Vino Prima GT’s Homegrown Wine Pick of the Week

Vino Prima sits at the end of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf—a magnificent spot to go wine tasting. Not only does this wine bar offer some great wines, but it also comes with a panoramic view of the Monterey Bay. The place is cozy, welcoming and comfortable—it even has a couch.

Specializing in boutique wines by the glass, flight or bottle, Vino Prima offers an easy way of sampling a variety of wines, especially those from our splendid California wineries. At Vino Prima, each flight is given a name. This particular day, the flights of three had fun titles such as Steamer Lane; The Chardonnay III; Wicked Good Reds; Somebody Call Me A Cab— and so on.

My friend June is a lover of reds, so she immediately gravitated toward a flight of syrah—called Que Syrah, Syrah. A flight of three ($15) consisted of De Tierra Vineyards 2005 Estate Syrah, Monterey; Denner Vineyards 2005, Paso Robles; and Big Basin Vineyards 2005 Fairview Ranch, Santa Lucia Highlands.

As much as I love red wine, on a rare warm and balmy evening such as this, white wine appealed to me so much more. After all, wine matches up with mood, occasion, weather—and whatever else is going on. So I plumped for Steamer Lane ($10)—consisting of Dry Creek Vineyard 2007 Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg; Pelican Ranch Winery 2007 Viognier, Russian River; and Hunter Hill Vineyard & Winery 2007 Double Barrel, Santa Cruz Mountains. The friendly owner of Vino Prima, Larry Jackson, who’s more than happy to share his knowledge about the wines he carries, also brought over a Mann 2007 Riesling, Santa Clara, for me to try.

Jackson makes sure that he’s always got some great cheese and crackers on hand (for about $5) to go along with the wine tasting. It’s hard to get through a flight a wine without at least a little nourishment. If you’re really hungry, as we were, then that’s no problem. Jackson has the menus of next-door eateries Olitas Cantina & Grille and Carniglia’s Restaurant on hand, will call in an order for you—and the restaurant will deliver. We ordered oysters and a plate of hors d’oeuvres from Olitas—a good match for our wines.

Meantime, June had zeroed in on her favorite—the Denner Syrah, which I tasted and loved. Bold, rich and full of ripe blackberries—this is very much a syrah lover’s ideal wine.

My favorite on this very warm afternoon is Hunter Hill’s Double Barrel. This delicate blend of Viognier and Roussanne generates a nice fruity balance that’s not too sweet. I think that the white Viognier is often drunk by die-hard red wine drinkers—as a sort of crossover wine that also pleases the red wine palate. Certainly, the wonderful Viognier grape has gained in popularity in the United States in the last few years. Roussanne, on the other hand, is a good blending wine, and, in partnership with the Viognier, creates the lovely Double Barrel—a very drinkable summer wine.