Jamie Slone Wines – Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail #23

I brought my girlfriend Alena along for a Saturday evening tasting at Jamie Slone Wines. We had a lovely time trying some delicious wines at the their beautiful Santa Barbara tasting room and chatting with the wonderful Hope, who we were lucky to have serving us our flight.

This is 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!

Jamie Slone Wines was a winery I had been looking forward to trying for some time and I was excited to bring Alena along for another tasting. It was pretty empty for a Saturday evening with just two other groups in the place.

We sat at the beautiful tasting bar and met Hope who would be our wine guide for the evening. I told her about my project and that we would be tasting with the Urban Wine Trail Membership Card.

At Jamie Slone they have two tasting flights: the classic flight with a mix of two whites, a rosé and two reds or the red flight with 5 reds to try. With the Urban Wine Trail card you get a complementary classic tasting which normally runs $20.

Hope started us out with the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc. It had the most delightful tropical fruit smells and tasted very fresh with the delicious tropical flavors shining through. We both really enjoyed this wine.

Then we tried the 2016 Chardonnay from Santa Rita Hills. I thought it had a nice balance of fruit, oak and mineral flavors. There was a bit of bready/pie crust flavor as well. I thought it was good, but not great.

Next up was the 2017 Rosé made from Grenache grapes. It had a really nice floral and red berry nose and tasted a bit like watermelon. I thought it was a bit too light and was a bit bitter, but Alena really enjoyed it. That’s the way it goes with tasting wines!

Now we moved to the red wines. First up was the 2014 Pinot Noir. I thought it was a pretty intense wine for a pinot and was a bit tight. Could use a bit more aging I think.

The last wine in the tasting flight was the famed BoRific Red Blend. I had heard great things about this wine and I was excited to try it for myself. We tasted the 2014 vintage. The wine had a complex smell profile of fresh fruit, herbs de Provence and subtle oak. It was sweet and very fruity tasting with a strong rose petal flavor coming through as well. I loved how balanced and smooth this wine was. The 2014 BoRific was my favorite wine of the tasting.

While chatting with Hope, she noted that the BoRific and the 2016 Grenache were her two favorite reds. She was kind enough to offer us a taste of the Grenache as well. It had vibrant fruit smells and fresh fruity flavors. I thought it was a fun, easy to drink and delicious wine.

Alena and I enjoyed our tasting at Jamie Slone Wines. Hope was a great host and the wines we tried were quite good with both of us liking the Sav Blanc, Alena liking the Rosé and me loving the BoRific. It was a beautiful and dog friendly tasting room that should be on your list of places to visit on the Santa Barbara urban wine trail.

– Visited on November 17, 2018

Alan Evans