Major Love For Local Wineries, Olive Oil

March 11, 2022 – Yee haw! We’ve got quite the roundup of good news from local wineries, and winemakers, plus a favorite olive oil producer.  With the world on high alert, it’s worth recognizing the efforts of those who devote their lives to agriculture, as it is the foundation of existence. 

J.Lohr once again notched another spot in its belt as the Top All-Around Winery and Grand Champion Best of Show at this year’s 90th Annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. J. Lohr earned these honors at the 19th Annual Rodeo Uncorked!® International Wine Competition, which was held in November of 2021 and featured 2,862 wine entries from 17 countries, including France, Spain, Italy, Argentina and South Africa. In the competition, J. Lohr earned five Class Champion awards, two double-gold medals and six golds, with the 2019 J. Lohr Estates Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon winning Double Gold, Class Champion, and the 2017 J. Lohr Cuvée PAU winning Grand Champion Best of Show. This is the second time in five years that J. Lohr has won both the Top All-Around Winery and Best of Show awards, with a previous 2018 Top All-Around Winery win and 2018 Best of Show award for the 2014 J. Lohr Signature Cabernet Sauvignon. A two-peat! The 2017 Cuvee Series wines are all tasting fabulous right now: they are so big boned, they needed that five years to unspool a bit. 

 “It is a tremendous honor to be recognized as the Top All-Around Winery twice in five years,” said founder Jerry Lohr. “We are especially proud that a Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon and a Bordeaux-varietal red blend have now both taken the Best of Show award for us. When we first planted vines in Paso Robles 36 years ago, we were drawn to the region’s ideal soils and climate, and the remarkable potential for producing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. We have dedicated ourselves to achieving that potential, and the results of the Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition are a celebration of the indisputable fact that Paso Robles has earned its place among the world’s great wine regions.”  We salute J. Lohr, not just for their success in Paso Robles, where they farm 2700 acres of vines, but also in Arroyo Seco and throughout Monterey, where they farm another 1400 acres.  

Big kudos to CRU Winery of Soledad for winning Best White of Show at the inaugural 2022 LA Times Invitational Wine Competition for their 2020 CRU Albariño! This was a fun win. After dicing it out to lead the 8 whites in contention in first round balloting (we use the acclimation system, wherein judges can vote for as many wines as they like in the first round, followed by a vote-off between the top two vote getters), it handily beat the closest contestant, a 2019 Chardonnay from Sonoma-Cutrer, by a score of 12 to 6. This wine has consistently shown its prowess in competitions this year.

Also at LA Times Invitational competition, Best Red and ultimately Best of Show went to Adobe Road’s 2017 Beckstoffer Georges III Cabernet Sauvignon, from Rutherford, Napa. It’s worth noting that Hahn’s 2020 GSM was one of the wines that gave this Napa Cab a good heated chase in the Sweepstakes round, scoring 98 points and earning 10 votes to the Cab’s 12 in the first round of voting. Those of you Laguna Seca racing fans doubtless know Kevin Buckler for his career in motorsports. He started TRG (The Racing Group) in Monterey in 1992, on a shoestring budget, and grew it into one of the most successful privateer (privately-funded) teams in motor sports history. With more than 175 podium finishes, including seven Series championships, four victories at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and two Pirelli World Change Championships, Buckler has bragging rights. But he’d rather put his money into great tasting wines. 

After moving his operation to Sonoma Raceway, he started Adobe Road (Petaluma) in 2002, the same year he won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Porsche Cup in the same season. Talk about a winning streak! In 2019, Adobe Road launched “The Racing Series,” based on the same philosophy that drives success on the racetrack. Buckler just rolled out CARBON, a dark, inky blend of, 48% Petite Sirah, 26% Malbec, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot. Might give Jerry Lohr’s “Pure Paso” a run for its money. 

Our local rockstar Salinas-born winemaker, Joe Shebl, who many know as the face and talent behind Renwood, not just once but twice, is still wowing crowds with his winemaking skills. He just won Best White for his 2021 Bella Grace Vineyards Vermentino at the 2^nd Annual Foothill Wine Competition held in Folsom. It handily beat a field of 6 other whites, its juicy verve outshining the others, including a very nice Drytown Cellars Chardonnay. Shebl is still making wines under his Fiddletown Cellars label, concentrating primarily on old vine Zin and Barbera. He’s still making wine for Renwood as well, and has some gorgeous Amador and Napa wines in bottle under his new Stride label. More on that soon. 

Speaking of big wins, the folks at Wild Poppies in Aptos are proud to announce another victory for their fabulous olive oils, this one for their Ascolano Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which scored Best of Show at the just held LA International Olive Oil Competition. Out of 517 entries from all around the world, there were just seven Best of Show honors awarded, and the Ascolano Extra Virgin Olive Oil was among them. Congratulations to sisters-in-law Jamie de Sieyes and Kim Null, who took over the orchard in 2018, for yet another big international win. If you haven’t tried this specialty oil yet, grab a can while it lasts, as it won’t be around for long. It is a medium EVOO with a nice balance of fruitiness and acidity, with a little peppery finish.

In other local news, Big Basin Vineyards is getting ready to move past the construction phase on their downtown Santa Cruz tasting room. More on that next time.