Vinocruz
Ξ January 16th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ A Day at a Time, Wine Bars, Wine History |
The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA was approved by the U.S. Treasury Dept. in 1981. It is hard to believe that only about 250 acres of vine were then under cultivation within its three county boundary. The appellation is defined by compelling elevation and climatic distinctions, and runs the length of the modest Santa Cruz Mountains, from Half Moon Bay to the north, to Mount Madonna in the south. Approximately 1500 acres are currently dedicated to the vine. An abundance of micro-climates and a hundred and fifty year tradition of strong, visionary personalities, makes for a wide variety of grapes grown and of stylistic expression, more so here than arguably anywhere else in California.
Central to the AVA’s creation was the hell raised, relentless from the 1950’s until his death in 1976, of Martin Ray, a winemaker originally located on Table Mountain, south of Montebello Ridge. He was obsessed with varietal distinction, a hands-off approach, and with the age-worthiness of his wines; and pushed hard, to put it politely, for other Santa Cruz Mountains producers to pursue his vision of Old World excellence singularly afforded by the region. However much despised in life, it is his delightful historical fate that the lofty winemaking standards he championed are today largely shared throughout the AVA.
And we are fortunate the beneficiaries of the AVA’s richness gathered in a small retail wine shop and tasting room in downtown Santa Cruz, Vinocruz. Opened in September of 2006 by J-P Correa and Jeffrey Kongslie, Vinocruz has fast become the ‘epicenter’ of our regional wines. Nearly all of the AVA’s more than 50 producers, including multiple cuvées and vintages, can be found on their well-lit and organized shelves. Tastings change daily. Martin Ray would be proud.
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