Santa Cruz Mountains 2023 and 2024: A Rising TideBY BILLY NORRIS | JUNE 25, 2026The Santa Cruz Mountains has been the underdog region in
California wine for decades. Quality has been exceptionally high in pockets for
just as long, with the tone set by marquee estates like Ridge, Mount Eden and
Rhys. But it has been an uphill battle for the many intrepid smaller producers
fighting to carve out their share of the limelight in a region that seems
almost designed to resist easy agriculture.That is changing, and it’s good news for everybody.I put 1,400 miles on a rental car&nbsp;over five days of meeting and tasting with producers in the Santa Cruz Mountains.&nbsp;The sprawl is
undeniable. Situated roughly an hour’s drive south of San Francisco, the Santa
Cruz Mountains AVA comprises nearly 480,000 acres, of which a paltry 1,600 are
planted to vine. That is only 0.3% of the land. It's a vast, segmented region generally divided by the San Andreas fault, which splits the AVA generally in two, with a pocket of cooler sites in the south, closer to Monterey Bay. Vineyards appear as small
clearings in a vast, forested landscape, scattered across ridges, gullies and
exposures that can vary dramatically over short distances. Much of the region
is mountainous, densely wooded, difficult to access and either cost-prohibitive
or logistically unfeasible to plant vineyards. Historically, the estates with
the deepest pockets were often best positioned to absorb the region’s complications.But today the narrative is shifting. The main takeaway is no
longer hardship — it is momentum. There is an inescapable sense that the Santa
Cruz Mountains as a whole is firing on all cylinders. Quality and ambition have
never been higher, and the sense of community and collaboration is palpable,
from the region’s stalwarts to the fledgling up-and-comers. The long-standing
benchmark estates remain bastions of fine, important wine, but the whole picture
is far broader. An impressive array of producers are now crafting wines of real
impact, wines that have earned their place among the finest in the United
States. The tide has risen.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782331388969-Peter+Martin+Ray_Vinous.png">The Peter Martin Ray vineyard boasts a viticultural
history dating back to the late 1800s. The head-trained Cabernet pictured
here was part of a 1979 replanting.Viticulture is EverythingThe challenges of viticulture in the Santa Cruz Mountains
are not just logistical. In this rugged, wild AVA that spans mountainous terroirs
at a range of elevations from 400 feet to more than 2,700 feet,&nbsp; most of the vineyards sit within 15 miles of
the Pacific Ocean. That’s close enough for fog, wind and cold marine air to be daily
farming realities. With those conditions comes significant mildew pressure. Precise
work in the vineyard is the only way to grow anything worth vinifying, let
alone anything capable of producing world-class wine. Here, the viticulturist
is the rockstar. That is not to suggest that other California regions lack
serious, intentional farming, but rather that farming in the Santa Cruz
Mountains is more important than any subsequent input in the winery.I’ve never visited another region where so many people talk
about specific viticulturists by name. And it’s the same names that come up
again and again: David Gates, Prudy Foxx and Ken Swegles. The same themes also
emerge regularly: transitioning to organic practices, limiting herbicides,
raising the health of the ecosystem, canopy work, mildew pressure, vine
balance, labor, timing and the accumulated knowledge required to farm tiny,
scattered blocks in a cold, coastal mountain range.The modern Santa Cruz Mountains has its own class of farming
technicians. David Gates has carried the torch for decades. His nearly four
decades of work at Ridge helped set the standard for thoughtful, site-specific
viticulture in the region — more art than technical discipline. Foxx is a
rockstar in her own right, a universally revered figure whose work as a
viticultural consultant has helped sharpen the understanding of what it takes
to grow top-tier grapes. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782331403745-LeBoeuf_Vinous.png">Surrounded by redwood groves and planted entirely to Chardonnay in 1974, Le Boeuf Vineyard is one of
the many sites Ken Swegles farms.Swegles represents another modern model, with experience and
vision across dozens of extreme sites and a focus on implementing regenerative,
holistic farming practices in order to let these vineyards truly speak. Working
under each of them is a team — “more like a family,” as Swegles calls it — of
workers who’ve spent years learning the sites, the vines and how they respond
to the unique conditions of the region. “In recent years, everyone has really
started to dial in organic viticulture. The soils are more alive. The whole
ecosystem is more alive,” he said. That environmental synergy is crystal-clear
in the glass, but more on that later.Visionary grape-grower Ken Burnap staked his claim on the
potential for the region to excel in the 1970s. He passed recently, and these
figures are the next link in the chain. The modern generation has capitalized
on greater technical precision, better farming, more collaboration and a deeper
understanding of which sites can deliver greatness. All of these things are
finally bringing the region’s identity into focus.2023: The Luxury of TimeBy now, you’ve probably heard the lore. The 2023 growing
season in California was one for the record books. The superlatives have been
applied liberally, but as always, the reality is more complicated. Greatness
was within arm’s reach in 2023 across most of the state. Did everyone achieve
it? No. Did some? Of course. Is much of that greatness on display in the Santa
Cruz Mountains? Absolutely. The 2023s from the Santa Cruz Mountains are among
the most consistently excellent of the 2023s anywhere in California, which is
particularly impressive when you consider how geographically diverse the region
is.The 2023 growing season followed a historic winter that
effectively broke California’s drought pattern. In parts of the Santa Cruz
Mountains, growers came into the season with more than 60 inches of accumulated
rainfall, recharged soils and no need for irrigation. That abundance of water
set the stage for a very different kind of year — cold, foggy and slow, with
mildew pressure replacing drought stress as the principal viticultural
challenge. “It was really, really cold,” said John Benedetti of Sante Arcangeli.
“We just didn’t get warm for the entire season. You couldn’t even grow tomatoes
in 2023.”<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782331684540-Santa+Cruz+Mountains+Cover_Vinous.png">Beauregard’s Bald Mountain Vineyard is an incredibly
distinctive, sandy site in the nested Ben Lomond Mountain AVA.But the vines, and the people who farm them, are accustomed
to humidity, fog and cold conditions. The challenge in 2023 was to maintain
vine health and preserve balance over a long, drawn-out season, a key factor in
coaxing the most out of the wines. Careful canopy management, mildew control
and a willingness to wait separated the best results from the merely good, but
truth be told, there’s more great than good.The best 2023s are often striking. They are vivid,
classically structured wines that reflect all the finest qualities the region
has to offer. The Pinot Noirs boast purity, energy and sublime detail, with a sense
of phenolic completeness that only comes from an abundance of uninterrupted hangtime.
Beyond the stratospheric 2023 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Hillside, look to
the 2023 Beauregard Pinot Noir Coast Grade Vineyard and the 2023
Sandar &amp; Hem Pinot Noir Deerheart Vineyard for seriously compelling
expressions of coastal character.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782331487579-Sandar_Vinous.png">Winemaker Rob Bergstrom of Sandar &amp; Hem.The 2023 Chardonnays are electric, combining tension and
focus with the hallmark minerality and saline character this terroir delivers
in spades in the best vintages. The 2023 Beauregard Chardonnay Bald
Mountain Vineyard, 2023 Big Basin Chardonnay Kimari Vineyard, 2023
Sandar &amp; Hem Chardonnay Mountain Winery Vineyard and 2023 Thomas
Fogarty Chardonnay Albutom Vineyard are all drop-dead gorgeous.Cabernet-based wines from the right sites possess the lifted
freshness of a cool year with the richness, depth and layering imbued by the long
season. The epic 2023 Ridge Monte Bello is destined to be one of
the all-time greats.2024: Challenging but Rewarding
The 2024 season began with some familiar themes. Winter and spring moisture returned,
leading to timely budbreak and healthy, vigorous canopies. In many sites, the
early part of the growing season suggested another cool, steady year. But the
shape of the vintage changed as heat arrived in September. Proximity to the
Pacific Ocean was a help in the coastal sites, but inland sites saw temperatures
cresting 100°F for over a week. Diurnal shifts were not significant enough to
slow ripening, as low temperatures stayed around 80°F during that stretch. This
sudden heat caused rapid dehydration in the berries, compressing picking
schedules and forcing rapid decisions in both vineyard and cellar. Yields
suffered as a result. Labor is always a challenge here, but crews were spread particularly
thin in 2024. Getting fruit off the vine in a timely fashion was especially
tough for producers without their own dedicated workers.However, the good news is that the wines didn’t suffer. In
most cases, the extra dose of richness and ripeness drawn from the dehydration
in the late-season heat gives the wines a little more “meat on the bone.”
Though a September heat spike calls to mind the recent struggles of 2022, the
2024s don’t show the hallmarks of phenolic underripeness and physiological
overripeness that befell many of the 2022s, and the 2024s managed to retain
bright acidity.Generally, the 2024s openly show the generosity of the year.
The wines are more immediate, more textural and more pliant than their 2023
counterparts, but they retain excellent energy. The best Chardonnays show
surprising drive and depth, with powerful concentration. The 2024 Sante
Arcangeli Chardonnay Split Rail Vineyard is one of the finest Chardonnays
I’ve ever tasted from the Santa Cruz Mountains. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782401352676-nathankandlervinous.jpg">Nathan Kandler at Thomas Fogarty Winery delivered a knockout appellation-level Pinot
Noir in 2024.The Pinots vary a touch more, with riper flavors and richer
textures, but there are ample successes and very few abject failures. Some
producers opted to declassify fruit to bolster appellation-level bottlings.
Winemaker Nathan Kandler at Thomas Fogarty Winery culled his range from ten
vineyard/block-designate Pinot Noirs and nine Chardonnays to one Pinot Noir and
three Chardonnays. “With that September heat, the delineation between sites
just wasn’t as clear as it typically is, so we chose to just bottle the best
blocks together,” said Kandler. That approach clearly paid off, as the 2024
Thomas Fogarty Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains) is exceptional, especially
at the “entry level.”Winemaker Jeff Brinkman at Rhys shared a different
experience. “We don’t irrigate our estate sites, so those old vines are
resilient in the heat. We were fortunate to have a fairly average harvest
window that spanned about a month,” Brinkman said. I will taste the 2024s from
Rhys and add reviews in the coming months, but the three wines I tasted from
barrel pointed to a potentially strong vintage here.I have only tasted a few 2024 Cabernet-based wines from
barrel. Those appear to be the most affected by the heat, with some loss of
freshness, especially in wines from more exposed inland sites. I will taste the
bottled wines in the fall.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782331586536-Big+Basin_Vinous.png">Bradley Brown (left) and Blake Yarger (right) continue to
turn out the finest Rhône variety wines in the region.I would be remiss not to mention the range of Rhône variety
bottlings I tasted from a mix of vintages, many of which are from 2021 or 2022,
as these varieties typically see longer élevage. Suffice it to say, Syrah and
Grenache can be superb in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Readers would do well to
seek out any of the wines from Big Basin; the 2022 Grenache Grizzly and
2022 Syrah Coastview Vineyard Terraces vie for top marks, but they’re
both stunning.Community and the Rising TideThe story here is not simply that the best wines are great.
That has been true in the Santa Cruz Mountains for a long time. The story is
that the middle and upper-middle tiers have improved dramatically. Producers who
might once have been interesting mostly in a local context are now making wines
that deserve serious attention. Appellation bottlings are stronger. Vineyard
designates are more articulate. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Syrah and other varieties are all finding compelling expressions in the right
hands. Producers like Alfaro, Beauregard, Big Basin, Farm Cottage, Madson, Neely,
Sandar &amp; Hem and Sante Arcangeli are just some of the exciting
needle-movers who are claiming their rightful spots at the top of the heap.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782331608663-Neely_Vinous.png">One of the very few female winemakers in the region, Sarah Green has quickly
raised the bar at Neely after taking over winemaking duties in 2024.A striking sense of collaboration runs through the Santa
Cruz Mountains today. This is not always the case in regions defined by
scarcity, limited recognition and intense logistical challenges, but here, the
mood is communal. Producers talk openly about farming. They taste each other’s
wines and offer feedback. They taste wines from other regions with the goal of
learning and benchmarking their own progress. They eat together. They drink
together. Viticultural knowledge circulates, and the energy of that collective
knowledge is in the air. The strong community is an invaluable asset and a big
reason why the region is performing at such a high level. &nbsp;A rising tide
lifts all boats.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1782331625342-Calera_Vinous.png">Winemaker Mike Waller and the historic lime kiln at Calera.As per usual, this report also includes wines from San
Benito County, Chalone and the Gabilan Mountains, regions outside the
boundaries of the Santa Cruz Mountains but within proximity. The 2023s at
Calera knocked my socks off, a true testament to the legacy of the late Josh
Jensen’s super-remote site in the limestone-laden mountains of San Benito. Hats
off to Winemaker Mike Waller. I’ve also included reviews for the latest Sonoma
County releases from Ridge.I tasted the wines for this report in spring 2026 in the
Santa Cruz Mountains, with follow-up tastings at my home office
in Florida.© 2026, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/santa-cruz-mountains-the-chameleon-oct-2024">Santa Cruz Mountains — The Chameleon</a>, Billy Norris, October 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/santa-cruz-mountains-california-s-hidden-gem-nov-2023">Santa Cruz Mountains — California’s Hidden Gem</a>, Antonio Galloni, November 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/santa-cruz-mountains-the-compelling-2018s-&amp;-2019s-may-2022">Santa Cruz Mountains: The Compelling 2018s &amp; 2019s</a>, Antonio Galloni, May 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/santa-cruz-mountains-wines-of-breathtaking-pedigree-sep-2020">Santa Cruz Mountains: Wines of Breathtaking Pedigree</a>, Antonio Galloni, September 2020&nbsp;

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