Where grapes become wine at Los Olivos’ Demetria Estate is also where Emily Myers’ fears, anxieties, and other stressors go to die.
“I love the crush pad, because that’s the one place that you have so much work to do that the rest of the world falls away,” the local vintner said in an email interview. “It’s very relaxing in its chaos.”
Myers is winemaker and operations manager at Demetria Estate, where she started working as assistant winemaker in 2021. That year also coincided with her own independent brand’s first vintage, added Myers, founder of Eislynn Wines.
Before putting the final touches on her first release of Eislynn Wines’ syrah, she struggled with straightening out one key aspect of her micro-winery venture.
“I was having a hard time picking a name for my brand that I felt genuinely represented me,” said Myers, who eventually settled on her own middle name, Eislynn. “I’ve never felt much for my first name because it’s so common, but I’ve always loved my middle name.”
Myers has her mother and a prominent romance novelist to thank for the name, she explained.
“My mom was reading The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss while pregnant with me. It’s a smutty novel written in the ’80s whose main character is named Aislinn,” Myers said. “My mom dolled up the name a little and slapped it on me. I finally read the book a couple years ago. Not my favorite book, but it was funny for me to see where my mom’s head was at.”
The vintner said she feels lucky to be able to make her Eislynn-labeled wines on-site at Demetria Estate, and that juggling her two roles is a little easier than it sounds, partly due to the size and output differences between the two brands.
“I’m very busy, but I love to be busy,” Myers said. “I spend the majority of my time working on Demetria wines because of the volume of cases that we produce. Eislynn is still very small with less than 500 cases. So, outside of harvest, I don’t have to spend too much time on maintaining the wines because there are only so many barrels.”
2023 marked the release of Eislynn Wines’ sole sauvignon blanc, made with fruit sourced from White Barn Vineyard in Santa Ynez.
Myers used organically farmed grapes from both Demetria and Santa Ynez’s Alondra de los Prados to create her 2021 syrah, while the winemaking behind Eislynn Wines’ vintages takes place at Demetria.
A long and winding road precedes the estate, situated in a rural stretch of Los Olivos on Foxen Canyon Road.
“Demetria is truly a special place. I think everyone who visits feels it. You’re far off the beaten path once you reach the winery/tasting room, so it feels like you’re on vacation even if you’re local,” Myers said. “I’ve been making the drive every day for years and I still feel like I’m in a different country.”
The best views at Demetria can be found at sunrise and sunset during harvest, she added.
“The colors during that time of year are very unique, with a lot of purples from the sky mixing in with the greens and yellows from the vines,” Myers said. “It’s a nice reward on a long day to see all those colors. And of course, photos never seem to do it justice.”
Later this spring, Eislynn Wines will be among the featured brands at the Natural Coast, a Santa Barbara-based wine festival slated for Saturday, April 26.
Whether she’s creating wines for Eislynn or Demetria, Myers described winemaking in general as a “conduit of happiness.”
“I get to work outside with my hands, constantly being creative. Not just creative in what wines I make, but also how I set up my tools and being creative in efficiencies,” Myers said. “I also get to meet interesting and kind people, both in and out of the cellar.”
It also doesn’t hurt that Myers gets to make a tangible product that she can share with people, “that has an infinite amount of things to learn about,” she said.
“I am proud of the wines I make, and it makes me happy to see people enjoy them as much as I do.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood’s middle name is Nathan. Send your middle names or favorite romance novels to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 6, 2025.
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