Wine Tasting Notes
Costa de Oro Winery.
Planted in 1989 by the Burk and Espinola families, the 30 acre Gold Coast Vineyard supplies the core of Costa de Oro’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir programs. It is located some six miles east of Santa Maria, on Foxen Canyon Road at a place called Fulgar’s Point which is on the western bank of the Santa Maria river, across from the Bien Nacido Vineyard. This is not too far from the Garey township and the vineyard of the same name in the mid-western part of the Santa Maria Valley AVA – near the confluence of the Santa Maria, Sisquoc and Cuyama Rivers. 19 acres of Pinot Noir (Martini clone cuttings from Sierra Madre Vineyard and Dijon clones 115 and 777 from Le Bon Climat Vineyard) and 11 acres of Chardonnay (USD 4 and Wente clones from the Sierra Madre Vineyard) are vertically trellised and planted on well-drained sandy loam soils of the bluff at Fulgar’s Point.
Wine maker Gary Burk has
come full circle to his roots. His father, Ron Burk, and Bob Espinola
co-own Gold Coast Farms. They started with growing greenhouse tomatoes
and kiwis an now produce broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, corn, spinach
and strawberries. Gary left home to study business at Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo and then moved on to Los Angeles to pursue his passion in music
as a guitarist. During Gary’s time in Los Angeles, his father and Bob
Espinola planted Gold Coast Vineyard. (Ironically, the well-drained
sandy loam soils of the bluff where the vineyard is located were
unsuitable for growing vegetables for Gold Coast Farms). A dinner during
Gary’s 1993 visit home changed everything: He met Jim Clendenen (Au Bon
Climat) and Bob Lindquist (Qupé). At that time, Gary was already helping
sell Gold Coast Vineyard fruit. Whatever was said during that dinner
changed the trajectory of Gary’s life. Obviously bitten by the wine bug,
he moved back to Santa Maria and spent eight years (from 1994 to 2002)
working with Clendenen and Lindquist as assistant winemaker. He also was
involved in marketing those two labels.
Gary started the
Costa de
Oro label in 1994 when he made a barrel of
Chardonnay and a barrel of Pinot noir from the vineyard while working
for Jim and Bob. Over the years, he grew his label’s production and in
2002 he left Au Bon Climat/Qupé to focus solely on Costa De Oro.
Currently, he produces some 6000 cases of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and
Pinto Noir annually at the Central Coast Wines Services facility in
Santa Maria. His experience at Au Bon Climat/Qupé instilled in Gary
a very clear vision of how he wants his wines made: He insists on
harvesting the grapes in multiple passes for optimal ripeness. He cold
soaks the must before inoculating for fermentation. Manual punch-downs,
aging in Francois Freres French oak and fining with egg whites make up
his regimen. He does not filter his wines. He makes two blends of his
Pinot Noirs: the “Estate” or Cold Coast Vineyard-designated bottling and
the “reserve bottling. These are blended by Gary himself after barrel
aging.
In striving to make “wines with balance, elegance and texture,
reflecting Old World style and terroir of the vineyard”, Gary borrows on
his musical experience, saying: “both rely on a blending of technique,
artistry and feel".
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