The 30th Annual Central Coast Wine Classic took place last weekend at the Avila Beach Country Club in Avila Beach, California. I will be reporting on that event on a later date, but today I want to talk about a very special lot that was presented at Saturday’s Rare & Fine Wine & Lifestyle Live Auction.
CCWC Lot No. 47
Frank Ostini, owner of the Hitching Post II restaurant in Buellton (the restaurant prominently featured in the wine cult classic movie “Sideways”) and his partner Gray Hartley of Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Wines wanted to create a very special auction lot to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the CCWC. They created a lot with at least one bottle of wine from every vintage since 1984 reflecting 30 years of winemaking at Hitching Post Wines. Arranged in multiple issues of 750 ml., 1.5 liter magnums, 3 liter double-magnum bottles and one 5 liter bottle, the overall lot consisted of a whopping 60 bottles of wine, the equivalent of over 100 regular sized (750 ml.) bottles of wine.
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| Gray Hartley and Frank Ostini CCWC Lot No. 47 30 Years of Hitching PostWines |
This is a world class collection of some of the finest Pinot Noirs ever made in California, or anywhere else for that matter. I know, because for years Jodie and I along with our wine appreciating friends have have had many wonderful Hartley-Ostini / Hitching Post Wines and Au Bon Climat wines that were all well past their 25th anniversary. Back in the early 1980’s, Au Bon Climat’s Jim Clendenen and his partner Adam Tolmach began making Pinot Noirs in the classic style of first growth French Burgundies – more on that story below. Clendenen’s buddies Hartley and Ostini had been making wines, starting with their first batch at their home in 1979 and had adopted many of the same classic French winemaking techniques. The end result were some beautiful Pinot Noirs that would not begin to reach their potential until they were twenty years old or more.
Old Pinot Noir wines are very special. As they age, the combination of acidity and just the right level of alcohol allow the fruit to burn off in a very delicate fashion. While many California wines are made to be consumed while young, during their first five to ten years, these classic wines want to lay down in the cellar and grow old gracefully. When these California Pinot Noirs get into the 25-30 year maturity level, they present a totally unique and special character that simply has to be tasted and experienced to be understood.
Knowing what a rare opportunity it was to acquire this exhaustive library of Pinot Noir wines, Jodie and I decided to try to win the bid. At first, Jodie was a bit hesitant to take on a lot with this many large bottles. We have several 9 liter bottles in our collection from prior year’s auctions and it is always a challenge to find events with enough people to justify opening such a big bottle of wine. Since a 9 liter holds a full 12 bottles of wine, one needs to find an event with 25 or more wine drinking people to open it up. In this case, I was able to reassure Jodie that there was really only one large bottle, the 5 liter. The other bottles were all 3 liter or smaller and the three liter bottles (equivalent of 4 bottles of wine) could be put away at a dinner for 8 to 10 people. So we were in for the bidding. I don’t know who the under-bidder was, but they were pretty aggressive. Regardless, we persisted, largely at Jodie’s urging and finally won the day. This amazing collection was ours.
The First Bottle
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| 1985 Hitching Post Santa Ynez Valley Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Produced and Bottled by Byron Vineyard & Winery Santa Maria, CA |
When Jodie and I got home from the CCWC, we wanted to celebrate by opening one of the older bottles in the lot. We selected a 1985 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir. The Sanford & Benedict vineyard is a legendary vineyard for growing world recognized Pinot Noir grapes. These grapes were grown at a time when the region was simply recognized as the Santa Ynez Valley. Years later in 2001, the now-famous wine growers in the region marshaled their resources to have the area designated as the Santa Rita Hills AVA. The area is so successful for growing excellent Pinot Noir grapes because of the hot dry days and the cool moist nights as the ocean fog comes up the valley from Lompoc to quench the sleeping grapes.
Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict created the S&B vineyard in 1970 and operated it as partners for the next decade. Frank Ostini recalls that the 1985 S&B was their first from the vineyard. Partners Sanford and Benedict had created a world class Pinot Noir in 1976 at a time when most California Pinots were hardly drinkable. According to Ostini, “Heads turned around the world – delicious Burgundian styled P/N from the Central Coast of California. Many of us here took note: Jim Clendenen, Adam Tolmack, Rick Longoria, Brian Babcock, Ken Brown and us (Ostini & Hartley). Sanford and Benedict would not sell grapes in the early years. A $25 Pinot was a tough sale in those days and the partnership eventually broke up. Mildew struck in 1986 hurting the crop yield, so 1987 was the first year for most other wineries to get S&B fruit.”
Ostini shared his experience with his first pick of those S&B grapes back in 1985. “I remember hauling the grapes. We made 1.5 tons, just 100 cases. (You have one of the last 6 bottles) There were two picks. The first pick was in S&B’s 1/4 ton bins with no liners. By the time I got to the Byron winery where we made our wine, juice was dripping on the ground. On the second pick, I brought a 1/2 ton bin with a plastic liner so no juice was lost.”
He continues, “I was so proud of the grapes that I detoured to Au Bon Climat (at the dairy barn near Rancho La Cuna). Jim and Adam were crushing their first Willamette Valley, OR PN grapes. Both those batches were the best grapes we had ever seen. I remember it like it was yesterday. What an amazing time of discovery and growth.”
I pinged Frank and Gray by email when we opened that 85 S&B to let them know that it was drinking very nicely straight out of the bottle. We had a little trouble with the cork, which is to be expected as old corks can be temperamental. But we got the bottle properly decanted and I was delighted to see that even after 25 years, there was precious little sediment in the bottle. Jodie and I took our time over the next three hours, refreshing our glasses with small pours every 30 minutes or so. As the bottle opened up, the aromas became more pronounced and the tastes on the palate were smooth and rich.
Frank was gratified that we had given him a heads up about drinking this very special bottle of wine and he came back with a really amazing offer. He wrote:
Jim and Jodie,
We want to give you an official thank you for buying our donation to the Central Coast Wine Classic. We knew when we assembled this, that it was really something special, and actually represents a huge part of our creative lives. We weren’t sure if any bidders would comprehend and appreciate this.
Now that you have it, and you have noticed us on opening your first bottle, it has brought back so many memories that we are anxious to share. Thanks for your communication, as we realize we have given more than 60 bottles here, and we are willing to continue to comment on each bottle that you open.
If there is any way to give us a few days heads up on your plans to open bottles, we would be happy to supply our stories so that you can share them as you enjoy the wines. I think we have discovered an amazing and interactive level of giving and receiving of a vertical auction lot. As Archie and his friend Emeril would say, we are ‘Kicking it up a notch!’. A very special thanks to you for the inspiration.
Best Regards,
Frank Ostini
Chef Winemaker
Hitching Post II Restaurant & Winery
Buellton, CA
www.HPWines.com
To Frank and Gray, Jodie and I give you this reply. We are thrilled to have this rare collection of the fruits of three decades of your dedicated and creative labors. We are going to open one of these bottles every month or so, often in the presence of fellow wine lovers.
We will definitely give you the heads up that you requested and once the stories have been told and the wines have been enjoyed, I will chronicle each episode in a continuing story on this blog. Hopefully, in time it will become somewhat of a living history of and tribute to your efforts.
We look forward to our mutual adventure!
Jim and Jodie Rea
The Central Coast Wine Classic
http://www.centralcoastwineclassic.org/
Hitching Post Wines
http://www.HPWines.com
Hitching Post II Restaurant
http://www.hitchingpost2.com/
