The Wine
Kevin's Derive (say de-reeve - a French term for a spontaneous journey guided by the terrain and landscape) is a lighter style wine from the New World, an homage to its Old World origins. The wine is vibrant and expressive, with floral notes and a freshness I no longer taste in our increasingly hot-climate red blends. This blend is 51% Cabernet Franc (Santa Ynez), 27% Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) and 22% Petit Verdot (Santa Ynez), aged in 50% new French oak for 20 months, bottled without fining or filtration.
90 cases produced. "93 Points" from A. Galloni, Vinous and Jeb Dunnuck.
This wine delivers great pleasure / $ right now, and will continue to improve in the bottle through 2026+.
Food Pairings
Pair with everything from the cheese course to a main course featuring pork, roast fowl or beef (the classic pairing would be a grilled steak!) Vegetarians/Vegans will enjoy this wine with deep-flavored dishes such as faro, soy-based sauces, dried tomatoes and mushrooms.
The Winery
Côtière (French for "Coastal", say koh-tee-yay) is a low-production, one-man winery that is the realization of owner Kevin Law's dream that began with his college wine epiphany. He produces microscopic amounts of wine from about two dozen prestige vineyards in Arroyo Grande, Santa Maria and other parts of Santa Barbara County with a total annual production of about 2,000 cases.
Côtière established their bona fides in 2006 by producing enviable pinots and chards right out of the gate. They contract for specific rows of vines from famed vineyards (including Talley Rincon, Presqu’ile, Hilliard Bruce, La Encantada, Murmur Vineyard, La Rinconada and Sanford and Benedict!)
Kevin's Bordeaux varietal program started in 2008 with his first use of Napa Valley fruit - California's top region for Cabernet - their Cabernet Sauvignon is from the Lewelling Ranch Vineyard in Saint Helena, and their Merlot is from Mckenzie Mueller Vineyard in Los Carneros. But they expanded their sourcing after tasting Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot from the very cool Santa Ynez Valley - both of which do well in the warmer, Eastern regions of Santa Barbara County, often seen as too cool (as in temperature, not degree of hipness) for Bordeaux varietals to fully ripen. The final blend is 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, and to finish it off - 10% Petit Verdot.
The fruit from these disparate vineyards work incredibly well together in this blend, a unique introduction to a wine that blends four Bordeaux varietals, from four different vineyards located in three of California's top growing regions!
