Though I’ve come a bit late to the review party let me add my 2 cents on quite a good book that recently crossed my desk: California’s Central Coast, The Ultimate Winery Guide, From Santa Barbara to Paso Robles. Oddly faulted for its incomplete listing of wineries it is, nevertheless, by far the most successful effort to date to provide a traveler’s companion to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties’ wine country.
The venerable Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat writes the honest intro. Fine photos by Kirk Irwin work well alongside Mira Advani Honeycutt’s general but helpful explores of local townships and hamlets, farms and lodging. Preliminaries done, Ms. Honeycutt dives into the text proper. The Wineries section is divided between Santa Barbara County containing the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria Valleys, and San Luis Obispo County’s Arroyo Grande, Edna Valley and Paso Robles. Serviceable maps make the search easy.
A modest fifteen wineries are covered for Santa Barbara Co., another 17 for San Luis, not bad given the wonderful detail Ms. Honyecutt and photographer Mr. Irwin provide. Tired of two paragraph glosses, the rush some wine writers seem to be in to get to their next destination? Then this book is for you. 
A well written background history and bio of each selected winery and owner(s) is given, mentions of celebrated cuvées, along with tasting notes, the winegrower’s philosophy, current and future projects, precise contact info, including telephone numbers and web addresses, are there as well. Babcock, Melville, Rideau, Summerwood is a sampling of the coverage, though, to tell the truth, I would have preferred a bit more written about Cold Heaven Cellars. Morgan Clendenen, in association with Yves Cuilleron, produce under the Domaine Des Deux Mondes Saints and Sinners label, the finest California viogner I have ever tasted.
Strangely absent, given Ms. Honeycutt’s evident enthusiasm for the region, is any mention of whether one winery or another might be biodynamic, certified organic, or even ‘green’, a theme an increasing number of wine enthusiasts want highlighted, I would argue. Maybe in the second edition! (Actually, one biodynamic producer is accounted for: Beckmen Vineyards.)
I like this book. It is a well-researched effort, written by someone clearly in the thrall of the region. Her enthusiasm is contagious! For those who take exception to the book’s limited coverage of the region supplemental info may be found both on the Santa Barbara County Vintner’s Association web site and on that of the San Luis Obispo Vintner’s Association. For Paso Robles click this.
Admin
It is unusual to begin a book review with what is left out. But in Clive S. Michelsen’s otherwise useful guide Oregon Eco-Friendly Wine, Leading the World in “Green” Wine I found only a single line written about the Oregon wine pioneer David Lett of The Eyrie Vineyard. This is not a criticism of the book per se but, rather, it is meant to point out an odd paradox of the ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘green’ movement in the US wine industry, a movement perhaps strongest in Oregon. The paradox is that despite practicing such progressive vineyard and winery management programs a winery is effectively limited in promoting this value in its wines without certification. Eyrie Vineyards is a case in point. Mr. Lett’s practice has always been ‘green’, avant la lettre, yet you would never know it from Mr. Michelsen’s book. In fact, the book’s competent index of wineries does not even provide contact information! This is because Mr. Michelsen’s central focus is less on eco-friendly or green as the title states than on certified wineries.
And what a list of certifying organizations he provides! There is Tilth largely a USDA Organic certifier; Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Inc. 
(L.I.V.E.); VINEA, though voluntary it requires for membership observing, in Michelsen’s words, “strict environmental standards and [] high quality farming practices”; Demeter, the keeper of trademarked cosmic mysteries, so to speak; LEED, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, essentially a building and architectural certifier; 
and lastly, Carbon Neutral, an Oregon state government initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. A winery’s successful participation would be rewarded with tax breaks and carbon credits.
Each organization listed above provides their own assessment tools to a winery, of course, most require fees, on-site inspections, and exhaustive record keeping is a must for a winery to maintain its certification. In fact, it can be so demanding a regimen of paperwork that many Oregon wineries and vineyard managers, especially the smaller ones, simply choose ‘do the right thing’ anyway, practice sustainable agriculture, or continue to do so, just to avoid the hassle. Further, certification can bring associated risks of crop failure, for example. It is perhaps not quite credible that an Organic or Biodynamic etc. ‘winegrower’ (the mot du jour) would sit on his or her hands and watch disease or pests devastate their vineyard. And so it happens that some winegrowers do not seek certification precisely because they need a full ‘tool box’, as it were, owing to the multiple exigencies attending their agricultural craft. No mystery there.
On the other hand, clearly benefits flow from certification, and not only the obvious improvement of the environment. The consumer is directly informed with special marks and label modifications on the bottle itself that a wine is made responsibly and with care. The question becomes what impact such advertisements make, whether it informs consumer choice. Here in California there is a trend toward more informative ’shelf talkers’, little bits of supplemental info tacked alongside the omnipresent rating points of one critic or another, especially helpful when, for the smaller winery, label modifications my prove too costly. And in an increasingly competitive marketplace any idea will be explored.
In any event, Michelsen provides a good overview of Oregon’s AVAs, including very helpful geological notes, and writes clearly of the selected certified Oregon wineries, though many of his specific winery observations come from narratives already existing in their promotional materials on the web. In some cases little primary, independent research was conducted.
Featured wineries include King Estate, Beaux Freres, co-owned by Robert Parker Jr., Sokol Blosser, and 13 others. 
The book is well illustrated, most of the full color photographs taken by the author himself. But just who might work the vineyards and do the harvesting is undocumented. And surprising for a book with a copyright date of 2008 its statistical charts of Oregon’s wine industry date from 2005. Significant changes have occurred. In 2005 the total planted acreage topped 14,000, by 2006 the figure had grown to 15,600, 2007 saw yet another increase, to 17,400 total acres. Similarly has the total number of wineries grown: the 2005 figures cited report 303 (op. cit.), while by 2007 the figure climbed to 370!
The book is quite hefty, 264 pages of glossy paper (impossible to recycle!), and measures 11 1/2 x 9 1/2, not very traveller friendly for that. I would hope later editions be scaled down to a more manageable guidebook dimension. And have the pagination corrected! A bit chaotic.
All in all, Oregon can feel justly proud of their extraordinary strides forward, both with respect to the quality of their wines and ‘green’ viticulture. This book will bring a greater appreciation for what Oregon has accomplished.
Admin
Though I’ve come a bit late to the review party let me add my 2 cents on quite a good book that recently crossed my desk: California’s Central Coast, The Ultimate Winery Guide, From Santa Barbara to Paso Robles. Oddly faulted for its incomplete listing of wineries it is, nevertheless, by far the most successful effort to date to provide a traveler’s companion to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties’ wine country.
A well written background history and bio of each selected winery and owner(s) is given, mentions of celebrated cuvées, along with tasting notes, the winegrower’s philosophy, current and future projects, precise contact info, including telephone numbers and web addresses, are there as well. Babcock, Melville, Rideau, Summerwood is a sampling of the coverage, though, to tell the truth, I would have preferred a bit more written about Cold Heaven Cellars. Morgan Clendenen, in association with Yves Cuilleron, produce under the Domaine Des Deux Mondes Saints and Sinners label, the finest California viogner I have ever tasted.
