I’m planning a dinner with a few friends and would love to serve wine from one winemaker throughout the evening. I would like to serve a white blend, chardonnay and then Rhone blends (or 100% syrah) for the reds.
Any under the radar (dare I say cult) winery come to mind in Santa Barbara county? One example (I loved the whites but not the reds is Walson Holland).
Thanks!
AB
Plenty of threads on this, definitely do a search. Here’s my most recent thread on a trip there
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3460967#p3460967
Are you looking to buy the wines in the region, go tasting, or just buy at retail?
Not at all under the radar for regulars on this site, and not a cult as much as we love Larry, but Tercero all the way!
Was in SBC last month. I would recommend
The Joy Fantastic Syrah (Holus Bolus)
Shokrian Opulent Goat Syrah
Following your specific requests - one winemaker, those 3 very specific wines - I would recommend Holus Bolus, Samsara, perhaps Carucci.
If you are a bit more open ended about the 3 specific wines, there are a lot more potential choices . . .
Cheers.
Thanks, Dave - I truly appreciate it. Can’t wait to share more of my wines - including my new pinots, cab franc and other goodies - with folks.
Cheers.
Another suggestion would be the Raj/Sashi portfolio.
I think they do white blends under the RPWC & Phelan Farm label, Chardonnays under Sandhi & Syrah under Piedrasassi.
Yep - that’s going to be my first stop when I finally make it out to Santa Barbara!
The Hilt. Amazing tasting experience.
Story of Soil.
Storm.
Thanks. The Hilt’s chardonnay looks really good but I only see a Pinot for the red (sadly not a pinot fan right now).
Would love to see more like Walson Holland (small and I guess what i consider “under the radar”).
Wineries that have caught my eye for buying direct from the winemaker and have it shipped to LA:
Would love smaller ones you may not find at K&L and not too know but super delish and on their way to be famous…
A couple of things:
The Hilt is owned by the same folks who do Jonata - and they make rhones
Migration is from Napa
One could make the argument that the other 3 wineries mentioned are already famous’
Cheers
Anyone have the chance to try Dovecote?
I see Holus Bolus is making wines from Sebastiano – I really like that site.
Dovecote is owned by the folks who purchased the Thompson Vineyard in Alisos Canyon. I know that they were ‘trained’ by the folks at Jaffurs and Transcendence I believe. They also purchased a smaller Vineyard in Santa Ynez which is solely viognier. Have not tried their wines but its a great pedigree.
And lots of folks workout with Sebastiano - same owners as Peake Ranch. BTW, Sebastiano is for sale . . .
Cheers.
Every Syrah I have had made with Sebastiano grapes I have liked.
Holus Bolus uses three different vineyards:
Sebastiano which is used in their standard Syrah.
Within Sebastiano is a special block used for Franc de Pied which is my favorite.
Joy Fantastic vineyard is the newest and most west ward, so coolest climate.
Presquile which is near Orcutt and also cool climate. These wines tend to have a lot of pepper which I like.
What about Scar of the Sea? They’re up in SLO tho.
Yep, SLO . . . Not SBC ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Cheers
Scar of the Sea sounds like somewhere in Westeros.
Holus Bolus
Donnachadh
Ojai
Frequency
Santa Barbara County + very under the radar + the ‘type’ of wines you are interested in - maybe take a look at Demetria.
We were there in April and enjoyed Holus Bolus, Tercero, and Peake Ranch. Wines were great at all places, prices reasonable, and the best thing was the people.