The SOMM Journal

October / November 2015

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/580744

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 59 of 132

{ SOMMjournal.com }  59 We also saw shot berries in most Chardonnay plantings, although in this case it was primarily because Santa Lucia Highlands vintners are obsessed with qual - ity, not quantity, which is why Chardonnay blocks consist primarily of lower-yielding clones such as Old Wente—selections known to produce tinier, uneven-sized, but more intensely flavorful clusters each and every year. Hence, the appellation's hard- earned reputation for uncompromising quality: There is a reason why you expect no "ordinary" wines from Santa Lucia Highlands. The 2015 Santa Lucia Highlands SOMM Camp from July 13 to 16—co-sponsored by The SOMM Journal and Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans—occurred dur - ing the July veraison, a perfect time of year for our 18 participating sommeliers to plod through the hillside rows and physi- cally feel the region's terroir : the nostril clinging dust of dry summer, the warm yet rarely excessive July heat, smells of wild flora and composted earth, and the wind, a bone chilling, howling wind . . . it is always about the wind in Santa Lucia Highlands, like "Lorraine" (always back to Lorraine) in every verse of Lou Reed's "Wild Child." Santa Lucia Highlands wines can be wild, relentlessly intense like the Salinas Valley wind, but always with a hardscrabble bal - ance of acidity, textures and earthy/mineral- ity that you can bank on. As Naureen Zaim of Los Angeles' Eveleigh simply put it on our first day, "Wow, is this region blustery!" Robin Puricelli, Wine Director of Dolphin Bay in Shell Beach, adds, "The growers don't kid around when they say SLH is windy . . . if we hadn't frozen our butts off in the fog and breeze, we wouldn't have understood what the vines experience." Mary Thompson, Wine Director of The Line Hotel and Sommelier at Saint Martha, both in Los Angeles, summarized what she learned from being out in the elements in the middle of summer: "Winds rip through the appellation—try keeping glasses on a table for a few seconds (nearly impos - sible)—and literally shut down photosyn- thesis. We learned right away that this, com- bined with the fog, makes for a very long gro wing season, and is why Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs grown here are both fruit- forward and popping with acidity." Santa Lucia Highlands SOMM Camp Sommeliers at Pisoni Estate 1. Jamie Harding – Cavallo Point Lodge (Sausalito, CA) 2. Aaron Benson – Dallas Country Club (Dallas, TX) 3. Robin Puricelli – Dolphin Bay Resort (Shell Beach, CA) 4. Gary Pisoni – Pisoni Estate 5. Naureen Zaim – Eveleigh (West Hollywood, CA) 6. Jordan Villareal – The Hobbit (Orange, CA) 7. Mark Pisoni – Pisoni Estate 8. Randy Caparoso –The SOMM Journal 9. Catherine Morel – Bourbon Steak (Glendale, CA) 10. Teresa Patrone – Sonoma Wine Bar & Restaurant (Houston, TX) 11. Mary Thompson – The Line Hotel and Saint Martha (Los Angeles, CA) 12. Nicolas Cadavid Botero – Press Restaurant (St. Helena, CA) 13. Rob Renteria – La Folie (San Francisco, CA) 14. Marilyn Snee – Upstairs 2 (Los Angeles, CA) 15. Clare Tudor – Del Frisco's Restaurant Group (Santa Monica, CA) 16. Peter Palmer – Waterbar (San Francisco) 17. Ellen Landis, CS – Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn (Half Moon Bay, CA) 18. Kerry White – House Wine (Austin, TX) 19. Ky Benko – House Wine (Austin, TX) 20. Felipe Riccio – Camerata at Paulie's (Houston, TX) 21. Anthony Lerner – Mastro's Steakhouse (Beverly Hills, CA) 1 2 10 4 5 6 13 9 16 11 17 18 19 14 20 21 15 7 12 3 8

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of The SOMM Journal - October / November 2015