Santa Barbara County Wine: The State of the Grape 2008

In about 1820, a San Antonio winery was built in what is now Goleta, just north of the City of Santa Barbara.  The wine was made predominately for the missions as sacramental wine, but the padres undoubtedly made a little extra on the side.  The lonely adobe winery is still standing and nearly 200 years later, the wine industry in Santa Barbara County is thriving, in spite of the fluctuations of the economy, transitional markets, fickle consumers and inconsistent harvests.

When the first commercial grapevine plantings were made in Santa Barbara in the 1960s and 1970s, grape growers and vintners planted anything and everything, without regard to the end product.  It has taken Santa Barbara nearly twenty years to understand its soil, its climate and what is best suited for the diverse growing regions and AVAs.  Currently there are 64 different varieties of grapes planted throughout the county on 21,000 acres, according to Jim Fiolek executive director of the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association.  Pinot noir and chardonnay are the most widely planted varieties, with chardonnay commanding an astounding 40% of that acreage while pinot noir comes in at 25%.  However it's also important to note that of the roughly 90,000 tons of fruit crushed in 2007, "more than 50% was shipped out of county," Fiolek said, mainly to large northern California producers like Kendall Jackson and Meridian, among others.

Ryan Carr, winemaker at his namesake Carr Winery, and vineyard manager for eight different vineyards throughout the county, sees pinot noir on a steady climb.  "There's still an increase in pinot noir plantings, specifically in the Santa Rita Hills," he said.  Carr has seen nearly 3,000 acres of pinot planted since 2006.  “There’s all this great land and plenty of underground aquifer water to support it,” Carr added.  With the advent of the Santa Rita Hills official appellation, not to mention the bizarre Sideways phenomenon, pinot noir is hotter than ever.  "The varietal is so proven in the region and is actually under planted," Carr said. Under planted or not, everyone is jumping on the pinot bandwagon.  “Pinot has become the fad and everyone is drinking it.”