Santa Claus or Santa Lucia?

What did you do last night?  Well, if you were me, you headed up to San Francisco to taste some Pison, Lucia, and ROAR wines at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. Kudos to the FPWM for setting up this tasting along with the opportunity to meet Gary Franscioni of ROAR Wines and Gary Pisoni of Pisoni Vineyards and Winery along with Lucia Vineyards.

The line-up of wines tasted include:

• 2007 ROAR Chardonnay, Rosella’s Vineyard
• 2007 Lucia Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard
• 2007 ROAR Pinot Noir, Rosella’s Vineyard
• 2006 Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir
• 2007 ROAR Syrah, Rosella’s Vineyard

I have bought and consumed wines from ROAR and Pisoni/Lucia before and do consider them to be something special.   ROAR produces around 2,500 cases annually across its chardonnays (which is new this year), pinots and syrahs.    A considerable amount of fruit farmed by Gary Franscioni and his team,  including from the famed Rosella vineyard, is sold to other wineries.   From this sold fruit, I have particularly enjoyed Lorca Wine’s Rosella Vineyard pinot.

While sipping on our flight of wines last evening, Gary Franscioni of ROAR stopped by our table and chatted for a bit.  He spoke about his family’s farming history and his desire to grow grapes of distinction, which he has done.  Gary F. also talked about ROAR’s wine making facility being one of only six wineries to be located in San Francisco.  I plan on returning to the city to visit his wine making facilities, but this may take some fanagling as they are not currently open to the public.  Of the ROAR wines tasted, it was a toss up between the pinot and syrah for me.  I ended up picking up two bottles of the syrah as it was the wine my wife preferred.  Gary F. said she made a smart selection.  I said, I was smart because I bought what my wife liked.

Gary Franscioni and me

Both Pisoni made wines were delicious.  I have two bottles of the 2006 Estate Pinot Noir in my cellar which I am looking forward to cracking open on some future special occasion.  I don’t typically spend $70 or so on my weekly pinot fix so I have ended up drinking many more Lucia’s than Pisoni’s these last few years.  There was a period of time last year when I think we opened up a bottle of Lucia Santa Lucia Highlands pinot five or six weeks in a row.  I just couldn’t get enough.  Well last night was no different as we became big fans of the 07 Lucia Gary’s vineyard.  I restricted myself to only buying two bottles.  Again, I need to focus on growing Uncorked Ventures versus the home cellar. 

I spoke with Gary Pisoni very briefly on our way out and just shared my enthusiasm for his wines.  In that brief moment is was easy to detect that Gary P. is full of life and loves what he is doing.  Pisoni Vineyards and Winery is considered world class.  Many top producers such as Capiaux Cellars, Patz and Hall, Peter Michael, etc. source grapes from the Pisoni family.  All this stemmed from land purchased in 1979 orginally designated for a horse and cattle ranch.  What a great family story. 

Gary Pisoni and me

So why title this blog Santa Claus or Santa Lucia?  Well the wines I tasted last night are truly gifts from the land and their winemakers.  Much like the arrival of Santa Claus brought me much joy in my youth, the opportunity to taste these wines and meet Gary and Gary brought me equal but different joy.  ROAR, Pisoni, and Lucia wines are gifts to the wine world and they come from a special place, the Santa Lucia Highlands.  The Santa Lucia Highlands were designated an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the early 90’s.    They are part of the western mountain range buffering the Salinas Valley from the Pacific Ocean. Vineyards are typically planted on the southeast facing terraces of the Santa Lucia mountain range, which overlook the Salinas River Valley.  Vineyards receive the warmth of the sun in the morning and cooling pacific breeze in the afternoon which helps create ideal growing conditions.

I look forward to visiting the Santa Lucia Highlands in the coming months as well as the Monterey wine growing region in general.  I feel fortunate to have so many great wine regions all within driving distance.  Next week I am heading north to Napa with my business partner to meet with a few more wineries as we get set for the September wine club shipment.  It should be a great trip.

Take care.