Archive for the 'Articles on Wine and Vineyards' Category

From the ‘A Long Pour’ Blog by Wayne Kelterer “Lafond Vineyard – Pioneers and Pinot Noir”

Published on May 25, 2010 in Articles on Wine and Vineyards. 0 Comments

New Santa Barbara Winery post at A Long Pour blogsite – “Lafond Vineyard – Pioneers and Pinot Noir“

…Wine is a large part of that way of life. With the Santa Ynez Valley only a half-hour drive from downtown, it is no wonder that many Santa Barbarians are well versed in the local wines. However, no winery has remained more at the heart of Santa Barbara’s wine culture than the one that bears its name: Santa Barbara Winery. I previously wrote about the winery in February, “The Fight for A Name.” The article focused almost exclusively on Santa Barbara Winery’s fight against The Foster’s Group’s use of the name The Santa Barbara Wine Company. Read about the controversy here.

If you can look past the controversy and legal battles, the winery has a unique story. I sat down with winemaker Bruce McGuire who manages the wine program for both Santa Barbara Winery and Lafond Vineyard, both owned by Pierre Lafond.  Bruce has been with Pierre for nearly thirty years. We sat at a long table just outside their tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara. The region is known as The Urban Wine Trail and has seen the addition of many wineries in the blocks nearby over the past few years. Santa Barbara Winery is the “OG” of the group, calling the commercial neighborhood a few blocks from the beach “home” since 1964.

How did you become involved with wine?
“I met the right person at the right time. I came out to California to go to UC Davis Grad School. I went to the University of New Hampshire and had an entomology degree, and I was looking for agricultural systems that would be interesting. Growing grapes is probably the most sophisticated thing you can do. There are very few crops that are vintage dated…I guess the other influence I had was, I got my parents to give me a home wine making kit in the 10th grade.”

So it was a long term interest for you?
“Well I had an uncle that was a really good home winemaker. It was interesting science.”

Are you interested then in wine from a scientific standpoint, from the chemistry?
“Well for sure from an agricultural standpoint.”

Do you like working with Grenache?
“Quite a bit.”

Do you think it is going to become a more recognizable varietal?
“I don’t think it is going to be overdone like Syrah has been overdone. I think when people start to realize that a lot of Chateauneuf-du-Pape is primarily Grenache based, that kind of gives it a positive reference point. Growing up…my mother had Almaden Grenache Blanc in one of those jugs in the refrigerator. After trying other Rosé, Grenache Blanc was one of the better ones out there. But that was in High School.”

Do you have a favorite aspect of wine making?
“I tell you, it’s not bottling. I have to say, in those ten days or week before the grapes are ripe and you are starting to spend a lot of focus time in the vineyard trying to figure out how a field should be picked. That decision is probably the most important one you make, when do you pick?”

How does Sta. Rita Hills stack up to other Pinot regions?
“I think it blows Carneros away. The western Russian River and the Anderson Valley are both top notch. They are both different expressions. Santa Lucia Highlands is maybe more similar in some ways as far as the color and weight of the wines. Burgundy? Well, they have been going at it how long?”…

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The South-Facing Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara

Published on March 25, 2010 in Articles on Wine and Vineyards and Joanie Hudson. 0 Comments

“When you stand on the beach in Santa Barbara and gaze at the Pacific Ocean, you are facing south.”

This is just one of many unique characteristics of Santa Barbara’s physical geography on the edge of California’s coast.  Check out this article from the Washington Post for a little bit more information and tid bits on our estate AVA, the Sta. Rita Hills:

Talk to any Santa Barbara County winemaker, and before long he or she will probably remind you that when you stand on the beach at Santa Barbara and gaze at the Pacific Ocean, you are facing south. And that the Santa Ynez Mountains behind you run west to east, unlike most of California’s coastal ranges and river valleys, which are oriented north to south, parallel to the coast. A few miles west of Santa Barbara, where the coast makes a northerly right turn at a promontory that locals fondly call “Reagan’s Nose,” the mountains funnel the cool ocean air and fog inland through the Santa Ynez Valley, moderating the Southern California temperatures and creating ideal conditions for grapes to ripen.

The next thing your winemaker friend might tell you is that as you head east from the town of Lompoc, near the ocean, through Buellton, Solvang and Los Olivos (made famous in the 2004 film “Sideways”), the average temperature rises one degree per mile. That’s a dramatic change in the world of wine grapes, and it influences a grower’s decision about which grape varieties to plant. Pinot noir and chardonnay thrive at the western, cooler end of the Santa Ynez Valley, a region known as the Santa Rita Hills, while the warmer areas to the west are hospitable to Rhone varieties such as grenache and syrah. The county’s other major wine area, the Santa Maria Valley to the north, also benefits from ocean influences guided inland by the San Rafael Mountains.

This unique microclimate gives winemakers exceptional fruit to play with, and the best are producing wines of great intensity and focus. During a recent visit to Santa Barbara County, I was particularly impressed with wines from the Santa Rita Hills, a place that received federal recognition as an American Viticultural Area in 2001. (The appellation is spelled Sta. Rita Hills on wine labels, a compromise reached with the Santa Rita wine empire of Chile.)

The SRH, as winemakers also call it, stretches west to east between Lompoc and Buellton. Its northern border follows State Route 246; at the southern end is the Santa Rosa Road, twisting among the canyons of the Santa Ynez Mountains, where it is not uncommon to drive around an outcropping of rock and brush and be confronted with acres of stunning hillside vineyards…

Click here for the rest of the article…

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

Quake Damages Chile’s Wine Business

Published on March 8, 2010 in Articles on Wine and Vineyards. 0 Comments

Waking up to headlines about earthquakes in the far reaches of the globe (Haiti, Chile, and now Turkey) seems to be becoming an frightening trend.  Seeing the numerical quake magnitude is a far reach from registering what those who are experiencing the disaster are going through.  They seem so far away, yet they could happen right here in California, and will.

I came across this article in USA Today on how Chile’s most recent earthquake has affected its wine industry (Southern Hemisphere wineries harvest on opposite sides of the calendar as the Northern Hemisphere because of the polar seasons).

SANTA CRUZ, Chile — Samuel Castro, a security guard at Bisquertt Winery’s 1,400-acre vineyard here in the Colchagua Valley, arrived at his job at 7 a.m. last Saturday and couldn’t believe what he saw.

“The road was turned into a red torrent; the wine was streaming down the irrigation ditch,” he remembered.

Five days after the massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake that hit Chile, the more than 300-foot-long dirt road that leads to Bisquertt’s main cellar was still soaked, had a dark-purple color and emanated a smell of putrid wine.

Several storage tanks cracked, dozens of barrels burst and hundreds of bottles shattered, releasing about 20,000 liters of red wine, said Jaime Araya, a manager at Bisquertt.

Similar devastations struck most of the wineries in this valley and many more along the central-south region of Chile, which is home to 70% of the wine production in this country and which the quake hit hardest…

To read the rest of the article, Quake Puts Dent in Chile’s Wine Business, click here.

Joanie Hudson, Director of National and International Marketing, Santa Barbara Winery / Lafond Winery & Vineyards

California Travel – Happy Canyon

Published on November 12, 2009 in Articles on Wine and Vineyards and Joanie Hudson. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Santa Barbara County’s newest AVA, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, has long been a source of high quality fruit for us here at Santa Barbara Winery.  Check out this fun article (‘Near Santa Barbara, California’s New Wine Country’) on our newest wine country destination.

From California Travel Girl website

I know why it’s called Happy Canyon. It’s because this little corner of Santa Barbara wine country, in the east end of the Santa Ynez Valley, has just become California’s newest AVA (American Viticultural Area). On the Los Padres side of Highway 154, this broad, sunny cleft is home to horse ranches and hillside vineyards.

To become an AVA, a wine region has to be significantly different from other winegrape growing areas, and Happy Canyon qualifies: hotter temps, less fog, and a mineral terroir (serpentine soil lace with high magnesium content) make it distinctive. It’s also pretty small, with just six major vineyards and two active wineries (a third is due next year), but note: none offer public tasting.

Still, you can make your own tasting tour of their wines (mostly Bordeaux-styles), by visiting winetasting rooms like those listed below. Or visit the better known area Santa Barbara wine regions. And don’t miss Santa Barbara’s downtown Urban Wine Trail, with stops at eleven wine hotspots. Happy now?