story published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 3/2/17
“We’re not getting any younger, and neither are our wines,” the man behind Buellton’s Hitching Post II Restaurant and Hartley-Ostini wine label told me this week. “So let’s enjoy them! I mean, we do hoard these things forever sometimes, and they do have a finite life – they do start to fade at some point,” he continued, adding, teasingly, “Just like us!”
A simple
premise, actually: that the present is as good a time as any to drink something
special. And it was the only excuse he
and winemaking partner Gray Hartley needed to revisit 11 of their earliest
vintages, one big bottle at a time.
A special
retrospective dinner featuring 1991 through 2001 vintage wines by Harley-Ostini
is slated for this weekend. It’s part of
World of Pinot Noir, or WOPN, which returns to Goleta’s Bacara Resort & Spa
for its 17th run. The two-day
affair, which highlights Burgundy’s most famous red grape and brings together
wine experts and consumers from all over the world, features tastings, seminars
and dinners. Ostini (one of the founding
members of WOPN) and Hartley will host their throwback feast on Saturday night,
March 4th, with most wines poured from a variety of large format
bottles. The cost is $120, with seating
limited to just 65 people.
“The
wonderful thing about wine is that every bottle will be its own experience,”
says Ostini. “Is every single one going
to show great? Well, bottles vary.” But
when so much of what’s available to the consumer are younger, forward,
higher-alcohol wines, this event is “a chance for people to appreciate older
flavors,” continues Ostini.
 |
| Gray Hartley, left, and Frank Ostini, along with the large-format bottles they're featuring at WOPN 2017 |
Several of
the vintages stand out to this reminiscing winemaker. Like
1991, which marked the launch of the Hartley-Ostini pinot noirs. “That was Santa Maria Valley, a blend of Bien
Nacido and Sierra Madre fruit,” recalls Ostini.
The wines were made at the Au Bon Climat/Qupe winery back then (before the
label moved operations to Central Coast Wine Services in Santa Maria in 2001
and then to Terravant Winery in Buellton in 2008).
Ostini
remembers 1994 fondly, too, “because that was renowned as a very good vintage”
in Santa Barbara County. And 1995, for
what that year’s Santa Maria Valley blend became. “That wine was pretty weird when it was
young, it had a stink about it,” he recalls. It turns out, though, that the pungent smell
was the byproduct of an effective preservative, “so it has actually evolved
into this fresh and young-like wine today in a wonderful way. I mean – it’s 22 years old!”
Ostini
happens to like what age does to pinot – a funkiness sometimes develops that
imparts unique flavors and smells, and that make it uniquely delicious. That’s why several older vintages are always
available at his Buellton steakhouse, like a 2000 vintage pinot offered by the
glass and a 1997 pinot poured out of magnums.
But for those who prefer newer, fresher wines – and for the sake of
age-inspired comparison – younger bottles from the 2006 and 2014 vintages will
also be featured at Saturday night’s dinner.
Throw in that quintessential Hitching Post II barbecue experience –
Santa Maria-style wood fire-grilled meats and vegetables – and this nostalgic
culinary journey may well be the one WOPN event not to miss.
“We’re
really in awe – that we’re able to turn grapes into a beverage, and we put them
into bottles, and that fruit can be preserved for so long,” says Ostini. “Fruit integrity doesn’t die over time. It evolves.
But wine does not die. And to be
able to feature these older flavors and aromas is special to us.”
For more
information on this and all WOPN events, check out www.wopn.com.
For more
information on the Hitching Post II and Hartley-Ostini Wines, go to www.hitchingpost2.com.
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