I remember taking lunch with Jim Carter, owner of the then-new South Coast Winery, several years ago. He stunned and amused me with the bold prediction that his Temecula Valley winery would someday produce a Cabernet Sauvignon every bit as good as any made in the Napa Valley.
I resisted the tempation to chuckle, but I do believe I rolled my eyes. Carter may have had the last laugh, for South Coast recently clobbered all comers at the wine competition staged by the California State Fair and walked off with the prestigous Golden Bear award as the “Best Winery in California.”
Some may choose to debate that, but the fact is South Coast — located about an hour northeast of San Diego — took more than 20 medals and earned the big trophy fair and square. And I’m not really surprised. These are the same wines that claimed 19 medals at the 2008 San Diego International Wine Competition to tie the much larger Kendall-Jackson Winery for overall honors.
Winemakers Jon McPherson and Javier Flores clearly are doing something right. The two men have been making the South Coast wines since the first vintage in 2003, and both were induced to leave similar positions at Temecula’s Thornton Winery in part because of South Coast’s exceptional Wild Horse Peak Vineyard.
The vineyard is planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Sangiovese at an elevation well above 2000-feet, where the days are long and the nights are cool.
I haven’t yet spoken to Carter, but he did send me an email and suggested we get together for lunch again sometime in the near future. No doubt there will be a preparation of crow on the menu!
8