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Pinot PrizesSanta Cruz Mountain wineries walk away with top honors for pinot noirs at San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competitionby Steve Palopoli on Jan 21, 2010THE RESULTS of the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition are in, and perhaps the most fascinating trend for Silicon Valley wine watchers is the showing that Santa Cruz Mountain wineries made in the upscale ($50 and up) pinot noir category. Simply put, they cleaned up, with far more winners than Napa or Anderson Valley and exactly as many decorated wines as California’s hallowed pinot territory, the Russian River Valley. The significance of that equity shouldn’t be underestimated. The Chron competition is the world’s largest showdown of American wines, and this year’s results have got to be a big boost for the region’s rep. Remember, great pinot in California is still a relatively new phenomenon, and anybody’s game. First up among local winners was Soquel Vineyards, taking home a gold medal for their earthy, blackberry-toned 2006 Lester Vineyard pinot. Owners Peter and Paul Bargetto are no doubt particularly psyched for their double-gold win in the cab category (for the 2007 Garvey Family cab), but I think their total of four medals for pinots this year is even more impressive. Los Gatos’ own Loma Prieta Winery took home two silver medals in this category. A small production winery that has been bringing home big awards for its Saveria Vineyard and estate pinots for several years now, Loma Prieta is another example of the varietal’s rising stock in this region—they started out making cabernet exclusively, and once made a merlot, but for the last couple of years seem to be releasing only pinots. Both their Saveria and estate pinots took silver this year. Among the bronze winners was one of the Vine Hill Winery labels, Cumbre, for its 2007 pinot. Winemaker Sal Godinez’s best grapes took home an award for the second year in a row—the 2006 Cumbre pinot was a big winner last year. by Steve Palopoli on Jan 21, 2010 |
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