Monterey Wine Competition unearths several gems
Discovering new wines is part and parcel of a life dedicated to the vine. Like a scavenger hunt, it's one of the things that makes judging wine competitions so rewarding.
At the recent Monterey Wine Competition, my panel had several sauvignon blancs. One in particular, my panelmates swore was from New Zealand or Australia. It was grassy, had lots of grapefruit, kiwi and guava, and blew us away with its deft acidity, and yet it had a fantastic texture. They were stunned to learn it was the 2021 J. Lohr Arroyo Seco Flume Crossing SB ($14). It stood proudly next to the 2021 Duck Hunter (NZ, $19.99),
which won Best SB.
J. Lohr white winemaker Kristen Barnhisel told us the trick to keeping sauvignon blanc fresh and snappy is to pick it “just beyond the bell pepper and jalapeno.” Sauvignon blanc produces a wealth of crazy loud flavors, including those very vegetal pyrazines that taste like green peppers and chiles. Let it get a bit riper, and the lime, lemongrass and grapefruit begin to dominate and the green peppers disappear. Wait a while longer and it turns to very ripe pineapple and eventually to tropical fruit punch with guava, mango and even banana. It's a saucy shape-shifter grape, that one.
The secrets to J. Lohr's exceedingly popular
Flume Crossing SB (they make 20,000 cases now, and the demand continues to rise) are threefold:
great vineyards, a great clone and the use of acacia wood. Grower Michael Griva has been a partner of the Lohrs for decades, and his fruit is impeccable. He grows the musquée clone of sauvignon blanc, which has more floral aromatics and a weightier mid-palate than other clones.
Barnhisel credits the long growing season in Arroyo Seco and the persistent winds that slow ripening daily for the accumulation of intense fruit flavors that build over time. She uses 30% acacia wood and 70% stainless for three or four months of aging after fermentation. The result is fatter and weightier take on the NZ style, with just a smack of California ripeness.
Best Chardonnay at the Monterey Wine Competition went to the luxuriously sunshiny and rich Diora 2019 La Grande Lumiére chardonnay from the famed San Bernabe Vineyard in Monterey ($40), and Best Dry Rosé
to SEAGLASS 2020 rosé from Monterey County ($12). Best Sparkling Brut went to J Vineyards NV Brut Cuvee California ($25). All these wines can be found in grocery and retail shops.
The Diora chardonnay is made by winemaker James Ewart, an Aussie by birth, who grew up helping his father make wine down under. An internship brought him to King City, where he has happily spent most of his adult life, living around the corner from the Delicato family winery facility where he works. The San Bernabe Vineyard is huge at 1,500 acres, although it was once much larger. Ewart carefully selects the best fruit to make Diora, a tier that began in 2013.
Derived from the
French word for gold, “diora” describes this chardonnay perfectly. It's truly indulgent, like someone who prefers a trip to the spa over a trip to the gym.
Best Wine of Show went to the Lightpost Winery
2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from
Paso Robles ($65). Lightpost is in Morgan Hill and has pretty much everything from bubbles to blends, and lovely selection of chardonnay and pinot noir, made by Christian Roguenant. Best Pinot Noir went to Furthermore Wines' 2018 pinot from the Sierra Mar Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands ($55), a truly complex and elegant wine from a highly sought-after vineyard farmed by Gary Franscioni and Mark Pisoni. Furthermore just opened a tasting room in Healdsburg, where they are pouring many vineyard designates from top pinot noir sites.
Speaking of pinot, don't forget the upcoming Santa Cruz Mountains Grand Tasting at The Mountain Winery on April 24 from 1 to 4 p.m., featuring many of our region's wineries. VIP tickets get you in at 12:30pm. https://winesofthesantacruzmountains. com/events/grand-winetasting