Say the words “California wine” and more often than not, bruiser Napa Cabernets or buttery Sonoma Chardonnays come to mind. There’s a certain irony to the fact that most consumers consider wine country of Santa Barbara County as a relative newcomer when in fact the area has had acreage under vine for over one hundred years. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that Santa Barbara County really took off, thanks in part to the UC Davis’s assessment of it having the optimal climate for growing grapes.
What makes the climate of Santa Barbara County and the Central Coast so unique? Three factors come into play: The Humboldt Current, the Coriolis Effect, and the Transverse Range.
The Humboldt Current, despite its name, has nothing to do with cheese or green pharmaceuticals. It’s actually a deep ocean current that comes up from Peru, bringing cool waters with it. That combines with the Coriolis Effect, which is a phenomenon that occurs when northern winds push surface-warm ocean water off the top of the Pacific and moves it further west. The Coriolis Effect truly is phenomenal because it’s not possible without the Earth’s rotation! When that warmer water shifts away, those deep, cool waters shift towards the top, ensuring a continuous cooling effect mid-California Coast. That cool air is then funneled inland due to the Transverse Range: that’s where the North-South running mountains turn East-West due to an early plate tectonic shift. That geological and meteorological combination add up to the unique microclimates we find around Santa Barbara County – which add up to a great variety of wine!
The two biggest AVAs, or American Viticultural Areas, in Santa Barbara County are Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley. Both are river valleys created by that plate tectonic shift, which means they oddly run west-to-east, funneling cool maritime air in with them. Both AVAs benefit from large diurnal swings because the cool Pacific influence brings in chilly fog overnight, lowering the nightly temperatures, before burning off midday at higher, hotter afternoon temperatures. That large temperature swing optimizes sugar levels in grapes while maintaining acidity. You’ll notice wines from both AVAs may be higher in alcohol but never taste out of balance: there will always be a refreshing prickle of acidity on the finish. Let’s take a moment to thank diurnal swings for that!
Within the Santa Ynez Valley AVA, the best known AVA is Sta. Rita Hills. (And yes, it is legally ‘Sta. Rita Hills’ and not ‘Santa Rita Hills.’ It seems the famous Santa Rita winery in Chile was a bit peeved when the Santa Rita Hills AVA was initially granted and sued to prevent consumer confusion.) Sta. Rita Hills is most famous for its Pinot Noir. The AVA benefits from that ocean air as well as very specific ‘chet’ soil that create the unmistakably bright and floral Sta. Rita Pinot flavor. It’s no mistake that some of the best-known California Pinot vineyards, including Sea Smoke, are located here.
Larner Vineyard of Ballard Canyon
Moving away from the ocean, we find the Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon AVAs. As their names imply, they are both lower altitude AVAs and, since they’re surrounded by mountains, heat and sunlight reflect off to create much warmer microclimates than those found in Sta. Rita Hills. Bordeaux and Rhone varietals do well here. In particular, Cabernet Sauvignon loves Happy Canyon and Syrah rules Ballard Canyon.
And, fun fact!: Happy Canyon earned its moniker by having the only working still during Prohibition, leading many a local to visit and to leave quite happy! We’re pleased to see this happy-making legacy continued with fantastic wine.
Bernat Vineyard of Los Olivos District
And finally, the newest AVA in the region is perhaps the closest to our heart: the Los Olivos District. Located in the area surrounding the Los Olivos Café, the Bernat vineyard is proud to be part of the Los Olivos District. Comparatively flat and warm, Syrah absolutely thrives here – which you can taste in the many different Bernat Syrah bottlings.
With the continued interest in Santa Barbara County, we feel that its potential is just now being brought to fruition. The various microclimates and unique topography allow for infinite possibilities, from rich, round reds to bright, acidic whites. Santa Barbara Country truly has a wine for every wine lover!
We love sharing Santa Barbara Wine Country! Shop our Wine Merchant here and we’ll ship our wine country to you! Consider choosing from our custom wine club selection that offers only the best of California Central Coast wines.
The 2004 Academy Award-winning movie, Sideways, tours its way through the Santa Ynez Valley but doesn’t mention Happy Canyon. Perhaps that’s a blessing, considering the damage done to Merlot from the meltdown Miles had in our alley in one of the pivotal scenes. The movie’s torrid love affair with “thin-skinned and temperamental” Pinot didn’t leave much room for Miles to praise Happy Canyon’s hearty reds with notes of polished leather saddles and Santa Maria steak seasoning. Even if Miles had planned a day at the newly emerging wineries, the way he’d drive the hills and twists of Happy Canyon Road would’ve sent his red Saab convertible careening into an oak tree much earlier in the film!
Thankfully, discerning drinkers have ensured that Happy Canyon Merlot is still part of the Wine Merchant’s top-selling and most age-worthy wines, but this was far from assured when the movie debuted in 2004. The “Sideways effect” was a blindside blow for the growers, since Happy Canyon’s vineyards were only in their fourth vintage. Formal recognition of the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA wouldn’t follow until 2009. Longtime fans may know the region got its name from hiding a secret distillery during Prohibition. However, an even more amusing aspect of the story is that the “of Santa Barbara” suffix had to be added because Prohibition moonshiners left ravines named Happy Canyon spangled all over the American West. The patriotic heart swells with pride.
The AVA spans 23,941 acres, but fewer than 1,000 are under vine.
Even today, Happy Canyon’s story is very much still being written. The AVA spans 23,941 acres, but fewer than 1,000 are under vine. Sauvignon Blanc has long threatened to steal the show, but Happy Canyon remains a red-dominated appellation led by powerhouse Cabernet Sauvignon alongside a vibrant showing from the Bordeaux supporting cast of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Malbec.
Photo Courtesy of Crown Point Winery
Nature dictates that thin-skinned and temperamental Pinot has no place there. Granted, Happy Canyon does enjoy sheltering mountains and generous sunshine which can boost the temperature up to thirty degrees warmer than the Sta. Rita Hills, but that’s where the easy road stops. Grapevines contend with massive nightly temperature swings, along with constant crosswinds whipping down the canyon and shearing between the carefully oriented vineyard rows. Vine growth is further harried by lean soils packed with cobblestones of serpentine and chert, whose added magnesium and calcium conspire to further reduce grape yields and pressure vines to put down deep roots.
Cabernet Sauvignon, in particular, is exalted by this crucible. The ripening grapes forge a thick skin and tannin-rich seeds with a snap pea’s crunch. Some winemakers walk through the vineyard chewing Cabernet’s tough hide like jerky for minutes at a time, hoping to coax out clues about the complexities of their finished wine. This expertise, supported by elite local vineyard management and occasionally by world-famous French vineyard sustainability consultants, means that the third decade of Happy Canyon vintages looks very promising indeed.
Try a never-jammy Happy Canyon red with grass-fed or aged steaks, dry rubs, hard-seared char crusts, and meats from the smoker. These pairings bring our staff and guests no end of joy, especially now that Chef Chris has his new wood-fired smoker up and running!
At the Los Olivos Wine Merchant, we provide an in-depth selection of California Central Coast wines. We will always provide the most sought after wines of Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara and the other stellar AVA’s in our wine region. Make yourself happy and pour Happy Canyon wines at your table. Here are some suggestions that are sure to bring a smile!
If you enjoyed reading this blog
If you enjoyed reading this blog about the Happy Canyon AVA, you’ll enjoy gaining more insight about Santa Barbara Wine Country after these fun reads:
The Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café strives to provide an environment of hospitality to all our guests, which is why we are pleased to announce that Matt Williams is our new General Manager. Matt is no stranger to the café and you may have known him as a Wine Sales Associate and Wine Club Manager. He has been working here in various roles since 2007 with some gap periods that he spent pursuing other passions.
As a natural leader, he is stepping into this role to help drive our business operations forward. With this deep understanding of the ins and outs of the café, a love for wine, and a passion for leadership, he will seamlessly step into the position of General Manager.
Matt’s Goals as General Manager
Matt is a goal-centered individual who is constantly in pursuit of challenging himself and those around him, which is part of his motivation to take on the role of General Manager. To put it in his own words, “I am looking forward to growing with a group of people and elevating our service and practices.” One of his goals is to learn new skills and explore ways to continue to bring the best quality service to our customers.
We have no doubt he will effectively handle any hurdles in this role because he steadfastly remained with us through the most difficult days of Covid-19 and has seen the ebb and flow of the business through the years. We have always been able to rely on Matt to assist where needed, taking on tasks that aren’t on his list of specified duties. When the restaurant is bustling and food needs brought to guests or dishes need to be bussed from tables, he is always there to help the team.
Matt was even our cellar rat (an affectionate term for those who love the art of making wine and don’t quickly burn out from the hard work involved during harvest) for our Bernat wines. After a long day at the Wine Merchant & Café, he would tend to the daily punch downs required before the wine is ready to go to barrel.
From His First Wine Tasting to Sommelier
” I tend to geek out on things, anything I am involved in, I tend to just take a deep dive.” – Matt
Matt’s persistence is how he came to the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café in 2007 and a reason why we know he will excel in his new role. Once his interest was sparked in a career at the café, he immediately applied and remained persistent for months until he joined our team. No one’s first day ever goes as smoothly as they would wish, but his first day ended at urgent care to get stitches on the tip of his thumb that he managed to nearly cut off. Although he believed that was where his career with us would end, we are happy that he and his thumb continue to be part of the café’s story.
Growing up in Orcutt, California, Matt developed a keen sense of the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez communities and naturally developed an affinity for wine and good food. Right before coming to the café in 2007, he went on his first wine-tasting trip to Paso Robles where he stumbled through the pronunciation of the varietals, specifically Sangiovese. Matt has now completed the first level (of 4) of the Court of Master Sommeliers. His knowledge of wine will propel our team to the next level to bring even more expertise to the service and products we provide.
We asked him how his passion for the world of wine grew and he shared, ” I tend to geek out on things, anything I am involved in, I tend to just take a deep dive.” He is most fascinated by how making wine has hardly changed for thousands of years; still taking the humble grape through a relatively similar process as it was from the start, to become the captivating beverage that is shared around dinner tables and amongst loved ones throughout the world.
Who is Matt outside of the Café?
He shared, “I missed the people — the regulars I have genuine relationships with and the camaraderie with team members.”
Matt’s journey often brought him back to the café although he is accomplished in more areas than just wine and restaurants. He dreamt of being the first in his family to attend college, so he ventured to UC Santa Cruz where he obtained his B.A. in Geology. His second stint away from the Wine Merchant & Café was to pursue his Ph.D. in Seismology at USC. We were happy to give him the space to pursue his dreams but even happier when he pivoted back to the restaurant business. He shared, “I missed the people — the regulars I have genuine relationships with and the camaraderie with team members.” And they all couldn’t be happier when he returned… again!
Apart from taking on the responsibilities of general manager, his greatest adventure is being a husband and father of three — with twins under two years old!
All of his life experiences and challenges have made Matt into a well-educated leader who can handle the issues du jour that happen in this industry and have the confidence to lead a front-of-the-house team to be the best that they can be. In return, we hope to provide Matt and his family the stability to grow with our business for many years to come.
After over a decade at the helm of our kitchen, Chef Chris Joslyn, has moved with his family to Nevada where he hopes to continue using his talents and expand on his passions. We are grateful for his dedication and the many dishes he created that nourished and delighted so many of us through the years. The timing couldn’t have been better for Chef Brooke Stockwell to move into this position.
We are excited to introduce you to Chef Brooke, our new Executive Chef at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café!
Brooke grew up on the California Central Coast in a family where food was part of the conversation; the love that was baked into it nourished her appreciation for how food connects and fulfills us in a special way. Her roots were at the essence of what drove her passion to not just be a really good at-home cook, but to pursue her love of cooking as a career.
Throughout the last 18 years as a professional chef, she has honed the style of her cuisine into what she describes as “simplistically elevating local ingredients.” Brooke shares, “the dishes I create highlight the bounties of the season and convey the labor of love generated from the farmers to the plate.” What better way could she elevate local ingredients than leading a kitchen at a restaurant with its own farm?
Chef Brooke grew up locally with a large garden in her yard, raised hogs in the FFA, and is no stranger to hunting or fishing. After graduating with honors from high school, she attended UCLA as a Communications Studies major intending to go into advertising or marketing. However, while she was at UCLA Brooke heard the calling of her upbringing and took a U-turn back to Santa Barbara and navigated her path into the restaurant business through the formal studying of culinary arts. While in culinary school, Chef Brooke worked as a private chef and was able to build confidence and establish a style of cooking that reflected her appreciation for the land and the flavors that seasonal freshness can express. This expression of the seasons is at the heart of what makes Chef Brooke’s cuisine an ideal fit for our establishment. (We hope you got to taste some of the lovely ways Chef Brooke made use of the abundance of organic Café Farm tomatoes recently! If not, no worries, she’s been busy canning them for marinara and more.)
After an intense and educational experience working for celebrity chef Rick Moonen in Las Vegas, Chef Brooke was elated to take what she learned and return to the Central Coast where she has gained more experience as Executive Chef at the Inn at Morro Bay, the 1880 Union Hotel & Saloon, K’Syrah Catering & Events, and Roblar Winery. Now, as a highly regarded seasoned chef, we proudly welcome Chef Brooke as Executive Chef at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café. Chef Brooke is the ideal person to continue our 26-year reputation for creating fresh, local, sustainable cuisine.
And now…
Chef Brooke shares her enthusiasm for this new position, “As the Executive Chef of Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café, I am excited to share my passion for cooking by celebrating the Central Coast and our Café Farm with the dishes I create.”
It is not only important for a chef to be able to create an impressive menu but it is quintessential they lead the kitchen staff with integrity, and a sense of humor is always helpful. Spend a few minutes with Chef Brooke, and you will notice the twinkle in her eyes and her contagious delightful demeanor that we are grateful to have leading our team in the kitchen.
Chef Brooke enjoys meeting guests and getting personal feedback, we invite you to give Brooke a warm welcome next time you dine with us.
Lane Tanner, One of the First Female Winemakers of Santa Barbara Wine Country
Lane Tanner of Lumen remembers the old days. She remembers the early days of Central Coast winemaking when the process was a lot more laborious physically and femininity wasn’t a desirable trait in a wine—or a winemaker.
Frequently, Central Coast Syrahs are made big, bold, and in a style that Tanner calls “manly.” So she decided to make wines that were the antithesis of that: softer, gentle, elegant, or what she calls, “feminine” wines.
But don’t be fooled, Tanner is a heavy hitter, a pioneer in the wine industry.
She was one of the first female winemakers with her own label in Santa Barbara County. For 16 years, she was also the only winemaker who produced only Pinot Noir. Tanner said there’s a sensuality to Pinot Noir. For her Lumen label, she likes to produce Pinots with low tannin and velvety mouthfeel, and a long, lingering finish. She believes the Santa Maria Valley produces the ideal fruit for Pinots that reveal bright, strawberry, and cherry notes with herb over notes.
If there’s a sensuality to Pinot Noir, there’s just as much sensuality in the way that Tanner handles her production. For instance, for her Grenache, she does everything by taste. She does test Brix, but otherwise, taste rules. She likes to harvest when the grapes are just ripe, slightly past green. Then, it’s very little oak, and she doesn’t adulterate her Grenache with Syrah. It’s pure, vibrant, and youthful.
Though Tanner got her start almost by accident, it turns out she had a natural talent for winemaking. As proof of that, she’s worked with some of the most infamous names in winemaking. In the early ’80s, she worked at Firestone prior to being asked by Ken Brown to work at Zaca Mesa. From there, she began working with Frank Ostini who wanted something exclusive to his restaurant, The Hitching Post. She worked with him until 1989 when Ostini realized he wanted to make his own wine. They split barrels with Tanner starting her Lane Tanner label.
Still, Tanner hopes to see one more change in the near future…
Since those early days, Tanner has seen a lot change. Winemaking may still involve a lot of manual labor, but things have gotten easier, and females are now embraced by the winemaking community. Still, Tanner hopes to see one more change in the near future—she waits for the day when female winemakers are seen simply as “winemakers.”
Hear her full thoughts on women in winemaking and how the industry has evolved on the Central Coast in this month’s featured winemaker interview.
If you enjoyed reading this blog
If you enjoyed reading this blog, you’ll enjoy gaining more insight about Santa Barbara Wine Country winemakers after these fun reads:
A Labyrinth Led Rick Hill to Santa Barbara Wine Country
Growing up in New Zealand Rick Hill couldn’t possibly imagine the circumstances that would eventually lead to him becoming winemaker for his Labyrinth wines—he only knew that he wanted to be in the wine industry. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, there wasn’t a clear path into a wine career. Instead, Hill ended up in the milk industry, and then the juice industry, all the while with an eye toward going into wine. His work took him all over the world– from Australia to the Middle East– but it wasn’t until he completed his wine science degree in 1997 that he would get to California.
He was placed in Napa during his internship, which is a problem for a Pinot Noir fan. The winemaker he was working with offered to find him a placement more suitable to working with his preferred varietal. That’s how he came to Central Coast Wine Services, a small operation that, in a twist of fate, would introduce him to his winemaking career, as well as his future wife.
As an intern, Hill expected he’d move from California to Argentina, Italy, and other renown wine regions.
“The funny thing was I fell in love with Santa Barbara County, I fell in love with the people I was working with, I felt instantly trusted in being involved with their grapes,” he said.
Lane Tanner was one of just a handful of Central Coast Wine Services clients. Later, she and Hill would marry, but not before she gave him his winemaking start. When Tanner injured her knee right before harvest, she enlisted Hill’s assistance offering him 2 tons of any fruit to which she had access.
I said, “‘That’s wonderful, what I’ll do is, I’ll take 2 tons of Bien Nacido.’ And that’s how my career started,” Hill said.
These days Hill produces Pinot Noir for his Labyrinth label that is meant to be fresh and bright, bold and enthusiastic. But he has also branched out into bigger reds like Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, and Tempranillo, and dabbled in a few whites as well.
Meet Rick! Check out our interview!
In this month’s featured winemaker video interview Hill details his path to becoming a winemaker, how small production makes his wine business agile, and he shares his thoughts on the growing Santa Barbara County cannabis industry.
Get to know Hill’s winemaking style this month at Los Olivos Café and Wine Merchant. Taste Labyrinth wines by the flight or purchase one of three featured bottles for a 20% discount throughout the month of October.
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.
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.
to mind. There’s a certain irony to the fact that most consumers consider wine country of Santa Barbara County as a relative newcomer when in fact the area has had acreage under vine for over one hundred years. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that Santa Barbara County really took off, thanks in part to the UC Davis’s assessment of it having the optimal climate for growing grapes.
Matt is a goal-centered individual who is constantly in pursuit of challenging himself and those around him, which is part of his motivation to take on the role of General Manager. To put it in his own words, “I am looking forward to growing with a group of people and elevating our service and practices.” One of his goals is to learn new skills and explore ways to continue to bring the best quality service to our customers.
Lane Tanner was one of just a handful of Central Coast Wine Services clients. Later, she and Hill would marry, but not before she gave him his winemaking start. When Tanner injured her knee right before harvest, she enlisted Hill’s assistance offering him 2 tons of any fruit to which she had access.
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 