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Tasting Room with a View

By Christina Waters | cwaters@gdtimes.com
Excerpted from the Good Times

I can´t believe no one has done this before. Now there´s one more tempting reason to stroll down the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf this summer—the brand-new Beauregard Vineyards Tasting Room, open for tasting and sales daily from 1 to 6 p.m.

Ryan Beauregard—third-generation winemaker from the Beauregard family of Bonny Doon vintners—was happy to show me around the sleek new tasting room on the second level above Marini´s (across from Olitas). No wonder he was grinning. I can describe the area´s newest wine tasting boite in three words—location, location, location. Standing at the polished redwood-tasting bar—handcrafted from a fallen second growth giant on the Beauregard estate—I gazed out over the entire main beach and Boardwalk framed by the blue Santa Cruz Mountains and Loma Prieta. Turning around in the opposite direction, I could feast on the view of Steamer´s, surfers, bathers and the Lighthouse beyond. Even if you never tasted a drop of the fine varietals made by Beauregard, you´d be thrilled by the amazing panoramas—seriously, these are the sorts of views visitors come thousands of miles to enjoy.

But the real deal here is the opportunity to have tasting room assistant Brooke Hamilton introduce you to some of the 2002 beauties bearing the Beauregard label. Currently two Chardonnays, one from the historic Beauregard Ranch vineyards and another from Bald Mountain Vineyard, vie for attention. Each is nicely structured, blissfully free of the heavy-handed oakiness most California chardonnays suffer from, and each bears an uncluttered, Burgundian approach to what remains America´s favorite varietal. The Bald Mountain proved most intricate, with delicate citrus nose, crisp mineral backbone and traces of apricot and gardenia in its plush center. The finish is agreeably long yet precise, with a hint of soft smoke.

Aerial photos of the main estate vineyards give you an idea of where the growing takes place. The Beauregards, father Jim and son Ryan, are the rare local vintners who actually produce the grapes from which their wines are made (with one exception). The results are regionally authentic, and the estate sourcing keeps the winemaking a hands-on, family enterprise. The complex sparkle of the Beauregard Ranch chardonnay comes from the terroir of Ryan´s great grandfather´s 36 estate acres, planted since the 1940s.

“ We´ll always have at least two whites and two reds available to taste,” Ryan promised, pouring me a sample of the 2002 Merlot, which quickly became one of my local favorite red wines. Perky structure and berry spice characterize this smart red, which swells into a licorice-like middle. Refreshingly free of the vagueness that plagues many “easy-sippin´” merlots, this one opens into red velvet. I paired it with grilled salmon last weekend and enjoyed the results.

The new upstairs tasting room is still adding historic photographs to its walls—come up and welcome Beauregard to the Wharf. Beauregard Vineyards Tasting Room on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, 425-7777.