Weekly Wine Online

Have you ever crushed on a fellow or lady-love for ages, only to be disappointed when, eight years into your pining you finally land a date with them and discover that they are really just a drunk that you and your dad have to schlep home at the end of the night because they pass out on your parents sofa while you run upstairs to change your shoes?

Okay, so maybe that hasn’t happened to you in that exact sequence of events. But I bet something of the sort has. And if you’ve tasted a lot of wine, I bet you’ve found the same thing to be true.

For years and years, I’d heard about Santa Barbara Pinot Noirs. While I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I haven’t (yet) seen the movie, Sideways, people have talked about it enough for me to get the basic gist that, according to this movie, Santa Barbara Pinot Noirs are Where It’s At. Well let me tell you that my 8-year crush (lets just call him Pedro to save him the embarrassment, though I doubt he’ll find his way to this page – at least I hope not!), Pedro, the gent who I crushed over in the classroom, on the playing field, always from afar, is my Santa Barbara Pinot.

So it started out innocently enough: I went to the wine store and perused the Santa Barbara Pinot section. I picked out a mid-priced Pinot with a smart-looking label: a 2006 Huber Santa Rita Pinot Noir for $38. It seemed like a safe bet.

We then headed over the house of friend who has a mini-wine society into which she was inviting us… and we were very excited. We arrived and began sipping a lovely 2006 Central Coast Chardonnay by Wild Horse, and all was bliss. With this refreshing start, I figured it could only get better.

Into a brown paper bag went our darling 2006 Huber. Next to it were four other sheathed bags from which we all began to taste. And my immediate reaction as one after another was poured: Cherry Bomb. Cherry bomb, cherry bomb, cherry bomb. It was like licking sour-patch cherry candy for hours. My tongue even started to feel a little rubbed raw by all the sour cherry acidity. As each glass was poured, I kept waiting for our Huber, which it turned out was, indeed, my favorite of the bunch. But even the Huber greeted us with a modified cherry bomb. Cherry bombs all night.

Needless to say, I was immensely relieved to have a glass of water and some dinner, followed by a Sauternes, for I was eager to dispense of the sour cherry havoc wrought on my tongue. And like darling Pedro of the high school please-date-me days, I am glad to say that my intrigue has passed. Pedro and Santa Barbara Pinots, as lovely as they are from afar, can have each other. Its back to Burgundy and Northern Cali for me.

The Santa Barbara Pinot Noirs tasted, in order of preference:

Huber Cellars

2006, Santa Rita Hills, 14.6% alcohol - $38
Nose: Cherry juice.
Palate: Lemony zest. Lovely. Leather, chives. Cherry!

Siduri

2004, Santa Rita Hills, 14.2% alcohol - $34
Color: Looks unfiltered.
Nose: Sunny earth. Carrot juice. Hot, too. Tastes like cranberry from Thanksgiving with cucumber.
Palate: Supply sweetness. Cherry. Mint/eucalyptus. Very pretty. Slightly spicy.

Taz Vineyards

2006, Santa Barbara, 14.5% alcohol - $21
Nose: Bright maraschino cherry and cranberry juice. Sour cherry.
Palate: Bright and tangy. Dusty. Nutmeg. Hot with alcohol! Tastes like it toasted in the sun.

Melville

2006, Santa Rita Hills, 15.1% alcohol – $38
Nose: Strawberry and cherry. A little mint.
Palate: Cherry bing! Sweet cherry syrup. Gentle. Classic and obviously well-made, but kind of boring.

LaFond

2006, Santa Rita Hills, 13.8% alcohol - $25
Nose: Very hot. Pasta-smell. Big, red cherry jam.
Palate: Tangy, hot. Cherry juice. “Very fast,” according to my date. Agreed. Just okay. Cherry-lemon juice. NOT complex.

Chardonnay mentioned (and my very favorite wine of the night):

Wild Horse

2006 Chardonnay, Paso Robles
Nose: Lemony vanilla. Smells like French oak. Orangeade.
Palate: Lemony freshness. Great, oaky finish. Just beautiful! Lovely earth.