I had a chance to spend some time talking with Brandon Sparks-Gillis of Dragonette Cellars at the “Stars of Santa Barbara” wine event on June 9, 2010 at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in Costa Mesa. We talked about their great new wine releases and their new tasting room in Los Olivos.

I decided to go up to Los Olivos and visit Dragonette’s new tasting room and meet with Brandon Sparks-Gillis and John Dragonette. The new tasing room is located in Los Olivos on Alamo Pintado Avenue, across the street from the Stolpman tasting room.

Brandon and John poured all their current releases for me, including the 2009 Rosé, 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Pinot Noir from the Cargasacchi-Jalama Vineyard, 2008 Pinot Noir from the Fiddlestix Vineyard, 2007 Syrah and the 2007 MJM (a Rhone blend made from 96% Syrah, 3% Grenache and 1% Viognier) from York Mountain (located in the Central Coast on the eastern side of the Santa Lucia Mountains, west of the Paso Robles AVA) and the Santa Ynez Valley.

John and Steve Dragonette and close friend Brandon Sparks-Gillis formed Dragonette Cellars in order to pursue a long-held dream to produce wines of the utmost quality and purity from the finest vineyards in Santa Barbara County and the Central Coast.

I enjoyed all of their current releases and the 2008 Fiddlestix Pinot was my favorite. In the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to taste many of the new Pinot Noir releases from several outstanding wineries, and without a doubt, the 2008 Dragonette Pinot Noir from the Fiddlestix Vineyard is one of my favorites. It is a great example of a handcrafted pinot.

The Fiddlestix Vineyard, located at the cool western end of the Santa Rita Hills, is ideally situated for Pinot Noir. They selected two blocks, consisting of clones 113 and 777. The 113 provides a nice bright cherry tone and spicy aromatic lift, while the 777 provides waves of darker fruit and structure.

Their tasting notes on this wine are: Bigger and weightier than its sibling, the wine provides classic aromas of black cherry and iron, with a dusting of baking spices. On the palate, the wine is full bodied and silky, with a nice balance between the waves of black cherry and blue fruits and the complimentary notes of cola, cinnamon, balsa-wood, leather and gently toasted vanilla. The wine is lifted by clean, round refreshing acidity and ripe tannic structure, leading to a long echoing finish. The texture was wonderful.

The 2008 Fiddlestix Pinot Noir tastes great now, but it is still very young and I recommend that you lay in down for 2 to 4 years and then it will be absolutely incredible.

For more information on Dragonette Cellars, visit their website at:   http://dragonettecellars.com

Dragonette Cellars
2445 Alamo Pintado Ave
Los Olivos, CA 93441
805-693-0077

The 2006 Argyle Pinot Noir Reserve is from the Lone Star, Stoller, and Knudsen Vineyards in the Willamette Valley AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon.

This 2006 Reserve Pinot Noir is a blend of wine components from their best vineyard blocks, meticulously selected and blended to produce a wine of superior balance between grace and concentration. The key words for this wine are balance and grace. There is a sensuality to this wine that really brings unique excitement to one’s highest calling for the grape, Pinot Noir. Look for rose petal powered red fruit like cherry and raspberry fruit aromas. The mouth-feel is seductive and creamy textured with red fruit, spice, and violet floral perfumed flavors. Rich, long, and enticing this Pinot Noir keeps on giving.  The finish sails on with minimal impediment from tannins.

92 rating from both Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.

Drink now through 2014.

This timber-lined Syrah vineyard is perched high above the Russian River just beyond the town of Forestville, on the steep southeastern slope of Black Mountain.

The spiciness of this cool vintage is expressed in the nose, with lots of white pepper, black olive, grilled meat, candied violet, maple syrup, blackberry and black plum aromas. There’s gorgeous purity of fruit, offering a range of ripe, sappy core of blackberry and black plum fruit anchors the showy nose, which also exhibits violets, black trumpet mushrooms, roasted chestnuts and smoked pork belly.

The prodigious midpalate hides fruit and minerals behind a wall of chewy tannins, but they emerge again with high toned violet, white pepper and sage on the long, supple finish.

Drink through at least 2014.

This is a great Syrah from winemaker Eric Sussman. This is truly one of my favorite Syrahs and I highly recommend it.

93 rating from Robert Parker.

Cueva de las Manos is produced at a state-of-the-art winery, built with the purpose of achieving outstanding quality. The estate spreads over 741 acres in Agrelo and Lujàn de Cuyo, 34 km south of the city of Mendoza, Argentina at 950 meters above sea level.  The winemaking process is focused on treating the grapes with great care and with strict control of every stage.

Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the hands) is a pre-historic site in southern Patagonia featuring a very early form of human art.  The cave, a UNESCO world heritage site, derives its name from the paintings of hands made by the indigenous inhabitants between 9,300 and 13,000 years ago.  The images of hands are often negative (stencilled) and painted in colors ranging from red to white, black or yellow.

These wines are a tribute to the legend and legacy of the ancient Patagonian indigenous groups; a history of independence and perseverance.

Made from 100% Malbec, manually harvested from 35 year old vines. Aged for 12 months in oak barrels (50% French and 50% American); aged in the bottle for a minimum of 6 months.

Deep red color with violet hints. The nose reveals dried plum and dark fruits, exotic spices, hints of violet and chocolate. Fruity flavors; well balanced, elegant tannins. Excellent with roasted and smoked meat, seasoned dishes. Bright deep ruby. Blackberry, licorice and spicy oak on the nose. Moderately dense and concentrated, with brisk acidity framing the black fruit, licorice and herb flavors. Finishes fairly intense but a tad dry, with notes of chocolate and pepper.

Priced at around $12.99 this is an outstanding wine at a great price.

The 2007 Herman Story Viognier, from the White Hawk Vineyard, located in the Los Alamos Hills in Santa Barbara County, is intense and well balanced, with flavors of honey and tropics.

Gorgeous floral, spice white and tropical fruit nose. For a full throttle white this is very light on its feet with plenty of zippy acidity providing grip and freshness. Holds its alcohol quite nicely. The palate is massive but still holds everything together. A massive effort from Russell From, the winemaker and proprietor at Herman Story Wines.

This is one of the finest Viogniers I have ever tasted.

The 2007 Alto Moncayo Veraton is the producer’s entry-level wine and comes entirely from old-vine Grancha (Grenache), ranging in age from 35 years to some nearly a century old. After fermentations completed the wines aged in American and French oak for about a year and a half and then bottled without filtration. The wine comes from the Campo de Borja part of Spain, which is about 50 miles from the French border and a little more then half way closer to the Mediterranean then the Atlantic. The area received its DOC (appellation) in 1980, while the winery that made this wine Alto Moncayo is relatively new and is a joint venture between the wine importer Jorge Ordoñez and the meat packer Dan Philips – while production is in the hands of a noted and long respected winemaker Chris Ringland.

Opaque violet. Sexy aromas of red and dark berries, sandalwood, spicecake and fresh rose. Spicy, concentrated raspberry and blackberry flavors are given spine by zesty minerals and pick up a smoky quality with air. Impressively lively for such a rich wine, with strong finishing spiciness and lingering notes of licorice and red berries. This is an absolutely beautiful expression of Grenache wine.

Scored 92 points from Stephen Tanzer.

A couple of weeks ago I was going to Paso Robles and was looking for some new wineries to visit. I got a couple of recommendations from Riley Hubbard at L’Aventure Winery. Riley always has some great recommendations for me. One of them was Alta Colina.

I met Maggie Tillman at the Alta Colina Tasting Room. Alta Colina is owned by Maggie’s parents, Bob and Lynn Tillman. In 2003, after an extensive search for the ideal location, Bob found the beautiful hilltop property on Adelaida Road in Paso Robles that would become Alta Colina Vineyard. Nestled high in the rugged coast range mountains. 2007 was the first bottling for Alta Colina.

Maggie poured all of Alta Colina’s current releases for me. I thoroughly enjoyed all the current releases, but the two wines I enjoyed the most were the 2008 Claudia Cuvée and the 2007 Old 900 Syrah.

The 2008 Claudia Cuvée is a white Rhone-style blend of 58% Marsanne, 21% Roussanne, and 21% Grenache Blanc from their 130 acre estate vineyard (with 31 acres planted) located on 2 hilltops adjacent to the winery on the Westside of Paso Robles.

The Claudia Cuvée is dominated by its brilliant color, minerality, and crisp Fuji apple flavors. Toasty oak notes with a hint of pear is also show through. This wine will evolve in the next year to highlight aspects of apricot and honey.

Alta Colina Vineyard produces world-class estate wines exclusively from Rhone varieties grown at our vineyard. Scott Hawley consults on the winemaking. Scott is the winemaker at Jada Vineyard & Winery, as well as his own label, Torrin Vineyard.

14% alcohol and 248 cases produced.

For more information on Alta Colina Vineyard & Winery, visit out their website at:  www.altacolinawine.com

The other wine that I thought was outstanding at Alta Colina, when I visited their tasting room a couple of weeks ago, was the 2007 Alta Colina Old 900 Syrah. It is a smoky, spicy, full bodied Syrah bursting with flavor and complexity. Its slightly inky color is followed by notes of cassis, blackberries, smoke, camphor, and licorice characteristics. It has a silky texture and beautiful long lasting finish.

Anyone that knows me well, knows that my favorite wine is Syrah. I asbolutely love a great Syrah.  I feel that the 2007 Alta Colina Old 900 Syrah is one of the best Syrahs I have tasted over the twelve months. It tasted great now, but lay it down to 2 to 4 years and it will be incredible. I highly recommend this wine.

15.6% alcohol and only 71 cases produced.

Robert Parker gave it 91 points in The Wine Advocate, Aug. 31, 2009. I feel that it could be a 94 point wine when it spends 2 to 4 more years in the bottle.

For more information on the Alta Colina Vineyard & Winery, visit out their at: www.altacolinawine.com

I was given this wine with the comment that it is a “quintissential Napa Valley cab”. I generally agree; this wine shows a lot of effort in presenting a very particular style.

Note: The bottle I had was opened 4 days earlier, so your results may vary.

This wine is thick and hearty, with small unfiltered bits floating around. The tongue shows 3-4 rings transitioning from near magenta to nearly opaque, scarlet red at the heart. Streaky legs reveal the 14.5% alcohol.

The bouquet jumps out of the glass with cocoa, sweet spices (maple?) and a hint of roasted red meat. Unfortunately, the bouquet is so strong that the aromas are all but lost. Not much fruit on the nose. What is there is dark, maybe boysenberry or blackberry?

On the palate, this wine came across to me as being dis-integrated. Maybe it was the 4 days in the open bottle? Could be, but I doubt it. What I tasted was a very complex array of flavors and mouthfeels, all very distinct, with very supple tannins. Soft to say the least, and very plush, with just the slightest sensation of residual sugar. The heavy cocoa aspect continues in the mouth, along with dark fruits and a hint of fresh herbs – mint, basil etc.

What I like about this wine is that it shows a serious effort at quality and integrity in the winemaking process. I get the sense that the fruit itself is nigh on spectacular but may have been left on the vine a week too long. What I don’t like is the heavy-handed approach to vinification, resulting in lack of structure and integration. I love complexity, but I also like to have to think about what’s going on within the body of the wine. This wine isn’t flabby, per se, but just seems so near falling apart that it doesn’t suit my palate.

Ultimately, at $125 per bottle, I’d agree this is a typical “high end” Napa cab. Very well made, and quite tasty, but not at all groundbreaking and maybe just a bit pretentious at its price point. It may be quintissential, but it ain’t no Quintessa

A white Rhone-style blend of 65% Viognier and 35% Roussanne from the Derby Vineyard (formerly the Rosette Vineyard) located on the Westside of Paso Robles.

Beautiful light-gold, brassy tones are displayed on the wine’s appearance. White peach, lemongrass, talc and a touch of honeysuckle on the nose. The minerality of the vineyard underlies the array of fruit-driven aromas. Crisp golden apple and lemon gelato flavors envelop the palate. Medium weight with the same minerality creeping in on the lush, creamy mouth finish. One of the better wine blends that I have tasted over the last year. Absolutely delicious!

14.3% alcohol and 300 cases produced.

2007 Kiamie White Kuvée Awards:

Double Gold Medal winner at the 2009 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

Best in Class Whites, GOLD Medal winner at the 2009 Monterey County Fair Wine Challenge Competition.

Silver Medal winner at the 2009 L.A. International Wine & Spirits Competition.

For more information on Kiamie Wine Cellars, visit their website at: www.kiamiewines.com