The view from Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills
I’m not going to act like I didn’t get into Central Coast Pinot Noir because of the movie Sideways.
Maybe that’s not cool to say out loud, but as the late rapper MC Breed once famously said: “There ain’t no future in yo frontin’.”
I stopped drinking Merlot in 2003 just like everyone else. I made the switch to Pinot Noir because it was trendy. Might as well just be honest about it.
Shortly after watching the film, I bought my first bottle of Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir. At $20, it was the most expensive bottle I had ever purchased at that point. But it was worth every penny. When all you’ve ever known is cheap red wine from the nearby supermarket, a wine like Au Bon Climat can completely change your life.
Raj Parr, the co-founder of Sandhi winery and the wine director for the Michael Mina restaurants, feels the same way. He’s been open about just how much the wines from Au Bon Climat and the guidance and generosity of its esteemed winemaker Jim Clendenen have inspired the efforts at Sandhi—a wine that I am obsessed with right now. It’s a big reason why Sandhi sources fruit from the Sanford & Benedict vineyard, where Clendenen has also purchased fruit since the 1987 vintage. Because Jim was such a pioneer in seeking out cooler growing regions and fermenting naturally and without additives, it’s no surprise that Raj would want to follow in those footsteps.
If you’re new to Pinot Noir (or if you’ve seen Sideways and remember the monologue), it’s not an easy grape to ripen. That being said, it’s one of the three main varietals in Champagne, so even if you don’t have the warm temperatures for red wine, you can still make sparkling wine with all the acidity. In fact, that’s exactly what people thought Raj Parr was planning to do when he teamed up with winemaker Sashi Moorman in 2007 to purchase land in the Santa Rita Hills and plant a vineyard. Having chosen a site at the very western end of the appellation, near the town of Lompoc, people thought they were crazy. How could you ripen fruit in such a cold and windy section of the region? Today, however, it’s one of the most coveted sources of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the state.
Domaine de la Côte
Naming it Domaine de la Côte, Raj and Sashi planted their south-facing hillside with the most interesting cuttings they could find; a variety of rootstocks from legendary California vineyards like Swan, Calera, and Mount Eden. They broke the estate up into sub-vineyards based on the different elevations and facets in the soil profiles—six individual sites across roughly forty acres. The land is farmed without chemicals, organically whenever possible and the wines are made with as little intervention as possible. Not to spoil another wine movie for you, but in the popular documentary Somm 3, Domaine de la Côte takes top honors, which is why you won’t find a bottle on any retail shelf from here to Manhattan. Today, wines sell for $100+, if you can even locate one.
But if you’ve managed to read this far down, I’ve got good news for you: 70% of the fruit in the 2018 vintage of the Sandhi Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir comes from Domaine de la Côte, and that wine will only cost you $30. If you’re a whiskey drinker, then I’ll break it down this way: if Domaine de la Côte is Pappy, then Sandhi is like Weller 12 year. The wine is absolutely gorgeous, like a river of soft and supple cherries running over your palate, but balanced with ample structure and acidity. To top things off, much of the remainder comes from the aforementioned Sanford & Benedict vineyard, so any way you slice it you’re getting some of the best Pinot Noir that California has to offer.
But as good as the Pinot Noir from Sandhi is, it’s the Chardonnay that has me spinning at the moment. Not only the fantastic Central Coast expression for $25, but the three single vineyard expressions at $50 that are as close to white Burgundy as Southern California gets. In fact, the Central Coast Chardonnay—and the partnership between Raj and Sashi as a whole—started when Raj was looking for a by-the-glass Chardonnay at his RN74 restaurant and couldn’t find anything he liked at the price point he was searching for. He ended up creating his own option with Sashi instead, sourcing fruit from vineyard sites along the Central Coast that fit the cool-climate profile he wanted.
While RN74 is no longer open, its customized, by-the-glass pour lives on in the Sandhi Central Coast Chardonnay. The wine is a great introduction to the Sandhi style with nuanced aromas of both citrus flowers and fruit that turn slightly creamy with the oak influence, but never flabby. If you’re after richness infused with the individuality that is terroir, then you need to check out the single vineyard expressions. I popped the 2017 Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay last night at dinner and it was so supple, and so packed with lemon cream and white flowers that it blew my mind.
But the real star of the show right now, and perhaps the most beloved of the three, is the 2018 Bentrock Chardonnay because it bolsters the citrus and the white flowers with minerality and a savoriness that really counterbalances all the weight. Or if you wanna get a taste of what Domaine de la Côte’s white fruit can offer, grab a bottle of the 2018 Sta Rita Hills, made for the first time entirely from estate Chardonnay!
I’ve been in the wine industry going on fourteen years now and having spent most of that time pining for Chassagne-Montrachet and Chablis, I’m somewhat embarrassed that I haven’t given more attention to the incredible wines made just up Highway 101. Raj and Sandhi are making wines that showcase the potential communion between man, earth, and vine. Find a good piece of earth, plant some vines, and get the hell out of the way. Let nature do its thing. Nurture the process. Put it in a bottle.
That’s Sandhi in a nutshell.
-David Driscoll