The first releases from Martian Ranch & Vineyard debuted over the weekend at the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association Celebration of Harvest event. We poured Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Rosé of Grenache, and Syrah; the wines were very well recieved all around.
Martian Ranch & Vineyard is a property on Alisos Canyon Road in Los Alamos. The estate vineyard is farmed biodynamically, with consultant Philippe Amenier assisting with the overall growing regimen. The first wines from the property will be from the 2011 vintage, but until then the Martian Ranch wines are are being crafted by Brett Escalera of fruit sourced from vineyards in the Santa Ynez area.
Diane and Nan have their gamefaces on (and donned sunglasses) for the trip to the site of the tasting....
Due to the nature of alphabetization, the Martian Ranch table was right next to Rick Longoria's table. The near-legendary Santa Ynez winemaker and blues aficcionado has been a great source of advice to Nan and Martian Ranch over the past few years so it was great to be able to pour our wines alongside his.
Kathy and Nan behind the table
One topic that arose a couple of times was that people seem to expect ultra-ripe, full-bodied wines, regardless of the grape variety. Below, Nan explains that the Martian Ranch Viognier ideal is not to concoct a goopy-gloppy overoaked, highly-extracted syrupy fruitbomb milkshake-consistency wine, but that she's striving to make a Viognier that bears a lot of resemblance to say, Condrieu from the Northern Rhône. Elevated alcohol levels are okay if there's enough acidity and fruit to make it work. People got it after tasting the wines. Well, most of them did...
Nan expounds on the concept of terroir and how it pertains even to purchased fruit...
The Martian Ranch Rosé of Grenache was extremely popular. The result of a saignée of juice after four days of cold soaking, this rosé is rather dark for what might otherwise be a "pink wine" but it showed beautifully, particularly in the heat. Over the course of the day we heard several times from people "I only like red wine but it's kinda hot and that rosé looks kinda dark and looks real cold so I guess it'd be alright if I tasted it. But don't tell my friends, okay?" Needless to say, they loved the wine and no reputations were besmirched in the process.
Diane explains the Martian Ranch rosé approach to Rick Longoria.
The Martian Ranch table was quite popular throughout the day. We almost poured everything we brought with us (fortunately it was only a three hour long tasting). The Grenache Blanc showed well (particularly with the short ribs that Chef Budi Kazali of the Ballard Inn was serving). The Syrah was served with just a little chill on it, ideal for such warm weather conditions. It was a remarkable showing for a first-time winery and bodes well for the future.
