Santa Barbara County

In 1962 Canadian-born architect Pierre Lafond founded the first post-prohibition commercial winery in Santa Barbara County. Two years later, he located a winery facility on Anacapa Street, just two blocks from the Pacific Ocean. The 70 acres of estate vineyards are planted along the banks of the lower Santa Ynez River, a cool microclimate near the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara Winery has become an extremely visible and successful wine concern, winning many medals for an array of wines.

Chardonnay 2006 Santa Barbara County Over half of this wine comes from the Santa Rita Hills AVA, a cool climate region where Chardonnay is getting wide acclaim for fruit intensity and structure. The balance of the fruit is chosen from vineyards approved by Bruce for their viticultural practices. Supple flavours, mouth pleasing weight, and good fruit intensity enhanced by 58% barrel fermentation make this wine a good all around choice to satisfy a wide variety of foods. With enough structure to age for five to seven years, we think this wine is very enjoyable two years after the vintage year. This nicely balanced wine is a great choice for service with roast chicken, sea bass, and pasta. Try with a mixed fruit and nut platter featuring a selection of light to mild semi hard cheeses.

Santa Barbara Syrah 2006 Santa Ynez Valley Winemaker Bruce McGuire is an early pioneer in blending Syrah grown throughout the west-east traverse of the Santa Ynez Valley. Because Syrah is proving to be the rare example of a varietal that can be grown in all the temperature zones found in the valley, blending vineyards becomes an intriguing endeavor. The year after Bruce grafted the first Syrah in the Santa Rita Hills (1993) into the Lafond Vineyard, he noted the cool climate character of white pepper and complex lavender aromas were quite a bit more pronounced than even he had anticipated. Since these components are forward flavours, Bruce sought out Syrah grown in the warmer eastern end of the valley where the grape exhibits the jammy fruit and black pepper character experienced in the back of the mouth. In 2006, Bruce crafted a blend of about two-thirds cool climate Lafond Vineyard and neighboring Hill Top Ranch in the Santa Rita Hills with one-third warm climate Joughin Vineyard near Los Olivos. Most of the wine aged in small 60 gallon barrels as Syrah benefits from ample barrel aging. The yields were below average this vintage, but flavour concentration is above average...really a great year for quality notes Bruce. In the bottle, 2010 will see full flavour development but 2012 could be the real target for drinking. Pair with rustic fare, grilled meats, and washed rind cheeses. Santa Barbara 'Joughin Vineyard' Primitivo 2006 Looking for interesting grapes to plant in his Santa Ynez Valley vineyard, Mr. Andrew Joughin (Vineyard Manager for the Santa Barbara Winery) purchased the cuttings for this wine from vines originating in Italy. Primitivo is well known as the primary wine from the Puglia region of Italy where it was widely planted starting in the 1850s. Interestingly, recent genetic research has confirmed that Primitivo is a "sibling" to Zinfandel. Both grapes are descendants of Crljenak kastelanski from the Dalmatian coast in Croatia. Because of the similarities of climate in his Los Olivos area vineyard and the Puglia region, Andrew thought this would be an interesting selection as well as a very good food wine. 2001 saw the first bottling and the quality was immediately evident. Since Andrew only has one vineyard planted with Primitivo, the production quantity is small, in the order of 300 cases. The wine shows dark, rich black cherry and blackberry aromas. The palate is very richly textured and intensely flavoured, with a plush core of berry, licorice, herb, spice, toast and vanilla notes. Soft tannins and firm acidity frame it nicely. (Webmaster P.S. this wine is spectacular.) Visit Santa Barbara Winery. All wines are available by the unmixed case to Licensees and Private Consumers, subject to availability. Read the small print for more information.