2021 50th Anniversary Los Olivos Cuvee
Estate grown, Ibarra-Young Vineyard, Los Olivos District AVA
With so much respect to the people who came before me, it is an absolute honor to present a new limited wine to you. This wine is really special! Bob Lindquist and I made this wine in collaboration in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ibarra-Young Vineyard. The fruit is entirely from the original plantings at Ibarra Young planted by Charlotte Young in 1971. With the exception of a few legacy accounts, this wine is solely available directly through the online shop and through wine club.
Here is a little history to catch you up on the who's who at the vineyard. Charlotte Young planted the first two blocks at Ibarra-Young in 1971 making the vines 50 years old in the 2021 harvest. Although we originally thought Miguel Ibarra was Charlotte's right hand man working in the vineyards from the beginning, we recently found out that he started to work with Charlotte a few years after the first planting. But quickly, Miguel Ibarra and Charlotte Young became the dynamic duo of what was then called Valley Oak Vineyard.
Charlotte was much more passionate about growing grapes than making wine. She sold the grapes for many years and there wasn’t ever a wine brand affiliated with the vineyard until Bob Lindquist came along.
Bob Lindquist is a winemaking pioneer in Santa Barbara County, if you haven’t heard his name, you’ve probably heard of his wines. He is accredited for starting the Qupé label and had the lease on Ibarra-Young Vineyard from 1986-2018. That’s a long time! In that time, he planted what I now call the “young vine” blocks, consisting of Marsanne, Tempranillo, and Graciano. He began the vineyard's transition to organic practices in the early 90s. And as an ode to the people behind the place, he renamed the vineyard from Valley Oak Vineyard to Ibarra Young Vineyard to recognize Charlotte and Miguel.
Bob is a pioneer, a mentor, an advocate for organic and biodynamic viticulture, a great winemaker, a joy to be around, and an absolutely wonderful guy.
So in an attempt to show my appreciation for Bob and to honor Charlotte Young, I proposed the idea of a 50th anniversary wine. And her release is finally here.
This wine is a combination of both of our styles and the blend is based on Bob’s old Los Olivos Cuvée wines. Los Olivos Cuvée was a wine under the Qupé brand that was first made in 1988. Our 50th anniversary wine followed the same base blend, but was made by both of us. Bob contributed a barrel of Syrah and I contributed a half barrel of Syrah + a half barrel of Mourvedre. The wine has always been a blend of about 75% Syrah and 25% Mourvedre depending on yields and depth. The Syrah is the meat and backbone of the wine while the Mourvedre gives a bit of lift.
There are only 2 barrels made of this limited wine. We hope you love it! We hope you are able to feel a bit of history in this bottling.

Art: You’ll see Charlotte Young and Miguel Ibarra sketched in pencil on the front. The artwork was done by my mother, Eileen Anderson. Charlotte and Miguel poured a lot of their lives into this vineyard, it is now their namesake, and we will continue to honor them as time passes.

Cheers to the people who came before us <3

12.6% ABV
Ingredients: regenerative organic grapes managed holistically, minimal effective sulfites

44 cases produced

Pronunciation: "ahm-veev"
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​Translation: soulful, lively soul, living soul
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the emotional part of human nature; the seat of the feelings or sentiments.
high-mindedness; noble warmth of feeling, spirit or courage.
the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity and separate from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.

We lease and farm the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Los Olivos District A.V.A.

This vineyard was planted by Charlotte Young in 1971 and is still owned by her three daughters. Charlotte's right-hand man, Miguel Ibarra, Helped her plant the vineyard in 1971 and continued to work on the vineyard for more than 40 years. Today, we celebrate this duo by designating these 10 acres as the Ibarra-Young Vineyard.

Ibarra-Young Vineyard was one of the first vineyards planted in the Santa Ynez Valley and has so much soul you can feel it. The first 3 acres were planted in 1971 and 3 more acres were planted in 1973. In the late 90's and early 2000's Bob Lindquist completed Ibarra-Young's planted acreage with the "young" vines in the rockier section of the vineyard.

The vineyard is planted to Syrah and Mourvèdre planted in 1971, Marsanne planted in 1973, as well as suitcase clone Tempranillo and Graciano planted in the late 90's. Everything on the property is own-rooted and has been farmed organically since 1993. We began leasing and farming this special place at the beginning of 2020 and employ regenerative organic and biodynamic practices.
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Our goal is to rebuild an ecosystem of native species that live alongside our vine rows, regenerate soil health, and grow the highest quality grapes this site can give. We believe the best wine grapes are grown with minimal inputs and conscious vineyard management. We reject a systematic schedule for viticulture and farming in general. We believe that by working in conjunction with nature we can increase biodiversity and soil health, minimize unnecessary sprays, minimize tractor passes and compaction, decrease water use, and reduce our carbon footprint.

We look forward to taking you along on this journey of unconventional viticulture with us. We hope to convince you that with a lot of passion and hard work, world-class wines are made with minimal intervention in a vineyard that grows alongside a healthy living ecosystem.
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