Silicon Valley Wine Auction
EXPERIENCE | VISIT SCVWA invites guests to taste and talk with hundreds of the Santa Cruz Mountains' top winemakers and growers. Ticket sales benefit Silicon Valley Education Foundation, promoting exc...
Local Vintners & Wineries
Meet the Vintner: Scott Sisemore of Waxwing Wines
Named for the cedar waxwing, a striking North American songbird with red waxy wingtip markings, Waxwing Wines took flight in 2007 in San Carlos. Winemaker Scott Sisemore studied microbiology, but had no clear career path. Instead, this avid skier spent days on Lake Tahoe’s slopes and nights waiting tables. That’s when the wine bug bit. Now he’s spreading his wings, making Santa Cruz Mountains wines at Waxwing.
Ahead of this year’s Silicon Valley Wine Auction, Edible Silicon Valley sought out participating vintners to learn about them, their wines and their involvement in the auction. We talked to Sisemore as he readied his auction offerings.
ESV: What was your journey to becoming a winemaker?
SS: I was bellhopping at a Squaw Valley hotel, where winemakers such as Robert Mondavi’s son Tim and Bill Crawford from Mendocino County came in. I asked them how to get into the wine industry. I kept hearing “You’ve got to go work a harvest,” so I met Bill Crawford at his ranch in fall 1993. He set me up with a harvest job. I thought I would go down for harvest then come back to Tahoe to ski. But after harvest they said, “Do you want to stay on? You could work in the lab—you have a microbiology degree, right?” I said “I’ll give that a try.” I worked there seven years.
ESV: We hear you made wine in India. What was that like?
SS: I was working at a Mendocino and Sonoma custom crush facility. My boss, an international consultant, sent me to India to help with a second vintage—getting grapes picked, fermentations going and bottling. It was a fantastic experience to see a winery start up from scratch, figure out wine pricing in the Indian market, what varieties to make. The pace was much different than California’s go-go-go. They take tea breaks, half hour, 45 minutes, an hour, and nice long lunch breaks. There was not much of a wine culture at that time, in 2000. The cocktail culture was drink a cocktail before dinner, and then no alcohol with dinner. Getting Indians to drink with the meal was new culturally.
ESV: Why open Waxwing Wines in Belmont?
A: My wife and I were living in Novato, and after our first son was born we wanted one of us to stay home. Compared to the wine industry her biotech job won out, so we moved to Belmont in 2006. My son was an amazing napper, three hours a day, so I had time on my hands. Domenico Winery in San Carlos offered alternating proprietorships, allowing small wineries to use their winemaking equipment for a fee. In 2007 I made the first Waxwing wine there, 50 cases of Russian River Pinot Noir. I realized I needed to get some Santa Cruz Mountains fruit. Vineyard consultant Prudy Foxx was taking on new clients to buy fruit in 2012, when yields were high and growers had extra fruit. I had called her just about Lester Family Pinot, but found out they had some Syrah too. Now I get Lester Pinot and Syrah. I moved into my own Belmont winemaking facility in May 2014.
ESV: What do you like about Lester Family Vineyards fruit?
SS: Lester is a cool site with morning fog during the growing season, then it burns off and gets a little warmer. You get long hang times and moderate brix (sugar) levels for ripe fruit, savoriness, weight, body and interesting aromatics such as sandalwood, iodine in Pinot Noir. The Syrah is beautiful, not overripe, beautifully balanced and super peppery, with white and black pepper and jalapeño.
ESV: Where do we find you when you are not making wine?
SS: I love mountain biking, I play ultimate frisbee sports with friends and love to ski. One of my favorite things I do this time of year is manage one of my son’s Little League baseball team. I was a baseball player in high school, and this is a great way to spend time with family.
ESV: What are you pouring during the Grand Tasting?
SS: All of the Santa Cruz Mountains wines I make.
For the 2017 Lester Family Vineyard Pinot Noir, 100% of the fruit was destemmed, then aged in once-used French oak barrels for 10 months. Clones are 115, 667 and Mount Eden. The wine is dark for Pinot with lovely, savory aromatics.
The 2017 Deerheart Vineyard Pinot Noir is from a new-to-the-scene vineyard located halfway between La Honda and San Gregorio Beach. It is riper, dark colored, richly fragrant, dense and complex on the palate, retaining a cutting edge of profound acidity. (This is the Waxwing auction lot.)
The 2016 Lester Family Vineyard Syrah has 100% foot-stomped whole-cluster fruit. The Hermitage clone wine was aged in once-used French oak barrels for 14 months. This bold, flavorful wine goes great with BBQ ribs, burgers, steak, sausage or salmon off the grill.
Scott will be pouring Waxwing Wines at the Silicon Valley Wine Auction’s Grand Tasting event on May 19th at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga.
Over 40 award-winning wineries in conjunction with the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association are participating in this food and wine tasting event and auction. Taste over 150 different wines or bid on over 200 lots of wine, with proceeds to benefit the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Education Foundation.
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