THE STA. RITA HILLS AVA
By now, you’ve heard us talk about how the Sta. Rita Hills AVA (American Viticulture Area) is our favorite wine region in the United States. In fact, right now it’s the only region VOON is making wine from.
The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is located in Santa Barbara County, California right off the Pacific Ocean at the westernmost edge of the Santa Ynez Valley.
Known for its cool, coastal climate and its unique soil types, the Sta. Rita Hills AVA is quickly gaining recognition all over the world as one of the most exciting wine regions in the United States.
Trivia: The Sta. Rita Hills, pronounced “Santa” Rita Hills, had to abbreviate to “Sta.” after protests by a Chilean wine producer in 2006.
The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is sandwiched between by two transverse (east to west) mountain ranges, the Purisima Hills to the north and the Santa Rosa Hills to the south. These mountains formed as the result of tectonic plates colliding millions of years ago.
Soils and sediment formerly on the ocean floor suddenly became the land that we walk on. In the Sta. Rita Hills specifically, the soil consists primarily of diotomaceous earth and limestone, although there are also marine sedimentary rocks and clay.
These marine soils contain very little nutrients and elevated levels of calcium. Poor soils are famously excellent for growing wine grapes… the subject of a future newsletter.
We highly recommend listening to the podcast “Roadside Terroir” by Brenna Quigley, a geologist & wine lover who goes deep into the history of the Santa Barbara wine region.
The transverse mountain ranges also serve as a funnel for airs cooled over the Pacific Ocean directly into the Santa Ynez Valley. In fact, if you ever drive to the Sta. Rita Hills AVA from Santa Barbara you will notice that you’re effectively driving through a wind tunnel as you cross through the mountain pass. These winds dramatically cool what would otherwise be a very warm mediterranean climate.
The Sta. Rita Hills are so cool, in fact, that until relatively recently it was believed that wine grapes could not grow. Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict proved this wrong in 1971 when they planted the first vineyard in the area. This was not an accident. Michael was a botanist who had been searching for a perfect cool climate region that had just enough warmth to ripen grapes.
Over time, the region garnered a reputation for making excellent world-class wines, and was granted AVA status in 2001.