Tagged: Carmel

Lady Somm’s Grand Opening: A Spectacle Not To Be Missed!

THE STORY

Last June, I received Roxanne Langer’s (Lady Somm) business card from a neighbor. Roxanne and I started corresponding vie email with the intent of meeting up to discuss her wine business ideas. After scheduling, sniffles and holiday delays, we finally met in person in early February – after her concept for her business with her sister Tamara Carver, had been solidified. We met at their storefront located at the Barnyard Shopping Village in Carmel. There was a lot of activity in their soon-to-be shop, with workers and deliveries happening nonstop throughout our conversation as they prepared for Lady Somm’s Grand Opening on March 21. 

I was excited to meet Roxanne and Tamara and learn about their vision for the business – to make this space a place for wine education, wine tasting, special events and dinners, and a shop for wine and other cute items. Although they weren’t originally thinking of a physical location such as the Barnyard, when the opportunity was presented to them, they couldn’t turn it down. The space is super cute, with a vintage feel and a feminine touch. 

Lady Somm is an ambitious undertaking in a place already dotted with wineries and wine shops. They distinguish themselves by their breadth of offerings and their depth of experience. As a Monterey wine educator myself, I offered them my help in any capacity. They invited me to their Grand Opening and subsequently invited me to one of their tastings. Thank you, ladies!

ABOUT LADY SOMM

From their website: “At the heart of Lady Somm are two sisters, Roxane Langer and Tamara Carver, whose passion for wine has blossomed into a mission to share it with the world. With backgrounds that span the globe and the wine spectrum, they invite you to join them on a journey of discovery, education, and enjoyment. Welcome to our world of wine.”

On their website, you can dive deeper into all of their wine education, tasting salon, travel and special events. I encourage you to take a peek! I am excited about their offerings – there is something for every budget.  It looks like a place for regular wine events, running the spectrum from informal to fancy.  It will be a fun place to hang out on the regular! I’m excited to try one of their Blind Tastings – can’t make the first one and hope they will do it again!

LADY SOMM’S GRAND OPENING

The Lady Somm Grand Opening on March 21st 2024 was quite an event!  Set outdoors on a lovely afternoon, it was replete with wine tastings, catered food and chocolates, as well as acrobatic and artistic performers. The local Chambers of Commerce and press were there to assist with a formal ribbon cutting ceremony. 

Artist Bekah Bull

Several of our local wineries were there, including Talbot, Wrath, Big Sur, Dawn’s Dream, and the Paso Robles-based Cordant Winery. I also got to speak with Qouign owner and baker/chocolatier Santana Rodriguez, who makes some of the most exquisite chocolates in our region. 

THE WINE

Today I am following my approach to events by focusing on wineries I do not know. I am presenting to you a single wine from Cordant Winery.  If I had noticed them sooner, I would have tried all their wines – this calls for a trip back down to Paso Robles! You can read more about visiting them here: “Join In Our Journey.”

ABOUT CORDANT

From their website: “Cordant wines are made without an agenda, but with close attention to detail.”

“We source grapes from a selection of the best vineyards throughout the California Central Coast from which to make our Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Rhone-style wines. Some are chosen with intention for vineyard designation because of their unique ability to express a specific location. Others are chosen purposefully to demonstrate what vineyards can do in combination, and for their ability to contribute to a greater good.”

2021 Cordant Indocile, Central Coast AVA, 14.5% ABV, $65 (#1282)

Winery Notes: “This year presented us with an opportunity to craft a new wine to showcase the uniqueness of the vintage. Cordant is known for producing both vineyard-designated and blended wines, such as our southern-Rhone inspired “Maniacal” GSM.  So it seemed only fitting that we craft a northern-Rhone inspired blend to showcase our cooler-climate Syrah vineyards. The result is the first release of “Indocile”. Sourcing Syrah from some of our favorite vineyards, many in Monterey County, this wine is brimming with a mixture of cool and warm climate characteristics: dark fruits, herbs de Provence, lavender, and cigar to name a few. At the same time, it is also incredibly silky and sensual on the palate; we can’t get enough of it.” 93 points: Decanter. 96 points Drunken Cyclist.

My Review: Typical for a big event, I was unable to take notes at this event, so I am going from memory.  This was a voluptuous, smooth, big red made in my style with lots of Syrah to make this a wine I could just keep drinking. I definitely need to get to Paso for a tasting.  March 2024

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How Did I Discover Monterey Wines?

A Lineup of Some Great Monterey County Wines

First and foremost, welcome to Decanting Monterey!  I thought I should start at the beginning and tell you how we first became familiar with Monterey County’s many fine wines.  For decades, we had been going to Napa and Sonoma to taste and buy wines.  We also spent time in Cambria, not far from the fine wines of Paso Robles.  Yet the main destination of those trips was always Pacific Grove, where my in-laws lived.  And when it was chilly and foggy in Pacific Grove, we could always go to Carmel Valley for warmth and sunshine.

We started visiting the tasting rooms in Carmel Valley in the late 1990’s.  Back then, we knew about Bernardus (the first tasting room to open in Carmel Valley!), Chateau Julien (now Folktale), Chateau Sinnet, Georis, Heller (formerly Durney and now Massa Estates), Joullian, and Talbott. We were fortunate at Heller to pick up some amazing half-bottles of Durney Cabernet Sauvignon from its estate in Cachagua, where some of the Carmel Valley AVA’s finest wines are grown. 

As the years went by, it seemed every time we went to Carmel Valley, we would find new tasting rooms and wines to explore.  We would ask, “What other wines should we check out?” and we were guided to new places to explore.  We asked this question at Joullian and its tasting room staff said, “Let me make a phone call.” He called up to Parsonage and asked if we could come up to taste their wines.  The winemaker there, asked if we were serious wine buyers and the answer was yes.  We headed up to the winery (before they had a tasting room) and discovered that Carmel Valley can produce the big reds we love.  They turned us on to their neighboring winery, Boëté, and later, Silvestri. 

Inside the Parsonage Winery

We saw more and more tasting rooms open every time we drove out to Carmel Valley Village.  Boekenoogen, Cima Collina, and the string of tasting rooms in the old White Oak shopping center – back then it was Parsonage, Holman Ranch, Chesebro, Chalone, Joyce, Marilyn Remark, and Dawn’s Dream.  Today, swap in Rexford and I Brand.  And along Pilot Road where Cowgirl and Talbott are, some wineries from elsewhere opened tasting rooms: Idle Hour, Twisted Roots and Bunter Spring.  And Rombi opened showcasing his huge Cabs and Merlots. 

We didn’t just taste wine in Carmel Valley – we also explored the many wineries in Carmel, including Blair, Figge, Galante, Hahn, Scheid, Silvestri, Wrath and more.  Plus a “research trip” drive down the Salinas Valley to the Arroyo Seco AVA to see first had some of my favorite vineyards including Zabala and Cedar Lane and back up to taste wines at Wrath, Hahn, Pessagno, Puma Road and Odonata.   Check out a current map of tasting rooms here.

Rolling Vineyards in Salinas Valley

Before we moved back to the Monterey area, I began to present Monterey wines as a volunteer wine educator at the Washington Wine and Cheese Seminar (WWCS) in Washington DC, where I had been a member since about 1999.  That’s when I learned about the Monterey Vintners & Growers Association  – the best place for authoritative information about Monterey wines.  Kim Stemler has been very helpful to me in getting information for my classes.  I have also presented Monterey Wines to the Northern Virginia American Wine Society chapter, as well as a class on Paicines AVA wines for WWCS. 

I started to be referred to as the Monterey wine expert.  I decided if I was going to have that label, I’d better get some official training.  I completed the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust Level 1 in January 2020.  I see this blog website as my next big step.  Now, let’s get onto some wine reviews!

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