Grape Nutz Visit

Thanks Eric for taking time to hang out and see what we have going on....cheers!

Thursday - February 24, 2011

Sinor-Lavallee


Tasting Notes: Current & Future Releases


Valor 2010 Sauvignon Blanc – Central Coast. Tank sample. From a vineyard near Avila Beach. Nose of light citrusy aromas with a racy background note. Nice acid balance in mouthfeel, very nice lime zest flavor, with a slight saline quality to the long finish.

Effort 2008 Chardonnay – Estate, Edna Valley. Fermented in stainless, then coopered in neutral oak. Nicely ripened almost sweet fruit in the nose, with slightly waxy texture and good concentration of fruit and balance.

Center of Effort 2008 Chardonnay – Estate, Edna Valley. Same vineyard source as above, but all barrel fermented and coopered with 80% new oak. Light pineapple and tropical aromas; seems to wear the oak well, with nice crispness and flavors of lemon and lime.

Sinor-Lavelle 2008 Pinot Noir – San Luis Obispo Co. From a blend of vineyard sources. Lots of rose petal and cinnamon in the nose. Nice cherry fruit, the 1/3 whole cluster fermentation is more apparent in mouthfeel, raising the complexity from mid to latter palate.

Sinor-Lavelle 2008 Pinot Noir – Talley-Rincon Vnyd, Arroyo Grande Valley. From a 14 row block of Clone 2A (Wadenswil selection). Meaty nose of dark cherry and forest floor. Excellent balance and flavors, nicely understated in mouthfeel, you get the feeling that something more is hiding in the background, waiting to emerge. Quite “Burgundian” in its unsweetened flavors, with a nice soft fade on the long finish.

Sinor-Lavelle 2008 Pinot Noir – Aubaine Vnyd, San Luis Obispo Co. From a vineyard near Nipomo, which at 800’ elevation, has a direct view of the Pacific Ocean. Mike says the fruit here looks like a small cluster of blueberries. The nose is loaded with bing and dark cherry fruit, with a talc or chalky note. More jammy than expected in mouthfeel, with very good balance and a long fruit-filled finish.

Sinor-Lavelle 2008 Pinot Noir Anniversary Cuvee – San Luis Obispo Co.. This is 100% whole cluster fermented, and essentially a ‘best barrel’ blend of his fruit sources. But, but slightly reticent dark cherry nose, with only a slight perception of whole cluster aroma. Chewy mouthfeel with lots of cherry fruit, very good blance, and long finish.

Sinor-Lavelle 2008 Syrah – Luna Matta Vnyd, Paso Robles Clone 174. Big, but decidedly not ponderous in the nose, with lots of black fruit, and some tarry notes. Very nice balance of fruit and acid, slightly peppery quality to the dark fruit, and nice long smooth and tannic finish.

Effort 2008 Pinot Noir – Estate, Edna Valley. Interesting spicy and smoky quality in the nose. Dark spices compliment the dark cherry fruit, with good balance throughout and long finish.

Center of Effort 2008 Pinot Noir – Estate, Edna Valley. Lush and spicy in the nose, with a firm grip on the palate, and even more spicy fruit in the mouthfeel.




Michael and Tim came by to pick me up, and we left about 6:45am for Edna Valley. After slugging through the usual L.A. Freeway choke spots on the I-405, plus a few on the 101, we finally arrived a little after 11am for our appointment at Sinor-Lavallee. Rain was threatening the next few days, but today was nice and sunny.


Mike Sinor has been around the Central Coast wine scene for some time now, working at Corbett Canyon, Chamisal Vineyards, assistant winemaker at Byron, and winemaker at Domaine Alfred. Rather than formal wine training at Cal Poly SLO, Mike was more interested in becoming a shop teacher. Interestingly, after he was bitten by the wine bug, these skills at welding and fabricating undoubtedly made him a potentially valuable asset to any winery.


I first met Mike on a visit to Domaine Alfred in 2003. Bob Summers and I were wandering around looking for then owner, Terry Speizer, to show us the vineyard and winemaking operation. With the tasting room locked and nobody in sight, we wandered around to the back of the building. As DA’s winemaker, Mike was on the crush pad with a couple of assistants working hard at cleaning out manual presses from the recent crush, since the Europress was down and they were waiting for a serviceman to show.

I ran into Mike again a year or two later at the World of Pinot Noir festival, where he had become one of the directors. By that time, he had left Domaine Alfred to devote full time to his own fledging label, Sinor-Lavelle as well as consult on a few other projects.


Mike greeted us out front of the former Corbett Canyon facility. After describing the aspect and growing conditions of Edna Valley, he led into and around the large winery, explaining its recent history. In 2010, Corbett Canyon, owned by The Wine Group, moved its production to a larger facility, selling the vineyard and winery to Rob Rossi, a local businessman and co-owner of Ancient Peaks Winery, and Bill Swanson, CEO & Chairman of Raytheon. Nathan Carlson (Tolousa), left EOS winery in Paso Robles to become general manager here. Renaming the vineyard, Center of Effort, the facility now produces wines under the Center of Effort and Effort labels, as well as Ancient Peaks – all made by Mike Sinor. The winery is also home to Sinor-Lavelle and several other smaller labels (including, Giornata, Broadside, Drake) which are produced on the premises under an alternating proprietorship.


The Sinor-Lavelle label began in 1997, combining Mike’s last name and his wife’s maiden name. Natural growth has taken the production up to 400 cases, and Mike is happy with keeping this volume - at least for the time being. Active involvement with so many project seems to merely stoke his fires. I guess you could say that working hard is what Mike does. Animated and energetic, he seems indefatigable as he explains what he does and how he does it. “I’ll make 40 different wines, but the consumer will only see 4 of those,” he said, describing the various lots and barrels he labors on that will ultimately go into the bottle. Well, he did want to work hard!



Mike and I had talked about grabbing lunch, so with the clock ticking, we headed the short distance into San Luis Obispo to Meze Cafe and Market, in SLO's Railroad Square. Terrific menu here, with tapas and lots of other options.

We brought along a couple of the wines Mike opened, and everything was absolutely delicious. I had lentil soup with bacon, and amozzarella sandwich with roasted red pepper and balsamic dressing with rocket. (As an aside, whose bright idea was it to rename arguala, and call it rocket?) It would have been enough for us to just hang out there, but sadly, we had another wine stop to make before sundown.



Ancient Peaks


Tasting Notes: Current Releases


Ancient Peaks 2010 Rose of Pinot Noir – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Quite fruity in the nose, with a blood orange quality throughout. Tasty in mouthfeel, good balance with a relatively short finish. 100 cases.

Ancient Peaks 2010 Blanco – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. A blend of Chard, Pinot Grigio, and Sauv Blanc, with nice perfumey nose, and a refreshing lightly crisp mouthfeel and moderate finish. 100 cases.

Ancient Peaks 2010 Sauvignon Blanc – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. The nose is loaded with clover, boxwood and copious amounts of cat pee. Very tasty, with surprisingly little of the aromas penetrating the flavor level. Nice crispness, balance and finish.

Ancient Peaks 2009 Merlot – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Nice, almost lush nose of plum and cinnamon. Nice fruit, moderately tannic in mouthfeel, with good balance and finish.

Ancient Peaks 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Nice cassis and dark fruit in the nose. Very much a Paso Cab in ripeness, though not overtly so. Tasty, with good fruit, balance and finish.

Ancient Peaks 2008 Zinfandel – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Spicy ripe boysenberry fruit, with a hint of pepper. Nicely ripened Zin-berry flavors, with a dollop of spice, and long finish.

Ancient Peaks 2008 Syrah – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Nice Northern Rhone qualities of sage, spice and black fruit. Very nice ripeness and balance, and tasty long finish.

Ancient Peaks 2008 Malbec – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Nose of boysenberry fruit pie, with mocha cream on top. Good flavors on the palate, and despite the creaminess in the nose, there is more complexity in the mouthfeel.

Ancient Peaks 2008 Petit Verdot – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Nose of fresh blueberries. Lots of fruit layers on the otherwise tannic mouthfeel, good balance and finish.

Ancient Peaks 20108 Petite Sirah – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. Nose of dark fruit, with hint of iodine and minerals. Big mouthfeel, with ripe if largely undefinable flavors…to me. Good balance and long finish.

Ancient Peaks 2008 Oyster Ridge – Margarita Vineyard, Paso Robles. 46% Cab, 24% Petite Sirah, 15% Merlot, and 15% Petit Verdot. Interesting blend that works quite well. Nice dark fruit aromas, with a touch of mocha. Smooth mouthfeel, with nice fruit-filled flavors and smooth long finish.



Since Mike is the director of winemaking for the Ancient Peaks label, he volunteered to lead us up to Santa Margarita, a small town just north of SLO near the top of the Cuesta Grade. First stop, the Ancient Peaks tasting room on Hwy 58, and then we were off to “5-mile,” a jumping-off point for a Jeep ride through the vineyards. The tasting room is replete with ancient oyster shells and soil samples. Mike led us through the wines, while he and Karl Wittstrom, one of the partners in the operation, told us about the interesting history of the ranch.





Sort of a hybrid of the cooler Edna Valley to the south and warmer climate of Paso Robles to the north, the nearly 14,000 acre Santa Margarita Ranch is bordered on three sides by the Santa Lucia Mountains, and is the southernmost vineyard in the Paso Robles appellation.

The ranch was bought in 1999 by a group that includes Rob Rossi, a local developer known for his interest in preserving the natural landscape of the Central Coast. Cattle-ranching is the ranch’s primary occupation. However, in an effort to defray part of the purchase price and retain the working-ranch heritage of the property, the group leased 1,000 acres of rolling hills to Robert Mondavi Winery in 2000.

Grapes are not new to the ranch, the area having been first planted by Franciscan missionaries in 1774. Mondavi proceeded to plant 966 acres for inclusion in its RM Private Selection label. However, when Constellation Brands purchased the Mondavi Corporation in 2004, they weren’t at all interested in keeping the Margarita Vineyard. So, Santa Margarita Ranch took back the vineyards and land. Now, Santa Margarita Ranch, LLC, was in the wine growing business – and soon thereafter, the wine-making business. Enter Mike Sinor, in the Spring of 2006, who became director of winemaking for Ancient Peaks.



There are now sixteen different varieties planted on a complex palette of soil formations. Margarita Ranch has five distinct geologic areas: ancient seabed, sedimentary, shale, volcanic, and granite. There are also literally tons of oyster shells poking their heads out of the ground in several areas, especially a block known as Oyster Ridge.

Ancient Peaks has been getting some good scores and very good press of late. Most of these accolades have been for wines which over-perform at their price points, and are frequently cited as a "Best Value" for a particular varietal. While these wines all have good structure, they generally don't appear hugely fruit-forward or smoothed out (some would say 'smacked') with oak. That being said, their top wine, the Oyster Ridge is, at $50, quite Napa-esque in both its structure and mouthfeel. A winery to watch, especially as the vines mature.

Tasting and tour of the ranch completed, we’d managed to monopolize Mike’s entire afternoon – in addition to our own, of course. After the Jeep ride, Mike brought us back to the tasting room about 4pm – not enough time to visit another winery. BUT, according to my watch it was already Beer O’Clock, so there was still enough time to grab a pint at Dunbar Brewery, conveniently located right next door to the tasting room.