Top Wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains

The vintners of the Santa Cruz Mountains are making exciting, fresh wines from unique, wild mountain terroir. We’ve selected some of our favorites, described below.  They include excellent bottlings of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. These wines give a good picture of the varied terroir and sophisticated viticulture and winemaking of the region.  Retail prices are listed when known.  Our scores on these and many other wines  can be found in our just published, report Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains  available on the IWR home page at www.iwinereview.com   Many of these wines are not widely distributed but can be purchased direct from the wineries. Links to the wineries can be found on the Santa Cruz Mountains website.

CHARDONNAY

Chardonnay & Other Wines Tasted at Mount Eden

Bargetto 2022 Chardonnay Regan Vineyards Reserve Santa Cruz Mountains ($40)  Waxy, lemonlike nose showing beeswax and a hint of chamomile. Soft on entry with flavors like the nose. Lovely suave, lanolin-like texture, perfectly integrated oak, and good concentration and balance. Well done! A blend of Mt Eden and Clone 4 fermented and aged 10 months in 38% new French oak. pH 3.54, 13.5% alc.

Beauregard 2021 Chardonnay Metallique Ben Lomond Mountain Santa Cruz Mountains ($65)  This crisp, mineral-like wine offers a depth of flavor and refined mouth feel seldom found in California unwooded Chardonnays. It’s very fresh with concentrated orchard fruit flavors and impressive phenolics. Sourced from the Bald Mountain Vineyard’s self-rooted Old Wente Clone on the fog line at about 1200?, fermented and aged in stainless steel. 12.5% alc.

Beauregard 2021 Chardonnay Bald Mountain Vineyard Ben Lomond Mountain Santa Cruz Mountains ($65) Made from 30-year-old vines of the Old Wente Clone grown on its own roots, this is a very focused, impressive Chardonnay. The bouquet shows ripe orchard fruit with hints of orange zest and lemon, while the palate shows a chewy, mouth filling texture with firm edged flavors; rich extract shows on a persistent finish. Fermented hot in tank with 50% malo; matured on the lees with not much stirring for 24 months in 20% new oak followed by racking and additional aging in stainless steel. 13.8% alc.

Big Basin Vineyards 2021 Kamari Vineyard Chardonnay Santa Cruz Moutains ($55)  The Kamari Chardonnay is sourced from 40-year-old Wente selection vines in Corralitos close to Monterrey Bay; the vineyard is farmed by Prudy Foxx.  Fermented in neutral oak and aged for 12 months, it reveals firm acidity and displays a light lemon color with fresh, crisp fruit.  It is medium weight on the palate and has a creamy mouth feel with a lively finish. Whole cluster pressed and fermented with native yeast. 12.8% alc

Birichino 2021 Chardonnay Peter Martin Ray Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains ($55)   Yellow gold. A beautiful wine with a ripe bouquet of stone fruit with a touch of hazelnut cream. Full in the mouth with a creamy character, rich layered flavors and beautiful balancing acidity. Whole cluster pressed and fermented with native yeast in neutral French oak barrels and matured in neutral puncheon and a new French oak barrel. 13.5% alc

Cooper-Garrod 2023 Chardonnay Gravel Ridge Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains ($46) Light yellow straw. Citrus and honeyed orchard fruit aromas on the nose followed by a bright attack of fresh pear and apple with a hint of toast. The palate offers a light creamy texture and excellent acid balance, providing a delightful drinking experience. Sourced from the Gravel Ridge and Finley Vineyards and matured 10 months in 1/3 new French oak. 13.6% alc.

Ferrari Ranch 2021 Chardonnay Estate Grown Santa Cruz Mountains ($45) Lemon curd and applelike nose. Soft on entry and perfumed in the mouth. Quite silky and lanolin like with nice lemon like nuances, minerals, and well-integrated oak. A delicious, well-balanced wine with well-integrated oak and a very long, firm finish. Whole cluster pressed and fermented with ambient yeast with battonage and 50% malo and aged 20 months in 33% new French oak. pH 3.49, 14.5% alc.

Madson Wines 2021 Chardonnay Misty Gulch Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains ($48)  The Misty Gulch Chardonnay offers herbal tea, stone fruit and sweet oak on the nose. Bright and firm on entry, the palate mirrors the nose with additional earth and mineral notes. Finishes on a bright note with rich extract. Fermented and aged in 16% new French oak for 7 months followed by racking to stainless steel tanks for another 4 months. 12.9% alc.

Mount Eden Vineyards 2021 Estate Chardonnay ($70) This is Mount Eden’s flagship Chardonnay. Sumptuous nose of apple and pear with a hint of sweet barrel spice. Fresh and firmly structured with rich, authoritative flavors and beautifully integrated oak. Sourced from the Mount Eden estate vineyard, fermented with native yeast, and aged 10 months in new and one year old French oak.

Neely 2021 Home Block Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains ($50) Sourced from 45-year-old own rooted vines, the Home Block Chardonnay reels a honeyed nose of lemon and orange citrus. The palate reveals excellent depth of flavor and lively, balancing acidity. Matured in used oak. 13% alc.

Thomas Fogarty 2021 Damiana Vineyard Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains ($85)   The Damiana Vineyard reveals the ripest fruit and highest acidity of all the Thomas Fogarty Chardonnays, resulting in a tension filled, ying-yang of brightness and sweetness. The 2021 vintage reveals a lovely yellow-gold color and aromas and flavors of ripe stone fruit with citrusy acidity on a rich, lush, and mouth filling palate. Outstanding. The 6-acre Damiana Vineyard was planted in 1983 on shale soils at 1650? elevation.

Thomas Fogarty 2021 Portola Springs Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains ($85)  The steeply sloped, cold Portola Springs vineyard is the most extreme of the Thomas Fogarty vineyards and the last to be picked with very low yields. Medium yellow with gold flecks, the wine has a rich, honeyed lemon character with superb focus and balance. Planted in 1980 to Old Wente [Clone 4] on AxR1 rootstock on shale and basalt soils.  A gorgeous wine!

PINOT NOIR

Pinot Noirs & Other Wines Tasted at Thomas Fogarty 

Beauregard 2021 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains ($45)  Made only from the 115 clone grown in the Coast Grade Vineyard, this is a silky, pure wine showing lovely red cherry fruit. Delicate and focused, it also shows a light earthy note and a beautiful, long finish. Sourced from the bottom of the Coast Grade Vineyard, all 115 clone picked last, fermented 100% whole cluster and matured in all neutral oak. 13.5% alc.

Charmant Vineyards 2019 Pinot Noir Juliette’s Block Santa Cruz Mountains ($65)  The Juliette’s Block Pinot Noir is a classy wine showing dark cherry with dusty herbal notes on the nose. On the palate, there’s medium dark red fruit with a touch of mushroom and firm acidity. Finishes with very good length. Matured 18 months in oak. A delicious wine! 13.5% alc.

Mount Eden Vineyards 2021 Pinot Noir Tanaka Project Santa Cruz Mountains ($95)  Medium ruby. A 3-barrel bottling from a single vineyard block, the Tanaka Project provides funding for mental health awareness. Refined, red fruit, rose petals, and a note of lightly toasted oak show on the nose. Soft on the attack and finesse-styled on the palate with lively acids contributing to superb balance. Finishes with a vibrant, long aftertaste. The oak treatment is the same as the regular estate Pinot Noir.

Sandar & Hem 2021 Pinot Noir Deerheart Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains ($56)   The warm days and cool, foggy nights of this ocean-influenced vineyard contribute to the refined, bright character of this superb Pinot Noir. Dark cherry and wild herbs show on the nose, while the silky palate is extraordinarily pure and balanced. Sourced from the Deerheart Vineyard located just 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean near the town of La Honda. 14% alc.

Sante Arcangeli 2022 Split Rail Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains Medium-light red in color, the Splitrail Pinot Noir reveals integrated fruit and savory herbs notes on the nose. This is an elegant Pinot showing a silky mouth feel, an elegant texture and very persistent finish. From 40-year-old, dry farmed vines; matured in 30% new French oak.

Thomas Fogarty 2021 Rapley Trail Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains ($85)  Medium red. The Rapley Trail Pinot Noir opens with a spicy, incisive, red fruited nose. The palate is bold but elegant with superb mid palate weight and flavors of red cherry/berry and plum and a wild, herbal almost sauvage edge. The vineyard is an east facing, rocky, steep, 1650? high, 6-acre site of shale and sandstone planted to the Martini clone in the early 1980s. Yields are very low, about one ton/acre

Windy Oaks 2021 Pinot Noir Whole Cluster Santa Cruz Mountains ($64)  Medium ruby red. This wine is a barrel selection of 667, 828 and 115 clones. Opening with dark red berries and earth notes, it shows notable purity and a silky mouth feel with delicious red cherry, pomegranate and earth/underbrush flavors. Matured 22 months in French oak.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON & BLENDS

2002-20 Cabernet Sauvignon Vertical tasted at House Family Vineyards

House Family Vineyard 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains  After a very wet winter and a late bud break, 2019 was a big vintage in terms of production. The bouquet shows black raspberry fruit with a black tea note. The palate is also dark fruited with light gripping tannins and excellent balance, finishing with persistence.

Kathryn Kennedy 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Santa Cruz Mountains ($185)  Opens with finely perfumed dark cassis accompanied by notes of underbrush and leather. The firmly structured palate is admirably concentrated and deeply flavored with black currant and other dark fruit. Very fresh in character with seamless, bright integrated acidity. 14.9% alc.

Lexington 2019 South Slope Cabernet Sauvignon Gist Ranch Estate Santa Cruz Mountains ($95)   Semi-opaque. This Clone 15 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Gist Ranch is a dense, dark wine. It offers concentrated black currant complemented by notes of loam, iron, cacao and violets. Impressive.

Mount Eden Vineyards 2019 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($110)  The 2019 vintage of the estate Cabernet shows real finesse with a vibrant, complex bouquet of dark berries, rose petals, saddle leather and a touch of earth. In the mouth, it’s refined and suave with good depth and balance and firm, round tannins. A sense of freshness lingers on the finish. Will improve with a few years bottle age but can be drunk now with the right food. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot from the estate vineyard.

Ridge Vineyards 2021 Montebello Santa Cruz Mountains Opaque ruby. Complex, expressive bouquet of black currant and lavender with touches of cigar box and earth. Polished and focused on a dark fruited, exotically spiced palate with firm round tannins and a persistent finish. Delicious now but this is a wine to buy and hold; plan to drink some time over the next two decades. A blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot destemmed with whole berry fermentation using native yeasts and malo and matured 19 months in all new oak, 92% American and 8% French. 2021 was a drought year, so berries were small, yields low, colors dark and flavors concentrated. 13.5% alc.

Testarossa 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Black Ridge Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains ($89)  This is a sensuous, silky Cabernet Sauvignon showing cassis and toasty oak on the nose and good fullness in the mouth. Vanilla oak appears on the long finish. Its refined character would go nicely with prime rib. It’s aged in 100% new oak for 34 months, then racked to new oak barrels for another 11 months. 14.4% alc.

SYRAH

Alfaro Family Vineyards 2022 Farm Cottage Ryan Spencer Vineyard Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains ($42)  This cool climate Syrah opens with a bouquet of red fruit and rose petals. On the palate it’s vibrant and mineral like with juicy acidity, red fruit, and a perfumed character. Fresh and delicious, it’s the lowest pH red wine made by the winery. Made from 100% whole cluster estate fruit and matured just under a year in used oak. pH 3.3.

Big Basin Vineyards 2019 Sixty-Two Terraces Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains ($60)   The 2019 Sixty-Two Terraces Syrah is a gorgeous wine offering rich, dense and juicy fruit produced from sixty-two terraces of low yielding vines.  It is phenolically ripe and elegant with superb balance and a persistent finish. Aged in neutral oak for 21 months.

David Bruce 2019 Estate Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains ($55) Dark ruby red. This cool climate Syrah begins with an effusive spicy, dark cherry and plum nose. The palate is silky smooth with rich dark red fruit and touches of tobacco and spice. Significant, rich extract on a long finish with round tannins. 30% whole cluster adds a spicy note; matured in about 10% new oak. 14.7% alc.

Lester 2019 Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains ($47) Dark red. This cool climate Syrah opens with a spicy, fresh, red fruited nose with a hint of forest floor. Appealing silky mouth feel with bold flavors and a medium weight, refined palate. Fine firm tannins. Made from the Hermitage (877) clone with 10% stems; matured 18 months sur lie in 20% new French oak. pH 3.60, alc 13.2%.

Muns Vineyard 2017 Syrah Estate Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains ($34)  Opaque carmen red. Plum and black currant nose with earth notes. Suave, broad mouth feel with good overall balance. Layers of flavors on the palate with lively acidity. Nicely integrated oak. Clones 383, 470 and 525 sourced from the 2600? high estate vineyard; destemmed and fermented whole berry in open top fermenters and aged 17 months in 33% new Hungarian oak. pH 3.64, 14.3% alc.

Note:  All wine photos are credited to DRWinkler.