There is a new star rising in California’s southern wine skies. It is The Paring wine brand and its pedigree is about as blue-blooded as one can find in the American wine world. The grandparents are from Napa Valley – a little operation called Screaming Eagle — and mom and dad are central-coast winery stars JONATA and The Hilt.
The Paring’s wines taste familiar enough to New World palates while being out of the box enough for wine lovers to both enjoy and expand their horizons.
I would typically call The Paring the second label of the latter two, but the winery states things more creatively: “a chip off the old vineyard block.” That catchy tag line is quite accurate, as the majority of grapes come from estate vineyards, which are some of the best the south-central coast has to offer.
Winemaker Matt Dees also crafts JONATA and The Hilt’s wines and has quite the resumé with stints at New Zealand’s Craggy Range and Napa’s Colgin Family. Dees is a man of the dirt, literally; his degree is in soil science. He tries to let the vineyards have a strong voice in the wines. It helps that he has stellar fruit sources and he adds to that a restrained hand with both the farming and the winemaking.
So, let’s talk about the vineyards. The Santa Barbara area is most known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and rightly so with the cool weather and correct soils of the coastal side of valleys such as the Santa Rita Hills. Maybe you also know that the Santa Ynez Valley has Rhône valley -like features making it a hotbed for Syrah. The big surprise for most is that the eastern side of the region has areas, such as Ballard and Happy canyons, with climate and soils that benefit Bordeaux varietals.
The tasting crew did a comprehensive analysis; we drank a bunch of The Paring wines. The Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are firmly in the light and lively camp with no overt oak influences and are good examples of the true flavors of these varietals. The Pinot Noir is from the Santa Rita Hills and brings the savory spice profile indigenous to that appellation. Their Syrah hails from Santa Ynez and in addition to classic dark fruits, delivers wild meaty notes that Rhône-lovers crave. The Red Blend has Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot, sourced primarily from Ballard Canyon. It has more complexity than you typically experience at this price and features the brighter side of cassis and dark-plum flavors, along with attractive herbal notes.
The Paring’s wines taste familiar enough to New World palates while being out of the box enough for wine lovers to both enjoy and expand their horizons. All check in at $20 to $25 and will be a treat for those who usually buy either below or above that price point.
