January 10, 2002
Vineyards of Santa Barbara County R.I.P.Splitsville! That's the backroad buzz up here in north county. It looks like, once again, the movers-and-shakers here in the north will try to break away from the county seat and the south coast. The last attempt to break away took place back in 1978. It was ballot Measure A and, because of the smaller population up north, it went down in flames!
In those days, North county folks believed they were considered second class citizens by South County residents. They still do today. Last spring, the Grand Jury reported that the South County subsidizes North County services, but it seems that the South County services get seen to first. It's generally felt county administrators and media muckety-mucks in Santa Barbara view North County folk as a bunch of hayseeds and hicks. And many residents view North County as the dumping ground for land fills and other such undesirable elements which Montecito residents would never tolerate!
All of this may come to an abrupt end: Things are a lot different now. The population base is shifting north. It won't be long until the north will dominate in the Board of Supervisors. Politically, North County is much more conservative than Santa Barbara. (During the most recent Presidential election, Bush-Cheney signs were probably a 100 times more prevalent that Gore-Lieberman signs, and signs showing support for Gail Marshall here were non-existent.) As the population shifts, the county will become less restrictive on agricultural land use, and pro-growth factions will become the majority.
It's very possible, I suspect, that South County residents may want to split the county so they don't become the "minority" to agricultural and pro-growth interests up here. And as budgets become tighter in the context of dwindling revenue sources, the South County may not want to continue a "subsidy" on services and roads here in the north.
So what about the wine scene in our part of the world?
According to the "Economic Impact of the Santa Barbara County Wine and Wine Grape Industries" report commissioned by the Vintners' Association and published this past November, there are 60 wineries in Santa Barbara County and 1,461 full-time equivalent wine-related jobs. In dollars and cents, the retail value of Santa Barbara County wine in 2000 totaled $160 million, wine-related wages paid totaled $35 million and taxes paid totaled $9.5 million. The value of the Santa Barbara County wine grape crop was $90 million, the second most valuable crop just behind broccoli at $96 million. Only two bonded wineries would still exist in the county, and even they would lose their appellation status, because there would be no wineries left in the county. The remaining 58, along with all of the 18,791 acres planted to wine grapes would be located up here in the new county. That would be a disaster. The Santa Barbara County wine industry would cease to exist.
The name "Santa Barbara" has a lot of cachet. It's a name people around the world recognize and respect-both as the name for the "American Riviera," and as a marque on a bottle of wine. Big corporate players in our county like Kendall Jackson, Cambria and Meridian have invested millions of dollars promoting the name Santa Barbara. I can't believe they would want to give that up.
Wine is different from the rest of agriculture. When you pick up your broccoli floweret, you never ponder, "Does this broccoli come from the Santa Ynez Valley, the Santa Maria Valley or the Santa Rita Hills?" You simply plunge it into your onion soup dip and move on. Broccoli growers could care less about county names.
On the other hand, the location is extremely important in wine marketing, so when the county splits, we need a name with its own cachet-its own verve. Unfortunately, Los Padres is the only name I have heard suggested, and that name (forgive me) sucks. I have a suggestion. Let's call the new county "Santa Maria" because the Santa Maria Valley already has a highly regarded reputation for its pinot noirs, chardonnays, and Rhone varietals like syrah and viognier. Or we could call it "Purisima" (the Latin word meaning "purest") after the beautiful Mission near Lompoc. But if the name Los Padres is chosen as the name, I for one would not vote to split the county!
Congratulations! In his current edition of "The Wine Advocate," Robert M. Parker, Jr. has listed 18 wine personalities for the year 2001. On the list, only three were American. Were they from Napa? Sonoma? Oregon? No! All were from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties-John Alban of Alban Vineyards in the Edna Valley, Brian Talley of Talley Vineyards in the Arroyo Grande Valley and Brewer-Clifton in Santa Barbara County's new appellation, Santa Rita Hills. Greg Brewer worked as the assistant winemaker at Santa Barbara Winery and now makes the wine at Melville east of Lompoc. Many would regard Robert M. Parker, Jr. as the most influential wine writer in America.
Bob Senn, wine writer for The Independent since 1986, owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium and lives in north county's bucolic Los Alamos Valley.
