Sta. Rita Hills

California has great grapes.
Duh.
You don’t need to be a wine drinker to know that some of the country’s best wines come from Cali.
But if you asked most people to pick one word that comes to mind when you say “California wine country,” they’d say: “Napa.”

I’d rather hang out somewhere else today.

Southern California has awesome wine, especially in Santa Barbara County. I spent some time there recently and wanted to share some of its magic.

First stop: Sta. Rita Hills, which is in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Fun fact: Sta. Rita Hills agreed to abbreviate Santa about 20 years ago because a Chilean winery named Viña Santa Rita objected, claiming that having two Santa Ritas was confusing. Besides being on two separate continents, Viña Santa Rita makes very different wine (Malbec, Carmenère, Sauvignon Blanc). Not ones to let small battles get in the way of good wine, the southern Californians agreed to abbreviate and move things along.

Sta. Rita Hills gets coastal breezes off the Pacific Ocean, giving it a cool climate like Burgundy in France. Thanks to those breezes, you’ll find the same types of grapes here as in Burgundy: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. There’s also some nice Syrah.

If Sta. Rita Hills sounds familiar, but you’re not sure why, this is where the movie Sideways was filmed.

Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict were the first to plant Pinot Noir in Sta. Rita Hills back in 1971, ignoring everyone who said it wouldn’t work.

I’ll take you to Sanford Winery in my next post.

Chin!