April 5, 2022 – After much anticipation, the beautiful new Big Basin Vineyards tasting room and patio are about to fully open at 525 Pacific St in Santa Cruz. They’re currently in a soft opening mode, and Edible Monterey Bay was fortunate enough to be part of the “guinea pig” phase, wherein the new menu items and pairings were tested out on some very eager patrons. Twist my arm! If you’re a club member, you don’t want to miss this special “break in” phase.
Starting Thursday, April 14, though, the brand new Santa Cruz tasting room will be fully open to the public, and you are in for a treat. This is not just another tasting room with a bunch of bar stools and outdoor tables: it is a full blown tasting experience, showcasing not just the wines but also the local bounty of Santa Cruz County, from food to architecture to décor.
Winemaker Bradley Brown was on hand for the soft opening to note that while their Saratoga tasting room was open for 10 years, to him, “It never really felt like home.” They closed it 18 months ago, at the outset of the pandemic, but had been considering a change long prior. Saratoga was a bit too small to handle the throng of club members and visitors that this highly acclaimed brand drew, especially during a weekend. And the outdoor space was miniscule. The new place in Santa Cruz feels like a home worth waiting for, and mirrors a new chapter in Brown’s personal life.
Over the past few years, he’s gravitated towards the beach and Santa Cruz. The CZU fire—which destroyed his home on Memory Lane in Boulder Creek and some of the precious vineyard property there in 2020—certainly helped cement the shift towards an ocean-centric life. And yet, he still has the steep, mountain-lion patrolled vineyard tucked among the redwood forests to provide his mountain fix. It’s been Certified Organic since 2012, which reflects his overall winemaking philosophy, and serves the brand well in this land where people care deeply about everything they touch and consume.
Hiring dynamic Emily Choinski to manage the buildout and setup of the new tasting room gave the project huge momentum, and despite all the challenges of navigating construction, licensing and inspections in a time of pandemic, the result is as welcoming as her vast, beaming smile.
“This is the evolution of Big Basin Vineyards,” Choinski told us. “The Santa Cruz region has so many incredible makers, craftspeople and chefs. We wanted to create a space where could showcase talent like chef Brad Briske (Home) and his fabulous beef stew! It’s become the centerpiece of the menu and is made with Big Basin red wine. We are also featuring an amazing collection of cheeses and charcuterie from The Tasting House in Los Gatos. We are partnering with Companion Bakery for our breads, and with Spade & Plow for our organic greens, Good Faith Farms for our olives, B & R Farms for Blenheim apricots and Wild Goat Organics for their sprouted organic mustard. It has just been an amazing, phenomenal collaboration!”
The menu, developed and executed by Julie Villaire, the winery’s culinary director, features a variety of cheese and charcuterie boards, salads, at least two sandwiches, one with meat and cheese and the other vegetarian or vegan. Choinski says that Villaire has her own catering company and is a Santa Cruz native. “She makes all our dips and tapenades in house, including Homestead fig jam with red wine, apricot preserves, hummus and lemon preserves. She also makes the sage and rosemary nuts. Everything has a root in local. We care about ground to table in our winemaking, and the same philosophy applies to our food.”
Choinski is delighted with her new home (she moved to Santa Cruz from Seattle) and hopes everyone else enjoys the beautiful environment that the Big Basin team has worked so hard to create.
Sidle up to the tasting bar and admire the heart redwood that absolutely gleams with the inner warmth these magic denizens of the forest stoke slowly over the centuries.
Photos on the wall depict the vineyards from which the fruit is sourced: Coastview in the Gabilan Mountains near Chualar, Big Basin Estate on Memory Lane in Boulder Creek and the Rodnick Vineyard in Chalone, the Pinnacles towering behind it.
Like a well-crafted set, these photos set the stage for any tasting experience here. Whether you order an open-faced sandwich (Companion Bakery bread) with smoked prosciutto and whipped feta topped with arugula, accompanied by the Wild Goat Organics spicy grainy mustard (the bomb!!) and apricot preserves from B&R Farms Blenheims, (go with the 2019 Wirz Old Vine Riesling as a pair), or the dark chocolate sampler from Heritage Chocolate from Corralitos paired with the 2018 Altitude, you’ll be transported and delighted.
Relax at one of the many tables inside, seated on the autumnally themed upholstered chairs that look almost identical to the stunning label that adorns the rosé bottle, or sit outside on the spacious, flower-lined patio, you’ll want to linger long over a flight or a glass. Go with the 2015 GSM, mostly Mourvedre from the Rodnick Vineyard (which was formerly Dick Graff’s vineyard: that name might be familiar if you know anything about the history of Chalone), with its fabulous meaty and white peppery personality, and a core of fig and dark currant. The Grenache crop didn’t set well that year, but the old vine Mourvedre made up for it. Fantastic wine!
For more info, check out Big Basin Vineyards Tasting Room and Wine Bar. Reservations are definitely suggested, as this will become a very popular destination.
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
