The Cambria Winery was next up the road.  We discovered their “Julia’s Vineyard” pinot noir on a trip to Maui a few years back.  Looking at the price today, we’d guess a lot of the rest of the world has discovered it since then.  The 2006 vintage ($20) lives up to the reputation, with an earthy nose and spicy palate.  Cambria makes over 10,000 cases of this pinot and over 100,000 cases of "Katherine's" chardonnay.  Yes, Julia and Katherine are the owner-winemaker's daughters of course.

But the real surprise of the visit (for us, anyway) were the lower case volume boutique wines, like the 2006 Bench Break pinot noir ($30).  Notes of ripe cherry on the nose followed by red fruit and spice on the palate.  A soft, creamy mouth feel complements the excellent flavors.  We usually find we like the lower-priced version of most wines.  Not this time.

Cambria actually makes single clone pinot noirs as well.  According to the folks in the tasting room there are 140 different clones carefully cataloged by U.C. Davis.  Cambria, like Parker and Volk all located in this extremely low rainfall area, has wisely decided not to try producing the entire catalog.  The clones they do produce are 115, 23, 2A, 4, and 667.  We had the chance to taste the 2006 2A clone side by side with the 2006 667.  These are about as different as can be imagined.  Clone 2A ($48) has earthy, leathery aromas with a spicy flavor.  Clone 667 ($48) is all smoke and cedar on the nose with flavors of mineral and dark berries.  The web site describes clone 667 as “dramatic, perfumed, lavish and silky.”  Hard to disagree with that.

Luckily for chardonnay lovers, there is a second daughter.  The 2007 Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay ($18) is all oak and butter. As with the pinot noirs, we much preferred the step up to the  2006 Bench Break chardonnay ($25).  More butter, noticeably less oak and a touch of citrus make this wine very quaffable.