You can discover some real gems when you go wine tasting in Los Olivos, which is where I first tried this 2020 Solminer Skin Fermented Gruner Veltliner. In California, Solminer wines are pretty famous, take a look at what makes this natural orange so special.
This 2020 Solminer Skin Fermented Gruner Veltliner was just one of the wines I tried when I visited Santa Barbara wine country last summer. And, I have to say, I didn’t just fall in love with this wine when I visited their Los Olivos wine tasting room, I fell in love with all of them! From the Solminer Carbonic Syrah to the Linus Rosé.
Solminer wine fangirl for life over here!
I plan on writing a broader post about where to go wine tasting in Los Olivos, so I’m just going to touch on that a bit here, but if you go, which you should, Solminer’s tasting room is a must.
And now for the review!
About Solminer Wine Company
Solminer wine is an organic, natural, biodynamic wine company located in the San Ynez Valley, and it’s something of a passion project for the husband and wife team of Anna and David Delaski.
The team at Solminer goes to great lengths to teach the consumer about the connectivity of ecosystems, about how the health of a vineyard goes beyond the vines, and how the land must be nourished in its entirety, rather than taking a piecemeal, disconnected approach. In fact, Anna and David view themselves as farmers, as stewards of the land first, rather than winemakers.
This ethos even extends to the name, Solminer, which literally means ‘mining the sun’.
Solminer orange wine
Orange wine is popular at Solminer. In fact, the Solminer orange wine collection is quite robust. If you’re looking for an approachable entry point to learning more about orange wine, by tasting orange wine, of course, these wines are moderately priced, and funky, but an easy-drinking, crisp kind of funky.
Actually, now that I think about it, tasting the Solminer orange wines at the Los Olivos tasting room was only the second time I’d tried a skin-contact wine. How’s that for an approachable wine!
Solminer currently makes four orange wines:
- 2021 Skin-fermented Gruner Veltliner
- 2021 Skin-fermented Field Blend of 43% Riesling, 25% Grüner Vetliner, 32% Muscat
- 2021 Sunhoney, an orange blend of 55% Grüner Veltliner, 35% Riesling, 19% Viognier
- 2021 Fata Morgana Pet-nat of 50% Grüner Veltliner, 50% Riesling
2020 Solminer Skin Fermented Gruner Veltliner Tasting Notes
The first aroma, and the first taste, that popped into my head when I tried this wine was lemon bars. The slightly sweet zest of Meyer lemons is immediate and refreshing, and almost a little nostalgic. My second thought was that this wine tastes like summer by the sea. It’s a little briney, has some saline elements, and there’s also a touch of “funk”.
A more apt metaphor for the Solminer Skin Fermented Gruner is that it tastes like summer by the sea, with the radio tuned to a Wailers’ station.
In the glass, this natural California orange wine is an amber-yellow, and the body is medium. At a sedate 11.4% ABV, it’s one of those wines you can easily sip all summer and not worry about the dreaded next day hangover!
The deLanda Vineyard
deLanda, the Solminer vineyard where the Gruner Veltliner grapes were sourced, is located in the Santa Ynez Valley, and sounds like one incredibly cool vineyard. Not only is it certified CCOF Organic, it’s also certified Biodynamic. To keep the vineyard humming – literally – bees are a big part of the healthy plant growth and pollination process, Solminer works with chickens, donkeys, sheep, and the aforementioned bees. Fruit trees and native plants add biodiversity, and biodynamic composts are mixed in with the soil.
A fun fact: the donkeys, sheep, and chickens contribute to that compost!
When David and Anna purchased the vineyard, it was originally planted to Syrah. The Gruner Veltliner, and some Blaufrankisch and Muscat, were grafted later. And, according to the Solminer website, they also just planted Riesling. (Can’t wait to try that one!).
Los Olivos Wine District
The Los Olivos Wine District is a newer sub-appellation of the San Ynez Valley AVA. The area around Los Olivos is absolutely beautiful. Spanish-style ranch houses, horse pastures and, of course vineyards abound.
Wine tasting in downtown Los Olivos is a treat too. Grand Ave, the main drag, is dotted with charming tasting rooms that offer indoor and outdoor pours. When I visited the Solminer tasting room, the weather was sunny and a tad humid – perfect for enjoying chilled biodynamic wines under the massive tree that shades their tasting lawn.
The options for natural wine tasting in Los Olivos are few. If trying out high-quality natural California wine is on your to-do list when you visit Santa Barbara wine country, then Solminer Wine Company should be your first stop.
Solminer Wine Tasting Room Experience
The Solminer wine tasting room in downtown Los Olivos was the last tasting I did on this trip.
If you’ve ever gone wine tasting, you know that when you hit the last one, depending on how much fun you’ve had prior to that, the wines – and the experience – can all kind of merge together. Not so at the Solminer Los Olivos tasting room.
The staff were friendly, incredibly knowledgeable, and it was, overall, just really quaint and relaxing.
You can book a Solminer wine tasting via Tock, by clicking here .
California Gruner Veltliner: A few nerdy statistics
For all of the wine nerds out there (myself included), here are a few interesting statistics about California Gruner Veltliner from the 2021 California Grape Crush report:
- In 2021, 837.1 tons of Gruner Veltliner were crushed in California, compared to 487.5 in 2020
- In 2021, 713.1 tons of Gruner Veltliner were purchased in California, compared to 303.2
And, according to the 2020 California Grape Acreage Report, the state had just 152 bearing acres of Gruner Veltliner.
To put these numbers into context, the stats for California’s most popular grape, Chardonnay are:
- In 2021, 616,536 tons of Chardonnay were crushed, compared to 539,483.2 tons in 2020.
- In 2021 447,960.7 tons of Chardonnay were purchased, compared to 388,212.9 tons in 2020.
- There were 87,106 bearing acres of Chardonnay grapes in California.
It’s always interesting to see where some of the less commercialized grapes, i.e. the ones I typically drink, stand compared to the big guys!