The other night I was sitting in my usual spot at Martinis Above Fourth (affectionately known as "Temple") with my friend Sarah. I had decided to bring along a wine to go with the yummy food they serve (since I have been on a diet recently I cut back a bit on anything harder than wine though from time-to-time I do get to have one of their many fantastic cocktails). I felt like a Chardonnay and after rummaging around the storage areas I pulled out a bottle of the 2007 Foley T Anchor Ranch. I had read a lot about Foley but hadn't sampled them until my last trip to the Santa Ynez valley. One tasting and I was hooked, joining the wine club. This bottle is from their "Brand Series" that commemorates one of the early relatives of the owners. The grapes for this wine are sourced from the Foley estates, Rancho Santa Rosa and Courtney’s Vineyard to be more precise. You get something interesting in the blend as they come from different microclimates within the appellation. Although allowed to ferment for 16 months in Oak I was quite surprised at what came out. The wine was bright, just a hint of greenish gold in the glass. The nose was clean, quite a bit of fruit with a touch of green apple, pineapple, orange blending together. Usually with oak fermentation and malolactic fermentation I expect butteriness and roundness and while there was some roundness in texture it wasn't at all what I expected which was a pleasant surprise! There were hints of the usual suspects of the fermentation process but very subtle with the acidity shining through. Nothing about this wine was flabby or overly processed creating a lovely fruit / acid taste with a slightly rounded mouthfeel making for a bit more body without it just laying the on your tongue. The finish was a lovely medium length that provided the "appropriate" time between sips. Definitely worth picking up if you want to sample something good from this vintner... but hurry, they only produced about 450 cases!
Wines reviewed in 2009: 215
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