This month we are featuring two new additions to our wine list from the Byron Vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley. The Santa Maria Valley is located on an unusual topographic slice of land known as a transverse range. Unlike the majority of California's wine producing valleys, the orientation is east to west rather than north to south. As a consequence, an unprecedented amount of marine air and accompanying fog is pulled into the vineyards from the nearby Pacific Ocean.

The first wine we are featuring on the wine list is a Chardonnay. The valley is the ideal location for cold-climate grapes, featuring benchland vineyards. This Chardonnay is rich and creamy, with toast, citrus, lime and minerals. It will be ideally matched with our newest menu selection, the New England Pan Seared Day Boat Scallops. This wine was #30 in the Wine Spectator Top 100 wines of 2008. WS is quoted, “Ultra rich and concentrated, with layers of fig, citrus and tangerine flavors that are shaded by toasty oak, filling out the flavor profile and ending with a complex marshmallow edge.” 93 Points, Wine Spectator.

The second wine featured is from the Single Vineyard Designates. It is the Bien Nacido Pinot Noir. For more than 30 years, Bien Nacido has been growing some of Santa Barbara County's most distinctive benchland Pinot Noir. This wine demonstrates the sophisticated interplay that goes on each year between soil, weather and variety. Expect a complete wine packed with cherries, spice, earth and truffles. Enjoy this wine with another one of our new additions, Lemon-Pepper Seared Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna. Bon Appetite!

Alex Rychetsky, Food and Beverage Director