Santa Barbara County

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Several years ago, I was at Jim Clendenen and Bob Lindquist’s 50th birthday bash and met up with Rick Longoria. He told me the most amazing story of how, at a luncheon at I had never thought much about riesling until I moved to Ojai full time in 1993. The summers here are hot, and I found myself drinking more and more white wine during those hot months. I don’t care much for semisweet wines, but the dry style rieslings from Germany and Austria are quite thirst quenching-and surprisingly food friendly and versatile. That love of the classic dry rieslings led to my curiosity about a small vineyard way out west of the town of Los Alamos. By coincidence, it’s just a few miles from where I got my start in the wine business. Old-timer grape king Dale Hampton once told me that this area was particularly well suited for riesling, but since grape quality and the economics of the wine business don’t always jive together, almost all the Riesling in the valley was torn out and replaced with chardonnay. I had seen Kick On vineyard in the early days when it was just being planted but had forgotten it had riesling, so when I heard that some was available, I jumped at the chance. 2007 was our first offering, and it was a take-no-prisoners-styled wine that had

Picked at around 21-22 brix at 3.1 to 3.2 ph. A small amount is receiving skin contact with few hours of soaking before pressing. Then the fermentation is in barrels but will be stopped by racking at somewhere between 4 and 6g/liter of residual sugar (usually after 15 -20 days). Temperature is kept as cold as possible. The wine will then age in neutral barrels until April when it will be racked to tank for fining and filtration prior to bottling in May.

Blend: 100% Riesling | Alc: 13.5% | Vinification: 100% Neutral French Oak | Barrel Aging: 7 Months | Total Production: 135 cases

Press Reviews

Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar

“Greenish straw color. Spicy citrus and floral aromas are complemented by notes of honeysuckle and jasmine. Racy and precise but concentrated, with nervy lime and orange flavors and good mineral snap. Finishes gently spicy, with very good clarity.” – JR 90 Points