Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/580744
60 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 DOUBLE L VINEYARD. We started our first full day at 9 a.m. in the gently sloped Double L Vineyard, located at the cooler, north end of the appellation, and both organically and sustainably farmed by Morgan Winery's Dan Morgan Lee. Lee explained that the appellation's peak summer temperatures are never higher than 75° or 80° Fahrenheit because of daily winds blowing up to 15 to 20 miles per hour—thus partially shutting down vines, extending hang-time and increasing skin-to-juice ratios, which translates into increased phenolics and extraction. Lee spoke about how Salinas Valley sits on a huge aquifer—"probably the size of Lake Tahoe"—which can conceivably sustain the entire agricultural region (strawber - ries, lettuce, broccoli, artichokes, grapes and all) for a good 45 years. Nonetheless, grape vines are deficit-irrigated, says Lee, "because our challenge is still to get grapes to fully ripen under these cool, windy conditions." Adds Lee, "All our viticul - ture, from planting density to canopy management, is geared towards getting vines to stop vegetative growth and start on fruit maturation as soon as possible. Unlike other California regions, we don't really wait for sugar ripeness; we wait for acids to come down, hopefully while sugars are still in balance." Benson described Morgan's battery of cold-climate style Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs "as cerebral yet fun wines . . . concen - trated, sturdy frames with gobs of acidity." Puricelli remembers the Kabinett-style Morgan 2014 Double L Vineyard Riesling as being even more impressive: "Vines have to struggle in the gravelly, sandy loam of Double L, and with heat and photosynthesis limited each day, Rieslings end up with lower alcohol, higher acidity, a touch of sweetness for creaminess and bright notes of orange blossom, apple and lemon." First Night It Starts In Monterey Bay Aaron Benson, Wine Director of Dallas Country Club, sets the stage by describing the group's first night, sipping glasses of hissing, steely dry La Rochelle Santa Lucia Highlands Blanc de Noir in a private dining room of the Monterey Plaza Hotel: "With two bay doors flung wide open to the sea outside, it was the smell of the ocean and pulsing sound of gentle waves that made the ambiance of our dinner in Monterey Bay." Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans Executive Director Dave Muret welcomed the sommeliers with a verbal amuse-bouche: "It's appropriate to start our SOMM Camp here in Monterey Bay because it's the deep, cold-water canyons beneath the surface of bay that account for the fog, wind and cool temperatures of the Highlands. The cold air above Monterey Bay is sucked into Salinas Valley by warmer air further south in San Luis Obispo County. The result is a funnel effect—you can set your watch to when the wind begins to blow through the appellation, in the early afternoons. "The wind has a huge impact on our vines. We're a Region I cold climate, but the grapes get lots of sun on east-facing slopes, at anywhere from 50 to 2,500 foot elevations. Much of the appella - tion is steep mountainside, but we've grown to over 50 vineyards of more than 6,200 acres of planted grapes—most of it Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but with a variety of other grapes." After the tinkling of a glass, the sommeliers were seated on separate dinner tables with winemakers Bill Brosseau of Testarossa Winery, Gary Franscioni of ROAR Wines, Dragisa "D" Milivojevic of Miura Vineyards, Mark Manzoni and David Coventry of Manzoni Vineyards and Sabrine Rodems of Wrath Wines. Franscioni, who also serves as the current President of Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Ar tisans, addressed our group about the role of farmers in his appellation: "Our family has been farming in SLH for over 100 years. It's been relatively recent that we turned to grapes. Most of our members are, in fact, winemakers who happen to be longtime farmers, whether it's grapes, citrus fruit or, still, vegetables." Puricelli was particularly taken by the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays of Wrath because, she says, "Sabine's winemaking approach is honest, concise and intuitional—she lets the fruit express exactly what she wants." Benson concurs, finding in the Wrath 2012 Boekenoogen Vineyard Pinot Noir "a cherry, cran - berry, Chambord-like core and savory spice note I describe as 'pas- trami,' against a potpourri-like background of oak and orange peel." In fact, Benson says he picked up a pattern right away in the Santa Lucia Highlands reds, telling us, "I found a similar savory, pastrami-like meatiness in the dense, chewy yet plush Testarossa 2012 Doctor's Vineyard Pinot Noir, as well as in the Antiqv2s 2009 Syrah [pro - duced by Miura], which had brambly berries and a brown sugar bacon note." Yet Benson was also pleased by unique qualities in the whites served during the Monterey Bay dinner, singling out the "orange blossoms, ripe apricot and peach, deft touch of oak and hint of salinity" in the Wrath 2013 Fermata Chardonnay, as well as the Manzoni 2013 North Highlands Cuvée Pinot Gris, with its "melon, pear and peach with oyster shell-like minerality." Day 1 Vineyard Walks & Competitive Vine Thinning Owner-grower-winemaker Dan Morgan Lee of Morgan Winery. A glass of Morgan Chardonnay with a cluster of Double L Vineyard Chardonnay grapes.