Winemaker of the Month: Joyce Wine Co.

Next stop on our journey through California, wine-gem hunting…. Monterey County & Joyce Vineyards.

If Monterey is an area you’re unfamiliar with, you’re in a safe space, Jancis Robinson recently published an article on the less explored region. Giving the majority of the wines in her article 17pt scores or above, considering she rarely goes above 16/20, that’s seriously high praise.

Established in 1984, The Monterey County AVA really doesn’t get mentioned as often as it should when it comes to wine, but it’s truly one of California’s most enticing, extraordinary and unique regions. Positioned just below the famous boutique town of Carmel, with its small shops, wine bars and restaurants, where any avid golfer will know resides the famous Pebble Beach (amongst others). Also just below Santa Cruz, with its legendary surfing spot ‘Mavericks’, also home to Big Sur. For anyone travelling along California’s coast, it’s a must-stop destination. The first time you experience the incredible Red Woods up close, driving along the 101, it’s a moment to remember. Take a car, and just drive…it will literally take your breath away.  

 

There are three defining features to the region; The ‘Blue Grand Canyon’, the Mountains and the Salinas river. All are critical factors for better understanding this unique region and for hunting out quality over quantity, because this area, truly, has it all - a wine-hunter’s paradise for the big players as well as the small. Helping define the California wine scene of today; the big commercial wineries with their mass farming methods, sitting alongside the small independents with their unique plots and micro climates. Quality versus quantity, David versus Goliath.

The Blue Grand Canyon, similar in scale to the grand canyon, is a very deep marine canyon helping to bring much lower temperatures for the fog and breezes coming off the pacific. It also helps generate massive surf for the pipelines at Mavericks. This impacts the grapes too, giving longer hang time, especially further north in the Salinas Valley. And if your intention is to produce ripe grapes with fresh, high acidity and make exciting, unique, delicious wines… in a hot and arid region… that’s a crucially important factor. With a defining mountain ridge line pointing directly south east, small vineyard plots are positioned along its foothills, tightly snuggled up next to each other. The winds from the pacific travel down the ridge line, with the morning fog that generally lifts around 11am. Shielded from the coast by the ridge line, with the river running through, providing a truly abundant, magical environment for growing ripe grapes. Closely related to Napa & Sonoma, and to Bordeaux, all be it more Jurassic.

Sticking to the mountain ridge will serve you well, you can safely go as far as the Salinas river. Go further East and the size and scale goes up dramatically. This is where California grows a lot of its fruit and vegetables, en mass. Drive the 101 and you’ll see field after field for mile upon mile. Stick to the 1 through Big Sur, you’ll thankfully miss this part! Galo, Kendall Jackson, Robert Mondavi, Delicato…these are the big players in today’s California wine boom. And they can do it because the land is cheap and the conditions are perfectly suited for growing grape on a seismic scale.

We’ve had our eyes closely honed on Monterey County’s smaller vineyards for the past ten years. Paul Lato’s ‘East of Eden’ Chardonnay coming from Pisoni Vineyard, was one of the wines that made us start this mad import project in the first place. A stunning Chardonnay, bursting with ripe fruit, hedonistic oak, saline and mineral, one of the top Chardonnay’s from California bar none, with scores of 95pts and up year after year, produced in miniscule quantities of a few hundred cases per year.

Three years ago, after searching the shelves for an alternative to Chardonnay for under $30, I stumbled upon an Albariño by Joyce Vineyards. And it blew me away. Albariño is not a variety I drink a lot of, mostly from Spain if I do, crunchy, fresh, zesty, green apple, apricot, perfect for aperitif when super chilled. I didn’t expect to find a good example in California! What’s more, Joyce was a producer I was previously unfamiliar with, so it was exciting to make two discoveries in one. The wine (the same you have in this month’s offer) was fantastic. Bursting with gorgeous fruit; white stone fruit, green apples, tropical notes. Laced with freshness & racy acidity, lifting the fruit up and giving your whole mouth a big slap across the face. I loved it, it was just so fun, so delicious and so exciting! It led to a phone call with Russel Joyce, owner of the winery, and to discover more about the property, its production, and its philosophy to see if it had the right ingredients to be a good fit for us.

Russel Joyce was born into the business, working with his father. Everything done by hand from the work in the vineyards, to making the wine and even selling it door to door. They’re an honest, humble, hardworking family, who’ve hidden themselves away from the international buyers in order to focus on the quality and consistency of their wines to simply ‘get it right’, pleasing their local customers and building their distribution step by step. Since Russel and family purchased the historic Ventana Property in Arroyo Seco (another phenomenal wine growing terroir), expansion has been taking place, new varietals, vineyards and a whole plethora of styles and wines.

But unlike many who could get a bit lost in it all, Russel constantly has his eye on quality and uniqueness of site, ensuring the wines are never over ripe, the freshness, minerality and varietal are all shining and hence they keep just releasing wines that are even more fascinating than the last…They’re true to the very nature of ‘craft’; the best resources, meticulous techniques, limited production & minimal intervention. Quality over quantity and refinement, at every step of the process.

Their vineyards are some of the best in the region; Arroyo Seco, Escolle Vineyard, Submarine Canyon, Santa Lucia Highlands, Gabilan Mountains. They produce a lot of different wines from Albarino to Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Grenache, Riesling, Vermentino, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Gamay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre… and they’re all, seriously good. That’s no easy thing to do for a small winery, just ask Adam Tolmach of the Ojai Vineyard, and he’s been at it since the early 70’s! The new wines we’re bringing in soon (only 120 bottles of each!), are incredibly delicious, small production, genuinely exciting and very rare wines that are a joy to drink. We honestly had to hold off taking the entire portfolio! We’ll release another mailout on these when they land into the warehouse.

We’re releasing our last 30 bottles of Albariño and Pinot Noir Submarine Canyon, so get them while you can and enjoy 10% off on us, as a thank you for making it through our first blog post!