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.

Under the Influence: Remembering An Inspired Night of Wine, Food, and Friends

March 3, 2014

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Great wine starts with a great story.  A vineyard tells us a story through its soil and its climate; the farmer frames this story with agricultural tradition and the stewardship of the land; and the winemaker captures both of these stories, along with their own imprint of self and style.  This past Thursday we held a special event at the Café called Under the Influence that sought to give four local winemakers the opportunity to tell their stories and the stories of the wines that have inspired them.  It was a night that exceeded my greatest expectations.

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Goat Cheese Panna Cotta with Roasted Beets, Watercress and Citrus Vinaigrette

South African native Ernst Storm began the evening by pouring his 2012 Presqu’ile Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc alongside Ashbourne’s 2008 “Sandstone,” a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Semillon grown in South Africa’s Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.  The latter wine was crafted by Storm’s brother Hannes, whose wines under the Ashbourne and Hamilton Russell labels are some of the most acclaimed in South Africa.  While one could see a certain similarity between the two, the overall contrast was striking.  Storm’s youthful Sauvignon Blanc, grown in the extremely sandy soils and cool climate of Santa Maria Valley’s Presqu’ile site, was bright and fresh, with its pyrazine notes of grass and jalapeño accented by guava, gooseberry, and a really unique hint of oak.  As it turns out, that noticeable oak accent comes from the use of acacia barrels, which also provide a distinctive textural presence to the wine.  The Ashbourne, on the other hand, 4 years older, was already developing some tertiary nuances, with notes of lanolin, beeswax, and bruised apple starting to appear.  Nevertheless, the varietal character was unmistakable, possessing a similar herbaceous character as the Storm, joined to wet-stone minerality (sandstone soils here) and a more voluptuous texture.  The most fascinating thing for me about tasting these side by side was to see the shared family passion from these two brothers, and the level of commitment they both bring to their different projects.  While the winemaking details may be different, they are united in their desire to express site as clearly as possible.

Our next course saw the team from Liquid Farm sharing their 2012 “Golden Slope” Chardonnay next to Francois Carillon’s 2011 Puligny-Montrachet.  Liquid Farm’s goal from the outset has been to create a domestic interpretation of the wines they had fallen in love with from Burgundy, so their choice came as no surprise.  The differences between the two wines were, as with the first course, quite vast.  The Francois Carillon, despite a splash decant, was still a bit reduced, showing a fairly high amount of SO2 on the nose.  I have found this character in quite a few 2011 white Burgundies, which may be in response to all of the premox issues that have plagued the region over the past decade.  Overall, though, Carillon’s Puligny was incredibly precise and soil-driven, with an intense mineral presence.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the “Golden Slope” bottling still came across with admirable restraint and balance against one of Burgundy’s benchmark producers.  The fruit and textural power of the wine were unmistakably California, traits I believe should be celebrated, and the minerality of the Sta. Rita Hills in all of its saline glory was an intriguing contrast to the limestone origins of the Carillon.  Paired with Barramundi and Manila clams, both wines were delights to ponder and savor.

Crisp Duck Rillettes with Beluga Lentils, Black Kale and Cranberry Mostarda for the Pinot Noir course
Crisp Duck Rillettes with Beluga Lentils, Black Kale and Cranberry Mostarda for the Pinot Noir course

Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe chose to honor our local pioneers for the third course.  The Pinot Noir from his estate has become a modern benchmark in American wine, with examples from his own label as well as those purchasing his fruit achieving great recognition.  He poured a 2006 Longoria “Fe Ciega Vineyard” Pinot Noir next to the 2010 Clos Pepe Estate, and spoke of Rick Longoria’s influence on his own path as a farmer and winemaker.  He also honored two other local innovators, Bryan Babcock of Babcock Winery and Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat.  It is sometimes easy to overlook the originators in favor of the hot new thing, but these three men are still crafting some of the most site-driven, balanced wines in Santa Barbara County, so it was beautiful to see Wes, who himself is a bridge between the first generation and our current new crop of young winemakers, honor this trio.  The wines shown wonderfully, with the power and richness of the heat-spike-affected 2010 Clos Pepe contrasting nicely to the more developed, earthy Fe Ciega bottling.

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Smoked Square Cut New York Steak with Mushroom & Spinach Strudel and Truffle Port Sauce.

While all of the wines on the night were complex and worked beautifully at table, the final course was perhaps the highlight for me:  The 2010 Luminesce Syrah from Thompson Vineyard next to Domaine du Coulet’s 2010 Cornas ‘Brise Cailloux.’  Thompson Vineyard is one of the great sites of Santa Barbara County.  Tucked back into Los Alamos Valley’s Alisos Canyon, the Syrahs from here are legendary, with a structure and precision rarely found outside of the Northern Rhone.  Luminesce’s rendition leans toward the Old World in its balance and approach: just 13.4% alcohol, it was fermented with around 30% whole clusters and aged in puncheons.  The wine showed amazingly well, with white pepper, gravel, smoked meat, and blueberry on the nose, along with a poised, beautifully structured palate.  The overall balance in this wine could easily stand head to head with the greats from Hermitage or Cornas, and on this night it did just that. Coulet’s Cornas is a personal favorite, and for me captures the essence of this tiny appellation.  The 2010 did not disappoint, with aromatics of iron, kalamata olive, blood, and bacon leaping out of the glass.  There was also a touch of Brettanomyces, which sparked an interesting discussion among the winemakers.  Luminesce’s Kevin Law somewhat jokingly said that he liked a little “imported Brett,” i.e. bretty wines from the Old World, while others found the Coulet close to their threshold for tolerance.  Personally, I thought it added to the wine, particularly texturally, and was a great example of how a flaw can actually enhance a wine’s beauty.  With smoked New York steak and mushroom & spinach strudel, it was an incredible end to the night.

The evening was deeply moving both emotionally and intellectually.  Giving these winemakers an opportunity to discuss their inspirations allowed us to see their joy and passion as tasters, and hear the stories behind their influences.  It can be easy as professionals in the wine business to get bogged down in the minutiae of winemaking or French Appellation law.  This evening was such a treat because it allowed all of us a return to the pure elation as imbibers that made us fall in love with wine in the first place.

 

Special thanks to Matthew Negrete for the wonderful photos

Fred Brander and the Birth of the Los Olivos District AVA

February 9, 2014

photoFred Brander begins his discussion of the Los Olivos District not by reeling off statistics or carting out maps, but by walking out of his cellar with 4 bottles.  2 are unlabeled, 2 are in brown bags.  Brander comments as he pours a first taste from one of the bags, “This is a producer I really admire… I think it’s a good example of someone making more balanced Cab here in California.”  Its notes of cedar, ripe blackcurrant, and cassis, along with a prominent signature of American oak, place it squarely in Califonia; it turns out to be Ridge’s iconic estate bottling from Monte Bello Vineyard.  Next he pours the two shiners: one is a barrel sample of his young vine Cab, meticulously planted 5 years ago with an incredible array of rootstocks and clones (12 combinations in total); the other is a barrel sample of his old vine Cab, own-rooted, planted in the mid ‘70s.  Though young, there is already an intense, gravel minerality to both, along with all that exuberant young fruit.  He proudly informs me that the alcohols are in the mid to low 13s.  We finish with the other brown bag, which has harder tannins, just-ripe plum, and a finish filled with notes of sharpened pencil.  We are clearly in Bordeaux here (it turns out to be a Pessac-Leognan from Chateau Haut-Bergey), though the leap from the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Los Olivos District to the Old World is, refreshingly, not a huge one.  His point is clear: this area is capable of site driven, balanced wines that can stand toe to toe with the benchmarks of the world.

A Master of Wine candidate and one of Santa Ynez Valley’s pioneers, Brander tastes blind like this just about every day, comparing his wines with other producers from around the world, seeking out new ideas, constantly thinking about how to improve his wines, his vineyard, and our growing region.  His latest passion is the birth of the Los Olivos District AVA.  The idea that this part of the valley may be worthy of its own AVA first arose over 10 years ago, when the Sta. Rita Hills became official.  “Sta. Rita Hills was the first to differentiate itself, and they did it based mainly on climate, which made me want to look further into the Santa Ynez AVA and see what made us different here besides the fact that we’re warmer.  As it turned out, the area that we are now defining as the Los Olivos District has very distinct and uniform soil and climate.”

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Fred Brander in front of his iconic tasting room

The soil in the Los Olivos District is part of the PositasBallardSanta Ynez association, which consists of alluvial soils and lots of gravel, in many ways reminiscent of Bordeaux’s Left Bank.  It is distinct from the limestone of Ballard Canyon or the serpentine and chert of Happy Canyon, the two AVAs that bookend the region, and its mineral presence is readily apparent in the area’s wines.  For Brander, this soil, and its uniformity throughout the District, is the most compelling reason for the creation of the AVA.  “The weakness in California AVAs is that they’re frequently not as specific with soils.  Even in Napa, where you have so many sub-AVAs, there is uniform climate within them, but there are often varied soils.  That is one of our big strengths here, that we have such uniformity.”  Starting at the 1000-ft. elevation mark (above this the soil shifts into a different, sandier soil series) in the San Rafael Mountains and sloping gently down to the Santa Ynez River, one also finds great consistency of temperature and topography.  “The climate is consistent, the topography is consistent, the soils are consistent, and I think these factors make a very strong case for this deserving its own AVA.”

gravelly loam that defines the Los Olivos District
A closeup of the gravelly loam that defines the Los Olivos District

Brander has become famous throughout the world for his various expressions of Sauvignon Blanc, which for me capture a minerality and purity rarely found outside of Sancerre.  Many producers within the District also channel this more restrained style, which is a wildly different expression from the rich, musky, tropical style found in Happy Canyon, one that I also love for very different reasons.  “Climate is a big factor.  Here in Los Olivos we have cooler temperatures, less of a diurnal shift, and the wines tend to have lower pH and more malic acid than Happy Canyon.  This area, in my opinion, is more conducive to making a fresher style of Sauvignon Banc, unoaked.”

While Sauvignon Blanc in a more precise style may be a defining expression for the AVA, for the most part the area’s varietal identity is still being sussed out.  “Rhone and Bordeaux varieties are certainly the two main groups that are planted, along with some Spanish and Italian varieties, and I think all of those have been successful,” says Brander.  “I’ve even tasted some Rieslings and Pinot Grigios that have been very good.  Chardonnay can also be viable in a style reminiscent of classic Napa, picked early with blocked malo.”  For my palate, which leans unabashedly Eurocentric, I find particular interest in the Bordeaux and Italian varieties coming from the District.  There is a freshness and balance in these wines, be it Cabernet Sauvignon or Sangiovese, which is distinctive and highly mineral, with a different character than that found in Happy Canyon or Ballard Canyon.

The Los Olivos District AVA is currently in the process of establishing its growers’ alliance, an important step for solidifying the community that will advocate for this region on a large scale.  “The AVA has the greatest number of wineries, i.e. winemaking facilities, within an AVA within Santa Barbara County.  We also have the history: the earliest vineyards were planted within the boundaries of the AVA, and we also have Ballard as the first township in the Valley, along with Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, and Solvang.  It’s more reminiscent of Europe’s appellation model where you have little towns inside them.”  Brander goes on to share that the next step in the AVA process is for the petition to come up for public comment, which will likely occur this summer.  If all goes according to plan, it should be finalized and approved by the end of 2014.

A map of the pending Los Olivos AVA
A map of the pending AVA

Santa Barbara County has seen an explosion of AVAs in the last 10 years, though unlike many areas established through the AVA system, which seem to have marketing as their raison d’etre, the division of our growing region has been firmly rooted in science and site character, with the goal of giving consumers an idea of the style and sense of place in the bottle. “If we can subdivide the Santa Ynez Valley into the AVAs needed to fill out the puzzle, I think it’s better off for the consumer,” says Brander.  “Besides this AVA, we need AVAs to demarcate the areas north of us, like Foxen Canyon and Los Alamos.  But I think we’re certainly advancing the ball more than we were 15 or 20 years ago.”  The Los Olivos District certainly has my vote, and I look forward to seeing the further discovery and refinement of this AVA in the coming decades.

Get On the Good Foot: Happy Canyon’s Primal Funk

January 21, 2014

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I vividly remember the first time I tasted a Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc.  It was 2008, on a breezy Sta. Rita Hills afternoon, in the Dierberg tasting room.  In my narrow-minded view at the time, I was more interested in checking out their Pinots; my affection for Sauvignon Blanc was reserved almost entirely for Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.  The tasting began with a Sauvignon Blanc from their Star Lane Estate, which I was expecting to be, like so many California Sauvignon Blancs, pleasant but no more. Sticking my nose in the glass, however, was a whiplash-inducing double take experience.  Exotic tropical fruits (guava, papaya); a distinctive herbal character (Shiso leaf perhaps?); flowers galore; acid for days; yet underneath all of this exuberant varietal  and climate-induced character was a mineral presence I had never experienced in New World Sauvignon Blanc.

Their tasting notes referred to it as “wet gravel.”  Yeah, sure, that was there, but it went deeper.  This was wild, animal, and primal.  As with all great wines, it was clear this came from a special place.  Soon after, I took a drive out on Happy Canyon Road, spying the great, dramatic vineyards of this place from afar: Vogelzang, Happy Canyon Vineyard, Westerly (now McGinley), and of course, Star Lane.  Further research showed the source of this unique character: ancient, magnesium-rich serpentine soils laced with chert.

Since that first encounter I’ve tasted numerous Sauvignon Blancs from Happy Canyon, and have found this mineral presence, in greater or lesser amounts, in just about every wine.  There have been some truly stellar examples from the area that showcase this site character, and I am amazed at the quality coming out of such a young region (20 years is “old vines” here).  Yet the most exciting thing about Happy Canyon is that no one has really nailed it yet.  And to be present in the midst of so much experimentation, so much adventurousness, devoted to this tiny region, is truly thrilling.

One school of thought seems to favor treating the area like the Loire Valley, picking early, emphasizing the high acid (for the geeks: even at very high brix, pH can still be 3.1 or 3.2 here), showcasing that minerality, putting the tropical fruit character in the background, and using neutral or no oak.  Producers such as Lieu Dit, Ojai, and Habit are crafting wines of incredible purity, laced with that HC funk and structured for mid-term aging.

Another approach is to take cues from Bordeaux Blanc, utilizing barrel fermentation and aging, often with a fair amount of new wood, later/riper picking, and even incorporating a bit of Semillon into the mix.  These wines are lush and lavish, typically needing bottle age to shed the more overt wood and get to the mineral core.  Dragonette’s bottlings, particularly their Vogelzang Vineyard, are beautiful iterations of the style.  Doug Margerum’s small production “D” and Fiddlehead’s various cuvees are other powerful examples.  Aged bottles from these producers show style married to site in distinctive fashion.

Perhaps the most exciting for me are those taking a uniquely Californian approach: influences from the Loire, Bordeaux, and Marlborough, along with a Friulian/Slovenian inspiration in the form of skin contact and/or fermentation, joined to other subtle techniques borrowed or dreamt.  This is a style that has a high degree of difficulty, but the risks are rewarded in the form of incredibly complex wines.  Star Lane is one of my personal favorites in this genre: they vary their skin contact dependent on the vintage; wines are sometimes fermented in oak, sometimes not; stainless steel is utilized in the form of both barrels and large tanks; lees are occasionally stirred; basically a melting pot to capture every possible facet of this site in a cohesive package.  In each vintage since I initially tried their estate Sauvignon Blanc, they have tinkered with their approach, with each year further amplifying the intense serpentine funk of this very special place.

The other practitioner of this style that I am greatly anticipating is Roark.  Ryan Roark received Happy Canyon Sauv Blanc for the first time in 2013, and had the opportunity to do a couple of different picks.  I recently tasted these with Ryan out of barrel, and was blown away.  One selection, picked early for acid and intensity, and aging as we speak in neutral oak, showcases the wet stone minerality and herbal/floral character capable here.  The other selection gave me goosebumps: fully skin fermented, it didn’t show the sameness that can often occur with skin fermented whites; rather, this magnified that primal funk with amazing power and weight, like someone crafted a cocktail from rocks and guava.  If he can get the marriage of these two picks into the bottle with that same intensity, it may very well be a benchmark for the area.

If you have not experienced a Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc, run to your nearest wine shop and start exploring, as these are some of the most visceral, exhilarating wines coming out of California right now.  For me, this is the essence of everything great about New World wine culture: a new region, still being discovered, capable of delivering an experience found nowhere else in the world.

The French Connection

November 25, 2013

“This is a wonderful Pinot Noir, it’s very Burgundian”… “I think you’ll really enjoy this Syrah, it’s a dead ringer for something from the Northern Rhone”… “Their Chardonnay is beautiful, it drinks just like a great Chablis”.  We’ve all heard these comments (and I’m certainly guilty of uttering them) in regards to Californian wines.  It’s almost as if the greatest compliment we can pay a balanced wine from the New World is that it tastes like something from the Old World.  After almost 30 years of high-alcohol, ultra-ripe wines, it’s understandable that those of us championing this return to wines of balance and place would want to connect the dots to Europe’s more classically structured, subdued wines.  But if we expect to stand head to head with, rather than on the shoulders of, these old world giants, we have to start proudly owning our unique sense of place.

Santa Barbara County, despite its youth, has already carved out numerous small micro-regions with their own distinct site character.  Santa Maria Valley, Santa Maria Bench, Los Alamos Valley, Sta. Rita Hills, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, Ballard Canyon, and the Los Olivos District all have distinctive soils, macroclimates, and topography found only in this special part of the world, and the producers advocating for these areas, now more than ever, are capturing their idiosyncratic essence.

Take Justin Willett.  The winemaker behind Tyler, Lieu Dit, and Vallin (does he ever sleep?!?) is crafting wines at refreshingly low alcohols, with a vivid savor of place.  While his inspiration comes from Burgundy (Tyler), the Loire (Lieu Dit), and the Northern Rhone (Vallin), the wines could clearly have come from nowhere else but California.  The beet root and black pepper of his Bien Nacido Pinot Noir from Santa Maria; the guava, papaya, and musk notes of the Lieu Dit Sauvignon Blanc from Happy Canyon; the lush blueberry and cracked pepper of Vallin’s Santa Ynez Syrah; these are wines that stand on their own as benchmark examples of what our area is capable of.

Or sample the Grenache of Angela Osborne.  It comes from Santa Barbara Highlands, a vineyard so remote and wild that it feels like stepping onto the moon; 3200 ft. elevation, soils so sandy that they look like a dune, scrub dotting the landscape, snow in the winter.  This is a place with real character, from a winemaker who has tapped so deeply into her own wavelength that she’s essentially a genre of one.  Tasting this wine, one senses the feral high desert in its origins, the California sunshine, the passion of a woman walking the vinous tightrope with no harness; the essence of what this new movement is all about.

And let us not forget our pioneers, the wild ones who started on this path of balance and never strayed from it even when fashion swung away from them.  Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat; Lane Tanner; Adam Tolmach at Ojai; Stephan Bedford; Fred Brander; they have helped shepherd and inspire this new generation, and are still making beautiful wines, further defining what makes our region so special.

It is a thrilling time to be a wine lover in Santa Barbara County.  We have one of the most unique growing regions on the planet, with incredible soils, a huge range of climates, and topography to make any European envious.  And now, in a big way, we have a wine culture that is starting to take proud ownership of this utterly singular sense of place.  Perhaps one day, years from now, we will hear jealous murmurs in Burgundy: “Have you tried this?  It tastes just like a Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills…”

Fried Chicken & Cremant? Norm from Flying Goat shares his pairing secrets

March 6, 2019

It’s true – Norm swears on his Sparkling Crémant as an excellent pairing with fried chicken! (This ‘secret’ works with most sparkling, but when the winemaker himself tells you to pair Colonel Sanders and Flying Goat, you should listen!)

So what’s the story behind the name Flying Goat?

While relaxing in his backyard sharing his newly bottled Central Coast Pinot Noir with friends and family, the question of what to name it kept coming up. As they sat with Pinot in hand, Norm’s pygmy goats playfully flew through the air, it became apparent that they were calling out to get some kind of recognition– Flying Goat Cellars was born. drawing of flying goat in sky

Norm’s career began in the steps of his college roommate, who discovered a winemaking program from the University of California at Davis. While Norm graduated with an unrelated degree, he found winemaking as his muse to transform, as he put it, “from a beer-drinking football player into a winemaker.”

Since UC Davis, Norm has left his signature on wines made from cool-climate vineyards, from Alexander & Napa valleys in Northern California, Willamette Valley in Oregon, to our local Central Coast. After being a highly recognized and respected winemaker for Foley and other wineries throughout his career, he now chooses to focus his energy on his own label which has always been about Pinot Noirs and Sparkling wines.

A tour of Central Coast Vineyards in a single Winery

In the spirit of his 38 years working the vines of cool climate vineyards, Flying Goat sources their grapes from the local sites with the longest ripening seasons, maximizing the quality of the crisp Pacific Ocean breeze. Flying Goat owns no vineyards, a specific style choice by Norm in the spirit of collaboration, trusting the esteemed producers he sources from to tend the soil and grapes that make their way to his bottles. Norm was one of the first winemakers to source Pinot Noir from the classic Santa Maria Valley AVA, Dierberg Vineyard almost two decades ago. Likewise, Flying Goat was one of the first “Rio Vista Vineyard” labeled wines back in 2003, and is the source of the famous ‘Clone 2a’ Pinot Noir, sourced from the far east lip of the Sta. Rita AVA.Norm Flying Goat opening bottle of wine

Like so many of our local winemakers, Norm’s intent in winemaking is to make food-friendly pairings. He loves the Goat Bubbles Crémant paired with chicken, key lime pie, or a savory brunch. Both the Clone 2a Pinot Noir and the Dierberg Pinot Noir are great with Beef, mushrooms, and root vegetables.

When Norm is not tending to making his wine, he can be found working at the Flying Goat & Goat Bubbles tasting room in Lompoc, a not-to-be-missed stop on the Lompoc Wine Ghetto tour.

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