The Bet on Rhone that Paid Off: Epiphany Cellars Turns 20

When Eli Parker launched his pet project, Epiphany Cellars, 20 years ago, his dad had doubts.

“He was not thrilled with what he perceived to be a distraction at the time,” says the vintner, referencing Fess Parker, the Disney icon who launched his eponymous wine brand in 1989. Ten years in, the label, anchored on a sweeping 700-acre ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley that remains the family homestead today, had already won fame for a diverse portfolio of wines. A new label might dilute its visibility in the marketplace.

The new venture was timed right, though, thanks to several factors that had come into play in the 1990s; indeed, the family’s beloved patriarch would soon have a change of heart. Syrah, the flagship grape of the Rhone grape varieties – as in, originating in the Rhone region of France – saw a surge in popularity during the final decade of the 20^th century. It meant, on the one hand, that the marketplace became flooded with cheap renditions of syrah. “Consumers embraced it at the $10-to-$12 price point but then couldn’t understand the other, more expensive end of the spectrum,” recalls Mr. Parker.

But the younger Parker’s own travels in the 90s to places like France, where Rhone wine production was well established, and Australia, where wines like syrah were getting a fresh new spin, solidified his love for all things Rhone.  “The more I drank those wines, the more I loved those wines,” he says, and he quickly came to the realization that “the Rhone set is really what I had a passion for.”
 

Eli Parker

At this time – the clock was quickly ticking toward a new millennium – the Fess Parker label was fine-tuning its own focus in earnest, thanks to new leadership from Tim Snider, an E & J Gallo alum who joined the family business in 1999 (and who’d soon become Eli’s brother-in-law). The brand’s hard pivot toward pinot noir and chardonnay cleared the way for Eli to focus on Rhone varieties in earnest: syrah, for sure, plus lesser-known red grapes like grenache and mourvedre, and whites like viognier, roussanne and grenache blanc. The first releases of wine under the Epiphany Cellars label were small lot experiments that Eli conducted with then-winemaker Brett Escalera (who’s with the Sanger Family of Wines in Solvang now), including the syrah-grenache amalgam known as Revelation ($49), which remains a flagship Epiphany blend to this day.

Twenty years later, Epiphany Cellars is one of the best vintage-by-vintage snapshots in all of Santa Barbara County, and in all of California, of the potential of Rhone grapes. The label produces various vineyard-specific syrahs, bottles rare finds like the red grape counoise on their own and produces phenomenal blends, including one of my favorites, Gypsy ($29). Grapes are sourced locally, including Rodney’s Vineyard on the family ranch for some of the best bottlings, and as far away as Napa. With Eli taking a more supervisorial role, the label is in the hands of winemaker phenom Blair Fox.

“He’s a Rhone fanatic, too, and we have similar palates,” says Mr. Parker. “If I had to hand over the program to anyone, Blair was a no brainer. His whole team is amazing.”

The Epiphany tasting room in downtown Los Olivos

Indeed, Mr. Blair and his crew handle winemaking for the Parker family’s entire production of more than 70,000 cases a year, including the Fess Parker label, the Fesstivity group of sparklers and the Addendum line of high-end Napa cabernet. The Epiphany lineup is available for tasting daily at its sleek, breezy tasting room along Grand Avenue in Los Olivos.

Epiphany’s 20^th birthday will be celebrated February 29th from 6-9pm during a special event inside the Fess Parker Winery barrel room. Open That Bottle Night, an annual commemorative day launched by Wall Street Journal wine writers Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, encourages wine fans to – finally – open and enjoy that special bottle that’s long been sitting in their wine racks, awaiting a special occasion. At the Parker family’s event, library wines, including bottlings from throughout Epiphany’s 20-year history, will be poured, and guests are encouraged to bring their own special wine to share. The event is limited to 80 people, so get your tickets at epiphanywineco.com. I’ll see you there!

Cheers!

###

More Than Just Food: Santa Ynez Valley Restaurant Weeks Target Wine Lovers, Too

Have you seen all the promos for Restaurant Week? It’s a national phenomenon throughout the winter season, actually: destinations leveraging the appeal of their top chefs (and the allure of value) to entice consumers and beef up foot traffic during a historically slow travel time of the year. Santa Barbara’s Restaurant Week returns February 21 through March 6 and will feature prix-fixe menus at top-tier eateries all around town; in Montecito, they’ll include Lucky’s and the Biltmore’s Bella Vista.

The $20.20 3-course menu at Solvang's First & Oak includes
a chocolate mousse dessert w/dulce de leche &crisp honeycomb
(credit: Tenley Fohl Photography)

The one I’m really excited about is the one happening throughout the Santa Ynez Valley right now. It’s Restaurant Weeks, actually – plural – since its run from this past Sunday through January 31^st will have offered hungry travelers almost two full weeks of tasty savings. The promotion screams “staycation,” by the way, with several hotels offering discounts and free upgrades during the Weeks’ run.

Santa Ynez Valley Restaurant Weeks launched in 2010 and has successfully spotlighted the remarkable dining that the zone’s six towns – Buellton, Solvang, Ballard, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and Los Alamos – have to offer. To be sure, though, it’s a dining scene that’s an offshoot of the viticulture that’s been flourishing there for decades.

“We’ve had incredible wine crafted in the Santa Ynez Valley for over 50 years, but our burgeoning culinary scene is relatively new,” says Shelby Sim, President and CEO of Visit the Santa Ynez Valley. “Restaurant Weeks is a great time to sample all that we have to offer at an unbeatable price: at $20.20 for a three-course meal, you can visit several restaurants over the two weeks without breaking the bank!”

The $20.20 3-course menu at Los Alamos' Cisko Kid includes
a Smoked Lamb Pozole Verde w/Santa Ynez Valley heirloom corn
(credit: Visit Santa Ynez Valley)

More than 30 restaurants are participating this year. At Cecco Ristorante in Solvang, home to what is probably the best pizza crust in all of Santa Barbara County, Chef David Cecchini’s special three-course menu features starter options like a seared diver scallop crudo and smoked salmon carpaccio and entrée selections like Risotto al Mercato, Pizza Bianca and Bistecca al Vino Rosso; everyone gets Affogato for dessert, that sumptuous espresso-gelato treat. A mouthwatering deal, indeed, at $20.20.

First & Oak in Solvang, which nabbed special recognition in Michelin’s California guide last year, has a trio of courses that includes a wild mushroom risotto main and chocolate mousse for dessert; they’re also doing a four-course menu for $40.20 and a five-course meal for $58.20. And at the Los Olivos Café in the historic haven of Los Olivos, the $20.20 prix-fixe main options include sage fettuccini, buttermilk fried chicken and rock shrimp risotto.

“Chef Conrad Gonzalez at Cisko Kid [in Los Alamos] will use locally sourced heirloom corn to take his dishes to the next farm-to-table level,” Sim told me, “while Luca Crestanelli and his team at S.Y. Kitchen [in Santa Ynez] will offer dishes not part of the regular menu, like Zuppa Celestina, which features a clear beef broth with thinly sliced crepes.”

In Buellton, Jeff and Janet Olson of Industrial Eats continue their annual charitable push with a culturally-inspired menu which, this year, features recipes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and whose proceeds benefit humanitarian causes in that Central African nation. Down the street, at the Hitching Post II, beef buffs get to choose from a top sirloin steak, a New York steak or sirloin-and-quail combo, along with chicken, pork chops and fish dishes; there’s bittersweet chocolate tart with whipped cream for dessert and, as a bonus, special pricing on their popular Hometown pinot noir.



In Buellton, the Hitching Post Wines team -- Frank Ostini & Gray Hartley -- are offering
special pricing on lunch &wine during Santa Ynez Valley's Restaurant Weeks

In fact, wineries and tasting rooms are taking part in Restaurant Weeks, too. At their new wine tasting room right next door, the Hitching Post team is offering a special $20.20 pricing on bottles of their outstanding Santa Maria Valley pinot, along with an exclusive lunch-with-wine menu. At nearby Alma Rosa Winery, the pet project by wine pioneer Richard Sanford, a special $20.20 tasting fee adds their delicious bubbly to the regular lineup, and guests enjoy artisan cheeses. At their Gaviota tasting spot off Highway 101, Folded Hills is offering a charcuterie board accompanies the wine tasting. And at sprawling Pence Vineyards off Highway 246, on the way toward the coast, $20.20 is the price for wine sipping with cheese and charcuterie, as well as a vineyard tour.

Here’s the bottom line: some of the best eating in California exists in the Santa Ynez Valley. If a promo like Restaurant Weeks succeeds in filling seats during low season with lovers of food and wine who would have otherwise missed out, then it’s a win-win to be sure. Check out the menus and plan your visit at DineSYV.com.

Cheers!

Want more wine, food & travel stories? Follow me on Twitter & Instagram!

###

Seasonal Suds: Santa Barbara Sparkling Wines Abound

Sales of sparkling wines are on the rise right now, historically soaring between the Thanksgiving and New Year’s holidays. Sparklers connote celebration, of course. They’re a great option to have on hand for rich holiday meals, too, since the effervescence in every sip cleanses the palate of the richness in every bite.

The French and their fancy Champagnes give us plenty of options, of course, as do the Italians with their prosecco, the Spaniards with their cava and the Germans with their sekt. Napa and Sonoma producers have fantastic alternatives, too. But why go any further than Santa Barbara County?

Mirroring a surging consumer demand for all things sparkly, the number of Santa Barbara County wine producers dabbling in bubbly has popped in recent years. My own rudimentary county puts the number at close to 50, which means about a third of our region’s wineries have decided that the extra mile they must go to produce wines awash in tiny pearls is well worth it. The newest entry comes from a true original, Santa Barbara Winery, the county’s very first winery, established by architect-turned-vintner Pierre Lafond in 1962. I admire the way this recognizable brand continues to run on a family-driven ethos: when I visited their downtown winery last month, Mr. Lafond himself was on site, inspecting the day’s shipments, along with daughter Michelle and son David, as well as several longtime employees. Granddaughter Madeleine was there, too; it was her social media post a few days earlier that had alerted me to the release of their first-ever sparkling wine.
 

“It felt like it was time,” winemaker Bruce McGuire told me as he handed me a bottle of the 2017 Sparkling Rosé ($49). McGuire has been making wine here since 1981, and his new foray into bubbles was driven by the Lafond family’s desire to add something new and special to their remarkable portfolio of wines.  The sparkler is made with pinot noir from Burning Creek Ranch in the lauded Sta. Rita Hills region near Lompoc. The still wine was made first and then shipped to a Sonoma facility called Rack & Riddle that took it through the traditional methode champenoise to bring the bubbles to life. Periodic samples were sent down to Mr. McGuire throughout the nearly two-year process, until he made the ultimate call that it was ready for bottling. The Lafonds tasted it for weeks before the call was made in November that the bubbly was ready for release.

 

 

Only 200 cases of the 2017 Sparkling Rosé were made, split evenly between the Santa Barbara Winery and sister Lafond Winery brands. Regardless of label, this wine is Champagne-inspired and refreshing and delicious at once, with red berry aromas, clean citrus flavors and a dry, elegant, lip-smacking finish. Buy it at the tasting room at 202 Anacapa Street, just down from State Street, or online.

The Santa Barbara Winery/Lafond Winery team welcomes their new bubbly, including founder Pierre Lafond (far left) and winemaker Bruce McGuire (second from left)

Folded Hills' new bubbly

The sparkler from Folded Hills is new, too. Their 2017 Sparkling Lilly Rosé ($65), from winemaker Angela Osborne, is a tribute to matriarch Lilly Anheuser and the six generations of formidable Anheuser-Busch women since.  Zesty, crisp and brimming with berry notes, this bouncy bubbly is made with grenache grapes grown on the family’s sprawling Santa Ynez Valley estate near Gaviota, just off Highway 101. Folded Hills officially launched the Sparkling Lilly Rosé during a wine club members-only affair at its Coast Village Rd. tasting room in early December.

Other regional producers of sparkling wines of note include winemaker Norm Yost’s Flying Goat Cellars, which launched its Goat Bubbles lineup of sparkling wines 10 years ago; Yost, who now makes five distinct sparkles each year, and all by hand at his Lompoc winery, is considered the first serious sparkling wine producer in Santa Barbara County. Fess Parker Winery impresses every year with its own traditional expressions of the bubbly stuff; their Bubble Shack in downtown Los Olivos is a haven for seekers of all things fizzy. And Riverbench Winery, which sources pinot noir and chardonnay from its Santa Maria Valley vineyards for its annual sparkling wine releases, puts out consistently great bubblies, too.

Cheers!

###

Bye-Bye Bottle: Wine in Aluminum Cans is Becoming All the Rage

I enjoyed a lovely rosé wine over the weekend. It was refreshing, with a pretty light pink hue, a delicate fizz on the tongue and yummy flavors of red berries and citrus. The finish was especially quenching – dry, perky and clean.

There was one thing about this wine that was especially remarkable, though: it came in a cute little aluminum can.

To be sure, many avid wine drinkers will think twice about the idea of a fine wine in a tin can, if not reject it altogether. We tend to be traditionalists, we understand the glass bottle, and we’ve learned how to extricate the wood cork like pros. Isn’t the fact that we’ve expanded our minds to accept the proliferation of the screwcap progress enough?

Fact is, wines in a can, which have been an increasingly pervasive part of the wine marketplace for the better part of the last decade, are quickly becoming a consumer favorite. According to Nielsen, canned wine sales surpassed $69 million in 2018, way up from the $2 million they netted in 2012. Their convenience, their no-frills attitude and the fact that better wines are going into these little aluminum vessels these days are giving this sector of the industry an ever-larger piece of the consumer pie.

The wine I supped this weekend is new – Nomikai, a Northern California-based brand named after the Japanese word for drinking parties. The wines come in 187-ml. cans, or the same as one-fourth of a regular 750-ml bottle (or what many of us call, a glass of wine). The Frizzy Rosé is made up of various white grape varieties, plus grenache. There’s a California Red, too, which I did not like as much because of the sweet-leaning fruit character; however, for those who like zing in their reds and who like the idea of sipping it chilled on a warm afternoon, by the pool perhaps, this wine might fit the bill nicely. The wines are sold in 24-pack singular or mixed cases, or the equivalent of six bottles, for $96 on the Nomikai website.  A growing number of retailers carry it, too, though none yet (ironically) in California.
 

You will, though, find plenty of other canned wine options at your local wine shop or supermarket, since the movement is being driven by some of the industry’s largest players, like E. & J. Gallo. Foley Family Wines, founded by magnate and former Santa Barbara resident Bill Foley, announced earlier this year its lineup of rosé, chardonnay, pinot gris and pinot noir in 375-ml. cans under the Oregon-based Acrobat label; a project like this coming from the same folks who put out myriad top-tier California labels, including Foley, Lincourt and Firestone in the Santa Ynez Valley, is promising for consumers. I’ve tasted nice wines from Union Wine Co. in Oregon, whose quarter-million-case output of the canned Underwood label wines last year accounted for more than half of its total production. Canned wines from Alloy Wine Works in Paso Robles are worth a few yanks of the pull-tab, too.
 

One of the great canned adult beverages in the marketplace now is Rosalie, a half-wine/half-beer experiment from Firestone-Walker Brewing Co. that sees both components – chardonnay, viognier, sauvignon blanc, riesling and muscat grapes plus hops and pilsner malt – fermented together.  Hibiscus flowers are added to create a drink that appeals to wine and beer lovers alike: it’s wine upfront, with a bouncy mouth feel and flavors of berries, and it’s beer on the back end, with a subtle hops essence and a refreshing effervescence. At 5% alcohol per volume, it’s prime for multiple pours, too. Target sells a six-pack of 12-ounce Rosalie cans for $9.99.

The approachability of aluminum cans, and their affordability, make this packaging appealing, or at least intriguing – and not only for a new wine audience, but even for fervent wine consumers looking for that sweet spot where value and quality converge. It’s still hit and miss overall, but the growing market is bound to show at least a few new stars.

The Nomikai folks tout the eco-friendly angle, too: their cans are 99% recyclable and while four cans equal one glass wine bottle in volume, the waste they produce weighs 13% as much. So drinking red, it turns out, can help you go green. Check out drinknomikai.com for more information.

Cheers!

 

 

###

Wine Through the Lens: New Hardcover Book Spotlights Santa Barbara Wine Industry

“There are plenty of photography books on how wine is made, and by whom, and what tasting rooms look like,” declares George Rose, who happens to be a real whiz behind the lens, himself.

“I set out with the idea of showcasing where the grapes are grown. This is about the land and the people – it’s about the place.”

George Rose

Rose’s latest coffee table book is, in fact, a beautiful tribute to Santa Barbara County’s wine region, delivered in sweeping, moving images. The hardcover “Wine Country: Santa Barbara County” ($80, including California sales tax and shipping) is almost 200 pages long, weighs more than three pounds and takes full advantage of its 11-by-14-inch format. “I wanted to present the pictures as if people were walking through a gallery,” says the photographer. “When you turn the page, and that image doubles in size – it makes an impact.”

Rose’s style makes the various vineyards depicted in the book look downright spectacular, like a sun-drenched stretch of Stolpman Vineyards along Ballard Canyon, or the starry harvest sky above Dierberg-Star Lane Vineyards near Lompoc, or a blanket of fog hugging the vines at Grassini Vineyards in Happy Canyon. Portions of the book guide the reader through several wine growing hot spots, like the pinot noir haven that is Sta. Rita Hills, the much warmer Los Olivos District and the Foxen Canyon Trail.

But Rose’s book goes well beyond the wine, reaching for that sense of place he mentions, capturing the people who live in the towns that make this particular portion of California special. “There’s a very Western flavor to Santa Barbara County that makes it unique and different from Napa and Sonoma,” says Rose, who published a similar book on Sonoma County’s wine region in 2017.

Solvang is represented by the young ladies doling out aebleskivers during Danish Days, the dancers twirling down Mission Drive during the 4^th of July parade and the legendary Rancheros Vistadores traversing the open range on horseback. Buellton, Lompoc and the Santa Maria Valley star, too. And even Santa Barbara gets a chapter, with big pictures of families at dinner, friends out on bikes and plenty of smiling sippers in the Funk Zone. “I’ve been fascinated watching the wine tasting idea in an urban setting really explode,” says Rose.

One of the book’s most poignant sections is its spotlight on the women and men who work the vineyards. Dozens of photos capture the oft-grueling physical task of harvesting grapevines – plucking and sorting thousands of berries by hand, and often in the cold, dark hours between midnight and dawn. “I feel strongly that California is rooted in agriculture,” says Rose. “There’d be no wine industry without these people --  they are critical to the success of California wine. And it’s very important that we keep hitting on that topic. With all the politics today, that message gets lost.”

Photos from George Rose's "Wine Country: Santa Barbara County”

Rose, who moved from Healdsburg to Solvang six years ago, brings a lifetime of behind-the-camera experience to his new tome. He was in his 20s when he worked as a staff writer at the L.A. Times and, soon after, as an in-demand freelancer for Newsweek, Time and Rolling Stone. More than 13 years followed, as an official photog for the NFL. Serendipity stepped in when Rose was offered a job in wine industry marketing, a job he held for 25 years with companies like Fetzer and Kendall-Jackson. But Rose, who never stopped honing his shooting skills, decided to return to photography full-time in 2012, and he’s been gazing at vineyards through his lens ever since. “I realized quickly,” he says, “that my style worked well with vineyards’ own growing social media needs.”

“Wine Country: Santa Barbara County” is self-published by Rose, who secured funding from myriad tourism groups, like Visit Santa Barbara and Visit the Santa Ynez Valley, and local wineries, including Zaca Mesa, Foxen and Bien Nacido. The book is available at all sponsor tasting rooms, as well as Rose’s own website, georgerose.com.

An art exhibit featuring many of Rose’s recent landscape photography, titled “Santa Barbara County & Beyond,” will open at the Wildling Museum in Solvang on November 16^th.

Cheers!

###

A Survivor Gives Back: New Wine Benefits Cancer Patients

Winemaker Brittany Rice doesn’t wallow in her struggles. She beat cancer once when she was three – acute lymphatic leukemia, which was eradicated after seven years of experimental trials. And she beat it twice when she was 39 – ovarian cancer, from which she’s free and clear today. The youngest of three who grew up in Palm Springs and the Santa Ynez Valley, she lost her mother, Linda, to cancer, too – breast cancer – in 2010.

“Lots of good, and many tragedies,” admits Rice, 41, who was recently divorced. “But I feel it's a responsibility of a survivor to tell the story so others having to go through it can learn."

So Rice isn’t wallowing. No self-pity here. Rather, she’s melding her struggles and her talents to do good.

Rice just launched a new private wine label in honor of the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, which supports families living in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties who have a child battling cancer. The non-profit focuses not only on the child, but on the family as a whole – close to 200 families in 2019 alone – providing wide-ranging financial, educational and emotional support. That’s a big deal for Rice.

“Growing up having cancer, there wasn’t a lot of support for kids with cancer,” she says. “A lot of the guide and reassurance and balance weren’t there, so I think it’s amazing that Teddy Bear is there to support kids – and their entire families – that way.”

Rice is donating 25% of the sale of each Teddy Bear bottle to the Foundation. The 2017 Grenache Rosé ($42) was fermented for four days, “so it has a lovely red color, with raspberry and red currant notes, and a nice finish,” says the winemaker. The 2017 Viognier ($34) was fermented in stainless steel tanks, for a crisp mouth feel and flavors of apricot and Asian pear. And the 2015 Cabernet Franc ($48), “a soft, elegant wine that’s really bold and juicy, and with high tannins,” according to Rice, was aged in oak barrels that once stored dessert wine, giving the cab franc nuances of “caramelization, bourbon vanilla and a maple, though dry, finish.”

The Millesime Cellars tasting room in Camarillo

Rice was born into an entrepreneurial family who, in 1990, established one of Santa Barbara County’s great wine labels, Sunstone Winery; the family's 52-acre ranch in Santa Ynez features 28 acres of organically farmed wine grapes, including merlot, cabernet franc and syrah. Rice worked on the Sunstone team in the early 2000s and, in 2005, founded her own boutique label, Millésimé Cellars, to produce small lot, unfiltered Bordeaux blends. Millésimé produces about 800 cases of wine a year and sources organically grown grapes from throughout Santa Barbara County; the wines are showcased at a facility in Camarillo, where Rice has helped individuals and organizations create their own custom wine labels.

Rice’s other passion is food, which led her to earn a degree from the California Culinary Academy and, in 2010, found her own organic catering business, Rustik Chef. She’s also been a pastry chef at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Montecito and, until last week, at the Four Seasons Westlake Village. This week, with the 2019 harvest in full swing, Rice returned to Sunstone as director of winemaking, overseeing an annual production of about 14,000 cases.

“It’s a little daunting,” she admits, “but totally exciting, too.”

The Teddy Bear wines are all sourced from vineyards throughout the Santa Ynez Valley and showcase a golden ribbon on a sky blue watercolor label. They’re available through millesimecellars.com and by emailing the winemaker directly: Brittany@millesimecellars.com.

To learn more about the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, go to teddybearcancerfoundation.org. You can donate to them directly by texting TEDDY to 444999.

Cheers!

###