Âmevive - 'Martian Ranch' - Albariño - Santa Barbara County, CA - 2023

This wine comes entirely from Martian Ranch Vineyard in Alisos Canyon AVA. Martian Ranch has been farmed biodynamically since its inception and has been Demeter certified since 2010. Alisos Canyon AVA lies directly in the middle of Santa Ynez Valley AVA and Santa Maria AVA and has a unique set of both AVA’s characteristics. This vineyard lies on the hills of the San Antonio Creek Valley, it gets warm in the day, and cools off with coastal fog in the evening. The soils are rich in calcium from the Paso and Sisquoc formations and are composed of weathered sandstone, shale, and marly limestone.

The grapes were harvested in the early morning around 21B. Yields were less than half of what was expected out of the vineyard, but we were grateful to harvest our small allocation of 1.7 tons. The Albariño grapes were crushed in the cellar and rested on skins for most of the workday. After about 8 hours, everything was pressed to tank settle overnight. This Albariño is fermented partially in stainless and partially in neutral French oak barrels. It spent elevage on its fermentation lees for 6 months and came together about a month before being bottled unfined and unfiltered in March of 2023.
Tasting Notes
A perfect first wine. This wine leans on the acid driven side of the grape variety. She absolutely jumps out of the glass, think a squeeze of lemon hovering over subtle notes of stone fruit. Take her walking through a sunny garden with fresh blooms and your best friend - it may be the best time you’ve had in a while!
Wine Details

• 12.5%ABV
• 180 cases produces
• Demeter certified grapes, minimal sulfites
  about the label
• Art: The tarweed on the front was painted by my talented mom, Eileen Anderson. Deinandra fasciculata, yellow tarweed, grows in this vineyard and is native to Central and Southern California. The Chumash harvested tarweed seeds, mashed them, and combined them with water to make a raw seed ball. Tarweed was a big part of their diet in the summertime as it thrives in dry soils. The biodynamic preparations on the back label are painted by me. They are an ode to all of the care that goes into maintaining a symbiotic relationship with the vineyard and its surrounding ecology.

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  Pronunciation: "ahm-veev" ​ ​Translation: soulful, lively soul, living soul ​ 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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