Santa Cruz Mountains: The Compelling 2018s & 2019s
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
The Santa Cruz Mountains remains one of the most intriguing regions in the United States for the inquisitive oenophile. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and, more recently, Rhône varieties are rarely as vibrant and nuanced as they are here. With a few exceptions, the Santa Cruz Mountains is still very much under the radar, which presents a terrific opportunity to discover wines that offer world-class pedigree at prices that continue to be quite affordable.
The first time visitor to the Santa Cruz Mountains might be surprised. Silicon Valley and famous cities like Cupertino, Palo Alto and Mountainview are all nearby, as is Stanford University. But there is no Beaune, or Alba or city of Napa that anchors the region, from a winegrowing or tourist perspective, that serves as a hub. In most cases, the very few wineries that are located in these rugged hillsides are separated by considerable distance. Moreover, many of the top Santa Cruz Mountains bottlings are made by ambitious winemakers who are based outside the appellation. That creates a very unusual dynamic for a region that produces world-class wines, yet has no real physical home base. Each winery is its own little world. There is something beautiful about that too, though, as I hope readers will discover in this report. For more background on the region, readers might wish to revisit some of my previous articles, all of which are listed below.
2018: An Epic Vintage
I have to tell you, I absolutely adore this vintage. The wines are rich, deep and beautifully layered. There’s so much to the 2018s. The wines are intense and yet they never feel heavy or overdone in any way. It is an exceptionally strong vintage for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, the three main varieties found here.
“Two thousand eighteen is a drought year bracketed by two wet years in 2017 and 2019,” Jeffrey Patterson told me at Mount Eden, echoing the thoughts of many of his colleagues. “Even so, I find that wines show drought character only after a few years of sustained dryness and heat, as was the case with the 2015s, for example,” he added.
The Santa Cruz Mountains remains one of the most intriguing regions in the United States for the inquisitive oenophile. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and, more recently, Rhône varieties are rarely as vibrant and nuanced as they are here. With a few exceptions, the Santa Cruz Mountains is still very much under the radar, which presents a terrific opportunity to discover wines that offer world-class pedigree at prices that continue to be quite affordable.
