I recently returned from a trip to Napa, where I noticed their prices are 60–80% higher than ours! One winery’s pricing shocked me: their club members pay more for the wine because their selections are “privileged”. In Santa Barbara County, recognition is harder to come by, but we can certainly compete with them.

2023 Chardonnay “Goodchild Vineyard”: For the past 50 years, Chardonnay from Santa Maria has been exceptional. The Kendall-Jackson empire began with Santa Maria Chardonnay. The Tepusquet Vineyard, which I planted in 1970, supplied grapes to Kendall-Jackson, as well as to ZD and Au Bon Climat. This vintage delivers all the flavor needed for an outstanding Chardonnay. The alcohol is only 12.5%, proving that in a cool region, you can achieve greater maturity with less sugar due to a longer growing season. Cooler climates also mean less dehydration. A few years ago, Lane Tanner taught us a valuable lesson with Chardonnay made from our grapes, earning 95 points from Wine Enthusiast.

2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, “Valley View”: This is our original Cabernet, first made in 1999 with all five Bordeaux varieties. I was inspired by Cain Five, California’s first producer of a Cabernet blend with all five Bordeaux varieties. This is a classic blend in Bordeaux. Four of these varieties come from our warmer Valley View Vineyard. We grow Merlot in Los Alamos, where the cooler climate suits it. This vintage offers a complex nose, influenced by the five varieties. Still young, it will age well.

2020 Hidden Asset: Created through Megan’s magic! We worked four months to come up with a red blend that would be as good or better than the competition in the marketplace. The first thing we did was rule out Cabernet Sauvignon. Why? It has sharper tannins and takes longer to reach maturity. The marketplace is full of Cabs. Here we were really just concerned that it should taste good. That was our goal. We blended three softer varieties—Malbec, Merlot, and Syrah—with a touch of Petite Sirah and Cabernet Franc. We also left a small amount of residual sugar, about 0.5 g/L, as found in most competitive wines. Moral of the story - this one was made to make people happy.

Join us for our Summer Saturday in July, just after our biggest warehouse sale of the year, where I will be seated in a private section to entertain our VIPs (and maybe play Spin the Bottle! This line will tell me who’s reading our newsletter!). The Harvest Party in August will sell out early. The following day, we’ll focus on our Toccata wines with an Italian winemaker dinner at Toscana Enoteca in Solvang. We look forward to seeing you there!