TN: Two Pierce Ranch Wines....(short/boring)

Posted by: TomHill

TN: Two Pierce Ranch Wines....(short/boring) - 12-28-2017 13:38:18

Tried these two (among others) last night:
1. PierceVnyd Albarino SanAntonioVlly/Monterey (12.6%; 240 cs; www.PierceVineyards.com) Lockwood 2016: Light yellow color; very fragrant Albarino/floral/mango/peach very light chalky quite attractive/perfumed nose; soft rich/lush floral/mango/pineapple/Albarino slight tangy/chalky flavor; long soft/rich/lush ripe/Albarino/floral/mango/pineapple slight chalky/metallic finish; lots of Albarino perfume but not the steely/mineral/angular attack on the palate of Spanish Albarino; a rich/lush/ripe attractive Albarino for easy drinking. $18.00
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2. PierceVnyd PetiteSirah SanAntonioVlly/Monterey (Lot 2; 100% whole cluster frmtion) 2015: Very dark color; very strong peppery/cracked pepper/w-c rather smokey/Rhonish some blackberry/PS some earthy/dusty/loamy quite complex nose; fairly tart/tangy/metallic strong w-c/peppery/cracked black pepper strong blackberry/boysenberry/PS some earthy/loamy/dusty flavor w/ modest brisk tannins; very long/lingering quite black pepper/w-c some blackberry/PS/earthy/loamy finish w/ modest tangy tannins; needs several yrs; a very atypical Calif PS that speaks strongly of black pepper/w-c character.
$25.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. SarahHarris is the winemaker at PierceVnyd, located in the SanAntonioVlly, a small vlly extending west from the south end of the SalinasVlly in MontereyCnty. Because I'd pretty much blown off that area (because of the heat and the vast industrial vnyds down that way). There's not much in the way of wineries in the SanAntonioVlly AVA. I can see that that was a mistake to blow off the SAVlly. .
Sarah was born & raised here in LosAlamos (her Dad was once my group leader), went to Cornell, got interested in wine, worked in the FLX, worked for Gallo, and then came to PierceVnyds when IanBrand was their consulting winemaker. She was home for the Holidays and wanted to show us some of her wines Tues night at Pig+Fig. These two wines were btls I took home to re-taste.
PierceVnyd specializes in Iberian varieties. BillPierce, who had some successful car washes up in Salinas, felt the SAVlly resembled some of the areas in Spain/Portugal he had visited, and decided to plant those varieties. They also grow a lot of other varieties, mostly of which is sold to Constellation and WildHorse.
I was fairly impressed w/ the wines Sarah showed us. In particular, the two PetiteSirahs. On was 75% whole-cluster, and this one at 100% w-c. I was quite impressed on how the w-c changed the PS from something that is often rather dull & clunky into a very interesting wine.
Tom
Posted by: Sean_Devaney

Re: TN: Two Pierce Ranch Wines....(short/boring) - 12-29-2017 10:30:12

San Antonio valley seems to be an undiscovered gem of a sub-appellation. If you are interested in wines made from varieties of the Iberian Peninsula check out Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard's second label Quinta Cruz Wines. Many of their offerings come from grapes grown at Pierce Ranch.

As always thanks for your notes and the (never) short/long/boring bloody pulpits.