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Pronunciation Guide

Santa Barbara County Wines

Janni and I love to go wine tasting in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley. We don’t go as often as we would like, but when we can grab some time to go, we do.

The 50 miles from Point Conception to the Rincon just east of Carpinteria constitute the only east-west traverse of shoreline from Alaska to Cape Horn and the Santa Ynez and San Rafael Mountains form a unique coastal range. The east-west running valleys open up to the Pacific Ocean, which allow the inland flow of fog and ocean breezes to make this region one of the coolest viticultural areas in California. All of the classic grape varietals can be grown in Santa Barbara County due to the many microclimates.

Within Santa Barbara County there are three distinct appellations:[1] the Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Rita Hills, comprising more than 20,000 acres of vineyards. Wine grapes are among the most valuable crops in the county. Most of the wineries are small businesses run by individuals or families, who make many contributions to the local community. In addition, the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association[2] hosts special events, the proceeds of which go in part to local nonprofit organizations.

Labels

American wine labels tell us several things. First, the growing region or viticultural area: California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Rita Hills. For some, a viticultural area is a major quality tag for a wine product. This designation means very little, however, unless we know which varietal grapes a particular growing region's reputation is built upon.

There are a number of vineyards within each growing region that are well known, sometimes for a particular varietal, other times, for the overall quality of all varietals coming from that particular vineyard. If you see a vineyard designation on a label like Bien Nacido, Aliso, Vogelzang, or Sanford and Benedict, chances are it's a great vineyard, especially known for the varietal used in that wine.

Usually we see the varietal name of the grape used to produce a particular wine. Sometimes instead of seeing designations such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, we see something like "Cuvee" or "Meritage." These and other words are used to designate "blends" of two or more varietals when no one varietal comprises at least 75% of the content.

Some labels say "Estate" or "Estate Bottled." This means a winery is located in, and gets all of its grapes to produce a particular wine from, a common viticultural area from vineyards that it owns or controls.

Finally, you may see "Reserve" or "Proprietor's Reserve." Legally, this doesn't mean or designate anything. Basically, it means whatever a particular winery wants it to mean. So you'll have to ask.

What follows is by no means an exhaustive list of wineries in Santa Barbara County. The groupings by area, however, will give you an idea of the varietals that grow in each area and how the various microclimates contribute to their success.[3]