We’ve invited my friend (and fellow Master Sommelier) Will Costello to share the details of a Santa Maria Valley wine he respected so much as a restaurant buyer that he went to work for the company as its Estates Ambassador. The Miller Family’s Bien Nacido Estate is, of course, named for what is arguably the most-famous single vineyard in California, and their Solomon Hills Vineyard, purchased in 1999, offers a new perspective on what’s possible in the Santa Maria Valley. Having recently tasted this wine with Will, I share his appreciation for the balance and breed of this 2013 Solomon Hills Pinot Noir, but who better to tell the wine’s story than the man who does so for a living? We’re happy to turn the site over to Will so that he can do proper justice to a Santa Maria wine of impeccable provenance—it’s easily one of the best Californian Pinot Noirs we’ve tasted all year, hinting at great red Burgundy while showcasing the purity of fruit the Santa Barbara appellations are so justly celebrated for. Enjoy! — Ian Cauble
In the mid 1850s, the Ontiveros family was granted a deed to a parcel originally called Rancho Tepusquet, near Santa Barbara in California. This was a land grant offered by the then-Governor of Mexico as a homestead for his daughter and new son-in-law to create a future and family. From the first days of their time at Rancho Tepusquet, the Ontiveros family had raised cows, horses and other livestock next to a small tributary of the Santa Maria River. With a crystalline water source and nearly 2000 acres of pasture land, the family started building their home. It is a traditional California mudbrick adobe and today is one of the only privately owned adobes in all of California. The family used this four-room adobe as their home for nearly four generations until the land parcel was broken up and sold off.
Bob and Steve Miller, members of their own fourth-generation farming family, found this pristine property in 1969, when they were offered two contiguous parcels of land that were part of the original Rancho Tepusquet. With the chance to continue a tradition of farming sustainably and focusing on the highest quality, the two original parcels were reunited and rechristened “Bien Nacido.” Directly translated as “well-born,” Bien Nacido is synonymous not only with one of California’s most important vineyards, but the Santa Maria Valley AVA as a whole.
Bob and Steve saw the purpose of this land as not only prime pasture land for livestock but a perfect home for wine grapes. Santa Maria Valley is technically classified as a “Winkler Region 1b.” This is as cold, in terms of average temperature, as Champagne; the Mosel Valley in Germany; Kremstal in Austria; and Burgundy’s Cote d’Or. Understanding this, the Millers planted the vineyard with the first certified virus-free clones of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from UC Davis in 1973. Being pristine land, these clones were planted on their own roots and, to this day, have remained phylloxera-free. In fact, much of the Chardonnay planted in the past 30 years in California has been taken directly from the nursery at Bien Nacido.
As a sommelier, I fell in love with Bien Nacido like most others do, through the single-vineyard designations of many amazing regional producers. In fact, Bien Nacido as a vineyard source is the most ubiquitous single-vineyard designation in the United States. More than 160 producers over 44 years have used “Bien Nacido” on their labels, and some 350 different wines have been made from these producers. Only vineyards in Burgundy have been designated more, and I am certain that has something to do with Burgundy’s 700-year history. When I found out the plan was to make wines directly on the property, from the estate, I was immediately interested to try the wines. Who better to understand the way to highlight the vineyard than the owners?
After the Miller family farmed this vineyard for 37 years, Steve’s youngest son, Nicholas (now the fifth generation) was inspired by the maturity of the vines and the understanding of this vineyard, and decided to make some small-production wines from the estate. All of the estate wines, which amount to approximately 1,400 cases, come from the blocks of the vineyard which have proven over the years to be the ultimate expression of this vineyard. Under the guidance of winemaker Trey Fletcher, the Bien Nacido Estate wines are made to showcase the pinnacle of quality from that vineyard.
As Bien Nacido began to mature, and the amount of fruit available to any producer became more and more limited, the Millers sought another piece of property that could tell another compelling story about the Santa Maria Valley. In 1999, Solomon Hills was purchased and planted with the same original rootstock from Bien Nacido’s oldest vines. Based entirely on sandy soil and situated just 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Hills wines showcase a more intense minerality and purity of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The clones planted on these sandy soils tend to showcase more tannin and dark fruits, very much akin to Volnay or Pommard wines from Burgundy.
All the wines are made by Trey at the winery at Bien Nacido, but with the understanding that the vineyards and terroir should speak and not the winemaker. The goal is to showcase the vineyard expressions themselves and to limit the factors in the winery that would take away from that. Each wine is treated as similarly as possible in terms of oak, stem inclusion and aging to achieve this single-vineyard expression. This 2013 was hand-harvested at night, fermented using only native yeasts, then aged 16 months in French oak barrels, 40% of which were new.
I couldn’t be more excited to work with the wines as the Estates Ambassador. I was a huge supporter as a restaurant buyer and believe these wines to be the purest examples of cool-climate winemaking in the world. The Solomon Hills Pinot Noir 2013 is exactly what I look for in the best Burgundies: fresh and tart red fruits with raspberry, black cherry and pomegranate and the savory notes of black tea, fresh rose petals, and a slight beef jerky note. They are a perfect balance between sweet and savory, with serious tension, well-integrated oak, and a mineral underpinning. Although I think it will reward short-term aging, the wine is ready to open tonight and serve with some Pacific Salmon, or roast chicken, or any number of other options—this wine’s brisk acid and tangy fruit give it great versatility with food. Attached is a nice take on a French classic for a serious pairing at home. Enjoy!
— Will Costello, MS
