Don's Gillette's Weekly Wine Blog
Weekly musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Check back here each week for Don's latest thoughts on various wine-related topics. Read Don's full bio...
Email Don directly with your wine-related questions.
The Roaring Wind - part one
Wine regions have personalities. Napa Valley, is world famous for great wine, restaurants, spas and leisure activities. It is cosmopolitan, with a confident atmosphere, and everyone knows the new Cabs will be fine. The Russian River Valley is "Pinot country" and seems quieter, although it's more intense below the surface, seeming almost breathless, as it waits to see if the new vintage can surpass the last one. Optimism there is almost heady, but they can do without crowds. This very private valley has fine restaurants and spas nearby as well, catering to a local crowd and their out-of-town guests.
Vintners in the Santa Lucia Highlands also have optimism about their wines, but little else, lacking the amenities enjoyed by their northern neighbors. Anything but a "Napa-style" tourist magnet, these vineyards are an hour from a good restaurant and as far from a comfortable bed.
The advantage the SLH appellation does enjoy is its terroir, a twenty-mile strip of high plateau, perched above hot agricultural flatlands. Here well-drained Pinot vines are dry-cooled by roaring daytime winds, followed by warm, drenching nighttime fog. SLH vintners are making great wines too, with new successes coming so fast that it is hard to credit whether Mother Nature has been progressively kinder in each of the last five years, or if this is an accomplishment of the local growers and winemakers.
The lure of those wines brought Denise Johnson and I to the Inaugural Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans tasting on May 19th. More about this next week
