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When we last visited the west side of Santa Cruz for wine tasting, Surf City Vintners was just getting started. Then, as now, this is a small group of small wineries, with tasting rooms located in this very interesting area of Santa Cruz. We went there on a beautiful Fall day: it had rained the night before, clearing out the air, and the sun was starting to make its appearance. We had with us our younger son Jacob and his wife of 3 1/2 months, Brittany.
Sitting outside at the MJA Vineyards tasting room
We started at MJA Vineyards, whose tasting room wasn't there when we last visited the area. They specialize in Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc from the Napa Valley, and Pinot Noir from grapes grown in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They have their own vineyard in Napa Valley, but also purchase grapes from other vineyards. And in the Santa Cruz Mountains, they are starting to plant a vineyard, but for now are buying grapes from other growers. It's a good thing the sun was coming out and the day warming up when we got there, as there weren't four spaces at the bar for us. So we sat outside on the patio, and were served our tasting by the winemakers son, John. Friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, he did a great job of making the tasting enjoyable, not hurrying us along at all. They have two different flights of wine you can taste. The first gives you a sampling of their wines, with 2 different Sauvignon Blancs, a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The second focuses on the red wines, with tastings of the Pinot Noir and 4 of their Cabs. (With one of the Cab tastings they also serve chocolate covered coffee beans. Not sure how great a pairing this is, but it was a nice change of pace.) We enjoyed their wines, and walked away having purchased a few bottles of the unoaked Sauvignon Blanc. We really enjoyed the tasting experience.
Next was Sones Cellars, which we had visited on our previous trip to the Surf City tasting rooms. Their Petite Sirah was very good, as it was the previous visit, so they seem to have that wine pretty well in hand. New on this visit was their "Hedgehog" wine. Hedgehog is a blend, primarily Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, that they make every 3 months or so. It is available only at the winery. And it is available only in refillable bottles, with no cork seal. The idea is that you purchase there, and they fill the bottle for you on the spot, drink it within a couple of weeks, and when you're ready for another bottle of the wine, you bring back your empty one. This is a very popular program among the locals, as you might imagine. Reducing your carbon footprint, supporting a local business, and getting a nice bottle of wine. Very good karma.
Last, we visited Equinox Champagne/Bartolo Wine, which is a 5 minute walk from the others in the Swift Street Courtyard. Winemaker Barry Jackson was pouring his wines, and feeling pretty good that day as the San Francisco 49ers had won their game earlier in the day. (The tasting room opened a bit late to allow the game to finish.) Barry makes wine for his own Equinox label, as well as making small lot sparkling wine for other wineries. I'm not a huge sparkling wine fan, but the others in our group really liked that. On the still wine side, for his Bartolo label, his wines are mostly blends based around Rhone varietals. These were darn good, and we walked away having purchased a bottle of the Cioppino Rosa blend.
This area of Santa Cruz is great. Around the dozen or so tasting rooms you can also find Natural Bridges State Beach, which around this time of the year is host to migrating monarch butterflies. The tide pools there are great too. Around the Swift Street Courtyard there are a couple of restaurants, and also a grocery store, so you won't go hungry. There are some other shops to wander in and out of. And then there's Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, which is a great place to grab an organic brew made right there.
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