Ascension: Nick de Luca’s Journey Toward the Middle Path

October 17, 2014

Nick de Luca Ground Effect

“If there is one overarching philosophy in my winemaking, it’s finding the middle path.” Nick de Luca, winemaker and co-owner of Ground Effect, is not expressing a desire to make middle of the road wines. Rather, he is referencing the enlightened Middle Path of Buddhist philosophy, where one transcends extremes to find a centered, balanced way of living. I had the opportunity to work under de Luca at Dierberg/Star Lane, and always found him to radiate this attitude, with a balance that is also reflected in the wines he is making. I sat down with him over coffee this past week to discuss his work at Ground Effect, as well as his new position as consulting winemaker for Richard Sanford’s Alma Rosa.

“I had this philosophy about terroir, and then I realized that I was making blends from all these different vineyards, which was kind of farcical,” laughs de Luca “so I’ve moved back to focusing on single sites and single varieties.” The initial idea behind Ground Effect was that the wines would be distinctive blends, which have been the trend up until 2014, and quite successfully I might add. Like many winemakers I’ve spoken with this year that are part of Santa Barbara County’s current winemaking generation, however, de Luca had to follow his muse regardless of the branding implications. “I switched up this year. It was hard to contract a ½ ton here, a ½ ton there, so I committed to 100% Chenin Blanc. And I also started working with Presqu’ile Syrah.” He has also focused his attention entirely on Santa Barbara County fruit. “I shifted out of Paso Robles because it’s just too far away,” he says.

The other major change for de Luca in 2014 was joining Richard Sanford and the venerable Alma Rosa label as consulting winemaker. “I got a call on a Wednesday, Richard and I had lunch on a Thursday, and I was signing papers Friday,” recalls de Luca of the fortuitous hiring. “It was really sudden and really exciting.” Sanford is a Sta. Rita Hills legend, and makes a great philosophical match for de Luca. “Richard Sanford is so committed to farming sensitively. He’s a big observer of Eastern philosophy, and there’s a lot to be said within that philosophy for finding personal balance and having that reflected in the wines.”

This desire to farm for balance leads de Luca to the topic of water, a subject that is on the mind of every Californian in these dry times. “Farming with less water is really important. We have to learn to pull these big crops with less water, or learn to live with smaller crops, and I hope the latter is true.” While the environmental need to conserve water is unquestionable, for de Luca, the desire to farm with as little water as possible extends not only to drought concerns, but to site representation. “Vines have a memory. You can totally delete terroir with irrigation. I think it’s important to think of it in those terms; you are deleting terroir.”

Stylistically, de Luca’s winemaking has seen a fairly dramatic shift over the past 5 years. While he gained fame at Dierberg for ripe, powerful wines, he has moved to a style that is brighter, fresher, with lower alcohols and, for my palate, more precise expressiveness. “I’m certainly not in the ripeness camp anymore. I don’t know where I fall. I try not to be overly self-conscious; I try to be true to the vintage.” While de Luca’s recent wines could certainly be grouped into the fashionable In Pursuit of Balance or Natural genres, he prefers not to follow dogma or fit easily into a particular clique. “I’m definitely not natural. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that when there’s a problem just fix it. I’m not scared of sulfur, I’m not scared of acid… I’d prefer to have all those things worked out in the vineyard, and not have to do that in the wine, and sometimes it works out that way; I think the best wines do work out that way. But if something goes wrong, I’m going to handle it.”

Alma Rosa’s wines have traditionally been fairly large scaled, but de Luca has approached his work there much as he has Ground Effect, with an eye toward balance. “I don’t like wines to be purely about fruit. That’s been my challenge at Alma Rosa, as the style has traditionally been more fruit-driven, so I want to find the balance between that fruit and the more interesting non-fruit aromatics the Sta. Rita Hills can give.”  He is also a strong proponent of low yields, and feels that they are not only necessary for great wine, but for sustainable agriculture.  Having observed yields shifting higher in the Sta. Rita Hills recently, a trend he is not fond of, he has worked with Sanford to keep their yields low, farming for intensity rather than tonnage.  “It’s no secret that low yields make better wine; Europe has realized it for centuries,” states de Luca.  “But people are getting greedy, and there’s a lot of overfarming going on out there.”

The wines of Ground Effect have found a devoted audience, and while they may not get as much press as some of de Luca’s more vociferous peers, they are some of the most mineral, intense, well balanced wines coming out of the New World. “The sad part to me is that the two extremes are what get the press,” he laments. “The ultra-ripe wines get the press, and the people on the extreme opposite end, in part because they’re bashing those ripe wines, get the press. And the people who are just trying to make good, middle path wines get looked over, and that’s too bad.” For my palate, the great wines of the world are found on this middle path; centered, balanced, and sure of what they have to say. While they may not have the immediate sexiness of the extreme, they possess a pure, unbridled joy within them, a soulfulness that makes casual wine drinkers have the “a-ha!” moment to make them wine obsessives. Open a bottle of Ground Effect’s 2012 “Gravity Check” and you’ll see exactly what I mean…

They Reminisce Over You: Contemplating Bien Nacido and What Gives a Vineyard Soul

September 16, 2014

Rock Steady Poster

On Thursday September 18th, we’ll be hosting a dinner here at the Café featuring Bob Lindquist of Qupe, Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, and Trey Fletcher of Bien Nacido Estate to celebrate 40 years of Bien Nacido Vineyard. It’s very rare to get this legendary brain trust in one place to share their stories, so it should be a pretty magical evening. Leading up to the dinner, I’ve been reflecting about what makes Bien Nacido so distinctive, and, in a larger sense, the things that make a vineyard special beyond the usual talk of soil and climate.

Beginning in 2008, I had the privilege of working at Bien Nacido for 2 ½ years as a cellar rat for Tantara, whose winery was located on the property. From our location in the central flats of the property, I could see our neighbors Ambullneo down the road (Dieter Cronje and Matt Murphy, who would go on to create the formidable Presqu’ile property, were part of the cellar team there at the time), and ABC and Qupe’s massive cellar across the river. Driving into work each morning, checking out the various blocks was a visual roll call of the who’s-who in Santa Barbara County winemaking: that slope is Foxen’s Block 8; that little wedge of Syrah belongs to Paul Lato; there’s Manfred from Sine Qua Non checking on his fruit. And of course, there were the legendary parcels made famous by the likes of u Bon Climat, Qupe, and Lane Tanner, each its own piece of history with a story to tell. Great vineyards have a certain energy to them, a soul if you will, and Bien Nacido is one of the most soulful sites I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in.

Where does this presence of place come from? I don’t think it’s something that can be separated from the human element. All of the factors that have come together in Bien Nacido- the passion of the Miller family, who founded the property and own it still; the fervent passion of Jim Clendenen, who spread the gospel of Bien Nacido throughout the world; the brilliant modern stewardship of vineyard manager Chris Hammell- have given form and voice to the natural elements of this piece of land in a way that is singular and special. A site whose natural factors suggest something merely good cannot be willed into greatness; by the same token, a site with the seeds of greatness can’t realize its potential without the vision of human beings like those mentioned above. In this way, wine may be the ultimate expression of the union between Mother Nature and Man.

If I were to use one word to describe the character of Bien Nacido Vineyard, it would be verve. Whether it is a late-picked, luscious Syrah, a spice-driven, lithe Pinot Noir, or a mineral, lean Melon, there is a brightness and vivaciousness that gives lift and precision to wines from this site. The cool climate of the Santa Maria Bench, coupled with calcium-rich shale soils, is a large part of the reason for this, though again, the personalities behind the wines are a huge factor. When one observes the passion and attention to detail given by Justin Willett of Tyler and Lieu Dit, or the acuity of Trey Fletcher for Bien Nacido’s estate program, it’s no surprise that this lively, precise quality can be tasted across the varietal spectrum.

There is a story in the soil, a voice waiting to be broadcast that will shout to the world the character of a great site. Bien Nacido is such a site, with translators who have managed to magnify and capture its unique personality. I look forward to hearing from Jim Clendenen, Trey Fletcher, and Bob Lindquist as they delve deeper into the story of Bien Nacido; no matter how much you think you know about a familiar place, there is also a new layer to be uncovered.


To purchase tickets to our event Rock Steady: 40 Years of Bien Nacido Vineyard,

We’re Gonna Rise Above: Dragonette’s Sauvignon Blanc Elevation

August 5, 2014

Sauvignon blanc wine Dragonette Cellars

“Sauvignon Blanc is the poor bastard child grape, it’s just so unappreciated,” sighs Dragonette’s Brandon Sparks-Gillis.  “And there’s just so many producers who treat it like sh*t, and who treat it as just this cash cow, turn-and-burn grape, which I think is part of why it has a bit of a bad reputation.”  Sparks-Gillis is one of Santa Barbara County’s most vocal advocates for the nobility of Sauvignon Blanc.  While the grape’s value-driven examples from California, the Loire Valley, and New Zealand are popular everyday choices for much of the wine-drinking populace, few bestow the grape with the praise reserved for, say, white Burgundy.  The team at Dragonette is among the few lavishing Sauvignon Blanc with an intensity of farming and winemaking to rival the world’s greatest estates.  This week I spoke with Brandon Sparks-Gillis and John Dragonette about their work with Sauvignon Blanc in Happy Canyon.

Great wine often requires context.  While I’m a believer in the merits of blind tasting, particularly if one is seeking to identify typicity within a grape variety or a region, many of the world’s most unique and treasured wines don’t show their best in a blind setting.  I would include Dragonette’s Sauvignon Blancs in this group.  These are wines that not only require but deserve a few hours at table with the right food and enough time and air to explore their nuances, along with an understanding of the philosophical approach behind them.  The concentration in the wines, along with the use of oak, puts them in the rarefied air of producers like Francois Cotat, Didier Dagueneau, and Yquem’s ‘Ygrec,’ wines that are similarly proportioned and walk the tightrope between voluptuousness and mineral intensity effortlessly.  In a blind tasting, these stick out when poured next to more traditional and/or mundane renditions of the grape, which I believe is something to be celebrated, not maligned.

Brandon Sparks-Gillis
Brandon Sparks-Gillis

The wines of Dragonette would not be possible without the unique geological and climatic character of Happy Canyon.  While their initial Sauvignon Blancs incorporated fruit from outside the AVA, they have now devoted themselves solely to this amazing region.  “We were inspired by a pretty wide range of Sauvignon Blanc initially,” says Sparks-Gillis.  “As we started to work with Vogelzang and Grassini (both in Happy Canyon), we were really interested in what they were giving us.  And as we started tasting the wines, we saw that they definitely lean a little more towards a Bordeaux expression of Sauvignon Blanc.”  Without a doubt, the closest analogue to the area is Bordeaux, particularly the bold examples from producers like Smith Haut Lafitte and Haut-Brion.  And unlike Bordeaux, the Sauvignon Blancs of Happy Canyon don’t require the addition of Semillon.  “We initially sought out Semillon,” states Sparks-Gillis, “but we found that the wines from here were already so round and rich that we didn’t need it.”

Harnessing the power of Happy Canyon and fine-tuning how to best channel the area’s site character in the vineyard and the winery has been Dragonette’s greatest achievement.  “Our dogma is to have no dogma,” emphatically states Sparks-Gillis.  “We’ve had lots that range from 11.5% alcohol to 15%, and that may lean more towards one direction or another depending on the vintage.  We want to let the season speak rather than having a dogmatic approach to when we pick.”  They have worked tirelessly in the vineyard to control canopy and yield, seeking tiny, concentrated clusters that can strike a balance between fruit and minerality.  “Sauv is all about minerality.  There should be a fruit component, but if it’s all about fruit it can often get flabby and boring.”

The wines are never the ripest examples from Happy Canyon, though they’re certainly not ultra-lean, early-picked examples.  The team at Dragonette believes that the area finds its truest expression in-between those two extremes.  “I think in general, Happy Canyon has leaned toward a riper style, and that’s often where we find the best representation of place,” states Sparks-Gillis.  “If you ask most people about Sauvignon Blanc, a lot of the things they’ll talk about- herbaceousness, cat pee, high acid- yes, these are related somewhat to climate, but they’re also very much stylistic decisions related to stylized winemaking.”  This slightly riper, more intense character has been a big factor in the wines’ ability to age gracefully as well.  “Happy Canyon typically drifts into the 3.4-3.6 pH range, but the wines still show a lot of spine.  I think part of that has to do with our lower yields.  Without that intensity and concentration, these wines don’t have the bones to age.”

John Dragonette
John Dragonette

The winemaking seeks to accent this concentration texturally and aromatically while preserving the minerality.  Early experimentation with varying amounts of new oak has led them to what seems to be a relatively stable regime of 80% oak (of which only 10-20% is typically new) and 20% stainless steel, though again, the vagaries of vintage may shift these percentages.  “A winemaking technique will often evolve from what someone who’s inspired us is doing, but ultimately we want to express the truth of Happy Canyon,” says John Dragonette.  “For example, we’ve shifted to larger format cigar-shaped barrels similar to what Dagueneau is using, which is what most of our new oak is now, and that brings about a much slower evolution in the wines.”  Rather than create wines defined by the spice or structural character of new barrels, they are using oak as a very subtle accent, with the ultimate goal of, again, emphasizing the site-driven character of Happy Canyon.

The two sites they are currently working with, Grassiniand Vogelzang, create very different wines despite their close proximity and similar soils.  The Grassini shows a unique top note of very fresh coconut, along with kiwi, guava, and piercing minerality.  Sparks-Gillis says the wine’s green label is a nod to the character of the site.  “Grassini has a little more of a green spectrum to the fruit, which is not to say herbaceous or underripe.  This is more just-barely-ripe pineapple, kiwi, more of a freshness.” Vogelzang on the other hand is very deserving of its yellow/orange label: The more exotic of the two, its notes of fig, papaya, and musk are incredibly sexy, and more importantly, utterly singular; in short, it is the essence of Happy Canyon.

In a piece I wrote on Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc a few months ago, I said that no one had quite nailed it yet.  Maybe I was being a bit hard on the area, but that’s because I have such strong conviction that Happy Canyon is capable of producing some of the greatest single vineyard Sauvignon Blancs on the planet.  Now that I’ve had the chance to experience the Grassini and Vogelzang bottlings from Dragonette, and more importantly had the chance to experience them in the proper context, I can honestly say that these guys are nailing it.  Brandon Sparks-Gillis says there’s no magic formula; rather, their success is the sum of numerous small steps that elevate the wines to their highest expression.  “Getting from mediocre wine to good wine is not that difficult, but getting from good to great can be an overwhelming amount of work.  We feel like our wines are getting there, but 10 years from now I hope people can taste our wines blind in a lineup and say, ‘that’s Dragonette.’  And hopefully there’s an element of greatness there.”

Winemaker to Watch: The Singular Zinfandel of Eric Bolton

June 24, 2014

Zinfandel wine barrel

I’m fortunate that I am in a position to taste some amazing wines from around the world on a regular basis.  As a result of this, when I assess wines from our area (or any area for that matter), I compare them not just with their local peers, but with my personal benchmarks for great wine on a global scale.  Santa Barbara County, I am proud to say, is making the best wines in its history, and it only seems to be getting better.  I am consistently pleased and excited by what is coming out of our little corner of the world.  Every now and then, however, I taste something that goes a bit deeper, that burrows into my mind and truly blows me away, forcing me to recalibrate the way I view a particular grape variety.  This past week I had that experience with the Zinfandel of Eric Bolton.

A graduate of CSU Fresno, Bolton has vast knowledge of the science of winemaking.  Yet he is not a mad scientist in the winery; rather, he prefers to focus on bringing in healthy, balanced fruit from properly farmed sites and let it do its thing.  Fermentations happen with native yeast, and there are no additions beyond sulfur.  Bolton first gained acclaim as head of the winemaking team for the Ambullneo (now known as Greg Linn) label.  While these have flown somewhat under the radar locally, they are stunning expressions of Pinot Noir: lots of whole-cluster, alcohols in the high 12s to mid 13s, an incredible array of floral and spice aromatics, and great longevity.  2013 marked Bolton’s first year stepping out on his own, making just around 40 cases of Zinfandel.

“The vineyard source is Tres Niños, right across the street from DePaola Vineyard near Lake Lopez in Arroyo Grande.  It’s a rocky clay loam,” Bolton states matter-of-factly. (Okay, so technically we’re in San Luis Obispo County here, but Bolton is making his wine in Santa Maria and he is the essence of SB County’s spirit through and through).  Despite being picked quite late in the season, the fruit was just barely/perfectly ripe, clocking in around 13% alcohol, almost unheard-of for modern Zinfandel. Bolton also embraced Zin’s textural resemblance to other thin-skinned grapes like Pinot Noir and Grenache and fermented the grapes 50% whole-cluster, a somewhat atypical decision that proved wise.  Nick de Luca of Ground Effect recently did the same with his Zinfandel out of Paso Robles and the results were equally stunning.  “You don’t really pick up the whole-cluster much now other than texturally.  It’s really shifted a lot in barrel,” says Bolton.

Mineral zinfandel wines
Mineral wines deserve a mineral backdrop

The Arroyo Grande Valley may be one of the most underrated locations in the state for great Zinfandel.  Colder than many of Zin’s more fashionable locales, yet warm enough to ripen Zinfandel to extreme levels should one choose to do so, it is a perfect spot for more classically balanced Zin.  Saucelito Canyon has long produced legendary wines from their estate here, particularly their small parcel of vines dating back to the 1800s.  Bolton’s rendition, however, is without comparison.  Opening with classic varietal notes of peach and brambly red fruits, it unfolds to more exotic aromatics of wet gravel, white pepper, and violets.  Texturally, the whole cluster provides precision and a lithe presence, with an intensely mineral finish reminiscent of chalk.  To find Zinfandel in this style, one would have to go back to the early iconoclasts, such as Ridge and Joseph Swan.  “I have to say Ridge would be the biggest inspiration,” smiles Bolton.  “Those Zins they made in the ‘90s were great.  I had an ’87 in 2006 and it was a wonderful wine, still going strong.  I also worked with Michael Dashe and liked what he was doing; he’s certainly an inspiration as well.”

Bolton will continue to make this wine in 2014, and hopes to add Sangiovese to his roster in the near future.  “I would love to do something that could stand head to head with great Brunello, but I have to find the perfect source,” Bolton says.  Given the beautiful wines he’s crafted thus far, I have no doubt that he could do great things with a grape that has perplexed many of California’s best.  For now, I’ll be grabbing all I can of his Zinfandel, as it is a singular wine of inspiration and place, and a new favorite.

All of the wines featured on our blog can be found at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant and Cafe!

In the Mouth a Desert: Dry Farming in Santa Barbara County

June 2, 2014

In the Old World, farming grapevines without irrigation is the standard. Even on the Greek island of Santorini, which averages just 3-4 inches of rainfall per year, the vines are, miraculously, not irrigated.  By comparison, Santa Barbara County’s average of 12 inches per year sounds like a deluge.  Yet the vast majorities of vineyards in our area, as well as the rest of California, are irrigated.  While grapevines require less water than many crops, the issue of water conservation in the vineyard is one that will need to be addressed more seriously in the coming years as our drought events become more frequent and extreme.  This week I spoke with two of Santa Barbara County’s dry farming practitioners, Bill Wathen of Foxen and Peter Stolpman of Stolpman, about how they manage the challenges of dry farming and the character of the resulting wines.

The growing conditions at these two sites are strikingly different.  At Stolpman Vineyards, in the heart of Ballard Canyon, “we are blessed to sit on a 3 foot layer of moisture and nutrient retaining clay with a 300ft deep slab of limestone beneath,” says Stolpman.  “Not only does the clay retain moisture, but it also retains the cold temperatures of the night.  The clay makes our land even better suited to dry-farming, as the impact of day-time heat is lessened.” Foxen’s Tinaquaic Vineyard, on the other hand, has much more challenging conditions, with a lot of sand, a soil whose extremely well-draining nature poses one of the greatest challenges for dry farming in Santa Barbara County.  “The soil profile at Tinaquaic is a little magical, as in I don’t know how these vines do it every year with only annual rainfall,” states Wathen.  “It is a deep sandy loam, unsure of the Series (ed. Note: the USDA soil map says it’s Arnold Sand), with pockets of Careaga sand. In years of normal rainfall the vine canopy can be quite aggressive, so there is a lot of retention. We generally average 2 to 3 tons per acre (3-4 pounds per vine) yields historically.”  Amazingly, even in these difficult growing conditions, Wathen is able to get sustainable yields and make it work without water.

Spacing in vineyards where the goal is dry farming is an important factor.  When one observes California’s historical vineyard plantings pre-1960s, which were essentially all dry farmed, spacing was very wide, and the vines were often untrellised.  As modern farming has looked to top sites in the Old World such as Burgundy and their farming practices for inspiration, California’s vineyards have moved to much tighter spacing, often as tight as meter by meter, occasionally even closer.  This poses much greater hurdles for dry farming as the competition for water increases.  Stolpman, who has variable spacing on his property, believes that the type of trellis is just as important as the spacing.  “Our spacing ranges from 10×5 to 3×3 in the vineyard.  The 10×5 blocks certainly adapt the best to dry farming, but we’ve also seen positive results in our 3×3 block,” he says.  “Key with the tightest spaced blocks is head-pruning and not expecting much yield per vine.  The jury is still out regarding our conventional 3×6 blocks where the six foot rows allow us to trellis the vines.  These vines are set up to carry more canopy and more clusters than the tighter head-pruned blocks.”

Wathen’s property has more space between vines, though he believes going even wider from the get go may have been more advantageous.  “When Dick (Doré) and I planted Tinaquaic in 1989, we really didn’t think through the irrigation issue. We planted what was high density at the time (8X4), and assumed that water grew on trees here at the ranch,” Wathen states.  “We were able to give each vine 1 gallon of water every 10 days through the first two growing seasons. After that, they seemed fine without water, so we changed strategy.  Ideally, yet after the fact, we should have gone on a 10X10 or 12X12 planting without a trellis, enabling us to cross cultivate.”

Both sites utilize cover crops, and are very cognizant of the timing in planting and plowing.  “We plant cover crop every year for erosion control and green manure,” says Wathen.  “The cycle here goes 1) disc and plant cover crop after harvest. 2) Disc the cover crop under early to late spring, depending on the annual precipitation that year; dry years earlier, wet years later. 3) Disc and roll a few times late spring to seal the surface.”

With 3 years of drought, culminating in 2014’s extremely dry conditions, farming adjustments have been made at both sites to make dry farming possible.  “We have elongated the weaning periods for younger vines,” Stolpman says.  “This year for instance, we gave all of the vines 12 years and under an overnight drink once in January and February to imitate normal rainfall.  We gave the very young vines another drink in April and early May.  We only irrigate during root days and from our own measurements know that water goes 8-12 inches deeper into the Limestone with less Lunar gravity.”  Wathen has also had to shift his approach.  “This year has been extremely challenging balancing the canopy,” emphasizes Wathen.  “You always need to be thinking about next year.  Adjustment farming is the key.  The rule of thumb is >20 inch shoot, 2 clusters. 12-20 inch shoot, 1 cluster. Less than 12 inch shoot, 0 clusters.”

So, is the character of dry farmed vines detectable in the glass?  Wathen and Stolpman have different opinions on the subject.  “We find we get a natural balance from dry-farmed vineyards as the vines regulate themselves,” says Stolpman.  “Because of the lack of water, the vines want to go dormant in the fall, and we try to pick while the vine is on its last breath, giving us a perfectly ripe crop.  Irrigated vines will continue green and happy, with no sense of the seasons, and winemakers may choose to pick much later at higher sugars.”  Wathen has a different take.  “I really have not seen any difference in ripening curves vs. irrigated fruit.  Believe me though, if I had the water, I would irrigate.”

As a lover and seeker of site character in wine, the issue of dry farming is one I’m passionate about.  There is a representation of vintage and place in these wines that can’t be denied.  While I love many, many wines that come from irrigated vines, most of whom are also managing their water use meticulously, there is a truth in wines from completely dry farmed fruit that seems to set itself apart.  “Balanced vines give balanced wines.  Dry farming allows the vineyard to give a truer expression of itself rather than the more modern, homogenous approach of irrigating, green-dropping, and picking late,” emphasizes Stolpman.  And when one tastes a bottle of Stolpman’s “Originals” Syrah or Foxen’s Tinaquaic Vineyard Cabernet Franc, it’s hard to argue this statement.  I hope that the conversation about dry farming becomes a more prominent one in the future of Santa Barbara County, and that we can have an open dialogue about how water, or the lack thereof, will define our future as a wine culture.

Some Velvet Morning: Ryan Deovlet and Refugio Ranch

May 12, 2014

photo 2

Journey just past the Santa Ynez River, into the hills off of Refugio Road, up a steep gravel driveway, and you will be greeted by the spectacular vistas of Refugio Ranch.  Rising dramatically into the Santa Ynez Mountains, this 415 acre ranch is a sprawling piece of property, comprised mostly of open spaces; just 27 acres are currently planted.  I met with Ryan Deovlet, Refugio Ranch’s contemplative winemaker, on an overcast Monday to explore the intricacies of this special site.

Refugio Ranch

We climbed into the ranch’s Polaris, and went zooming up a precipitous hill.  Rounding a bend, I was greeted by a tiny block of Syrah.  “This is the Escondido (hidden) block, Clone 383, which is a little bit compromised by daylight hours.” Tucked way back into a canyon on the ranch, one can understand both the name and the challenges of ripening in this spot.  “Because of the shadowing in this block we lose a couple hours of sunlight compared to the rest of the ranch.  It tends to be a little more red fruit, with a lot of the carpaccio, pepper, meaty character.  It actually inspired me to create a second red wine blend because it is so distinct from our other blocks.”

In talking with Deovlet, I quickly saw his desire to grow with the Ranch, willing to abandon previously held ideas or techniques if it meant better expressing a sense of place.  “I have total autonomy, but it’s a collaboration between all of us, Niki and Kevin Gleason (the Ranch’s owners), Ruben Solorzano, (of Coastal Vineyard Care Associates), and myself.  We’ll pull corks together and talk about the direction of the property and evaluate what we’re doing.  With these small lots, you take a risk sometimes and it doesn’t always work.  But for the most part, things are working out and they’re putting their trust in me and giving me autonomy.”

The farming here is essentially organic, though there aren’t currently plans to pursue certification.  Like many properties I’ve visited in the valley recently, I was impressed by the diverse ecosystem they’ve preserved and nurtured here and how they’ve adapted to the unique needs of the site.  “Kevin and Niki were cognizant of what they had here.  It’s a nice, cool sanctuary,” says Deovlet.  “They were very conscientious of where to plant and how to preserve the natural terrain.  It still has a raw, wild feel.”

photo 1

The diversity of the Ranch also applies to their choice of plantings:  Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, and Malvasia Bianca for the whites; Syrah, Grenache, a recent addition of Sangiovese, and Petite Sirah for the reds.  Deovlet also plans for some new additions, perhaps Picpoul or Bourboulenc to bring more acid and minerality to the whites, as well as some Grenache planted in their sandier river blocks.  One of the most intriguing varieties on the property is Malvasia Bianca.  Deovlet crafts a beautiful Spring white from this fruit, with a touch of residual sugar, a hint of spritz, and great acid, balancing the minerality of the Ranch with an easy-going exuberance.

A recently dug soil pit showing that intensely black loam.
A recently dug soil pit showing that black loam.

Speaking of minerality, the soils here are some of the most exciting I have seen in Santa Barbara County.  Black and lunar-like, with lots of rocky topsoil, it’s a clay loam with mudstone in its origins, quite different from the soils of the Los Olivos District AVA that stops just north of here.  “It’s organic, heavy earth, alluvial mountain runoff all captured within this little bowl we have here,” states Deovlet.  “We have great water retention.  The goal is to eventually dry farm everything, which we’ve been working with Ruben on.”  While these are mostly sedimentary soils, there is a bit of igneous material in their Petite Sirah in the form of granite, perhaps helping to explain why this grape expresses itself in such a singular way here.

Decomposed granite in the Petite Sirah block.
Decomposed granite in the Petite Sirah block.

“The Petite, for me, sort of serves as our Mourvedre, bringing a little more structure and putting a California twist on a Southern Rhone-inspired blend,” states Deovlet.  He and Ruben are also exploring a new farming technique, using a crossbar to spread the canopy in the fruiting zone on the Petite, with the goal of giving the fruit longer hang time while preventing issues with rot or mildew.    “We have to be very focused on canopy balance and low yields, with the intention that we can get all the fruit off before we hit the late October rains.  In ’09 and ’10 we had those storms come through before we got everything in and we learned some hard lessons.  That being said, if low yields over and over and over again mean the project never gets into the black, that project isn’t sustainable.  There has to be a balance in the farming.”

Petite Sirah crossbar
Petite Sirah crossbar

Deovlet and Solorzano have had to make some big strides very quickly in approaching the farming at the Ranch as the growing conditions are so particular.  “We haven’t had the most consistent of vintages, so we’ve had to learn on the fly.  I’m blessed to be working with Ruben; everyone calls him the grape whisperer, and it’s true, he’s very intuitive in his approach.”  While Deovlet initially had some concerns with the slightly higher pHs/lower acids the site was giving him, he’s learned to accept them, particularly after speaking to old world winemakers like Chave who see similar numbers.  In place of acid, the structure of Refugio Ranch comes from tannin.  “When I’m pulling fruit, it might be 25 or 26 Brix.  At those numbers, we see that ideal tannin development, and at this site the vine isn’t starting to shut down.”

When the subject of Chave, one of the great iconoclcasts of the Northern Rhone, arose, I asked if Deovlet still saw the Old World as his benchmark.  He thoughtfully replied, “I’m certainly inspired by the Old World, and you do find some of those aromatic markers here.  That being said, I like to have a foot in the Old World and a foot in the New.  I certainly take some ideas and inspiration, but we have this California sunshine, and these unique growing conditions, and I want to create something that speaks to the character of the Ranch.”  To that end, the project is expanding their lineup of wines based around what the vineyard has shown them thus far, from 3 different bottlings to 8.  While this may initially present challenges from a sales standpoint, their motivations are solely quality-driven.  “It’s not diluted in moving from 3 wines to 8; it’s the opposite, it’s listening to the vineyard and fine tuning our style,” emphasizes Deovlet.  “We’re making great strides in learning to understand the property, and how distinct it is.”

Grenache on the left, Alban clone Syrah on the right.
Grenache on the left, Alban clone Syrah on the right.

For such a young property, Refugio Ranch has made incredible leaps in quality very quickly, due in no small part to the passionate team in place.  “The Ranch, generally speaking, has been a beautifully organic evolution to learn, block by block, how to approach viticulture from a very individualistic approach, and the same in the cellar,” says Deovlet.  “I think that process has kept us in tune and taught us to listen to the wine.  The ultimate question is, stylistically, are we doing justice to this property?  They’re coming out of the gate delivering pleasure, and I think and hope they’re going to age as well.”  Their current lineup indicates that they are indeed listening intently to the voice of this place, and I expect it to become ever more clear and distinct in the coming years.


BUY:
REFUGIO RANCH 2014 ‘AQUA DULCE DE REFUGIO’ MALVASIA BIANCA, SANTA YNEZ VALLEY

REFUGIO RANCH 2014 SAUVIGNON BLANC, ‘TIRADORA’, SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Another Green World: From Farm to Table with Buttonwood’s Karen Steinwachs

April 21, 2014

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“All of these wines are grown for the table.”  With this one sentence Karen Steinwachs sums up the philosophical core of Buttonwood.  A working farm as well as vineyard and winery, Buttonwood is centered on the idea that wine’s ultimate purpose is to shine at table, where it can spark conversation and communion with friends and family.  I spoke with Karen this week about her farming and winemaking approach, as well as the unique environment that is Buttonwood Farm.

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After years in the high-tech world, Steinwachs decided to leave the rat race and pursue a long-held dream of working in the wine industry.  An ardent fan of Santa Barbara County wines, she managed to secure a gig at Lincourt in the fall of 2001, working her way up from the bottom as a cellar rat.  “I kept talking to the winemaker about ways that the winery could be more efficient, because once you’ve been in management as long as I have been, it’s hard to drop that attitude.”  A great student, she quickly worked her way up the ranks of such notable wineries as Foley and Fiddlehead.  When the opportunity to take over as winemaker at Buttonwood arose in 2007, she jumped at the chance.

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“I was very familiar with Buttonwood from attending their many events.  I loved the concept of it being a farm as well as a vineyard.”  Aware of the fact that she was stepping into a winery with a style people were familiar with, she approached her first vintage with the goal of learning about the character of the fruit, vinifying every lot separately to gain knowledge about the site character.  Through this meticulous approach, she was able to see the strengths and needs of the vineyard, and has gradually brought her own style to the wines to accentuate the site’s best characteristics.  “There have been changes since I took over.  The wines are now a little more approachable while still being age-worthy.  We work a lot on tannin management, because I want to be able to enjoy the wines while I’m still alive.  We’ve also worked on bringing more freshness to the whites.”

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There is no recipe here; rather, the vagaries of the vintage are allowed to shine and adapted to.  “We approach every single wine differently and adjust from year to year as we fine tune the needs of each wine.  I grow 10 different grape varieties here, and we’ve sought to make the wines more distinct from each other and really give them their own voice.”  This experimentation and exploration extends to the vineyard, where new grape varieties have been planted in the name of making more complete wines.  “We’ve grafted some of our Merlot to Malbec and plan to plant some more.  And on the white side, we’ve grafted quite a bit of Grenache Blanc, which grows beautifully here.  I see it becoming a signature grape of the Los Olivos District AVA.”

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The soils at Buttonwood are mostly Santa Ynez series, part of the uniform Ballard-Positas-Santa Ynez series that defines the Los Olivos District, though there is some diatomaceous earth, serpentine and sand in pockets.  They also sit on the aquifer that is common throughout the AVA.  “We have a very big aquifer here, and a lot of the oldest vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley are in this part of the valley.  There are also a lot of own-rooted vines, and the roots here go incredibly deep.”  Much like Fred Brander, the architect of the Los Olivos District, Steinwachs feels the area is still defining itself, but has all the makings of a great AVA.  “It’s going to be a tough area to define because it truly is different than the other AVAs here.  Our defining factor is that our soils are totally uniform, unlike Sta. Rita Hills, Happy Canyon or Ballard Canyon.  I always get a minerality, which is a word that can be hard to define, but there is a rocky quality in our site that I find throughout the AVA.  The wines also tend to have great acidity, in part due to the big temperature shifts from day to night we have here.”

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Like many vineyards in the area, Buttonwood excels with several different Bordeaux and Rhone varieties.  However, Steinwachs sees two standouts in her work there thus far.  “I have to credit Chris Burroughs for the tagline ‘Blanc and Franc.’  Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc have been here since the beginning and grow beautifully.”  Even in cool years like 2010 or 2011, the Cabernet Franc here (as with all of their Bordeaux varieties) isn’t green or vegetal; rather, there is earth, cigar box, and raspberry fruit, with only a hint of pyrazine, an unmistakably Californian expression of the grape that has the balance and presence of great Bourgueil.  “Cabernet Franc is a fussy little diva, it’s like Pinot Noir.  You have to grow it perfectly or it throws a tantrum, you have to baby it in the cellar, but it makes great wines.  We do focus on leaf pulling and shoot thinning in the vineyard to avoid that green character, but generally we don’t find that bell pepper character from this site.”

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The farming at Buttonwood is some of the most thoughtful in the Valley.  While it incorporates elements of organics and biodynamics, it is most reminiscent to me of Japanese iconoclast Masanobu Fukuoka’s philosophy, adapting to the natural needs and environment of the site.  “We say that we’re farming ‘biologically.’  We don’t use any synthetic herbicides or insecticides,” says Steinwachs.  “Our theory is that if we keep the plants healthy and maintain a diverse environment, they’ll protect themselves.  Philosophically, we’ve really got our own way of farming, which is organically minded, self-contained, and focusing intensely on what nutrients the soil may need.  We’re constantly testing the soil to see how we can address the needs of our plants.”  As her friend and fellow winemaker Nick De Luca (a proponent of Fukuoka-inspired farming) says, “terroir is an unplanted field,” and in this sense, the farming at Buttonwood seems geared towards capturing the essence of the land as accurately and naturally as possible.

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Buttonwood Vineyard and Farm looks and feels very much like old school California.  Yet it also points the way to what the vineyard of California’s future will likely look like: wider spacing to address our growing water issues; cover crops growing wild; polyculture, with fruits and vegetables growing alongside grapes; in essence, a self-contained ecosystem where the farming adapts to the needs of the place rather than dogmatically following a prescribed set of rules.  “It’s not about me as a winemaker,” says Steinwachs.  “We farm for deliciousness, whether that’s tomatoes or wine.  We love the fact that people are coming back to the table.  It’s not just the eating and drinking, it’s the communal aspect of people getting together.  And that’s what Buttonwood is about.”

Busy Being Born: Angela Osborne and A Tribute to Grace

March 31, 2014

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A good wine captures its vineyard.  A great wine captures its vineyard AND the personality of its winemaker.  When I think of the wines that have inspired me- Didier Dagueneau’s various expressions of Pouilly-Fumé, Soldera’s Brunello, the Cabernet Sauvignon of Bob Travers at Mayacamas- I think of them not only as the essence of the place they grow, but as an encapsulation of their creators.  To that list I would add Angela Osborne of A Tribute to Grace.  She puts her heart and soul into every bottle, and one can sense her presence in the glass, a feminine, ethereal, joyful rendering of site and self.  I spoke with her this week about her new spring release and the character that makes these wines so distinctive.

Cynicism is impossible around Angela Osborne.  She radiates such positive energy that even when she discusses the more esoteric aspects of her winemaking philosophy or her views on farming, there is such genuine belief and lack of artifice that one can’t help but be compelled.  Take the hummingbirds that grace the corks of her current vintage.  “The Chumash believe the hummingbird represents the grandmother energy, and both of my grandmothers became angels last year, so now they watch over all the bottles of Grace,” says Osborne.  “There were 13,776 hummingbirds that came into the world this vintage, which was really powerful for me.”  It is these little details- imbuing something as mundane as a cork with so much love- that make her wines stand out.

This detail-oriented approach extends to the winemaking.  Her varied experiments in the cellar are some of the most thought-out and intriguing I have seen.  Techniques that may have worked in past vintages will be altered or abandoned completely if the current vintage or a burst of inspiration calls for it.  Her new release is a great example of this, in particular her Grenache rosé.  Angela’s 2013 is a wildly different take than her 2012.  The ’12 came from Coghlan Vineyard on the western fringe of Happy Canyon, was aged in large neutral oak puncheons, and went through full malolactic fermentation, making for a rosé with heft and richness.  The ’13? “The 2013 spent 24 hours on the skins, and then fermented cold in stainless, aged entirely in stainless, no ML.  It’s also from the Highlands this year.  Bottled on my birthday, March 3rd.”  Despite the critical acclaim she received for her previous rosé, she felt the need to do a total 180 and explore a new winemaking approach.  “I really liked the ’12, it was really soft and approachable, but I wanted to experiment this year with something a little higher acid, especially working with the Highlands.  It feels like it’s got lighter feet, a bit more playful, which suits me at the moment.”

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The Highlands that she speaks of is the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard.  It is a site so perfectly suited to Osborne’s style, and her chosen medium of Grenache, that it’s difficult to imagine her without the Highlands and vice versa.  Located on the eastern edge of Santa Barbara County, in Ventucopa, this lunar-looking site is one of the most unique in California.  “It doesn’t really feel of this world.  It’s very moon like.  Kind of silences you a bit,” says Osborne.  At 3200 feet elevation, and subject to an extreme continental climate, it is separated into two sections: the valley floor and the Mesa.  Angela’s single vineyard Grenache has typically been a mix of both, but with 2012, she has shifted to utilizing entirely Mesa fruit, with the valley floor being used for rosé and her Santa Barbara County blend.  While the valley floor is very sandy, the soils of the mesa are loamier, and, more importantly, laced with igneous rocks- basalt, quartz, gneiss, and granite- making for soil conditions that are singular within Santa Barbara County.

“The ’12 has an entirely different tannic structure.  This is the first year I’ve bottled the Mesa by itself, and there’s much more strength there.  It’s 50% whole cluster, whereas my valley floor blocks are all destemmed,” says Osborne.  Her Grenache from the Highlands has always been noted for its delicate nature and elegant texture, though she doesn’t worry about losing this with the addition of whole cluster; rather, she is seeking more structure, with the hope of giving the wines the ability to age like the great Chateauneufs, particularly Chateau Rayas, which she admires.  “I’ve yet to come to a point where the whole cluster becomes too much.  I hope it will give longevity, in a different way energetically than acid, but hopefully with the same ability to age.  I don’t want it to be overt, but I love the spice of Grenache, and I feel a lot of that comes from whole cluster.”  She also chooses to make the stylistic separation in the cellar between her varying lots of whole cluster or destemmed fruit in typically creative fashion.  “I always separate the fermentations into whole cluster, layered, destemmed, and whole cluster and destemmed,” says Osborne.  “I label my barrels as sun and moon, because I feel the moon energy is represented by the whole cluster, and the sun is the fruit.  So each barrel lists percentages of sun and moon.”

The future for A Tribute to Grace is wide open.  The Osborne clan is hoping to eventually split their time between Santa Barbara County and Angela’s home country, New Zealand, working two harvests a year, having a small patch of land to call their own, and raising a family.  It’s a goal that, like the wines of A Tribute to Grace, is beautiful and true.

Chalk Art: The Mineral-Rich Wines of Larner Vineyard

March 24, 2014

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If you think most winemakers are obsessed with soil, try hanging out with one who’s a former geologist.  Michael Larner shifted his career path from studying rocks to expressing their presence through wine and hasn’t looked back.  From the labels to the winemaking philosophy, the wines of Larner Vineyard are driven by a devotion to expression of the earth, and there’s a palpable passion for place in every bottle.  I took a trip to Larner with Michael this past week and was amazed by the dedicated farming and incredible geology of this special place.

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Located in the southern end of the new Ballard Canyon AVA, the vineyard was planted in 1999 and 2000, and currently has just 34 acres of grapevines.  The geological jumble at Larner would make any soil geek salivate.  In the upper hills one finds bits of the rocky Paso Robles conglomerate; there are chunks of Careaga sandstone, chert, and quartz; Marina sand overlays much of the property (“We have a running joke that we should have started a business selling playbox sand before we started the vineyard,” says Larner); and underlying everything is chalk- Larner’s defining soil.  Unlike the northern half of Ballard Canyon, which has harder limestone, Larner sits on a bed of very friable, and thus easily exchangeable, chalk.  I was somewhat surprised to find that the soils here, despite their chalkiness, are actually quite acidic, much like the acidic granite of the Northern Rhone.  “Our soil pH is around 4.5, though we chose to focus on rootstocks to address that issue rather than amend it with something like gypsum.”  In general, Larner’s approach to farming has focused on a natural approach and finding ways to let the vineyard most clearly express itself.  They have been farming organically for several years as well, and are wrapping up the official certification process.

A view of the chalk that so defines Larner
A view of the chalk that defines Larner

Like most of Ballard Canyon, Larner excels with several different Rhone varieties, along with a guest appearance by some delicious Malvasia Bianca, but the shining star is Syrah.  The Ballard Canyon Winegrowers are even taking the unique step of creating a cartouche bottle for estate-grown Syrahs from the region, along the lines of what one might see in Barolo.  “We’ve planted 7 different clones of Syrah, which allows us to get multiple expressions of Syrah from one site,” says Larner.  “Our idea was never to put 20 acres of one clone and one rootstock; we wanted diversity.”  This clonal diversity has also allowed Larner to observe the flavors imparted by the site separate from those imparted by clone.  “To me, the thread has always been that minerality.  I call it flint, and there is a lot of flint and chert here,” says Larner.  “There’s also a chocolate note, different from oak-derived chocolate aromatics, reminiscent of cacao.”

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Michael Larner showing off chunks of chert

The vineyard initially came to fame through the fruit it sold to small producers.  “By definition, the clonal diversity meant that we needed to find smaller producers to buy the fruit.  We couldn’t provide 20 tons that would ripen at once for a larger brand,” says Larner.  “As a result, these smaller guys started branding the vineyard, and really distinguishing the site in the eyes of critics and the public.”  While the Larner estate program has grown, Larner’s focus is still on the clients who made the site’s reputation. “People often think we’d be taking the best fruit for ourselves, but we always make sure our clients get what they want first and farm it to their specifications.  We actually end up with what they don’t want.”  The list of winemakers who purchase fruit here reads like a who’s who of Santa Barbara County: Paul Lato, Jaffurs, Herman Story, Kunin, Tercero, Palmina, Bonaccorsi, Kaena, Transcendence, McPrice Myers– and that’s not even the whole lineup!

The winemakers who purchase Larner fruit speak of the site, and its farming, as though it were a top lieu-dit in the Rhone Valley.  “Michael really wants his clients’ wines to be great,” says Craig Jaffurs, owner and winemaker of Jaffurs Wine Cellars.  “I think he takes our wine as a personal reflection.  Because of this, he’ll go above and beyond the call of duty to get our grapes farmed, picked, and delivered.  In 2010, a cool, tough harvest year, Michael offered to pick our grapes in sub-lots so we could maximize our quality.”

Looking down into Syrah, with Grenache on the right
Looking down into Syrah, with Grenache in the upper right

The wines from Larner Vineyard, across producers, are fascinating in their structure.  In my experience the wines need a few years in bottle to really strut their stuff, striking that perfect balance between minerality, spice, and fruit.  It is also a vineyard that seems to favor picking at relatively restrained ripeness levels.  “Larner shows its best at moderate sugar levels, not at the extremes,” says Larry Schaffer of Tercero.  “If you pick too early, the naturally higher acid in the grapes will be too prominent, as will the higher than normal tannins. If you pick too late, the verve that the vineyard brings because of the sandy soil does not translate into the grapes.”  As a result, there is a beautiful balance here between muscular structure and delicate aromatics.  “It produces a wine with rich but not heavy fruit and moderate tannins,” says Seth Kunin of Kunin Wines.  “In a blend it is the mid-range, filling in all of the gaps that may have been left by more high-toned or darker, more tannic fruit. On its own, in the best vintages, it shows earthy, smoked meat aromas along with the fruit, and has admirable length, considering that it still doesn’t come across as overtly tannic.”

Larner Vineyards sign

In addition to the huge soil influence, climate is a major factor here, as the vineyard occupies a cooler microclimate than most of the AVA.  “It seems to stay much cooler than other parts of Ballard Canyon and therefore things tend to move along much slower there,” says Schaffer.  “Bud break tends to be later and grapes just seem to take their pretty little time.”  Jaffurs agrees, attributing the quality of this site’s other star grape, Grenache, to this more moderate climate.  “Ballard Canyon, and his spot in particular, are in that sweet spot between the really cool marine influences of Lompoc and the warmer Santa Ynez spots.  He could have the best Grenache site in Santa Barbara County.”

Michael Larner explaining the geology of Ballard Canyon
Michael Larner explaining the geology of Ballard Canyon

Larner Vineyard is one of the most thrilling sites in a region filled with them (Jonata, Stolpman, and Purisima Mountain just to name a few).  The passion of Michael Larner, and his desire to elevate not only his vineyard, but Ballard Canyon and Santa Barbara County as a whole, is readily apparent.  “One of the things I look for in a vineyard other than site is an ‘impassioned grower.’  Michael certainly fits the bill,” says Jaffurs.  “He loves his vineyard like he loves his family.  He is hard working and committed, and always in good humor, even when things are tough.”  Kunin echoes these sentiments, saying “This business is one built on relationships – both in the marketplace and in the vineyard – and I am happy to have a lengthy and fruitful (no pun intended) one with the Larner family.”  This family oriented, hands-on, untiring spirit is the essence of what makes our area so special.  And ultimately, it is these intangible factors that give Larner Vineyard that little something extra.

Habitual Practices but No Fixed Rules: The Intuitive Wines of Labyrinth and Haka

March 17, 2014

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Starting a winery in the New World, especially California, can be a daunting financial prospect. Unless one is already wealthy from another career, making even 100 cases of wines can be an economic challenge.  And if you’re a young cellar rat on a tight budget, it takes real perseverance, scrounging every available penny to pursue your dream.  Rick Hill is a winemaker who did just that.  A New Zealand native, Hill took a circuitous route to achieve his goals.  “In the early ‘80s in New Zealand, there really wasn’t an opportunity to find a career path in wine.  It was all small mom and pop operations that couldn’t afford employees, and I figured I needed a way to make money to create a path for my interests in winemaking,” says Hill.  “So, I actually ended up in the milk and fruit juice industries, which I had a background in, and traveled the world doing that and building up capital.”

Through his travels Hill came upon an internship opportunity with Simi Winery in Napa in 1997.  Hearing of his love for Pinot, the crew there suggested he head down to Santa Barbara County instead, where he landed a gig at the renowned Central Coast Wine Services (CCWS) as a cellar rat.  “My job would be anything from picking up pizzas at 4 in the morning to doing 4 punchdowns a day at a winemaker’s whim, and by ingratiating myself to them they gave me a lot of trust.  Many young winemakers feel the need to jump around every year, work a vintage in Tuscany, then Argentina, etc., but when the harvest ended, I felt I’d really found my own little niche here and wanted to stay.”  Though still splitting his time between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, he committed to returning each year to CCWS to work harvest.

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Rick’s fourth vintage in the area (2000) saw a fortuitous event that would forever alter his winemaking path.  One of CCWS’s main clients, Lane Tanner, injured her knee and needed a full time assistant.  “She said, ‘look, I don’t have a lot of money to offer you, but if you work exclusively for me, I will give you two tons of any grapes that I have sources from,’ and I thought, ‘perfect.’”  Those two tons, which would come from the venerable Bien Nacido Vineyard, were the birth of the Labyrinth label.  This was also the beginning of a relationship that would blossom from a close friendship into a romance.  In 2004, after dating for a few years, Rick and Lane decided to marry, turning Hill into a full time Central Coast resident.  “My plan was a 2 year transition; hers was immediately, so I moved within 6 months to the U.S. full time.”

Hill’s approach in the cellar and resultant wines speak to a love of Burgundy.  Elegant, with an emphasis on spice and structure over fruit, they are the essence of great California Pinot Noir.  “Essentially, for anyone growing up in New Zealand, we didn’t have much in the way of local wine or other New World wine available, so European wines were the benchmark, and for me in particular it was about Burgundy,” says Hill.  “Those early years of drinking Old World wines that shunned high alcohol and lots of new oak really laid the foundation for my winemaking philosophy.”  Hill utilizes a variable approach in his assessment of when to pick, relying on numbers, flavors, and instinct honed over years.  “You’re looking for that point in time when there’s no herbaceous flavor in Pinot, particularly if you’re doing whole-cluster.”  He finds the ideal flavor profile in the fruit when picking to be along the line of cranberry or pomegranate with a hint of black cherry.  “I want to avoid those darker flavors, the blackberry and prune.  That’s just Shiraz in drag.”

Hill’s sister label, Haka (a Maori war cry, honoring his Maori heritage and connoting power or boldness), was born out of the economic turmoil caused by the recession.  As with his winemaking approach, he is very forthcoming about the economic realities and challenges of being a small producer.  “When the economy tanked, from 2007 to 2011, people stopped buying most of those high end Pinots.  I didn’t want to destroy the Labyrinth brand by discounting, because people have long memories when it comes to pricing, so I founded Haka as a way to bring value-driven wines, as well as a different varietal focus, into the marketplace.”

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Necessity is the mother of invention, and through his Haka label he has found a new niche through his exploration of Tempranillo.  “I’ve been passionate about Tempranillo since the New Zealand days when the early imports first came into the country.  You can pick it early and get those nice sinewy tannins and dried cherry, you can pick it late and get more of the black licorice and coffee grounds; for Haka, it’s really my benchmark wine.”  He has explored, and is still exploring, numerous interpretations of the grape, picking at different ripeness levels, utilizing both French and American oak, and working with sites in warm-climate Paso Robles and cooler sites in Los Alamos.  His ‘12s and ‘13s out of barrel are some of the most exciting expressions of the grape I’ve yet tried from our state, matching the power and minerality of Toro with a uniquely Californian presence of fruit.

After a brief hiatus, the Labyrinth label bounced back in a big way with the 2012 and 2013 harvests.  Working with new vineyard sources in Santa Maria Valley and Sta. Rita Hills, there’s renewed vigor in Hill’s Pinot program.  While the Haka label has allowed him to work with more powerful grape varieties and a slightly riper style of winemaking, his Labyrinth Pinots are still classically balanced, site-driven, and filled with notes of earth and spice.  He also chooses to work with only one cooper, Alain Fouquet, for his Pinots, a decision he believes helps communicate the differences between sites more clearly.  “If I start utilizing different coopers, it’s like ‘where is that change coming from? Is it the site, is it the picking, is it the oak?’ I really want those vineyard differences to be apparent, and for my style to stay consistent, which is why I stick with one cooper.”  Lovers of California Pinot with a Burgundian sensibility should keep an eye out for the release of his 2012s later in the year.

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There is an intuitive nature to Hill’s winemaking that can be tasted and felt throughout his entire program.  It is an approach he describes as “habitual practices but no fixed rules.”  While there is a desire for consistency of quality and a certain sense of style, the vagaries of vintage are adapted to and allowed to speak, making for wines that beautifully marry time and place with a sense of self.  In these wines one tastes the ebullience of a young cellar rat from New Zealand, whose desire to express himself through wine has only grown with time.

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