Tasting room located in Sunsweet development

After a nearly two-year hiatus, due in part to the pandemic, Janu Goelz has opened her new Alara Cellars tasting room in downtown Morgan Hill, in the new Sunsweet mixed use development on East Third Street. It’s a big step forward for the wine brand, formerly housed at The Stomping Ground, where she previously made and sold her wines, along with her husband Jason Goelz of Jason-Stephens.

The Alara Cellars tasting room is spacious, with soaring ceilings and dramatic concrete flooring. 

“I describe it as upscale chic,” Goelz said. 

The space is anchored by a live-edged black walnut slab bar with a dramatic black tin tile facing. 

“The tree is estimated to have been over 250 years old,” Goelz said. 

The brick walls are lit by chandeliers, and hung with original watercolors of each artfully rendered label, painted by fashion artist and designer Malene Grotrian.

There will be plenty of outdoor patio seating, and Goelz was awaiting velvet couches for her lounge area, which is set off by a gold foil wall. Alara Cellars will share the courtyard with the forthcoming MOHI Farm eatery.

Although there are no other winery tasting rooms downtown at this point, that may well change. 

“It took a lot longer than expected to get open, but it’s great,” Goelz said. “Everyone has been really welcoming and excited to have me here.”

The wines, which she describes as “rich in flavor and deep in artistic beauty,” are bold and often potent examples of the arid terroir from which they originate. Most are sourced from local San Benito and Santa Clara Valley vineyards, and made in Paso Robles at a custom crush facility. 

Each flirty fun label is unique to the wine. Asked how she conveys to Grotrian the essence of the wine, Goelz said, “I usually have an idea of what I think the dress should look like. I think about a mood or a vibe. For example, for the Barbera, I asked her to imagine someone going to a black and white ball wearing a gold jumper and a Derby hat.”

Goelz has a number of well-aged whites, including the voluptuous 2018 Viognier, while the reds from vintages 2017 and 2018 are showing nice maturity, due to their inherent structure. 

“The wines have aged nicely, given the high acid and high tannins which makes for more age-worthy wines,” she said. 

The 2018 Siletto Vineyard Pinot Noir is a wine of largesse and toasty oak notes, with distinctive dried Bing cherry, plum, chocolate and dark licorice flavors.

Must tries are the 2018 Barbera, with its soft fruity palate, the 2018 Cab Pfeffer with its peppery personality layered with green olive tapenade and powdery tannins, and the 2017 Negrette, an explosion of dark licorice, with rich cherry and pepper.

She’s about to bottle a 2018 Sangiovese, 2018 Negrette, 2018 Montepulciano and two red blends. There are also two sparkling wines in the works, a Brut Rosé and a Blanc de Blancs (classic Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), with the assistance of consulting winemaker, and bubbles expert, Christian Roguenant, who also makes wine for Lightpost Winery in Morgan Hill.

For vintage 2021, Goelz made Albarino from Mission Ranch (Arroyo Seco), a Grenache Blanc and rosé, and Barbera from Michael Michaud’s vineyard in Chalone. For vintage 2022, she said, “I will source from various growers this year, including Gimelli Vineyard in San Benito County, a couple growers out of Paso, Mission Ranch for my whites, Michal Michaud Vineyard, and Lion Oaks Ranch in Gilroy.”

Goelz said what sets her wines apart from others is the use of more new oak and those gorgeous labels, always eye-catching and evocative of what’s inside the bottle. 

“They’re so beautiful and change every vintage,” she said. “It’s a never-ending unveiling of a new piece of art.”

Alara Cellars is located at 90 E. 3rd St. Suite 70 in Morgan Hill. It is open daily from noon to 6pm. For information, visit alaracellars.com.

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