Random Scenes from Los Olivos

By TIM DUGGAN

I just walked around Los Olivos, CA for the last two hours and a couple distinct impressions jump to mind. There are so many tasting rooms in this town it looks like a sandwich board convention. I counted 16 and could see that there are at least a couple more in the works. Same old story: County is terminally slow/obstructionist/resistant when it comes to allowing the development of wineries and/or tasting rooms on vineyard properties and the result is a bunch of boutique wineries all crammed into a one block ghetto that has been zoned for commercial use. Compound that with greedy banks, commercial property owners, and realtors who facilitated the sale of the properties in town at prices that caused rents spiral out of control. The boutique clothing retailers, art galleries, and other shops can’t afford the rent on their small profit margins. All that is left is a bunch of wine producers with their slightly higher profit margin. And a bunch of sandwich boards hawking their wares.

Nearly 20 tasting rooms in a 1-block town might not be so bad if there were a few more places to stay and a few more restaurants, but again, these types of developments are frowned on by the citizenry and the folks in the county government. Maybe if somebody in the wine community would fund a current economic impact study of the wine industry in this county, the rest of the people around here would realize that wine is one of the biggest industries in the county if not the biggest. And then maybe they would start treating the wineries around here with more respect. But I digress….back to Los Olivos.

I also had a chance to taste wine in the Andrew Murray tasting room. This producer is well known for specializing in Rhone-inspired varietal wines and blends and does not fail to disappoint with the line-up he has in his tasting room now. I was impressed with his Viognier as well as the three different vineyard-designated Syrahs that represented the differences in what the same variety of grape can achieve in different soils and climates. However I was most impressed with his recession-friendly 2006 Tour La Jour Syrah and the 2005 Late Harvest Riesling from Murray’s new Days Off label.

2006 Tour La Jour Syrah – Pleasantly fruity and luscious with a discernable pepperienss and a slight gamy note. It is about the best domestic Syrah I’ve ever had at a price this affordable. $16

2005 Days Off Sweet Nothings Late Harvest Riesling – The nose is distinctly reminiscent of the botrytis-influenced wines of Sauternes, but in the mouth you realize that it is a Rielsing and definitely more in keeping with the beerenauslese wines from Germany. A ton of apricot and sweet melon are packaged with a fair amount of acidity and alcohol keeping them all in balance. Yum! $16 (350ml)

Cheers!

Tim Duggan has toiled in many ways in the Santa Barbara County wine world. He is currently the Sales & Marketing Director at Longoria Wines and is a partner in his family’s wine store – Wine Country – in Los Olivos. He can be reached at  HYPERLINK "mailto:tdshortcut22@yahoo.com" tdshortcut22@yahoo.com with comments or questions.  

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: 1/12/2009

Is it really appropriate for someone who works in this wine industry locally to be writing this sort of column?

justwondering..

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Random Scenes : 1/14/2009

Tim: I think you should call this confused mutterings. You appear to be part of your own problem that you allege is occuring. Rents will not come down, until some of the wineries begin to weed each other out, and the demand for tasting rooms decreases. Cheers Matt

Matt Allen

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Identity : 1/16/2009

Both of the original comments fail to address the other side of this argument. Los Olivos used to have its own identity, and had several large festivals a year to showcase local artisans and to bring what used to be a sense of community in the Santa Ynez Valley. A Day in the Country, The Old Fashioned Christmas, etc. Now these will all have to be dismissed or re crafted around the wine tasting. A street party for pretentious 40-somethings desperately grasping at the tail end of the botique wine fad. An unhealthy obsession with the movie Sideways has suddenly influenced a bunch of vicarious wine aficianados into believing Santa Ynez Valley is where they belong. But they don't. Stop stealing the soul of the Valley. EJM

Where have all the artists gone?

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