Sarah’s Winery has a long history at Winex dating back to our earliest days when it was a quirky but well respected boutique source. The ownership changed a few years ago, and along with it maybe some of the flair (original owner Marilyn Otteman had a distinctive personal style that got the winery media attention). Since the winery was purchased in 2001 by ‘mad scientist’ Tim Slater, former DJ, musician, and inventor, it has it has remained a valuable source for what the market needs but what consumers themselves don’t necessarily realize that they need, solid, tasty, honest, well-priced wines.
The problem with the new incarnation of Sarah’s is not the wine side, but the image side. They make really good, honest wines, however they typically don’t get the breakout media attention that tends to elevate the label in the minds of the public, nor make them easy fodder for your typical ‘cut and paste’ merchant. Granted we’ve seen plenty of ‘just okay’ wines (including many that we passed on) creatively verbalized by merchants to sound like they are the next big thing. That is part of the problem as well. With all of the internet merchants out there shamelessly testing the limits of hyperbole, the honest story about a wine like this gets lost in all of the noise.
So what is the honest story? This is a delicious, character-filled, tender and engaging bottle of Pinot Noir. Tim’s way of putting it is ‘capturing the music of the vineyard’. That is the story here. ‘Dwarf oak’ refers to certain blocks on this Santa Clara estate (along with a small amount of purchased fruit from neighboring vineyards). The fruit came from mainly familiar clones along with one entitled “Samsonite Chambertin” suggesting a ‘suitcase cutting’ from Burgundy. The juice saw 11 months in neutral oak.
The wine is a pure reflection of the terroir here, a basketful of red fruits (cherry, red currant, pomegranate, strawberry) laced with a little clove, sage, savory spice, and dried flowers. It has up front fruit, supple texture, and perfectly tempered acidity. It’s round and juicy yet retains a slightly cooler edge. Simply put, it’s an engaging and delicious bottle of Pinot Noir at a great price given the fare reduction from the purveyor. It would have been a great ‘deal’ a decade ago. You can imagine where it sits on the value scale now.
In short, it excels at exactly what it is supposed to be, a fine drink and something that can be enjoyed with gusto at your table. There aren’t crazy scores from some obscure source or overblown hyperbolic descriptors on our part (we try and ‘keep it real’ around here). It’s just a really good Pinot at a great price for what it delivers. That should be exciting enough.