Santa Barbara County Grapes

[WIld Ferment]

After a recent trip to Los Olivos, I'm thinking about obtaining commercial-vineyard Syrah from Santa Barbara County next year. The likely minimum from a commercial vineyard is one ton, which is too much for me. I'm wondering if there are other home winemakers in SoCal who would be interested in going in on this? I'm a junior member here but have been making wine from Sta. Rita Hills since 2014 and other sources since 2005. Cheers.

 

[BI81]

@WIld Ferment look into joining the Central Coast Home Vintners' Association http://www.cchva.org/ they hold an annual grape co-op where everyone gets together to purchases grapes from some high quality vineyards in the area. This year we purchased from Margarita Vineyard in Paso Robles; Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards in Santa Maria Valley, Los Alamos Valley and Santa Ynez Valley; and Saarloos Windmill Vineyards in Los Olivos. They also hold several events throughout the year that look to be pretty fun, unfortunately I'm down around LA and it's a bit of a trek so i haven't been able to participate in anything other than the Co-op.

 

[WIld Ferment]

I love the concept behind the CCHVA co-op. In fact I joined it in 2008 but had a horrible experience. Our Lucas & Lewellen Syrah was picked in the afternoon and came in at 30 Brix! I decided never to go through that again.

This year we got 350 lbs of White Hawk Syrah that was picked at night and came in at 25 Brix.

@BI81, we’re both LA based and I’m wondering if you’d be willing to chat more off-board? Thanks!

 

[BI81]

Wow @WIld Ferment that's surprising, this year was my first year doing the Co-Op and I was very happy with the grapes. I got 150 lbs of Merlot (26 Brix) and 150 lbs of Cab Sauv (24.5 Brix) and the wines are great so far. The grapes were picked in the morning and we crushed/destemmed at one of the members properties at 11 am. I'm not sure when the group was established, but perhaps 2008 was early on and they have become more organized??

I'm planning on a Bordeaux blend next year (Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Cab Franc) so I won't be on the market for any Syrah, but would be glad to chat so feel free to shoot me a message.

 

[WIld Ferment]

I’m glad you had a good experience with CCHVA. It makes me reconsider working with them next year. Thanks for the information.