In August Spaswinefood visited wineries in Santa Barbara Wine Country. California Winery Advisor notes there are over 100 wineries in Santa Barbara County. These wineries are concentrated around Santa Barbara, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and Lompoc. One of the wineries Spaswinefood chose to visit was Sanford Winery and Vineyard, 5010 Santa Rosa Road, Lompoc. Sanford Winery is well known for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Santa Barbara County Wine Country received lots of attention after the movie Sideways was filmed there. In fact one of the scenes in the movie was shot at the Sanford Winery tasting room.
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| Sanford Winery and Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
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| Sanford Winery & Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
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| August grapevines at Sanford Winery & Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
One of the reasons I wanted to visit was because of Sanford's commitment to sustainability. One example of Sanford's commitment is a recent reference on its use of cover crops at Sanford Winery to naturally enhance soil conservation. Sanford Winery was founded in 1971 by Richard Sanford. The Terlato Wines International assumed ownership in 2005. Terlato Wines International includes an impressive list of international wineries.
Sanford Winery facility is located at Rancho La Rinconada. It within the Santa Rita Hills American Viticultural Area (AVA), which was founded in 2001.
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| Sanford Winery & Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
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| Sanford Winery & Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
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| Sanford Winery & Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
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| The estate vineyards are located at Rancho La Rinconada © Spaswinefood |
The setting of this winery is absolutely stunning. It has a great two storey level tasting room.
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| Sanford Winery & Vineyards Tasting Room at Rancho La Rinconada © Spaswinefood |
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| Entrance to Tasting Room at Sanford Winery & Vineyards © Spaswinefood |
Steve Fennel has been winemaker/general manager at Sanford since 2006. While at the winery we tasted some great Pinot Noirs. We were impressed with Sanford's Pinot Noirs. This is not surprising given that winery is well known for its Pinot Noir.
Sanford's website highlights the awards and achievements of Sanford wines, which are produced from grapes grown at Sanford and Benedict, La Rinconada and nearby vineyards. Other reviews of Sanford wines include, such examples as 2005 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir review by floating Cork. Touring and Tasting noted that (1) the Wine Enthusiast gave 93 points to 2006 Sanford and Benedicts Pinot Noir and (2) Federick Koeppel placed it on his list of TOP 50 wines for 2008. Jessyca Federick's GrapeSmart article describes a visit to Sanford Winery. You can also check visitors comments on Sanford Winery and Vineyards on Tripadvisor and Yelp.
During our visit we got to taste some good wines, such as the following:
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| Sanford Pinot Noir La Rinconada Vineyard Estate Bottled 2008 © Spaswinefood |
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| Sanford Pinot Noir Vista Al Rio 2007 © Spaswinefood |
We especially liked the Sanford Pinot Noir Vista Al Rio 2007 and Sanford Estate Bottled Pinot Noir La Rinconada Vineyard 2008. The above Pinot Noirs were amongst our purchases. We very much enjoyed our visit to Sanford Winery and Vineyards.
Sharon
August 2011
Santa Barbara County, California
© Spaswinefood
© Spaswinefood
For other Spaswinefood posts on Santa Barbara County Wineries see:
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