When we moved from Monaco to Santa Barbara in 2007, we quickly noticed wine in California was distinctly different from the European wines we had grown accustomed to. Having little experience buying wines in California, we made some serious mistakes in our early choices. Happily, we began discovering wines that appealed greatly to our palates; the wines of Paul Lato were some of the first California wines we fell in love with, so we feel honored to work with him now.
When we bought our ranch on Kentucky Road in 2010 it was vacant land with a water tap, a storage container and 3 picnic tables. We studied the property for several months trying to decide how best to lay the property out, where to place the buildings & what to grow. In the fall of 2010 we decided to plant 7 acres in oat hay and soon learned this was just not our cup of tea.
Since we both loved wine, we decided to explore the possibility of planting a couple of acres of wine grapes. Our goal was to make a good wine to our style and liking that we would be proud to drink, sell, give to friends and put our name behind. We simultaneously employed Coastal Vineyard Care as our vineyard managers, and Paul Lato as our consulting winemaker. Soon after, we met with Philippe Coderey, a top biodynamic consultant with extensive vineyard experience. He quickly sold us on the biodynamic concepts and became an integral part of the triad consulting team. We tested the soil in various locations around the ranch to find the most suitable area to plant grapes. We planted our vineyard in 2012 and harvested our first Sauvignon Blanc in 2013.
When we moved from Monaco to Santa Barbara in 2007, we quickly noticed wine in California was distinctly different from the European wines we had grown accustomed to. Having little experience buying wines in California, we made some serious mistakes in our early choices.
Read More →