The Santa Cruz Mountains winegrowing area is worthy of the moniker “Pinot Paradise,” but when Robert Bergstrom of Sandar & Hem vineyard has any say within the matter, he’d prefer to extol the virtues of the world’s chardonnay.
Sandar & Hem is among the many wineries pouring on the Santa Cruz Mountains Grand Tasting Sunday, April 24, at The Mountain Vineyard in Saratoga.
Sandar & Hem is a nod to Bergstrom’s ancestral roots within the Sandar area of Norway, a fjord south of Oslo. Hem was the household title that in some way obtained modified to Bergstrom when his nice grandfather emigrated to the U.S.
Bergstrom, who grew up in Napa and has a Ph.D. in biophysics (his father taught chemistry at UC Davis), and his spouse, Recha, who hails from Santa Cruz, have day jobs: She’s a UCSF -trained radiologist and he’s a former McKinsey guide working with small startups within the Bay Space. Each are captivated with giving again to the neighborhood, but it surely’s the vineyard that lights them up.
Sandar & Hem at the moment makes vineyard-designate chardonnays from Bald Mountain, Bruzzone, Frances J, Le Boeuf and Mindego Ridge. Bergstrom grew to become conscious of the age-worthiness of Santa Cruz Mountains chardonnays when tasting Mount Eden and Ridge from the Nineties, together with a 60-year-old chardonnay from Martin Ray. Their depth and energy reminded him of the richness of Nineteen Eighties white Burgundies.
“They've excessive acid on the identical time and a spaciousness, such as you’re in a subject of flowers; they’re actually experiential wines,” Bergstrom says of the Burgundies. “I noticed that Santa Cruz Mountains chards may age like that.”
After receiving a winemaking certificates from UC Davis in 2016, Bergstrom subsequently labored a harvest at Rhys after which within the winery and cellar at Mount Eden.
“It was the chardonnays of Rhys from Horseshoe and Alpine Vineyards that actually opened my eyes and made me notice this was a world-class place to supply chardonnay akin to, however distinct from, white Burgundy,” he says. “It is a place the place chardonnay may hit unbelievable highs with beautiful expressions. These are the wines that pushed me to the following stage to discover winemaking within the area.”
Many vineyards have been chosen on account of their historical past of manufacturing nice wines, however new websites like Deerheart, a pinot noir winery on Alpine Street close to San Gregorio, have caught Bergstrom’s consideration. With local weather change impacting the place pinot noir can develop, Pescadero is of curiosity as nicely.
“We love telling the story of chardonnay and all its distinctive expressions throughout the yet-to-be-formalized subregions of the AVA,” says Bergstrom. “We imagine that our intense concentrate on chardonnay makes us distinctive as a vineyard within the Santa Cruz Mountains. That stated, I really like crafting pinot noir.”
Bergstrom additionally makes cabernet sauvignon and grenache from Bates Ranch, a storied winery within the southern a part of the AVA. He’s additionally discovered merlot and cabernet franc within the Los Altos Hills for a Bordeaux model mix.
Sandar & Hem has vineyards on steep Purissima shale on Mindego Ridge on Alpine Street), Franciscan shale at Peter Martin Ray in Saratoga, decomposed granite at Le Boeuf close to Santa Cruz, and white Zayante sands at Bald Mountain in Bonny Doon.
“Le Boeuf was planted in 1974 on St. George Rootstock, and now we have rebudded half of it over to heritage clones on account of intense Eutypa,” Bergstrom says of the fungus that causes grapevine dieback.
“Each Mindego Ridge and Deerheart Winery have the very uncommon clone 943 with tiny berries and intense shade and taste,” he provides. “Bald Mountain is own-rooted, and Peter Martin Ray is planted to Mount Eden cuttings originating from La Questa winery in Woodside, which was planted with wooden from Chateau Margaux.”
Having the appropriate folks in these vineyards is crucial, says Bergstrom. “We work with the implausible Prudy Foxx and Ken Swegles at a number of of our websites, each absolutely devoted to the area and true viticultural excellence.”
Tickets to Sunday’s Grand Tasting are $68 ($20 for designated drivers) at https://winesofthesantacruzmountains.com/occasions.