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« Preparing for the Siege (and NY pics) • Main • Hot Damn! »
Holy Smoke!
filed under: Winning Wines
And so what's a girl who's on lockdown while writing the Hip Tastes book do with a beautiful magnum that's destined to continue improving in the bottle with each of the next, oh 3 to 8 years? Duh! Drink it! I'm sure my collector friends' eyes are all rolling back in their heads right now thinking of me drinking this rather than squirreling it away for some better day, but - hey - the way I look at it is I'm drinking TOTALLY TOP vino for the next few days while I slave away.
What makes the Sea Smoke so darn good, and capable of this awesome evolution in my glass? It's all about the location of the vines, my friends: the vineyards are located on 100 acres of hilly slopes situated at the far western end of the Santa Rita Hills AVA just north of Santa Barbara. Cooling winds from the nearby Pacific funnel through the Santa Ynez River canyon and create late afternoon fog ("smoke") that cools down the vines and leads to an extended ripening season that's perfect for Pinot Noir.
I know, you're really jealous. To provoke you just a little more, I've included some snaps of the awesome view out my office window. These were taken this afternoon right after the rain went away. So now you know that I'm drinking really awesome wine while enjoying this sick view while...writing a book on lockdown. Suddenly it doesn't sound so sexy. And speaking of which, I guess I better get back to that... But first, my tasting notes. Enjoy, and if you get the chance pick up a bottle of Sea Smoke yourself - I guarantee you won't regret. TASTING NOTES Posted by Courtney on January 4, 2007 02:06 PM Comments How random Mike and I were just wine tasting in Carmel Valley and met this couple who live in Santa Ynez and we got to talking about pinot and they both raved about SeaSmoke. I wrote the name down on a napkin and just read your blog and was like-shit I got to get a bottle! ...................................................... Jenn - How random! Well, that couple must've known their wine - this stuff's smokin - pun totally intended! Posted by: Courtney on January 4, 2007 10:18 PM...................................................... You couldn't call me and have me come over for just a glass?! You know how much I like to, ahem, develop my palate. Next time you really should call for re-inforcements. Hope the book is going well! Your big sis down the hill.... Posted by: Claire on January 10, 2007 03:10 PM...................................................... I know, my bad! Although I did share some with Gabriel...but it's only b/c he showed up on my doorstep and I felt guilty giving him some other swill while I sipped blissfully away on the Sea Smoke. Actually, I did do that for a while but then I caved when my guilt overcame me. This is totally TMI for the blog, am afraid... Posted by: Courtney on January 10, 2007 03:13 PM...................................................... No worries, it will stay between us and your blog readers. Last night I did the same thing, Nicole and Lawrence were over and we had two bottles of wine, one good one mediocre. I poured them the mediocre and I sipped the good for quite a while before anyone caught on. I'm guite evil really. I just can't handle bad wine, ughghhg. Cheap Cabernet gives me the chills. Posted by: Claire on January 11, 2007 10:52 AM...................................................... Great wine! I first tasted it at Pinot Days last year. There was a long line at their table. My only other reference to Sea Smoke was the double date dinner scene in Sideways. Too bad they don't have a tasting room. I hear they make their wines in an industrial park district. Doesn't matter as long as they are making good wines. Have you had Foley or Melville Pinots? Posted by: Andy Gamitian on March 26, 2007 12:51 PM...................................................... |
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