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For over 30 years, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard has been producing hand-crafted, artisanal wines known for their character and personality. Our approach to winemaking is to optimize the inherent potential in the grapes, a potential born not only of the vine but of the environment. | Felton, CA Phone: 831-335-4242 Website: http://www.santacruzmountainvineyard.com Appellation: Santa Cruz Mountains Tasting Room: We are happy to offers tours and tastings at the winery by advance appointment. |
Pinot Noir
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1999 "Estate" Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains
There is a very deep component of Pinot Noir fruit in both the aroma and flavors. The flavors yield a deep extract of cherries and Santa Rosa plums, layered around complexities of ... morepeppery spiciness, with hints of wood smoke and lilac. In the mouth the wine has a rich texture, great acidity, and a lingering finish of deep Pinot Noir fruit.
This wine is just now starting to open up and reveal its tremendous depth and complexity. Enjoy it now with some breathing time or it’s a good candidate to forget about in your cellar and then discover just how wonderful these big Pinot Noirs can be with time.
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Syrah
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2002 Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains
This wine has rich layers of fruit, including blackberry, raspberry, and plum. Behind this fruit are complexities of bittersweet chocolate and RhĂ´ne-like spiciness. We feel this w ... moreine has the depth, structure and acidity to age very well for a decade or more. Fortunately the wine shows well now too, especially if you open it an hour or two before serving. This is a deeply fruity, spicy wine to enjoy with hearty fare anytime.
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Petite Sirah
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2003 Durif McDowell Valley
Durif is one of many grape varieties that is grown in the Rhône Valley of France and it is one of the varieties allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. Early in the 20th Century cu ... morettings of Durif from the Rhône Valley were shipped to California, but during this process the cuttings were given the name Petite Sirah. There really is no such thing as Petite Sirah in France, it was simply a name applied to the Durif grape when it was first brought over to the U.S. Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard has been labeling this variety by its “real” name since 1977.
Whatever you want to call it, this particular release has a massive structure which is balanced by an equally impressive depth of fruit and spicy, smoky complexity. The smoky, spicy elements are wrapped around a whole lot of blackberries and other dark fruit. This one needs a looooong wake-up call in the decanter at this point and should age for quite a few years. Have it with a nice cut of beef or lamb and it should work beautifully.
The grapes for this wine come from plantings in the McDowell Valley appellation of Mendocino county from 1948. These old vines produce wines with a lot of flavor intensity and the kin
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Merlot
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2004 Merlot Santa Cruz Mountains
This wine is 100% Merlot from two different vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Zayante Vineyard above Felton and Regan Vineyard in Corralitos. These two different micro-climate ... mores made wines with distinctly different characteristics that when blended together made for a product that is more complex than the sum of its parts. This is a Cabernet lover’s Merlot full of rich berry fruit and smoky, spicy complexities.
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Grenache
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2005 Grenache McDowell Valley
This Grenache is made from vines that are over 100 years old from the McDowell Valley Vineyard in Mendocino County. These gnarly, head-trained vines produce small quantities of gra ... morepes loaded with character. The wine has deep flavors of raspberries with complex exotic spiciness that includes white pepper. It has a very aromatic nose with an intriguing interplay between exotic spice and many different fruit and floral elements. This dance of spice, fruit and flowers continues in the mouth and long into the finish.
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Pinot Noir
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2005 Pinot Noir - Branciforte Creek Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains
Branciforte Creek Vineyard is located on Jarvis Road in the Vine Hill area of the Santa Cruz Mountains, just a mile away from our well-known Estate Vineyard on the same road. The v ... moreines were planted in 1988 in a site that originally had grapes since 1863. This vineyard has low yields of very flavorful fruit year after year.
This vintage is unusually complex and explodes aromatically for such a young wine. There are many different layers of fruit and spice that continue to expand as the wine interacts with the air.
In the mouth it is equally expansive with just the right amount of acidity to carry all those layers of fruit across your tongue. There is a long finish of Pinot Noir fruit along with some dry leaf and floral elements.
DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL – San Francisco Chronicle 2008 (The only Double Gold awarded in the $25 to $35 price category)
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Updated on February 11, 2008
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