Trip to Monterey and Ben Lomond

Shane's Notes

We originally planned this trip around dinner at the Tyrolean Inn in Ben Lomond. I didn’t want to make the round trip in one day so we decided to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium and spend the night at the Fairview Manor in Ben Lomond. Unfortunately, after we had already booked the Manor, we discovered that the Tyrolean Inn was having an Oktoberfest celebration that weekend and would not be serving from their regular menu. After much exhaustive research, we replaced the German restaurant with an Italian one and the trip was under way.

I had not been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in over twenty years and Jen had never been. We enjoyed the aquarium but with reservations. We really enjoyed seeing a Great White Shark (on temporary exhibit), the jelly fish exhibits and the sea otter exhibits. However, I quickly tired of the educational exhibits and the liberal palaver in the form of exhortations to save the sea and the environment. I want to be entertained on our Saturday trip to the aquarium, not educated. It was also much too crowded.

We had some spare time before heading up to Ben Lomond, so we naturally hunted for a wine bar. The first one we found was simply the Monterey tourist wine bar on cannery row. Jen had the reserve tasting and I had the regular tasting. The only stand out wine was the San Simeon 2004 Pinot Noir. It had a nice, light berry flavor with a good mid palate expansion. It reminded me of a dialed down Santa Lucia Pinot which is definitely a good thing. If I could find more inexpensive Pinots in this style (as opposed to the ever popular Syranots), I would be a bigger fan of American Pinots.

I was really disappointed in the Syrah and Riesling from Paraiso. I remember liking their Pinot, but these offerings were insipid, especially the Riesling. In fact, I could have mistaken their Riesling for a White Zinfandel. When I expressed my displeasure, our server agreed with me and said that she would give me a better Riesling. I almost laughed when she set a Wente on the table but I gave it a fair tasting. It was at least as bad as the Paraiso. White Riezins are even worse than Syranots.

We hopped in the car and were heading to Ben Lomond when we spotted a few more wine bars on the drive out of Cannery Row. We parked and decided to try the Silver Mountain Winery tasting room. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of all the wines we tasted. Not one of the wines was overoaked (a minor miracle) and all showed good varietal flavor. We even bought a few bottles (one is reviewed at the end of this posting and the other will be reviewed in the near future).

We drove to Ben Lomond and checked into the Fairview Manor. It was nestled in the Redwoods and our hosts were very personable. We took a short walk through the Redwoods down to the local creek. We then headed back to the Manor and sipped some wine on the porch before taking full advantage of the claw foot tub. Then, it was off to La Bruschetta.

We had read many wonderful reviews about La Bruschetta but were naturally skeptical of any Italian restaurant in Ben Lomond. We were thrilled with the wine list. It was only two pages long but it contained a remarkable variety of inexpensive Italian wines. We could have easily ordered any of the Italian wines on the list. Also, many of the wines were available by the glass. I gave the list to Jen, and she naturally gravitated to the most expensive Italian wine on the list: the 2003 Stefano Farino Barolo ($78). The wine was served a little too cold, and the palate was very closed. We let the wine open while we ate our salads.

I’m not a huge salad fan and will usually forego a salad at a restaurant. However, I was intrigued by their Spinach salad which came topped with a pancetta filled red wine vinegar sauce. It was served warm and was thick and rich. It is the best salad I’ve ever tasted albeit it was so rich that I had difficulty even finishing a half portion.

For the main course, I ordered a Filet Mignon topped with a pancetta red wine marinade (yes, I like pancetta) and Jen ordered the lamb. The food was simply stunning. Jen declared that her lamb was the best she had ever tasted, and my Filet was one of the most tender and flavorful filets that I’ve ever tasted. It is simply amazing that a restaurant of this quality is in a tiny town like Ben Lomond.

As the wine opened, it revealed a tangy, berry flavor with a very nice mid palate expansion. The finish was medium length and it was a very enjoyable Nebbiolo. It would have been fantastic if the palate had been more complex. These days, I’m just thrilled when a red isn’t over oaked.

We were both much too full for dessert (although Jen did order some Canolli to go), so we asked if they had any Vin Santo. They did not have any but the waitress said they did offer a passito wine by the glass. She brought us the wine list again and the passito was a Sicilian white. We have only had red passitos and I didn’t even realize that white passitos existed. We both had a glass and it was excellent. The palate showed apricot with some nuttiness on the finish. The texture was light and not unctuous like we expected. It put an exclamation point on a great dinner.

We headed home the next morning and opened up a bottle of the 2004 Silver Mountain Pinot, Santa Cruz Mountains, Miller Hill Vineyard later that night. Jen had tasted this one and described it as “Burgundian” which filled me with trepidation. After a few sips, I agreed with Jen. You would never mistake this for a Burgundy, but it certainly had some of the Burgundian funkiness that I don’t like and Jen loves. The palate showed rosewater, smoke and a hint of strawberry. The palate entry was slightly fruity and then the funkiness kicked in mid palate to finish. It had good concentration with a medium length finish. Although I’m not a fan of the style, I recognize that this is a well-made wine and Jen, as a fan of the style, absolutely loved it.