Fall is crush time for California’s wine industry. The Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival was Oct. 8 in Solvang. In San Luis Obispo County, the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance celebrates Harvest Wine Month throughout October, while its rising-star sister, the San Luis Obispo Coast Wine Collective, rolls out Harvest on the Coast in November.
This year’s buzz word for local vintners is “sustainability,” and it’s gone viral on a global scale. In fact, nominations for Wine Enthusiast magazine’s esteemed Wine Star Awards, recognizing standouts in the wine and alcohol beverage industry worldwide, are Central Coast-heavy for 2022.
William Foley is up for a Lifetime Achievement Award, Jeff O’Neill for Person of the Year, and Nicholas Miller for Wine Executive of the Year.
If these names sound familiar, it’s because they all have ties to SLO and Santa Barbara counties.
Foley Family Wines’ international portfolio includes Foley Estates Vineyard and Wine in Lompoc and Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos. Foley has steadily acquired properties and brands since 1996, when he established Lincourt Vineyards in Santa Barbara County’s Sta. Rita Hills American Viticultural Area.
He now boasts an estimated 7,000 vineyard acres in California and Oregon, as well as investments in New Zealand, France, and Argentina.
Fellow industry veteran O’Neill oversees a similarly expansive portfolio, including Paso’s Robert Hall Winery and Rabble Wines.
Founded in 2004, O’Neill Vintners & Distillers is a leader in sustainability. Initiatives include the world’s largest worm-powered winery wastewater system, solar energy, and regenerative farming.
By 2024, O’Neill pledges to purchase 100 percent certified sustainable grapes from the company’s more than 200 farmers across 15,000 vineyard acres.
Miller, meanwhile, as executive vice president of sales and marketing for Miller Family Wines and its parent Thornhill Companies, was lauded by the magazine for playing an instrumental role in “one of the most dynamic full-service wine companies in the United States.”
In addition to owning Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills vineyards in Santa Maria, the family’s holdings include thousands of other vineyard acres throughout the Central Coast. Among its extensive list of wine brands is the recently launched Reciprocity, containing 100 percent certified organic cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay grapes from the family’s French Camp Vineyard in Paso Robles.
Other local nominees hoping to join the winners’ ranks have similarly impressive backgrounds with notable commitments to sustainability.
Paso’s Tablas Creek Vineyard and Hope Family Wines are vying for Innovator of the Year and American Winery of the Year, respectively, while the new SLO Coast AVA is in the running for Wine Region of the Year—which Santa Barbara County won in 2021.
“One of the best-known brands out of California’s Central Coast, Tablas Creek Vineyard is famous for its focus on Rhone varietals thanks to the founding partnership between France’s Perrin family (Chateau de Beaucastel) and their American partners, the Haas family,” the magazine stated.
Tablas Creek has also become one of the most sustainable U.S. wineries after being certified organic in 2006, biodynamic in 2016, and regenerative organic certified in 2020. Earlier this year, the winery introduced a 3-liter premium box wine with the equivalent volume of four bottles to further its sustainability efforts.
“It’s a huge honor being nominated for a Wine Star Award,” said Tablas Creek partner and general manager Jason Haas. “I’ve always thought that wine is the perfect vehicle to bring organic, biodynamic, and regenerative farming to a broader audience.
“It’s a product that people understand comes from a specific place, and I think it’s intuitive that if you farm in a way that helps your grapevines live longer, that helps them grow deeper roots, that helps them withstand heat spikes and virus, this translates directly into better wine. … Now we’re excited to share what we’ve done and get as many wineries farming this way as we can.”
The magazine also touted the sustainability efforts of Hope Family Wines, producer of several high-profile brands, including Liberty School, Treana, Quest, Austin Hope, and Troublemaker.
“This is a fitting accolade to include in the nomination, as sustainability is a top priority for the winery,” said president and winemaker Austin Hope.
In addition to requiring all their vineyards to be certified sustainable, Hope said the winery is also funneling efforts into water conservation and clean water, maintaining wildlife habitats on its vineyards, safe pest management, energy efficiency, and continuing to invest in the team’s future.
“While I am humbled that we are included for such a thoughtful award amongst other great American wineries, it really is an award that is shared by all of the dedicated and passionate members of the Hope Family Wines team,” Hope added. “The power of our team continues to amaze me, and I am excited to continue the journey of creating a global brand that delivers amazing wines from such a special region, for all to enjoy.”
Closer to the ocean, the recently established SLO Coast AVA is giving Santa Barbara County and Paso’s storied vineyards some serious competition.
Best known for its chardonnay and pinot noir, SLO Coast is holding its own against esteemed rivals for Wine Region of the Year—Abruzzo, Italy; Marlborough, New Zealand; Rogue Valley, Oregon; and Uco Valley, Argentina.
Stephen Dooley, owner and winemaker at SLO’s Stephen Ross Wine Cellars and president of the SLO Coast Wine Collective, said the nomination was “especially meaningful coming in our first year of official recognition, as it brings national awareness to our new AVA and confirms that our hard work over the years has been appreciated not only among consumers, but within the wine industry.”
Inaugural SLO Coast-branded wines will be featured at the collective’s upcoming Harvest on the Coast.
Dooley’s debut label adorns his first-ever sparkling wine—a 2019 blanc de noir that he plans to pour at the event’s new VIP rare and reserve tasting on Nov. 12.
Future releases of the winery’s SLO County pinot noir and Spanish Springs Vineyard albariño will also carry the new designation.
According to Matt Kettmann, who covers the Central Coast for Wine Enthusiast, the AVA’s growing fame is well deserved.
“The cool-climate wines are thrilling, the winemakers are energized and adventurous, and the landscapes are arguably more beautiful than anywhere else on the planet,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what happens in the decades to come.”
Contributor Writer Cherish Whyte applauds the Central Coast’s star-studded vintners. Reach her through the editor at [email protected].
