The Ojai Vineyard - 'Fe Ciega Vineyard - Devoto' - Pinot Noir - Santa Barbara, CA - 2021

2021 FE CIEGA 'DEVOTO' PINOT NOIR STA. RITA HILLS

TASTING NOTE
Devoto showcases the improbably earthy gravitas that Pinot Noir can provide when grown in select patches of the Sta. Rita Hills. Fe Ciega’s terroir can always offer fruit, but its signature thing is an exotic and savory seriousness. To focus on that aspect, this wine is comprised solely of the “heritage clones.” These old California genetics were selected for sunshine, so they retain a lot of savory character when grown in marginal climates.

The aromatics are full of broody intrigue. It’s a low register spread of fragrances with scents of forest duff, sandalwood, iron and wool, but there are pretty high notes of dried flowers plus a streak of sweet cherries. The wine moves across the palate with broad curves, with glossy red fruits girded by tannins that evoke resinous spice pods. Freshness builds in the back end before gentle notes of coffee, iron and woody herbs lace the long finish.

Devoto is crafted around an appealing kind of reserve; it’s an intricate Pinot that pulls you in. The fruit's plenty there, but it’s the earthy vineyard intricacies that dominate your impression. This 2021 bottling will age great with its fine grit and balance, but it’s delicious and ready to drink in its own way.

VINTAGE & WINEMAKING
This 2021 bottling is our first of Devoto, which is one expression of our terroir at Fe Ciega Vineyard. This cuvee is crafted around capturing the earthy, savory potential of Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills, while the Discípulo cuvee speaks to profound fruit that the region offers.

2021 was pretty much a dream vintage for us, particularly with Pinot Noir. It finished ripening with perfectly cool, breezy and dry conditions. All four clones were harvested relatively late, in the last days of September, with just perfect numbers on brix and pH—an auspicious outcome for our premier vintage of fully hands-on farming at Fe Ciega.

The “Heritage” clones that comprise this cuvee, Pommard and Mt. Eden, were gently destemmed with 28% whole clusters preserved at the bottom of tank. We immediately inoculated with our house native yeast (cultured from grapes picked during sampling), then pumped the wine over twice daily until it was dry. We left it on the skins for a few more days for further extraction.

The wine aged on its fine lees in French oak barrels (33% new) for 14 months. After adding a minimal amount of sulfites, it was bottled without fining and filtration.

VINEYARD
Fe Ciega has been dear to Adam’s heart for years, so he leapt at the opportunity to purchase the property at the beginning of 2021. He’d been producing Fe Ciega Pinot Noir since 2003, when his fellow winemaker friend, Rick Longoria (of Longoria Wines), offered Adam some of the fruit. Rick had planted the vineyard back in 1998, initially calling it Blind Faith (from rock music fame). But because the name was already copyrighted, Rick chose the Spanish translation: Fe Ciega.

Located out on the western center of Sta. Rita Hills, it’s just west and across the Santa Ynez River from the seminal vineyard of the appellation, Sanford & Benedict. The vines are planted on a south-sloped mesa that elevates the vineyard just above and next to the western bends of the Santa Ynez River. That riverbed ferries cool Pacific breezes and fog over the area, buffering the southerly exposure and latitude of the vineyard. The soils are a clay loam called the Tierra series, which lays over a fractured shale and sandstone base.

Currently there are eight acres of Pinot Noir, comprised of four different clones. There are the "heritage clones," Pommard and Mt. Eden, along with two Dijon selections, 115 and 667. In 2022, we planted small blocks of Chardonnay and Syrah, and there’s a tiny section down by the river bottom where we’re trialing Paseante Noir, the UC Davis varietal bred for Pierce’s Disease resistance. We’ve converted the vineyard to strictly organic farming and we’re building the soil to enhance the vineyard’s resilience to drought. It’s all painfully expensive work, but it’s about as exciting as it gets.

"The 2021 Pinot Noir Fe Ciega {Devoto] shows a darker, more somber side of the vineyard. Black cherry, plum, in-cense, lavender, licorice and graphite add to an impression of virile intensity. This ample Pinot has an element of mystery that is so beguiling. Give it a year or two in bottle."
ANTONIO GALLONI, VINOUS 95

"In comparison, the 2021 Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Devoto is a slightly wilder, more feral wine offering redcurrant and red plum fruit, rose petals, sage, rosemary, and some more classic Sta. Rita Hills salinity and minerality. Cut from the same cloth on the palate, it's balanced, medium-bodied, has integrated acidity, and a great finish."
JEB DUNNUCK 94

===

OUR STORY
The wines we make today are a culmination of four decades pursuing excellence with the fruit grown in our region. We believe that a history like ours is an asset only insofar as it is defined by evolution. Craft is not an overnight sensation; it is the step by step progress that only comes from intuition and experience.

“To grow anything, you have to pay attention.”

Adam Tolmach went to UC Davis and studied viticulture and enology, and after graduating in 1976 he settled down on the property his grandfather bought in the Ojai Valley in 1933 to farm sweet corn and melons, selling them at a roadside stand. After two years of this satisfying, yet difficult and nearly profitless work he sought employment in his field of study.

With degree in hand he found work at Zaca Mesa in Santa Barbara County. Before long he decided to follow his own vision and started a winery with fellow employee Jim Clendenen in 1982. The winery, Au Bon Climat, was an overnight success, but after nine years together Jim and Adam realized they had to follow separate paths. Jim bought the business in 1991 and went on to further glories.

Simultaneous to all this, Adam had planted a vineyard in Ojai to syrah and sauvignon blanc and had begun producing wine from that fruit in 1983. When the collaboration with Clendenen ended he concentrated all his attention on The Ojai Vineyard to further explore the infinite details of his craft.

Looking back over the last 25 years, one can see the development of The Ojai Vineyard came in three distinct phases. In the beginning it was lots of fun discovering the budding Santa Barbara County, experimenting with new plantings, new areas, and a wide selection of varietals; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and other Rhone varietals. Back in 1983 the vines were grown without much care in what was called a California sprawl. It took years to get growers to move towards progressive practices like drip irrigation and vertical trellising to improved wine grape quality.

“It all has to do with intention.”

This brought about the second phase where Adam honed an uncompromising plan striving to make the best possible wine. By 1994 the wines were consistently delicious and attracted notice which furthered his success. With it Adam was able to change all of his grape contracts and purchase them by the acre rather than the ton—enabling him to direct farming practices and reduce the size of the crop by thinning. The clusters that were left on the vine to mature ripened more evenly and were more intensely flavored. He found himself paying 2 or 3 times the typical price for quality grapes but felt it was all worth it. For the next 10 years the wines were big, boisterous and delicious. He worked relentlessly to fine tune the winemaking process to make it as natural as possible, using only tiny quantities of sulfites and avoiding fining and filtering, with an aim to further improve quality.

The third phase started a few years ago as Adam’s craving for perfection made him question and review his experiences to find the best way to convey the personality of each vineyard he worked with. A few examples:

He took steps to transition the farming from sustainable to organic practices, because he knew it was the healthy thing to do and saw that it positively affected wine quality. In 2000 he began aging some of his Chardonnays in only older barrels, and found their individuality showed more clearly without the toasty influence of new wood. He was so pleased with the results that he decreased the use of new barrels for all of his wines, so as not to interfere with the character he was trying to illuminate.

“In business, it’s really easy to produce something universally appealing..but if you’re really into craft, you don’t do that, you have to fight that.”

The question of climate was also a cornerstone—his years of experience showed him how the cooler climate sites were always better balanced and more expressive terroirs. He grew determined to focus on those sites and abandon the warmer climate vineyards. The most recent reevaluation was with the complex question of ripeness and the determination of when to harvest the grapes. After a seminal experiment in 2005 with two Clos Pepe Pinot Noir lots picked 2 weeks apart, it became evident that there was a lot to be learned about the crucial time of picking, especially in the mild climate of coastal northern Santa Barbara County, where no overriding environmental concern like rain, rot or frost forces the decision. After spending two decades learning to farm better grapes, physiological ripeness was not an issue anymore but over ripeness was. When grapes were ripe but not overripe, the resulting wines were more aromatic and possessed finer balance. After more experiments the following years Adam started picking his fruit slightly earlier, opening a new stylistic era for his wines.