Monterey

 

Few California wine regions have a mixed history as Monterey.  In the early 1970s, some Monterey wines were said to have the dreaded "veggies."  The distasteful characteristic, mostly in red wine, was alleged to have been from planting wine grapes in the northern Salinas Valley, which was better known then for lettuce than grapes. 

The miscalculation forced one major winery to mount an image redo.  And another winery was rumored to have poured a few tanks of suspect Monterey red wine, with the veggies, down the drain, to avoid damaging the winery's growing reputation for quality moderately-priced wine.

That was  then. Today, Monterey County is home to distinctive Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands and Chalone, terroir-driven Cabernet Sauvignon from Carmel Valley, and Chardonnay and Riesling from southern Arroyo Seco. 

For the wine consumer curious about the appellation and its wines, Monterey can be confusing.  Most of the county's American Viticultural Areas come under the Central Coast AVA, a sprawling area that stretches from San Francisco to Los Angeles.  

Within the Central Coast AVA, is the smaller Monterey AVA, covering most of the county.  The exception is Carmel Valley AVA that, for some reason, comes under the Central Coast AVA.  Monterey AVA has five specific sub-appellations: Arroyo Seco, Santa Lucia Highlands, San Bernabe, plus the lesser known Hames Valley and San Lucas. 

An aside. One of the more interesting stories in Monterey viticulture is San Bernabe, at 13,000 acres, the largest contiguous vineyard in the world. Managing the layout of such a massive vineyard presented a number of problems for its designer.  

When I visited San Bernabe in the mid-2000s, the owner, Delicato, was grappling with the challenge of picking simultaneously in multiple rows.  

San Bernabe's vineyard manager took me to a spot in the vineyard where the problem had occurred. Looking to increase productivity, the vineyard crew  suggested picking grapes simultaneously in multiple parallel rows, with a special hybrid machine harvester, they would design and cobble together, to be pulled by a tractor. 

According to the vineyard manager, the monster harvester rumbled and rattled down the rows, until it got to the end and stopped. The unwieldy machine couldn't be turned around and then lined up for the next pass, because there wasn't enough space between the vineyard and a row of neighboring vines that had been planted at a right angle to the harvester had traversed.   

Pointing to a rusting pile of junk, laying useless at the end of the vine rows, the vineyard manager looked at me and just shook his head.

Monterey has more than 50 wine grapes in hundreds of vineyards, including San Bernabe.  In addition to Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling, Monterey County has an admirable reputation for Syrah, and other Rhone varieties.  Limited plantings of odd varieties not in the main stream, include Falanghina, Petit Manseng, Gruner Veltliner and Olonde (Grolleau). 

Lone cypress on 17 Mile Drive

Here are brief overviews of the four most significant wine regions in Monterey County.

Santa Lucia Highlands  is situated between the Salinas Valley and the Pacific Ocean. Vineyards up to 1,200 feet are moderated by fog and cool breezes drawn in from the ocean by warm air rising from the valley floor.  Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay are the main grapes in the highlands. On the valley floor, lettuces, bell peppers, tomatoes and other row crops have earned the valley's nickname as "California's Salad Bowl."  

Chalone, a tiny appellation in the eastern Gavilan Mountains, pioneered the growing of Pinot Noir in the county on limestone soil.  Although grapes were grown near the Pinnacles National Monument early in the 20th century, Richard Graff planted Pinot Noir at nearby Chalone in 1960, later adding Pinot Blanc and Chenin Blanc. The other area winery is Michaud Vineyard.

Arroyo Seco, the Spanish for "dry stream," is at the southern end of the Salinas Valley.  For many years, Jekel Vineyards worked to convince wine consumers that this warm part of the county is right for Chardonnay and Riesling, two varieties that define the area.  A few growers, challenging conventional wisdom, continue to work what little Cabernet Sauvignon there is in the arroyo.

Carmel Valley is a western enclave isolated from Monterey's other wine areas by surrounding low hills. The opening to the valley is close to Carmel village, with its collection of upscale shops and restaurants.  Nearby is Monterey town and the scenic ocean side 17 Mile Drive. Carmel's wine scene is geared to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from a handful of small wineries like Bernardus, Talbott and Galante.  

There is so much more to learn about the wine side of Monterey, available in the books on California wine mentioned in next week's post about books that should be in every wine fanslibrary. 

 

AI & Wine:  The April 25 post about the impact of AI on wine drew some reader responses. I believe the association of AI and wine is important, so in the future, when I read a reference to AI and wine, I'll add it  at the end of that week's posting.  

The results of a survey by the UK e-commerce platform Drinks found that 44% of those surveyed would accept a wine recommendation made by artificial intelligence.  And I wonder if the 44% is a trend that will soon fade like most trends,  or is it a disturbing harbinger of the future of wine consumption.  I hope it's just a trend. 

Next post: Essential Wine Books

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