CORE Wine Company

There's a new tasting room along the Santa Maria Wine Trail and we're sure happy they've arrived! The CORE Wine Company has been producing wine for a few vintages now and we've had the pleasure to visit them directly at their wine-production facility during their open houses. Now everyone can venture to Old Town Orcutt to visit and taste on any Wednesday thru Sunday!

Co-owners Dave and Becky Corey both have extensive backgrounds in the wine industry: Dave has years of experience in both vineyard management and wine making; Becky has a strong concentration in Public Relations and Marketing. Seems like the perfect fit to us.

Becky greeted us as we entered the tasting room. She's decorated the room with her artistic touches and it looks great! When you visit, make sure to check out the full wall of Corey and Rice family histories.

We tasted several of their wines today, and they were all great. In fact, multiple vintages of Dave's wine have consistently scored 90 points or higher from both Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator. But we had a mission: to pair a CORE Wine Company red with our spicy Santa Maria Style baby back ribs which I planned to barbecue that evening. Becky suggested the 2005 Ground Around: a blend of 40% Grenache, 30% Tempranillo and 30% Syrah. Wow! It was an excellent suggestion and it paired perfectly. We also picked up a bottle of 2007 CORE Grenache Santa Barbara County which we look forward to opening in the near future.

The CORE Wine Company produces four (4) distinct labels: CORE, Turchi, C3 and Kuyam and all 4 labels are now available for tasting and purchase at the tasting room. When you're in our neighborhood, stop by the CORE Wine Company and pick up a bottle or three: You'll be glad you did!

**UPDATE** Be sure to check out the Tweeter and Facebook links on the CORE Wine Company homepage. Dave & Becky are constantly posting daily specials.

Riverbench Vineyard and Winery Wine Tasting

This Memorial Day weekend our friend Jeff was visiting from Florida. We understand there's not much in the way of wineries in the Sunshine State so this was a prime opportunity to introduce Jeff to the some of the best wine California has to offer. We drove east from Santa Maria along the Foxen Wine Trail to the new Riverbench Vineyard and Winery. This was our second visit to Riverbench: We just had to return because Laura Booras and her gracious tasting room staff (shout out to Jackie!) made us feel so comfortable and welcome the first time around.

Riverbench Vineyard and Winery just opened their tasting room in April but they've hit the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail running at a full-speed gallop! The tasting room itself is situated near the junction of Foxen Canyon Road and Tepusquet Road. Riverbench has completely restored the 1927 Craftsman style house which now is home to their tasting room and gardens. The setting affords beautiful views of the Santa Maria Mesa, the Foxen Chapel in the distance and the Riverbench estate vineyards which completely surround the tasting room.


The actual Riverbench Vineyard sits in the southeastern end of the Santa Maria valley and has been producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes since 1973. The valley's east-west orientation allows the cooling Pacific air to breeze through in the afternoons and results in the perfect growing climate for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. Over the last 30 years, the vineyard's exceptional fruit has been sold to numerous top quality Santa Barbara county wineries. In 2004 a group of local families purchased the vineyard and began exploring the possibility of starting their own wine label. To our delight, Riverbench Vineyard and Winery was born. The project has enticed Chuck Ortman (founder of Meridian Vineyard and respected winemaker/consultant for nearly 40 years) out of retirement to become winemaker for Riverbench. The actual vineyard is managed by Jim Stollberg from Dale Hampton Farming; the premier Santa Maria Valley vineyard management team. Riverbench Vineyard and Winery is devoted to producing the highest quality grapes in their vineyards which will result in unparalleled wine quality. Their wines will be produced in limited lots and will only be available at their tasting room and in select local restaurants.

Today's tasting included 3 very distinct Chardonnays and 2 exceptional Pinot Noirs:

The 2007 Bedrock Chardonnay is produced in an area of the vineyard which has a high concentration of river rock. This bedrock soil forces the grape vines do magical things (that's my scientific description, not theirs). The Bedrock Chardonnay is fermented completely in stainless steel tanks and the result is crisp, clean and very refreshing. This wine figures to pair well with a light lunch or appetizers during a warm day or all by itself as a prelude or in combination with a fine dinner.

The 2006 Estate Chardonnay is an exceptional combination of rich fruit flavors, slight buttery notes and the perfect amount of French oak barrel fermentation. This Chardonnay is outstanding and will pair with grilled halibut or barbecued chicken but we also suspect it will pair well with lighter meals. Right now, this is our favorite Riverbench Chardonnay and we look forward to numerous future pairings in our home. Santa Maria Style barbecued chicken will be our first of many!

The 2006 Reserve Chardonnay has a much lighter influence from the oak barrels than the Estate Chardonnay. This third Riverbench Chardonnay offers up a completely different experience. There are spicy notes (vanilla, nutmeg, honey, lemon) and buttery tastes but it's a also a fuller bodied Chardonnay. Riverbench staff describe it as an "appreciative interpretation of an Old World style wine" and "a delightful barrel-aged wine with a distinct touch of brulee". Who are we to disagree? Take that halibut off the grill and bake it this time; you'll have the perfect combination.

The 2006 Estate Pinot Noir is a light, perfectly balanced Pinot. Being big Syrah fans, we're relatively new to the world of Pinot so I'm afraid my description is a little loose. The wine is light but also has a vibrant burgundy color. I'm guessing it will pair well with fruit and cheese but also with light seafood or chicken or quail. Maybe even a vegetable pizza. We're gonna have to give it several tries...until we find the perfect match!

The 2006 Reserve Pinot Noir is produced from the vineyard's most select fruit. It's aged 11 months in French oak and will subtly age over the next 4-6 years. Riverbench describes it as a wine which "..entertains all of your senses. It's a wine that exudes confidence and vigor without being aggressive or harsh." We can hardly wait.

The Riverbench operation, staff and wines are truly outstanding. In the coming years, we fully expect Riverbench Vineyard and Winery to be recognized as the premier winery in Santa Barbara County if not all of the Central Coast. We look forward to our future visits and to many exceptional vintages!

Consilience Wines and Kenneth Volk Wine Tasting

Since we had a wine club shipment available for pickup at Consilience Wines in Los Olivos, we had an excellent reason to get out and enjoy yet another beautiful day on the Central Coast. It turns out that we happened to visit two great wineries with very similar production styles.

Consilience was officially founded in 1999 by four close friends: Brett and Monica Escalera and Tom and Jodie Daughters. Brett serves as the winemaker for Consilence and he's well qualified since he earned his "chops" as head winemaker at Fess Parker Winery for several years. Brett's past experience enabled him to now concentrate on very small hand-crafted production runs at Consilience. These small runs allow Consilience to produce "carefully nurtured, bold, and exciting wines that the common man can actually afford". Who can argue with that?

We feel Consilience produces some of the most consistent and highest-quality wines in Santa Barbara County. We're big fans of the Syrah varietal and Consilience always satisfies our quest for a full bodied, multi-layered Syrah. In fact, the current wine shipment features their 2004 Syrah, Hampton Family Vineyard and their 2004 Syrah, Falcone Vineyard.

Today's tastings included a couple whites and several reds. The reds are our favorites but the whites are of excellent quality also. Consilience's Roussanne's and Viognier's are always a pleasure to taste. We went home with a 2005 Viognier, Santa Barbara County; an 04 Syrah Camp 4; an 04 Syrah, Santa Barbara County and an 02 Zinfandel Port which we're eager to pair with some dark chocalate and/or a fine cigar. Decadence at it's best.



Los Olivos is at the southern terminus of Foxen Canyon Road and Kenneth Volk Vineyards lies 21.5 miles away at the northern end of the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. We enjoyed the drive (watch out for bikes) and captured a few of the rustic sights on this gorgeous day.

Kenneth Volk founded Wild Horse Winery and Vineyards in Paso Robles in 1981. In 2003, he sold Wild Horse to a major corporation and has now founded Kenneth Volk Vineyards at the eastern end of the Santa Maria valley. We're glad he's here! Ken states that his previous experience has allowed him to reinvent himself in the wine industry and concentrate on his family namesake brand: producing "smaller, better and slower" (sound familiar?). His efforts have already paid off with his Kenneth Volk 2005 Chardonnay, Santa Maria Cuvee winning the best-of-show award for whites at the 2007 Santa Barbara County Fair.

A very reasonable $5 tasting fee covered the tasting of 3 whites and 4 reds plus a couple extra reds thrown in for good measure. Our favorites today were the 2004 Chardonnay, Bien Nacido Vineyard; the 2005 Pinot Blanc, Bien Nacido Vineyard; the 2005 Negrette, Caleri Vineyard; the 2004 Claret; and the 2004 Merlot, El Pomar Junction.

The 2005 Pinot Blanc has aromas of caramel, vanilla, butter and toasted oak. We found it paired perfectly with our lunch of fruit and cheese at the picnic table conveniently situated in a flower garden at the front entrance to the winery.

Needless to say, we're looking forward to future vintages from Kenneth Volk Vineyards.