Wine Tasting Notes
Tolosa Winery
Tolosa Winery is named after the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa which was home to the first vineyards in Edna Valley in 1800’s. That mission (and now the county) was actually named after Saint Louis, a bishop in Toulouse, in southwestern France. The winery, as it exists today, began to take shape in 1990. It took more definite form with the planting of the vineyards making up Edna Valley Ranch beginning in 1992. The winery facility was constructed next and 1998 saw the production of the first Tolosa wines.
Tolosa Winery is owned and operated by two local families: the Scheilbelhuts and Efirds. Bob Scheilbelhut, a corporate attorney, owns 750 acres of vineyards in Edna Valley (Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Syrah) between Edna Ranch and Salaal Vineyards. Originally from the Fresno area, he is now the chair of the San Luis Obispo Vintners and Growers Association and the California Central Coast Research Partnership. Jim Efird is one of the principals of Tolosa Winery and serves as its vineyard manager. Also from the Fresno area, he came to Edna Valley in 1973. Over the years he has come to be acknowledged as the areas pioneer viticulturist, having planted the majority of San Luis Obispo County's vineyards - including Paragon Vineyards. He is the past President of the Central Coast Wine Growers Association and a board member of the American Vineyard Foundation.
The estate sits in the middle of Edna Valley, located in the southern corner of San Luis Obispo County. The small, east-west running valley receives cooling ocean breezes, and benefits from morning fog and a long growing season. This counters the daytime heat. The Edna Valley Ranch is five miles north of the Pacific coast San Luis Obispo to the south (separated by the relatively low San Luis mountain range) and 14 miles southeast inland from the mouth of Edna Valley as it opens up to Estero Bay. The soils of the vineyard, and the AVA, point to the regions history. They are a combination of sedimentary, calcareous soil and clay rich in sea shells (the valley was once the sea floor) as well as volcanic, granite, soils. The are also on the boundary between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates which is evident in the cinder cones (referred to, but not limited to, the Nine Sisters) which dot the landscape of the Central Coast landscape along the Santa Lucia Mountains as they parallel the central coast.
Tolosa’s 720 acres consist of five separate vineyards planted to over 300 acres of Chardonnay (about half of the estate vineyards), Pinot gris, Sauvignon blanc, Viognier, Grenache, Merlot, Petit Syrah, over 225 acres of Pinot noir (some 40 percent of the estate) and Syrah. These were planted starting in in 1990. They are managed in a sustainable manner. Waste is recycled or composted. Low volume and low pressure irrigation is aimed at minimizing waste. All water used is recovered and re-utilized after being biologically processed. Cover crops are implemented to reduce erosion and enhance soil fertility. Pests are managed to maintain a biological balance of vine health. Disease-resistant rootstock, low impact fungicides and specific canopy management techniques are aimed at optimizing vineyard health. A “tread lightly” policy includes wildlife corridors and vineyard tools and machinery which perform multiple tasks in a single pass through the vineyard.
Tolosa’s winemaking team is headed by Larry Brooks and Director of Operations, Ian Herdman. Up until April of 2008, Nathan Carlson (now with EOS Winery in Paso Robles) was responsible for daily winery activity. Larry serves as Senior Winemaker providing oversight but is also becoming more intimately involved in management and winemaking. Larry has taken one of the multitude of unconventional paths to winemaking. He obtained his Bachelor’s decree in Botany and a minor in Art History from Rutgers University. He made his way to U.C. Davis for graduate work and obtained an MS in Plant Pathology. Throughout his studies, he held a strong appreciation of esthetic beauty. He spent 19 years at Acacia Winery – first as a worker, lab rat, then assistant winemaker, winemaker, and finally general manager. He spent the following three years with Chalone and then went on to independent consulting. Nathan, originally from rural Minnesota, studied Marine Science initially but made his way to California’s Central Coast. He made wine in Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County and Oregon’s Dundee Hills. He returned to California in 2005 when he accepted his current position at Tolosa.
Functioning within Courtside Cellars, Tolosa produces only estate wines, with no only 10% of the vineyard’s fruit being bottled under the Tolosa label. This amounts to about 25,000 cases annually, but the vineyards can produce a total of 250,000 cases. Courtside Cellars winery facility produces wine for numerous other brands in California. Courtside Cellars is actually comprised of two facilities: one in Edna Valley and a larger one in San Miguel (which can process about 10 times as much fruit). Courtside Cellars is described by Nathan Carlson as "a medium-to-large sized custom wine making business and ... the main business of the [Tolosa] partners".
The Tolosa wine making philosophy is to showcase varietal and regional typicity as well as vintage variation. This is achieved through numerous blends employing various cooperage selections as well as stainless steel only production and minimal filtration. In addition to the estate-designated wines, Tolosa also produces San Luis Obispo and Central Coast Pinot noir.
2005 Tolosa Chardonnay, Edna Valley
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