How we discovered the Santa Ynez Valley

Mary with the goods!

The Thanksgiving holiday reminded us of how we originally discovered the Santa Ynez Valley. I think we can trace our first visit to 2008. It’s a great time to visit because the weather is beautiful, and if you go early in the week, it’s not crowded. We were returning from a trip up the coast to Monterey. On our way back, Mike discovered a scenic “shortcut” called Foxen Canyon Road. We love to explore and take roads to see where they lead us – including a 2200-mile adventure through Europe with Mike driving a Renault Twingo which we called a sewing machine on wheels!

On Foxen Canyon Road, we discovered there were beautiful tasting rooms with some great wine. We stopped at the Foxen wine shack (before they had two tasting rooms) and filled up most of a case with Pinot Noir, and at the next stop, some Zaca Mesa (Syrah). One of our current favorites is Riverbench Winery, which features beautifully-crafted Pinot Noir and Sparkling wines, and the Riverbench Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine will be featured in our Winter Shipment! We then discovered the charming town of Los Olivos. Los Olivos is the perfect stopping point on your way up the coast, and we see many of our friends as they are traveling. Please let us know if you are passing through or better yet, spend a day and we’ll meet up for some wine-tasting!

We didn’t have much time but stopped at a tasting room that offered a tasting of multiple great wines and purchased a few, including Kenneth Crawford (now Crawford Family Winery) and Center of Effort which we mentioned in a recent blog. We made a note to explore this beautiful area more thoroughly next time. When we returned, we’d often stay at the Wine Valley Inn in Solvang after a trip to Paso Robles, another favorite area. We plan to offer a Paso-focused wine shipment shortly – any recommendations are welcome! Of course, we’ll need to do a research trip there first. Wine Club Members are needed to participate as part of our tasting panel! Since that time, we’ve made numerous trips, and joined many wine clubs, starting with Melville Winery, which reminded us of an Italian villa. In fact, we joined so many wine clubs that it became overwhelming. That is where we got the idea to start a wine club that offers a variety of wines, so that members don’t have to join a lot of different clubs to get the best wines. Enter Revisit Wine Club. Hope that you will join us on this journey! Visit our website at Revisit Wine Company to learn more!

Revisit Wine Co. Releases Inaugural Club Shipment

We’re excited to announce our first REVISIT WINE COMPANY Wine Club Shipment! For this first shipment, we wanted to feature some special wines from our local area, which will always be a focus for us – wines from Clos Pepe and Crawford Family Wineries. The people behind these wineries also have a similar philosophy about making wine. One of the main commonalities is authenticity. These winemakers don’t manipulate their wines – they let the grapes speak for themselves. The second commonality is related to the purpose of wine. One favorite quote of Clos Pepe winemaker Wes Hagen states, “A bottle of wine is an investment to keep the people we love at table for an extra hour every day.” Winemaker Mark (Crawford) Horvath discusses his brand, represented by a key, which “unlocks” a new experience in every bottle. This is exactly what we want to bring you at Revisit Wine Co. Great reasons to share more time (and wine) with special people, creating memorable experiences.

CLOS PEPE 2013 Pinot Noir

· Sta. (Santa) Rita Hills AVA

· Best in class and Gold Medal at the LA International Wine Competition

· Owners: Steve and Cathy Pepe; Winemaker: Wes Hagen

· Pairs well with salmon, pork, lighter red meats

· Drink now until 2025

CLOS PEPE 2013 Chardonnay

· Sta. Rita Hills AVA

· 92 Pts., Josh Reynolds, Vinous

· Owners: Steve and Cathy Pepe; Winemaker: Wes Hagen

· Pairs well with richer cheeses, flavorful white fish, salmon, poultry

· Drink now until 2023

CRAWFORD FAMILY 2015 2nd Street Cuvee

· 60% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 10% Mourvédre from Santa Barbara County Vineyards

· 91 Pts., Jeb Dunnuck

· Owners: Mark and Wendy Horvath; Winemaker: Mark Horvath

· A fuller bodied red wine that pairs well with beef and grilled meats

· Drink now until 2028+

THE DETAILS

Clos Pepe Vineyard presents a unique opportunity that we wanted to share with you. I first tasted Clos Pepe wine at a corporate event at the Bacara Resort and have loved it ever since. The Sta. Rita Hills vineyard was purchased by Steve and Cathy Pepe in 1994 as a horse ranch, and was established as the 9th vineyard in what would become the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Specializing in cool-climate, small production, craft-based Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Clos Pepe is recognized as a leader in local and national wine culture and wine education. The vineyards were recently leased to other wineries, so Clos Pepe wine is no longer being produced. We thought it would be the perfect wine to offer our members – limited edition and delicious! We were given a comprehensive tour by Andrew Turner, Winery Manager, who relayed the meticulous farming and production practices conducted by the team, and winemaker Wes Hagen, a well-known and respected winemaker in California. Wes has taken a new position with JWilkes (www.jwilkes.com), but we really enjoyed listening to, and learned a lot from his awesome blog: http://clospepe.com/wes-blog. We recently had lunch with Wes and his lovely wife Chandra. He has a no-BS style which cuts through the pretentiousness sometimes present in the world of wine.

The Clos Pepe 2013 Estate Pinot Noir typifies the best of the Sta. Rita Hills area. Pinot Noir wines from this area are something special due to the unique climate and soil conditions near the ocean. This is a well-balanced Pinot Noir that delights all aspects of the palate, featuring beautiful berry fruit followed by complexity and earthiness.

Experience pairing: it’s the perfect time to drink now – great on its own, or pair with richer seafood, poultry, or lighter meats such as pork or lamb. How about a backyard BBQ party if the weather is still warm where you are living?

Clos Pepe 2013 Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay is very balanced with the right amount of primary fruit characteristics, with interesting secondary characteristics, minerality, acidity, and the right touch of oak. California Chardonnays have really evolved over the last few years – they are usually not the oaky, buttery wines of the past. I have come back around to them and found many that I really like, including this one!

Experience pairing: A picnic anywhere with a beautiful view – out on the water perhaps, with some great cheese, meats, and a fresh baguette?

Crawford Family Wines (www.crawfordfamilywines.com) is a small, family-run winery. Mark and Wendy are fabulous neighbors and friends of ours in Los Olivos, who have created a very small, highly-focused winery. They do not have an estate vineyard, but select the best grapes the county has to offer and gently coax it into the bottle. They embrace the "garagiste" style of winemaking, producing tiny lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Albariño that provide a glimpse into the unique Sta. Rita Hills vineyards they come from. Now, with a small Rhone program underway, the winery is becoming more complete and a true showcase for these meticulously farmed vineyards.

For this shipment, we wanted a wine that would complement the Clos Pepe wines and transition us into Fall, so we selected the Crawford Family 2015 “Second-Street Cuvée”, a delicious blend from a group of vineyards throughout the county that show off the beautiful, earthy fruit quality Rhone varietals take on in this ideal location. The blend is dominated by Syrah this year and it was a good year for dark, rich Syrah, so it has more punch than some GSM blends.

Experience pairing: Similar to a cabernet pairing; a red meat or main course with some substance to hold up to the Syrah – will pair very well with burgers, steaks, or lamb. Great on the grill for a casual dinner with friends!

Learn more about how to receive the best hard-to-find artisan wines as a member of our Wine Club!

BOTTLING WINE AT CARIVINTAS – BLENDING WINE WITH PHILANTHROPY

Good friends Lynn and Tony Golden recently invited us to help out with bottling Carivintas wines (www.carivintas.com).  Mike was on a fishing trip but I took them up on their offer, always interested in learning more about the process.  Since it was a relatively small number of bottles, it was all done manually with a small bottler/pump instead of with the bottling truck that we’ve usually seen.  We developed an assembly line and got to work.  I mostly prepped the bottles by injecting nitrogen into them to eliminate some of the oxygen before they went on the bottling machine.  Key to the process was having a good DJ to keep the team going.   Tony has a great selection and we settled on some old 90’s hip-hop tunes which worked well with some wine sampling along the way.  There is no better way to understand a process than to do it yourself!  And it is always educational to speak with experienced winemakers like Fleet Hamilton.

In the crowded world of wine, it’s important to have something that makes you unique.  In addition to making good wine, Fleet and Diane Hamilton decided they would incorporate their love of dogs.  A portion of all the wines they sell goes to support charities that support animals, such as Best Friends Animal Society, Return to Freedom, and many other animal shelters and support groups around the country. Their creative wine labels also feature dogs and other animals, and their tasting room in Solvang is of course, dog (and kid) friendly.  They also have many interesting varieties – we bottled Sangiovese, Merlot, 3 different Pinot Noir vintages, and a Rose’ of Tempranillo. We recently stopped in for a tasting with Beth who always does a fantastic job taking care of you.  Fleet is always experimenting with his creations and they currently have a really interesting herbal vermouth that is fantastic with some flavored sparkling water.  If you visit on a Wednesday afternoon, you can attend the popular Solvang Farmers’ Market.  If you stop by, you may taste or buy one of the bottles we filled!