The Goddess and the Deep Sea...wines, that is...

As mentioned in previous posts, I am way behind, but trying to catch up!  You may or may not recall that while JD and I visited Cambria in February, our wine guru, Dennis at the Cambria Wine Shop, introduced us to a lovely red wine from Arroyo Grande, Deep Sea.  My very brief notes from that visit say "2008 Deep Sea Red - Andrew Adam is the winemaker.  Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache.  Yum.  Big funky Syrah nose.  We loved it.  Bought 2 bottles."

Shortly after I posted that tidbit, I got an email from a marketing rep for Deep Sea who wanted to send me some wine to review.  Her office address was in Burbank, so I suggested we get together for a glass of wine.  We met Elizabeth at a local Daily Grill for dinner and she told me about Conway Family Wines of Rancho Arroyo Grande. 

The Conways have created some interesting blends using grapes from what they have termed 'Maritime Appellations'.  These areas include the Central Coast AVA, Monterey County AVA, Santa Maria Valley AVA, Sta. Rita Hills AVA, and Los Carneros AVA, all of which provide premium wine grapes to the winemaking community. 

We spoke for a few hours about our shared goals for developing the wine community in the San Fernando Valley, and took our leave after discussing the possibility of putting together a Deep Sea event somewhere in the Burbank area.

The wines arrived - 2008 Deep Sea Red and 2008 Deep Sea Chardonnay - and then everything got extraordinarily busy with the day job, and the theater, and other events, and the whole suddenly having to buy a new car thing (that's another story for another day), and I hadn't even opened the wines to taste them!  But I did promise Elizabeth that I would write about the wines this week, and I don't like to break a promise.

So, I'm going to post the tasting notes from the winery, and follow up this post in a few days with an actual review of my own tasting.  Remember, I have already had 1 bottle of the Red that I bought on my own, and I really liked it.

2008 Deep Sea Red is a delightful blend of Syrah 74.3%, Petite Sirah 13.5%, Lagrein 5.8%, Merlot 3.7%, and Mourvèdre 2.6%.  Quoting from the winery's notes:  "The 2008 Deep Sea RED shows incredibly dark purple hues reminiscent of pomegranate. The nose jumps at you with intense notes of dark red fruits including blackberry, plum, fresh bread, red meats, followed with hints of rose petal, thyme/oregano and lavender. The entry shows both its very nice acidity and youthful yet soft, sweet tannins. The wine unfolds into jam and cherry cola, supplemented with very nice oak integration."  JD and I paired this wine with very different meals - I had wild boar piccata and he had a grilled sea bass, and we were both very happy with the pairings.  I am looking forward to opening this wine and re-tasting it!

2008 Deep Sea Chardonnay is a blend of 98% Chard and 2% Viognier.  The winery says, "The 2008 Deep Sea Chardonnay is golden and clear. The nose shows a mix of fresh citrus, with a background of pear and apple, fresh dough and honey, all layered with some minerality. The smooth entrance shows a soft, balanced wine with notes of citrus, apple tart, and just enough oak to add another layer of complexity that includes vanilla and toffee, complemented with crisp acidity." 

The Conway Family would love to do an event at a local venue in the Burbank/Toluca Lake area.  Suggestions?

I will follow up this post with my full tasting review of the Deep Sea wines, plus recaps of tastings of Dutcher Crossing wines and Laraneta Vineyards, and my meetings with their respective owners/winemakers.

Cheers!  And please stay tuned!