Report from the Santa Ynez valley
The Santa Ynez valley is located just over the first range of mountains from the ocean in Santa Barbara County in Southern California.
I was incredibly impressed by the winemaking happening in the valley. I will readily admit to being turned off of California over the last few years primarily due to the Napa influence (which is the bulk of what we get in Ontario). Just only so much of the repetitive Napa cab and chard style that you can drink at astronomical prices before you are turned off.
Driving over the pass into the valley on the 154 from Santa Barbara sets you off to a great start. The views are incredible. There is a clear division of labour between growers and producers in the valley - from my discussions driven primarily by land value that pushes small producers (the majority from what I witnessed) into grape contracts and purchasing instead of vineyard ownership and farming. Though there are exceptions where producers hold contracts on specific vineyard blocks and are actively engaged in the vineyard and vine management. The bigger multibrand producers are certainly capable of vineyard ownership.
The soil, rock, altitude and climate differences across the valley are extreme which leads to some fascinating results in the wines. The number of varieties being played with is highly impressive, and I really enjoyed seeing how the producers experiment with the same single varietal across different terroir. It provides a tasting dream for a wine nerd with an interest in terroir. The French influence is definitive, particularly the number of producers leaning into Rhone styles. No use of American oak anywhere that I encountered. And there is such a connection with the farming and preservation of the land and what it produces - so much leaning in on sustainability, biodynamics, and low intervention winemaking.
The Santa Rita hills area sits closest to the ocean and with its east/west orientation gets both high winds and cool weather from the Pacific. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are prevalent, but I found the Syrah being grown in this area really interesting - almost a Northern Rhone style but not. The soil and rock is fascinating. I had never seen vines grown in silica rock before. White in colour and incredibly light (almost like picking up a piece of styrofoam) it is what gives a unique characteristic to the wines of this area.
The standout producers for me were Dragonette and Story of Soil. Absolutely incredible wines. I also went to the Hilt (producer of both the Hilt and Jonata brands), so during my stay I was able to taste 3 variations of Pinot from the Bentrock and Radian vineyards, and also Syrah from the same cool climate vineyard (all owned by the Hilt). Both Dragonette and Story of Soil source Pinot and Syrah from those Hilt vineyards, so between the 3 producers you get some really interesting style variation. I did a library tasting at the Hilt and was blown away by their Jonata Sangiovese from 2005. But I probably liked the Dragonette and Story of Soil Pinots more than the Hilt version from the same vineyard.
Holus Bolus was also good, though for a small producer probably spread a little thin across multiple brands. Their Joy Fantastic wines were most impressive, but I also think that the vineyard costs out close to the ocean are making it a potential economic liability to the winery, so it may have an end date not far off. I was less than blown away by Tercero and found a lot of their wines have a really poor finish. Clearly he's going at a funkier style that wasn't really working for me.
Los Olivos is a convenient spot to taste a lot of wine on foot with all of the small tasting shops - a definite bonus for this region.
Overall an impressive region that is now added to my "to follow" list. I'll be back.
