I put these two together for an interesting juxtaposition. We all identify, or at least we should, with the smell of seasons in the air. September for me was the smell of the first day back at school, the end of summer, shorter nights, colder mornings. The indelible experience of Santa Barbara, is it's ability to circumvent this memory. Growng up I knew nothing of Santa Ana, nor what an Indian summer was, nor understood that winter can first appear in April (as it did in 2006 remember). Seventy six degrees was time to wear shorts back in England, here it's time to wear a fleece to ward off the chill. Get in to the psyche of the grape, that barometer of taste and reflection. An alcohol laden reporter bringing a weather report from a few years ago. A measure of the climate.

First up:

La Vie Vineyards. 2001 pinot noir, Fiddlestix Reserve, Santa Barbara County. Alc. 13.7%.

A whisper of true, clean ocean air. A fresh breeze bringing the taste of the sea through the berries as they quietly ripen, absorbing the air through the pores of their skin, before the yeast descends. Staring off into the clouds, the leaves try gathering light through the haze, patiently too waiting for that rush of blue sky. Best describing the onset of summer as a basking wine. The hot sun glow, the occasional burn from too much exposure in one place, the calming dryness of the sandy soil, in evidence as a soft cutting abrasion balancing fruit and sugar on the roof of the mouth. A soothing strawberry on women's finals day at Wimbledon in 1977 around 2 in the afternoon. The finish, a good twenty minutes later sends off a taste of green meadow, in late afternoon, freshly mown releasing a soft dew into the air from a cove or estuary, yet lacking the mediterranean humidity.

If it were legal, or safe, I would again have foie grois and raw sheeps brain this time with the '01 Fiddlestix Reserve. The first needs the fattiness tempered, the second provides a creamy savouriness like a decadent fondant. I can see me drinking lots of this. If only there were more than 75 cases made. This also happens to be a signed bottle by Ariel, a hefty piece of pearlescent glass it is. The Santa Barbara County appellation is pre-Santa Rita Hills appellation, as a side note.

Foxen. 2003 syrah Williamson-Doré Vineyard. Santa Ynez Valley. Alc. 15.9%.

Rarely are these views written in long-hand first. In fact, this ma




Cheers