Tried this SauvBlanc last night:
1. Payson SauvBlanc ZabalaVnyd/ArroyoSecco/MontereyCnty (13%; 100% SauvMusque) P&B by I.Brand & Family/Salinas 2024: Light gold color; rather fragrant floral/SauvMusque/marigolds slight herbal/SauvBlanc bit mineral/chalky rather attractive SB nose that avoids the grassy/cat pee on gooseberry bush side of SB; fairly tart slight hebal/SB rather floral/marigolds/SM slight pencilly fairly rich slight steely rather balanced flavor; long floral/marigolds/SM finish that mocks flavor; quite a lovely expression of floral/SM. $20.00 (SFW&S)
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More veeblefester from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. I have, of course, followed grape grownin/wine in MontereyCnty from the very start. Not that start, though. Grapes were first planted up on the Chalone Bench about 1921. Some of those original vines still exist. But no winemaking at Chalone anymore.
In the mid '70's, Mirassou Vnyds, located on the southern edge of San Jose, was seeing a lot of pressure on their wnry/vnyds as SanJose grew to the South. So they looked South to put in plantings in Monterey Cnty. The Mirassous made some pretty outstanding wines there in the SantaClaraVlly. One of the greatest Calif Cabs I ever had was a Mirassou from the early '60's. The vnyds have long ago been replaced by housing and the MirassouWnry torn down. The Mirassou name is now owned by Gallo & they make the wines over in Lodi. I think one of the Mirassou boys is still involved in those wines. They're pretty quotidian wines.
Anyway, the Mirassous looked South to the Salinas Vlly and planted some extensive vnyds. The wines (especially the Cab) were pretty dreadful and gave rise to the term "Monterey veggies" and pretty close ruined the Salinas Vlly as a premier grape growing area. In the SalinasVlly, it's all about learning to farm the grapes. They looked to lush vegetation as a sign of great grapes. Which was their undoing. With lots of irrigation. But the SauvBlancs were particularly vile & herbal.
In the early '70's, Doug Meador planted vyds in Arroyo Secco. At the time, he was making his wine in Monterey in a old museum below the Monterey Airport originally occupied by the Monterey Peninsula Wnry (remember them?? They made some pretty incredible wines, especially Zin). His SauvBlanc was very vegetal & not very good. As he browsed the FPS list of grape varieties available from them, he spotted a variety called Sauv Musque. FPS didn't seem to have any idea what the grape was. So Doug ordered so0me cuttings and planted them in Arroyo Secco. I remembered the first time I tasted his SM w/ Doug, it was a real eye-opener. Where's the "Monterey veggies"?? It was very perfumed & floral and the rest is history. SM is now one of the most attractive expressions of SB in Calif now. Doug never gets he recognition he deserves for the discovery of SM.
We drove over to ArroyoSecco & walked the vnyd together so he could show me his SM. It was right next to his SB & the vines were strikingly different in appearance. He just needed to find the right SB plant material.
As we walked the Ventana Vnyd, he showed me this row of vines he had just grafted over. "Syrah" Doug remarked. I gave him this incredulous look. "Why on god's green earth would you plant Syrah"?? Everyone knew that Syrah was a warm/hot climate grape!! SalinasVlly is much too cold for Syrah to succeed. Doug was, of course, had the right instinct. This was the first authentic cold-climate Syrah vnyd in Calif. I was amazed when I first tasted his ArroyoSecco Syrah. Very intense & black-pepper. The hallmark of c-c Syrah. Since then, some great Syrahs have been made out of the Ventana Vnyd.
So that's my Monterey/Salinas story & I'm sticking to it. I have more stories to tell (Coca-Cola & Dick Peterson). But I'm stopping for today.
Last I heard, Doug was still alive (no obit could be found) and living near family in Missouri.
Tom