Image rights owned by Center of Effort Winery

Out in the land of the Central Coast is a winery few have heard of. Small in the grand scheme of things, they have a couple of great winemakers at the helm, charting a path for the Center of Effort wines of today and tomorrow. Funded by a couple of well known (and well funded) Cal Poly SLO alumni, this winery has the good fortune of working with great fruit, and the wines are cared for by Nathan* and Mike, both known to produce some great vintages prior to this project.

The scoop: To me, the main standout for these wines (see Deviant Guide criteria here) is their label. They’ve screen printed the label onto some very pretty glass, and it’s a bottle that could easily be spotted, thanks to the unique logo approach taken by the owners of Center of Effort. It’s not hard to recognize the C surrounding the O engulfing the E (that spells COE, folks), nor is it hard to recognize the effort placed into these wines. You’ll see below that overall, they are worth getting your hands on them. And take note, they have a “second” tier to Center of Effort, simply and lovingly called Effort.

You’ll also see a couple of aromatic descriptors that maybe you don’t see as often when tasting Burgundian style wines: blood orange on a Pinot Noir is not what I expect…but there it was, and it was lovely.

The score: I’d put all of these wines somewhere between a 3+ and 4 out of 5. Across the board for this winery are well structured wines. If I had been smart, maybe I would have gotten a couple of bottles to lay down and see what they were like in 5+ years.

The nerdy notes:

2008 Effort Edna Valley Pinot Noir
n: Rose petal, black tea, tobacco leaf, slight cedar note
t: little spice & ripe citrus, Pomegranate

2009 Center of Effort Edna Valley Pinot Noir
n: perfume, light baby powder, deep red fruit
t: moderate spice, black tea, lovely once open, blood orange

2008 Effort Chardonnay
n: gala apples, slight note of yeast, malolactic note, bananas foster
t: fruit cup, tropical notes, slight but faint hotness

2009 Effort Chardonnay
n: pine, lemon ( bright) & slight butterscotch
t: bright citrus, not much else. would you believe me if I said I think this wine is too young? or maybe I’m just too impatient.

2008 Center of Effort Chardonnay
n: lemon drop candy (powder), tart,
t: nice mouthfeel, mild citrus (grapefruit), mild malolactic feel, easy drinker & a lovely glass to drink

2009 Center of Effort Chardonnay
n: nice acidity & brightness, slight malolactic characteristic
t: smooth yet slight cirtus, tart

*In the interest of full disclosure, I happen to be friends with Nathan and his girlfriend, Kristin, and have known them from working and living down in SLO for many years. That being said, if I didn’t like the wines, I wouldn’t have posted them, and you’ll see that although I enjoy them, I’m not afraid to mark down all my notes above.