San Antonio Winery, 2002 Heritage

Well, this was an interesting find. The San Antonio Winery is located in Los Angeles, California and is one of the last wineries still producing there. The winery started in 1917 and now has a fine restaurant and wine shop attached. This wine is a blend of Rhone grapes from the Central coast. The make up is Syrah, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, and Grenache. The Syrah came from Monterey and all the other grapes came from Paso Robles. I was a bit sceptical about a wine made in Los Angeles, but upon opening the bottle I was very pleasantly surprised.

Color: This wine is dark, you can't see through it, and as soon as it hits the glass, it starts coating everything in its dark purple color, the edges are softening a bit giving a slight brick hue but again, the color is phenomenal.
Nose: Right out of the bottle there is some awesome chocolate/mocha and toasty vanilla notes and after a half hour this turns into some real jammy dark fruit characters. Kirsch, and dark cherry aromas and stewed fruit abound with a smokey backdrop.
Palate: Full bodied, the blend covers every bit of my tongue. The tannins are soft and the finish is long. A sweet vanilla coffee flavor lingers for minutes after the swallow.
Overall: I really loved this wine. It retails for $25 but unfortunately it is only found in the Los Angeles area. You can order the wine off of their website of just give them a call. Nice job San Antonio Winery! I give it an A.

San Simeon Pinot Noir, Monterey 2005

This is another great value from San Antonio Winery out of Los Angeles. Yeah, I said the City of Angels, and they actually celebrating their 90th anniversary. Not many other wineries in CA can claim that! I reviewed another of their wines, the 2002 Heritage, which you can see by clicking here. As with the Heritage this is a very good wine with good value. Another great offering from San Antonio Winery. This Pinot comes from vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, and Arroyo Seco AVA, both nice cool climate Pinot Areas and the wine spent 10 months in French oak barrels.

Color: Bright, crisp color, violet hues with deep purple core.

Nose: A tickle from some of the 14.1% alcohol but has a good pinot nose and a good dose of red fruits, dark cherry, strawberry, and sweet clove come to mind. As it opened up the oak became more prevalent but still gave loads and loads of fruit.

Palate: Nice acidity and fruit up front with a warm finish. Ripe fruit prevails but a bit weak on the mid palate. The finish follows with some nice raspberry jam flavors and brought a helping of "I want more".

Overall: A good wine and excellent value at $18. One of the better Pinot Noirs out there under $20. The problem is availability. The wines are hard to find outside of California but if you live in the right state, you can buy them online at the San Antionio Web Site.