In early May, Nancy and I needed to go to Southern California on business. I decided to show her a part of California that is totally unique from what you find in Northern or Southern California.
California is made up of five distinctive regions and personalities. There is Northern California, Southern California, the Inland Empire (Reading to Bakersfield), the Sierras, and the land of the Rancheros – the Central Coast/Santa Ynez Valley. I wanted Nancy to see this area, as I know it, and to experience two quality wineries.
Three hours north of Los Angeles on Route 101 is the gateway to the Central Coast – Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a beautiful and sophisticated city on the Mission Trail from San Diego to San Francisco. Once past Santa Barbara, traveling north, you will find rolling hills and mountain valleys, dotted with ranches, mountain lions, wild boar, and the amazing Coastal Oaks that live for hundred of years and survive in the salt air from the sea. This area has the only transverse mountain range between Alaska and Cape Horn in Chile. This unique east-west orientation of the Santa Maria Valley allows unobstructed flow of coastal wind and fog to create a cool long growing season for wine grapes. The cool air and the fog create an ideal environment for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This is where the towns of Santa Ynez, Solvang, Santa Maria, and Buellton we planned to visit are located.
On trips like this, we plan to visit only one winery per day. The reason is that we will spend several hours with the management and wish to gain a feeling and a taste of their wines and company.
The first winery we visited was Fess Parker’s. Yes, Fess Parker – the original Davey Crocker. Fess Parker would use this area to escape the dazzle of Hollywood to a place where people are friendly, warm, and genuine, while still getting the sophisticated atmosphere of Santa Barbara. You do not hear people in Santa Ynez say, “Hey, dude” or “Chow, baby.” Here, people you will meet always have a big smile, ask how they can help you, and say thank you. The bellman at our hotel, Chico, was there when the hotel opened 39 years ago. He always has a smile on his face, remembers your name, and does anything to make your visit pleasant.
My wife, Nancy, is very much like Fess Parker. She loves first class service and products with unpretentious hospitality. She loves preparing great food and serving great wine with the desire to share this with everyone. Like the Fess Parker Family tradition, this is also the CVC Catering family tradition.
In 1989, Fes Parker established his winery. At that time, there were only 18 wineries in the area. Today, there are over 350. His desire was to produce small productions of quality wines that are critically acclaimed. I believe their production is around 50,000 cases. Nice size, but not big. Robert Parker, a famed wine critic, once wrote, “These are some of the finest wines and wine values emerging from Santa Barbara County.”
Fess Parker Winery is located on Foxen Canyon Road in Los Olivos, California. Los Olivos was a stagecoach stop on the Mission Trail from Southern to Northern California. The Foxen Canyon is a two-lane road winding through a valley of picturesque scenes of ranches and vineyards. As you approach the winery, you see rows of grape vines with amazing rose bushes planted between each row. It is a beautiful sight. The winery itself is a beautiful structure of stone and wood. The grounds are covered with old oak trees and flowering shrubs. It is a wonderful site for a wedding, and they do many.
Nancy and I were met by members of management and were taken on a private tour of the winery. We saw the Estate Barrel Room where they age their wines in both American and French Oak. The facility is first class, but it is still the taste of the wines that is most important.
Some of the wines we liked were:
- 2010 Viognier –This is their most sought after white wine. It is aged 10 months in French Oak. It has a light golden straw color with the taste of honeydew, melon, lychee, apricot, and orange blossom. This wine has great balance and fresh acidity that leads to a zesty finish.
- 2010 Pinot Noir Ashley’s –This wine is aged 16 months in 50% new French Oak. The color is a dark ruby garnet. It has the aromas of cherry, raspberry, black tea, baking spices, and vanilla. A great balance of acid, tannin, weight, and texture makes it terrific for aging. This wine is rated at 90-91 points.
- 2010 Big Easy –This is a wonderful, fun wine to drink. It was developed to pay homage to New Orleans after Katrina. The wine is a blend of 61% Syrah, 23% Petite Syrah, and 16% Grenache. The blend is aged 22 months in French and American Oak. You will get notes of black pepper, blueberry, mocha, smoked meat, and leather with dark chocolate and vanilla. This is a wonderful wine for Cajun food.
Located in the heart of Los Olivos is the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn and Spa. The Inn is within walking distance from many craft shops and wine tasting rooms. But what makes this inn really unique is that it has one of the best Greek Restaurants we have visited called Petros.
After having lunch, we drove to Solvang. While we were driving east on Route 246 among ranges and vineyards, Nancy noticed that on the right side of the road, we had an ostrich running about 45 mph in the same direction. There is an Ostrich Land located in Solvang where you can buy ostrich and emu gifts and eggs. You can also buy ostrich jerky. I guess the jerky comes from ostrich that do not run fast enough.
Solvang is a Danish community on the Central Coast of California. The architecture is Danish, including windmills. Visit the Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery for some of the best pastries in the west. The bakery was founded in Demark in 1890 and over 30 years ago, they moved to Solvang Stop in at the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, which has the world’s largest selection of Andersen books for sale. Also there is The Book Loft, where you can find first editions and out of print books. Nancy got lost in the old cookbook section where she found many books dating back to the 20’s and 30’s.
In Santa Ynez (Spanish), where Ronald Reagan had his ranch, every spring they have the blessing of the Rancheros, or ranch owners. They come in mass, about 1,000, on horseback to the Mission Santa Ines (English). At the mission, they are blessed by the priest and celebrate the new calves branding in the spring. Afterwards, they have a BBQ for the vaqueros, or cowboys, and their families.
The morning of the blessing, Nancy took the elevator down for breakfast. She met two men in the elevator and she asked them if they were rancheros on their way to the blessing. They responded, “How did you know?” Nancy said the spurs and the cowboy hats were a good hint. She then cautioned them to be careful so they do not fall off their horses. The response was, “Hardly, Miss.”
Saturday, after Nancy’s encounter with the rancheros, we drove up to the Santa Maria valley to visit Cambria Winery. Cambria is a part of the Majestic Wine Group. The Majestic Wine Group consists of wonderful wineries like Kendal Jackson, Bryon, Freemark Abbey, and Le Crema.
The drive to Cambria takes you through some of the most productive farmland in California. Thousands of acres are planted in fresh product, strawberries, and wine grapes. Cambria is on a side of a hill just off of Santa Maria Mesa Road. The winery is small and well organized. The staff and management were friendly and spent a great deal of time with us.
Barbara Banke, the owner, has built Cambria Estate into a world-class producer of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The primary vineyards are named after her daughters – Katherine’s (Chardonnay), and Julia’s (Pinot Noir).
Cambria is known for their work with clone grapes. A clone is like a variety within a variety. A clone is defined as apopulation of vines that are propagated asexually from a single mother vine. Each clone will have desirable characteristics, such as disease resistance or flavor attributes. Many winemakers like to plant more than one clone of a single variety to give the wine more complexity.
A few wines to try are:
- 2010 Clone 115 Pinot Noir – This is a gracious wine. This is not a huge Pinot, but it will impress you with its overall balance and sense of harmony. This wine has been scored 92 points.
- 2011 Clone 76 Chardonnay – This is cloned from French vines. When you taste it, you will get scents of butter and toast that will give away to pineapple, peaches, pears, nutmeg, and vanilla. This wine has body that will stand up to a wide variety of foods, but it is also so balanced that you can drink it on its own.
Texas, the Carolinas, and Kansas City have their own style of BBQ, but on the Central Coast of California there is only one – Santa Maria. The Santa Maria Style BBQ was developed in the 19th century on the cattle ranges in the area. This is what the rancheros served their cowboys. They did not use charcoal or gas. They use the wood of the red oak tree and bring it to the point where it is white hot. They developed a rub of onion, garlic, chili powder, and paprika, but the key to the BBQ is the use of tri-tip roast. This is a triangular cut of bottom sirloin. It is not well known outside of California, but it makes a wonderful BBQ.
So, if you want to go to a pleasant and not expensive part of California, look at the Central Coast. You will love the area.
Check out our other pictures in this Gallery!
The wine has been delivered, the linens are prepared, and all the food pick-ups, drop-offs, and cooking stations are planned out and accounted for. Last week was the first full week of preparations for the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race scheduled for August 5th. We were extremely excited to be a part of the festivities again this year and meet and serve all the amazing volunteers and runners affiliated with this magnificent event.
In the past, we have participated in Kitchen Tours in the Southern Maine area, most recently in Falmouth. Last year, we were honored to cook in Prospect Design’s fabulously designed kitchen at 308 Foreside Road. There, we made Lobster Salad Cucumber Canapes, and they were a hit! We loved participating in this event and decided that, if the opportunity arose, we would definitely do it again.
Culinary Capers At CVC 