The Wines

Kick-on Ranch - Riesling

This is a small vineyard located in western Los Alamos, close to the Vandenberg Air Force Base. The town of Los Alamos is wedged between the Santa Maria Valley and the Santa Ynez Valleys in Santa Barbara County. Frigid winds coming off of the cold Pacific Ocean waters flow though this vineyard daily; helping to keep it cool and dry.  The owners allow me to do as much as the farming as I see fit, but I am lucky enough to have Jeff Frey doing most of the work. The soil is a very sandy loam. This is a younger site with a huge future due to its climate.  The wine I designate "Kick-on Ranch" gets the full "Austrian treatment', meaning some skin contact and aged in neutral wood.  The outcome is a wine with floral, and mineral aromas.  On the palette it exhibits citrus fruits, a wonderful salinity, and great length.  This is the most age worthy of all of my wines and I highly recommend decanting it.

Vandenberg - Riesling

This wine is a blend of multiple pickings from multiple sites in Santa Barbara County. A majority of the fruit comes from "Kick-on Ranch," while the rest comes from other older vineyards in the area.  Typically, the selection for Vandenberg are grapes with a higher percentage of Botrytis, or "Noble Rot."  The result is a richer more fruit driven wine. It has more of the stone fruit flavors often associated with Riesling, nice minerality, and some slight botrytis notes often expressed as honey, or pollen. The reason the wine is called Vandenberg is because the Kick-on Ranch is located about a mile from the Air Force Base with the same name. 

Kick-on Ranch - Riesling Clone 239

This new section shows how passionate the owner, Steve Lyons is about Riesling, pedigree, and having the best of something.  No one asked Steve to graft his Pinot to Riesling.  He simply overheard me rambling on how there was no more good Riesling to be had in Santa Barbara.  I had what I had at Kick-on Ranch, and the rest was sold out.  In fact, there was a long line to buy it in 2014 when I was scrambling.  Steve took it upon himself to offer me a once in a lifetime opportunity.  To graft Pinot Noir to a Riesling clone of my choice. 

Steinhügel - Riesling

Steinhügel is German for rock pile or cairn.  The grapes all come from the La Estancia Vineyard.   The vineyard is loaded with decomposed granite from the mountains behind Big Sur.  There are two German clones, each with its own picking date and two cuvées.  Each pick is separated into two versions: a direct whole cluster pressing and an overnight macerated pressing.  Steinhügel is an example of what I love so much about Riesling.  It is loaded with generous fruit, layered with long textures, and energized with vibrant acidity. 

Oliver's - Riesling

Oliver’s vineyard is most famous for being one of the Talley family’s prime holdings for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  Unknown to most, however, is the fact that they have a micro amount of Riesling on this vineyard.  It grows on a wind exposed section of diablo series clay and chert.  Natural low yields and essentially dry-farmed make for an intense wine.  I love how the bright aromatics of this wine are held by a strong acid core on the palate.

For three generations the Talley family has farmed in Coastal San Luis Obispo County, a tradition that began in 1948 when Oliver Talley founded Talley Farms and started growing vegetables in the Arroyo Grande Valley.  In short order, Oliver came to be recognized for the exceptional quality of the vegetables he grew, especially bell peppers.  After witnessing the success of wine growing in the neighboring Edna Valley, Oliver's son, Don Talley, became convinced of the potential for growing high-quality wine grapes on the steep hillsides above Talley Farms.  He planted a small test plot in 1982 on the west hillside of the Rincon Vineyard. 

Sisquoc - Riesling

Rancho Sisquoc is a huge property (38,000 acres) and by no means is it all planted to vineyards. They grow flowers, fruit trees, raise cattle, and some of the land is just left wild. The Riesling is planted on a low northern faced riverbed of loam, silt, and cobblestones. It is on its own roots and the vines now 40 years of age.  It is a silky textured wine with nice stone fruits, citrus, and a hint of petroleum.  

Lafond - Riesling

Planted in 1972 by Pierre Lafond, this wine has a special place in my history.  It was the first Riesling site I worked with at Santa Barbara Winery in the mid 90's.  The vines are planted just above the Santa Ynez Riverbank on sandy loam, and silt soils.  This wine offers intense floral aromas and a combination of wet rock, stone fruit, and citrus flavors.  In the past few years, this extreme site has offered just under one ton per acre.

Paragon - Grüner Veltliner 

Paragon Vineyard is sustainably farmed and sits on a west facing slope just a couple miles inland from the Pacific Ocean; it grows on a soil structure of marl, quartz, and limestone.  It exhibits green fruit flavors such as cucumber, green papaya, and celery salt. On the front pallet it shows its tremendous acidity but finishes with more of an oily texture. The lower alcohol and bracing acidity make this Grüner Veltliner a great Spring and Summer sipper. 

Meeresboden - Grüner Veltliner

The name translates to "Ocean Soil", in this case, sand.  This wine is blended from several small plantings along hillsides in Santa Barbara County.  The common thread besides all being cool climate sites is that they share a similar soil structure of sand, diatomaceous earth, and loam.  Meeresboden is balanced with stone fruit, and yellow citrus flavors, as well as a salty, kelp-like minerality.  Young, this wine is bright and racy, with age it becomes silky and more honeyed. 

Santa Barbara County - Pinot Noir

This Pinot Noir is a blend of multiple clones and vineyards in, and around the Sta. Rita Hills appellation of Santa Barbara.  All the vineyards are sustainably farmed, and hand harvested. Each clone is harvested separately and fermented in small batches.  Whenever possible We implement the use of whole cluster fermentation due to the aromatic lift and palate feel it gives.  About 50% of this wine was fermented this way.  Vinification was executed with an emphasis on minimal extraction. It is a goal to try to retain non fruit flavors and vintage character.  These flavors are easily hidden by the more common California practice of heavy extraction.  We only punchdown once per day during primary fermentation, and then gently pressed.  From this point on, the wine is only moved with gravity.  Malo occurred late in the following Spring.  All the lots were aged for 11 months in French oak, of which 10% was new.  Minimal SO2 is used.  The wine was bottled without finning or filtration.

Küstennebel – Pinot Noir

Küstennebel means “Coastal fog” in German.  It is named this for the foggy conditions which are prevalent in the Santa Rita Hills.  It is made in the typical Tatomer style of less-is-more.  By that I mean low extraction, minimal but careful and intentional handling.  However, this wine clearly illustrates that sometimes there just is “more” to certain wines.  More fruit, more silky tannins, and a bit more of an exotic note.  With this wine I am trying to emphasize the Sta. Rita Hills character of supple fruit, velvety texture, and salinity.  This cuvée is more on the hedonistic side of things from within our cellar while remaining firmly in our European sense of balance.

Kick-on Ranch – Pinot Noir

Kick-on Ranch is a small vineyard located to the northwest of Sta. Rita Hills in California. It is one of the coldest and windiest sites in Santa Barbara County. The soil is Betteravia sandy loam. All the grapes are harvested by hand and then trucked the winery a few miles away. Each year, I get about 3 tons total off 1.5 acres. The grapes are split between two fermenters, one that is entirely destemmed, and one that is left whole cluster. Most other producers fear going whole cluster with Kick-on Ranch, but I beg to differ. It creates a wine that is more savory than fruity, and I love this! I gently punched the must down once per day for two weeks. It was then pressed to mostly neutral barrels with about 33% new oak where it rested on the grosses lees for 6 months until finally being racked and sulfured for the first time. The wine rests for 5 more months when it is racked again and bottled two days later. The goal is simple; low intervention with the intention of expressing a wonderful vineyard through the lens of Pinot Noir. Nothing fancy, just authentic.

Sanford & Benedict – Pinot Noir

Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is one of the most historic sites in all of Santa Barbara County. In 1971 Botanist Michael Benedict and his friend Richard Sanford were committed to finding a cool climate region and location with just enough heat accumulation to ripen, but not over ripen, wine grapes. When this fruit came into the winery for the first time, it just wowed us.  It felt like we could do anything.  In continuing with the Tatomer tradition where less is more, we opted to let it speak to us, let it sing its song.  Minimal extraction, and a healthy dose of whole cluster fermentation was implemented.  The wine fermented long and cool.  The wine was gently pressed to mostly one year old barrels (the sweet spot).  This wine clearly shows its pedigree