Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards expecting a late harvest

The harvests at most Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards are running about a month behind, especially those with coastal influence like Burrell School, Fogarty and Bargetto. From Kennedy Road in Los Gatos, Greg Perrucci reports, “Normally, we would be in veraison by the end of July. Not a snowball’s chance of that happening. Reminds me of 2010 and more so 2011. Thanksgiving harvests, anyone?”

Local wineries, however, are still pouring. House Family Vineyards in Saratoga is once again open for tasting, Thursday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m., at Izumi Point by reservation to https://www.housefamilyvineyards.com. The grapes there are looking good, as is the crop at Cooper Garrod and Kings Mountain.

Testarossa University is offering summer classes at the Los Gatos winery. Wines from the Santa Lucia Highlands will be throwing down against pours from the Santa Rita Hills on July 26, 6-7:30 p.m. Explore a vertical of coveted Diana’s Chardonnays July 30, 2-3:30 p.m. Registration for each class is $85 at https://www.testarossa.com/visit/testarossa-university.

The Tasting House team has selected 24 exceptional and interesting wines to pour for its new Wine Adventures series. Taste wines from nontraditional varietals and wine growing regions from around the globe, including vermentino from Italy, pinot noir from Tasmania and a white cabernet franc from L’Autre Cote, Steven Mirassou’s cab franc-centric wine brand out of Livermore.  Reservations required to 408-348-1807 or through OpenTable.

Check out the Summit Mountain Wineries’ Happy Hour Series when it touches down at Silver Mountain Vineyards July 28, 5-8 p.m. For more information, visit Eventbrite.com.

Fogarty Winery’s Summer at the Vineyard event was educational as well as delicious, with food sourced from local farms including Willow Farm, Pomponio Ranch and Harley Farms. Attendees tasted side-by-side verticals of Windy Hill Pinot Noir, discovering how the earthiness and warm fruit of the 2018 contrasted with the brighter fruit of the 2019, as well as a horizontal of 2017 Lexington Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Then it was on to “The Art of Bottle Aging,” where the 2013 Lexington Apex, the flagship Bordeaux blend from Gist Ranch on Skyline, was presented in both 750ml and magnum formats. This comparative tasting instantly proved that magnums age far more slowly. Investing in as large a format as you can fit in your wine cellar will pay off handsomely when that special occasion pops up a decade or so down the road. The 2013 Fogarty Apex magnum tasted like it can go another two decades, while the 750ml is definitely showing some bottle age.

While overlooking the struggling Damiana Vineyard, the oldest on the property, we tasted both the 2020 and 2016 Damiana Chardonnays. The 2016 was magnificent, while the 2020 needs time to develop.

The fate of Damiana, with its stunning view of the San Francisco Bay, is not yet sealed: disease and gophers have thinned out the vines, drastically reducing yields. The resulting fruit is fabulous, concentrated and in short supply.  If there ever was a wine to add to your stash of bottled beauty, this is it.