The Santa Maria Valley is a world-class grape-growing and wine-producing region, so it makes perfect sense to invite the world to visit. (Even some lifelong locals might not realize that this area is considered quite extraordinary in the wide-ranging world of wine.)
Santa Barbara County has a long history of growing wine grapes, dating back to the late 1700s and the Spanish missionaries. The Santa Maria Valley is home to the first commercial vineyard in the county—the Nielsen Vineyard, planted in 1964.
The Santa Maria Valley was the third American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the United States, established in September 1981, less than seven months after Napa Valley.
Thanks to ideal climate and soil, and sophisticated farming practices, today Santa Maria is one of the Earth’s premiere cool-climate growing regions, for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in particular.
After more than six years of effort, the AVA was officially expanded last year by 18,790 acres, bringing the total acreage of the Santa Maria Valley AVA to 116,273 in Southern San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties. This allows wineries that use grapes from the AVA to put the words “Santa Maria Valley” on their wine labels.
The region is also home to highly experienced winemakers with well respected names like Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, Bob Lindquist of Qupé, Bill Wathen and Dick Doré of Foxen, Lane Tanner of Sierra Madre, and Ken Volk of Kenneth Volk and formerly of Wild Horse.
The valley’s rich history, proven success, and exciting potential has also attracted young wine-producing and grape-growing talents like Matt Murphy and Dieter Cronje of Presqu’ile, Paul Lato of Paul Lato Wines, Gavin Chanin of Chanin Wines, Paul Wilkins and James Ontiveros of Alta Maria and Native9, and Jonathan Nagy of Byron and his wife Clarissa Nagy of Riverbench, just to name a few.
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The Santa Maria Valley has more than a dozen wine tasting rooms, with more on the horizon, such as the state-of-the-art Presqu’ile Winery and stunning tasting room currently under construction in the hills east of Orcutt, off of Clark Avenue. They’re expected to be open to the public in early 2013.
Tapping into the valley’s legacy and anticipating a bright future, the Santa Maria Valley Wine Country Association recently launched a new website and the new logo, bearing “Vintage Santa Maria Valley.”
“With an enviable history of award-winning wines and A-list winemakers, the Santa Maria Valley Wine Country has so much to be proud of. The ‘Vintage Santa Maria Valley’ branding campaign combines our historic past with a modern design in a signature wax seal logo,” said association executive director Chris Slaughter.
The association has 65 members, including wineries, vineyards, associate wineries that source Santa Maria Valley grapes, restaurants, caterers, hotels, and businesses who support the wine industry.
They’re all businesses working together with a common cause: “The Santa Maria Valley has been a premium wine region for 50 years and we are working hard to increase visitor awareness both locally and nationally,” Slaughter said. “We are very excited about our newly launched website, smvwines.com, which was designed to offer destination marketing to the wineries, restaurants, shops, and hotels of the area, and we hope our ongoing calendar of events will make the website a leading resource for Santa Barbara County wine industry searches.”
The association will be host to the third annual Chardonnay Symposium, June 29 to July 1. It’s the only event of its kind in America devoted to the noble white grape, Chardonnay, celebrating its 100th birthday of growth in the United States.
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Chardonnay producers and enthusiasts will gather in the Santa Maria Valley to enjoy the wines, get educated, and be entertained by a weekend of Chardonnay-inspired events.
If you haven’t attended the Grand Chardonnay Tasting before, consider coming, because this year’s will be extra special.
In addition to 50 wineries pouring Chardonnays from California, Washington, and Oregon, local restaurants will serve delightful dishes, and the area’s best chefs will demonstrate Chardonnay and food pairings in the Gourmet Food Pavilion.
And did I mention the stunning views from the locale, Byron Winery and Vineyards, on the picturesque Santa Maria Bench?
The Grand Chardonnay Tasting is Saturday, June 30, from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets will be available for $65 per person at the Santa Maria Radisson or at Byron Winery.
Park for the afternoon at the Radisson and take the bus provided by the Chardonnay Symposium. The first bus will leave the Radisson at 11:15 a.m. Buses will circle between the Radisson and the event throughout the day, with the last bus leaving Byron at 4:15.
You may go directly to Byron Winery if you want to pay $20 for VIP parking and buy tickets at the door.
For more information about Santa Maria’s premiere wine event of the year, go online to thechardonnaysymposium.com.
Sun food and wine writer Wendy Thies Sell wants to hear about your favorite winery or restaurant. Contact her at wthies@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 5, 2012.