Barbara artisan wines, Adam Tolmach, whose 2000 Ojai Vineyard Syrah from the Bien Nacido Vineyard ($24) served as a reality check for the tasting.

On the tasting panel were David Shaw, Russ Parsons and S. Irene Virbila, columnists, and Leslie Brenner, acting Los Angeles Times food editor.

The wines, which are listed in the order that they were tasted, were purchased in Los Olivos at Los Olivos Tasting Room and the Los Olivos Wine Merchant and in West Los Angeles at the Wine House.

2000 Costa de Oro Pinot Noir, Gold Coast Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley. Gary Burk’s wine has classic Pinot aromas and a silky texture, with understated wild herb notes on the palate. It’s well-balanced, with moderate (13.5%) alcohol. $30.

2000 Silver Pinot Noir, Julia’s Vineyard, Santa Barbara County. Benjamin Silver’s wine has an over-the-top alcohol level of 15.8%, but the wine, which has an almost late-harvest quality, is balanced by lots of luscious, plummy fruit. $45.

2001 Core red wine, Santa Barbara County. Dave Corey’s blend of Mourvedre (50%), Syrah (40%) and Grenache (10%) has a sweet blackberry nose, firm tannins and plenty of roasted red fruit flavor. It was the most Rhone-like of the tasting. $20.

2001 La Croce red wine, Stolpman Vineyards, Santa Ynez Valley. Sashi Moorman’s blend of half Sangiovese and half Syrah from Stolpman’s estate vineyards is well-structured and fairly elegant, with restrained fruit, a hint of smoke, firm tannins and some length. It’s a wine that seems to have the potential to age well. $45.

2002 Kenneth-Crawford Syrah, Thompson Vineyard, Santa Barbara County. Mark Horvath and Joey Gummere’s effort is deep purple in hue, with an aroma so intensely grapey that the wine even smells purple. On the palate, it’s rather one-dimensional, with an alcohol level that seems higher than the 13.7% on the label. $30.

2001 Jelly Roll Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley. Jim Knight’s debut wine is also a deep purple, with a bubble-gum bouquet and candy-apple flavors. $25.

2000 Kunin Syrah, Santa Rita Hills. Seth Kunin’s latest effort is a big, shaggy dog of a wine, accessible and fun, with plenty of ripe red fruit. A little hot, at 14.6% alcohol. $32.

Corie Brown

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Where to find them

The Hitching Post, 406 E. Highway 246, Buellton, (805) 688-0676

www.hitchingpost2.com

22nd annual Vintners’ Festival, c/o Santa Barbara County Vintners Assn., P.O. Box 1558, Santa Ynez CA 93460, (805) 688-0881

www.sbcountywines.com

Los Olivos Tasting Room & Wine Shop, 2905 Grand Ave., Los Olivos,(805) 688-7406

www.losolivoswines.com

Los Olivos Cafe & Wine Merchant, 2879 Grand Ave., Los Olivos, (805) 688-7265

www.losolivoscafe.com

The Wine Cask, 813 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, (805) 966-9463

www.winecask.com

Lazy Acres Market, 302 Meigs Road, Santa Barbara, (805) 564-4410

www.lazyacres.com

bouchon santa barbara, 9 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, (805) 730-1160

www.bouchonsantabarbara.com