Who would you say are the top pinot noir producers in the Santa Barbara/Santa Maria area? Is it Foxen or are there others?
Sea Smoke makes gorgeous pinots, but they’re considered uncool around Wine Berserkers, so I guess it depends on what you want. I think among the broader world of wine enthusiasts outside of this board, they would probably be a common top pick.
As far as styles that are more admired on WB, Arcadian would be my top choice. Highly ageworthy, elegant pinots that are also great values and easy to obtain. Au Bon Climat would be my next choice in that style.
As far as old benchmarks, the Sanford Sanford & Benedict pinot noir might have the best long track record from the area. Though under new ownerships, the style is getting a little bigger and more crowd-pleasing.
Blake Brown, who lives in the area and is one of the best tasters and posters on WB (and someone who appreciates good wines in a variety of styles), would be a particularly good voice to listen to on this subject.
Ojai Vineyard and Au Bon Climat
I really like the Foxen Pinots, especially the Julia’s. Other favorites would be Clos Pepe, Arcadian, and Dragonette.
I need to try the Alma Rosa wines again. I was underwhelmed when tasting them at the winery in 2011 but have liked the one I opened since.
When looking for lower priced pinot from the area, I like Cold Heaven and Babcock. The Babcock, for me, is a perfect match with Salmon.
Au Bon Climat
Sandhi
Domaine de la Cote
Tyler
ABC is a fairly classically styled producer, and as Chris mentioned many of the wines in their lineup are really great values. Sandhi and DDLC are two of my favorites, and probably on the AFWE end of the spectrum. I’d consider Tyler to be somewhat of a middle ground between ABC and Sandhi/DDLC.
Ojai and ABC. Both are lower alc producers with Ojai PNs expressing more fruit.
Joe,
Perhaps you can narrow down the question. Are you asking because you will be visiting and want to know who to hit? Are you asking because you are exploring the region via tasting and want ‘the best’ examples from the area?
There are dozens and dozens of producers using fruit from either or both of the areas you’ve mentioned. From the Santa Maria Valley area, the best known vineyard would be Bien Nacido, and there are tons of folks making great pinots from that vineyard and surrounding ones like Solomon Hills, Presquile, Rancho Ontiveros and others. Bien Nacido as their own label now, but I have not tried any recent offerings; Alta Maria and Native 9 do some beautiful pinots from that area; Arcadian; ABC; Paul Lato; but there are soooo many others.
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And as far as the Sta Rita Hills go, you’ve got even more producers - Babcock, Foley, Melville, Samsara, La Fond, Sanford, Alma Rosa, Clos Pepe, Cargasacchi, Kaessler Hawk, Crawford Family, Hitching Post, and the list goes on and on . . .
More than happy to help navigate if interested - drop me a line
Cheers!
If you’re looking for something new to try, you might want to give RASI a shot. Disclaimer - Rachel Silkowski is our assistant winemaker, and she has just released her first wine - an SRH Pinot. It’s got some killer sources (Clos Pepe and Cargasacchi) - and turned out really great. www.rasiwine.com
In my opinion there are a few really good ones: Sea Smoke, Loring (I like the Clos Pepe, Carg SVD and SRH blend) and since you asked about SB wines I’m ignoring the 15 others, Cargasacchi, Dierberg (a bigger style if that’s your thing) and some nice ones at Babcock. I haven’t tried them in a while but I also like Melville, Zotovich, and Some of the Foleys. Plenty of options.
I think Gavin Chanin is one hell of a Pinot maker.
I think PAUL LATO is producing as good of Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara as anyone - although they are a tad expensive.
The bargain of the region is the ALTA MARIA WINERY. I just love their Pinots and for sub $30 a bottle - are incredible values.
Lots of good producers named here but for me this discussion begins and ends with Arcadian.
Thanks to all that responded. These are the answers I was looking for, without suggesting a specific style I wanted to see what others thought were the best producers. I’m not planning a trip just wanted to get an idea of who people thought were making great pinots. Looks like a few ones to try, like ABC and Loring. I’ve had Sea Smoke Ten and the Southing I didn’t think they were worth the money. I have had Foxen Julias vineyard and more recently the 2012 Bien Nacido Block 8 which I enjoyed. I’ve also had the Belle Glos Telephone and Clark and thought was too jammy/sweet, didn’t really care for this.
I am enjoying this thread. I am finding some interest in the many offering of Pinot from this area. Most recently I have enjoyed Ed’s Kurtzman’s 2013 Sandler Bien Nacido. Got some more on the way as we speak.
Thanks!
A while back I was intrigued by Gregg Linn’s project. I believe he was from or the owner of Ambullneo? He seems to have some interesting wines and outlook however I can’t find much info on them or anything at retail, and they are pricey.
+1 on both of these. I’m a long time Paul Lato fan, but stopped buying due to price. We really enjoyed a visit to Alta Maria last year on Larry Schaffer’s recommendation.
This would be the top of the list for me as well. I’ll admit that my list is pretty short, but Joe’s wines are some of my favorites regardless of geography.
Though I love Joe and what he does, I truly hate to hear that folks think the discussion begins and ends with Arcadian. Twould be like someone saying that a discussion about Napa cabs begins and ends with a single producer; or the discussion of Burgundy begins and ends with just one. I think you get my point . . .
There are others in our area making seemingly ‘ageworthy’ pinots at lower alcohol levels - IF that’s what you’re looking for. As someone has said, check out Chanin and Sandhi; go over and check out Alta Maria; and there are LOTS of others moving along this path.
Want em a bit bigger and bolder? Plenty of options there as well.
Just hate to see a discussion narrowed down too much 
Cheers!
As mentioned by a few above, I like many of the Melville pinots. Seems to have toned the ripeness down over the years and the wines can be really interesting. I like the Carrie’s, but even the Estate is a pretty nice wine.
As Larry noted, “the list goes on and on”…and I’ll add a couple of real Santa Barbara County legends that I didn’t see anyone had mentioned yet - Longoria and Ken Brown.