2022 Albariño - Santa Barbara County
This wine comes entirely from Martian Ranch Vineyard in Alisos Canyon AVA. Martian Ranch has been farmed biodynamically since its inception and has been Demeter certified since 2010. Alisos Canyon AVA lies directly in the middle of Santa Ynez Valley AVA and Santa Maria AVA and has a unique set of both AVA’s characteristics. This vineyard lies on the hills of the San Antonio Creek Valley, it gets warm in the day, and cools off with coastal fog in the evening. The soils are rich in calcium from the Paso and Sisquoc formations and are composed of weathered sandstone, shale, and marly limestone.
The grapes were harvested in the early morning around 21B. Yields were less than half of what was expected out of the vineyard, but we were grateful to harvest our small allocation of 1.7 tons. In the cellar, the Albariño grapes were crushed and rested on skins for most of the work day. After about 8 hours, everything was pressed to tank to settle overnight. This Albariño fermented partially in stainless and partially in neutral French oak barrels. It spent elevage on its fermentation lees for 6 months and came together about a month before being bottled unfined and unfiltered in March of 2023.
Jumps out of the glass, like walking through a sunny garden with fresh blooms and a couple fruit trees. Think picnics and dog parks, and ripe apricot pie.
Art: The tarweed on the front was painted by my talented mom, Eileen Anderson. Deinandra fasciculata, yellow tarweed, grows in this vineyard and is native to Central and Southern California. The Chumash harvested tarweed seeds, mashed them, and combined them with water to make a raw seed ball. Tarweed was a big part of their diet in the summertime as it thrives in dry soils. The biodynamic preparations on the back label are painted by me. They are an ode to all of the care that goes into maintaining a symbiotic relationship with the vineyard and its surrounding ecology.
12.5%ABV
Ingredients: Demeter certified grapes, minimal sulfites
75 cases produces