Grape Escape in Aptos: Mentone, Sante Arcangeli and Aptos Vineyard

July 11, 2025 – It had been a spell since I’d visited Mentone, so when my new friends Jim and Alison said they hadn’t been, I thought, let’s fix that! 

We can hit “Little Beach” at Mentone (Sat and Sun only from 12pm until 2pm) and at the same time we can go winetasting at Sante Arcangeli and Aptos Vineyard tasting rooms. Park once and just walk. What’s wrong with that? We could have also made Cantine part of our rounds, but you can’t do everything in one visit and we had more than our share of fun by 5pm.  

When you crave a certain dish that a restaurant makes, and you haven’t been there in a while, you wonder if you might be placing too high an expectation on it. I try not to obsess on these things, but when it comes to the Caesar salad at Mentone, it is like pulling your taste buds into a familiar slip in the harbor and finding everything as you last remembered it.  

Fortunately, Mentone’s Caesar is still a reliable standard of measure, served in those funky Lucite bowls with Treviso radicchio, field greens and crunchy flat croutons that splinter like crystals, bathed generously in that unforgettable dressing. We ordered a margheritapizza and the lemon pistachio pesto pie, which proved to be everyone’s fave. Truly a zesty summer-fresh combo. Lemon does wonders for everything and that crust is worth every bite. 

We were welcomed to the Sante Arcangeli tasting room by the lovely Natalie, who has known John and Melanie (rest her soul) and Lucca forever, and is well-versed on their story as well as that of the winery. My goal was to try the 2024 Small Lot Split Rail Chardonnay that John had done in neutral oak and recently bottled. But first we enjoyed the 2024 Sante Arcangeli Rosé of Pinot Noir, a perfect fusion of strawberry, guava and ruby red grapefruit. Precise, refreshing and seamless, it flows merrily on the palate. 

The 2023 Sante Arcangeli Chardonnay, comprised of 80% Split Rail and 20% Lester Vineyards fruit, has a beautiful bouquet of lemon and a whiff of oak sweetness from the 20% new oak barrels in which it rests. Benedetti is super careful about not adding more wood to the wine than it needs. The almond biscotti finish is quite delightful. Alison and Jim were pretty sold on this one from the first sip, but I was holding out for the 2024 Small Lot Split Rail Chardonnay, which rested for 8 months in neutral barrels. To my utter delight, this so nicely reflects Spilt Rail’s personality, showing off the range of flavors it can develop in a warm year, including grapefruit, mango and guava. I wasn’t expecting the tropics, but the acid is so succulent, this will thrill fans of unoaked Chard who like just a touch of richness on the palate. 

Natalie shared that for folks who prefer white and pinks, they have a special “Afraid of the Dark” club. Rather clever. But seriously, don’t miss the Sante Arcangeli Pinots. 

Alison likes reds more than Jim does, so she was pretty happy with the three Pinot Noirs Natalie poured us, and even happier to learn that the source of said wines was a vineyard right down Pleasant Valley Road from where she boards her horses. Connecting wines to terroir is such a fundamental part of the discovery process. Saveria Vineyard is one of my favorite vineyards, and I thank Prudy Foxx for introducing it to me in person, after many years of tasting the examples produced by Paul Wofford, who made wines for Loma Prieta in the early days of the label. He consistently won Gold medals with them at the Sf Chronicle Competition. 

The 2023 Sante Arcangeli Saveria Vineyard Pinot Noir (14.2%) was my favorite of the lot for its aromas of raspberry perfume and chamomille, its overall brightness and lipsmacking acid and its racy flavors of raspberry, clove and cranberry orange. Both the 2019 Bonificato and 2021 Chrysanthemum, also made from Saveria Vineyard grapes, were mellowed by age and a bit more oak. More concentrated and very pleasing to those who prefer a sturdier wine. 

Nearby Aptos Vineyard is really a family operation and we found pretty much the whole gang at the tasting room, including owner Jim Baker, his two granddaughters and his 5-month old great granddaughter, who was visiting from the Pacific Northwest. 

Baker explained how he acquired the brand after his friend Judge Marlo passed away 8 years ago from leukemia, and how he chose to honor the Judge and his family by keeping the brand name alive, including the original logo script. 

He took it a step further with all the legal references, which extend to the names of the flights as well as the wines. You definitely need a program to follow along. The names are fun, but it’s easier for me to keep track of the different wines by vineyard source and, thankfully, the labels are explicit about stating those details, courtesy of the fact that John Benedetti is his winemaker. 

Baker, who worked in Santa Cruz as a teacher and then principal for well over 30 years, gave a bit of a history lesson regarding Benedetti’s family and their historic grocery store in Pescadero that John’s brothers still run to this today. Yes, that grocery store that has the cheesy artichoke bread that somehow finds its way into your shopping basket and then all too quickly evaporates, because one piece is never enough. For his part, John decided to make beer, and then gravitated towards wine, honoring his grandfather, Sante, by naming his wine brand for him. We’re glad he did. 

Benedetti has been making Aptos Vineyards wines since they started, with a few guest winemakers pitching in for special projects, including Brandon Armitage and Robert Bergstrom along the way. Baker is nothing if not willing to experiment, and that truly is the foundation of an always fresh wine portfolio. 

The 2023 Aptos Vineyards Rosé of Grenache from Bates Ranch is a triumph of apple cranberry and just ripe strawberry that made me think of pink lemonade. Grenache makes such a great rosé, and Bates Ranch, also managed by Prudy Foxx, is an exceptional site. 

I was excited to taste the 2024 Aptos Vineyard “Blanc Seign” Sauvignon Blanc, from Belle Farms in Watsonville, which exudes ripe pineapple, lime and coconut. Baker’s friend Frank Remde is the grower and apparently grows spinach as well as grapes. This is definitely a tropical vacation, heavy on the guava and pineapple. Belle Farms also produces olive oil. Yes, we live in agricultural paradise. 

We did get a bit into the weeds on the various Pinot Noir offerings from Aptos Vineyard, but the one that stood out to me was the 2021 Ex Parte Pinot Noir from Meadowridge Vineyard, which was served nicely chilled and presented very few tannins to get in the way. Baker shared that another friend Wells Shoemaker, well-known retired pediatrician and winemaker in Aptos, helped plant this vineyard. Shoemaker and his wife Sandie closed their winery operation last year. They were one of my first wine clubs back in the day. That and David Bruce. How things have changed. We also were members at Storrs, and they remain a consistent star, decade after decade: they are rooted in great vineyards and respect for their craft. 

I’ll speak for myself, but we are definitely seeing an entirely different group of winemakers taking over as the world turns. And that’s a good thing, as long as they remember the trailblazing efforts of those who made their footsteps that much easier to fill in this incomparable terroir.