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The late summer heat spell in 2004 ripened absolutely gorgeous clusters of Zinfandel about a month earlier than normal (a record for Wildrose Vineyard) to yield a wine with clean yet bountiful red berry flavor backed by a hint of spice. The initiated know this is an ideal wine with holiday foods, and perhaps one of the most versatile food wines for the ensuing spring and summer. Truly a perfect “weekday dinner” or barbecue wine.

This Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a small very sandy section of our Lafond Vineyards. These grapes were planted in 1972. The wine is an excellent example of a cool region Cabernet with intense flavors and varietal characteristics. There are very few remaining Cabernet vineyards in Santa Barbara County and these tend to be from older vines, such as ours, and they produce some exceptional wines.

Capitalizing on forward fruit and mid-weight structure, Bruce used neutral puncheons for barrel aging thus preserving the bright fruit character of the finished wine. This particular blend of Pinot Noir clones makes a food friendly wine suitable for pairing with roast chicken, grilled fish, and a wide variety of pasta dishes.

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 and growing conditions. Supple flavors, mouth pleasing weight, and good fruit intensity enhanced by 100% 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.

In 2004, small yields and terrific flavor concentration allowed Winemaker Bruce McGuire to choose a range of residual sugars to finish the wines. This, our dry style, shows off the body and complex flavors highlighting peach and nectarine backed by a firm, mineral finish to make for a very food friendly wine. Aging for six months in neutral barrels sur lie adds to the weight of the wine. Often described as a “sipping wine” we recommend trying this Riesling with Asian Cuisine or white meats such as pork or turkey.

As we learn more about this wine, we are finding plenty of exciting food pairings from angel hair pasta with a light tomato garlic sauce to much heartier foods. This is also a great wine to taste with a wide variety of artisan cheeses.

Negrette traces its origins to the warm climate area north of Toulouse in southwestern France where it is known for its dark color and fragrant berry aroma and flavor. The warmer climate around Los Olivos combined with a relatively long growing season yields a Negrette with interesting flavor and a touch more complexity than one usually finds with this grape. This second vintage is showing more structure than the first and the dark berry quality is much denser. Bruce made eight barrels, three of which were new American and Hungarian oak. Still a youngster, the wine will benefit from about an hour of airtime and gives every indication that it will be a welcome guest around the table in the summer of 2005.

The cool 2003 vintage, marked by long hang time for the fruit, saw these grapes being harvested in the middle of October. Bruce waited for ripe flavors before picking at a harvest sugar of 24.9 Brix. The third crop of Primitivo from the Joughin Vineyard, this wine is now showing more mature flavors and concentration of fruit. No longer a precocious little wine, Primitivo is aging with style and grace and fast becoming a staff favorite according to cellar master Bert. It would also appear that the Los Olivos area of the Santa Ynez Valley is turning out to be a terrific place to grow Primitivo. This is a terrific wine to experiment with a wide range of flavors and cheeses, we feel the list of food pairings is rather large. Eat, drink, and contemplate.

The fine vintage of 2001 saw Bruce directing a precision harvest using two different days at the end of November to pick only grape clusters optimally affected by botrytis in their desiccated glory so that these raisins could be foot stomped by the hearty winery crew; creating a sticky mess that was the happier for being tread on rather lightly by our feet rather than brutalized by a heartless machine. The sticky mess was allowed to cold soak for days, not hours, and placed into barrels made of French oak, almost three quarters of which were of new wood, for two months past a year in an successful effort to add to the complexity of the finished wine that is such a delightful alternative to heavy desserts or as an accompaniment to fruit tarts or bread pudding and will age gracefully for a multitude of years. This information on this wine of great value brought to you with apologies to Papa.

A late harvest wine made from botrytized Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Botrytis, which grows on the grape itself, does not develop every year. The Botrytis concentrates both sugar and flavor. Under ideal conditions the harvest sugar will be from 2 to 3 times the normal harvest sugars. Like our other white wines it is fermented and aged in oak puncheons until ready for bottling.

The long, cool growing year of 2001 again saw Bruce waiting till the end of the first week of November to finish the Zinfandel harvest. A very good fruit set in the Spring and a lack of early rain gave us very good yields in this block...something we had not seen since 1993. Our “cool-climate” Zinfandel rewards us with superb flavor concentration marked by intense raspberry character forward in the mouth and black pepper spice on the finish. A versatile food wine, it is a welcome match with hearty fare such as grilled meats, spicy sausages, and good old American BBQ.

Early in his tenure at Santa Barbara Winery, Bruce had observed some Zinfandel bunches shriveling and drying out while staying free of rot. Mindful of the terrific forward fruit and the firm acid structure courtesy of the cool climate, Bruce made his first batch of Zinfandel Essence in the 1980's. Because the Fall of 2001 was sunny and dry, Bruce waited until November 25th to pick the Zinfandel raisins that were then foot stomped to gently release juice and start the fermentation. After pressing, the juice was cold fermented in stainless steel to retain maximum fruit character.

The second dry year of a drought cycle combined with sunny conditions late in the year to enable Winemaker Bruce McGuire to craft an amazing example of his Zinfandel Essence. Seven acres of Zinfandel were planted in the Lafond Vineyard back in 1972, before the cool climate nature of the surroundings was completely understood. Big, forward raspberry fruit that seems more intense than traditional Zinfandel from warmer climates is the hallmark of our Zinfandel and genesis of the inspiration for a late harvest style from these grapes. In 2003, our Zinfandel vines were starting to show their age as they were "shutting down" prior to the grapes being ready for harvest. While this was part of the reason the fruit dehydrated nicely for Zinfandel Essence, it was clear the vines were at the end of their viticultural lives. Indeed, in 2004 and 2005 the harvest was paltry from our Zinfandel with no possibility for Essence. As cellar master Burt always says, "out with a bang!". This is the last vintage of this wine as the only Zinfandel in the Santa Rita Hills now passes on to history. And what a last vintage it is, huge concentrated flavor combine with impeccable acid/sugar balance to make a powerful dessert wine perfect for the contemplation of things past. Cold, stainless steel fementation preserved maximum fruit character setting the stage for enjoyment with all things chocolate.

The low vigor area of our 28-year-old self-rooted vines is the tiny area Winemaker Bruce McGuire earmarks for his Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Relying on a combination of well drained sandy soil and warm late summer weather, Bruce is able to harvest ripe fruit showing fully developed Cabernet flavors. An oddity in an area considered too cold for growing Cabernet Sauvignon, ours is the only patch of this variety in the Santa Rita Hills. The cool climate yields a multitude of classic Cabernet flavors with soft tannins yet firm acidity. A thirty day maceration of the skins further integrates tannins into the structure of the wine. Bruce then ages the wine in an assortment of French, Hungarian and American oak (50% new barrels) for 17 months to add to the complexity of the finished wine. The supple structure of our Reserve Cabernet invites near term drinking with savory food such as hearty risotto or lamb.

In 2004, Winemaker Bruce McGuire selected the Wente Clone section and other select blocks from our Lafond Vineyard for the Reserve blend. Harvest followed a third consecutive dry winter that contributed to a small crop marked by very small but highly flavored berries. Bruce picked right in the middle of September as the grapes became ripe over a eight day period. We find this full-bodied style to be an ideal match with hearty, rich foods like salmon, pork roast and of course, lobster.

This off-dry Riesling was grown along the north bank of the Santa Ynez River in the oldest section of our Lafond Vineyard. Planted in 1972, these vines were an early indicator of the quality wines that were to be produced from this area. The long, cool growing season enables Winemaker Bruce McGuire to pick at optimum ripeness with the firm acidity required to balance the 2.4% residual sugar he leaves in the finished wine. In 2005, the last of the Riesling was harvested on October 15th, the same day as the previous year. The fruit intensity from these low yield vines combined with a long cool fermentation in stainless steel results in a firm wine showing off concentrated, exotic flavors. Because Riesling embraces spicy hot foods, it is a great choice for many Thai dishes and Indian curries. The aging ability of this wine is also noteworthy, we have found ten year old Riesling from our vineyard to exhibit outstanding bottle age character and fruit intensity.Our production staff (“Riesling” Dan in particular) are very enthusiastic about this vintage and are looking forward to cellaring it for 2008 and beyond.

The delicious forward flavors found in cool-climate Syrah are evident in this bottling from the Santa Rita Hills. We find the flavor from cool climate Syrah to be “front end loaded” with a burst of luscious berry fruit easing to spicy complexity as opposed to warm-climate Syrah with its ripe, jammy flavors weighted toward the back of the mouth. This grape is one of very few that allows the winemaker to make a very good wine in different climatic settings. Naturally, this attribute makes Syrah a good choice for “brown bag” tastings amongst friends to determine which style is favored. Winemaker Bruce McGuire selected young vines growing in heavier soils to craft a easy to drink Syrah that shows off forward dark berry flavors and a hint of white pepper spice. Aging in neutral barrels enhances the vibrant fruit making this an easy wine to pair with grilled meats or wash rind cheeses such as Taleggio.

A third dry winter in a row forced the vines into a small crop load and the long cool growing season set the stage for excellent flavor concentration. Another twist in 2004 was a late season heat wave which translated to more forward fruit flavors in the finished wine. The result is wine that is more approachable at an earlier age Winemaker Bruce McGuire chose this bottling from eight vineyard sites up to 21 years old and from six different Pinot Noir clones. The wine was aged in an assortment of French and Hungarian oak barrels and puncheons. Herbed meats, grilled salmon, truffle pecorino, and sautéed mushroom medley are all exciting companions for this wine.

Winemaker Bruce McGuire has found a great section of Syrah in our neighbor’s vineyard for making a fine, off-dry rose. Syrah is a difficult wine to make into a rose, but Bruce found that if he destemmed the hand sorted fruit and let the juice and skins soak overnight followed by a light pressing the next day, the resulting wine showed off a stunning rose’ color. Cool, stainless steel fermentation retains the exotic, perfumed fruit and firm acidity courtesy of the cold climate Santa Rita Hills. This wine is a perfect match with a Mediterranean lunch, seafood, or salads featuring tangy and sweet flavors.

This blend is weighted toward the cool, Santa Rita Hills (76%) with Andy Joughin’s Roblar Vineyard making up the warm climate component. The excellent low yield, concentrated vintage of 2002 had Bruce blending together four vineyards that were harvested over seven weeks; as each climate zone became ripe. This means that harvest starts “up valley” or to the East, and finishes in the Santa Rita Hills. The wine is 100% Syrah that was aged in a variety of oak, 30% new wood, for over a year. The 2002 exhibits a nice “meaty” character that makes it a natural with country cooking, grilled meats, and many strong, soft cheeses.

The Sauvignon Blanc landscape in California is resplendent with a wide variety of flavors and styles. Because this varietal can be successfully grown in a wide climate range, albeit showing different fruit qualities from different areas, one has to pay careful attention to clonal selection and site selection within the vineyard. In general, warmer areas are well suited to classic Bordeaux clones while cooler growing regions are better suited to exotic clones such as our Musque clone of Sauvignon Blanc.

Our Sauvignon Blanc is a very useful wine to pair with light or spicy foods found in Pacific Rim cuisine. A favorite pairing is with Thai dishes like we find at Zen Yai restaurant located near the winery on State Street. This wine is also a great match for many seafood preparations and salads.

Vintage 2002 was once again harvested in November, over four days. That very long growing season allowed Bruce to pick at exceptional levels of flavor, acid, and sugar. The “cool climate” character of our Cabernet Sauvignon is what makes this wine stand out from the crowd and is the reason for its popularity amongst a small but loyal following. Certain flavors found in all Cabernet Sauvignons are highlighted in our climate. Red sweet bell pepper, tobacco and cigar box, as well as an earthy component that age will develop into rich chocolate are all accented in the Lafond Vineyard. The gentle soft tannins that also mark our climate help to smooth these complex flavors out. Best of all, these qualities make our Cabernet a great bottle to open with hearty food and grilled meats especially lamb.

The cool climate yields a multitude of classic Cabernet flavors with soft tannins and firm acidity. A thirty-four day maceration of the skins further integrates tannins into the structure of the wine. Bruce then aged a nine barrel assortment of French, Hungarian and American oak (44% new barrels) for 15 months to add to the complexity of the finished wine. The supple structure of our Reserve Cabernet invites near term drinking with savory food such as hearty risotto or lamb.

In this synergistic blend, the Zinfandel from 45 year old vines lends the jammy fruit quality to the wine, the Carignane from 81 year old vines adds density and finish, and the Sangiovese from younger vines in San Luis Obispo shows off the cherry aromatics and flavors. Bruce buys the Zinfandel and Carignane from a vineyard in Lodi and the Sangiovese from San Miguel; of course both vineyards farm to his standards. Oak aging takes place in neutral barrels so as not to disturb the full fruit quality of ZCS. This is a very versatile and food friendly wine made to match a wide range of occasions and meals.