Santa Rita Hills Roundtable – Part 5
The Santa Rita Hills Bunch
In part five, the final installation of our roundtable series, Rick, Peter and Wes discuss SRH plantings, vintage growing issues, and the value of experimentation and sharing of information within the AVA.
A few facts: there are just over twenty vineyards here, most of them specializing in Pinot Noir and/or Chardonnay, with a few acres planted to Syrah, Pinot Blanc, some Pinot Gris, and even some Dornfelder. Currently, the majority of vineyards are planted on the southern edge of the appellation, south of the Santa Rita Hills, on both sides of Santa Rosa Road. Just to the north of Santa Rosa Road lies the Santa Ynez River, and its benchlands.
Links to todays guests:
Santa Rita Hills Wine Growers Alliance: www.staritahills.com
Rick Longoria, Longoria Wines: www.longoriawine.com
Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe Vineyards: www.clospepe.com
Peter Cargassachi, Point Concepción Wines: www.pointconcepcionwines.com
Sponsor: The Beaches of South Walton: www.beachesofsouthwalton.com
Click Below to Play the Show:
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(32:58 min 15 MB)
Excellent podcast and love the roundtable!
This may sound strange but outside of the wonderful content, knowledge and passion for wine, I really like how you can hear the details at the table. Stick with me here… I’m talking about the sound of the corks being pulled, the glug, glug, glug into the glass, the slight sound of the base of the glass sliding on the table, the deep inhalation of the first nose, on and on. one thing podcasting brings you, assuming you have a nice set of earphones and not the clunky apple issues, is you can hear things you would only hear otherwise if you were at the table yourself. Maybe one reason why podcasting, when done right, is so much more enjoyable than radio. Try to get that experience on your AM radio during a mid-day commute.
Keep up the good work and keep the mics close to the intangibles mentioned above – it stirs the imagination.
Thanks Seth. I must confess, those sounds you like hear are not something we were intending to capture. The microphones we use are very sensitive. They pick up everything. In a few cases we had to edit out a release of gas.
I feel very strongly that the listener needs to feel part of the show. Hearing a sound we can all relate to somehow connects all of us.
Jay
Yes, amazing sound quality. Also the editing was seamless and excellent. Great job fellas!
I really enjoyed this series. I set aside some time, got comfy in a lounge chair out back, opened up some beer (hey, it’s hot) and listened to all 5 shows in one sitting.
I loved the conversation, and didn’t find it veering into “too geeky” territory at all.
Let’s face it, people tuning into Graperadio likely have an above average interest in, and level of knowledge about the subject than does the average consumer. So Jay, your concern about “information overload” is unwarranted, I think. Personally, I was left wishing there were another one or two segments.
Rick Longoria’s participation was brilliant – his presence here since “before the beginning” and his long, unbroken string of successful winemaking in the area lends credibility and gravitas to the discussion.
Great job – please explore more topics in depth like this.
Great shows. I, for one, like the longer, more fact intensive shows. When you have such passionate, knowledgeable winemakers who are willing to talk about their craft for 2 hours, it would be shame not broadcast this information.
This will be a great show to come back to in 10 years with these guys.
I’m fine with the noises if they relate to the topic at hand. When the convertsation is about clones etc…., I don’t want to hear the glug glug of a pour as it is distracting (really so when wearing headphones!)
I’ve got 10 hours of train rides this weeks so I’ll be listening to all the shows I’ve missed in the last few weeks…
best,
Mel
Great converstation, some of the best shows you’ve done. The more detail the better with winemakers.
Nice series. I must admit I haven’t finished it all. Just a tip. In a long series like this with multiple guest, it might be a good idea to have the guests reintroduced from time to time so we can remember which voice goes with each voice.
The five part series was great. I didn’t feel overwhelmed. More series like these would be appreciated. Such an in depth discussion gave me a better sense of the plaace. Keep up the good work…
Note:Comment Moved
I guess we have our marching orders.
Jay
Great series – especially as a follow on to the Pinot shoutdown a few months back. That one got me much more interested in Pinot – now this…… I have been planning a September trip to Santa Barbara and a drive through SRH. Now I have places to visit which will seem much more alive and relevant. I had already signed up for info on the SRH web site (which is very informative). These indepth shows on winemaking are great. The listener can really get an appreciation of what goes into making a great bottle of wine – sort of puts the “face to the name.” When I open a Cargassachi or a Clos Pepe or one of Rick’s, I can picture them out in the field counting how many leaves there are or biting on seeds. There they are waiting at the fence to be let into the fields. picking at 5 cents a bucket….oh wait – that was Tom Joad in Grapes of Wrath — wrong movie. Sorry. Seriously – keep them coming. Thanks
I agree with the sentiments above. Great format. I find it very hard to wait for a week to hear a new show. I have been okay as I’ve been downloading old shows to fill my commute time Tues – Fri but this format allowed me to get brand new shows every day for a week. While I know this won’t be possible every week, it is great to have it as frequently as possible.
As for the wine geek factor, I didn’t find it to be too much or too detailed info. I look forward to learning more about wine every time I listen and pushing that envelope to the detail side is great for me.
The only issue I had with this series (mostly on the first show) is that one of the three Sta Rita guys (not sure which) seemed to speak with really sharp “s” sounds and the mike must have been closer to him as he was louder than everyone else. I listen on headphones while commuting and have to have the volume up a good ways so those “s” sounds were loud and sometimes painful.
Keep up the great and informative work!
I love the series on santa rita hills. the programming i enjoy the most from graperadio.com are the interviews with wine makers and/or farmers.
i been trying to learn about wine for the last few years. graperadio.com is one of my favorite sources of information. i’ve been listening to you guys for about a year and a half and have learned the most about wine from your interviews with passionate farmers, winery owners, and wine makers. Thank you for your passion and great service.
Great series. Listened to this and the Bo Barrett interview this week. Both were fantastic. I agree with the comments above re: the amount of information. Anyone listening is a serious wine geek and the more of this stuff the better. Great shows.
I really enjoy the roundtable format. The listener becomes part of the conversation.
I would really like to hear a series of shows about the business and marketing of wine. I hear you guys talk about “the marketing on the back of the bottle,” what about talking to someone about how that comes about? Some offer “tasting notes” where others almost create a myth around the origin the grape and vineyard. I would also like to hear about the process of getting a wine to market and the business behind of keeping it there and growing beyond a “local” wine to one that is available nationally.
Thanks guys!
Just a quick not to let you know how much I enjoyed your 5 part series on the Santa Rita Hills. I spent the best part (and I mean the BEST part) of last Sunday afternoon listening to the entire series. The obvious passion that your guests exhibited for their land, grapes and wine was infections. Loved it!
By the way, I recommend listening to Grape Radio the same way it was made – with a glass of wine.
as i previously stated; great show…
you may want to let wes know that i think he met elio altare. emilio altare may be elio’s long lost cousin who may bottle some barolo (for his own personal consumption), but it is probable wes was referring to elio…
of course, we could also fault the super sensitive microphones or my super-weak hearing…..
Charles, you should know that many of our fans listen to GrapeRadio during their communte. As far as know, the “I was listening to GrapeRadio” defense is not going to help you get out of a ticket.
Jay
I really enjoyed this series – as I write this I am re-listening to the Brian Loring interview.
Roundtables that are regional specific spotlights with several different winemakers/growers has enough compelling content to justify the increased amount of time you devote to this format.
Grape Radio continues to stay fresh and interesting – and hearing the Loring (and resetting the ipod volume) interview again I can say that the sound quality was good back then and is even better now.
Bill
Outstanding series, guys !
Could be the best of all the wonderful sessions you’ve had. I liked the format – lots of information in a short time.
Good technical info but lots of not-so-technical, made a great podcast set.
Keep up the good work.
hey,
a little late on this posting, but i needed to add something:
i just gott the Pali wine co mailer. wes should know that there is at least one vintner in Lompoc who is sourcing fruit from AVAs outside of the santa rita hills. in fact, Pali is making wine from sonoma coast, rrv and oregon fruit. so it is not just fruit going from santa rita hills to winemakers outside the ava with no outside fruit coming in.
just a bit more of wine geek info.
paul.
Whats cooking Paul? Leave it to you to note that juicy piece of triva. You got the mailer, but did you buy?
Jay
yo. just listened to this. really impressed. talking about the geeky stuff – i am a geek and would love to hear a little more about the technical stuff of winemaking once in a while. keep up the good work.