Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/648009
W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 | 4 9 LOCAL FARE SY KITCHEN – LOCATED A FEW MILES FROM SANFORD WINERY – IS HOME TO WINE COUNTRY CUISINE thoughtful winemaker involved who has a burning desire to make great wine. Making great wine is their aspiration. It is a constant, deeply embedded desire that needs to be fed. Winemakers who are committed to and capable of making great wine usually also share the vision of the owners— to make great wines. It is these winemakers who deserve to have access to the resources that will further inspire them to make great wines. Those resources include amazing vineyards, open and deep dialogue around farming, experimentation —in the vineyard and in the winery that might allow the vineyards, the varietals and the soft hand of the winemaker to show their greatness. Some of my most exciting and inspirational moments have come from discussions I have had with winemakers. These are amazing individuals—equal parts right brain and left brain. They deftly manage the art and science of farming, grape growing, winemaking and blending. It's like a mixing board in a sound studio—the great winemakers know how to subtly manage the levers. They are interpreters of the land. 5. The wines are beautiful when they are young and they improve and become more elegant with age. I drank a 2009 Château de La Tour Clos-Vougeot recently. It was a baby, but it was already beautiful. And it was seamless. Then as these wines age, they develop a patina without anything being removed from them. The great winemaking families and winemakers of the world have mastered this. A family can't pick and choose among these five traits. And just as myriad forces—soil, weather, timing, chemistry, barrels and more—must come together to make a great bottle of wine, so, too, must the perfect conditions come together in shaping a great wine family. To exist in the ranks of the great winemaking families is no simple task. Success is highly dependent on the family itself, on its vision and views, the vineyards they own and farm and in their ability to inspire and work alongside a great winemaker and winemaking team. When that combination clicks, wine aficionados will always smile and raise their glasses to toast the triumph of excellence. John Terlato of Terlato Wine Group, spends a good portion of his time at their family-owned California wineries—Rutherford Hill Winery, Chimney Rock Winery, Sanford Winery and Terlato Vineyards. In Santa Ynez, California, Santa Barbara County's rustic wine region, SY Kitchen offers fresh, modern Italian-inspired dishes in a farmhouse setting. Pictured here is Emily Johnston, Sommelier/Wine Director (also Wine Director for the Toscana Group) and Chef Luca Crestanelli. (above) Housemade duck agnolotti with brown butter, thyme and peas is a match with estate bottled Sanford La Rinconada Vineyard Pinot Noir. ■cr