Mystic Hills Vineyard’s Cinematic Heritage

All wineries have a personality. You might call some staid, edifices, premium, snooty, homespun or energetic. Mystic Hills Vineyard personality is the former: lots of energy. Co-owner Judy Cox is the emotional soul and advocate of her wine and you feel it while leading small group tastings at her home.

Her partner, Joel Cox, is an Oscar-winning film editor. Together, with their winemaker, they create savory Bordeaux style wines in the foothills of Southern Monterey County. Just north of Paso Robles they are located off Ranchita Canyon Road in the Pleasant Valley Appelation.

Blending wine as they do is a challenging art because the wine you mix is not the final product. Aging in oak barrels and bottles matures and changes wine. The input can often be distinctly different than the output.

We participated in a winery blending party and the individual wines were certainly not ready for prime time. But after blending a little this and a little of that into a 750 ml container, the wine takes on its own personality.

Since Joel is the primary film editor for Clint Eastwood ( his Oscar win was for the movie Unforgiven) their wines tout names from movies.

What did we taste? Here goes:

2021 Requies Sauvignon Blanc $27 ✰+

2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (a blend of five Cabernet clones) $43 ✰+

2018 Gran Trio (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot) $47 ✰+

2018 Unforgiven (a blend of Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot & Malbec) $55 ✰+

The tasting was focused on a small number of Bordeaux style wines during a glorious Fall afternoon. We sat in the sunshine of their hilltop home overlooking Ranchita Canyon. A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and Gran Trio found their way home with us. All these prices are retail and club members receive a 20% discount as is typical of most wineries. Tastings are by appointment at 805-610-1099.

Joel and Judy are very proud of his Oscar win so while visiting make sure to inquire about it. Ask to see his Oscar display. Judy also enjoys creating imagery, so ask to see some of her still photography.

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Bill & Erin Hodge write about California Wine, the estates & winemakers producing them and educational information about Vino. Living in California Wine Country provides a front row seat to the places you want to visit the most here in the Golden State.

– -✰  means -What’s next on your list of wines
-✰  means -Not liking it too much
✰ means  -We’ll drink this wine, especially if it’s hosted!
✰+ means -You’ve got our attention and we might buy this wine.
✰+ + means -We’re hooked and we’re going to buy this wine.
When you see -✰/✰+  with a slash, it means we disagree.