Wine Lover: Exploring the Santa Cruz Region: Scotts Valley District

This column is the third of several in which I’ll describe my personal wine districts of Santa Cruz County. Last time, I discussed the wineries that make up the Corralitos district, and this week, I’ll focus on Scotts Valley.
The Scotts Valley district is a fairly scattered section of the Santa Cruz region and is not very well-known, because the wineries are small-production and rarely open. It should be well-known, though — some of the pinot noir coming out of Scotts Valley soil is jaw-droppingly good.
Vine Hill Winery, Heart O’ The Mountain and Roudon-Smith Winery are the three mainstays. All three have rich histories and have produced wine for decades.
Vine Hill could be a district all by itself. It has history dating all the way back to the middle of the 19th century and has been producing grapes for 140 years!
Now, Nick Guerrero owns the winery and has put together an excellent enology team, including Sal Godinez, who is gaining notoriety as one of the best Santa Cruz winemakers.
Like other local wineries, Vine Hill dabbles in a few different varietals but concentrates on pinot noir and chardonnay. All of the Vine Hill pinot noir comes from Santa Cruz vineyards, and much of it is estate-grown.
Guerrero bottles his wines under three labels: the Gatos Locos label, which is the more fun and affordable one; the Vine Hill label, which is a little pricier; and the Cumbre label. which is where you’ll find Guerrero’s high-end pinots, including the Barrel 31 Pinot Noir. The well-structured Barrel 31 is some of the best wine Santa Cruz has to offer.
Heart O’ The Mountain Winery, once owned by Alfred Hitchcock, is now owned by Robert Brassfield and run with the help of his son Brandon Brassfield. Heart O’ The Mountain also has a memorable past, but the true story here is the small-production lots of extremely fine pinot noir. Pinot is the only varietal the Brassfields make, and what’s even rarer, they only make it from their estate vineyards surrounding the winery. That means any bottle of HOTM wine you buy is guaranteed to be pinot noir grown in Scotts Valley district soil.
HOTM pinots are aged in French oak and known to be velvety and complex. A bottle of HOTM wine is usually about $50 to $60, which might seem pricey, but trust me, for what they are making, it’s a steal. Between scarcity and allocation, I see this wine increasing substantially in price over the next five to 10 years.
Roudon-Smith, on Bean Creek Road, is the only Scotts Valley winery that is open regularly on Saturdays. Owned by Annette Hunt (who once wrote wine columns for the Press-Banner) and Al Drewke, Roudon-Smith makes a variety of wines, including sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, merlot, cabernet franc and, of course, pinot noir.
Roudon-Smith is the only Scotts Valley district winery that doesn’t heavily concentrate its efforts on pinot noir, but instead takes a more across-the-board approach to wine production by making a variety of whites, reds and blends. The sauvignon blanc has fine acidity and tropical citrus flavors and is one of my favorites. It’s the perfect wine for a hot Santa Cruz summer day.
As the Santa Cruz region continues to progress and gain notoriety, I am excited to see the Scotts Valley district play an important part. After all, no discussion of Santa Cruz pinot noir is complete without a mention of those made in Scotts Valley.
Austin Twohig is a certified sommelier and partner in The Santa Cruz Experience, which conducts winery tours in the Santa Cruz Mountains. E-mail him at au****@th********************.com.