Grassini Family Vineyards – Sweet Bordeaux Varietal Wines in a Relaxed Setting – Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail #13

Another post in my Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail Series. See the summary article here for general Wine Trail info or to read about the 27 other wineries!

The Grassini Family Vineyards tasting room is located in the Presidio section of Santa Barbara right off of State Street. I called ahead to make sure they were open on Sunday afternoon and Jessica let me know that they were and that I should head on down to try some of their fantastic wines. The Grassini winery specializes in Bordeaux varietals which is pretty rare in Santa Barbara County. After trying many Pinots recently I was excited to shake it up with some heavier wines that were more in line with what I grew up tasting.

Grassini prides themselves on making premium wines from estate grown grapes from Happy Canyon in Santa Ynez Valley. You get a sense of the winery's core family values from the laid back and comforting tasting room, full of vineyard and family photos. I showed up on a Sunday afternoon with the place occupied by a few friendly patrons and a sleeping dog.

Jessica was behind the bar and when I walked up she immediately asked if I was the person who had called earlier. I guess not many people call ahead.

I told her I was doing the rounds with my Urban Wine Trail membership card and she set me up with the Estate Flight. This is their entry level tasting that had a good mix of their offerings. They also have a premium Reserve Flight which shows off some of their award winning and higher priced Cabernets and Merlot. I noticed that they also offer a chocolate pairing which sounded like a fun date idea!

As is typical with most wine tastings, Jessica started me out with a refreshing white wine, the 2017 Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc. It had fresh floral and citrus notes on the nose and had a good balance of acidity and minerality. Its smells carried over to its taste (floral and fruity), and was a very refreshing wine indeed. I was impressed by its smooth finish for a young Sauv Blanc.

Next up was the 2015 Articondo, Grassini's rendition of a traditional Bordeaux blend. It had a sweeter smell then I expected with aromas of vanilla and cranberries. It was an oaky wine most distinguished by its vanilla flavors. It would definitely benefit from a few more years of aging. Overall it was a pretty sweet and oaky Bordeaux blend, if only in its makeup and not in the taste. (From my experiences visiting regions in France including Bordeaux, old world Bordeaux blends generally have flavors that are much less sweet, higher tannin, and more of the black current and earthy characteristics.)

Jessica then poured me my favorite wine of the tasting, the 2015 Equipo. I could smell the alcohol on the nose and was not surprised to find out it weighed in at about 15% (on the high side for typical wines). This wine was also sweet and had a ton of oak. Though it was a smokier oak flavor, it balanced well with the light berry and rose flavors I was getting from this red blend. The Equipo was a nice drinking wine that could be enjoyed alone or would match up well with smoked or BBQ'd meats and intense cheeses. Or even a cheese burger!

Last on the Estate Flight was the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, their entry level flagship wine. This was a good cabernet that was well balanced and had nice complexity. It was again on the sweeter side and oak was a prominent flavor. It had pretty light tannins and acidity and is definitely ready to be enjoyed now.

As usual, I did my tasting at the bar, while many of the other people in Grassini that day choose to lounge in the comfy looking plush chairs that decorated the tasting room floor. When I taste alone I like being at the bar and asking as many questions as can from my host about the winery and the wines, as they help me through the tasting. Jessica claimed she was new to the winery, but she still was able to tell me a lot about the Grassini story and a bit of context around each wine.

The few questions I had that she could not answer were promptly fielded by Lauren, the tasting room manager. They were both so helpful in humoring my peppering of questions. After I finished the delicious 2014 Estate Cabernet, Lauren offered me to try the 2014 Reserve for comparison. It is always nice to taste a winery's flagship normal and reserve wines side by side, just like Alena and I were able to do at Deep Sea as well.

You really get to taste the difference between the wines and learn first hand why the reserve is the reserve. The Grassini reserve did not disappoint. It had the same basic flavors and complexity of the estate cabernet sauvignon, but it had a smoothness that allowed all those complex flavors to really show themselves. It was a very well done and tasty cab.

The Grassini Family Vineyard tasting room in Santa Barbara is a fun spot to try some Bordeaux varietal wines and mix it up relative to many of the neighboring tasting rooms. It has a welcoming atmosphere and has a nice outdoor patio area to enjoy the beautiful Santa Barbara weather. The wines were fun to taste, but I would not say the wines I tried were great at their price points. They were on the sweeter side, but otherwise they were pretty much straight down the middle for what you would expect from each varietal and blend. Overall it was a fun tasting experience and friendly spot to stop in for some nice Bordeaux varietals in Santa Barbara.

-Visited on October 14th, 2018.