I went through all the wineries on the Santa Cruz Mountains Winery Association website and searched their websites for wines that were less than $30. This dollar amount could be due to club or case discount, if I could easily figure these out. After scanning the websites for hours I came to the conclusion that it might be easier just to ask the wineries.
So I started sending out this email:
Hello.
I am a local Santa Cruz Mountains wine enthusiast. I have visited most of the Santa Cruz Mountains wineries and am a club member of many.
I like to put together blind tastings to enjoy with my friends. I typically blog our findings.
I want to put together a blind tastings of reasonably priced Santa Cruz Mountains Pinots. The Pinot must be from the Santa Cruz Mountains region and must be available for under $30 before tax. The under $30 price can be reached via club membership and/or case discount; it can also be reached via a reseller.
Do you have any wines that meet these requirements? Please note that I’m not asking for you to send me the wines, just looking for a list. I tried to figure out this list myself via http://scmwa.com/wineries/ and navigating everyone’s website, but in the end I thought it more fair just to ask; so as not to miss any.
If you do have any, please reply with the name of the wine and how the <$30 price was reached.
Regards,
Rod Magnuson
Accidental Wine Snob
http://www.accidentalwinesnob.com/
After reviewing the list, I realized some of the wineries I was familiar with were not in the Santa Cruz Mountains Winery Association. I added everyone to the list I knew or could find by scouring google maps for wineries.
Sue guessed we would get 30 and could name the tasting 30 under $30. I guessed we would get closer to 15.
- Wines had to be below $30. Some wines were really close to $30.
- Only one vintage of a wine. A number of wineries had different vintages of their wine. I chose to only allow one, preferring 09 - 12.
- Only one wine per winery. Some wineries had more than one qualifying wine. I chose to only allow one, asking the winery which they would prefer.
I attempted to contact 84 wineries via form submissions and email.
I received a lot of encouragement and informative replies.
Judy Schultze from Windy Oaks provided me with this insight on price:
"A few of the reasons it’s under $30/bottle:
- Not aged as long as our other pinots (but still ~16-17 months)
- Not a block designate
- No single fermentation (but still total fermentation time of 30-40 days)
- Not as much new French oak as our other pinots"
Wineries
Here's the list of wineries I attempted to contact. Am I missing anyone?
| Winery | Contact | SCMWA |
| Ahlgren Vineyard | ||
| Alfaro Family Vineyards & Winery | mail@alfarowine.com | * |
| Bargetto Winery | customerservice@bargetto.com | * |
| Barterra Winery | barterrawines@gmail.com | |
| Beauregard Vineyards | Web Site Form | * |
| Big Basin Vineyards | Matt@BigBasinVineyards.com | * |
| Black Ridge Vineyards | info@blackridgevineyards.com | |
| Bonny Doon Vineyard | orders@bonnydoonvineyard.com | * |
| Bottle Jack Winery | info@bottlejackwines.com | * |
| Bruzzone Family Vineyard | berna@bruzzonevineyards.com | * |
| Burrell School Vineyards & Winery | info@burrellschool.com | * |
| Byington Vineyard & Winery | events@byington.com | * |
| Cinnabar Winery | info@cinnabarwinery.com | * |
| Clos de la Tech | Info@closdelatech.com | * |
| Clos LaChance Wines | admin@clos.com | * |
| Clos Tita Winery | * | |
| Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards | questions@cgv.com | * |
| Coterie Cellars | info@coteriecellars.com | |
| Dancing Creek Winery | info@dancingcreekwinery.com | * |
| David Bruce Winery | info@davidbrucewinery.com | |
| Domenico Winery | michael@domenicowinery.com | * |
| Equinox | equinoxwine@gmail.com | * |
| Fellom Ranch Vineyards | bfellom@sbcglobal.net | * |
| Four Gates Winery | bc@fourgateswine.com | |
| Hallcrest Vineyards | marketing@hallcrestvineyards.com | |
| Heart O' the Mountain | wine@heartothemountain.com | |
| House Family Vineyards | Web Site Form | * |
| Hunter Hill Vineyard & Winery | info@hunterhillwines.com | * |
| J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines | sjwinecenter@jlohr.com | |
| Kathryn Kennedy Winery | cabernet@kathrynkennedywinery.com | * |
| Kings Mountain Winery | hello@kingsmountainvineyards.com | * |
| La Honda Winery | info@lahondawinery.com | * |
| La Nebbia Winery | info@lanebbiawinery.com | |
| La Rusticana Vineyards | saralarusticana@aol.com | * |
| Left Bend Winery | info@leftbend.com | * |
| Loma Prieta Winery | LomaPrietaWinery@aol.com | * |
| McCarthy Family Estate Vineyards | Form Submission Failed | * |
| McHenry Vineyard | contact@mchenryvineyard.com | * |
| Michael Martella Wines | martellawine@gmail.com | * |
| Mindego Ridge | stacey@mindegoridge.com | * |
| MJA Vineyards | aloha@mjavineyards.com | * |
| Mount Eden Vineyards | info@mounteden.com | * |
| Muccigrosso Vineyards | wineplease@muccigrosso.com | * |
| Muns Vineyard | info@munsvineyard.com | * |
| Myka Cellars | Web Site Form | |
| Naumann Vineyards | info@naumannvineyards.com | * |
| Nicholson Vineyards | info@nicholsonvineyards.com | * |
| Odonata | denis@odonatawines.com | * |
| Pelican Ranch Winery | Web Site Form | |
| Perrucci Family Vineyard | Web Site Form | |
| Picchetti Winery | Web Site Form | |
| Pleasant Valley Vineyards | info@pvvines.com | |
| P M Staiger | pmstaiger@msn.com | * |
| Poetic Cellars | info@poeticcellars.com | * |
| Portola Vineyards | len@portolavineyards.com | * |
| Radonich Brothers Vineyards | info@radonichbrothers.com | * |
| Regale Winery and Vineyards | wineclub@regalewine.com | |
| Rexford Winery | info@rexfordwinery.com | |
| Rhys Vineyards | info@rhysvineyards.com | * |
| Ridge Vineyards | wine@ridgewine.com | * |
| River Run Vintners | Web Site Form | |
| Roudon-Smith Winery | sales@roudonsmith.com | * |
| Russian Ridge Winery | Web Site Form | * |
| Salamandre Wine Cellars | newt@cruzio.com | |
| Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard | info@SANTACRUZMOUNTAINVINEYARD.COM | * |
| Sante Arcangeli Family Wines | jb@santewinery.com | * |
| Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards | Web Site Form | * |
| Ser | nicole@serwinery.com | * |
| Silver Mountain Vineyards | info@silvermtn.com | * |
| Silvertip Vineyards | Web Site Form | * |
| Sones Cellars | sones@cruzio.com | |
| Soquel Vineyards | Web Site Form | |
| Stockwell Cellars | eric@stockwellcellars.com | * |
| Storrs Winery | Web Site Form | * |
| Testarossa Winery | Web Site Form | |
| The Mountain Winery | jmontenegro@mountainwinery.com | * |
| Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards | info@fogartywinery.com | * |
| Travieso Winery | elrey@traviesowinery.com | |
| Trojak~Knier Wine | info@trojakknier.com | |
| Trout Gulch Vineyards | Web Site Form | |
| Villa del Monte Winery | info@villadelmontewinery.com | * |
| Vino Tabi | Info@vino-tabi-wine.com | |
| Windy Oaks Estate Vineyards & Winery | Proprietor@windyoaksestate.com | * |
| Woodside Vineyards | info@woodsidevineyards.com | * |
| Wrights Station Vineyard & Winery | dan@wrightsstation.com | * |
| Zayante Vineyards | kathleen@zayantevineyards.com | * |
Wines Under $30
Here are the wines I have so far on the list. If you see more than one from a winery, it just means I haven't made the call on which one to taste yet.
| Winery | Wine | Retail | Best Price |
| Alfaro Family Vineyards & Winery | 2013 Alfaro "A" Estate | $25.00 | ? |
| Bargetto Winery | 2013 Pommard Clone Pinot Noir, Regan Estate Vineyards | $35.00 | $28.00 |
| 2013 Pinot Noir, Regan Estate Vineyards | $28.00 | $22.40 | |
| Burrell School Vineyards & Winery | 2010 Estate Pinot Noir | $39.00 | $29.00 |
| Byington Vineyard & Winery | 2012 Pinot Noir, Estate | $39.00 | $29.25 |
| Clos Tita Winery | Pinot Noir Cuvee | $26.00 | |
| Dancing Creek Winery | 2010 Santa Cruz Mountains Legato, Pinot Noir | $28.00 | $28.00 |
| Domenico Winery | 2009 Santa Cruz Pinot Noir | $35.00 | $28.00 |
| Ghostwriter | 2013 Ghostwriter | ? | ? |
| Hunter Hill Vineyard & Winery | 2012 Estate Pinot Noir | $40.00 | ? |
| La Honda Winery | 2013 SEQUENCE, Pinot Noir | $28.00 | $28.00 |
| McHenry Vineyard | 2012 "Swan Clone - Estate" Pinot Noir | $38.00 | $28.99 |
| 2012 Estate Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | $34.00 | $25.99 | |
| Muns Vineyard | 2010 Estate Pinot Noir | $40.00 | $28.00 |
| Nicholson Vineyards | 2012 Pinot Noir, Cuvee | $30.00 | $25.50 |
| Pelican Ranch Winery | 2011 Santa Cruz Mts., Meadowridge Vineyard | $35.00 | $29.75 |
| 2010 Santa Cruz Mts., Amaya Ridge Vineyard | $35.00 | $29.75 | |
| Perrucci Family Vineyard | 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | $34.00 | $23.80 |
| Radonich Brothers Vineyards | 2012 Estate | $27.99 | $27.99 |
| Rexford Winery | 2011 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains | $25.00 | $20.00 |
| River Run Vintners | 2013 Pinot Noir | $25.00 | $20.00 |
| Roudon-Smith Winery | 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Private Reserve Pinot Noir | $30.00 | $26.40 |
| Russian Ridge Winery | 2012 Russian Ridge Pinot Noir | $30.00 | $25.50 |
| Salamandre Wine Cellars | ??? | ||
| Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard | 2010 Pinot Noir Bailey’s Branciforte Ridge Vineyard | $32.00 | $29.00 |
| Sante Arcangeli Family Wines | 2013 Pinot Noir, Split Rail Vineyard, Corralitos | $36.00 | $28.80 |
| Sarah's Vineyard | 2013 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | ||
| Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards | 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | $36.00 | $28.80 |
| Ser | 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | $33.00 | $28.00 |
| Silvertip Vineyards | 2012 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, Estate | $32.00 | $24.00 |
| Soquel Vineyards | 2013 Estate Pinot Noir | $33.00 | $29.70 |
| Storrs Winery | 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | $36.00 | $28.80 |
| Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards | 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | $35.00 | $29.75 |
| Trout Gulch Vineyards | 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir | $28.00 | $28.00 |
| Villa del Monte Winery | 2013 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains | $34.00 | $28.90 |
| 2013 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains Regan Vineyards Martini Clone | $32.00 | $27.20 | |
| 2013 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains Regan Pommard Clone | $32.00 | $27.20 | |
| 2012 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains Regan Vineyard | $32.00 | $27.20 | |
| Windy Oaks Estate Vineyards & Winery | 2013 Terra Narro Estate Pinot Noir | $29.00 | $23.00 |
Tasting Plan
- I acquire all of the wines.
- I randomly divide them into tastings of 6 to 8 wines.
- We will host as many tasting that are necessary in which 6 to 12 of my wine enthusiast (no wine professionals here) friends will blind taste them, rating them from 1 to 5, decimals allowed. I will blog on each of these.
- I hopefully have a final tasting of the winners or the highest rated.
I'm guessing this is going to take months, if not the whole summer. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. :)
I'll try to keep this up to date as I get more replies.
