From Lompoc to Italy

February 23, 2010
It’s all about who you know, and because of a good friend of mine, I have been lucky enough to become friends with several local winemakers and have been a part of some fairly epic tasting trips up to the valley. This particular trip was a group of 8 eager and willing participants heading up to the Santa Rita Hills and a visit with Steve Clifton in the Wine Ghetto of Lompoc. We made a quick stop at Lafond Winery to wake up the senses and then continued onto Palmina for the main event.

At Palmina we were greeted by Steve Clifton with open arms and his typical genuine warmth and enthusiasm. The discussion, boisterous at times and solemn at others, ranged from family, to sports, to local wine, and of course Italy. Steve is a fantastic winemaker but even more important, a heck of a guy. He made a great meal for us, consisting o salami and grana, a balsamic and arugula salad followed by homemade sausage lasagna that brought everything home.

I have included the wines tasted during the adventure and some quick notes.

At our first stop, Lafond:
'07 SRH Chardonnay** (rich and easy to like)
'06 Lafond Vineyard Chardonnay** (slightly more complex and would hold for a year or two)
'07 SRH Pinot Noir** (fruity and forward)
'06 Arita Hills Pinot Noir** (spicy and tight)
'05 Lafond Vineyard Pinot Noir** (deep and dark with some earth)
'06 Syrah/Grenache** (tasty, chocolate covered cherries)

And then on to Palmina:
'09 Palmina Traminer** (bright, keylime - bottled 3 days before)
'08 Palmina Traminer** (slightly richer, still bright acid)
'06 Palmina Traminer** (so bright, pink grapefruit)
'02 Palmina Bianca*** (wow, petrol and flowers on the nose, youthful palate)
'08 Brewer-Clifton Gnesa Chardonnay*** (crushed seashells, chalky minerality, meyer lemon, built to age)
'08 Brewer-Clifton Zotovich** (young with big fruit already)
'02 Palmina Stolpman Nebbiolo*** (wow, rich and elegant, wish I had some of this one)
'00 Palmina Stolpman Nebbiolo** (showing more age, dusty, leather, Italian)
'08 Brewer-Clifton Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay (young, looking forward revisiting this one in a couple years)
'08 Brewer-Clifton Mount Carmel Chardonnay (young, looking forward revisiting this one in a couple years)
'08 Brewer-Clifton Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir (young, looking forward revisiting this one in a couple years)
'08 Brewer-Clifton Mount Carmel Pinot Noir (young, looking forward revisiting this one in a couple years)
'06 Palmina Sisquoc Nebbiolo** (from barrel, muscular, tannic, the fruit is there but you'll have to wait 5 years to enjoy it)
'06 Palmina Stolpman Nebbiolo*** (from botte, beautiful, feminine, already enjoyable, can't wait to see where this goes)

Food for thought: Nebbiolo is grown almost exclusively in the Northwest corner of Italy, wedged between the sun baked shores of the Italian Riviera and the snow capped mountains of the Alps, in a region called Piedmont. It’s most important expressions are in the two major wines of the sub-region, called the Langhe. These wines are called Barolo and Barbaresco. The wines are both 100% Nebbiolo and separated only by one year variance in aging (Barolo gets one more year in wood) and about 5 miles. Similar to Palmina’s Stolpman Nebbiolo, Barbaresco’s character is typically more feminine and elegant where the Palmina Sisquoc Nebbiolo is more like Barolo with muscular tannin and higher alcohol. Nebbiolo is an extremely difficult varietal to grow due to an unusually long growing season from bud break to full maturation, opening it up to greater risk of weather born complications. But, because of this slow maturation process the flavor are complex and aromatics are uncommonly elegant and expressive. Overall, this is a very unique grape that should not be overlooked and I recommend exploring.

Cheers!


0 Stars - No rating
1 Star (*)- Not of significant quality or interest
2 Stars (**)- A notable wine of legitimate interest
3 Stars (***)- Great wine that is worth searching out
4 Stars (****)- Fantastic wine that should not be missed
5 Stars (*****)- An absolutely mind-bending wine - beg, borrow, or steal to get your hands on some of this amazing juice!

Disclaimer: This rating is based on my palate and at the given time when tasted and may differ from yours. Also, I may catch a bottle in a dumb phase or it just may not speak to me at that particular time.