Just 25 years ago, no one—not even winemakers in Santa Barbara County—promoted the name “Sta. Rita Hills” as a prime place for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Yet just two decades after the appellation’s creation in 2001, this fog-soaked, wind-whipped western edge of the Santa Ynez Valley is a globally recognized hotspot for cool-climate grapes and a model of how to correctly craft an American Viticultural Area.
“It can be hard to wrap your head around Southern California and think of a cool climate,” explains Matt Dees, who makes The Hilt wines from the Bentrock and Radian vineyards on Rancho Salsipuedes. “Until people come here and see it for themselves or taste enough wines, it’s hard to fathom. But once people taste that freshness and electricity in the whites and the depth of fruit and complexity of the reds, they become believers pretty quick.”
Today, those believers include both larger wineries from Northern California and highly regarded domaines in Burgundy and Champagne. So how did this no-name region rise to international acclaim so quickly? And what does the future hold?
Beyond Hot or Not
The rise of the Sta. Rita Hills is rooted in the combination of pure intentions
