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| Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc For a Very Happy New Year |
Sybarite: \ˈsi-bə-ˌrīt\ a person in persistent or excessive pursuit of sensual pleasures and interests
Margerum: SYBARITE 2010
Sauvignon Blanc
Happy Canyon, Santa Inez Valley
Santa Barbara appellation
Bottle 16,328 of 41,000
91 Points, Wine Spectator
#82 of the Top 100 Wines of 2011
It’s really hard for DOUGLAS MARGERUM to get a bad write-up. He has always enjoyed positive reviews in Wine Spectator, so it probably comes as no surprise that his bottlings are sleek, shiny, and new looking—like the magazine cover itself. Really leading-edge, like the Plump Jack—and more particularly Cade—winery in Napa, owned by former San Francisco mayor, current Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsome, Margerum has staked out some difficult territory in Santa Barbara and keeps hitting the mark year-upon-year.
[Quick digression about Gavin: he and his sisters own the Plump Jack brand hospitality group which includes the Carneros Inn, which my SISTER assures me is just about the most incredible inn in the Napa valley. The restaurant there is called The Farm, and my sister says there are like four others on that property—each more dynamic and exciting to dine at than the next. Additionally, it’s a hotel/timeshare which can help make it more affordable to visit. Otherwise, as a hotel guest, it’s an expensive, $700-a-night, incredible experience.
Turns out, they own the Balboa Cafe and the wine-tasting bar/store called Plump Jack on Fillmore not far from Union Square in downtown San Fran. As you may not know, Balboa Cafe makes the best bloody mary in the city. But as I say, I digress.]
At any rate, my guess is that Margerum and the Newsoms should all be buddies, and probably are if Douglas’ wines are anything to go by. I find Sybarite reeks of Newsome's Cade-style wines.
[Another digression, and I promise, the last one for this post: if you do find yourself in Napa, take the extraordinarily out of the way trip to CADE, just so you can experience the luxury of their mountain-top views and their exquisite whites.]
For those of you who spend most of your Sauv Blanc time with New Zealand whites, California Sauvignon Blancs have a bright, lean acidity that often shun the bitter citrus notes of our Down Under friends’ blends. The great ones have a front palette that is crisp yet smooth, and by the time you get to the mid-palette, the taste is a terrific blend of lemon curd that melts into more or less grassy nose. Some say that the grassy notes are the citrus notes that I'm tasting, but I beg to differ. A great Sancere-inspired new world Sauv Blanc should taste like the California whites, not the N.Z. grapefruit bombs. There's a place for those too—for me they're "porch pounders"—but not in my passion for great Sauv Blancs.
Sybarite produces a glass that I remember:
I cannot recall the last time I said that about a New Zealand Sauv Blanc.
Sybarite produces a glass that I remember:
- The weight of the wine in my mouth
- The flavor itself.
- It’s a white of substance and of grace
I cannot recall the last time I said that about a New Zealand Sauv Blanc.
I purchased this terrific bottle at NIELSEN’S SUPERMARKET. Located directly between that wacky town called Solvang and the creepy, one-armed bandit riddled Chumash Casino. The wine folks there appear to add minimal mark-up, and often know the winemakers personally. That’s nice, because you really cannot go to the Margerum winery, as he appears to purchase grapes from all over the valley.
Happy Canyon is home to Sybarite’s grapes in the hot end of the Santa Ynez valley and 43% of this wine comes from the Grissini vineyard alone. Apparently, if you plan ahead with the SANTA BARBARA COUNTY VINTNERS’ ASSOCIATION, you can have vineyard tours there at certain times of the year. Otherwise, there’s no way to get to see it.
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