(published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on August 11, 2011)
A rose by
any other name may still be a rose. But
when it comes to grapes, nomenclature is a big deal. Just ask anyone who makes wine in the Santa
Rita Hills.
This month
marks 10 years since this special grape growing region received federal
recognition. In 2001, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agreed with area viticulturists that the land
nestled roughly between Buellton and Lompoc was unique – unique in its geology,
geography, soil and climate. And so an
official federal appellation, or AVA (which stands for American Viticultural
Area) was assigned, and the Santa Rita Hills were born.
This
weekend, a series of events known as Wine & Fire will allow the public to
join a wine-inspired celebration a decade in the making.
That’s not
to say that the region – which spans roughly 100 square miles – didn’t already
enjoy its own impressive history.
Pioneer growers were planting grapevines here in the early 1970s; men
like Pierre Lafond, who founded Lafond Vineyard, and like Richard Sanford and
Michael Benedict, whose namesake vineyard, Sanford & Benedict, would become
a veritable landmark. But it wasn’t
until a concerted effort was launched in the late 90s to acknowledge aspects of
the area that distinguished it from its neighbor wine valleys that attention en
masse descended on the Santa Rita Hills.
Until 2001,
there were only two AVAs in Santa Barbara County, the Santa Ynez Valley and
Santa Maria Valley. The two areas had
long been recognized for growing world-class wine grapes. But something special happens in the vineyard
lands west of Highway 101 and stretching around Highway 246 and Santa Rosa
Road. It’s the only stretch between
Alaska and Chile – that’s to say, in all of North and South America – where
mountain ranges run east-west, rather than north-south. What’s created by the Santa Rosa Hills and
the La Purisima Hills, which flank the Santa Rita Hills AVA’s official borders,
is a veritable funnel for ocean influences.
A maritime corridor, many growers calls it, which allows for cool air,
wind and fog to roll in with very few barriers off the Pacific Ocean. This unique climate – which generally allows
grapes to hang longer on the vine and to develop key factors like flavor,
concentration and acidity – combines with special soils and a varied sloping
landscape to create a one-of-a-kind growing region in California.
The credit
for much of the grunt work that led to AVA approval – research, data collection
and submission – goes to Wes Hagen, vineyard manager and winemaker at Clos Pepe
Vineyard, located off E. Highway 246.
The vineyard’s founder, Steve Pepe, recalls that when he and wife Kathy
left Long Beach and began planting grapes on their new estate in 1996, “there
were only six other vineyards here and just three wineries.” Led by the insight of acclaimed viticulture
consultant Jeff Newton, they limited their plantings to the Burgundian
darlings, pinot noir and chardonnay.
“You can gain a degree of heat for every mile you drive east from
Lompoc,” Pepe says. “If Lompoc is like
Champagne (in France), then where we are, it’s Burgundy.”
In fact, the
Santa Rita Hills have gained fame, especially in the last decade, as a tour de
force region for pinot and chardonnay, specifically. Other grapes are grown nearby, including
syrah, pinot gris and riesling. But of
the roughly 3000 acres planted to wine grapes, some 2,000 belong to pinot noir
alone, and just under 500 to chardonnay.
“That still means that only 10% (of the region) is planted,” says Hagen.
It should be
noted that the zone’s official name was shortened in early 2006 to Sta. Rita
Hills -- that’s the appellation that
appears on all bottles produced here since -- because of a legal challenge by a
Chilean Winery that had long been using the Santa Rita name.
For the
consumer, a more specific AVA on the label means more accurate information and
the ability to “better distinguish between growing regions,” says winemaker
Brian Loring, who partners with his sister Kimberly to produce 14
vineyard-specific wines, mostly pinots, from throughout California under the
Loring Wine Company label. “People
forget that California is huge, so knowing specifically where grapes came from
can give you a good idea of style,” he says.
“A pinot from the Russian River Valley is going to be lighter, while a
pinot from Santa Lucia is going to have more mid-palate weight. In the Santa Rita Hills, we’re at a lower
latitude, so we have more daylight hours and fruit can really ripen,” he
continues. “So a pinot from here will
tend to be bigger, beefier.”
Loring makes
three Santa Rita Hills pinot noirs, but admits each is distinct. He’s been sourcing pinot noir from Clos Pepe
since the first year the vineyard produced fruit, in 2000, and “I love the
spice and structure my wines get from those grapes,” he says. He also makes pinot with grapes from the
Cargasacchi Vineyard – “A big, burly but pretty wine,” he calls it – and from
Rancho La Vina. “That one’s a monster,”
he declares. “A lot of depth and the
darkest juice you’re ever going to see.”
As head
winemaker for Foley Winery since September of last year, Leslie Mead Renaud
agrees that vineyard diversity, even within the comparatively small Santa Rita
Hills region, is key to the merits of individual wines. She oversees the production of four pinot
noirs and four chardonnays whose fruit are sourced from specific blocks on the
company’s two proprietary vineyards, Rancho Santa Rosa and Rancho Las
Hermanas. “They’re only two-and-a-half
miles apart, but the weather conditions at each are vastly different,” she
says. Rancho Las Hermanas is further
west, closer to the sea, and so generally cooler. “The grapes have higher acids and the pinot
tends to be more feminine, not as big.”
Renaud spent
many harvests in northern California before her move to the Central Coast last
year, and she admits there’s still a growing industry buzz about the Santa Rita
Hills. “I credit very careful attention
during planting, like choosing the right root stocks,” she says. That type of know-how, combined with access to
modern-day equipment and techniques, is a cornerstone advantage of any young
AVA like Sta. Rita Hills.
Today, the
area is defined by “a great attitude, “ Renaud continues. “People are working together toward a common
goal – promoting the region – so we all have a vested interest in helping our
neighbor to what they do well.”
To celebrate
the 10th anniversary of the coveted Sta. Rita Hills AVA, the Santa
Rita Winegrowers Alliance is putting extra weight behind promoting its annual
Wine & Fire event, which takes place this weekend. Among myriad events, Clos Pepe Vineyard will
host an intimate dinner Friday night featuring more than a dozen Clos Pepe and
Loring Wine Company wines that span the decade, as well as six courses of
gourmet food designed by popular New West Catering. On Saturday morning, a seminar at Alma Rosa’s
El Jabali Vineyard will feature local winemakers who’ve won accolades for the
wines they’ve made using Santa Rita Hills fruit, including Richard Sanford,
Bruno D’Alfonso and Kathy Joseph; they’ll discuss the region’s past, present
and future. That afternoon, Foley Estate
will host its annual Pinot Noir Release Party, with barrel samples and bocce
tournaments. Saturday evening, the
historic La Purisima Mission in Lompoc will provide a magical setting for a
grand tasting of the area’s premier wines, featuring labels like Demetria,
Gypsy Canyon, Sweeney Canyon, Longoria and Hitching Post. And on Sunday, various wineries will host open
house events, including a barrel tasting brunch at Clos Pepe, a meet-and-greet
with the winemakers at the D’Alfonso-Curran winery on Santa Rosa Road and the
first-ever tasting of library wines at Alma Rosa Winery.
For more
information on all of this weekend’s events and multi-day passport options,
check out www.staritahills.com.
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