Ambullneo Vineyards (rrruff!)

The Legend of Zorro is based on the life of Solomon Pico, a murderous bandit who camped in the Santa Maria hills. People still climb the Solomon Hills looking for treasure that Pico allegedly buried. Greg Linn, owner and winemaker of Ambullneo Vineyards, is Santa Maria’s modern day Zorro. Camped out at Bien Nacido Vineyards, he is pursuing the quest for great Pinot Noir and stealing Pinot-loving hearts along the way.

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[[image right 49]] Greg grew up in Jersey and you can still sense the accent. He moved to California and became a successful businessman in the mortgage business. Wine was always on the family table and when his discretionary income allowed, he began collecting Cabernet-based wines from California and France. Like many wine enthusiasts, Greg eventually transitioned at from a cabphile to a burgphile and took to Burgundy seriously. His epiphany was a 1985 Domaine Romanee-Conti Romanee-St-Vivant. Now his personal wine cellar houses a large preponderance of white and red Burgundy with a little Barolo thrown in. Greg says that “If God had to select one wine to make, he would choose Pinot Noir.”

Greg loves Pinot but he is also a dog fancier and the name of his winery reflects that. Ambullneo stands for AMerican BULL Breeds and NEOpolitan Mastuff. The Ambullneo breed of dog is a cross between a bulldog and a European mastiff. This canine breed is fearless and powerful and moves with grace and agility. Like the Ambullneo dog, Greg’s Ambullneo wine has great strength yet is graceful and is the perfect companion.

Ambullneo is a partnership between Greg and several investors, but Greg is the man in charge and makes all of the calls. He is a fanatic about quality. He says “There is more bad than good Pinot Noir and Burgundy,” and he is clearly focused on the good. He spares no expensive, declaring he is not interested in making “a fast, slapdash, budget wine.” Greg does merciless green cropping in the vineyard, dropping fruit often on three separate occasions. Grapes are picked at 2:00 AM. After a moderate cold soak of five days or so, fermentation proceeds with native yeast and MLF with native bacteria. Whole clusters are included in a proportion relative to the fruit of the vintage. No press wine is used in Ambullneo wines. The cooperage is top-rate - tight-grain French oak costing $1100 a barrel. Greg insists on special heavy glass bottles, lengthy, high-quality corks, and wax-dipped tops. He knows that his consumer base is sophisticated about wine and he is committed to provide them a memorable drinking experience. Everything about the winery and the wines exudes confidence and class.

Greg started out only making blended wines, believing that a blend of multiple vineyards provided more complexity in the finished wine. He has since relented as he as been able to source special vineyard fruit and unique blocks within vineyards and now produces both blends and vineyard designate wines. His first releases were “big-babe” Pinots that Greg said, “Ain’t your grandma’s Pinot.” Since the 2005 vintage, however, Greg has mellowed and fine-tuned his style. He picks earlier (22.8-23.2 Brix) and alcohols have fallen as a result every year since 2002 (all of the 2006 vintage are between 13.3% and 13.7% alcohol). His wines have taken on more elegance and sophistication and are more akin to the Burgundies that he holds in such high regard.

I visited Ambullneo recently and tasted through the 2006 lineup of Pinot Noirs and one 2006 Chardonnay (my “chaser.”). The Pinot Noirs were still in tank, awaiting bottling. I met Greg’s assistants, South African Peter Conjra and Matt Murphy (Eric Bolton also assists). We sat in the winery on a gorgeous sunny day sampling extraordinary wines that as Greg says, “Have astonishing beauty.”

2006 was a challenging vintage at Ambullneo, but the wines are clearly the most successful for this winery to date. Spring through early summer brought unusually high and prolonged humidity. It was a constant scramble to stay ahead of mildew and botrytis and frequent dropping of fruit was necessitated. Judicious picking and sorting further reduced the fruit that Greg considered optimal. Total case production was down as a result. Much of the wine was sold as futures in August, 2007, but check the winery for current availability. Allocations may be necessary for future vintages as popular restaurants in California and Las Vegas snap up a large part of production.

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Ambullneo Vineyards website is www.ambullneovineyards.com. The wines are sold on the website, via a mailing list, and through limited retail distribution. 805-474-5858.