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10 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Where within California is the Central Coast (South)?
What are its counties? |
(p498)
This stretches southward along the coast from Monterey, and includes the counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. |
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What is the climate like in the Central Coast (South) of California?
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(p498)
Generally warm (Region III) except for areas near the sea, particularly around Santa Maria in the middle of the region where Regions I and II prevail because of the regular incursion of the tail of the great coastal fog bank. Annual rainfall ranges from 10 inches (25 centimeters) to 45 inches (114 centimeters). |
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What is the aspect of the Central Coast (South) of California?
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(p498)
Most vines grow on hillsides in San Luis Obispo and southern-facing benchland in Santa Barbara County, at altitudes from 120 to 600 feet (37 to 180 meters) in the Edna Valley, to 600 to 1,000 feet (180 to 305 meters) in Paso Robles, and 1,500 feet (460 meters) on York Mountain. |
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What is the soil like in the Central Coast (South) of California?
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(p498)
Mostly sandy, silty, or clay loams, but soil can be more alkaline, as in the gravelly lime soils on the Santa Lucia Mountains foothills. |
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What are the generally preferred grape varieties of the Central Coast (South) of California?
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An up-and-coming wine district in general, the southern Central Coast has very rapidly become one of the very best areas in the world, outside of Burgundy itself, for Pinot Noir. Chardonnay is equally exciting, and Italian varietals could well be the most prized wines of the new millenium.
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What are the fermentation techniques like in the Central Coast (South) of California?
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Open-top fermenters are commonly used, the cap being punched down frequently. Some producers have incorporated 15-30% whole-cluster, but most have shied away from this. A cold maceration is followed by natural yeast fermentation, the temperatures of which run nice and high.
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How are the wines of the Central Coast (South) of California generally matured?
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After a gentle pressing, the wines are matured in barriques with 25-50% new oak. The oak is all French, and nearly everyone prefers tight-grain, with many going for a heavy toast.
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What were the earliest vine plantings in the southern Central Coast of California?
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Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo county was originally planted with vines in the late 18th century; the Santa Ynez Valley, in Santa Barbara County, had a flourishing wine industry in pre-Prohibition times; Santa Barbara town itself was once dotted with vineyards. Yet both counties were virtually devoid of vines in the early 1960s; it was not until Estrella, in Paso Robles, and Firestone, in Santa Ynez Valley, established vineyards in 1972 that others followed.
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How did the southern Central Coast of California become such a mecca for Pinot Noir?
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Quite why Santa Barbara of all areas in the southern Central Coast has suddenly become the mecca for Pinot Noir specialists is difficult to unravel. In the late 1980s, California seemed the least likely place to be in a position to challenge Burgundy for the Holy Grail of winemaking. Oregon and New Zealand looked much more likely, but they have both since proved too small and prone to inconsistency. If it was going to be California, no one a decade ago would have put their money on Santa Barbara, way down south, just a stone's throw from Los Angeles; Carneros or Russian River seemed a more likely bet. The foundations for Santa Barbara's sudden surge of wonderful Pinot Noir wines were laid innocently in the 1970s, when the land was relatively cheap and planted with this variety in order to supply the sparkling-wine industry in the north of the state. It is impossible to pinpoint exactly when local winemakers realized the potential of making their own still wine, but much of California's finest, purest, and most consistent Pinot Noir wines now come from this valley.
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What are the best areas for Pinot Noir in the southern Central Coast of California? The best vineyards?
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The Santa Ynez Valley makes the best Santa Barbara Pinot, yet the area where it excels is restricted: 9 miles (14 kilometers) from the ocean and the valley is too cool to ripen grapes; 16 miles (26 kilometers) and it is ideal for Pinot Noir; but for every 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) farther from the ocean the grapes gain an extra degree (ABV) of ripeness, and by 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the coast, this is Cabernet country. The best Pinot Noir vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley is Sanford & Benedict. In the Santa Maria Valley, also well suited to Pinot Noir, the best vineyard is Bien Nacido.
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