Back in 2010 I had business in Goleta and visited SRH for the first time. I knew nothing of the area or the wines prior to the visit and was immediately enamored with them. I think it was a combination of the wines themselves, the area, and the discovery that all happened simultaneously. But over time, my interest in SRH pinot noir had decreased. My tastes evolved to wines that don’t seem as ripe or high in alcohol. Worse, some of the wines that I cellared from that first visit just didn’t hold up or at least weren’t the same to me now. I had largely written the area off and planned to just drink my few remaining bottles over the next couple of years and move on to other areas I like better.
But recently, I ended up back in Goleta on business again and had enough time to seek out a few producers that are focused on producing wines more in line with my current preferences. I don’t want to call them AFWE as they surely aren’t anti-flavor. But they avoided the big style that I no longer like, the one that tastes more like syrah than pinot. Most of the wines I tried and all that I purchased were under 14% alcohol with many below 13.5%. Also of interest is that most of the wines that I prefer come from the portion of SRH that is along Santa Rosa Road from Sanford to Radian.
The five producers that I visited were Tyler, Chanin/Lutum, Potek, Crawford Family, and Blair Fox. I liked the pinot from all of them unless it came from Rita’s Crown which still taste too big to me. I will say that I was less enthralled in the other wines I tasted. However, I did like the Chardonnays from both Tyler and Chanin/Lutum and a very nice Albariño from Crawford Family (2016).
Justin Willet, the owner and winemaker for Tyler, has just purchased the 40 acres to the east of us and planted a vineyard. Also a new vineyard you should try is Spear. Hilliard Bruce, whose vineyard is behind us to the west, makes Sky - a 13.5 alcohol from the Calera Clone. I had it last week at the winery and bought a case. You can see thru it and it tastes great. it is not a Parker Pinot.
As Stephen pointed out, there are many other wineries in the area doing things that would most likely fit what you are looking for - and some that probably will not.
You should search out Kessler Hawk’s pinots - their vineyard sits just west of Clos Pepe and Dan is making some killer wines
Domaine de la Cote is producing wines in the style that you prefer from vineyards in the western part of the area as well.
I wouldn’t write off entire swaths of the area just yet - you might be surprised what you’ll be missing
But one can probably say that about every region out there.
It’s possible to break down wine people into two camps; those who go deep in a few regions and those who drink broadly across a lot of regions. But even among the broadest of wine drinkers, I don’t know anyone who has the knowledge to navigate every region and find the wines they like especially from a region doesn’t hit their sweet spot. So everyone ends off writing offf some areas as there is just not enough time (or money) to really understand them all.
And if I wasn’t clear, I was stating that I’m not writing off SRH Pinot. I really enjoyed a number of them this last visit. I plan to purchase more of them once the shipping window opens in the fall since I could only carry back one case on the plane.
Tyler is definitely a favorite of mine from the area. Melville is worth checking out again. Chad Melville’s making the wines now and the alcohol appears to be dialing back on the newer vintages. I recently revisited and was pretty excited about the 2015 vintage of Terraces Pinot Noir.
Good recommendations above for Kessler Hawk and Hilliard Bruce. Wenzlau also seems to be a good emerging producer. Domaine de la Cote and Sandhi are other good examples of the style you might be looking for, although they’re both a little aggressive with stems IMO (at least as young wines). I’d also recommend checking out Zotovich.
As a long time resident of Santa Barbara, I was interested in your experience with the SRH Pinots as I have tastted thru most over all the years. Like you, I`m into elegance and balance and not the full blown, “Syrah” like Pinots. I find too that most of those I like have an abv of around 13.5%. Tyler and Chanin are really good examples.
So is ABC and much to my surprise, Verdad Sawyerr-Linquist Vineyard, not in SRH, [a spinoff label for Qupe with a new entrance into the Pinot Noir scene].
Recent vintages of Whitcraft are getting into the more elegant Pinots especially those from Pence Vineyard which is just outside the SRH appellation to the West by s few feet.
On Blake’s recommendation, I just put in an order last week for a small sampler of Tyler wines. I’ll try to post my impressions.
A new one in the lighter style there is Crawford Family. They have a nice little warehouse tasting room in Buellton. I think they were especially stronger in the chardonnays.
Im very interested in knowing your impressions Chris. I like the idea of doing a sampling and believe youll be happy with all you get although I really do not know your palate, but have an educated guess from here.
Is there a consensus on the differences between the single vineyard pinots by Tyler? I have only had the generic bottling. The first time I really liked it, second time it seemed a little more muted. Not bad, just like everything (frut, acid, aroma) was turned down a notch.
+1 on Blake’s recommendations of ABC and Whitcraft. I think of ABC more as Santa Maria Valley, but they do have the stellar Sanford and Benedict vineyard bottlings. The ABC tasting room in Santa Barbara is a great visit- they’re often pouring library re-releases. Probably my favorite overall producer of Burgundian varietals in SBC. Whitcraft is doing some really cool stuff from Pence Ranch and Melville Vineyards. Another good tasting room visit in city of Santa Barbara.
I had planned to get to six places if time allowed and the other place on my list was ABC. I hadn’t tasted their wines in a long time and there is very limited distribution in my area. However, I went to the tasting room on Wednesday when the website said they were open only to find it wasn’t. There was a sign out front indicating that they are open only sat and sun. These things have a way of irritating me so it will probably be a while before I try ABC again.
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