SITE - 'Larner Vineyard' - Viognier - Ballard Canyon, Santa Barbara County, CA - 2023

Notes from the Winery/Importer

100% Viognier. Fermented and aged in 12-year old puncheon.

Notes on the Producer

The site is the most important thing determining quality in a glass of wine. The other things that factor in, like the vintage, the decisions of what to plant and the way that the plants are farmed and when to pick, are not even close in their effect. It’s not the winemaker’s giant ego or his or her belief system. It’s the SITE. I started thinking about starting SITE while I was winemaker at Seavey Vineyard in Napa, partly because I had found myself drinking anything but Cabernet when I got home from work. I still love Cabernet. But the varietals that are widely planted in the Rhone and southern part of Europe were the ones I came to love and drink more. I moved down to the Central Coast because of the high-quality syrah, grenache, viognier and roussanne grown here and because of the lack of pomp that’s pervasive up north. I narrowed in on Larner Vineyard, Stolpman Vineyards, and Bien Nacido Vineyards, where I had worked before as an assistant winemaker at a small Pinot producer after returning from my fellowship at Tenuta Tignanello and working before that in Central Otago and Martinborough. Long ago I worked at several Long Island wineries before attending grad school for viticulture and enology at UC Davis. The three vineyards I work with are at the very least farmed organically Stolpman is certified organic and certification is pending at Larner. I’ve sourced fruit from the same rows since 2012 at the three vineyards, and I pick when the fruit is ripe, not underripe or overripe. I don’t pick by numbers, which is why alcohol percentage is not stuck on one number over the years. Generally, I pick on the earlier side of ripe compared to others. The alcohol percentage I print on the label is the actual number as analyzed by ETS Labs. Yeast are a dominant factor in a wine’s aromatic qualities, which is why I don’t use the store-bought stuff. For fermentation, I either pick a little bit before (pied de cuve) or just let it roll on its own. The white wines ferment in old puncheons, the reds in a mix of hogheads. I bottle without fining, filtration, or velcorin. Total production across the 5 wines is 350 cases. I sell everything directly to a mailing list and the wines are available until sold out. I also sell directly to a handful of restaurants that care about food and wine, including six of the eight Michelin 3-stars in California. I can name nearly every person who has bought SITE since I started the brand and will keep it that way.