If all had gone according to his plan, Aaron Walker would be steeped in academia shaping the minds of the next generation. Instead, those warm, magical SoCal breezes changed his fate. Now, he’s influencing palates and educating wine aficionados about the virtues of California-style wines as winemaker for Pali Wine Co.
An easy-going Southern California native living the surfer lifestyle, Walker was planning on getting his teaching credential while studying at San Diego State University. Like many college students, Walker waited tables to pay the bills. It turns out the job suited him. He made several attempts at working in other industries, but he always went back to waiting tables.
A life-changing harvest
As fate would have it, his girlfriend (who is now his wife) steered him away from pursuing the culinary arts and opening a restaurant. She instead suggested that maybe her father’s Central Coast contacts might have some opportunities for him in the wine industry.
Walker spent part of 2016 working the harvest with Jenne Bonaccorsi of Bonaccorsi Wine Co., and instantly forgot about teaching, forgot about restaurants, and forged a career in wine. The hands-on physical work followed by the reward of seeing that work come to fruition gave him a deep sense of satisfaction.
Embracing the California winemaking style
By 2017 he was hired by Pali Wine Co., which turned out to be a great fit. Short for Pacific Palisades, which sits between Malibu and Santa Monica, Pali was established in 2015 bearing reference to the hometown of owners Tim Perr and Scott Knight. At the time, Pali’s winemaker was producing wines that didn’t accurately reflect the California wine style. Originally, the wines were big, rich, high in alcohol, and didn’t age well. Walker throttled that back a little bit, showcasing low-alcohol California wines that are big, yet approachable and can still age well. Pali especially favors Pinot Noir from Sta. Rita Hills, an area that has become renowned for its ideal growing conditions for the varietal because of its moderate warmth tempered by coastal influences.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Aaron to hear his story and would love to share it with you. We invite you to pour a glass of wine and join us as we uncover his tale in our interview at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe.
Walker shared with us an example of that California style with the new release of the 2018 PCH. Pali produced 600 cases of this dry, crisp, and refreshing wine, which highlights flavors of watermelon, lime zest, and sweet summertime stone fruits.
The California influence is evident in the winery’s operating philosophy as well. Pali has five tasting rooms throughout the Central Coast and Southern California, where staff has created a brewery approach to the tasting room experience. This has helped Pali foster loyal “communities of wine club members,” and allows them to occasionally roll out experimental blends like the Zinfelder—a blend of Zinfandel and Dornfelder.
At the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe we focus on providing a true wine country experience. Much of our produce for the Café is organically grown at our Café farm in Los Olivos. And our award-winning wine selection of over 500 mostly local wines compliments our fresh wine country cuisine. As a hub for the local California Central Coast wine scene, we love getting to know our local winemakers and sharing their stories with you! We welcome you to check out more of our interviews and blogs here.
A love of wine attracts a number of future winemakers to the industry, but for Tara Gomez, the winemaker for Kitá Wines, it was a love of science and a Fisher-Price microscope.
A love of science leads to a career in wine
Gomez said the microscope that she had when she was 4 years old fostered her love of science and nature exploration. As a child, she would tag along when her parents went wine tasting. The sight of the giant stainless-steel vats and aromatics of the winery cellars sparked her curiosity but walking by the lab set her career trajectory. The young Gomez saw people in white lab coats using chemistry to test the acidity in the wine and that created an instant connection with her.
With the financial help of her Chumash Tribe, she sought out a career in enology in high school and then went on to Fresno State to get her degree. She got her feet wet at Fess Parker and J. Lohr wineries, and then went on to work two harvests in Spain. When she came back to the states, the Chumash Tribe was in negotiation to purchase the Camp 4 property that produces the majority of the label’s grapes, and so she returned home. It was a fitting return, according to Gomez, because the Chumash had financially supported her educational efforts and now she gets to pay it forward.
Dedication to each varietal
A producer of small-batch, ultra-premium wines, Kitá Wines produces 19 varietals on the 256-acre vineyard that sits on Camp 4 at the eastern edge of the Santa Ynez Valley. One of the hottest microclimates, it’s the farthest east Santa Barbara County AVA before transitioning into the Happy Canyon AVA. Kitá does produce Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay and Pinot Noir because of the cooler influences from that area and because the tasting room is located in Lompoc, in the heart of the Sta. Rita Hills appellation.
As a winemaker, Gomez considers herself a purist. She believes in minimal manipulation to maximize varietal characteristics. While Kitá does produce three blends that allow Gomez to tap into her artistic side, the rest are 100 percent varietals. As proof of her dedication to a varietal, Gomez travels to Europe each year, picks a varietal she wants to work with, and learns everything she can about it. Armed with that knowledge, she returns to incorporate a blend of Old World and New World winemaking techniques in Kitá wines. Taste the result by the glass or flight throughout the month of August, or take one of this month’s featured bottles home!
Check out our exclusive interview with Tara!
At the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe we focus on providing a true wine country experience. Much of our produce for the Café is organically grown at our Café farm in Los Olivos. And our award-winning wine selection of over 500 mostly local wines compliments our fresh wine country cuisine. As a hub for the local California Central Coast wine scene, we love getting to know our local winemakers and sharing their stories with you! Meet more of our featured wine makers here!
A good wine can enhance a meal and contribute to that warm feeling among family and friends, but a phenomenal wine—well, that can change the course of your life. At least, that was the case for Michael Speakman, owner of Westerly Wines.
Love at first sip
It was a Côte Blonde that stole Speakman’s heart. Three days after he had his first sip, he was in escrow to buy the winery. He fell in love with all the wines, but he thought the Côte Blonde was simply amazing.
A blend of Syrah with just 5 percent Viognier for balance, the Côte Blonde is a fan favorite. It’s a wine that can stand up to a steak, but with the floral essence provided by the Viognier, the wine multi-tasks as a wine for all seasons.
From play time to wine down
The effect of the Côte Blonde on Speakman is even more remarkable considering that he wasn’t even looking to get into the wine industry. A serial entrepreneur, Speakman started selling baseball cards when he was just 9 years old. Eventually, that first endeavor became a trading card company. He followed that with more businesses inspired by youthful trends–like the milk cap game POGs and then Beanie Babies. After those successful businesses, he turned to real estate before taking some time away from business.
These days he enjoys making his own wine deliveries and “hasn’t worked a day” since he purchased Westerly. He considers himself fortunate that he has good wine that he gets to share with friends and his family, which includes his wife and 17- and 19-year-old sons, who he hopes will follow him into the wine industry.
A tradition of Bordeaux
Michael and Joyce Speakman, owners of Westerly Wines
Westerly Wines has been producing wines in Happy Canyon for more than 20 years. It’s one of very few
wineries located there, but that’s just another reason it’s so special Speakman said. He calls it the best wine-producing region on the Central Coast, citing a recent increase in national recognition.
Because it’s well-established, Speakman has no plans to make major changes to Westerly Wines. The wine will still come primarily from Happy Canyon, while the pinot will come from the much cooler and coastal Sta. Rita Hills appellation.
This month you can fall in love with the Côte Blonde, too. It’ll be available by the glass or as a tasting flight along with the 2017 Happy Canyon Rosé and 2013 Westerly Red, a fruit-forward blend of Cabernet, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot.
At the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe we focus on providing a true wine country experience. Much of our produce for the Café is organically grown at our Café farm in Los Olivos. And our award-winning wine selection of over 500 mostly local wines compliments our fresh wine country cuisine. As a hub for the local California Central Coast wine scene, we love getting to know our local winemakers and sharing their stories with you!
We welcome you to check out more of our interviews by subscribing to our YOUTUBE CHANNEL or checking out our BLOGS– you too can get to meet our talented local winemakers!
The path to how Timbre Winery came to be is somewhat straight but far from narrow. Josh Klapper’s curiosity for how wine was made, led him to our beautiful Santa Barbara wine country in 2005. However, his passion for wine began early on at one of his first jobs as a waiter on the East Coast where he grew up. It all started with a bottle. A bottle of 1945 Bordeaux from Chateau Latour (a $7000 bottle!). One of his guests had ordered it and invited him to have a taste. Josh was hooked! From that moment on Josh knew, the wine business is where he wanted to be. It wasn’t necessarily the price that wowed him, it was the fact that for various reasons that bottle held something special, something to savor, and he set out to find out what that was.
Josh eventually moved to the West Coast and became a sommelier at a restaurant in LA that during his time there received the honorable Wine Spectator Grand Award. With his wealth of experience at such a young age (25), Josh could have done very well in the restaurant business as a sommelier. However, he yearned for more. He wanted to jump in and learn about the process of how the wines he loved were created. Like many local winemakers, their journey to becoming full-fledged winemakers started with a mentor, in Josh’s case, Bob Lindquist of Qupe welcomed him into the world of winemaking.
Some things are meant to be…
But how did Timbre Winery come to be? Elvis couldn’t have sung it better, “Like a river flows surely to the sea. Darling so it goes. Some things are meant to be.” As a fan of Bob’s Qupe wines, Josh promoted them as a sommelier at the restaurant he worked at in LA. He seized on his connection and made a phone call that changed his life course. This call seamlessly led to Josh assisting in the next three Qupe harvests and the creation of Josh’s first label, La Fenêtre (which Bob welcomed him to produce at Qupe). From there Josh’s voice as a winemaker has fine-tuned with clarity and harmony in his Timbre Winery label that he began in 2012. In Josh’s words, “Timbre is my voice as a winemaker.”
We invite you to watch our entertaining interview with Josh where he not only shares his story in his own “timbre” but also shares his wealth of knowledge about the Santa Barbara wine region. As he describes it “…crazy geology and so many microclimates.”
Timbre (pronounced TAM·ber or TIM·ber) is the “color” of music. Josh successfully uses the name of his wine label as an inspiration for the wines he produces. Each label uniquely characterized by a musical metaphor. His well-balanced beautifully harmonized flavors in his Supergroup Pinot Noir is the perfect example. “Supergroup” is a term used for a band of famous musicians from various other bands. Josh’s Supergroup Pinot Noir is sourced from three of Santa Maria Valley’s most well-known vineyards: Bien Nacido, Presqu’ile, and Riverbench. Three unique parts of Santa Maria Valley each with something remarkable to add to the wine. (Fun Fact which Josh shares in our exclusive interview: Bien Nacido planted in 1973, is the most vineyard designated vineyard in history. Meaning more wines have had Bien Nacido on the label than any other vineyard in the world!)
At the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe we focus on providing a true wine country experience. Much of our produce for the Café is organically grown at our Café farm in Los Olivos. And our award-winning wine selection of over 500 mostly local wines compliments our fresh wine country cuisine. As a hub for the local California Central Coast wine scene, we love getting to know our local winemakers and sharing their stories with you! We welcome you to check out more of our interviews and blogs here.
Curiosity guides the choices made in not only what wines she makes, but how she makes her wines. You may recognize her name, she’s one of Santa Barbara’s most prolific women in winemaking, Karen Steinwachs. Widely recognized as the talented winemaker behind the wines of Buttonwood, however, her private label wines of Seagrape Wine Co., express another side of Karen that will leave a stamp on the history of Santa Barbara County wine country.
Where did the name Seagrape come from?
Karen and her late husband were fond of their time spent abroad. While living in St. Croix they would marvel at the Seagrape trees on Grape Tree Beach. These grape trees, as the locals would call them, became the muse for their label, recalling a time of togetherness and fond memories from which their Seagrape wines were created. Karen is often asked if her wines are made with these sea grapes– they are not. They are made from grapes that grow beautifully from the Santa Barbara County’s ocean influenced vineyards. Initially, the focus of Seagrape was on Sta. Rita Hills, with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as the primary varietals she produced. Karen continues with that tradition but has expanded to welcome room for exploration and with that, we are excited to promote her first release of Gewurztraminer. (Surely not her last, you’ll have to taste for yourself!)
Why Gewurztraminer?
This unique German grape may be intimidating to pronounce but in Karen’s skilled hands she made it into a lovely approachable wine. This grape is not commonly seen in this area and can be made in many different ways similar to Reisling. One may expect this to be a sweet wine. However, Seagrape’s 2017 Gewurztraminer is bone dry, with a nice balance of plushness and vibrancy with a zesty finish.
In our interview with Karen she shares what she enjoys about having her own label in addition to making wines for a bigger winery like Buttonwood– being able to explore a new varietal like Gewurztraminer is one of them.
We featured Karen’s unique story on how she and her husband fled their lives in the fast-paced tech world for a quieter life in Santa Ynez Valley and henceforth Karen found her calling as a winemaker, in our 2018 interview and blog. Her story is one about creating one’s own destiny, and her wines, whether Buttonwood or Seagrape, reflect her ability to go with the flow and know when to take the driver’s seat. This balance is one that all winemakers grapple with but Karen makes look effortless.
At the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe we focus on providing a true wine country experience. Much of our produce for the Café is organically grown at our Café farm in Los Olivos. And our award-winning wine selection of over 500 mostly local wines compliments our fresh wine country cuisine. As a hub for the local California Central Coast wine scene, we love getting to know our local winemakers and sharing their stories with you! We welcome you to check out more of our interviews and blogs here.
At 18 Louisa knew winemaking was what she wanted to do…
Louisa Lindquist is the brains and passion behind her label Verdad Wine Cellars. At a young age, she worked at a prominent wine shop on Long Island where she was able to taste and learn about many different styles and varietals of wines. She became fascinated with the vibrant fresh flavors of Albariño wines from Rias Biaxes, as well as the bold and complex Tempranillo-based wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Louisa to learn more about what makes her wines so enjoyable and her personal story that influences her winemaking style. We think you’ll enjoy our April 2019 interview!
A true visionary: Louisa was the first to release Albariño in all of California!
In 1990 Loisa moved to California to work with a wine importer and distributor. A few years later she met her now husband and well-known Californian winemaker, Bob Lindquist. He encouraged her to follow her dreams and passion for making Spanish styled wines here in California. And she did! Louisa was the first to release Albariño in all of California.
For the first vintages of Verdad Louisa made her wines under the tutelage of her renowned winemaker husband but as the years and harvests went by Louisa began to take the helm of all aspects of Verdad Wine Cellars.
Most of the Verdad wines come from the Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard which is a Demeter-certified Biodynamic vineyard. Biodynamic is a form of alternative agriculture very similar to organic farming. The main difference between organic and biodynamic is that biodynamic farming uses different principles which add vitality to the plants, soil and/or livestock, whereas traditional farming typically deteriorates the soil. The certification process to become Demeter-certified Biodynamic is extremely rigorous and requires a level of commitment to sustainability that goes beyond organic.
Louisa’s passion for making wines that express her love for Spanish varietals is expressed in every bottle that she produces. She strives to produce pure, expressive, and balanced wines that convey the flavors of the unique cool climate vineyard sites she sources from on the California Central Coast.
We are pleased to have Louisa as our Featured Winemaker for all of April 2019! We will be featuring three of here truly amazing wines by the glass and 20% to take home by the bottle. Don’t miss a chance to taste the Spanish styled Verdad Wine Cellar wines!
At the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe we focus on providing a true wine country experience. Much of our produce for the Café we organically grow at our farm in Los Olivos. And our award-winning wine selection of over 500 mostly local wines compliments our fresh wine country cuisine. As a hub for the local California Central Coast wine scene, we love getting to know our local winemakers and sharing their stories with you. We welcome you to check out more of our interviews and blogs here.
It’s true – Norm swears on his Sparkling Crémant as an excellent pairing with fried chicken! (This ‘secret’ works with most sparkling, but when the winemaker himself tells you to pair Colonel Sanders and Flying Goat, you should listen!)
So what’s the story behind the name Flying Goat?
While relaxing in his backyard sharing his newly bottled Central Coast Pinot Noir with friends and family, the question of what to name it kept coming up. As they sat with Pinot in hand, Norm’s pygmy goats playfully flew through the air, it became apparent that they were calling out to get some kind of recognition– Flying Goat Cellars was born.
Norm’s career began in the steps of his college roommate, who discovered a winemaking program from the University of California at Davis. While Norm graduated with an unrelated degree, he found winemaking as his muse to transform, as he put it, “from a beer-drinking football player into a winemaker.”
Since UC Davis, Norm has left his signature on wines made from cool-climate vineyards, from Alexander & Napa valleys in Northern California, Willamette Valley in Oregon, to our local Central Coast. After being a highly recognized and respected winemaker for Foley and other wineries throughout his career, he now chooses to focus his energy on his own label which has always been about Pinot Noirs and Sparkling wines.
A tour of Central Coast Vineyards in a single Winery
In the spirit of his 38 years working the vines of cool climate vineyards, Flying Goat sources their grapes from the local sites with the longest ripening seasons, maximizing the quality of the crisp Pacific Ocean breeze. Flying Goat owns no vineyards, a specific style choice by Norm in the spirit of collaboration, trusting the esteemed producers he sources from to tend the soil and grapes that make their way to his bottles. Norm was one of the first winemakers to source Pinot Noir from the classic Santa Maria Valley AVA, Dierberg Vineyard almost two decades ago. Likewise, Flying Goat was one of the first “Rio Vista Vineyard” labeled wines back in 2003, and is the source of the famous ‘Clone 2a’ Pinot Noir, sourced from the far east lip of the Sta. Rita AVA.
Like so many of our local winemakers, Norm’s intent in winemaking is to make food-friendly pairings. He loves the Goat Bubbles Crémant paired with chicken, key lime pie, or a savory brunch. Both the Clone 2a Pinot Noir and the Dierberg Pinot Noir are great with Beef, mushrooms, and root vegetables.
When Norm is not tending to making his wine, he can be found working at the Flying Goat & Goat Bubbles tasting room in Lompoc, a not-to-be-missed stop on the Lompoc Wine Ghetto tour.
Spear makes full use of the unique coastal geography of the Sta. Rita Hills. In one of the states only east to west valleys, foggy, cool winds prolong the ripening season and define the cold-climate terroir of the valley. Over 60 vineyards dot the AVA, totaling nearly 3500 acres of planted grapes.
Spear vineyard sits on the southern face of the main valley, facing highway 246. As a hallmark Sta. Rita vineyard, the primary grapes they grow are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The vineyard is uniquely one of the highest elevation vineyards in the AVA, topping out at 900 feet above sea level. With a vineyard-forward approach to winemaking and a CCOF organic certification, Spear prides themselves on sustainable, eco-friendly wine farming. Spear wines are made in a gravity flow facility, gently flowing downhill. No oak flavoring, no new French oak. The vineyard was planted in 2013 with a winery and tasting room (appointment only, please!) Wines are meant to be a taste of the whole vineyard, essentially blends of different areas of the vineyards.
Kat Gaffney joined Spear after a world tour, that began in her native Colorado at a hotel wine bar. After a brief stint as a sommelier in training, Kat wanted to take a more active role in the winemaking industry and sought out apprenticeships and harvests to work, going from our Central Coast to Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and out to New Zealand for practical winemaking experience in the flourishing Kiwi wine trade.
Humility in Winemaking
PC: Craft & Cluster
After heading back stateside, Kat worked at Spear under winemaker Greg Brewer, before taking over operations as head winemaker in 2017. Kat’s winemaking style is about removing all intention in the winemaking. “I don’t want people to taste the wine and say…’ Kat your signature is all over this wine’… I want the vineyard to be front and center”.
This month, we are featuring three Spear Wines from the high-elevation estate vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills. The Estate Chardonnay is Spear’s bread and butter (forgive the pun), sourced from blocks at varying elevations around the vineyard, north facing in sand and clay loam. Spear’s Estate Pinot Noir is one of Kat Gaffney’s first vine-to-bottle creations as winemaker, with blocks from the tip-top of the Spear estate to down near the 246, this all-estate/all-blocks Pinot was 15% whole cluster fermented. Rounding out our Featured Wines, the Spear Syrah is a Jeb Dunnuck 91-point rated estate creation featuring Alban clones and a white pepper and pomegranate nose.
Sonja owns Casa Dumetz, a wine Haus in Los Alamos, California, about 50 minutes north of Santa Barbara. Under the umbrella of the Casa Dumetz label, she also produces the single-label brand, The Feminist Party and Clementine Carter, focusing on Rhône & Grenache wines (both are being poured and sold as our featured wines this month).
Making world peace one bottle at a time…
“Making world peace one bottle at a time,” is the mantra that Sonja highlights on her website. A mantra she’s turned into a reality at her Los Alamos tasting room. Every Friday night, Sonja invites the public to join her as she opens the tasting room as a public forum, open to the free discussion of ideas, politics, wine, the environment, and other topics providing a neutral ground for cooperation and contemplation.
Sonja describes in one word the aspect of herself that gets infused into her wines,”Purity.”
Sonja is the brains, backing, and boss of Casa Dumetz. Sonja says that the expressions, effort, and emotions shown in her wine start with “Purity.” By blending the effects of the natural earth, the pure expressions of the vineyards, and her hands-off approach Sonja allows the wine and the vineyard to take a front seat on the nose and palate over any of her actions in the winery. “There’s not just a formula…” explains Sonja, on working with Grenache and other new varietals. “…you really have to understand. What is this varietal? What does it want to say? And, how do you want to usher it and chaperone it…?”
Casa Dumetz started like many other Central Coast small-batch manufacturers as a single varietal label. Pinot Noir was the focus – the only label — but through the years Sonja slowly grew Casa Dumetz and was able to branch out from the safety of Pinot Noir and began exploring new varietals and terroir to work with.
While today Los Alamos is starting to turn a big corner as a small but exquisite gastro-hub. However, when Sonja first opened her tasting room in the little farming town, frequently bypassed on the 101, Sonja was warned against it. “The idea was to really commit to winemaking and not be afraid of it,” says Sonja, who fortunately ignored the naysayers and opened the Los Alamos tasting room in 2011. Now others have followed suit and Los Alamos is on the map as another Santa Barbara Wine Country destination stop.
Doug Margerum has a very specific, direct goal for his Margerum label wines: making “Food friendly, at-the-table wines”. This approach is very evident in the design of Margerum’s Buellton tasting room & winery (open on the weekends behind Figueroa Mountain Brewing). The small tasting room opens into a large kitchen, where a fresh meal is often prepared for the winery staff’s lunch. A long communal table represents the bulk of the tasting room, demonstrating the clear intent to serve Margerum wines with a delicious paired plate of food.
An early introduction to Wine
Doug’s real wine roots start at the Wine Cask, a small Santa Barbara wine shop his family acquired 37 years ago, evolving into a Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning restaurant. As one of Santa Barbara’s highly-decorated and venerable restaurants, Doug found the focus for his wines to-be: “I unabashedly make table wines!” Under his successful Margerum Wine Co. label, a steady production of food-friendly wines makes their way throughout Santa Barbara County and beyond. Margerum Sauvignon Blanc was even featured at President Obama’s final State Dinner in 2016.
At his final state dinner, President Obama raises a toast with a glass of Margerum’s Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc ‘Sybarite’. Credit: AP
Doug’s first foray into wine was on a European vacation in his youth, in dark French wine caves where so many have opened their eyes to wine culture. Chateauneuf du Pape helped Doug become the Wine Expert among his friends and family, an amateur sommelier to suggest wines. As Doug’s wine and food education grew, he became a true sommelier, a local winemaker under many labels (and in France!), and a successful restauranteur. Doug was asked to join the Smithsonian National Museum’s American History Kitchen Cabinet, a board of luminaries in the food & beverage industries. Doug also befriended Julia Child during her long time as a Santa Barbara resident.
Doug’s word for what he puts into his wine is “Personality” – Doug tries to bring wine to the table per his standards – wines he wants to drink and he hopes others love. His history in the restaurant business and as a consulting winemaker can attest to the success of these wines.
What brings each and every Margerum Wine together is that signature dash of Doug’s personality and approach to wine: High acidity, low alcohol wines that add punch and flavor to each and every meal. He freely compares his industry to “glorified drug dealers… because we get you on something.. and once you go that next step up in quality, you can’t go back down!”
The former Honea vineyard in Los Olivos, now a Margerum Rhône varietal vineyard, produces the heart of the “M5” Red blend – a crafty blend of Grenache, Syrah, Counoise, Mourvedre, and Cinsault. This Flagship wine of the brand is modeled directly after Châteauneuf du Pape style Rhônes.
The M5 White, a rich, fruity blend of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, and Vermentino, comes full circle from Doug’s travels through France, and his inspiration to make a white Rhône wine. As a second “M5”, it’s the spiritual companion to the flagship M5 Red. This organically farmed wine is also a product of the Los Olivos district.
A lasting influence on Santa Barbara County Wine
Doug continues to consult for La Encantada and Happy Canyon Vineyards, along with others. His influence and personality-driven wines are guaranteed to remain synonymous with Santa Barbara Country wine for decades to come. While the Margerum winery is open to the public on weekends in Buellton, you can visit their El Paseo tasting room every day in Santa Barbara, with a new tasting room coming soon in the Hotel Californian!
Doug’s incredible story as a successful Santa Barbara winemaker is part of Santa Barbara Wine Country history. Read more of our winemaker interviews in our blog here!
In the heart of Santa Barbara Wine Country, we are the premier wine merchant for California Central Coast wines, from Santa Barbara County to Monterey County, with select vintages from other areas of California’s Wine Country and noteworthy wines from around the world.
We’d love to share wine country musings, events, and special offers with you. No need to worry about getting inundated with emails from us, we only send them about once a month both from the Café and the Wine Merchant.
The California influence is evident in the winery’s operating philosophy as well. Pali has five tasting rooms throughout the Central Coast and Southern California, where staff has created a brewery approach to the tasting room experience. This has helped Pali foster loyal “communities of wine club members,” and allows them to occasionally roll out experimental blends like the Zinfelder—a blend of Zinfandel and Dornfelder.
A love of science leads to a career in wine
She got her feet wet at Fess Parker and J. Lohr wineries, and then went on to work two harvests in Spain. When she came back to the states, the Chumash Tribe was in negotiation to purchase the 
Karen is often asked if her wines are made with these sea grapes– they are not. They are made from grapes that grow beautifully from the Santa Barbara County’s ocean influenced vineyards. Initially, the focus of Seagrape was on 
Louisa’s passion for making wines that express her love for Spanish varietals is expressed in every bottle that she produces. She strives to produce pure, expressive, and balanced wines that convey the flavors of the unique cool climate vineyard sites she sources from on the 
