ABOUT: Rebecca and Peter Work purchased 82 acres in what is now the Sta. Rita Hills AVA in 1999. Originally a part time project, it soon became a vocation after missing a meeting at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Reality checked, they sold their house and moved to their property in the hills, producing their first commercial wines in 2003. Shortly thereafter they became Santa Barbara County’s first certified organic and biodynamic winery. The wines are impressive, especially the Pinot Noir and Syrah. Excited to try the Viognier, we’ve heard good things. The winery is completely solar powered (awesome) and they provide ESL and retirement programs for their employees (awesomeX2). This is the kind of winery and sorts of people we want to support. Nothing better than a great product backed by good people aiming to bring something long lasting and meaningful into this world.
Click here to read a blurb about the Ampelos Pinot Noir at Bio Wine Blurbs TASTE: You would never guess this a Pinot Noir from California. Maybe Germany. Clear with a pale ruby core, you can read through it, fading to a wide, turning-salmon colored rim. Medium+ viscosity. The nose is clean with shy, perfumed aromas of strawberries, cherries, oranges, thyme, oregano, white pepper, and dusty underbrush. In the mouth it is dry with a medium+ body, high acid, low tannin, and medium+ alcohol. Flavors of ripe strawberries and cherries, orange peel, black licorice, oregano, dry underbrush with a saline brightness. Elegant, lithe flavors, very full on flavors but not forcefully extracted. Strawberries, oranges, and salt in a satin pillow case. Long finish and high complexity. Drink or hold for another 10-15 years. PAIR: Roasted beets with basil, roasted barley pilaf, herb salad with goat cheese and dried cherries, sesame ginger grilled tofu, and roasted root vegetables with goat cheese polenta.
