12/11/2022 0 Comments La fenetre wine![]() ![]() “In the case of Presqu’ile, it is exciting to work with a young vineyard that is already showing so much terroir.” Many producers, such as Storm, choose to highlight this character by utilizing whole-cluster fermentation. “There is a very apparent spiciness in the wines here when made in a delicate style,” says Ernst Storm. Vineyards on the bench on the other hand have much rounder textures and more overt notes of organic earth thanks to the loam and stones that define this part of the Valley. To elaborate on this idea, the wines from the valley’s west end, particularly those within the Solomon Hills such as Presqu’ile, Solomon Hills, and Rancho Real/Murmur, are shaped by refrigerated sunshine, pummeling wind, and wind-deposited soils, leading to sun-kissed Pinot Noirs driven by fruit and spice. Bien Nacido looks to the earth,” says Fletcher. When tasting Pinot Noir from riverbed sites such as Riverbench or benchland sites such as the famed Bien Nacido next to Pinot Noirs from the Western edge, the stylistic differences are readily apparent. Much of the bench also moves to a southern exposure, warmer and slightly sheltered from the direct wind. As the valley floor rises into what is referred to as the Santa Maria Bench, the soils undergo a more dramatic shift, showing the origins of volcanic uplift, with shale, limestone and more clay entering the picture. The Westside is separated from the eastern part of the valley by a gradual change in soil, climate, and exposure, beginning with the shift into riverbed soils that occurs at Cat Canyon Creek and the Santa Maria and Sisquoc Rivers. #La fenetre wine seriesAs one heads north or east, the Pleasanton, Positas and Sorrento series begin to enter the picture, with more loamy, pebbly textures, marking the transition out of this small subsection of the Valley. These vineyards could probably never be dry farmed.” The two dominant soil series in the far west along the Solomon Hills are Marina and Garey sands. “It doesn’t hold water at all, so irrigation has to be managed very carefully. “This is pure sand, essentially no rocks or pebbles, and growing grapes in this soil is very difficult,” says Trey Fletcher, winemaker for Solomon Hills and Bien Nacido. Over millennia, wind deposited all of this sand among the vineyards of what is now the west end of Santa Maria Valley. The nearby Guadalupe Dunes Complex is the second largest dune series in California, and walking the vineyards, one gets a sense of just how coastally influenced the soils here are. Beginning in the southwest portion of the Santa Maria Valley AVA along the transverse Solomon Hills range, directly exposed to the Pacific Ocean, this is an area defined by its extreme maritime conditions: harsh winds, constant fog, and lots and lots of sand. While this area doesn’t have a specific name yet, some have begun referring to it as the Solomon Hills (also the name of one the most prominent vineyards here). Santa Maria Valley AVA 2011 AVA Expansion The western subsection/Solomon Hills region This week I spoke with several of the farmers and winemakers who are crafting incredible Pinot Noir here. In the past year I’ve fallen in love all over again with the wind-battered, fog-shrouded west end of the valley in particular, and the thrilling Pinots emanating from this tiny corner of the world. Ironically, given the career path I’ve chosen, this weather also makes for one of the planet’s most ideal locations for Pinot Noir. The howling wind blowing clouds of dust from the nearby strawberry fields into my grandparents’ yard where I was playing, families freezing at Little League games, and relentless fog even in the middle of summer. My memories of the weather growing up as a kid in Santa Maria aren’t exactly the stuff of idyllic Norman Rockwell paintings. The Boscoe family would also like to thank all the harvesters, sommeliers, restaurant owners, sales people and all the wine drinkers that helped Boscoe become a reality.Of Sand and Fog: The Pinot Noirs of Santa Maria’s Western Edge Larner vineyard & winery/winemaker & landlord at buellton bodegas Mepco label/vice president, sales + marketing Well-made digital/art director, creative services Well-made digital/owner + technical director Peak advertising/co-founder/harvest intern Vineyard coastal care/partner (grape whisperer) Former fresno state winemaker/current van ruiten family winery winemaker ![]()
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