Thomas Fogarty
Thomas Fogarty Winery was founded in 1978 by inventor Dr. Thomas Fogarty and winemaker Michael Martella. Sitting about 2,000 feet above sea level, the winery offers a beautiful view of Thomas Fogarty vineyard sites and the San Francisco Bay area. It is located in the Skyline Ridge area of the Santa Cruz Mountains which is quite well suited for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. However wine was not Dr. Fogarty’s first passion. In 1969 he patented a particular type of catheter that revolutionized vascular surgery. This was also the year he was introduced to wine by a colleague at Stanford University who operated a small winery. Nine years later Dr. Fogarty planted his own vines and produced the first batch of Thomas Fogarty wines. Our Thomas Fogarty reviews illustrate the dominance of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in his catalog of wines. While other grape varieties are also planted and vinified, it is these two varietals that dominate our Thomas Fogarty ratings. Our Thomas Fogarty Online Buying Guide below provides a full list of reviewed and rated Thomas Fogarty wines.
Showing 1 thru -9 of 117
Thomas Fogarty 2004 Damiana Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- $45
Absolutely delicious, first-rate Chard from this veteran producer. Shows the prettiest balance of all its parts, and just about as good as California Chard gets. Ripely opulent in tropical fruit, apricot and tangerine flavors and crisp in limey acids, the wine’s 50% new oak adds luscious notes of buttercream, toast, smoke and vanilla.
— S.H.
(10/1/2007)
Thomas Fogarty 2004 Rapley Trail Vineyard M Block Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- $45
This luscious Pinot is impressive now for the power of its black currant, cherry, raspberry, vanilla, cola and Provençal herb flavors, with their firm backbone of acidity. It’s the kind of Pinot that dazzles from the first sip to the last, as it evolves in the glass. The tannins are sweet and gentle, but supportive enough to allow this gorgeous wine to age for six…
— S.H.
(10/1/2007)
Thomas Fogarty 2007 Lexington Meritage (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- Online Exclusive
- $60
Opulent, smooth and ageable, this Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend is rich in blackberries, currants and milk chocolate, and it exudes a green olive tanginess that increases the pleasure. The tannins are thick but supple. This is a wine that pleases right away, and it changes from sip to sip as it breathes. As excellent as it is now, it will develop bottle complexity…
— S.H.
(4/1/2013)
Thomas Fogarty 2008 Rapley Trail Vineyard Block M Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- $70
A beautiful Pinot Noir that shows how well the variety does in these mountains, and it’s sad that vineyard acreage is so low due to housing development. The wine is dry, silky and vastly interesting in cherries, raspberries, Dr. Pepper cola, red licorice, white pepper and sandalwood flavors. Compelling and complex now, it should age over the next six years.
— S.H.
(6/1/2011)
Thomas Fogarty 2006 Lexington Meritage (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- $50
An extraordinary wine, Fogarty’s best Bordeaux-style wine ever. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, it shows the classic profile of a young wine capable of extended aging. The tannins still are serious at the age of nearly five years. There’s good acidity, and the core of blackberries, cherries and cassis is potent. Give it at least another…
— S.H.
(10/1/2011)
Thomas Fogarty 2004 Estate Grown Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- Editors' Choice
- $45
A low-yield (one ton to the acre) mountain wine, tremendously complex and probably ageworthy. With concentrated cherry, black raspberry, cola and mocha flavors weighted by a deeper, earthier, mushroomy note and tons of Asian spice, it’s entirely dry, with a beautiful tannin-acid balance. Drink now–2010.
— S.H.
(2/1/2007)
Thomas Fogarty 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- $55
These mountains seem to give Cab that extra nudge of ripeness and balance that makes the best of them supreme. It’s incredibly rich in black currant and sweet cassis, and the smoky edge of oak is perfect. You can hardly keep your hands off it, but try aging until its 10th birthday and beyond.
— S.H.
(10/1/2004)
Thomas Fogarty 2003 Fat Buck Ridge Vineyard Syrah (Santa Cruz Mountains)
- Cellar Selection
- $55
It’s midnight black, thoroughly dry, high in alcohol, and distinctive for the power and authority of its fruity structure. Anyone can achieve ripeness, but this wine’s dry balance really makes it special. The tannins ensure a long life. Drink now through 2015.
— S.H.
(10/1/2006)
Showing 1 thru -9 of 117
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