A Long Look Ahead – Rating California’s Wines
Over nearly twelve months, A Long Pour has taken me to many of the best wine regions in the New World. I have met a cast of characters both brilliant and inspiring, and sometimes a little crazy. The land itself has been a constant inspiration and one of the greatest experiences has been watching vineyards I frequent evolve over the 2010 vintage.
Just as the vines are bound by the seasons of change, so is A Long Pour. Having started in early Winter, January 1st to be precise, the vineyards I began to write about were in their dormancy. From the surface they appeared dead, lifeless twigs protruding from the abundant green of a late California winter like so many scarecrow soldiers. I started in the same way, a stick in the ground an idea that was waiting to take root. As A Long Pour moved forward, I slowly began to find a voice and a purpose in the project, the roots began to spread and there was some life there after all. As warmer weather came and the vines began their bud break, I began my own.
It was at this point I and the vines parted. The vines would go on to break forth in their lush green beauty. They would set their fruit and then offer their beautiful crop to their caretakers: a bounty of the season. They would come full circle back to where they started as seemingly dead sticks in the dirt.
I, for my part, would remain in a state of prolonged bud-break, the potential for growth, though not yet realized. What has budded thus far looks promising, but what fruit will form is yet to be seen. So I set myself to the long and detailed work of finding my path, so that I too may complete my circle.
In the coming weeks and months, A Long Pour will undergo a few changes. While I will still provide winery profiles, they will come less often (although that has been the case anyway during harvest). The responsibilities of a full time job, a soon to be wife (a lovely one), and an adorable Beagle mean I can no longer bound all over the state with reckless abandon and lack of regard for time and road miles traveled. I look forward to future trips with my wife, but the near weekly travel (although hugely rewarding) was also exhausting and expensive.
But the stories are not done, the education is not complete.
There will be two major changes to A Long Pour. One I will briefly lay out now and the other is still in development.
First, I would like to continue my exploration of California wine. While I feel ill-qualified to presume myself a wine critic, I see some long term value in increasing the attention we pay to the wines at ALP. Here, we love the story and always will, but we also love the juice so it is appropriate to elevate the wines themselves. While I maintain that each person should drink what they like and explore on their own, I need more time analyzing the wines of the various regions in California in a more subjective way.
Therefore, starting in January and continuing through October, we will be seeking to identify some of the best wines from regions of interest in California.
Q: How will we do this?
A: Each month will be dedicated to the wines of specific regions (Counties or even AVA’s) and we will endeavor to sample as much wine as is possible during that time, visiting the region if plausible. At the end of the month, one red and one white will be selected as stand out wines from that region. A monthly post will cover the winners. This will continue from January through October.
Q: What regions will we cover?
A: While I would love to give attention to all the regions of California, I will be more focused on areas of personal interest and some areas I feel deserve more attention.
We will spend time with wines from Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Mendocino. Some of the more diverse regions within these Counties will have their own month dedicated to them, Sta. Rita Hills/Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley/Happy Canyon, Edna Valley, Paso Robles, and Carneros/Petaluma.
We will also be splitting these regions into two categories. North will consist of Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Mendocino, and South will be represented by Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey.
Q: How will you “judge” the wines?
A: Wines will be accessed primarily on how we like them based on taste, nose, and visual appeal (both of the wine and packaging). No scores will be publicly given but we will use a simple rating system for our own use. The stand out red and white of the group from each month’s tasting will be that regions winning wines. In the case of an
apparent tie in quality, I will consider additional factors such as family owned vs. corporate owned, sustainability in production practices, and the uniqueness of each wine (which anything from the blend to the design and the story behind it). A monthly list will be published of all the wines sampled with a few details about each wine and possibly a few notes and pictures of individual wines from the group. Stand out wines will receive more attention.
Q: What will the schedule be?
January: Santa Barbara County: Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley
February: Santa Barbara County: Santa Ynez Valley and Happy Canyon
March: San Luis Obispo County: Edna Valley
April: San Luis Obispo County: Greater Paso Robles area
May: Monterey County
June: Santa Cruz County
July: Sonoma County: Petaluma Gap and Carneros
August: Sonoma County: Great Sonoma County including Dry Creek, Russian River, & Alexander Valley
September: Mendocino County
October: Wild Cards and play-offs
Q: How will you announce winners?
A: In October, we will take a look at all of the past winners, 10 reds and 10 whites, 5 from the South and 4 from the North. One wildcard red and one wildcard white from the North will be mixed in from a region we did not focus on like the Sierra Foothills, Lake County, or Napa so that both regions are represented by 10 wines.
On the night the National League Pennant is won, we will announce the winning red and white from the Southern territory. On the night the American League Pennant is won, we will announce the winning red and white from the Northern territory. Finally, the night the World Series is won, we will announce the overall winning red and white wines from the year with the best of those two being crowned the MVP and claiming the title of the best wine we had that year!
Consumers will then overwhelm the producer with requests like a plague of locust demanding cases of wine as if Mr. Parker had just awarded his first 101 point score!
Q: How will we acquire wines?
A: We will be purchasing wines as we normally do and inviting some friends to do so as well from time to time. Whenever possible we will endeavor to visit tasting rooms in various regions and will consider those wines as well. In addition, we will encourage wineries to submit wines for participation that are from the regions listed above. All wines whether purchased for private consumption, sampled in tasting rooms, or donated by wineries will be considered on equal footing. Wineries wishing to donate wine are encouraged to send smaller format bottles like 375ml to cut down on waste.
I invite ideas from all that would like to suggest them. If you are a winery of distributor who would like to participate, please email me at alongpour@gmail.com with “WINE SUBMISSION” in the title.
I look forward to expanding the experience at ALP on meaningful ways. We are working hard to bring you the best wine blog content possible, without the ego and endless chatter that afflicts online writing. We will have more announcements in the near future that we hope will help elevate the contributions of this site to California wine exploration.
I thank all four of you reading this for your continued support.
Warm regards,
W a y n e K e l t e r e r
