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Howard W. Hewitt

~ … The "W" stands for wine!

Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: Santa Barbara

Meandering Day 1 Blog from Buellton

11 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Howard in California, Food & Travel

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Alta Maria Vineyards, Buellton, Los Olivo, Roblar Wines, Santa Barbara, Solvang, Terceto Wines, WBC14

 

So I took the picture - please note it's NOT a selfie!

So I took the picture – please note it’s NOT a selfie!

BUELLTON, CA. – Day one of exploring Santa Barbara wine country was more than satisfying. I’m here for my first Wine Blogger’s Conference, the biggest annual gathering of wine writers in the country.

Nearly 300 participants are registered to hear speakers and swill a whole lot of fermented grape juice – a lot!

So here is a quick overview about this little part of California after just one full day.

BUELLTON

This little town is clearly the gateway to wine country after you come off Hwy 101 along the Pacific from Santa Barbara. The town is not quite 5,000 people and mostly known for Anderson’s Pea Soup restaurant and as the location for the movie Sideways.

Beyond that, it seems to be a collection of small motels built in the 1950s which now apparently house much of the latino work force – at least based on an early morning walk/jog.

The surrounding small towns of Lompoc, Solvang, and Los Olivos – among several others – bring the tourists in to taste, taste, and taste.

If Buellton has an active attraction, it’s the Hitching Post Restaurant on the side of town – made famous, again, by the movie. By some odd stroke of coincidence, a Hoosier friend is in the vicinity and we’re working on doing dinner there Saturday night.

SOLVANG

So arriving early Wednesday gave me a chance to explore Thursday. After considerable consultation, I headed to Los  Olivos via Solvang. $3

Solvang was fun – if not overwhelmingly – touristy. The entire village appears to have been plopped down along the Central Coast and now features plenty of Danish bakeries, gift shops, restaurants and lots of lots of not-so-Danish tasting rooms.

I made the obligatory Danish purchase, and walked around a bit watching tourists take selfies in front of several windmills. I had a couple of recommended wine stops but being a bit too independent, I decided to stop right along main street and sample Roblar wines.

The two delightful tasting room ladies were great. The $40 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir was very light on the palate, a nice finish but not quite enough fruit for my palate.  The biggest seller from the downtown tasting room is a Santa Ynez $35 bottle of Syrah – certainly in a lighter style but tasty.

My favorite glass was the 2011 Grassetto blend of 50-50 Cab and Sangiovese. The $35 wine had a great spicy finish, pair well with food, or even work as a sipper for those who like a little bit bigger wines.

LOS OLIVOS

If Solvang was for the family and touristy as Disney, Los Olivos is touristy for wine geeks. This little town – in the heart of Sideways country – has nearly 40 tasting rooms, a few restaurants and not much else.

Through the magic of social media, I connected with the owner/winemaker of Tercero wines who invited me stop by his tasting spot. James, the very affable tasting room manager, was charming, funny, and knowledable.

I really liked the 2012, $25 Grenache Blanc, 2013, $20, Mourvedre Rose, and $30 Verbiage – a Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre blend – but just don’t call it a GSM. (That’s the words of James who said ‘that’s just lazy!”)

But the big winner for me was the (unlisted on the tasting sheet) Rousanne. I’ve tasted a; few California Rousanne wines and several from its native French Rhone regions. I’ve never tasted a better Rousanne for its understated richness and balance. This $25 bottle of wine was my best taste of the day.

James insisted I visit Alta Maria Vineyards before I leave town, so who was I to argue after that dynamite line up.

I had several recommendations for the same lunch spot – Sides Hardware and Shoes. And with a name like that, it HAS to be good! (… with apologies to Smuckers, of course).

I had the Hammered Pig Salad – a fried pork tenderloin with arugula, pecans, strawberries, parmesan, and lemon garlic dressing. I cleaned my plate like a good boy with an accompanying glass of Beckman Rose’ of Grenache.

That final stop was Alta Maria Vineyards, with Stephanie! The $28 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay was really delightful. I credited the 20 percent neutral oak for the Chalbis-like characteristics though the malolactic fermentation is always a bit much for my palate.

A new blogger friend from L.A. and I tasted through all of the five Pinot Noirs and thought most were excellent to outstanding. A highlight was the 2012 Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot for $52. The vines from one of California’s most famous vineyards date back to 1973.

These were all outstanding Pinots which would only get better with age. They all needed sometime down before consumption, but were outstanding.

Before we left, our new friend Stephanie pulled out a bottle of stunning Rose’ of Pinot. Only a few cases remain and I could see why.

The Rose was quite simply the best domestic Rose’ I’ve ever tasted. At $25, it kicked many of my favorite Provence wine’s butt!

Not a bad way to start a week and a half of great wine.

IMG_0339

Having trouble inserting photos with Wi-Fi and laptop. So just placing a couple where I can for now.

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Buellton: My First Wine Bloggers Conference

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Howard in California, Wine Education/News/Updates

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Tags

Buellton, California, Santa Barbara, WBC14, wine, wine bloggers

BUELLTON, Ca. – You may have never heard of Buellton, California, but odds are you’ve heard of Santa Barbara or perhaps the biggest wine movie ever – Sideways. The movie was about two guys story of friends, search for love, and fascination with Pinot Noir.

Buellton sets about 40 minutes north of Santa Barbara in one of the most underappreciated wine regions of California. I’m here this weekend for the Wine Blogger’s Conference. Nearly 300 wine writers will hear speakers, participate in symposiums and try to absorb massive amounts of the region’s wines.

WBC14_800They pour and pour frequently at these events. No need for a long rundown of the agenda. I’ll be blogging most nights as my chain hotel Wi-Fi permits. This is my first WBC. It has been in Napa, Sonoma, Oregon/Washington, Virginia and more. It just felt like it was time to hear some of these speakers and panels on wine writing and how the very best do it.

My summer of work, wine and personal travel will continue when the conference ends Sunday. I’m going to head up to Paso Robles, about an hour and a half away, and spend a couple nights there and one day exploring Paso’s wine country. I visited in Paso in 2010 and was blown away with the wine quality for price point. I’m also going to scout a bit for a possible future Grape Sense wine tour.

Then Tuesday I’m going to make the long drive up around the bay to Sonoma and Napa. I will be seeing a couple of old friends and do a winery stop two only for my enjoyment! I’ll probably write something about those stops – but this is vacation and fun.

I will be writing, posting to Facebook, and Twitter Friday and Saturday during the conference. Please comment and share!

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Grape Sense on Instagram

Curt Is here for a shift or two on weekends. He and I will be here Saturday for Sipps. This weeks lineup includes a new very affordable Prosecco, a great value white burgundy, and a wonderful Grand cru red burgundy. Join this Saturday pouring starts at 11 AM and we go until four or five. Bring a friend and tell a friend!
Have you met Karen? She works mid week mornings at the shop and is reminding everyone to join us for Saturday Sipps this weekend. We will be pouring the popular Auntsfield Sauv Blanc, another new Rose, and a Pinot noir from the Loire Valley! It all begins at 11 AM through the afternoon
Very mixed thoughts about an unplanned visit to Nonna’s Italian Italian in Plainfield just off I 70 from last night. Unexpectedly stuck in town for a couple of hours thought I would try it out it’s an odd set up where you have to order at the register. Calamari was great my salad was great the lasagna was good except for some odd white sauce top of the marinara which was delicious the white sauce was congealed and tasted bitter… The home-baked roll was delicious… The glass of Gabbiano Chianti was OK well I paid 1150 for a glass that sells for eight bucks … total bill $36 for those items which I thought was a little high mostly the wine cost. Service seem confused and disjointed but they were all very pleasant I’d probably give it a second chance not sure
Join Curt and I Saturday at the Wine Shop for Saturday Sipps. We will be pouring an unusual and delicious Austrian Rose, Italian Vermentino, and Sicilian red! Of course, all three 20 percent off Saturday only!

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