reprinted from AppellationAmerica.com

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Santa Clara Valley Wines: An AVA not on many bottles

by Alan Goldfarb
July 28, 2009

What do Tiger Woods, the New York Yankees, and the Napa Valley, have in common?
They may not win all the time, but the attention seems to be trained
nowhere else. And in the world of wine, if you’re not in the Napa
Valley, you suffer from the same ailment – Napa Envy – and neither
Viagra, nor good wines can seem to cure it. If you’re not Napa, as
some would have us believe, you’ve got an inferiority complex.

Which is all a way of telling you about a winemaker from far off the
well-trodden path, who, like many of his colleagues, does not put much
credence or trust in the origin of his own wines. I came across John
Aver and his wines recently at the San Francisco custom-crush facility
Crushpad, which he uses for his Aver Family brand wines. I like to
taste wine without knowing much about it. When I sampled Aver’s 2006
Heritage Cabernet Sauvignon, all that was revealed to me was that it
read, “Central Coast” on the label.

I wasn’t expecting much. After all, the designation “Central Coast”,
like “North Coast” or “California”, has come to imply wines without
distinction. In this case, my conjecture was way off base. I thought
the aromas superb and perfumed, with alluring fruit that was seductive
and sexy. Which led me to ask Aver a torrent of follow-up questions
i.e. “How much is the wine?”, and “Where on the Central Coast do the
grapes come from, and where is your winery?”

“$44,
Santa Clara Valley,
Santa Clara Valley,” came the answers.

So why didn’t you put ‘Santa Clara Valley’ on the label instead of
‘[Central Coast’; and at that price-point, those that will be prone to
buy the wine will know that Santa Clara Valley has a little more
cachet. To which Avers responded, “When I first started, I went around
to some of the bigger wineries (in the area) and all of them were
putting ‘Central Coast’ (on their labels). If that’s what they’re
doing and they’re selling lots of wine, who am I to do something else?

“With my winemaker (Kian Tavakoli), when we first started making wine
in 2006, we started discussing whether or not to put Central Coast or
Santa Clara Valley on the labels. He wanted me to do Santa Clara
Valley from the very beginning. We’ve been having those discussions
now going on four vintages,” Avers santa clara wine mapcontinued, “and
he’s been pushing me to do it. His whole thing is putting Santa Clara
Valley on the map, but at my size (about 400 cases) it’s not going to
be me. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be the one that does it, but
I’ll be part of it.”

Being part of “it” for Avers, like a lot of American winemakers who
find themselves outside of the cult of Napa Valley, will mean being
part of a smaller and far less known region that will have to struggle
for recognition. In Avers’ case, it will mean being part of what was
once one of the U.S.’s original winemaking regions; and which today is
nothing more than an appendage to an area known throughout the world
as “Silicon Valley”.

The Santa Clara Valley, south of San Francisco and north of the Santa
Cruz Mountains, used to be the home to such wine giants as Almaden,
Paul Masson, and Mirassou. That was long before their vineyards were
usurped by new companies such as Google, Apple, and Cisco, firms that
bury their electronic cables under the same ground that once held vine
roots.

Instead of vineyard land, there are now business parks, housing
developments, freeways, and restaurants, which leave wine grapes to
push out of the concrete like the rose that once grew in Harlem. Which
leaves people like John Avers pondering what to place on their labels.

A newly minted trade group, calling itself Wineries of Santa Clara
Valley (WSCV), is trying like heck to resuscitate a region whose glory
days have been gone for a half-century. Although it officially was
named an American Viticultural Area only 20 years ago, Santa Clara has
simply become far more famous for silicon chips.

As far as APPELLATION AMERICA can ascertain, there are about 45
wineries and/or brands that are in the valley or use its grapes. Most
are tiny producers. There are only about 1,400 acres of grapes, which
represents only about 0.3 percent of the state's wine grape acreage.

The valley has a decidedly inland climate. The AVA encompasses the
lower foothills in the eastern Santa Cruz Mountains. But coastal winds
do affect southern parts of the area. These breezes enter the region
through the Pajaro Pass in the south and Hecker Pass in the west. Most
of the AVA’s vineyards or wineries are located in the southern part of
the valley near Hecker. Pacheco Pass and San Ysidro are sub-AVAs.

The valley borders San Benito County on the east. In general, the
soils contain quite a bit of calcium and have a high pH - ideal for
high quality grape growing. Today, the majority of wineries lie in the
southernmost reaches of the AVA and also the western foothills of the
Santa Cruz Mountains near San Jose. Santa Clara Valley doesn’t have an
agricultural preserve in place that would conserve land for vineyards
– as exists in Napa and Livermore Valley. Because suitable land is
constantly dwindling, whatever parcels do exist don’t come cheaply.
For instance, a 5-acre developed parcel, which was going for $800,000,
recently sold for a half-million. Another 16 acre lot, bought by small
producer Sycamore Creek, went for $2 million in 2005. At that price,
it was “a steal,” according to its owner.

Sycamore Creek’s , who recently became the president of the newly
formed WSCV, is fighting a Sisyphus-like battle, trying to garner
recognition for the AVA. “There was no direction out here,” he says,
speaking of the time before his group was formed two years ago. “We’re
trying to bring attention back, or what’s left to it. We have a long
history, but we also have a forgotten area.”

Medeiros acknowledges that Silicon Valley types are interested in wine
and some have even bought small plots, but he knows that these
gentleman farmers will never plant more than a few acres. He realizes
his group needs some kind of an agricultural preserve, but he claims
the county isn’t offering much help.

“They say they want to preserve their agriculture, but everything they
do is counter to that,” he insists. “They want to regulate so much,
and I understand there needs to be some control, but they’ve spent so
much time building up Silicon Valley.”

But for the foreseeable future, Silicon Valley will continue to trump
Santa Clara Valley. “Right now, we’re trying to wake up the consumer
that there are still wines being produced out here. People are
producing some very nice wines, which may not have been the case in
the recent past,” notes Medeiros.

Petite Sirah and the Rhône varietals seem to suit the valley’s soils
and climate, as well as some Bordeaux-style wines, particularly Merlot
and Cabernet Sauvignon, with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay being grown in
the cooler Hecker Pass area. “Most people are very surprised (about
the quality),” said Medeiros. “In the ‘70s and ‘80s, we had ordinary
wines. (But) there is a new call to action about producing premium
wines. You can’t be a small producer and make half-ass wines out
there.

“We want to get this motor running. Once we can get people to look at
these wines, and this economy is perfect for us,” Medeiros hopes the
recognition will come their way. “When people are looking to get away
from $50 to $70 wines, you start looking for other avenues. If we can
catch their eye for 20 to 30 bucks, we’re not going to lose them.”

But it’s important to get his members to put “Santa Clara Valley” on
their labels. Then Silicon Valley can be turned into a plus as a
visible collateral attraction. Medeiros believes that vintners such as
John Avers will benefit greatly if they place the Santa Clara Valley
imprimatur on their labels. In fact, Avers is this close to doing just
that. “Long ago, apparently Santa Clara Valley had a good reputation,
but it fell by the wayside in the last few decades,” Avers said. “…
Now that we have a bunch more wineries starting up or buying old
wineries and upgrading them both on the winery and vineyard side, I’m
definitely ready to join them on that.”

Medeiros, as you would expect, concurs. “For small producers, it’s all
about Santa Clara Valley. The more people know that we’re still out
here, the better off we’ll all be in the long run,” he said, but in
the same breath concedes, “The Santa Clara [th].jpg cachet of Santa
Clara Valley doesn’t hold much. Silicon Valley is eatin’ us up.

“What we’re trying to do now is to regain awareness that we have been
shot down, but we’re not dead. … Now we need to reinvent ourselves
with small producers. It was one of the richest regions in the world
in agriculture, but much of it has been paved over.”