June 14, 2001
New Appellation for Santa Barbara County!A new appellation for Santa Barbara County! Joining the ranks of the federally recognized Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley is Santa Rita Hills!
These appellations, also known as AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) are defined places of origin and are very important to wine consumers. American appellation law came about in the United States with the federal labeling act of 1982.
American appellations are modeled after French "appellation controlee" laws going back to the 1930s in Bordeaux. In both the United States and in France, an appellation is a guarantee of place of origin. French appellation law, however, goes far beyond place of origin; appellations can determine tonnage standards and what grapes can be grown within any given appellation. If a grower, for example, exceeds tonnage limits, the resulting wine might not qualify for "appellation controlee" status (the highest grade on a French wine label). And the bottom line is this-cabernet sauvignon or merlot cannot be grown in Burgundy and pinot noir cannot be grown in Bordeaux and labeled as an "appellation controlee" wine.
In the United States, when the consumer buys and bottle of pinot noir and the label says "Santa Maria Valley", this means that 85 percent of the bottle contents have to come from that (italics) AVA. Or if the label says "Santa Ynez Valley" sauvignon blanc, then 85 percent has to come from vineyards within the Santa Ynez Valley appellation or viticultural area.
In my opinion (along with a lot of vineyard owners and producers), the Santa Ynez Valley is too large and diverse. The valley runs east-west from Lompoc toward Los Olivos and Santa Ynez. The closer to the water, the greater the marine influence (fog); the greater the marine influence in the summer, the cooler the weather.
And the area around Lompoc and the newly granted Santa Rita Hills appellation is one of the coolest growing regions in the United States, with similar growing conditions to Reims in Champagne in France!
In the summer months when it's in the high 70s in the western end of the Santa Ynez Valley, temperatures around Los Olivos might hit the mid to high 90s.
Growers and producers of say, pinot noir which thrives in the coolest of regions, would be diffident to label their wine "Santa Ynez Valley." Knowledgable consumers might think the fruit came from east of US 101 where it's too hot for pinot noir.
East of US 101, where it's hotter, Italian varietals such as sangiovese thrive-especially from vineyards like Stolpman, Vandale and Eleven Oaks. And I suspect this varietal would produce a quite underwhelming wine near Lompoc. By the way, one of the best red wines I have ever tasted from the Santa Ynez Valley is the new release 1998 reserve nebbiolo from Stolpman-the subject of a future "Grapevine" column.
It's very possible the future of the Santa Ynez Valley will be Italian reds like sangiovese and nebbiolo.
With the new Santa Rita Hills appellation, growers in the western end of the valley can now so label their wines. Petitioning the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), regulator of the American wine industry has been a three year process. Congratulations are in line for Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe Vineyards who spearheaded the petition along with help from Richard Sanford of Sanford Winery and Bryan Babcock Vineyards near Lompoc.
Bob Senn lives in the Los Alamos Valley, which might someday become an appellation like the new Santa Rita Hills appellation.
