Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County |
| Many of you will be already familiar with the style of the Lafond wines since they share many of the same vineyards, barrels and winemaker with the Santa Barbara Winery. Indeed, the Santa Barbara and Lafond whites are produced in the Santa Barbara Winery while the reds for both properties are produced at the Lafond Winery just outside of Buelton (anyone seen Sideways...). From the early 1960s when the Santa Barbara Winery was established, Canadian born owner Pierre Lafond's goal was to open a second winery that bore his name and reflected more specifically the rich and varied terroir of the Santa Rita Hills appellation (SRH). At the end of the 1990's he was able to realize his dream with the release of the first wines under the Lafond Winery name. Lafond wines are made in small parcels - single vineyards lots of 350 cases and slightly larger quantities of approximately 1,000 cases from fruit harvested exclusively from vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills, designated SRH. |
 Lafond Santa Rita Hills Syrah 2006The 'SRH' designation on the Lafond label signals Winemaker Bruce McGuire's intent to blend a selection of vineyards located in the Santa Rita Hills AVA. Located in the western end of the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Rita Hills is a cold climate region where grapes benefit from a very long growing season. With the Syrah harvest commonly stretching into the last half of November, we are finding impressive complexity and intensity in the wines as a result of the unusually long hang time in the vineyard. After the bountiful 2005 harvest, the Syrah vines rested a little. Between the smaller harvest and Bruce's strict selection criteria from within the Lafond Vineyard and the neighbouring Hill Top Ranch Vineyard, the production of the 2006 was down by 550 cases. The wine shows the beginnings of being a big Syrah, needing time to integrate in the bottle to show off the concentrated fruit and intense flavours. Bruce's selection of seventeen vineyard lots from multiple Syrah clones has really paid off in a powerful expression of fruit from aroma to finish. This Syrah shows the "cool-climate" character found in Syrah grown in the Santa Rita Hills. Flavours are marked by forward dark berry, violets, and terrific white pepper spice intensity. This wine will integrate nicely in the bottle before early 2009 and will continue to be very impressive into 2012. One of our favourite wines for pairing with hearty fare and grilled foods, this wine is also fun to match with cheese such as Taleggio. "Has great aromatics. Zesty, tangy and vibrant, with sour cranberry and pomegranate notes that are tart and focused, ending with a vibrant aftertaste. Drink now through 2011. 1,953 cases made." 88 points, Wine Spectator, Feb 2008 |
 Lafond Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2006Rising in the middle of the western Santa Ynez Valley, the Santa Rita Hills (SRH) are the distinguishing feature of the AVA, home of Lafond Vineyard and a wonderful area to grow Pinot Noir. The long, very cool growing season of this area is exemplified by February bud break and September harvest, a long period for vine physiology. This long growing season is what imparts the complexity of flavour and fruit intensity to the Pinot Noir. A tremendous amount of effort has gone into fine tuning the vineyard to coax this fickle grape into producing the exotic, elusive flavours only pampered Pinot Noir will reveal. Bruce McGuire chooses very specific sites in the vineyard for each of his Pinot Noir selections. Several different Pinot Noir clones, some planted as early as 1983, add to the palette of flavour and texture from which to craft each Pinot Noir. In 2006, Bruce chose 6 clones from 16 vineyard lots (Lafond Vineyard and the nearby Arita Hills Vineyard) picked at ripeness over a two week period. The Pinot Noir harvest in 2006 was exactly one month later than in 2005, September 23rd to October 23rd. The wine was aged in French oak from Burgundy (20% new) and bottled August, 2007. The complexity of flavour found in Pinot Noir from Lafond Winery is a wonderful match with savoury foods and a classic with grilled salmon or mushrooms. | |||
| Visit Lafond Winery. |
| All wines are available by the unmixed case to Licensees and Private Consumers, subject to availability. |
| Read the small print for more information. |